There were more of such rumors:
Disappearances near the old aqueducts. Merchants nervous about shipping routes. Guards taking bribes to look the other way.
He moved to the merchant quarter next. The trading houses stayed open late, and their back rooms held discussions that never made it to official records. Damien observed from the shadows, watching money change hands, listening to hushed negotiations.
A weapons merchant selling to unknown buyers. A grain trader routing shipments through suspicious intermediaries. A banker moving gold to accounts that technically didn't exist.
All of it might be normal corruption. Or it might be demon collaboration disguised as ordinary crime.
In the noble quarter, he scaled buildings with shadow-assisted climbing, peering through windows at private meetings. Nobles discussing politics, making alliances, trading favors. Most of it was standard imperial maneuvering.
But some conversations stood out.
