The party ate while Elaine talked. "Recently, we've had troubles with a terrorist group in the area. They've been carrying out abductions, harassing citizens, and there have even been rumors of murder. The dock fire and explosion by pier 7 was apparently their work as well." Elaine's voice dropped in volume as she said this.
This sounds… familiar, Aralynn thought. By the exchange of glances around the group, she could tell that the rest of the party felt much the same. It was almost an exact repetition of their first assignment, where they'd met as a party.
"And I presume that you want us to deal with them?" Hadarai asked.
"Yes, and no." Elaine hushed her voice even further, glancing around before continuing. Luckily, the tavern was much too loud for anyone else to listen in on them, but Elaine leaned in regardless. "The terrorists that I speak of are far too well organized for that. I just need you to destroy one of their airships, carrying valuable cargo. I'll pay you 50 gold each upfront just for taking the job. 100 gold after you destroy the ship. How about it?
Aralynn narrowed her eyes. That's a lot of money for a tavern owner to be throwing around, she thought. Does she have asponsor?
[Comprehension Lv. 4 has been activated!]
[Comprehension has determined that Elaine, the bartender, does not have a sponsor providing her with support.]
... Strange, but not unexpected. This place is pretty full, after all, Aralynn thought.
Perona perked up at the mention of an airship. "What's its name? And you said the gang is well-organized—do they go by anything?"
Elaine cast another wary glance around the tavern, ensuring no eyes or ears lingered too close. "They don't use a formal name. Only a symbol—something they leave behind after every job."
Amon leaned in slightly. "Go on. What is it?"
Elaine's gaze swept the room once more before she turned back, face pale, her voice a whisper like it might summon death itself.
"The airship I need you to destroy… is the Blue Locust 2. It docked just recently."
The party froze. Perona nearly choked on her drink but recovered quickly. The rest quickly buried their reactions behind bites of food and lowered gazes.
Elaine continued. "The hidden group that it belongs to leaves a single symbol in its wake—the Aere Manus—the Brass Hand, carved in whatever nearby material there is. Wood, stone, flesh—it doesn't matter to them."
Perona was the first to speak, carefully choosing her words. "We've… heard plenty about this group. We'll need time to consider this properly. If what you're saying is true, we need to be sure we understand what we're walking into."
"Of course," Elaine replied, her voice barely above a whisper. Her lips trembled, and she kept darting glances around the tavern as if expecting someone to overhear. "I'll give you space, then. But… the sooner, the better. If you choose to accept, find me."
Perona gave a curt nod. The moment Elaine turned away, she opened her palm. Five faint pink sparks danced from her fingertips—one drifting toward each party member, save for Derrick. They hovered above their heads for a heartbeat before winking out of sight.
Then, a screen prompt popped up in front of Aralynn.
{Perona: Can you all see this? Nod if yes.}
The party nodded in unison. It appeared that Aralynn wasn't the only one who had received the message.
{Perona: This is one of my telepathy skills. There's another where it's essentially a private talking room, but this will do for now. Think what you want to say, and it'll show up.}
Hadarai nodded.
{Hadarai: So, Elaine wants us to fight the Brass Hand. With the money that she's throwing around... it can't be solely for business. If she can just do so, I can understand why the Brass Hand might give her a hard time.}
{Amon: Agreed. Take off your rings if you have them on. Hide them—in your pockets, backpacks, wherever. Looks like the Brass Hand has a bad rep in this city. We don't want to make this entire Port our enemies.}
Aralynn's ring was still hidden underneath her glove. In the corner of her eyes, she could see Hadarai and Grango discretely slip the signet rings off of their hands and tuck them into their pockets, as if putting away spare change.
{Grango: So… what do we do next?}
{Aralynn: First step is warning Celran. Even if we don't take this job, Irene might hire people who are more willing to attack what appears to be a terrorist organization. While we're at it, we might as well accept her offer—while we don't know if she'll contract others, this way we might dissuade her from doing so.}
{Perona: I'm with you. We'll sort things out with Celran after we inform him. The tricky part'll be getting to him unnoticed—if Elaine knows the airship by name, chances are she's keeping eyes on it.}
{Amon: We'll handle that when the time comes. I can take care of talking to Celran.}
{Perona: Alright. Then for now, let's take her up on the offer.}
Perona stood up and snapped her fingers. The screens disappeared and she expectantly waited for the rest of the party to follow her, and the group walked over to Elaine by the bar.
"We've decided to take your offer." Perona said.
"Perfect," Elaine said with a shaky nod. "The sooner, the better—those terrorists have been tearing this town apart. But get some rest first. Your rooms are on the house tonight." Elaine paused. "Think it over. I wouldn't ask anyone to risk their lives or make powerful enemies without sleeping on it first. If, come morning, you're still willing to help… find me. I'll be at the bar. I always am."
A flicker of steel passed through her eyes as she turned away.