Compensation

Sighing in defeat, Marius shook his head and reached for his coin pouch. He pulled out a handful of gold coins and placed it on the merchant’s booth table.

Normally silver coins would be better, but that metal was far too precious for his line of work to use as currency.

“Call me a believer of fair trade and practicality. Coin for the information and any...damage, I might have caused you.”

With that done Marius turned away and began to walk back towards the **** scene. Maybe there is something else there he might have missed. Something that could give him another lead.

As he did, he heard the merchant behind him say, “Wait!”

Turning around, Marius raised a brow in curiosity. The merchant had a face of confusion, surprise, and desperation. In a plea cup tone, the merchant asked, “You...Y-your serious? About finding the murderer?”

Curious about where this is going, Marius nodded before saying, “Yes, I am.”

The merchant looked this way and that before saying, “Borrian, the Hunter. He lives in a cabin just outside the village. The other day he talked about seeing some strange things in the night in a nearby cave. It might be something to look into.”

Well, that would have been great to know before hand. Typical that coin makes anybody talk when they weren’t willing to before.

Marius just nodded his head and made his way to find this Hunter when he heard the merchant speak again, “And please...find my brother’s killer.”

Or...maybe there are some circumstances where there are more complex reasons involved. Marius didn’t say or do anything more. He just walked away, his business being done.