"If I were able to speak with her in person, I can, hmm, sometimes encourage others to reveal information," muses Archeval with a thoughtful hum, tapping a finger against the side of his cup a bit as he sits back in contemplation.

"But sadly I don't expect she has any particular reason to want to speak with yours truly." The opposite if anything -- he hasn't been turned away from the House of Dew's doors since apparently endearing himself to the Merchant, but during the brief period he was on the outs he certainly didn't exactly take the bouncers' nos for an answer. "And I suppose anyone showing up bodily at the House for prying eyes to see might overly tip our hand. Hmm... a conundrum."

He sips some more of his drink with a thoughtful frown again.

"Well... if we assume this is all that we are getting for now. Someone left the city for six years, and conveniently returns just as the situation here seems to grow the most perilous, where wisdom would surely say to head in the opposite direction. Certainly... they have to be directly involved somehow. There's no reason to run toward a brewing conflict if you have nothing to gain from it. Well, pure altruism, I suppose, but--" He gives a contemptuous snort at his own words; it certainly goes without saying that those are not the Merchant's motivations.

"Seems to me you've collected one puzzle piece, Wei Wuxian, but finding out how it fits in with the others might require wider consultation."