"What happened next?" Heinald asked.
"Later, late at night, when the celebrations and entertainment were over, we got on the carriage to return to our house. After traveling for a while, black smoke surrounded our car and they leaked inside. None of us remember what happened after that, when we came to our senses, my husband had already disappeared." Annabelle's eyes filled with tears.
Heinald listened for a while, then nodded. After getting the address of the wedding venue from him, he left and set off. He traveled directly to the wedding venue to inspect.
Furyus Almhad and his family were attacked in the streets of Allivion City. This meant only one thing: The people who attacked him were very confident in the power behind them.
To attack a city meant to assemble all the guards. There was a ban enforced by all the kingdoms in the Ainsar World, it was absolutely impossible to fight or attack someone inside the city.
Every city in the Ainsar realms had numerous formations to quickly spot their attack territory. These formations were all very well hidden, sensing the energy waves and vibrations produced by the magic and revealing that area. Although he had visited many cities, he could not detect a single formation.
But the person or persons who attacked Furyus Almhad found a way to bypass the guards or formation.
This situation made Heinald somewhat uncomfortable. Although he would receive a good amount of Achievement Points for this quest, it was no more important than his life. If the veil of secrecy behind this attack went too deep, he would let it go.
When Heinald went to the address that Ms. Almhad had given him, he found himself in front of a large mansion. Noticing him, the guards immediately bowed to him, and one of them rushed to inform their lord.
When he entered the outermost door of the mansion, he could clearly see the rather large garden. In the non-grass areas of the large garden there were various flowers planted in a circular stone field. Apart from that, there were various ornamental and duck ponds in various parts of the garden.
"Welcome, my lord. I am the chief steward of House Awnard, please follow me and I will escort you to my masters." A middle-aged woman came in front of Heinald and greeted him.
Heinald began following the woman. They started walking on the marble path made in the middle of the garden, leading directly to the entrance of the mansion. When they entered the mansion, there was a couple waiting for them at the entrance.
They were naturally Mr. and Mrs. Awnard.
"Welcome, friend. I'm Ren Awnard, this is my wife Aylla Awnard."
The tall and well-built man stepped forward and introduced himself and his wife. He was wearing a long black Ainsar's Robe, not that he had a youthful appearance, but he did not have an aged appearance either. A Level 2 Ainsar's energy waves were emanating from him. His mate beside him had the energy waves of a Level 1 Ainsar.
"Greetings! I'm here to ask you a few questions, I hope you can spare me some time." Heinald gave a slight nod.
"Of course, please go into the living room." Ren Awnard smiled faintly.
When they entered the great hall, the servants offered them drinks.
"I suppose you're here to ask questions about my old friend Furyus Almhad." Ren Awnard went straight to the point.
"Yeah." Heinald nodded, "If anything caught your attention that night, please tell me.
Ren Awnard caressed his chin for a while, "There were a few other people who came before you. I told them the same thing, we had to deal with a lot of people that day and I couldn't pay much attention to him, but he looked same same to me. However, his wife is not thinking like that, she told me that day he was a little strange."
Heinald nodded, "I know that. Do you know anything else?"
"No." Ren Awnard shook his head.
Heinald left the mansion empty-handed. The people he talked to hadn't given him much helpful information. He was peering thoughtfully out as he rode in the carriage. It was obvious that he had to take a different path, so he would start looking for witnesses. In every city, there would be people who gave a certain amount of intelligence, but the important thing was to find them.
Heinald traveled to the city's market square and after wandering around a bit, found a potion shop. When he entered, a middle-aged man who was a Level 1 Ainsar greeted him.
"Welcome, esteemed sir." The middle-aged man immediately bowed before him.
"Mmm." Heinald gave a slight node and took out a few potions he had stored in his dimensional ring.
"These potions…" The middle-aged man looked at these potions in surprise. It was clear that he didn't recognize these potions.
"It's normal rare potions that you can't identify them, and I've made some improvements to them. Doesn't your shop also have one of the magic items that can identify potions' effects?"
Heinald smiled faintly.
"Did you make some improvements to these potions?" The middle-aged man looked at him in surprise, then at the potions.
The middle-aged man was even more shocked after identifying the effects of the potions with a magic item. He had realized that Heinld was no ordinary potions master. He was both a Level 2 Ainsar and a top Potions Master.
Heinald had several reasons to come to this shop. One of them was his ability to use potions as power indicators; he could be considered a Potions Grandmaster. Therefore, those who saw his potions would naturally be more easily convinced that he was no ordinary Ainsar. The second reason was that potion shops in cities were always under the control of large families, so they would keep a close eye on other shops in the city.
This middle-aged man was just someone who worked in this shop, but he must have known a lot about the shops in this city.
Heinald knew that if he made a strong impression on him, it would be much easier to obtain some of the information he wanted. One of the biggest reasons for this was, of course, his fortune as a top potions master.
"Do you know a place where I can get intelligence?" Heinald asked.
"I know, my lord." The middle-aged man nodded.
"I need intelligence for an important job, if you can give me the address, I will give you these potions for free." Heinald pointed to the potions in front of him.
The middle-aged man's eyes shone with excitement, he immediately took a piece of paper and wrote down an address.
Heinald had a slight smile on his face as he left the shop. When he got into the carriage, he told the rider to go to the address written on the paper.
After a while the carriage stopped in front of a shop in a narrow street.
The sign of this shop read "El's Armhood".
When Heinald walked in, he saw many liquor bottles on display. In the back of the shop was a skinny man with messy gray hair. He wore round-rimmed glasses that were too small for his face.
"Welcome, sir. How can I help you?" When the man noticed him, he stood up and greeted him. This man was a Level 1 Ainsar.
"I need to get some intelligence." Heinald said.
The man's expression turned serious, "Enter through the back door, then go down the stairs."
Heinald headed for the back door, opened it, then went down the stairs. When he came down, he saw a stone wall covering his vision. In the middle of this wall was a small window.
"What do you want to know?" A soft female voice was heard.
"Do you know anything about Furyus Almhad?" Heinald asked.
"He saw or heard something he shouldn't have known. That's why he was eliminated." The soft female voice was heard again.
"What?" Heinald's brows furrowed.
"I can give you the name of someone who knows some important information on this subject. This person is also an eyewitness. But it will cost you dearly."
"How much do you want?" Heinald asked.
"Ten thousand Arkana Stones."
Heinald left the shop with a straight expression. He went straight back to the address given to him. Ten thousand Arkana Stones was a small sum for him. Compared to the Achievement Points that the quest he was after would earn him, this amount was definitely an ant staying next to a giant.
"How much do you want?" Heinald asked.
"Ten thousand Arkana Stones."
Heinald left the shop with a straight expression. He went straight back to the address given to him. Ten thousand Arkana Stones was a small sum for him. Compared to the Achievement Points that the quest he was after would earn him, this amount was definitely an ant staying next to a giant.