"Slateri the First?" Gentari asked, and seemed surprised. "Funny that you asked. He was here, and left just this morning."
...What? They had missed Slateri by mere hours? Wait, they could probably catch up to him if they hurried. He turned to look at Sidon, who looked troubled.
"I see", he said. "That is… good news. We should be able to catch up to him before he gets to the Lost Woods, then."
Why did that sound like Sidon wasn't planning to start running immediately?
'Sidon', Link signed, catching his boyfriend's attention right away. 'We should just ask our questions and leave now.'
Sidon grimaced. "I'm aware that would be the logical thing to do, as far as our main goal is concerned."
Link already knew there would be a 'but' coming. He frowned and crossed his arms, begrudgingly listening.
"But the truth is... I don't want to", Sidon confessed with a sheepish look. "Please listen. We just got here, and there is so much to see and learn in this particular city. Many interesting new concepts have piled up during our journey, and this city is the place where all the answers supposedly wait. We weren't even expecting to catch up to Slateri here; weren't we committed to going all the way to the Lost Woods Capital to find him? We're ahead of our schedule and could afford to explore one more city."
Link's frown deepened in thought. He saw Sidon's point, but at the same time he knew things never went as planned for him; if they didn't seize their chance to catch Slateri now, they likely wouldn't get another chance before the Lost Woods Capital because of his selectively rotten luck. Not that he minded adventuring and new places, but they were in a bit of a hurry here because of Sidon's royal status. They had already taken a week on a few days' journey, and missed their first chance of sending a letter to King Dorephan at the stable. Soon there would be chaos in Zora's Domain because the only heir to the throne had been too quiet for too long without any warning.
Link really didn't want King Dorephan thinking he had gone and gotten another one of his children killed; the only remaining one at that. The sooner they were big again, the better.
"You speak sign language", Gentari said suddenly; Link had already forgotten he was present in the first place. Gentari leaned towards Link with a painfully familiar gleam in his eyes. It was the look that people had when they wanted favours from Link, so he frowned before nodding; he supposed he could hear the old Minish out, if only to avoid answering Sidon's plea just yet. "Fascinating. Now, from the half of your conversation that I'm able to understand, I gather that you might want to leave immediately? I implore that you don't. Please, hear me out."
Link nodded again, reluctantly.
"Thank you. I would ask you to go visit our High Librarian, Librari. She has recently started studying sign language in preparation of teaching it to our population; at least the current generation of children. A deaf girl was born a few months ago, and she will need a teacher as well as peers who will understand her. We have not needed sign language in decades, so the art has been forgotten and needs to be learned from scratch. Librari would benefit greatly from conversing with a person who uses sign language as his primary method of communication."
Link had not expected that. Maybe he should have, since Gentari inquired about his signing before the request, but sweet Hylia. A whole generation was going to learn sign language for the benefit of one child? To be fair, Link didn't actually know how it was for Hylians or the other big people races sans the Zora, but the concept made him… emotional. This was the first time sign language turned out to be actually useful for reasons other than him not having to vocalize. He could make the difference for one little girl's education and life. ...He couldn't say no to that, now could he? Damn it.
'Fine', he signed without looking at Gentari or Sidon. 'But we'll leave first thing tomorrow.'
"Yes!" Sidon cried, and pumped his fist in the air. Link's eyes followed the flex of his bicep attentively, and he already felt better about his decision. He was a simple man with simple likes, and bulging Zora prince muscles were among the top of the list.
"I gather you're staying?" Gentari asked, and Sidon nodded happily. "Excellent. I thank you humbly. Now, you mentioned other inquiries?"
Sidon glanced at Link, who frowned again before signing 'Vaatians'. Sidon nodded, his grin vanishing.
"We came to wonder one thing just before arriving to your office", Sidon said seriously. "How is it that you knew about us before our arrival? Link has his suspicions, but I'd rather hear your explanation before jumping into conclusions."
Gentari opened his mouth to reply, then closed it with a puzzled frown. He thought quietly for a couple of seconds, then finally shook his head. "Funny, that. It's actually quite the mystery. This morning, shortly after Slateri left, a guard came to me. She told me that the whole city was talking about some big people who had been shrunk down and were on their way here. She hadn't been able to verify the truthfulness of that claim as everyone she spoke to had simply heard it from someone else. It was like nobody was the source of the rumour, yet it had spread like wildfire in the span of an hour or so. I have no idea who did it or why."
If Link hadn't been suspicious before, he certainly was now. He told Sidon as much, and now it seemed that his boyfriend agreed.
"I see. Link has a suspicion. I don't know if this is completely baseless, as we have little understanding of the group we're accusing here, but he suspects the Vaatians. We have reason to believe they would be hostile towards us, and that might somehow be enough of a motive to do something like this. Do you think it plausible?"
Gentari nodded instantly. "I don't see why not. I don't have a clue how this could benefit them, but it certainly makes more sense than a random traveler spreading something like this without making themselves the center of the attention while they're at it."
Gentari's eyebrows knit together in obvious worry, which made Link expectant. He wasn't sure whether he dreaded or hoped to be asked to solve this case simply because he was the Hero of Hyrule and always solved everyone's problems, no matter how big or small. Although he wasn't sure if the Minish actually knew about that tidbit in the first place.
"Hmm… Them being numerous enough around here to spread the rumor that fast makes me worry about them striking somewhere sometime soon", Gentari said, and Link held his breath. "Did you have any other questions? I need to speak with the captain of the guard as soon as possible, but I can spare a few more minutes for such rare guests as yourselves."
What? The captain of the guard? Link didn't need to do anything?
Sidon didn't seem confused at all, and merely nodded with a serious look. "Thank you for your hospitality. We won't take much more of your time, since it is of essence right now. We wanted to learn more about the Vaatians, but I suspect that to be a lengthy discussion?"
Gentari nodded. "You're right about that. You could ask Librari or Histori about it. She's next door towards the stairs."
"We've met. We're also interested in the kinstones and the Magic Academy."
Gentari smiled widely. "How wonderful! We're hoping to get kinstones back into the hands of the big people, so it's excellent to hear of your interest. Histori could tell you about those as well, and she could take you to visit the Magic Academy to talk with Mageri. Or if she's busy, Librari can do that instead. Ah, pardon me for simply delegating the task of answering your questions to other people."
Sidon shook his head. "No need for apologies; we understand completely. I'm the crown prince of the Zora, and as such no stranger to prioritizing and delegation. On that note, we have no more questions that aren't related to the subjects already brought up. We can ask Histori, Librari or Mageri, should the answers not come forward on their own after the initial questions."
Gentari nodded, and then stood up with as much creaking as before. Link and Sidon followed suit.
"If anything else comes to you, feel free to pay me another visit", Gentari said as he walked them to his door. "I would love to speak with you again before you leave, if you happen to have the time. I'm expecting more big people visitors now that you have discovered us, and having some knowledge of your culture and of the ways to better accommodate your people would be greatly appreciated."
"We'll keep that in mind", Sidon said with a smile. "I can't promise anything, but we'll see. I plan on visiting your cities again in the future with better time, so at least there is that to look forward to. Thank you for your help and may Hylia bless your guards in their duty."
"May Ezlo watch your steps and offer you wisdom", Gentari said, and tapped his hat a couple of times. It was a strange gesture, but even stranger was the fact that it made Link expect… something, from his own perfectly regular Minish issue cap. Nothing happened, and he was mildly disappointed. He also made a mental note to ask someone about this Ezlo person – or possibly a god – they had heard mentioned a couple of times now.
They left the room, and took the few steps required to reach Histori's door again. Link braced himself for the enthusiasm of the Minish inside before knocking.
Histori personally opened the door this time, and grinned widely at the sight of them.
"I had a feeling it might be you!" she exclaimed. "I didn't expect you back this soon but I'm certainly not complaining. Come in!"
They followed her, and Link noticed that she had cleared one of the work desks and unearthed a couple of chairs for them while they were gone. He felt almost guilty about the fact that he would have ran after Slateri the moment they were done with Gentari had Sidon not persuaded him to stay, promises to Histori be damned.
"Sit down, sit down! Now tell me everything!"
They sat, not having much of a choice. Histori had a notebook and a pencil ready, and she was almost vibrating with anticipation.
'We should ask her about the Vaatians first', Link signed to Sidon. 'It might be urgent, since Gentari suspects they might be here en masse.'
Sidon looked indecisive for a moment, then gave a guilty look at Link's hands for some reason and straightened up. He looked at Histori. "We will, but we have an urgent question of our own first. Would you-"
Histori slammed her writing tools against the table, making Link jump. She had a fierce look in her eyes.
"No", she said, stressing the word. "You promised me a story before you ran off to do more important things last time. I'm not risking the answer to your question making you run off again, without giving me my answers. I'm holding your question hostage until you answer mine. Are we clear?"
If Link didn't know better, he would have sworn she was Zelda in disguise. He officially liked her now, usually hyper or not.
Sidon glanced helplessly at Link, who gave a sheepish shrug and a nod.
"Crystal clear, ma'am", Sidon said. "Fine then, how should I begin...?"
It took them a long while to recount their adventures in the Minish lands, because Histori wanted to know absolutely everything. And by everything, Link meant an outline of every single interaction they had had with the locals, an exhaustive description of every location they had been to, and their thoughts about the Minish cuisine. Among other things; she had questions about everything. The only major things they left out were their personal issues, and she had attempted to pry into those as well; thankfully she had backed off at Link's fierce glaring and repeated 'no' signs.
But finally, after copious notes and a cup of delicious, flowery tasting Minish tea, they were done.
If they didn't have a time limit, Link would have gladly left all of their own questions for later at that point; he felt so exhausted. And he hadn't even done the actual talking, at least not directly.
"Alrighty then", Histori said, and put the notebook down at long last. "I'm satisfied. What was your inquiry?"
Sidon exchanged a relieved look with Link, even though he didn't look at all weary from all the talking. Link suspected that the princely meetings he no doubt participated in often made this interrogation a piece of cake.
"What can you tell us about the Vaatians?"