"Of course, I hope we can resolve this peacefully. Many of you here are good people, and we won't wrong any innocent person. The Basharan Empire is friendly and very welcoming of your trade in Ouro City. If any of you know something, you can tell me, and then you'll be free to leave. Neither of us likes wasting time, right?"
Sean continued his speech.
It was actually similar to the avalanche incident in Talamian—back then, the culprit was among the crowd, so he had to provoke them to spot someone with a different favorability on the map.
The merchants before him weren't many, and he could clearly see each one's favorability and status. This time, he needed to watch their emotional shifts.
If they knew nothing, they'd simply find him annoying and a waste of time. Their favorability and status would show extreme reactions. Those who knew a little would hesitate, while those who had actually taken something would appear nervous.
Merchants weren't immune to showing off; in fact, humans all had a habit of flaunting. If someone had taken something, they might have shown it off among their fellow merchants, and those people would now be anxious and tense.
"Not talking, huh?"
Sean had already observed the emotional changes of the dozen or so people around him, and a few indeed displayed the expected states.
"In that case, I'll have to question you one by one." He waved Joseph over and whispered a few words in his ear.
At that moment, all the Edak merchants present grew tense.
"You, come here."
"Wait, what do you want? We're just merchants! You can't treat merchants like this—we're merchants from Bahahama!" one Edak man wailed pitifully.
"We know exactly where you're from. We don't intend to harm you, just have a chat. Ouro City is very hospitable."
Joseph had a knack for dealing with captives; a few words could make a traveling merchant too scared to stand.
Traveling merchants were well-traveled, but that didn't mean they weren't afraid of death.
Especially in front of someone as intimidating as Joseph.
As the man was taken away, a series of agonized screams echoed from the alley.
Sean had previously instructed Joseph to scare one of them, specifically targeting someone whose emotional state showed fear, worry, and tension.
Whatever method Joseph used, it made the man scream like a pig being slaughtered.
Ah!
Tsk tsk tsk.
Smooth, smooth.
"Sir, we know nothing about this. We're just ordinary merchants, not thieves—we wouldn't take anything from the city."
"Aren't you taking plenty right now?" Sean gestured at the furniture scattered haphazardly across the street.
"This..."
Who would have thought he'd bring up something nobody even wanted?
Something nobody wanted...
"Whether you know or not, we'll find out after questioning. Keep an eye on them. Next!" Sean ordered, then followed the soldiers toward the alley.
Out of sight, Joseph was using nothing more than a whetstone and a provocative attitude to terrify the man before him with sheer presence.
"General," Joseph said respectfully as Sean approached.
The alley reeked of sewage, fitting the scene perfectly. The Edak merchant was on the verge of collapsing from fear.
"Look here, our friend. You wouldn't still be clueless at a time like this, would you?"
"I... I really don't know, truly, General," the man said with a mournful face.
No negative or lying status appeared above his head—it seemed he wasn't lying.
"Not even a hint?"
"No, we have no idea what happened." Seeing the man's insistence, Sean wondered if he'd been wrong, but he hadn't explained clearly earlier.
He leaned close to the merchant's ear and whispered.
"For instance, your leader in Bahahama sent you to find some book. You must know something about that." The moment the words left his mouth, the man froze.
"I..."
"Know?"
The man shook his head.
"Don't know?"
He shook his head again.
Just as Sean was about to signal Joseph behind him, the merchant quickly changed his tone.
"I know a little, but I'm not sure if it's what you're asking about, General."
"Go on."
"It's... it's something I heard in the Bahahama region. A merchant who ran into danger in Takoma City returned to Bahahama after the incident, and he was completely different." The merchant spoke breathlessly, without pause or room for thought. No lying status appeared above his head either.
"Different how?" Sean asked.
The danger he mentioned was likely the last Takoma City incident—the one during the Immortal's summoning. Some who woke up then might have been foreign merchants.
"He was a merchant too, but after returning, he suddenly changed, like a different person. He became an artist—learned oil painting and was especially good at music. His paintings even caught the favor of Lord Mahadi." The merchant spoke as if telling a fantastical tale.
"Are you sure he learned it all after returning?"
"Yes, we'd all seen him before—a simple, honest merchant, unremarkable even in a caravan," the merchant insisted.
"So what does this have to do with what you're saying?"
"This is the point. His paintings amazed many nobles—fresh and strange, almost magical in their allure. Once, he painted a very peculiar picture, like the image of a book, and he inexplicably said that book might be in old Takoma City, so..."
"So you came looking for it?" Sean said.
"This was just a rumor among traveling merchants. They said Lord Mahadi privately offered a thousand gold coins to whoever found it. We treated it as a joke—few took it seriously."
That statement rang hollow. Sean had learned from his travels that merchants would chase even the slightest chance of profit.
"Did you find it?"
"No, we didn't take it seriously at all."
Sean tightened his grip on the man's collar.
"Of course, we've also heard another version..."
"What version?"
"The reason that merchant suddenly became talented was because he brought something back from Takoma City—a statue made of some unknown material, with strange creatures painted on it. Someone saw it, though they weren't sure."