Mae, Drack, and Li Han had finally arrived at the City of Rivers, but there were already problems. The first was the sheer number of people. The city was packed, with pedestrians filling the streets and traffic making the roads just as crowded. Trying to ride their horses through all of this would take hours, and Mae quickly realized that they were going to have to make another stop before they could continue their search.
"Goddess damn it, do we really have to make a detour just to stable the horses?" Mae groaned while pulling back on her reins, clearly annoyed by the inconvenience. "We have to, Miss Mae. There are just far too many people walking around, and even the roads have too much traffic," Drack explained as he dismounted from his horse. Mae climbed down after him, while Li Han also got off his horse and immediately stretched his back and legs, looking relieved to finally be off the saddle.
"I did warn you this was a busy place. It is one of the primary trading hubs in Aeruna, after all," Li Han reminded her. Mae crossed her arms and gave him an unimpressed look. "And a lot of other useless things along with it, so I stopped paying attention," she muttered before looking down the crowded street. "Come on, take us to a stable quickly. We don't have time to waste."
Li Han sighed and started walking, already feeling a headache coming on. *By the Emperor, she's the worst,* he thought bitterly. *I explain things to her that would help her find this girl, and she just continues to treat me like garbage.* He glanced toward Drack, who was following along with the horses. *At least he seems to listen a little.*
Drack soon spoke up. "How about you just tell me where the stables are generally? I'll take the horses there while you and Miss Mae search for Annie."
Li Han's eyes widened. *Oh no.* He really did not want to be left alone with Mae, but before he could come up with an excuse, Mae was already nodding enthusiastically. "Yes! Yes, let's do that! Come on, tell him where it is quickly!" she said, clearly much more interested in getting rid of the horses than waiting around.
"Uh, I can't really do that. I mean, you can't read the signs and don't know any locations, so..." Li Han began, but Drack interrupted him.
"I'll find it. Just tell me."
Mae immediately backed him up. "Yeah, just tell him already."
Li Han gulped before giving Drack the best directions he could, explaining which streets to take and what landmarks to look for along the way. Drack listened carefully, nodding as he memorized the directions. Once he was satisfied, he took hold of both sets of reins and began leading the two horses away through the crowded streets.
Mae watched him leave for a moment before turning around. "Let's go. We need to ask the locals if they've seen her or not." She started walking, forcing Li Han to quickly follow behind her.
"So how do we start doing this?" he asked, trying to keep up with her brisk pace. "Do you just plan on asking people if they've seen her?"
Mae looked over the crowd, her eyes moving from one person to another as she considered their options. "Not just random people..." she muttered, trailing off as her attention suddenly settled on someone nearby.
A merchant was sitting aboard a boat docked beside one of the many canals that ran through the city. Mae pointed toward him.
"There. Let's start off with him."
Li Han looked a little confused by Mae's choice, but after a moment he simply shrugged and decided to go along with it. The two of them made their way toward the merchant's boat, carefully navigating through the busy street until they reached the canal. The merchant was in the middle of rearranging his wares when they approached, shifting several items around on the deck before looking up at the approaching pair with a welcoming smile.
"Welcome, what can I—" he began, but the greeting immediately died in his throat when he noticed Li Han's checkpoint uniform and then Mae's pointed ears. His expression became noticeably more nervous as he looked between them. "Is there some problem?" he asked, rubbing his hands together uneasily.
Mae simply motioned toward Li Han, telling him without words to handle the conversation. Li Han stepped forward and gave the merchant a polite nod. "Excuse me, but have you seen a foreign girl around? She's tall, has blue eyes and blue hair. Hard to miss," he asked.
The merchant's expression immediately changed as recognition crossed his face. "Ah, her! Yeah, yeah, I heard about her. Didn't see her myself, but people were talking about a girl like that," he said, nodding several times.
Mae took a slow breath through her nose, forcing herself to remain calm before she started questioning him. "Where did you hear it? Who told you? What did you hear?" she asked, the questions coming one after another so quickly that the merchant barely had time to process the first before the next followed.
The merchant's nervousness returned almost immediately. "I-I just heard it from my customers. T-they're the ones who saw what happened. They said she fought a hunter in the streets, beat him easily, s-something like that," he stammered.
Mae looked ready to ask another question, but Li Han quickly raised one hand between them. "Calm down a little. You're scaring him," he whispered, keeping his voice low enough that only she could hear.
Mae clenched her teeth and stared at the merchant for a moment, clearly frustrated by the interruption, but she eventually stepped back and allowed Li Han to continue. "Where did your customers say this happened?" he asked.
The merchant seemed slightly less frightened now that Mae had backed off. "It was at the tavern called the Emperor's Favorite," he answered.
Mae immediately turned toward Li Han and grabbed him by the arm before he could say anything else. "Take me there. Now." Her voice was firm and urgent, leaving absolutely no room for argument.
Li Han nodded quickly, deciding that this was definitely not the moment to test her patience. After a month of searching, Mae finally had something that sounded like a genuinely solid lead, and she was not going to waste even a second of it. For the first time in weeks, she felt as though she might actually be getting close to Xain, close enough that she could finally bring him back. Right now, getting in her way would be deadly.