– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 218, Season of the Setting Moon, Day 19 –
“Halt!”
Terry was returning to the inner city districts when a pair of city guards approached him. A dwarven man and a human woman. He raised an eyebrow. “Yes?”
The human guard spoke up in an accusing tone: “You—”
“Careful, we don’t want to make a scene,” reminded the dwarven guard. “There was a dead body discovered this morning. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”
“Why would I know anything about that?” retorted Terry. If he had been a few years younger or if this had been Arcana, then he would have reported what happened in the nightly alleys himself. However, his more recent experiences with city guards from Thanatos, the grandsons of enforcers in martialist sects, and imperial censors in Tiv had made him somewhat wary.
Terry also thought that something was off. His eyes swiveled around and there were plenty of people passing by, who were not being stopped by guards. He briefly considered if the guards only focused on outsiders, but there appeared to be plenty of people emerging from the refugee camps left unbothered too.
Why single me out? Not like people around here know me. Even if they did, not like I used any of my signature weapons. Punching hard is hardly a unique form of attack.
He narrowed his eyes with suspicion.
The guy whom that group beat up would hardly be the one to inform on me. That leaves the group around that street robber in a suit.
Fortunately for Terry, his irritated scowl completely overshadowed whatever other expression his honest face might betray in this situation.
“Well…” The dwarven man looked at his partner.
Oh? I guess she is the source? Terry moved his glare to focus on the human guard.
“He knows something.” The woman snarled at Terry. “You—”
“Let’s stay civil here.” The dwarven man interjected. “We’re just trying to figure out what happened.”
That’s one possibility.
Terry clicked his tongue and glanced at the woman.
I don't know what would be worse. That human guard working with that criminal in a suit or them pestering me because of… what exactly?
“You’ll have to come with us to the station,” said the dwarf.
Terry frowned and glanced at the large clock tower that was part of the city’s palace. “I’m on my way to work…” Although thanks to the buffer time he had left for himself in the dungeon, time that he had not needed in the end, he still had about slightly more than an hour before his shift as Flower Protector started.
“You just came out of the dungeon.” The female guard pointed out.
How did they know? Plenty of other things outside the city.
“Yes, and now I’m on my way to my next job,” said Terry testily. “Are we done here?”
“No, we’re not done!” barked the human guard. “You have to come with us for questioning.”
Terry was still trying to make up his mind while glancing at the clock tower when the human guard threatened: “We can take you by force if you resist!”
Terry did not lift his eyes from the clock while muttering off-handedly: “No, I don’t think you can.” The words had slipped his mouth involuntarily and he frowned at himself.
Too much time around martialists in the folded space. The escape from Thanatos was exhausting but I should really get used to better control my tongue again.
There was a moment of tension before the dwarven guard spoke up again. “We just want to make sure that people here are safe and—”
“If that is true, I suggest the city guards start working at night and perhaps increase the numbers in the troublesome districts,” interrupted Terry and he could not hide the snark in his tone. It appeared completely ridiculous to him that this was not already the case.
“Don’t we have a right to sleep as well?!” The human guard snapped. “How hard is it to just stay inside when the guards aren’t out? To stay away from the dangerous areas? Why does everyone feel entitled to act like fools and then demand that we bail them out? Why are our lives worth less? Why do we have to—”
“The City Guard Cooperative is spread thin as it is and we cannot cover all districts sufficiently,” interjected the dwarven guard. “As such it is better to abandon a few known areas that are easily avoided and then focus our attention on the remaining districts.”
Terry was slightly taken aback by the outburst of the human guard. It reminded him of the first city guard he had seen bickering with the refugees near the dimensional portal.
“How did you know the victim was killed at night and in a troublesome district?” asked the human guard after a pause that allowed her to calm down. Her tone carried a barely hidden accusation.
“It’s not even noon,” replied Terry calmly. He was not worried about his honest face showing any guilt because he was not feeling any. “What is more likely? That someone was killed during a guard-free night in a crime-ridden area? Or that it happened during breakfast hours in the coffeehouse and food vendor streets with all their passersby and near the banks with all their private guards?”
He glanced at a large clock tower near the palace. “Speaking of noon, I don’t want to be late for my job.” He eyed both of the guards.
“This shouldn’t take long,” said the dwarf in an appeasing tone. “We would be happy for any assistance.”
“You have an hour,” stressed Terry and he followed the two to the guard house. Before they arrived, he had already scouted the building and the people inside with mana touch.
The dwarf took the lead. “Alright…” Inside, they walked two floors up and approached what looked like a reception desk. Another guard took over. It was an elven man with dark hair greased back. “Name and occupation.”
“Terry. I take missions from the Guild.” Terry looked around.
“Very well.” The elven guard noted down the information as well as the current time. “You can wait there.” He pointed down a hallway towards a small room that contained a table, three chairs and barely anything else.
While walking down the hallway, Terry briefly glanced out one of the windows to confirm the time on the clocktower. He sat down on one side of the table and both guards sat opposite him. He did not fail to notice the slight smirk on the woman’s lips.
“Now, we just want to figure out what happened, son.” The dwarven guard began.
Terry forced himself to take a measured breath before replying. “If you want my advice on how to go about that, then perhaps you should start by figuring out what the victim was doing when they died.” Like robbing people and picking stupid fights. He was careful to not mention any details himself.
“We’re not asking for advice, you piece of—”
“Civil.” The dwarven man grunted at his partner. He looked at Terry. “Where were you last night?”
“Why?” retorted Terry.
“We are asking the questions,” barked the human guard. “What were you doing last night?”
Terry moved his eyes from the human to the dwarven guard that had seemed more reasonable so far. The line of questioning was hardly neutral and he wanted to see the reaction from the second interrogator. Eventually, he asked. “Why am I here?”
“You know exactly why you are here,” snarled the human guard.
“No.” The dwarven guard raised a hand to stop his partner. “Perhaps we should first sort the rest out.” He looked at Terry. “We’ll be right back.” Both he and the woman left the room.
Afterwards, Terry heard a click from the door. A short touch of mana later and he knew that it had been locked.
He did not particularly care.
He took out a mechanical clock from his dimensional storage to keep track of time and then began practicing with the divine hammer inscription and his smaller disruption fields while fiddling with a fresh notebook for sketching quasiperiodical tiling patterns for shielding mana.
Terry rolled his eyes when the minutes ticked by without the guards returning. He could feel their presence just like he could feel the thirty other guards currently in the building and the building’s layout itself. He was aware that they were not really doing anything and just left him waiting for nothing. He had read about interrogation tricks like those in the Warlord’s Inquiries.
As time flew by, all of Terry’s goodwill towards the guards and their proclaimed interest in the truth went out the window.
Screw this…
He hated mind games even more than he hated being locked up.
When nearly an hour was up without any sign of them returning, Terry decided to bail. He quickly shaped a small metal ingot to match the keyhole he could feel with mana touch. He waited until the attention of the elf outside was somewhere else. Then, he unlocked the door, walked up to the window, and left on layers of translucent golden mana.
Well, this was a waste of everyone’s time. Stupid mind games.
Terry shrugged inwardly and left for the Flower House.
***
Terry sat cross-legged in the reception hall of the Flower House. The name was somewhat of a misnomer in his opinion, because most guests appeared to arrive through one of the underground entrances for whatever reason.
Terry did not really care why some people appeared more concerned about hiding their visits than others. He only concerned himself with anything that required him to step in. Beyond that, he was here to train while earning money.
He caught a ball that had bounced through the air. It was one of his rubber balls.
“Again!” A boy of around twelve years shouted excitedly.
“Shh, do not disturb the guests upstairs,” chided Lavender. The elven woman with high cheekbones was sitting in a comfortable chair close to Terry while munching on an assortment of sweets. “Where did you get this one?” She asked.
“Small stand by the docks,” replied Terry. “They make it fresh every day but only in a limited quantity. You have to be early to get some.” By now, he knew that Lavender was nearly as much of a late riser as Iris. He judged the chances of her getting up earlier to buy chocolate as close to zero, no matter how much she liked it. “I’ll get more when I have the chance.”
“Mhm…” Lavender nodded with satisfaction and then moved a closed bar of chocolate on the table. “You should try this one. It’s one of my favorites.”
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Terry smiled widely but his smile cramped up as soon as he recognized the package. After being deprived of sweets for so long, he had happily roamed the different local shops. The chocolate that Lavender had offered so casually was rumored to be delicious, but it was also expensive to an offensively exaggerated degree. “You sure…?”
Lavender just nodded and pushed the chocolate further into Terry’s direction.
Don’t mind if I do.
Terry happily broke off a piece for himself. He was unable to justify the cost given his current savings goal, but if a fellow sweet tooth was offering, he would be a fool to refuse.
Oh mana, this is absolutely delicious!
He even closed his eyes to focus on the blissful taste.
If only I could get one to bring with me to Arcana to share…
He opened his eyes and glanced at Lavender. The expensive sweets and drinks. The different tailored outfits. The jewelry. This elven woman was the first person Terry had met that ran through money even quicker than his brother Jorg.
Thinking of his brother that had miraculously managed to always end up broke – no matter how many missions they had taken together – Terry felt reluctant to take another piece. Lavender’s lavish lifestyle was her own choice and it appeared she was able to afford it, but perhaps he should not feed the fire that burned her money?
“Again, Terry! Again!” The excited boy jolted him from his thoughts.
“Shh!” Lavender shushed the boy.
“She’s right. Calm down, Brandon.” Terry wagged a finger. “You have to learn to stay calm if you really want to work as a mana user.”
Terry mostly interacted with the same few people in the Flower House, but he had learned that there were many more living and working in the building. Ignoring the specific services they offered, the Flower Cooperative appeared similar to the Guardians in that they all volunteered a part of their earnings in order to pay for the retirement of those too old to work, everyone’s medical needs, or even for raising a child after his mother had died while giving birth. The boy in front of him was such an orphan.
“Okay.” Brandon nodded with a solemn expression. He barely managed to hold it for three seconds before pleading: “Again though…”
Terry could not help but grin. He liked the kid. “Alright.” He hurled the rubber ball strongly forward. The ball collided with a sequence of angled layers of divine mana that fleetingly appeared in its path and redirected the ball according to Terry’s wishes until it landed back in his hand. In case the ball did not quite fly as he planned, he could always fall back to transfixing it or adjusting the path with his bidirectional attraction glove.
What was an entertaining show for the boy and elven sweet tooth, was actually proper training for Terry. The primary purpose was to get used to quickly setting up the right angles to direct the ball where he wanted it to be. The secondary goal was to correctly judge the minimum mana required in the divine barriers. Each collision stole some of the ball’s momentum which meant that later barriers required less sturdiness and therefore less mana.
He had used his divine hammer inscription to adjust the path of his king spear or deflect incoming attacks, but it had occurred to him that he had missed one other application because he usually used solid throwing weapons – or pebbles – instead of bouncy ones.
Terry had not planned for the exercise, but while rummaging through his storage items, he had spotted the rubber ball and a bout of nostalgia had infected him. When his aunt Sigille had brought him to the Libra Outpost in Tiv, he had bounced it from the floor and walls to practice ambidextrous spell casting. As soon as he had started doing it, the idea of using the divine hammer inscription instead of the walls and floor had entered his mind.
When I get the angles and minimum mana right, I can combine it with my practice for adding momentum to the divine hammer…
After half an hour, Lavender left for work.
Terry had learned that the employees in the Flower House were free to choose – or reject – their own clients as well as to set their own hours. The few he interacted with more frequently all had different preferences for break times and hobbies.
Terry could see that Brandon was beginning to lose some of his interest in the ball exercise as soon as the elf had departed. Terry knew that the boy was waiting for something.
“Story time!!!” An exceedingly cheerful voice arrived in the reception hall. Shortly behind the voice, Daisy followed with a hand held up high and another behind her back with her fingers grasping a book.
Terry smiled at the innocent joy in both the woman and the boy. He knew that the city didn’t really have any bookshops and that the libraries only allowed people to borrow books for a day, which meant that a bookworm like Daisy had to return there every morning. He thought it was kind of her to schedule a break to read stories together with the boy.
Like in the past days, Terry switched his exercise to a quieter one as soon as story time arrived. He retrieved his notebooks and began experimenting with his divine hammer inscription while making sure to not hit anything. He started with smaller layers of divine mana and then tried to determine the ratio of invested mana to summoned momentum depending on the layers’ sizes.
Since Daisy was reading heroic stories aimed at younger people, it was easy for Terry to follow the story even while scribbling away in his notebook. He found story time calming. It was somewhat nostalgic and reminded him of his own obsession with a particular children’s novel when growing up.
Terry was curious which book Daisy had chosen for today since they had finished a book yesterday. From the way that Brandon was shifting around in his seat, he could tell that the boy was brimming with anticipation as well.
Daisy leaned forward and drawled: “And today—”
“Terry! Come out and surrender yourself to the guard!” A shout from outside interrupted the big book reveal.
Terry clicked his tongue and returned his notebook to his storage. He had detected a few familiar mana signatures but had hoped they would pass like the few times earlier.
I guess they inquired at the Guild about my whereabouts.
“Excuse me for a second,” said Terry and stood up to leave.
“What’s going on?” muttered Daisy with wide eyes. She and Brandon followed behind Terry.
Terry walked calmly to the entrance. He was not concerned about the city guards themselves. There were about a dozen but he considered none of them a significant threat. Much like other opponents he had encountered in the past.
Nothing he wouldn’t be able to escape from.
No, his concern was not with his safety but with his employment. He didn’t want to escape. He hoped that this disturbance would not affect his income and impede his return to Arcana.
“What do you want?” barked Terry with irritation.
“What do we— You piece of shit escaped and fled the station!” A familiar human woman in guard uniform returned his irritated attitude.
“‘Escaped and fled’?” Terry could not help but smirk slightly. Those words sounded rather grandiose for what had happened. Those words were more appropriate for what he had done in Thanatos. They hardly seemed fitting for his stroll out of the city guard station earlier that day.
“Innocent people don’t flee the station.” The dwarven guard’s face was flushed from anger.
Terry tilted his head. I wonder if the earlier act of kindness and professionalism from that one was just another mind game. Or did I just upset him in another way?
Terry didn’t like the way the dwarf had phrased it. As if he had been arrested instead of voluntarily accompanying them to the station. As if he had not clearly stated that he had a job to be at. As if it had not been them that decided to waste everyone’s time.
“I told you I had to work,” stressed Terry firmly. “I won’t be neglecting my work to help with yours. That goodwill has been left behind in that interrogation cell of yours.”
“You still haven’t submitted to a full questioning!” exclaimed the human guard.
And at this point, I don’t intend to. Terry glowered at the city guard. “I’ve waited for nearly an hour in that stinky room while there were at least thirty guards twiddling their thumbs in the building the whole time.”
The dwarven guard’s expression darkened at the accurate number assessment.
An hour in which I might have checked out new Guild missions to earn money to get out of this city.
Terry held the gaze of the guard. “After that I assumed you didn’t care or were satisfied with my initial report, so I left.”
“You broke out of your cell!”
With his temper rising, Terry decided that if they played him for a fool, then he might as well return the attitude. “The door wasn’t locked when I left.” …because I unlocked it. Of course, he left that last part unsaid and he was unable to suppress a slight smirk. He loved his mana touch and Shape Metal imprints.
“We did not leave the cell unlocked!” protested one of the guards. “How did you even get out?”
“By walking.” …through the first window. Terry shrugged and let his growing irritation get the best of him. He was still pissed that they had wasted his time. “For people claiming to work as guards, those present appeared very bad at it. Someone should deduct their pay.”
“You—”
“Enough!” barked the dwarven guard. His face had returned to a calmer shade of color. “Did you have anything to do with the murder last night?”
“Did you figure out what the victim was doing?” retorted Terry snappily.
“Yes or no!” barked the human guard. “That was a yes or no question!”
“Then tell him to rephrase the question, because I don’t have a yes or no answer,” hissed Terry.
“Murder is murder!” interjected another one of the guards. “The victim’s actions are irrelevant.”
Terry involuntarily scoffed. That was hardly his experience in the world of beasts. Victim or villain was largely a matter of perspective. He believed himself to play the villain in many a story among the martial sects, among people in Thanatos, and among people in Tiv.
The villain that had hunted down many martialists in the folded space.
The villain that had caused chaos and death in the Proving City.
The villain that had helped kill a Bright.
Terry did not see himself as a villain, but he also refused to be turned into a victim. His past experiences had shown him clearly that a person could be both victim and perpetrator depending on which part of a story you tell or emphasize.
The ‘victim’ the guards were concerned with had joined in an assault and robbery on another person.
The ‘victim’ had attacked Terry with a deadly weapon.
“Are we done?” asked Terry while looking at the city guards as if they were pebbles on the road.
“No, we’re not done, you piece of shit!”
The dwarven man just sighed. “Can’t we get this over with in a remotely civil manner?”
“Civil?” A stern and incredulous shout reverberated through the area. Jasmine had arrived from inside and stepped next to Terry. The middle-aged woman pointedly pulled her gloves from her hands while glowering at the dwarven guard. “Arriving here with thirteen guards to make a ruckus and harass our Flower Protector and disturb both our guests and our employees, is that what you call civil, Edmund?”
“Jasmine, I understand that we are disturbing business, but we have a few questions to ask of Terry, and—”
“Which you damn well know he is not obligated to answer.” Jasmine interrupted bitingly. “Or have you forgotten to inform the non-locals of their rights again?” She sent a meaningful glance to Terry and then returned her attention back to the city guards while shouting loudly. “No law in the Freedom Cooperative demands that anyone answer questions of the city guard.”
“Jasmine, please, we just want to know what—”
“Please, nothing,” snapped Jasmine. “I’ve heard the earlier exchange. If there is anything you want to ask of our Flower Protector, you can try and convince a judge to issue a summons. Unless there is anything else, you will remove yourselves from our premises or I will personally contact your superiors to file a complaint.”
“A foreigner and murder suspect!” The human woman from the guards gestured at Terry. “Is that really the kind of person you want to employ as a protector in your establishment?”
“Respectful, resourceful, and evidently unafraid of facing all of you, even in public?” Jasmine smirked and gestured towards a few spectators that had already gathered. “Not to forget perfectly punctual! Damn right, he is who I want to employ as our protector.” She narrowed her eyes at the human guard. “And don’t pretend to be as daft as you are about the death you’re investigating.” She pointed with her finger. “Leave!”
While the guards were still displaying an unwillingness to leave it at that, another voice arrived. “What is going on here?” A man with a fancy hat and rapier stepped onto the scene. A frown was lingering between his mustache and goatee. “Guards, speak!”
Some of the guards immediately grumbled or glowered at the man. “Sir Alexander, we…”
Terry raised an eyebrow at the familiar man. He had never really interacted with him, but it was a regular visitor in Daisy’s room in the Flower House. In fact, Alexander had been with her just before story time. When the commotion with the guards started, the man had left through one of the hidden entrances, only to now appear from another corner.
Terry didn’t know what to make of the strange secretiveness, but he was curious at how this would play out. The city guards appeared a lot more subdued when facing the politician from the Knights of Labor faction in the Freedom Cooperative’s government.
Alexander heard the guards out and then asked pointedly. “How many incidents were there in that district over the past two weeks?” He did not wait for an answer and instead continued. “Even during the day? Did you already solve all of them? Didn’t you complain to me about a lack of manpower and resources?
“Now, you are here wasting thirteen guards on what, exactly?” Alexander stepped closer to the dwarven guard. “I expect you to stop this nonsense.” He glanced at the human woman among the guards. “Otherwise, I might have to wonder why this case in particular has invited so much of your attention.” He returned his gaze to the dwarf. “Thirteen. Thirteen guards. I’m looking forward to your report next week. I’m very curious how you are going to justify this.”
The dwarven guard grunted gruffly and then led the other guards away silently.
As soon as Alexander felt himself freed from the gazes of guards and spectators, he secretly winked at Daisy and the young woman blushed in turn.
Afterwards, Alexander looked sternly at Terry. “We are trying to sort out the chaos. We would appreciate it if you didn’t add more to it. Our laws need to be upheld.”
“Someone should tell the guards,” quipped Jasmine with a mirthless smile.
“Don’t be too hard on them,” pleaded Alexander. “Harsh budget constraints and antagonistic civilians don’t help the situation.”
Terry wondered if he was included among the supposedly antagonistic civilians or if it was a more general statement about situations like the one with the refugees and the dimensional portal. He did not care enough to ask for elaboration.
Alexander exchanged a few more polite pleasantries before lowering his head as a farewell and taking his leave.
“Woah…” A young boy was staring with wide eyes at Terry. “Why didn’t you tell us about this? How did you escape the station? You should tell some stories!”
Terry raised an eyebrow. He was not sure how to deal with the boy here. It was one thing for himself to defy the city guards. He was capable of doing so. More importantly, he was just passing through. Two points that did not at all apply to the boy in front of him. “Maybe I will, but perhaps not this one.” He looked to Daisy for help. “And we already have a story for today, don’t we?”
Daisy blushed slightly when finding Terry’s gaze on herself and then nodded. “Y-yes, yes we do. It’s one of my favorites from when I was a young teenager.” She presented the book.
Terry blinked and subconsciously erupted with a wistful smile when recognizing the children’s novel.
Daisy showed off the library book to Brandon and announced: “It’s called Path of a Mage: Legend of the Veilbinder.”
***