Chapter 13 - Witch hunt (IAF)

~ Two days before Arleesa found Steve ~

…

Steve had plenty of enemies, regardless of how he had only lived here for a short while, and one of those enemies was truly hell-bent for revenge! She was vengeful, even though it was her who had kidnapped Steve in the first place, making him an enemy. The logic behind her eyes didn't make much sense, but her sour emotions were true nonetheless; Arleesa wanted blood, or at least the flaming crown!

She was out on the search for Steve, but so far she didn't have any luck, because this truly was a massive city, certainly too big for a single frog to explore thoroughly. Arleesa had to buy her luck, rather than waste her time, though the prior can be a really expensive option, though highly efficient. She headed to some high-profile criminals, because they were more than likely to possess information that not everyone had.

Criminal bosses had plenty of henchmen, and those henchmen cited their findings to their superiors. The hierarchy of shared information was almost pyramidic, and it was very effective.

Arleesa visited a criminal mastermind that neatly lived near her own home, and this was advantageous in a way, but it didn't make things any less expensive for her. She spent a whole, four-pound gold ingot, just for the guy to say that he didn’t know anything, which was very infuriating! However, when she started threatening him directly, the man's tone then changed.

She had screamed, “I gave you a fat, four pound gold ingot, you diseased bastard, that's not a cheap gift, Ronan, you can buy a lot of skin-medicine with it! Listen to me, I don't care if you haven't heard anything about the bastard I'm looking for, go out there and figure it out, or else you won't be able to ‘hear’ for as long as you live! I will rip your eardrums out and hang them in my basement like a trophy, if you fail, that's a promise!”

Such a threat was extensive, but effective. The other started sharing a bit of information that he had been holding on to, information that benefited his business the most to be exact, rather than anything else. He had to share it now, because he had heard plenty of horror stories about this lady, regardless of how she had tried to be very discreet about her hobbies! Plenty of people heard the screams echo from her private basement, but still, she was rich and dangerous enough to silence those who had felt talkative. She had maintained a good relationship with her wealthy neighbors, and had always put up elaborate, social schemes to keep her secrets safe, or at the very least overlooked!

Anyway, Ronan started being a bit more descriptive, perhaps too descriptive. Fear, and a heavy gold ingot were good motivators after all.

“You know that I'm running a business here, Arleesa, and it's tough to move all that iron around because of all of the competition I have. That aside, I have to deal with thieves all the time, half of which are guards, however ironic that may sound. As for you, I think I might have a lead for you, a lead that I've been safeguarding because it may aid my business very soon. Shortly said, it's a lead that might just eliminate some of my competition thoroughly.” He emphasized the last few words.

“Enough with the riddles, what the fuck do you mean with competition? You know that I'm just looking for a less-than-smart thief, not a criminal boss.” She followed along, though she was very confused, the wordplay had gone above her head.

“Ah, well this guy is hunting a criminal boss, he's trying to kill, well, destroy Dandy Andy! With that said, we can assume that he is the guy that you're looking for, and that he is less-than-smart as you described. He certainly has some money to spend, it may be your money, but anyway… I know where he is hiding.” He explained, and then rubbed his hairless chin.

“He's trying to kill Dandy Andy, that weird guy who gives money to everybody? Hmm… Steve was stabbed when I found him, so you might be onto something there. It looks like you get to keep your ear drums for now, good job!” She patted Ronan's shoulder, and then as soon as she got the rest of the information that she needed, she left.

Ronan didn't want to see Steve get killed, considering that Steve wanted to kill a major competitor in the trading game, but this day rolled out that way, it was a bit beyond his control. His first mistake was accepting the gold, without knowing all of the details. Now, he could only hope that Steve knew what he was doing, and that he was careful!

Arleesa on the other hand, she visited another criminal boss that was located near to where Steve was hiding in, and asked him similar questions. She wanted to know just how many bodyguards Steve had hired, because if she tried to attack him by herself, then she might fail. She had to be careful, and the light, hand-shaped burn marks on her face, surely encouraged her to be as cautious as possible, because Steve wasn't as spineless as she had first believed!

Anyway, two days along the line, she bought an advantage for herself. She was informed that Steve was alone in an Inn right now, as his bodyguards were out stalking, or ‘scouting’ the enemy! This was very advantageous to her, because she believed that she found the exact hour where Steve was as defenseless as a newborn child!

Arleesa almost fell on the ground because of all the joy that she felt, she whispered to herself. “I'm coming for you, Steve. You've humiliated me in my own house, that won't escape unpunished, I'll have your legs cut off! Let's hope you weren't lying about that crown too, or else I'll cut you into a million tiny pieces without batting an eye!”

…

Arleesa successfully found Steve, and she was looking at him through one of the Inn's windows. Her hunt for him had been expensive, but also efficient once she went to ask the right people for help. This city was full of criminals, and each of the gangs preferred for their competitors to deteriorate in whatever means necessary, so they could be very helpful if that particular sphere was in topic.

Anyway, she looked at Steve with all the anger that she could muster, and cursed inwardly in ways that would disturb even the holiest of priests. She was pissed!

Just then, with all that frantic anger, she kicked the window down with her otherwise strong, and toned frog legs! The window was made out of wood, so it made sense how it broke apart so easily. She made sure to kick the thick frame of the window, rather than the glass itself, so she wouldn’t cut herself in the process. Tiny glass shards were amongst the few inflictors that even her potions couldn't get rid of, so she avoided them.

Then, she rolled in through the window, got into his rented room, and said. “Hey there, you lying, thieving bastard! I see that you can fling balls now.”

Arleesa expected to have the complete advantage here just there, she wanted to kill him on the spot, but her motives were put to a sudden halt. Steve had generated a fireball on his palm, he did so just seconds ago when he heard the window break, and now he was nursing this fireball as best as he could, in order to make it bigger, and hotter. As far as facts were concerned, he could wipe this woman out in a blink of an eye if he wanted to, and no one would be able to stop him!

“Hello to you too, Arleesa. I can fling fireballs now, not balls! A guy I hired taught me very well, hell, I can even melt your face off with a slap, but that would be too good for someone like you.” He said.

Arleesa was struck silent, so he then added, in confidence. “I can't say that I've been expecting you, but you did a great job coming here to me, and spared me the trouble. If I kill you now, I'll be the third richest guy in the city or something like that, so thank you for coming! This is a great way to try this fireball too, you're my test experiment now.”

This may not be the best thing to say, but Steve's pupils were painted in gold. He didn’t care about vengeance as much anymore, but he did want to be more powerful, and he wanted to be the wealthiest frog in the city as well, because power and wealth often came hand-to-hand. The lack of rules in this world were his best friend, and he was determined to abuse it for his own purposes!