"'He didn't know what to do now.'" - Nellies' Girls: The Weak Link
21- 24 Zi'Da 719
What if someone had sent them after him? But who could have? Who knew where he would be?
The answer that sat right in front of the mage was just beyond his grasp and that was why he'd returned to the Buckle & Chain to find new leads. Balthazar had become rather good at figuring out where to find information, he just had a difficult time getting that information occasionally. More often than not in this investigation Balthazar had used his fists and his magic to make people tell him what he wanted to know, but his lack of leads made him think that perhaps there was a better way. So he bought a man sitting at the bar a drink and naturally, it started a conversation.
The man didn't know anything of value, when Balthazar steered the topic to Nellies and the girls who worked there the man seemed more interested in talking about the many strange services you could pay for there. When he started talking about some maneuver with a fur coat and some feathers Balthazar excused himself from the bar, pretending he needed to relieve himself. It was not technically a lie as when Balthazar went outside for air and noticed how the world held a slight spin, he felt quite relieved that he was no longer talking to the man.
After a short time outside to catch his breath and clear his head, Balthazar went back in to the Buckle & Chain to keep looking for a lead. He talked to a lot of people that night and drank a lot of different things. The problem with that combination being that when dawn came and Balthazar found himself laying in The Siren's Embrace beside a few others in states of undress, he couldn't remember what he'd done the night before. He couldn't remember very much about his investigation at all apart from the first man and going outside to take a breath.
He spent the entirety of the following trial doing his best to recover from the splitting headache he had in his room in The Scalvoris Sapphire Inn. Then he went back to Buckle & Chain early on the morning of the twenty third trial of Zi'Da- early enough that there were still plenty of drunks from the night before sitting around. It felt odd to be as sober as he was among the multitude that looked as he must have looked so few nights ago but he didn't linger on that thought. He sat at a table and ordered a small meal. Balthazar didn't care if the food tasted like wood, it gave him a reason to be there and all he wanted was to be there so he could listen.
There weren't an overwhelming number of drunks in the bar and so it wasn't all that hard to pick and choose what conversation he wanted to listen in on, but Balthazar found himself needing to physically adjust how he was sitting every once in a while to get his ears a little closer to the conversation. He made one such adjustment to listen in on two relatively large men slurring their words rather profusely who had mentioned Nellies. When Balthazar began listening in, the bearded of the two men was talking about how he was upset that he had to pay more for Jessie (Balthazar assumed her to be one of Nellies girls) because she needed nels to pay for doctors. The bald of the two men (and conveniently also not bearded) said that he couldn't fathom why anyone would go attacking prostitutes. Baldy expressed the opinion that prostitutes did nothing but contribute to society and the bearded drunkard said that it was probably the wives of the men the women were sleeping with.
Balthazar's brow arched curiously. He hadn't considered that angle before but before he could think too hard on it the bald man said something Balthazar thought was ridiculous.
"I think Nellie does it to 'em. I mean, look at what she does to her customers, cuttin' up fellas' faces." The bald man said and Balthazar turned to him.
"That's idiotic, she's doing that to protect her girls." Balthazar defended the woman he'd met only a few times in a conversation he was not a part of and the two drunkards shot an angry look at him.
"No one's talkin' to you." The bearded one said in a stern tone but he seemed to be swaying slightly from side to side.
"I'm talking to him now, he called me stupid." The bald drunk stood, his face turning red as he puffed out his chest and shoved Balthazar.
"I didn't mean that. But Madame Nellie wouldn't-"
"It ain't your business!" The bald man said as he shoved Balthazar once more. The shove caused Balthazar to bump into his table and knocked his food plate to the floor
"Please, stop doing that." Balthazar asked as he knelt down to pick up his plate.
"Or what? You'll-" The bald man stepped forward to kick Balthazar over but the mage's spark warned him of the incoming boot. Balthazar turned, quickly grabbing the man's leg and pulling it forward so that his foot would land wide, forcing him into an uncomfortable splits. Before the bald drunk could say another word Balthazar stood straight and whacked his fist across the drunk's jaw. The bald drunkard fell backward into his bearded friend's arms and Balthazar shook out his hand in pain. He'd been fighting a little too much and bruised knuckles hurt to hit with. All the same when he endured the pain he assumed a defensive stance.
"Not again, Al." The bearded drunk mumbled as he tried to help his friend up. This was just another night for them and the bearded one cared more about making sure his friend was alright than he did about fighting Balthazar. Realizing there was no battle to be fought, Balthazar eased out of his defensive position and backed away from the two of them. Then he turned and left the Buckle & Chain altogether, knowing that his little spectacle would prevent him from getting any more useful information there for the rest of the trial.
Balthazar would spend the majority of the trial wandering Almund. He wasn't wandering quite enough to consider it aimless but he certainly moved with less purpose now. Balthazar couldn't shake that little bar argument from his head. Madame Nellie hurting her own girls? Preposterous, she had nothing to gain from that. Yet the cynical part of Balthazar's mind reminded him how Madame Nellie had insisted all her girls needed was more nels for doctors. She even admit that she hadn't been looking for someone to help solve the case. Something just wasn't right.
Balthazar didn't sleep well that night. He tossed and turned while the accusation words echoed in his ears. If only he could clear his mind long enough to fall asleep, he would able to continue his pondering in his dreams... but he just could not sleep. So Balthazar threw his legs over the side of his bed and got up. He paced around his room for a while, talking quietly to himself as he tried to exonerate Nellie of the crimes the drunkards had accused her of but he couldn't. For every good thing Balthazar thought about the woman, something negative reared it's head.
Yet it was only when Balthazar began to reflect on being attacked at the Buckle & Chain that his suspicion got the better of him. Madame Nellie had sent him to the Buckle & Chain briefly before the man she described arrived, looking for Balthazar, and picked a fight. That couldn't have been a coincidence, Balthazar couldn't accept it as one. With the weight of his decision beginning to set in the mage slowly sat back onto his bed, his eyes trained at the floor.
He was going to prove Nellie was innocent, by any means necessary.
