The quarry road divided north of the broken weigh station, with one branch leading toward the abandoned mining works and the other continuing through a chain of small settlements. Subin Vans and his companions followed the latter route, looking for records of Corlan's dark wagon and its distinctive brass lantern.
They did not pursue every wagon they saw. Ara had copied the description from the district patrol's report, and the group stopped only at places where freight traffic was recorded or where drivers regularly gathered. By midmorning, they reached a roadside market called Dunridge, where miners and agricultural traders exchanged tools, food, and equipment.
A cart inspector remembered the wagon.
"It passed through three days ago," he said. "Dark body, brass lantern at the front, one rear wheel with a pale repair band around the rim. The driver paid the road fee and continued east."
"Was anyone travelling with him?" Subin asked.
"A passenger in a dark coat. I couldn't see his face clearly. They didn't stop for long."
"Did they declare a cargo?"
"Two sealed crates and several sacks. The declaration listed repair tools."
The inspector checked his register and found the entry. The wagon belonged to no local merchant, but its driver had provided a temporary freight permit issued in the southern district. The permit number matched the district's records for Corlan's registration.
Ara copied the number and asked where the wagon had gone after leaving Dunridge.
"The east road reaches a settlement called Bellcross. From there, the driver could continue toward the larger trade route or turn north toward the old mining sites."
Subin thanked him, and the team continued to Bellcross.
The settlement stood beside a stone bridge that crossed a narrow river. Several inns and storage yards lined the road, serving travellers who wanted to avoid the busier routes near Windscar. A local freight office kept records of passing commercial wagons, and its clerk found Corlan's entry within minutes.
"He registered a delivery to a private storehouse," the clerk said. "The recipient was listed as Rellan Voss."
"Was the delivery completed?" Ara asked.
"The record says it was accepted. The recipient signed the receipt."
"Where is the storehouse?"
The clerk pointed toward a low building beyond the bridge. It was surrounded by a wooden fence and had a single loading gate. A pair of workers were moving empty barrels into the yard when Subin's team arrived.
The storehouse manager, a thin man named Rellan Voss, met them at the entrance. He confirmed that Corlan had delivered two crates, but he insisted they contained ordinary repair equipment.
"I accepted them under a private contract," he said. "The paperwork was complete at the time. I have no reason to believe the contents were illegal."
"Can you show us the delivery receipt?" Subin asked.
Rellan produced a ledger and pointed to the entry. The receipt listed two sealed crates, a freight fee, and a signature attributed to Corlan. The cargo description was brief, but the declaration carried the same temporary permit number recorded at Dunridge.
Ara examined the date. It was consistent with the wagon's journey.
"Did you open the crates?" she asked.
"No. They were meant to be collected by another party."
"Who?"
"A representative called Master Veyr."
The name connected the delivery to Marek's statement, but Rellan could not identify the man beyond that title. He had been instructed to store the crates temporarily and release them only when the representative arrived with a matching receipt.
"Did Master Veyr collect them?" Yerin asked.
"No. A different man came yesterday and presented a receipt. I released the crates after checking the signature against the instruction I had been given."
"Can you describe him?"
"Middle-aged, dark hair, green coat. He carried no visible weapon. He signed as Corlan."
Subin asked for the collection receipt. Rellan found it in the ledger and handed it to Ara, who compared the signature with the earlier delivery record.
"The handwriting is similar," she said, "but the signatures aren't identical enough to establish who wrote them."
"Could the crates have gone to another warehouse?" Liu Wei asked.
"Possibly. The receipt gives a destination outside Bellcross, but I don't know the place. It was written as a route reference rather than an address."
The reference identified a disused ore-loading yard near the northern mining road. Rellan had assumed it was a temporary collection point, and he had no further details.
Subin looked over the records once more. "We'll need to verify the destination before going there. Until then, leave the remaining documents untouched and report this delivery to the freight office."
Rellan agreed. He was concerned about being drawn into an investigation, but he had cooperated and had retained the relevant records. Subin made it clear that the local authorities would determine whether the delivery had violated any regulations.
The team returned to Bellcross's freight office and submitted copies of the receipts. The clerk added them to the existing report and arranged for a patrol to visit the storehouse. The original documents would remain with Rellan until the authorities requested them formally.
Outside, Jae-hyun looked toward the northern road.
"So the crates moved from Northfield to Bellcross, then were collected under the name Corlan and taken toward the old mining yards."
"That's what the records indicate," Ara said. "We still don't know whether those were the same crates found in Eastbridge. The descriptions and dates fit, but the contents were never inspected during either transfer."
"Then we inspect the next location," Subin replied.
The old ore-loading yard lay north of Bellcross, near the remains of a mining spur that had been closed when the nearby quarry stopped operating. The team reached it in the early afternoon. Several loading platforms had collapsed, and rusted rails ran into a dark tunnel beneath the hillside.
Fresh wagon tracks crossed the yard and ended beside a small stone building. The main doors were open, but the interior was empty except for packing straw, broken boards, and a few discarded iron straps.
Ara compared the tracks with the marks left by the wagon described at Dunridge. The width was consistent, though the ground was too disturbed to prove that the same vehicle had passed through.
Subin searched the building while Yerin examined the yard's outer path. Liu Wei found a narrow track leading toward the hillside, where a wagon could have turned around without using the main loading platform.
They followed it for several hundred metres and found the remains of a temporary camp: cold ashes, food wrappers, and a patch of ground where a heavy object had rested. There was no sign of a struggle or any abandoned equipment.
Near the edge of the camp, Ara discovered a torn strip of paper caught beneath a stone. Most of the writing had been damaged by rain, but one line remained legible: a reference to a collection scheduled at the old weigh station.
"This could be connected to the meeting point Marek mentioned," she said. "But we need to compare the date and handwriting before treating it as part of the same arrangement."
Subin examined the surrounding ground. The camp had been used recently, but there was no clear trail leading farther uphill. They could search the abandoned mine, yet its tunnels were extensive and unstable. Entering without a reason to believe the cargo had gone inside would waste time and expose the group to unnecessary risk.
They returned to the loading yard and reported the discovery to Bellcross's patrol. The patrol agreed to secure the paper fragment and inspect the old mine entrance before allowing anyone to enter.
As the afternoon wore on, a courier arrived from the district office with a message for Subin. The authorities had traced Corlan's temporary permit to an application submitted under a false identity. The person who had guaranteed the application could not be located, and the listed address belonged to a vacant room.
However, the permit application included a vehicle registration. The dark wagon with the brass lantern had been registered to a freight contractor called Daren Holt, whose office was listed in a settlement farther north.
The name did not establish that Daren Holt was Corlan. It did give the authorities a person to contact about the wagon and its use.
Subin sent a reply confirming the Bellcross records and the abandoned loading yard. He requested that the district office verify the vehicle registration while the local patrol checked the mine entrance. The team would continue north toward Daren Holt's registered address.
That evening, they rested at an inn in Bellcross. Ara organized the records into separate groups: the Eastbridge shipment, the Northfield storage agreement, and the later deliveries through Bellcross. The documents showed a chain of transfers, but the gaps between them still mattered. No single record proved that every crate contained the same iron or that every person involved knew what was being transported.
Yerin sat beside Subin while he reviewed the route map.
"We've spent several days following a shipment without knowing whether it is the same shipment that started this," she said.
"We know the false authorization was used, and we know treated iron was moved through the route," Subin replied. "That is enough to keep checking, but not enough to accuse everyone connected to it."
"Do you think Venn knew about this?"
"Possibly. He arranged the original commercial transaction, but we haven't found evidence that he authorized these later transfers. We need his account before we can judge his part."
Yerin nodded. "Then we should keep looking for him, too."
"We will. But first, we need to establish who controlled the wagon and where the cargo went."
The following morning, Bellcross's patrol reported that the old mine entrance was blocked by a partial collapse. There was no safe way to inspect the deeper tunnels without engineers. The patrol had found no cargo near the entrance, and the paper fragment remained too incomplete to identify a recipient.
The local authorities would arrange a survey of the mine, but Subin's team did not wait for the work to begin. They had a new lead in Daren Holt, whose registered address lay on the northern road.
Before leaving, Subin sent Garrick another brief update. The original iron shipment remained secured in Windscar, and the commercial dispute was being handled separately. The later freight trail involved a false permit, several storage arrangements, and treated iron whose exact origin had not yet been established.
Garrick acknowledged the report and asked to be informed if the team found evidence directly connecting the cargo to Belric's contract.
Subin folded the message and secured it with the other records.
They departed Bellcross after breakfast, heading north toward Daren Holt's registered office. Behind them, the patrol guarded the old loading yard while the district authorities verified the wagon registration.
The freight trail had grown longer, but it had also become more precise. They now had a vehicle registration, a name tied to that registration, and a series of signed records that could be checked against one another.
Subin intended to follow those records until they reached someone who could explain the shipment from beginning to end.