Talia mostly tuned out the antics of the townsfolk. That was information she could have lived without, really. Frowning, she focused more on analyzing the more useful bits of story she got from then and pondering the implications. And judging by the deepening scowl on her face, the conclusions she arrived at were less than pleasant. "So let me get this straight." She began, the tiefling visibly working herself up towards a full-on rant. "In order to actually fix this mess, I have to find the person or thing that made those hives. Which began several decades ago, and with the hives around may no longer require their presence on site. So unless it's the Don or they're required to maintain it, I might actually have no chance of finding them in the city at all, because they've fucked off to give people shit elsewhere."
The mage began to pace, looking increasingly irritated as she continued to speak. "Of course, even if they are around I have to actually find them and confirm whether they're the ones responsible, and given that Don's business relies on secrecy they'd have to be fucking retarded to leave that bit of info out in the open. And even if I do track them down, they have to be isolated first because attempting to engage them in any way on their turf is a retarded idea, given how much time they've had to prepare their territory to their every concievable advantage." Talia swore, growing even more agitated. "And that's not taking into account the fact that the process of purification is not only still risky, but actually puts us at a disadvantage since they are all the ones with special skills in that area and not us." The half-demon stopped pacing, rubbing her temples with a grimace. "So even our best method to fix this might actually just make things worse if we're unlucky."
Sighing, the tiefling continued, speaking more to herself than anybody else by now. "So I have to run a fucking investigation, hope my target is actually around, find a way to draw them into a vulnerable position and then hope they don't have some kind of special power or ability like poisons or mind control that are too strong for us to handle. Or that they won't get lucky. And that all hinges on the assumption that the hives aren't a recent thing and have always been there, which isn't certain given what you've said about never seeing them back then." Her attention briefly wandered back to the townsfolk as she brought that up before turning back to her musings. "So there might be multiple sources of corruption around. Which means doing this several times and hoping that all of them are in the city. Correct me if I've missed something." She pinched the bridge of her nose, sighing deeply.
"I'm starting to miss the goblins." Talia lamented, finally winding down. "Deplorable little shits they might be, but at least they're a problem you can solve by just hitting it repeatedly. I'm starting to gain a newfound appreciation for such problems." Falling silent, the mage's focus turned towards thinking of a way out of this predicament. So much for Yumi's gunpowder being useful in the near future, unless something new happened. The tiefling's own plans would have to be shelved too, though she silently swore herself that she would raze the Don's holdings to the ground in retribution for this shit. First the wife, now this... Not enough information. They had nowhere near enough information. It was time to find Yumi and let that rogue know just how deep they had to look into things, split the burden somehow. As she considered all this, however, a thought occured to the girl. "Hang on a second... How much do you people know about the Don? The man himself, his associates, anything. Doesn't matter if it's old info, I need a base to compare the current state of affairs to."