Chapter 805

Lily shook her head, “Actually we have four destinations. Of course we can try to find the new two places, but we might also be better served speaking to Jara or Apep about things... personally I’d like to see what Jara has to say. Find out how much we should look into Gaston’s death. Apep... well we might work for him but I don’t really trust him to think it all through in regards to Zuhra. That and well... Jara just seems to have her shit together. I feel like she’ll actually know the best course of action... and maybe even where Marem and the Trading Company are. I just don’t know if we want to risk Zuhra seeing us,” explained Lily.

Kat let out a puff of air across Lily’s ears making them twitch for a little bit before settling down, “I see your point. I’m not really sure we have enough evidence to suggest that Gaston and the 8th are connected but... at the same time Zuhra is... if not a friend of Jara’s a good subordinate and a marriage candidate for Apep. It might be worth looking into if there is even the slightest chance of it being true.

“So I’m not opposed to looking into things... but yeah having Jara’s blessing would be nice. But we have time. I’m just thinking that if we can find out a bit more first it might be for the best. Then again... even if we can find the trading company I’m not sure they’ll just see us immediately. As for Marem’s house... we might have to go to Jara or even Zuhra herself for that one,”

Lily groaned, “Ugh... why couldn’t this be easy. Still, I think we can both agree to strike off Apep from our next destination. Maybe we can visit him at night and give him a status update but I doubt he’ll be able to help us much. Between Marem, Jara and Long River Road Traders I think we can also eliminate Marem’s house. We just don’t know where she lives.”

Kat nodded, “Yeah. So it’s between LRRT and Jara... what do you think the chances are we can find out where LRRT’s headquarters is?”

Lily shrugged, “Well... I think they have to have a base somewhere around this area right? How else would Zuhra be able to meet up with Gaston regularly?”

Kat nodded, “Good point. So shall we make that our next destination?”

.....

“I think so,” confirmed Lily with a nod.

With that decided it was time to get back to work... though neither Kat nor Lily particularly felt like getting up at the moment. Five more minutes, they agreed in sync. It was nice to let themselves relax. Despite that though... they’d already taken an hour break early before they spoke about anything and wasting too much extra time was probably a bad idea. So a short time later, Kat, with Lily in hand, hopped down onto the road.

They walked around a little until they found a moderately well dressed individual, “Excuse me do you know where I can find the Long River Road Traders’ headquarters?”

The man turned and looked over Kat for a few moments before shrugging, “I don’t rightly know that company... but if I had to guess,” he turned to the left, away from the 8th’s compound, “about five streets over that way is the start of the 8th’s merchant district. I can’t guarantee the place you’re looking for is there, but if it’s anywhere near the 8th, that’s the place,”

“Thank you sir,” said Kat with a slight inclination of her head before she marched down the streets. Kat needed to walk forward for some time before a left turn came up. It seemed to be a main thoroughfare. Wagons were being pulled by teams of two or four people, women with baskets walked along the edges, a few kids could be see hanging around and the occasional person sprinting with a messenger bag could be witnessed making deliveries.

Kat was tempted to take to the air and just fly... but without actually knowing where she was going there wasn’t much point. So she walked along the sidewalk, keeping her wings in close and trying not to let her tail sway too far to the side. The street was crowded enough already and causing further congestion wouldn’t be ideal. Kat was constantly finding herself turning and twisting to make good progress on the road. It was mostly instinctual once she’d decided to avoid things but there were a few looks thrown her way during particularly close calls with her tail or wings.

*It’s not like I can restrict myself any more than this. My wings are folded and my tail is doing its best. I might not have it wrapped around my stomach, but I know from experience that just makes things worse, especially if I’m trying to be quite specific about not running into anyone!*

[I’m so glad I decided to let you carry me. I was mostly just feeling to lazy to walk. Plus, when I don’t have to worry about being heavy or you getting tired from physical exercise it really is an easy decision to make. Then this mess shows up. All the side streets were so quiet. Is there some rule about not using them or something? This is madness]

Whatever the case, things didn’t get better until all of a sudden they did. Instead of a side street, another main street intersected with the duo’s current path. It was just as wide and looked particularly busy. They even had a person in a bright white shirt... well a shirt that had once been bright white, directing the traffic as best they could. They were followed... for the most part... but many people tried their luck sneaking across after their time was ‘up’ and judging by the looks of annoyance but lack of action, it was probably better to just let it go, rather then spending the time necessary to detain the trouble makers, subsequently holding things up further.

When Kat and Lily got to the other side it was immediately clear they were in the merchant district. The size of the road doubled, the footpaths added perhaps another third and all of the builders were less buildings and more small compounds. They also had their own somewhat large aqueduct runoffs providing water. Some split further, a little bit to a few areas, while others directed the entire flow to one warehouse.

Kat looked around, most people in this area seemed busy, half jogging to get to their destination faster, or holding the weight of a cart up with their fellows. She didn’t want to interrupt anyone in too much of a hurry. Eventually, Kat managed to spot a small child sitting on one of the many fences while snacking on a biscuit. Kat continued with the flow of people for a few more steps before kicking off the ground sharply. It was no trouble to jump something so minor as a fence that was really more to stop casual observers and mark territory than real security. Kat’s feet landed gracefully and she quickly sat down beside the child. “Excuse me, do you know where I can find Long River Road Traders?”

The kid looked a little surprised at being asked, but they just pointed further down the road to one particular compound. It was easy to see now, with the fence painted with blue and dusty yellow tripes. Probably a stylised depiction of the river road. *Well now I kinda feel like an idiot.* “Thank you!”

Kat hopped down, back in the mess of people and instantly realised why she didn’t spot her destination before. It’s because she could barely see anything properly. Even if she was taller than most women, that didn’t stop men being taller than her, or carts being stacked high enough to block her view completely, or in the case of many, seeing over the baskets placed atop many a head. *I now feel like less of an idiot.*

[Well I wasn’t going to say anything the first time because I felt you weren’t all that serious... but now I’m looking at this it’s kind of a mess. I guess they just expect everyone to know where they are going?]

*I’m honestly not sure... I can’t imagine it was by design. Even if you know roughly where you are going you still need a bit of direction.* That was when Kat realised her new problem. They’d manage to reach their destination. Sort of. The Long River Road Traders’ place was right next to them. On the other side of the road. Kat quickly hopped back onto the fence and glared at the street. *It wouldn’t be hard to jump... but I don’t know if I want that kind of attention...*

[While I think your worry is valid... I’d be more concerned with people looking up my kimono if I was you]

*Bah. It’s just a second or two of underwear Lily. That’s not even taking into account how poor the angle will be for most of them. Especially if I wait for a cart to pass by and jump over that.*