It nearly killed him, but Marluxia managed to offset his route by a half mile before finding a storefront he could break into. 3am was a perfect time for break-ins. He knew from experience. You don't spend time in the Green Walkers, then as an agent for the Clink and not pick up breaking and entering expertise. It's how he got away in the first place.

Problem with those Deseo's is, they can't see what we halflings are good for when they only stare at us down their nose. As soon as the moment was available, Marluxia broke free of those chains. Gettin' out was second nature. Gettin' out with a shattered leg and a smashed hand was the interesting part.

Inside the Lucky Loo Limericks and Liveners, Marluxia found himself a few healing potions that he downed quicker than the day he discovered tequila. Veritamos bless those Amorians, he thought to himself, reliving the memory as he chucked the potions. He half expected the leg and hand, along with the chest pains to heal up, but he knew better once they didn't. Some wounds only took time and/or a really good cleric to fix up. These were those kinds of wounds. Still, the bleeding stopped, which was good enough.

Wiping off the blood with rags found around the place, he was okay enough to keep going. He snagged another few health potions for the road, and downed the shop's prized potion of speed before heading out four times as fast as he came in.

Traveling fast and feeling better gave him more time to think. What would nobles like the Deseo's want with Sal? Information was useful in Marluxia's line of business. It could be used, sold, or concealed for the right moment. He wanted it for revenge. He began to pour through in his mind the different possibilities. Only one connection came to mind.

Lord MacGuff. But what the hell would he have to do with them? I thought we closed that case. Even still, it was the primary connection he could think of. Slay's whole demise was closed up tightly, Marluxia had made sure of that. He never worked with loose ends. But this whole MacGuff situation. It was a shit show from the moment Sal knocked on his door.

Sal never told me what they wanted with MacGuff. Imma pry that from him even if it means giving him worse than I got... no, the halfling shuddered, never that bad. Even thieves have codes. That man - and his wife - were absolute monsters. Even still, he was getting answers to fill in gaps.

Maybe MacGuff and the Deseos were close? Marluxia realized in that moment he should have gotten more answers from Sal instead of assuming. Did they actually kill MacGuff? Why did they want to get in? They didn't look like killers. He knew what the killer prep looked like. They were after something MacGuff had. But who killed the man? Was it an accident?

The potion of speed was beginning to wear off. Finding a quick alley to sit a moment for the hard hit of lethargy, the broken halfling was determined to get those answers soon.