[Ren’s POV]
By the time I arrived at Sera’s estate, I was beginning to wonder whether finding two missing women was really worth all this trouble. It wasn’t that I disliked a challenge. Quite the opposite, actually. I had spent enough time playing games to know that the satisfaction of completing a difficult quest usually came from the effort required to reach the end. The problem was that this particular quest involved people who could disappear into a city whenever they pleased, an organisation that seemed to have fingers in every corner of Haremdale, and a man whose whereabouts were apparently more difficult to establish than those of the two women I was looking for.
The guards at the entrance recognised me and allowed me through without much fuss. One of them led me inside, where I was eventually shown into the same room as before. Sera was seated near the window, looking through a collection of papers. She didn’t immediately acknowledge my arrival, finishing whatever she was reading before setting it aside.
"You’re becoming a familiar face, Ren."
"Should I take that as a compliment?"
"That depends on how often you intend to visit."
"Well, I was hoping you might have something useful for me today. That should determine how often you see me."
A faint smile crossed her face as she gestured towards the chair opposite her. I took the invitation and sat down, watching her carefully. Sera was the sort of person who rarely gave anything away without a reason. Even when she was being friendly, there was always the impression that she was weighing the value of whatever was being said.
"I’ve had my people looking into your request," she said. "They’ve managed to find something."
I leaned forward slightly. "You’ve found Clara and Maren?"
"My people have seen both of them."
That was better than nothing. At least they hadn’t vanished entirely. "Where are they?"
"I haven’t pinpointed their exact location yet. We have sightings, but nothing reliable enough to give you an address. Haremdale is a large city, and people can be surprisingly difficult to follow when they don’t want to be found."
"Are you saying they’re deliberately avoiding attention?"
"I’m saying that I don’t know." Sera folded her hands on the desk. "The sightings are spread across different parts of the city. I don’t intend to give you a location based on a rumour and have you waste an afternoon searching an empty building."
Fair enough. I wasn’t particularly interested in chasing ghosts either. Still, knowing that her people had actually seen the sisters was encouraging. It meant they were somewhere in Haremdale, and I could finally stop wondering whether they had already left the city.
"What about Joseph?" I asked. "Have you found anything on him?"
Sera’s expression changed only slightly, but I noticed it. "Less than I’d like."
"That’s not very reassuring."
"My people haven’t managed to get a clear reading on him. There have been a few reports, but they’re inconsistent. Nothing I can confidently identify as his current whereabouts."
I frowned. "So you can find the sisters, but not him?"
"I said we’ve seen the sisters. I didn’t say we had found them." She gave me a measured look. "And Joseph is proving particularly difficult to track. I won’t pretend otherwise."
That was strange. Joseph had been involved with the Dale sisters, and from what I’d seen, he wasn’t exactly the sort of man who could move through the city without attracting attention. His reputation in Millhaven had been terrible, yet the man I’d encountered at the festival was nothing like the useless drunk people had described. He was capable, observant, and seemed to know more than he should. Now, apparently, he was also difficult to find.
I leaned back in my chair. "I suppose I’ll have to be patient."
"That would be advisable."
"Patience isn’t exactly my strongest quality."
"I had gathered."
I gave her a look, but she only smiled. There was something irritating about how easily she managed to turn a conversation around on me. It wasn’t unpleasant, though. Sera was certainly more interesting than most of the people I’d met since arriving in this world.
"Keep looking," I told her. "If your people find anything more concrete about Clara or Maren, I want to know."
"And Joseph?"
"Him too."
"I’ll see what I can do."
I studied her for a moment. "You seem unusually interested in finding him."
"Perhaps I have my own reasons."
"Business?"
"Something like that."
She didn’t elaborate, and I wasn’t about to push. Everyone had their secrets, and Sera seemed to have more than most. Besides, I had already learned that trying to get information out of her by asking the same question in different ways was unlikely to work.
We spoke for a little longer, mostly about the difficulty of gathering reliable information in Haremdale. Sera explained that her contacts were spread across several districts, but even they had limits. People could be bribed, frightened into silence, or simply mistaken about what they had seen. She wasn’t going to promise me results she couldn’t guarantee, which I appreciated more than I expected. At least I knew where I stood.
Eventually, I rose from my chair and thanked her for the update. She accompanied me towards the door, reminding me that she would send word if anything changed. I told her I would hold her to that, earning another small smile before I left.
I hadn’t found the sisters, and Joseph was still missing, but it wasn’t a wasted visit. Two confirmed sightings were more than I had yesterday. For now, that would have to be enough.
As I stepped outside, a familiar notification brought me out of my thoughts.
A translucent screen appeared before my eyes.
[HERO SYSTEM]
[COMPANION BOND PROGRESS]
Target: Sera Voss
Bond Progress: 15%
Fifteen percent was a lot depending on how you looked at it, If a smart and relatively dangerous woman like Sera was starting to show interest in you then I can bet you that fifteen percent was a lot of progress and I like that. I knew what I had to do next.
Quickly get her to fall for me.