(Quest) A Piscine Mystery [Bartolomeu]

While Benawia didn't grow up in the slums, her farming beginnings were only a small step up from that. At least there she had space and freedom to move. In the Front? Not quite so. The place was busy with workers, travelers, and seaman fresh off long ship travels. Benawia felt her body stiffen as she sidestepped a young boy pushing a cart of baskets down the cramped road. The only thing that could make the Front more crowded would be to have all the people who were supposed to be fishing for their dinner mulling around with nothing to do beside beg. And that’s what happened as soon as the fish mysteriously disappeared. People went hungry, the slums became even more crowded, and tensions flared.

Balance was gone.

And living under the order of Nang-ma, the goddess of balance, Benawia felt compelled to restore the Front back to how it once was. It may not be an improvement to the slums, but fixing this problem would at least restore what once was routine order to this place. That was good enough for the monk. Plus, who didn’t like a good mystery? She was doing this for religious reasons, someone else could be doing this out of the pureness of their heart, but there was a chance someone picked up this request simply for the mystery of it all.

And Benawia was desperate someone was joining her in this bizarre hunt.

Maneuvering her way through the crowded streets, Benawia’s slight limp a little more noticeable in the tight enclosure, she stopped outside of a closed up fish stall. It did not go over Benawia’s head that the meeting place for this particular quest was outside of this particular store. She couldn’t tell if it was tragic or ironic. Such was life.

Leaning against the boarded door, Benawia surveyed the crowd before her. She hoped someone else would answer the quest’s call. Playing detective by herself wouldn’t be nearly as enlightening as having company.