The book, as it turned out, was useless. Bertus was a canny businessman and knew how much security was worth to someone on the rise; The fingers of rivals and the Syndicate were everywhere, and he was wise to encode his documents. Both Warren and Valeria poured over the borrowed tome and tried as many unique ciphers as they could muster between them but quickly came to the conclusion that without Bertus' personal key, they didn't have the means so break anything in so few bells' time.
The knight was conflicted with the action. Sure enough, Valeria had simply requested he wait for her in a public place. She had ventured off and within half a bell returned, book in hand. Those long minutes took a toll on him, however, as he weighed the morality of his decision. He had no right to look at the evidence, and it wasn't his investigation, but he knew in his heart that Bertus' death wasn't as simple as an accidental extra dose of illegal drugs. He'd been murdered, poisoned most likely, and without a second look the reasons why would be lost forever.
Once all of their attempts at breaking the code proved futile, Warren resigned himself to copying the last entries longhand.
"You need to give me a name in Limsa." His tone wasn't one of request.
"Warren, this is a dead end. I can't-"
"A name, Valeria." He looked up from his paper with furrowed brows. He spoke to her plainly. "This is a dead end, and this was all you proposed to me. You mentioned Bertus was looking to network with a seller in the port city, so give me a name."
"Warren, I-" She looked at him with her mouth hanging open, unsure what he was getting at. "Fine. You win. Bert only spoke with the guy once. Never got his name, but we dealt with his runners. Safer that way, you know?"
"A name."
"I can give you a few. Hang around the 'Bottom sometimes - that is to say the Fisherman's Bottom - and you'll probably catch them watching. It's low stock there. Tell someone you're looking for Nectar, or Baxley. Kink might work, too."
Warren nodded to himself, then finished transcribing and snapped the book closed. "You need to return this."
"What are you going to do, Warren?" The elezen accepted the tome back, but didn't release him from her gaze.
"I'm going to investigate."
"What about me? What should I do? I'm not safe, Warren." Valeria sounded downright shocked that she was about to be left to her own devices.
"Go to the Flames. Explain that you're worried you're part of a Syndicate plot. The Blades are in charge of the investigation, but the Flames might be able to lend a hand."
"Right, they'll just as likely turn me over to the Blades themselves. That's too naive, Warren."
"Then you might want to try your vanishing trick again. You probably could have made a clean break if you didn't come back to the city. Why'd you bother with that, anyway?" Warren stood from their table, preparing himself for his way out.
The elezen's gaze fell away for a moment as she searched for the words. "I... had to. I had to make sure..." She glanced up at him with big eyes, vulnerable. It was the first time that Warren remembered believing her.
The knight was conflicted with the action. Sure enough, Valeria had simply requested he wait for her in a public place. She had ventured off and within half a bell returned, book in hand. Those long minutes took a toll on him, however, as he weighed the morality of his decision. He had no right to look at the evidence, and it wasn't his investigation, but he knew in his heart that Bertus' death wasn't as simple as an accidental extra dose of illegal drugs. He'd been murdered, poisoned most likely, and without a second look the reasons why would be lost forever.
Once all of their attempts at breaking the code proved futile, Warren resigned himself to copying the last entries longhand.
"You need to give me a name in Limsa." His tone wasn't one of request.
"Warren, this is a dead end. I can't-"
"A name, Valeria." He looked up from his paper with furrowed brows. He spoke to her plainly. "This is a dead end, and this was all you proposed to me. You mentioned Bertus was looking to network with a seller in the port city, so give me a name."
"Warren, I-" She looked at him with her mouth hanging open, unsure what he was getting at. "Fine. You win. Bert only spoke with the guy once. Never got his name, but we dealt with his runners. Safer that way, you know?"
"A name."
"I can give you a few. Hang around the 'Bottom sometimes - that is to say the Fisherman's Bottom - and you'll probably catch them watching. It's low stock there. Tell someone you're looking for Nectar, or Baxley. Kink might work, too."
Warren nodded to himself, then finished transcribing and snapped the book closed. "You need to return this."
"What are you going to do, Warren?" The elezen accepted the tome back, but didn't release him from her gaze.
"I'm going to investigate."
"What about me? What should I do? I'm not safe, Warren." Valeria sounded downright shocked that she was about to be left to her own devices.
"Go to the Flames. Explain that you're worried you're part of a Syndicate plot. The Blades are in charge of the investigation, but the Flames might be able to lend a hand."
"Right, they'll just as likely turn me over to the Blades themselves. That's too naive, Warren."
"Then you might want to try your vanishing trick again. You probably could have made a clean break if you didn't come back to the city. Why'd you bother with that, anyway?" Warren stood from their table, preparing himself for his way out.
The elezen's gaze fell away for a moment as she searched for the words. "I... had to. I had to make sure..." She glanced up at him with big eyes, vulnerable. It was the first time that Warren remembered believing her.
![[Image: yEROfKO.png]](http://i.imgur.com/yEROfKO.png)
