Fire Lane

Well, these bastards are certainly learning to extend their reach...

Should we do something to stop this plan of his?

Let's not, for the time being. That art community's always been a whimsical bunch, making trouble for the city government. They'd be doing me a favor if they managed to take care of our problems there.

But you need to keep a close eye on them. Mateo's a short-sighted and greedy man. With this much power in his hands, I doubt his intentions will stay all that pure.

That aside, Ms. Candela, will you be attending the Galería Krysztauowa's opening ceremony in a few days?

*sigh*... Another boy who loves looking for trouble... I'll pass. Have someone send a congratulatory gift.

Please excuse me, then.

Wait a moment. I have something else I need Ernesto to take care of for me. Remember to pass this on to him.

Reynell, do you remember me? We met a few years ago.

Your excellent memory has left a profound impression on me. You kept talking about the statue that night. You recalled even the prior collectors who had owned the piece.

Right. That's one of my qualities... Remembering just about everything.

It's been a while, but you've changed a lot. You're much more like your father, now that you've matured.

It's too bad he left us all too soon, before he could see all that I'm accomplishing now.

Don't be sad. Even if he isn't here to witness it, he's no doubt proud that his son's achievements are exceeding his own.

Heh... I sure hope so.

Mr. Kowalski, I've been looking for you.

Hey, Chetty, how have you been? An Iberian fresco just made it into the exhibition hall downstairs. You've been going all across the world this past year collecting these masterpieces, haven't you?

That was last year. This year, I'm planning on buying as many Yanese ink wash paintings as I can.

I didn't expect your investment outlook to change so quickly.

You're getting the wrong idea, Reynell. It's not our outlook that's changing quickly. It's Mr. Chetty whose mind is changing all the time.

Sounds like fun.

(Quietly) He just remarried this year. From what I hear, the lady is very into ink wash paintings.

On that note, let me get straight to the point, Mr. Kowalski.

I want to get rid of those frescoes, and fast. Do you know a way to clear them out? Mary isn't keen to keep Catherine's collection.

I should be able to facilitate that. I'll do what I can.

Please, don't be so humble. You're Szczepan Kowalski's son. Years ago, your father took less than two weeks to round up all my...

Oh, sorry, Mr. Reynell. I didn't know you were standing there.

What's your problem, woman? Don't you see the three of us?

Gentlemen, this is my bodyguard. I will reprimand her in a moment.

Do you maybe need a change of clothes?

Of course I do. I can't stand around drenched in wine. Please excuse me, gentlemen.

Thanks for that. If one more person had approached me there, I would've suffocated to death.

No need to thank me. Just doing my job.

I thought you wouldn't be here today. The art community's puppet show is tomorrow. There must be lots to take care of there?

Our contract is still in effect.

What a touching spirit of obligation... So, what about after it comes to an end? Where will you go?

What's that on your back...?

Oh, my scars? Nothing to worry about. Just the price I paid for certain betrayals.

Once the contract is over... we'll leave Dossoles and search for our lost teammates.

In that case, I guess it's not likely we'll meet again.

With a stubborn employer like me, if it wasn't for the contract, you would've left long ago, right?

I'm something of a troublesome employee too. I'm pretty surprised that you've managed to put up with me all this time.

...

Thank you for your help. I hope everything works out for you in the future, Mr. Reynell.

You didn't bring me a gift, did you?

Yeah, an album. I bought it from an artist at the community.

The name here seems to ring a bell... Oh, I remember now. He wrote a 27-minute song last year just to curse at me.

I didn't know that... I just thought that you should take a listen to his songs.

No matter. No need to fret. I already got my revenge.

What did you do?

I bought out the rights to a fair number of his songs from his previous company. Then, I gave them to the band he reviles most to cover.

I'll leave the album here. If you want to listen to it, knock yourself out. If not, then so be it.

Yes... He did indeed rip out the phone line when I called a few days ago.

Please give me a little more time. I will do whatever it takes to get my hands on that plot of land... Our development project will move ahead as scheduled.

Sir, I'm sure you know how loyal I am. It's not that I don't care, but this is a little tricky.

The businessman who has development rights there isn't being very cooperative. We can go soft or go hard on him, but it won't matter.

I've tried going straight to the community myself, but the people there are tough to crack. We've tried, and failed.

No, it's not an excuse. It really is where things stand right now. Besides... It seems there is another faction within the Coalition government that's backing Reynell. I don't want to be rash here.

Yes, I'm incompetent for not having found anything on them. This is why, if I may be so bold, I'd like to ask if you have... any clues at all? Say... Who would want to steal this slice of pie from your hands?

No, I'm not questioning your position within the Coalition at all. It's just a possibility.

You want me to proceed without a care to this... I-Is this really okay? If I offend anyone with these actions...

Very well, if you say so. I won't betray your expectations.

Capitán, not even that gentleman knows who they are?

He doesn't, but he also doesn't care. He gave me the highest command in Dossoles, hinting that I must take care of this quickly.

What about Candela?

He says he will take care of her.

If we have his full support, then this will surely be solved without issue, but you... you don't seem very happy?

Think about it. What kind of subordinate needs his superior's full support to finish something?

A trusted one?

Hmph... It's a useless one, of course.

I was hoping to put on a great performance bringing this development plan to fruition, but now he'll probably just think of me as an idiot who needs him to clean my messes.

Once we get that plot of land and all this over with, he might just not care anymore.

I wouldn't be so sure of that. He's got this kid working for him who's been rising through the ranks. Supposedly, he's sending him here.

If I don't want to be replaced, I have to do more than get my hands on that land. I need some extra accomplishments.

Do you have any ideas?

Of course, and I've had this in mind for some time now. Reynell's been jerking me around like I'm a fool. If I don't return the favor, that would just make me a wimp.

Now if I could swallow up his art museum, too...

There are two days until his opening ceremony. With this little time...

Looks like I'll have to take the cruelest, riskiest route for this.

Weird... This is too weird...

Ernesto, I saw the garage lights on. You haven't gone to bed?

Arleta? Come in.

Still working on the community stuff? Everyone's been so busy the last couple days.

*sigh*... If only. I'd be so much more passionate... I'm working on repaying a favor.

The favor from finding the medicine last time? Anything I can help with?

What are you talking about? No, it's a personal thing.

Brother, don't try to do everything on your own. If you need me for anything, let me know before it's too late.

Relax. It's nothing big at all. You should go get some rest.

Whatever... You've always been like this, keeping just about everything to yourself and never showing even a hint of what you're thinking. Nobody can help you at all.

You're overthinking it, Arleta.

How's this overthinking it? You keep acting like that, of course this is what I'm gonna think. I'm going. You get some rest soon.

(Deep breath)

Letting you help out isn't the same as letting you get involved in this mess. Don't blame me for this one.

Weird. How did such a large shipment of explosives disappear without a trace as soon as it entered the city?

There's another shipment on the 28th... and another one on the 3rd of next month...

There were also a few shipments of brewing ingredients around the same time. Is that how they made it in? No, the routes don't match up. There were four inspection checkpoints. There's no way they could've gotten through without being discovered.

Unless... the shipments were never going to be inspected in the first place.

So precious that no one dared to check them?

Luxuries... Fine wine?

That's... not precious enough. Probably something that could easily fetch hundreds of millions of dollars?

(Gulps)

No... I have to go check out this Galería Krysztauowa.

Ugh...

Oh, what's going on? You've been holed up here, crying the whole time?

Luck hasn't been on my side today... I came across all these weird transpositions. What's the bass clef? I'm a trumpeter! What the hell was the composer thinking?

It only occurred to me when the rehearsal began that my score has a long multirest with only a couple notes in between here and there.

Was there a grace note above the rest?

No... It's just a bunch of whole rests over a hundred measures in a row. I counted all the way up, and I realized I must've miscounted because I entered too soon.

It was a very loud note. Everyone stopped and looked at me... Does whoever wrote the music know what a trumpet is?

*sigh*... Get some rest. Tomorrow will be better...

You sure...?

Our arts festival is tomorrow... Gah... I'm so nervous.

If you can't sleep, mind helping me work on my draft?

I thought you finished your draft a long time ago.

Yeah, I did, but the app froze on me when I was wrapping up yesterday. I went out for dinner while waiting for it to unfreeze, and by the time I got back...

Ahhh—! Stop it. That's enough. Say no more!

Stop!

Wait, stop—! Stop moving around so much when you're clutching your head! My tablet's over there!

It's gone... It's all gone... How come I'm so unlucky today...?

Report. The crossbowmen have the high ground. No one has spotted us.

Standing by for orders.

Haah... What a busy day this has been... What time is it? Good, still got time. I'll head to the city for a drink.

Yow!

Who would leave such a big rock out in the middle of the road? So inconsiderate.

Urgh... What's with everything today? Nothing's going right. I gotta find a fortune teller tomorrow and do something about my rotten luck.

Sorry about this, señor, but you'll have to go back. No one is allowed outside.

Who are you? What gives you the right to stop me?

Turn around, señor.

Hey, who are you people? Who sent you?

That's close enough, señor.

What are you doing...?

Señor, this is just a routine fire inspection. No need to be alarmed.

We will... greatly appreciate your cooperation.