Getting back what was stolen

As of late, most of Leila's contracts were on the more serious side of things where she had to deal with actual criminals or solve troublesome problem. In a way, that was making things quite interesting, knowing that her actions were ones that could actually make a difference and help. Though the task didn't sound all that exciting, looking for some misplaced jewelry of sorts. But looking for something like that in town like Hargeon, she could feel the pain of running around the entire day already. The city itself was huge, but at least the couple which wanted those items back only specified one single hotel. It was a start and hopefully they would be indeed there, else there was not much to go on. Not to mention... this whole thing felt somewhat strange. Strange and very nostalgic, almost. The girl already solved many different crimes back in the day so perhaps she was in a similar situation, but... it truly felt as if she had already done this at some point in her life. Shaking that feeling for now, she started her little search there, in a hotel near the city's center. Thankfully, the owner was helpful enough to let her inside of the room the couple was staying in after the entire situation was explained. But no matter how hard she looked and how many places she turned upside down, not a single thing that would resemble expensive jewelry was found. With a rather audible sigh she sat down in the hotel's lobby and started thinking. If she lost it and it was nowhere to be found, maybe someone actually stole it? It would certainly not be the first time something like that happened.

Nodding to herself, she left the hotel and started looking around. In scenario like this one, it was best to search for the low-lives that would exchange useful information for favors or shiny things that could fetch a good price. Working with someone like that would not be her first time either, so she knew what she was looking for. At least somewhat. But the city sure was huge. Even if she knew who she was looking for, it didn't mean that she would find them right away. Even when looking through suspicious dark alleys that normal people stayed far away from, all she found were goons that gave her rather aggressive looks. Deciding to leave them alone, she just rummaged through the trash and moved along to her next stop, almost looking like yet another bum, safe for her fancy outfit. At least the sun was shining warmly today, along with the wind that kept the temperature easily manageable. It was always nice when she managed to get her contract on a good day, being able to walk around freely and without the need to hide from rain or excessive heat. Which should also mean that the urchins would be outside of their hideouts, crawling about some corners of the city. She just had to find them!

But the more she thought about it, the stranger it all was. Reward for this contract was a good one, hence why she was walking around the city like some ordinary tourist looking for sights right now. But with that much jewels, surely they could afford new accessories to replace the lost ones, right? But then again, it was possible that they held a strong sentimental value for the pair. If that was indeed the case, someone should sternly tell them that they should keep them close and never let their eyesight from something so important. She herself carried more than one object like that. Something that was of a great value to her being. Without even thinking about it, her hand suddenly rested on one of her pockets, in which a small golden bell with a pink bow lied. Gift from her spirits... they were now back. But that didn't change the fact that the bell was the only thing she had left of them for the longest time. Ah, how many times she found herself clutching it and crying over it? Far too many times was the answer to that question. But no more. She was determined to protect all that she had now. Her thoughts were getting quite serious very quickly on a job that probably wasn't matching such seriousness. But it was good to remind oneself of one's goals every now and then, no matter the situation. But it was all still accompanied by that... indescribable feeling, as if she had already done this. Maybe thought about different things than before, but... she decided to just shake off the feeling once more and continue on. Turning around the corner, Leila suddenly felt incredibly lucky. There was not one, but two little urchins, talking to one another in the damp alley. Calming herself, she tried approaching them. Once she was seen, one of the informants nodded few times to the other and took off running, possibly to his own claimed land in the city.

"Hello there miss! What brings ya to place like this, far from humanity's reach?"

The little one called her, waving his hands above his head like a little kid. In fact, his entire appearance was rather similar to a young boy. His boots were torn apart, pants black as coal and his shirt with sailor print had holes in it, ruining the stripes of blue and white mercilessly. His short blond hair was hardly masking his emerald green eyes and a big smile as he bowed when Leila approached closer.

"Information. And you guys are just the best in that area for that, ain't that right?"

She responded to him, her own smile accompanying her confident gaze. Crouching down to his level, she made sure their eye contact could be easily maintained too. After all these years, she became quite good at reading other people, figuring out if they were telling the truth or lying. Eyes truly were windows to one's soul, as common folk says.

"Why, of course miss! But there is no information that would be free, everything has it's price!"

Obviously he would try to haggle. These guys knew how things worked around these parts and if she wanted to get the correct info, she would have to give him something in exchange for it.

"Naturally. Business is business after all, not even chicken lay egg for free these days. Name your price and maybe we can figure something out?"

Looking over her figure, he clearly started thinking about her words. And his smile indicated that he very much liked the way Leila was thinking just as clearly. She wasn't trying to weasel out of this or get the information for free, he respected that and it clearly gave her a little plus, for what it was actually worth.

"Well, tell me what you want to know first. They we can talk about the payment. Not all information has equal weight, some are more pricey while other is cheaper."

Nodding to his urging, she handed him a small piece of paper that had the precious jewel she was looking for drawn on it. She received it from the client before, so she would actually know what to looking for, and it was coming in handy even now. Taking a good look at the drawn representation, he pondered for a moment before everything ticked over in his mind and he looked at the girl with a kind-looking smile.

"Oh yeah, I know about this! It's new too, so the info's fresh and definitely still usable. I guess someone paid you to retrieve this thing, huh? Which means you'll be going against some of ours. But don't worry, I won't try to stop you. We have our own competitive game and this could give me an edge to others. It also means that you would probably be opposed to paying me in jewels... alright, huh? Let's see..."

Looking over her body for a moment, it took him another minute or so to decide what he wanted to trade with her. Turned out that his request was a most curious one indeed.

"Say miss, your hair is really magical, right? It has those strange marks in it, and it's color fades as it grows longer. I bet I could find a collector that would be interested in it. I'll give you the information if you give up a little bit of your hair!"

He proposed in the end. Her hair having such a value, it definitely was a surprise. And since it would grow back pretty quickly anyway, she had no problem in agreeing to this deal. Holding a little bit of her hair towards him, he revealed a fairly big knife out of nowhere and cut a bit for himself. Sighing at the loss of her lovely hair and the fact that she probably looked little weird right now, she returned to standing position where she had no problem overlooking the little urchin who stuffed the hair into his pocked with a cheeky smile on his face.

"Now that's done, let me tell you. A certain chef has your jewelry, he stole it from some woman when she wasn't looking. It happened in a certain hotel nearby... hmm, but I might need something else if I want to remember it's name!"

It was only natural that he wanted to get as much as he possibly could from her. But unfortunately for the little devil, she already knew what hotel he was talking about. And she even knew where to find the chef. While in the hotel, she asked for him, as she wanted to question him about this whole ordeal. But he was not at the hotel at all. Instead, the owner told her that he was also working in a certain bar. And that bar was fairly close to where she was standing right now. Bowing to the urchin, she left the damp alley and started jogging towards the place. She didn't know it's exact location so it took few minutes to actually find, but once she did, there was no doubt that she was close to finishing this contract. If the chef was her enemy, she should have no problems getting what was stolen back from him. What was bigger surprise was the bar itself. Once she actually saw it, she realized what the place was. She heard rumors way back when, saying that this place was secretly a pawn shop that would sell stolen goods to those who knew what the place actually was. Of course, she never investigated it as there was no real proof, nor a contract for it. But as thing stood now, the rumors were very likely true.

The place was surprisingly spacious, despite it's rather small appearance from the outside. Lack of proper lighting was creating an uncomfortable, eerie atmosphere as she walked towards the counter too. All of the seats were completely empty and the only other person inside the room beside her was her target, waiting behind the counter, eyeing the girl curiously as she approached.

"Welcome to Swen's bar, young lady! What can I get for you?"

His voice was burly and obnoxiously loud. Walking towards him and seating herself on a stool in front of the counter, she ran one of her hands through her hair and eyed him back for a bit.

"Water for now."

Her tone was somewhat arrogant, yet playful as if she was here to flirt but with the intention to turn everyone down in the first place. Her talent of mimicking different personalities when the need arose was something useful in situations such as these, allowing her to sound tough and mighty even when she was scared out of her mind. Not that this was the case, but she had to counter him with words and confirm that he indeed stole the jewelry she was looking for before she would start throwing any accusations around. And for that, a strong and sharp mind was required. If she would show any weakness at all, he would quickly take that to his advantage, getting an upper hand and ultimately denying her accusations. Of course, if it came to that, she could always use brute force on him... but if she got a wrong person and he would call guards on her, then that would be quite the problem indeed. One that she didn't need at all right now. Guards siding with thieves was never good after all, be it intentionally or unintentionally. Looking at her with slightly annoyed expression, he picked up a regular looking glass from behind the wooden counter and started filling it with a crystal clear water from the iron tap. Not taking long at all like a proper barman, he placed the filled glass on top of the wooden desk, sliding it towards Leila who caught it without any issues and drank a bit.

"Surely you didn't come to a bar to have a glass water, did you? What about a whiskey? I have some really high quality stuff that you will surely enjoy, darling."

He started luring her into buying alcohol. Of course, Leila was completely mature and her age allowed for drinking. In fact, she was way older than anyone in this city, seeing how she was a spirit that wandered the plains of void for thousands of years. And in all honesty, strong drink seemed like a really good idea right about now. But she just didn't trust anything in here. While she was a spirit, poison was getting out of her system just as hard as out of human's.

"Rather than whiskey, I was hoping to get something... different. More material, if you get what I mean."

She tried luring him out of comfort zone as well, indicating to him that she knew what this place actually was. Maybe it would work, maybe it would not. There was a good chance that just knowing wasn't enough, a lot of scumbags like him worked only with regulars that they already knew like their own boots. And she definitely wasn't one of those, seeing how she was as new as a freshly born pup here.

It was only for a very brief moment, but Leila was sure that Swen's right eye twitched when she spoke. There wasn't much doubt about the fact that she hit the nail square in the head now. But he wasn't about to give in just yet, that much was clear when he leaned on the counter, closer to the girl herself.

"Haha, whatever do you mean? Oh wait, I know! You meant our new item on the menu, a pack of salted chips, right? Haha, coming right up! Sorry, I'm pretty bad at riddles, dear."

He smiled much louder than he needed to, disappearing into the door behind him for a moment. Getting sensitive about her surroundings, the Eden's witch started looking around, scanning for any possible traps or other people that could try to jump her. He did just go somewhere and she had no idea where, there was always a possibility that he was about to call reinforcements. But in the end, he actually came back with a bowl and bag filled with chips. That was quite the surprise... the bar camouflage was actually worth something for once. Or maybe this place actually did work as a bar for people that had no idea what it really was, earning some extra money on the side. Honestly, that was not a bad strategy at all. But she was still not really interested in actually eating what he was offering, which was a darn shame with the food right in front of her.

"To be honest, I was interested in something much more valuable, good sir."

She continued dropping hints for him, leading him into the open more and more. This was a game of patience, he had to lose his nerves before she would. Why exactly she played this game, she herself did not know. The truth probably was that she enjoyed it. Now that she confirmed for herself that this man is her target with roughly 80% accuracy, she was ready to put him down at any time. But doing so would be just... dreadfully boring. She wanted fun!

"The only more expensive thing we can offer is the alcohol, honestly."

He started defending himself, his tone innocent sounding as much as he could possibly make it. Leila sighed and started playing with her glass of water for a bit, looking at her reflection in the liquid, or perhaps in the glass below it. Getting slightly irritated, Swen placed his hands on the desk right in front of her, closing the distance between their faces.

"Hey, you came here and ordered water and then some chips... are you even old enough to be in this place, missy?"

He started talking in a rather aggressive tone, probably trying to find a good reason to throw her out of this place. And looking up at him, Leila gently nodded.

"Of course, I'm well past the drinking age. Though, it seems like you're actually equipped to deal with those kinda of costumers, looking at what you got me so far."

She commented, her voice sounding like the one of an innocent girl, mimicking how he talked just a few moment ago. Visibly angered, he retreated and increased the distance between them back to the original situation when she entered this place for the first time.

"No idea what you're talking about there, missy. Just one kind of customers I'm prepared to serve here and that's it."

"With chips and ordinary water, it seems like you're ready to deal with small kids that actually can't drink. That's what I meant."

That correction made him jump a little as he realized that she wasn't hinting at him having illegal trades here but something completely normal. Which should have probably been obvious, as the only things he got her were, well... the water and chips. Something that a completely regular bar or even some restaurants would have, nothing to question.

"O..of course! Haha, yeah, we are always ready to deal with children. You know, parents come here with whole families to have a drink. It's only natural that we have something for the young ones as well, yeah!"

He talked as he swept the sweat from his forehead. With a smile, Leila started supporting her head with her hands as she lazily leaned on the counter, looking straight at him with her shining eyes, the blue deeper than most oceans being like open windows into her very soul. But it wasn't him who would stare into hers, rather she was ready to see just exactly what he would be like when trying so desperately to cover his lies and dig himself even deeper into this mess.

"And you just said that you were ready for only one type of customers too. I was starting to wonder if you're actually doing some other... kinds of trades in this place with the way you phrased that, all suspicious like."

Driving him into more anger again without any warning, she was hoping to get a proof out of him soon. But for now, there was still nothing she could actually use against him, and that was hindering the fun a little bit. She started doing it out of her own will, but at this point, it was only prolonging her contract, draining her of energy and ideas. There was only so much she could talk to him about, after all. As much as she wished she would be one, she was no detective. She was a wandering mage, and those were usually solving problems through magic, not talking stuff out like she was doing right now. Stumbling around a little, the man turned towards Leila with his face almost as red as a tomato.

"Are you seriously trying to imply something here, girl? I have no jewelry to sell, this is a bar and nothing else! I cannot sell you any necklace or anything else you're looking for! So I suggest you just finish what I gave you, get up and get the hell out of here before I decide to call the guards for harassing me with no proof of anything!"

He shouted for a bit and then calmed down, as he started adjusting his bow tie. But girl behind the counter only smiled, happy with the results that she received from this man. This whole game was fun, but it was time to finally end it, wasn't it? And what a nice endings this will be.

"But I never said anything about jewelry, good sir."

She responded to him, smirk covering her face as her sharp gaze pierced him. With a gulp, his face turn all kinds of red again, only this time he didn't bother to shout anymore. Only moved his body down again, just like when he was getting the glass for her. But now he was getting a big mace instead, ready to swing it at the girl whenever he got the chance. She was already kinda expecting him to flip out like that, so she jumped back as soon as he went for the weapon. Which was also the moment when the doors to the building opened up, a great number of people suddenly filling the room. In few seconds only, she was surrounded by all manner of thugs from one side and the owner of this pawn shop at the other side. Looking over the crowd, she counted at least ten armored punks, five regular bandits and even the other urchin that ran away from her when she met the urchin duo. Facing all of those people at once would be rather... problematic, to say the least. She was getting her powers back, but fighting such large numbers in a tiny space like this without having the life beaten out of her? Not happening. And then he screamed again, all filled with triumph.

"Go get her boys! We'll strip her of all valuables she has and then enjoy what is left, hah!"

He clearly had little manners, talking about a fair maiden like Leila with that rugged voice and thought behind it. Though, the fact he said they would enjoy her was kinda forcing indecent thoughts into her brain. Once again, the more strange and masochistic side of her was showing it seemed, even everything that had happened. But now was no time to be spacing out over delusions like that, as the crowd started closing in. Not wanting to face them head on, she chose to face the owner first. He was her one actual target after all. So if she could quickly finish him, there was a chance she would be able to escape through the back somehow. Sprinting towards him, he did his best to swing that mace of his straight at her head. But he was surprisingly slow and sloppy with it, making it quite easy for the young and flexible witch to dodge his attack and punch him in the gut instead. That was enough to knock him out of the balance. Getting behind him, she got to his side and summoned her roots in the walls, letting them spear out into his back, letting him fly into the crowd mercilessly. On his way, he managed to knock down few of the punks and fall unconscious himself, which was quite convenient. Once the rest saw how she managed to get him with a single spell, fear filled their eyes and minds. It didn't take long before they started all running away, not wanting to get obliterated by the terrific monster Leila truly was. Not really, but at least this worked in her favor. With a sigh of relief, the girl started searching to place, eventually finding the jewelry she was asked to retrieve. And once she dragged mister Swen over to the guards, she went to her client and returned the necklace successfully. It was another job well done, even though she managed to destroy wall of a certain bar during it all. But even as everything was over, she still couldn't properly shake off the feeling that it was all... fake. As if it was nothing more than a fabricated memory that someone planted into her head just now. Something was messing with her, that much was clear. And she had to figure out what exactly it was to stop it.