“Thank you, thank you, Priestess! Uh, praise the winged woman, uh, Goddess! Yeah, the Goddess! Praise the Goddess, thanks!”

Whether you’re a rich merchant or a street thug, when you have a serious wound leaking precious blood as your skin turns pale and sickly, having a healer bring you back from the brink of death was something that just about anyone would be thankful for. At least, the people I’ve met so far have felt grateful for the white grace.

After Eshe and I finished healing the wounded thugs — with help from Ellaine, Alikar, and Anivh glaring at the ones with dicks for brains — Gael dragged us away from the group, intending to take us to a different, unspecified location. As we walked through the streets, avoiding certain locations by going through alleyways, Gael suddenly spoke up after a ton of silence.

“One tip, Miss Eshe.” Eshe’s knights began to glare daggers at Gael as he wrongly addressed their mistress, despite knowing her title, but the man in question ignored it all. “I won’t say there aren’t any people down here without a good heart, because there are quite a lot of them, but most of the time you will only find greedy cutthroats. If they see a priestess naive enough to heal others without asking for a fee, all they will see is a potential payday instead of a samaritan.”

He was right. It was obvious to me when I was healing those thugs that most of them couldn’t stop themselves from looking at us with either lecherous eyes or those of an opportunistic hunter. I didn’t feel the need to take care of them with Gael around. It seemed they feared this alcoholic enough not to make a move.

Even then, if they had heard Gael addressing Eshe as a saintess, they probably wouldn’t have stopped with just looking. If crime movies have taught me anything, then it would be that the criminal underworld had enough eyes and ears around every corner and inside every shadow. You had to be super-duper cautious down here.

Seemingly understanding what he wanted to say, Eshe nodded, but she still felt the need to argue back, “I understand, and thank you, Mister Gael. However, I have a duty to heal the wounded. They protected the innocent bystanders. It is only righteous and proper for me to aid them as a humble servant of the Goddess.”

If her willingness to help orphans hadn’t proven it yet, then this should be another argument for how much of a textbook saintess Eshe was. The world could use more good.

“They helped the inhabitants, sure, but it’s all about upholding a deal, Miss. The representative of this district signed a protection contract with the Blackreach Guild, so protection they will get. As long as the money is paid, the guild will make sure the district won’t get turned into ruins by the spawning monsters.” We ended up at the dead end of an alleyway, where Gael climbed up the wall blocking the end of the alley to vault over to the other side. Once we helped Eshe climb over, we continued following Gael.

“What is this Blackreach Guild, anyways, Gael? We heard about it from one of the inhabitants, but we have not done any deep research into Shaturein,” Saori asked.

“The Blackreach Guild. One of the four pillars in Shaturein that control this place. Outside of being the gang the original founders of this place formed, they are also the representative of Shaturein whenever they need to discuss stuff with the royal palace. You might say that they are the top dogs of this place.”

Gael explained that each of these four guilds controlled different aspects which kept Shaturein running well. Since they were the pillars, their foundations were made upon the numerous gangs, organizations, and businesses inside this place. As such, Shaturein was governed as an oligarchy, where every law and decision was handled by the pillars.

Gael showed four fingers, pulling them back to his palm while mentioning each of the pillars. “Blackreach Guild, managed by Vangrim Blackreach. Honorable, well, as honorable as a merc can be. International Desires, the boss is Hamil Czesics. Businessman. Probably responsible for or at least involved with most of the organized crime in Artorias. Sewer Maintenance, pfff, ahem, led by the uncreative four-eyes Rafka Qus. They are responsible for maintaining the whole place and the sewer, making them the primary contractor for mages. Also, the main producer of the street drug ‘Swain,’ urgh, nasty shit. Don’t even try it if you’re offered some, it would make your nose melt right off.”

“I thank you for warning us from not taking a drug, but maybe not mention it exists in the first place. I am pretty sure all of us are fully aware not to take random drugs,” Saori protested, looking slightly annoyed. Her responsible adult side was speaking.

“Well, lass, sometimes it is good to give warnings.” And the person to baffle Saori even more was Grimnir, who scratched his hair in embarrassment. “Ahem, I-I’m just saying, Saori. Warnings never hurt, especially since most of you girls are young and inexperienced.”

Saori couldn’t stop glaring at Grimnir judgmentally. If he hadn’t mentioned anything, we probably wouldn’t have been this suspicious of whatever Grimnir was hiding.

Gael coughed, bringing people’s attention back to him. “Ahem, to continue… the last guild would be ‘The Heartful Dance.’ They are controlled by Jenghil Grengar, the mistress of a kingdom of brothels within Artorias and the countries surrounding us. Probably one of the best information brokers concerning human and dwarven activities, since her girls and boys are everywhere. No brothel in any of the cities or towns she has her fingers in is allowed to operate without her ‘blessing.’”

“‘Grengar?’” I spoke that name out loud, remembering what I heard at the entrance. “Saori, isn’t that the person you mentioned to that food vendor?”

“Oh, so that’s how you got inside.” Gael turned around, walking forward with his back facing us. “I see Muraina took a good liking to all of you, but I guess I should have figured it since the Young Miss is around. Your status alone can loosen her lips, you know.”

Gael probably spoke about my royal lineage, since that was the only thing I could think of which Muraina would probably respect without a question.

“Well, to answer your questioning look, yes, Muraina knows Lady Grenger. In fact, she’s her mentor, haha,” Gael laughed as he said that but hearing him call a prostitute madam the apprentice of Muraina was a bit shocking to me. “Haha, kinda makes me jealous how lucky she is to get trained by Muraina. That old elf flatly rejected me when I asked her, saying I was too lazy. Haaaaa, man, that really killed my motivation to train.”

“Haha…” Saori let out a pitying chuckle, but in truth, I think she was feeling awkward since Muraina had offered to train Saori. It would be best if we didn’t mention that.

“You seem to know a lot about these guilds, Mister Gael,” Ellaine commented, looking impressed.

“Well, since I’m an information broker, I kinda have to keep tabs on the competition. You can’t compete with people like Lady Grenger or Muraina if you’re sitting on your ass, drinking stale mead all the time, right? They have impressive spy networks, but if you meet and stay with the correct people, you can learn things even they couldn’t learn about, right?” Gael winked at Saori, Tasianna, Ellaine, and me. He probably was speaking about the Davison situation Muraina had no idea about.

“… I feel left out,” Grimnir mumbled.

After some walking around through this weird place, I began to notice the increase in mana in the surrounding area. Even without using [Mana Eyes], I could feel the same air, thick with mana like in the Belzac forest or inside a dungeon. This felt like the entire place was infested with monsters.

“… This is a hazard,” Tasianna spoke, frowning as she probably had the same thoughts. “Why is nobody taking care of all this mana? Aren’t you too careless with how monster spawning seems to be a normality here?”

“That’s life in Shaturein, Tasianna,” Gael answered. “But when you’re forced to live in a lawless place filled with risks of all kinds, you have to have something to attract mages down here, right? Down here, mages can do whatever the fuck they want, free from the guild’s rules. On the other hand, the mage’s guild doesn’t care about the shit down here if it isn’t catastrophic, since Shaturein and Griffonpeak are separated by a thick layer of fairnite. That’s why monsters don’t spawn up there.”

Fairnite was Peolynca’s version of a magic-resistant mineral, able to absorb and protect yourself from offensive magic. This beautiful white ore, which looked a bit like marble, you usually find in the homes of nobles was supposedly built above Shaturein to protect Griffonpeak from the mana down here. Just like the basements the nobles had underneath their homes.

This then made me question why the entrance of Shaturein would change every week, since I found it weird with the fairnite layer. Gael explained that, during the founding of Shaturein, the first king of Artorias built the fairnite layer around the original entrance to Shaturein, and that this half of the tunnel to enter the undercity had never changed. The mages simply changed the entrance above the fairnite, never the tunnel leading to the undercity.

“That’s why the entrance can only be found in the red light district.” Gael pointed out. “But whatever, back to the question. The mages down here rarely take care of their messes, but we still make sure to keep the mana accumulation below the spawning of B ranks. On the other hand, since all the mages work in the center of Shaturein where the pillars are, mercs and hunters naturally flock there to hunt everything down, making this into Shaturein’s own little, although more dangerous, dungeon.”

‘I’m gonna make my own dungeon, with blackjack and hookers,’ — probably the crazy guys managing this place.

“So, you are telling me they let their mages go wild down here, endangering people with all the monster spawning, and then demand those same people pay protection money for a problem the guilds allowed to foster? Not to mention the crimes?” Saori listed out in horror, shaking her head as a result.

Gael shrugged with a wry smile.

“This hellhole beyond the Goddess’s gaze can give Sarkafiina’s slums a narrow save from a scorpion’s sting.” I wasn’t sure exactly what Anivh meant by that idiom, but I felt like I could understand it. This place would give most cities in the U.S. a run for their money in how awful it was. This was far beyond the petty thefts I heard could happen in Manhatten, fuck me.

Well, whatever. This was the place. This has to be the place I saw with my eyes. Note to self, don’t use [Mana Eyes] in such a place again for longer than a second to appraise.

After Gael stopped moving, I raised my cowl slightly to look around us, noticing how much cleaner it was around here. Even the water canal was pretty clean, although I still wouldn’t attempt to drink it. It was a far cry from the neighborhood at the entrance; it would be similar to comparing the slums with the merchant district.

If I had to guess, this had to be Shaturein’s center, where the main guilds were headquartered. It had to be clean. After letting us look around a bit, Gael urged us inside what looked like an apartment complex. Walking to the top floor, we entered a medium-sized apartment.

Inside, we found a few young kids playing something. “Alright, alright. Out, kids. I got business to deal with, so out,” Gael demanded. The kids let out sighs of disappointment when they heard this but quickly obeyed, going out after taking a glance at us.

Gael then pointed to a set of decently clean couches for us to sit down in. In fact, this whole apartment was liveable enough, in my opinion. The change in neighborhoods also changes the quality of life; it should be some time I was very much aware of. “Well, make yourself at home, everybody.”

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“Gael, were those kids your ‘little birds?’” Saori asked as she took off her cowl.

“Yeah. Kids I picked up from the streets. They only need to listen to street gossip and in return they get food, money, and homes they can live in. Still harsh, street life is never easy, but better than cold and starving, right?” Gael replied, earning him a smile from Eshe. “Now, you ladies and two gentlemen aren’t here to hear about my spy networks, right? How about we get down to business? I’ve already got a bad feeling about it, so spit it out before I get indigestion from worry.”

I nodded and told him pretty much everything that happened from the moment I saw Abi nearly getting kidnapped by a few thugs. As Eshe listened to everything again, I noticed her closing her eyes, frowning as she prayed for the safety of the kids who were kidnapped. Gael, too, wasn’t exactly pleased by it.

“Fuck me, are you serious? Slavers? Pah! If there is one good thing about Shaturein, it’s that they at least follow the ban on slaves the crown issued. It isn’t popular at all down here, thanks to our history, but that doesn’t stop some fuckers from doing shit like this,” Gael spat out in anger, looking disgusted as he heard the ending.

I nodded, approving the rage he felt. My feelings bounced off from him, reconfirming that I was reacting correctly. “Yes, and that is why we came down here immediately. We need your help, Gael. Please, you must know this place better than us, right?”

“Of course! Who do you think I am, huh? Farron ain’t keeping me on his payroll for being useless. Just to make it clear, did you kill those two bastards, Little Miss?” I shook my head. I told him I handed him to the guards. “Yeah, shit decision. They probably will get out once they mention who they are working for. Argh, fuck! That scum of the world, Hamil, is doing this shit, again!”

“That’s the boss of International Desires, right?” Saori said.

“Yeah. They mostly handle illegal imports and exports, being the primary players of the black market in the kingdom. They serve everyone from lowly beggars to even the most influential nobles. That’s why they are Shaturein’s main flow of money, and they ain’t stupid enough to not use this influence.” Gael paused for a moment before continuing. “But it seems like, among their illegal exports, they’re moving human slaves as part of their business.”

My feet stomped on the ground, instantly standing up and jumping over the couch. As I was making my way over to the door, Saori grabbed my shoulders and stopped me. “Hestia, don’t.”

Rolling my head in annoyance, I turned around to reply, saying, “Saori, I promise I won’t cause a giant fuss. I know that! If the Blackreach Guild, a pillar, has their emblems on everything they own, then this prideful Hamil would, too. I’ll catch somebody with their emblem and get the information out of them. I then go to the place with the kids, and bust them out. Easy.”

“Hestia, think rationally. You know this isn’t the correct way to do this.”

“Saori! Mhmm!” I stopped myself from shouting. “I know you are worried but this isn’t the time to stop me! I was cool up to this point, even patient, but with the kids right over the corner, I’m not stopping now! I can handle this. Lady Eshe, you want to save the children now, right? Please, support me!”

As I looked over at Eshe for support, Saori placed her head in front of my vision, blocking me from looking at Eshe. “Hestia, I know you can handle yourself. Not like most people can stop us if we actually go wild, right?”

I was surprised. Looking at how Saori usually treated things like this, I thought she would try to argue with me to not go since it was too dangerous to go in without information. She was the worrywart of our party, and I could understand and respect that. She was right about it most of the time.

“Then why are you stopping me?”

“Because I am worried about the social repercussions after we do this. Don’t you think breaking into the stronghold of one of the pillars of Shaturein would be as easy as dragging the kids out? If the three other guilds were to support International Desires, we will be making a ton of enemies all at once. Living in Artorias will be hell for us, if their influence even reaches nobles.”

“I agree with Saori, lass,” Grimnir interjected himself into our discussion. “This isn’t gonna stop with just this. If we kick the hornet’s nest, then they will sting us. These people don’t need to resort to assassinating us, you know, they can ruin you through other means. Sabotaging your businesses, like the one Ellaine’s father has right now. Supporting your rivals to let them do the deed. Or destroying your reputation in any way possible. Even the most reputable person can fall down a cliff if they have too many enemies. You understand what we mean, now?”

I clenched my teeth. If I thought about it, Saori was acting just like normal, it was just that she was pointing out things I hadn't really considered. Now that I thought about it, if “The Heartful Dance” is one of the best information brokers in Artorias, then Shaturein will find out about me even if I hide my identity. This wouldn’t be the last time we would have to confront them.

… I nearly let my hot-headedness get the better of me again. I’m notexactly opposed to mass murder, since I was doing it all the time to get experience, but slaughtering a bunch of humans and beastmen might go over the line I set for myself when I became an E rank.

“Actually, that won’t be necessary.” As if he was throwing me a rescue line, Gael’s next words brought back my moxie. “None of the pillars will come to the aid of Hamil when it’s just a ‘slave break out.’”

“Hmm, what do you mean with that, lad? Doesn’t sound like that to me with the way you described the guilds,” Grimnir argued, but Gael shook his head.

“The pillars are invaluable and will protect each other if they must… but not when it comes to something every other pillar disagreed with. And slavery is something none of the other three would back International Desires up for,” Gael sneered at our target. “Be careful not to kill Hamil or bring his business down, and you can walk out of this without a problem. Besides, you have allies of your own in this, people.”

“Yeah, you. What about it?” I responded.

“Argh, not just me! Damnit, that hurts, you know, Lady Hestia!” After he composed himself, Gael continued his explanation. “What I mean is that even without that slavery bit, two of the other guilds will probably even help you. First, the Blackreach Guild absolutely despises International Desires. Not only because of the slavery stuff, but Hamil has been tip-toeing into the black mercenary business lately and this is Mister Vangrim’s area. Nobody controls the black merc companies in Shaturein but Blackreach.”

If a criminal went into another’s territory, one of them would die. If a syndicate did the same thing to another criminal organization, there would be war.

“Call us a proxy to this problem.” Gael’s expertise of Shaturein was showing. Boy, was I glad I met up with him so early. “Next, The Heartful Dance. You already know that Muraina supports you and, as such, Lady Grengar will too. If you didn’t know already, Lady Grenger is not only a half-elf, but also a bastard child of the House Morgiana.”

“““What?!””” The responses from Saori, Ellaine, and I were expected. This was one hell of an information bomb.

“Well, the bastard child of Duchess Morgiana’s brother. Apparently from what I heard, he got drunk one day and the former boss of the guild, Lady Grengar’s mother, used this chance to conceive a child from him. Using blackmail on House Morgiana and the brother, she protected the child growing inside her.” In other words, this Jenghil Grengar was Thyra’s cousin. “Her eyes prove it. They have the same seal as any other Morgiana, since it was that or the death of the child, no arguments. She has no right to inherit, but I’m sure Lady Grengar would do anything to get in the good graces of House Morgiana, such as, for example, helping a very, very important personage, like you, Little Miss.”

The information about me being a dragon princess should be nonexistent in the underworld, hopefully, but there might have been some rumors about how friendly I was to Thyra and her mother at the ball. There was also that time I went to meet up with Thyra at the academy. I can probably work with that to persuade the Madam to help me.

Gael then clapped his legs after saying all that, standing up and walking over to the door. “What are you people waiting for? If there are slaves, there are auctions. We don’t know how much time the kids have left, so come on!”

“Where to?” I asked.

“To somebody who will most likely know where the slaves are held. You don’t get dicey information like this from goons, Little Miss.”

“Urgh.” It felt like a jab at my plan to interrogate a random goon to find the kids.

Leaving the center, we went to the other neighborhood. Even walking just a bit outside, the situation was nowhere close to the center. It was like all the money was invested there, and the rest of the place was just left to fend for itself.

In the center, fewer people were lollygagging around on the streets, as most of them spent their time at nearby taverns or hangout spots. Here, it was like at the entrance. People were crowding the streets as they returned from work for the day, the corners were filled with people using it as temporary housing like the homeless in New York.

In this mess, pickpockets were rampant and fights broke out everywhere as they tried to settle things with their fists. In some alleys, brawls were happening and blood was pooled on the ground here and there. I thanked Tasianna once again for her [Air Shield]. If it weren’t for her, the smell would have tormented me just like the sight of everything was.

I never want to be in this situation. Saori was right, I need to take care of my money. I need to make more, so I can live a comfortable enough life. I don’t think I could live like… somebody desperate enough to kill others for bread crumbs.

… Says the one who had to do this very thing in the first week of being reborn.

As I shook this idea out of my head, we finally ended up at our destination. Urging us to enter, Gael told us to mind ourselves within. The first thing that came to my mind when we entered was a sense of deja vu, as kids frolicked around as they ran through the house. The building wasn’t super large, but it probably would be enough for a small suburban family.

However, there were a lot of kids down here, from humans to various types of beastmen. It almost felt like an orphanage with how the kids were allowed to just play around. Actually, a kindergarten might have been a better description. Unlike Gael’s spy kids, these children were truly acting like kids.

“Woah! Peeps! Hey, hey, hey, we got intruders!”

“Call for Big Sis! Run!”

“Run! Run! We need to hide!”

Are we that scary?

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME!” somebody shouted as the kids fled the moment they saw us. Feet stomping on the wooden floor came running towards us and I could feel my [Foresight] warning me for danger. Over the corner of a door, a woman with floppy bunny ears and long legs, holding a red magic circle on her clawed hand. “I don’t fucking care who you are! Get the hell out of my house, or I’ll fucking send you to the taxidermist!”

Fire mage!

As I was about to ready myself for battle, Gael forced himself through all of his, holding his hands high as he began speaking with the loopridae, “Hey, hey, Friell, it’s me! It’s me, lass! Don’t shoot!”

The rabbit girl, called Friell, contorted her face into disgust as she saw Gael, unwilling to drop her antagonism. “Yeah, and why shouldn’t I shoot you, huh? Traitorous son of a bitch, even if the new boss forgave you, do you think you can waltz into my house like this?! None of the other members are willing to forgive you for abandoning us like that either!”

Despite how dangerous the situation was, since we actually did enter a house without announcing our arrival first, Gael still continued trying to diffuse it. “Hey, come on. I left before you joined the group, I thought I made that clear to you. I didn’t know who you were back then, and I already apologized for hurting you. You know being in Yanderu Elusuess means thinking about yourself first and foremost. If you were in the same situation as I was in, you would have done the same thing, kid!”

“Y-You! Gael, dammit, GET OUT OF MY—” As the loopridae’s eyes flared up, Saori stepped in front of them.

Unveiling her face underneath her cloak, Saori spoke with concern on her face, “We are only here to talk. We aren’t here to fight, so can we please talk?”

“Huek?!” The moment she noticed Saori, she flinched, and the magic circle fizzled out. She quickly took two steps back and started to shiver slightly. “W-Why are you here?! G-Gael, what are you doing bringing this wolfkin here?!”

Gael sighed, seeing as the situation seemed to have diffused somewhat. He stepped forward. “Friell, this is Saori. You two should be acquainted, I guess.” Neither Saori nor Friell responded. “As she said, we aren’t here for anything bad. We need some information, and I think you’d be interested in what we have to say too.”

“And what would that be? Gael, I don’t take any jobs that don't come from the boss or the company. I have enough to do outside of barely doing the minimum to keep myself and everybody else afloat.” Looking at the kids slowly creeping up to the young woman, using her as a shield, I could imagine what she meant.

Gael nodded and went directly to the point. “Slavers. Kids from the church’s orphanage were kidnapped. International Desires is up to something again. Are you still up to date on them?”

“Huuek!” At the sound of “slavers,” the rabbit girl began to take in deeper breaths before starting to grind her teeth in pure anger. Gael, looking at her with pity, did not speak any further, giving her time to calm down.

“Big Sis? Are you alright?” a kid behind her tugged at her clothes, looking scared at the situation. “A-Are they here to hurt us?”

Considering all of us were wearing cloaks, I guess it did make sense if they thought we were suspicious.

“N-No, I don’t think so,” the rabbit girl answered, looking at the kids. “I think I have work to do, kids. Call Kaian for me, alright?”

“Mhmm!” All of them nodded as they rushed further into the house. After a few seconds, a well-built panther beastman appeared, resting his long spear over his shoulder as he waltzed into the room, looking intimidating.

“Hey, you bastards! You fucking dare enter my Friell’s house?! Are you fucking courting death or wha— Hold on, you are that wolfkin. Saori?!” The pantherae expressed his shock, opening his jaw wide open before clenching his teeth together into a wide smile.

“… I am not here to fight.” And that was all that was needed for the panther man’s bloodthirsty smile and posture to slump like a flaccid dick.

Gael sighed once again, and turned back to us. “Well, I hope you can get along. I introduce to you two members of the infamous Yanderu Eluseuss, Friell and Kaian. They will be all the help we need to track down the slave auction.”

Saori really knows the weirdest people. They are either criminals or former ones.