“What the hell happened there.” The bartender said as he handed Hayate a flagon of his strongest swill.

“Would you believe I fell?” Hayate said chuckling a bit as he grabbed the wooden mug and brought it to his lips. It was decent to say the least and the young swordsman took a big gulp.

“I’ve seen a lot of shit man. That don’t look like any fall I’ve ever seen. “The he said as he turned and started to wipe down the wooden bar top a few steps away. There were a number of others sitting around but nobody close enough to hear them. “So what was it, a bear?”

“I wasn’t mauled by a bear.” He wanted to just blurt out the answer but couldn’t. “I’m looking for a man.”
The barkeep raised an eyebrow.

“Does the name Osiris mean anything to you?”

There was a pause. There was tension so thick it could be cut and served on a platter.

“I think you need to leave…” the man behind the bar said as glared down the one-armed man. “Anyone looking for him better not be looking for trouble.” He said as he revealed knife from under the table between them. This started to escalate unexpectedly and Hayate knew he had to setting things down now while he still could.

Calmly Hayate reached into his pocket and pulled out a sliver of fabric folded up. He undid tit as best he could and placed it on the bat top in front of the man. He studied it for a moment shifting his gaze between the inscription and Hayate and back again. This was the best the young swordsman could do was present his Brotherhood patch and hope for the best. Shinsou said that they worked for the people, surely this would be a good sign in a place like this.

“Boy, why aren’t you wearing your patch?” he said lowering his knife and leaning in closely to keep his voice down.
Hayate only gestured to his missing arm and shrugged.

“Right, I guess it would be hard to sew it onehanded. Apologies, but I don’t tend to divvy out information to just anyone. Luckily for you this patch is as good as gold in here.” Finally Hayate had found a friendly face among all these foreign strangers.

“I’m just looking for Whitevale and my family.” he said under his breath.

“You must be new if you haven’t been to Whitevale yet. But I can do you one better than that. How about you ask Shinsou yourself” the barkeep said.

“He’s here?”

“Not now, but I can tell you where to find him.”

The two brotherhood agents continued on for a while and eventually Hayate learned that Shinsou was set to arrive back in town if a few days’ time. While he has had enough waiting around and thought that anymore time waiting would just be a waist this was the best he could have hoped for. Maybe Lord Osiris would be able to shed some light on why he couldn’t talk to his sword anymore.

Maybe all of Hayate’s troubles would soon be behind him.