There was a knock at the door. I answered it, expecting Lenora, since she mostly returned from work around this time in the evening. I wasn't wrong. But she wasn't alone today.

  Lenora introduced the second woman as Cynthia Radcliff. She had pale blonde hair, green eyes and an aristocratic nose. From the way she was dressed, it was obvious that she came from a place of money. But the look on her face spoke of disappointment and disgrace with a pinch of shame. She looked like someone who had fallen off from somewhere high.

  While I brought them both a glass of water, Lenora told me why she had brought the woman along. I listened carefully with growing apprehension in my heart. At some point, Lily and Smokewell joined us in the living room after overhearing the conversation.

  After Lenora and Cynthia were done explaining, Smokewell was the first one to speak up. “So you want us to find your lost brother? Well, everything has a pric–”

  I held her muzzle shut. “Calm your whiskers!” I snapped in a quiet voice that only Lily and the cat could hear. “That woman right there might be our first client as adventurers, don't get straight to begging for money!”

  “Miss Elsa is right,” Lily whispered to the cat. “That'll only make us look like a bunch of starving hobos.”

  The cat rolled her eyes but to our surprise, she didn't argue any further. I turned back to Cynthia and asked, “Is this the first time your brother has severed all contact like this? Or is it a regular thing for him to disappear and not even send a letter or a telegram?”

  The Radcliff lady frowned in thought before saying, “Mostly whenever he goes away like that at least he tells me where he is going. But no, he also isn't too keen on keeping me updated.”

  “What about the financial situation?” I asked. “Does he keep you updated about that?”

  “Not…really,” she said as her face slipped into uncertainty.

  “What kind of business was it that he drew all that money for?” Lily asked.

  “Something related to digging.” Cynthia shrugged. “The loan was for buying excavators and other heavy steam powered machinery.”

  “Those are very expensive,” Lenora added. “Almost thousands of steambolts.”

  “And I'm guessing you'd still need laborers to mine things and such,” Lily said.

  “But would it really cost as much as all of your inheritance and property getting stripped off?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.

  “Um, not really, if I’m being honest” Lenora said a bit nervously. “I feel like the Urban Vault is playing some kind of shady game with this particular loan.”

  I nodded and looked at Cynthia. “Didn’t you feel anything was weird while reading the loan agreement?”

  “I didn’t read it.” She shook her head. “Rowland said he needed the money so I just signed where he told me to.”

  “I beg your pardon?” I was sure I didn't hear her right. “You really signed just because he asked?”

  “He wanted to start his business,” Cynthia said. “It sounded like a good idea. Plus, he said the profit was going to be huge. The loan and interest would look like pocket change once he started earning.”

  “And you…believed him?” I asked in a half- stunned voice.

  “He is my brother,” Cynthia said as if that was all the justification needed for her action. I didn't poke any further and just looked at Lenora.

  “We need to discuss something,” I said and lifted Smokewell under my arm. Lily, Lenora, the cat and I huddled in the hallway close to the living room. “I'm being polite here, Nora. Why did you bring her here?”

  “I thought she was a perfect client for an adventurer. Just find her brother and that's it.” Lenora shrugged.

  “We said we were only going to work for the rich,” Lily said.

  “The Radcliffs are rich!” Lenora said.

  “She is one of the poor ones, it seems,” Smokewell said. “And after listening to her story, I'm not surprised that she is.”

  “Okay.” I took a deep breath before speaking further. “Giving her the benefit of the doubt, does she at least have influence or contacts?”

  Lily shook her head. “I don't think she would've come to us if she had any of that.”

  “That's why I said ‘benefit of the doubt’.” I looked at Lenora. “Does she?”

  “Um, turns out, her family is a gang of assholes that has turned their backs on her because of her decision,” Lenora said.

  “What about friends?” I asked.

  “She might have a couple of them,” Lenora said, scratching the back of her neck.

  “You don't look very sure,” I said.

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  “It doesn't matter, are you going to help her or not?” Lenora said. “All you have to do is find her brother. It shouldn't be difficult for you folks.”

  I held back from rolling my eyes. I pulled out my osteodial and focused on the question: Is Cynthia Radcliff going to be useful to us in future?

  The bone started spinning. Before it could give an answer, Cynthia spoke up behind us, “I understand if you don't want to help me. You are running a business, not a charity.” She was adjusting her skirt and preparing to leave.

  “No, stop!” I said. The golden bone had finally stopped spinning and it pointed towards ‘yes’. I looked up at the woman. “For now, we won't charge you anything. And I guess, we can at least try searching for your brother.”

  ****

  We took the tram back to Orowen. Cynthia told us a bit about her family history on the way. The Radcliffs used to be a big deal around Ravenwind because of their textile business. The reason they were able to make such a name for themselves was because of their intricate designing and handwoven fabrics. They exported a lot of that cloth overseas and there were even some kings who wore what her father's artisans had crafted. But the economics of Ravenwind took a turn when the Steam Elemental arrived.

  The machines started replacing humans and mass production replaced craftsmanship. The kings and nobility had already become irrelevant a decade before that due to what was called the People's War.

  “The commoners were more educated than before,” Cynthia said. “Because big factories needed people who could at least read or write and run the machines. At some point, people realized that they were people and they had rights that were being suppressed by the nobility. And so the People's War happened.”

  “Did your father's artisans participate in the war?” Lily asked.

  Cynthia shook her head. “My father loved the people who worked for him. Even when the business was near bankruptcy he let them work without compromising their payments. Which was a bad business move, Rowland always says.” She sighed tiredly and shrugged. “He was right because our craftsmen couldn’t match the speed of mass producing factories and their lower prices. Most of our profits came from the nobility. But now that they were also stripped of all their splendour, they had stopped acting noble and aristocratic. The overseas business slowed down too once Ravenwind began exporting steam powered machinery to other countries. Then keeping our handlooms open and running was costing us a lot more, so we started renting out the land of operations to other businesses instead and let our craftsmen go. It took a toll on my father to do that and he passed away soon after.”

  For a moment, no one said anything. Then the tram arrived at the stop and we boarded off.

  Once we were all in a steam carriage, Smokewell said, “I'm surprised, you didn't try to start something of your own after your father passed away.”

  “Rowland was the one who kept coming up with new ideas.” Cynthia looked down at her hands and the intricate lining of her skirt. “I'm not much of a business person myself. We were getting rent from our land and it was bringing us more than enough.”

  “Was it really enough though?” Smokewell cocked her head.

  “For me it was.” Cynthia nodded. “Neither Rowland nor I were good at business like our father was. And even our father failed when the Steam Elemental came. After seeing all of that, I knew it was better to play it safe.”

  “You would've been safer today if you'd taken some risks earlier,” Smokewell said. “And changed yourself with the changing times.”

  Cynthia frowned. “I don't like change.”

  The cat shrugged and looked up at the starry sky overhead. “Just because you don't like change doesn't mean that it's going to stop.”

  ****

  The Radcliffe mansion was dark when we arrived. Cynthia regarded it with an expression of longing and tiredness before she unlocked the main door to let us in. “The eviction notice said that I'm supposed to evacuate the place in twenty four hours,” she said as she went around the large sitting room to light the candles. “By tomorrow morning, they'll replace all the locks. And I'll be forbidden. So we better make this quick. Now tell me, what did you want to see?”

  “Your brother's room,” I said.

  With an ornate candelabra in hand, she led us down a long hallway. The sound of our footsteps was muffled by the expensive carpet lining the floor. The prior generations of the Radcliffs stared at us from their oil painted portraits, trapped inside their gilded frames as we made our way deeper inside the mansion.

  We ascended up a stairway in the back by the kitchen. At the top of the stairs was a single door that opened in a single big room. The walls were lined with books of all kinds. And there were several piles of books on a desk next to the window. A small cabinet was backed by the wall in a corner and a king sized bed sat at the center of the room.

  “Um, so what are we looking for again?” Lenora asked, tapping her chin.

  “Personal belongings,” I said. “Anything that Rowland might've held dear. Or try to find legal documents related to his bank account. It's time to get to work, ladies. Ransack this room.”

  It took us about fifteen minutes as we went through the room before Lenora and Cynthia found something of value. “It’s his bankbook,” Lenora said.

  “I found one of his favorite watches,” Cynthia said and held up an expensive looking silver plated wrist watch. Her expression softened as she looked at it. “He wore this wherever he went. Doesn't this mean that he might be in some trouble? If he was really going to abandon me, he would've taken this watch with him. Doesn't that make sense?”

  “We'll find out soon.” I said with a reassuring smile.

  First I took the bankbook from Lenora and carried out the liberation ritual on it. A shapeless black mist hovered in the air in front of me. I asked it a question that had been in my mind since Lenora first explained the situation with her brother. “Tell me, did you have a bank account under a different name in another bank?” I said.

  “No, I did not,” Rowland's voice answered from the abyss.

  I frowned. “Tell me where you are now?”

  The abyss was silent for a minute before saying, “I am…in Ravenwind.”

  Cynthia gasped next to me. I could practically hear the hope that was swelling within her right now. But I was still frowning. “Be more specific, where exactly in Ravenwind are you?” I said.

  “I am…inside Ravenwind…”

  “What the–” I paused. Because I'd understood something. I looked at the abyss. “By inside, do you mean, under the Ravenwind land?”

  After a long pause, the abyss said, “Yes.”

  I tried probing the abyss to give me a more accurate location but it kept circling around the fact that Rowland was just underground. Out of frustration, I set it free. And then I carried out the liberation ritual on the wrist watch.

  While the second cloud of black mist gathered up, I asked Cynthia, “You are sure that he wore this everywhere?”

  “Yes, this was his favorite watch.” Cynthia nodded.

  Once the abyss was formed I asked the black mist, “Tell me where did you go last time while you were wearing this watch?”