Chrimoria, the city of Merchants was home to a peculiar duo of private investigators. One was a human, and a former spy named Holden; the other was a Cait Sith named Sable.


    Despite having agreed to work with one another less than a week prior, this unlikely duo had yet to work a single case together. Out of sheer boredom, Holden and Sable decided to go out to one of the many nearby taverns. They arrived at the Red Sun Tavern, and quickly found a seat. At first, Holden and Sable had only intended to grab a bite to eat, but they soon found themselves in the middle of a rousing game of poker.


    Holden grinned as he discarded two cards and drew two more to replace them. He had a strong hand. Two Jacks and two nines. Holden’s confidence was written all over his face.


    Sable sat at the table right next to Holden, all-the-while wondering just how foolish his partner, Holden, was.


    “Should you really be betting your money like this?” Sable asked. “We haven’t had a job in a whole week. You can’t afford to be wasteful with your funds.”


    “I’ll be fine,” Holden said. “I have enough digmata for us to get by on.”


    Digmata was the term used for currency in the world of Thanador, which was the fantasy world that the city of Chrimoria was located in. It was named after a human woman and a dwarven man who thousands of years ago invented the idea of exchanging currency for goods, rather than bartering. This woman’s name was Eumata, and she was known as the Sage of Commerce. The man’s name was Digmund, who was also the father of black smithing. The currency was primarily coins with copper coins being the least valuable. Ten copper coins value was equal to one silver coin, ten silver coins equaled one gold, and ten gold equaled one platinum coin. Holden was betting five silver coins on his current hand, which was enough digmata to buy ten meals at the average restaurant.


    Sable stretched out his paws on the table and yawned. “Well, you are an idiot. Hopefully, your luck is just as dumb as you are.”


    “Enjoy it while you can, Cat. I’m going to be going home richer than I came.”


    Once all the other players were ready, everyone showed their cards. Holden looked around at the other player’s hand triumphantly, until he saw the hand of the player sitting directly across from him. They had a straight, with the lowest card being a seven and the highest being a Jack.


    “What!?” Holden said in dismay. He then saw the smug expression on Sable’s face. “Shut it, Cat.”


    Undeterred, Holden continued trying to win back the money he had lost, only to lose another ten silvers in the process before finally conceding.


    Holden and Sable went to another table. Holden then ordered a drink, while he and Sable chatted for a bit to pass the time. A young man sat at the table next to them. His clothes were decent looking, but worn, like he had been on the road for days, or even weeks. He also wore some light armor with a crest of a bear on it. There was an exquisite looking sword leaning against the wall right beside him.


    The young man quickly scarfed down the meal that was brought to him around the same time Holden had gotten his drink. A few minutes later, the young man began dozing off.


    Holden didn’t give him much thought. It was apparent that this gentleman was a traveler, a swordsman, and from a prestigious family based on the fact that he had a crest on his armor.


    Sable noticed Holden examining the young man and asked,” So, what’s the story behind him.”


    Holden shrugged. “If I had to guess, he’s on some kind of journey, and is just passing through Chrimoria. Judging by that crest and sword, he’s from a family with some renown, but likely a knight. Only knights would go on a journey by themselves. Nobles or royals would have bodyguards escorting them. This man is by himself.”


    “Isn’t it possible he snuck away from his escorts?”


    “Possibly. I saw him walking in a few minutes ago during the game. He walks more like a soldier than a noble, though.”


    “Are you willing to bet on it?” Sable jeered.


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    Holden rolled his eyes and just continued drinking.


    By sunset, most people had cleared out of the tavern, leaving Holden, Sable, and the young man, who was still snoozing, as three of the four remaining patrons. Once the sun had finally gone down, Holden and Sable finally decided to leave. However, right as they were about to walk out the door-


    Ahh! Holden and Sable turned around to see the young man screaming, and saying “My sword! Where is my sword!?”


    The young man frantically searched around his table for his sword. Unfortunately, there were no signs of it.


    Holden and Sable both tilted their heads at the young man. Neither of them had even noticed the sword had gone missing.


    Holden sighed. Getting involved seemed like a hassle, but there was nothing else for him and Sable to do, since they hadn’t had a job all week. Solving the mystery of the missing sword was better than sitting around doing nothing back at the office.


    Holden beckoned the bartender over to talk. “Did you see anything out of the ordinary? Maybe someone watching this young man, or anything like that?”


    The bartender shook his head. Holden could tell the bartender was telling the truth, so he thanked him before walking over to the young man. “Hey, kid. You look like you could use a hand.”


    The young man’s eyes brightened at Holden’s words. “Did you see what happened to my sword? Who took it? Please tell me.”


    The young man got closer and closer with every word, making Holden a little uncomfortable. “Whoa there, kid. A little personal space would be nice. Now where did you last see your sword?”


    “Well, uhm. Let’s see. Maybe it was by my side. Then I think I dozed off. Next thing I knew I woke up and it was gone. Never moved it or anything from my side while I was awake. Someone had to have walked away with it.” The young man curled up into a ball on the seat he had been sitting in earlier. He then started speaking incredibly fast in a panicked tone of voice. “Oh, this is terrible. That sword’s a family heirloom. My father gave it to me, and his father gave it to him. And so on and so on.”


    The young man continued babbling. Meanwhile, Holden and Sable had a conversation off to the side.


    “I think that human’s mind is broken,” Sable said. “Maybe we should just leave him be. Go home, and find something else to do to occupy our time.”


    Holden scratched the back of his head. “Yeah. Good point. Who knows where it could’ve gone off to.”


    At that moment, another customer stumbled toward Holden and Sable. He was a drunken elf who reeked of alcohol and slurred his speech when he talked. “I saw that sword before it disappeared. But it wasn’t by the kid’s side while he was sleeping.”


    “You saw it!” The young man said, his voice cracking from the enthusiasm. “Where did you see it? Where did it go?”


    “I’m not going to give this information for free, you know.” The drunk elf then rubbed his thumb and pointer finger together, a gesture commonly used to suggest one expected to be paid. “I expect to be compensated for this.”


    The bartender then said, “Kid, he ain’t going to tell you unless you offer to cover his tab.”


    The young man eagerly agreed, and the drunk elf began explaining what he saw. “Okay, so I was on my fifth- No, no, no, it was my sixth. Yeah, it was my sixth drink when I saw you fall asleep. Then about three or four drinks later, I swear I saw the sword get up and float away.”


    The young man, Holden, and Sable all looked utterly disappointed. The man was drunk, so they all concluded that he was probably hallucinating.


    Sable then looked at the young man’s disappointed expression with a mocking gaze. “You’re an idiot for believing this dolt of an elf could give you any valuable information.”


    All the young man heard when Sable spoke was a cat meowing. The young man wasn’t capable of using magic, thus wouldn’t be able to hear any cait-sith talk, unless he became aware of the fact that Sable could talk, or was a cait-sith. The young man’s only response to Sable’s comment was, “Why in the world is there a cat in the bar? It looks like it’s mocking me.”


    “The cat’s actually a cait-sith,” Holden explained. “He can understand everything we’re all saying. And he thinks you’re an idiot.”


    Sable swished his tail in irritation. “Don’t tell him that, you fool. I rather enjoyed watching the boy squirming about unaware of what I really am.”


    “Too bad, Cat. I enjoy making your life miserable.”


    Sable just scoffed. Meanwhile, the young man’s eyes went wide, because he was now able to understand what Sable was saying. “Wow, a talking cat. That’s amazing. Wait a second, my swords missing. I don’t have the time for this.”


    Sable huffed in annoyance with the young man’s dismal of him. “I have an idea,” Sable said sarcastically. “Why don’t you hire the two of us to find your sword.”


    “Do you mean you and this man with you? Could you two really find my sword?”


    Sable gave the young man a confident grin. “Of course, we’re private investigators, you know. We can recover that sword for you, mister.” Sable then paused, because he didn’t know the young man’s name.


    “Oh, sorry.” The young man slightly bowed. “You can call me Mathias Barester. I’m the son of a knight. Pleased to meet you.”


    Sable then jumped up onto the table, and confidentially pranced up to Mathias. “You can call me Sable.” He then gestured toward Holden. “And my stupid looking human is Holden.”


    Holden just sighed without making any comeback. He then crossed his arms and sat on one of the tables across from Sable and Mathias. “Listen, kid. The cat’s right. You could hire us to get your sword back. Just don’t get your hopes up. We got no leads, and will have to go poking around the criminal underworld to find this thing.”


    “That’s fine with me,” Mathias said. “If it means getting my family’s sword back, I’ll take on Chrimoria’s entire criminal underworld.”


    Holden and Sable both chuckled, then gestured for Mathias to follow them as they made their way outside.