Kire held back a snarl. Was it too much to expect of the gods not to throw hostility her way, not even an hour from first setting foot on a completely different place? At least she knew he was telling the truth, but that wasn’t the end of the story here. “What I am isn’t your concern at the moment,” she said icily. The sword never wavered. “My quarry is a dangerous mage, dealing in blood magic. He would have arrived around this country half a year ago, maybe a little more. This place is brimming with traces of him. For all I know, he could have destroyed this city.” 

She gestured vaguely around them. “What do you need? Gold? Do you have gold here? Supplies? Tell me what happened here, give me time to stay in the city for a little while, and then I’ll be out of your hair, you’ll never see me again. If you do try to steal from me, you will be struck down.” Granted, pointing a weapon at her witness wasn’t the most ideal situation, but Kire had to improvise. If this man had been a resident here during the ransacking, he could have valuable information. And if he was as cunning and potentially dangerous as he seemed to her right now, all the better to keep a close watch on him.