"Oh! Well . . . " the serving girl flushes. "I am not supposed to be bothering the guests. It's just, I go by that river too sometimes to wash clothing! It's bothered me terribly that people are disappearing. The other day I was out with some washerwomen and one of them said there was this cave of some sort, with all kinds of foul smells coming from within. She said it like a joke, and even asked if we supposed there were smugglers hiding things there!" The girl shudders. "I don't like it. But . . . what if she's right? I thought I had to tell somebody, and well, if it's somebody, then oughtn't that to be you?"
"I am Eliza," she adds quietly, seeming subdued after her outburst. She looks at Syut's hand curiously.