This thought seemed to make the most sense to Winter, as he reviewed over the details as he knew them. Of course there was a risk of a lot of it being conjecture, as Winter was mostly going forward in blind, but somehow his gut feeling told him he was on the right track.
Now, if that was the case, should they even do anything?
“Why did Max’s dad pick up when you called him?” Winter finally asked, as that seemed to be the one piece he needed to make it all come together.
Coach looked a bit uncomfortable, stopping in his tracks, only to hesitate.
“I’m not allowed to talk about it…” Coach said, in a way that made it seem like he was guilty again.
With all of this, Winter got an idea of the situation. From how Coach behaved, had behaved, and continued to behave, it felt like he was under the thumb of a certain Alexander, Max’s father.
“Got it” Winter said, as they continued to walk. However, they still didn’t quite know where to go. ‘Just going’ had been their strategy until now, but they were getting so far away from campus, without any sort of plan, that they all stopped once getting to a road forking out.
“Which way?” Thom asked. Winter mostly wanted to go to the big opening, but didn’t know where it was, so he couldn’t answer. Coach didn’t say anything and just looked at the road as if it had betrayed him somehow.
“I hate to say it, but maybe it’s better to go back…” Coach suddenly said, looking at his phone. Winter picked up on this, and wondered if he had gotten a message. It could also just be fiddling with his phone, though, Winter thought.
“Let’s continue for a while longer” Thom said,
“It doesn’t hurt to try something” He continued. Winter nodded and tried to think about which way was most likely to lead to ‘a slum’. Seeing how much city there was in the horizon of one place, Winter thought it would make most sense to go there.
“Let’s go to the city” Winter said, pointing in that direction. Winter was fully aware at this point, that they most likely wouldn’t find Max, but that shouldn’t stop them from seeking out information. Even if ‘that slum’ wasn’t found, they should be able to get some kind of information from another one. People talk and rumors spreads, after all… Winter pained a bit at this thought, as it brought some bad memories along with it. But for now, the main mission was information. Even if it wasn’t on Max.
“We could also split up…?” Coach suggested, sounding a bit suspicious.
“You shouldn’t be alone, I don’t know the city, and it would be unfair to leave Thom by himself” Winter concluded, not leaving room for interjections. He actually kind of wanted to take the offer for a while, as gathering intel would be easier on his own.
But he also didn’t want the two of them to their own devices, as it seemed like they knew a lot, but wasn’t able to use that knowledge.
As neither Thom nor Coach said anything to this, they started walking the way Winter had decided.
After walking for a bit, they went by a sort of homeless camp.
“Wow, so close to school!” Thom whispered, looking around as he had just seen a rare animal. Coach looked around as well, but with profound pity and guilt in his eyes, while Winter just went straight ahead, trying not to think too much about it.
“They seem like they change their sleeping spot a lot” Winter said, pointing towards a lot of gear that would go to travelling around.
“But this should mean there is a slum somewhere close by” Winter mumbled to himself, thinking. Should they ask for information here instead? Travellers usually knew a lot, as they were sponges for rumors. It would also save them from walking all the way to the city, in case the obtained enough information here.
“I’m sorry, would it be okay to ask you a question… What do you know about Centillic?” Winter asked an older woman sitting, while taking her hand and putting some ‘enticing’ goods in it. She looked at the coins, then at Winter, and then she sighed.
“I don’t want any trouble,” She said. Winter waited on the ‘but’ he assumed to come.
“But I don’t like ‘im. He cheated an entire neighborhood out of money to build a fancy thing only the rich can use!” She said outrageously.
“Not only that, I heard that he abuses his family. His wife, his son, heck, even his dog!” She continued, seemingly happy to be able to bash on such a powerful man. Winter knew not to take everything she said at face value, but he would still keep it in mind.
“Do you know where the new building is?” Winter asked, engulfed in the current situation, hoping to FINALLY get some proper information.
“My memory seems to be a bit blurry on that point” She said, eyeing Winter’s wallet.
“Oh, right! It’s around two days walk from here. We went through and got a good look. Beautiful building, but beauty can’t be used for much if the foundation is rotten” She said, gladly taking the money Winter offered, after catching her drift.
“That way, it’s in the Ceefo quarter” She said, pointing in the way they were originally heading.
“Thank you for your help” Winter said, then went back. His two friends had stood motionless, being more than just a little surprised, at what had just happened.
“Uhm… Winter…. What was that?” Thom asked confused, looking at the wallet that had just been helping them get information.
Winter finally realized his mistake. He had been so caught up in getting an answer to SOMETHING, that he had forgotten time and place and who he was with.
“I saw it on TV?” Winter quickly replied, though the excuse was lacking a bit.
Coach mumbled a little thanks, which Winter was sure he misheard. Then Winter said he thought they should get a bus, as two days travel on foot would equal a long drive, but from what Winter could see, the travellers might just be really slow…
Without any kind of objection they hopped onto a bus, going straight to the Ceefo quarter. It seemed to Winter it was the first time Thom was in one, but Coach at least seemed somewhat used to it.
And so, their search for Max was about to reach a conclusion.
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