Enigma of Sin

Upon reentering the tavern, Kayn was met with both looks of astonishment and fear. Some were even clearly showing relief on their face, glad that they had decided to back out as it was clear they would be dead now. The redhead showed a look of interest as she stole glances at Kayn while drinking whatever was in her mug.

Kayn completely ignored everyone else and made his way to the corner table, where his target was now shivering in fear. He had tried to flee the scene, but was quickly held in his spot by the tavern owner.

The barkeeper who was standing nearby shook his head, but still asked Kayn a question. "I kept him here for you, just in case. Want a drink of anything while you do whatever business it is with that guy?"

"No that's okay, we won't be staying." Kayn spoke before throwing several pouches he had stashed into his belt on top of the bar counter. "Sorry, I killed a bunch of your patrons this evening. That should make up for your lost sales."

Kayn hadn't forgotten to loot the money from those he killed. Leaving it behind would have just led to the ones inside scrounging through the ash and burnt corpses for it anyway. He hadn't found anything else useful aside from an enchanted staff and sword, both wielded by the 4th stage mages.

Unfortunately, he didn't have a ton of room to carry stuff unless he brought out the Villa, and that just wasn't worth it for the rest of the trash weapons and armor.

He threw all of that into the pile that was burned as well. The weapons might be usable still, but the armor would be destroyed. He didn't want to take any of it with him to sell or give away, but he also wasn't going to leave it behind for this crowd to take as they pleased.

He kept the money pouches belonging to the 4th and 3rd stages for himself, but the rest he gave to the tavern owner partly as an apology for disturbing his business and partly as payment for keeping his target in place.

Kayn's target was just as described. This surprised Kayn a great deal as he was under the assumption that the man had disguised himself somehow whenever he was kidnapping someone. 

The only notable difference was that the man was described and drawn as having black hair and brown eyes, but the person in front of him had blond hair and blue eyes. The horns curling around his ears gave away that he wasn't a complete human, but they seemed to be the only non-human feature he had.

The man watched as the Master of Puppets approached, hopeful that the person only wanted to do some business with him as he had said. No one knew yet that Kayn's main profession was assassination as the Master of Puppets title had been granted from how he dealt with the High Rollers mercenary group. They just assumed he was a mercenary for hire or something.

Kayn grabbed the guy by the back of his collar and began to drag him away. He quickly started yelling out for help and even addressed the barkeeper, "You can't let him take me like this! Help me! Please!"

Many looked at the man with pity after what they had seen when they went to view the scene outside. Nothing good awaited the man who was previously joyfully bragging about his latest success.

The barkeeper laughed though, "You abduct people for a living, kind of ironic you're being abducted yourself. Have fun!"

The barkeeper watched as Kayn dragged the man out of the tavern and into the surrounding forest. Running his hand through his hair as he glanced at the large fire burning brightly into the night, he spoke out loud.

"Ha, what a crazy bastard. Luckily, I was smart enough to stay out of it."

With that, he turned around and entered the tavern to resume business as usual, he would have to wait until the fire finished burning before commanding some of his workers to deal with the mess.

…

Meanwhile, Kayn set up the Wanderer's Villa in the middle of a bunch of trees, well away from the tavern and its formations. In a plain stone room in the basement, a man with blue eyes, horns, and blond hair was in the process of having his wrists and ankles tied to a chair. He was still blabbering nonsense about speaking like professionals and such, but Kayn directly ignored his pleading.

Anyone who would kidnap a child to sell didn't deserve his time. He was going to get the information he needed and then end the man's life, simple as that.

Kayn put up one finger in front of the man's face and created a rough 5 cm (2") flame on top of his finger that resembled what would come out of a blow torch on Earth.

"I'll ask one time before I start, what did you do with the kid you abducted recently?"

"What!? That's what this is about? I'll tell! I'll tell you! Please just don't use that on me!" The man screamed in fear, both of his eyes directed at the jet flame coming from Kayn's finger.

'That was easier than I expected…' Kayn thought to himself, but outwardly he said "Well?"

"I was commissioned to take the kid, or well any healthy kid, and bring them to an auction house that functions outside of the normal rules. I work with them a lot to bring them workers or wares.

"They just wanted a healthy boy of below 10 years of age! I only took the one I did because he was the first I saw and an easy target! I can go get him and give them another if you just need that kid specifically!"

Kayn frowned hearing this new information, a black-market auction house that dealt in slaves which was functioning within the Mancean Empire? In the capital city no less. Wasn't Mancea supposed to be super against slavery, sparing no effort to eradicate any sign of it within their borders?

This must be what Charlotte means by there being several among the upper echelon who were corrupted and allowing these things to take place.

In order to get the child back, he would have to infiltrate the auction house, but that would probably be a bigger issue than he thought. Once he got the location out, he would need to call Charlotte and consult with her before taking any action.

"So, where is the place you sold the kid and do they hold him in the same building before the auction takes place?" Kayn asked, though seeing the man's face change a little, he had a bad feeling about the answer.

"Well, you see, umm, there is supposed to be an auction today in the evening and I'm guessing that the boy is going to be sold during it." The man sheepishly replied.

"So how were you expecting to get another kid and exchange him in time? Hmmm?" Kayn questioned, but instead of giving the man time to answer, he punched him in the face a few times.

"Now, tell me where the auction is and where the child is being kept before I decide to use your face as a punching bag until there's nothing left of your skull but paste."

The man started bawling at this point and mumbling about how he was forced to kidnap people and such. None of it concerned Kayn as all he wanted was the location for the auction and where the captives were held or if it was a different location. Slapping the man and putting a flame in front of his face again, the man finally came out of his stupor.

"Are you going to kill me if I tell you?" He asked with some resignation in his voice.

"Yes. How painfully you die is determined by your answer to my question or not and how truthful your statement is." Kayn had secretly called Charlotte, and while she was confused at first, she understood what was happening by hearing this last part of the conversation.

She was basically going to be a lie detector for Kayn. She personally wasn't a big fan of torture, but she understood the stakes at play and that it was sometimes necessary.

"Fine, just make it painless please." The man stated before he began to describe a location in the outer ring that was close to the walls of the middle ring. It was in the northern section of Palatine.

The above ground portion was a general store meant for the upper lower class and he also stated what he needed to say and do to get access to the black-market area.

Kayn nodded his head, but before killing the man as he said he would, he spoke out loud, "Well? Was he telling the truth?"

The man opened his eyes wondering if Kayn had gone crazy or not, but then the voice of a female echoed from the Puppet Master's pocket. "Yes, well, mostly. Location and general information were true, but how to gain access was a lie. Most likely he was telling you the code word for 'I'm an intruder, kill me'."

The man started to shake with fear at this point, how was he supposed to know this maniac had a lie detector with him?! "I'm sorry! Please, I'm sorry! It just came out of my mouth because that's what I was trained to say! In truth just knock on the side door of the building and tell them you're there to buy some luck! That's all I know, please!"

"That was the truth." Charlotte stated.

"Thank you, I'll call you again in a little while." Kayn said before hanging up the call.

"Even though you lied to me, I will end your miserable life painlessly as you asked."

Without another word from the man or himself, Kayn shot a lightning bolt through the man's forehead, killing him instantly. He then checked his belongings for any information before igniting his body with Extinction Flames.

It was time to prepare for an auction raid.