The dust had settled, and the carriage was on the move again. The old man had entered the carriage to 'discuss my payment'. Bodies were recovered, the road was cleared, and the guardsmen carried on as if nothing had happened. Interestingly enough, the only one with a horse was the lady knight, the rest were on foot, carrying only the packs on their backs.

I myself was riding Jeff, who had come back when the sounds of screeching and death had died off. He was still quiet, seemingly deciding to keep his intelligence to himself for now. I'd ask him about it in private.

The two factions moved in their own separate groups. Both sides stole glances at the other, some curiosity, some disdain, and some...caution. It was clear the alliance was a fragile one, forced due to circumstances rather than diplomacy.

Speaking of glances, the lady knight was giving me the side-eye every few seconds. She was no longer wearing her helmet, revealing long, flowing locks of blonde, and a weathered face that betrayed her age, which looked to be in the 40's. Much like the old man, she was unreasonably attractive. That didn't stop her glances from pissing me off.

"Got a problem, lady?"

She clenched the reigns of her beautiful white horse and choked out what she had been wanting to say. "Why didn't you help sooner?"

Oh christ, I hated these kinds of folk. I already regret engaging her in conversation. "Had to make sure it weren't a lost cause."

I could hear her teeth grinding. "I'm so glad that we meet your standards. People died while you watched."

I shrugged. "If ya'll up and died before I could get a shot off, then I would have been face to face with a creature I'd rather not be."

"You-"

"Next time, I'll be sure to stick my neck out like a fool so I don't have to suffer your disapproval."

The old man chose that moment to exit the carriage, saving me from the conversation. He approached me, hands clasped together, hidden in his flowing sleeves. "Thank you for your assistance, fellow Daoist. The ladies would like to speak to you."

I could feel Jeff shake between my legs as he tried desperately to hold in a laugh. It came out as an odd sneeze. I admit, his nose for these things was uncanny.

It would seem the old man was considerably less concerned with my morality than the knight, proven by his willingness to take the time to persuade me, instead of mindlessly diving into the fray. An interesting divergence in philosophy. I doubted the two factions came from the same place.

Man, that Erudite skill has been making my thought-processes far more colorful than they used to be. It was disturbing, almost as if the words didn't belong to me.

Enough musing, I've been silent for a solid two seconds now. "It would be a shame to dirty up such a fine carriage."

I wasn't too partial to involving myself any further. From my understanding, Silver Cores are extremely rare. Hell, I might even be the only one. That makes me a strategic asset, and I'm sure both factions would want me in their respective camps.

The lady whose name I really ought to have asked by now spoke up. "We all stink, no need to be so self-conscious."

It seemed they were determined to sink their claws into me. I pushed a little harder. "I'm more self-conscious about the fact that I'm a dangerous stranger, and you seem perfectly fine with me being alone with your ladies." I almost said princesses, but I'm not actually sure they are princesses yet, as they haven't specified.

This time the old man piped in, hands still clasped. "Rest assured, the ladies can take care of themselves."

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Can they? That would imply them to be silver-core, which means they want me alone, in close quarters with two people that could pose a threat to me.

"I'm not interested. Just pay me and I'll be on my way."

The lady seemed to grow even angrier somehow, her face twisting into knots while her fingers subconsciously edged towards the greatsword sheathed on her horse. The old man just looked somewhat confused, then thoughtful.

"Do you doubt our honor?" he asked outright.

I scoffed."There are three things I doubt more than anything else. honor, authority, and women. Ain't that a coincidence?"

The old man frowned, and the armored lady finally lost her shit. She drew her sword and roared, "That's enough, scoundrel! I'll teach you some god damn respect myself!"

The soon to be dead lady jumped from her horse, sword in hand, and ran towards me. I had already drawn my Sawed-off, and was about to paint her all over the dirt road when I heard the carriage door slam open.

"STOP!" came a young yet commanding voice.

Stop she did. A half-second later, and there would have been nothing left to command.

A girl stepped out of the carriage. She was young, probably only 17 or 18. She was easily the most beautiful creature I've ever laid eyes on, to an incredibly unsettling degree. If the doll-like beauty of the rest of them was discomforting, her's was just disturbing. She, like the lady knight, had long blonde hair, and bright blue eyes. Her skin was uncomfortably smooth as if it had never seen the sun, and her face was bubbly and youthful.

She wore a red outfit, with more than enough buckles and gold to communicate the wealth and royalty of the wearer.

"Amelie, please, don't lose your temper for such foolish reasons! No matter the manners, we likely would be dead without this kind strangers help, so please be understanding!" she pleaded, voice pitched to smooth perfection.

She threw an associate under the carriage for the purpose of endearing herself to a stranger, one that she wanted to use. Disgusting.

The lady knight, Amelie, looked like a dog who got caught sneaking into the storehouse. "Apologies, Princess. I was just so-"

"No excuses! Self-control is a virtue, one that you must learn if you want to become a paladin!"

Amelie bowed her head. So much I could infer from that statement, but I honestly don't care to think about her anymore, so I intruded in the conversation. "I don't much care if she wants to die or not, but I do care about my goddamn payment."

The Princess turned to me, expression of regret almost genuine. "I apologize for the trouble and thank you for your assistance. I don't have much to pay you with, but we are on our way to the capital. I can give you as much gold as you-"

I called her bluff. "So you don't have any chips?"

She stopped talking and bit her lips.

Called it. It was a bit of a leap of logic, but my bounty is in chips, so I assumed the system came with a new currency. One that people of authority would hold tight to their chests. Considering that i only knew about it due to my bounty, it was possible that the average joe had no idea it even existed.

In short, she tried to take advantage of me. Of course she did.

Well, judging from her face, it looked like this was about to turn into a robbery. I would get what's mine, one way or another. My hand inched towards my Walker.

That was when the old man piped back in. "Fellow Daoist, fret not. I am the one who promised you riches, and I will see it through. Please, I'm sure my sect master would be more than willing to give you a fulfilling amount of these 'chips'."

I kept my hand on my Walker. "Sect master?" I asked. Not even Erudite gave me the context to know what the hell that meant.

"He is referring to me," said another feminine voice, as yet another woman emerged from the carriage. I dug a spur into Jeff, in a gesture of 'fuck you for being right'. He snorted.

These people seemed determined to disturb my sense of aesthetics with everyone I met, and she was no exception. She exited the carriage with a poise that made the princess look like the child she was. She wore a dark blue robe-like outfit that I struggle to describe, by pure virtue of not understanding how it went together. It exposed just enough skin to be tantalizing, yet tasteful.

She wore her long black hair in a bun, held together with some sort of decorative stick, and her skin could only be described as 'jade-like', for reasons beyond my understanding. Her makeup routine looked like it took hours, and was clearly designed to accentuate her deep black eyes.

Much like everybody else, her perfect beauty landed squarely in the uncanny valley, and I was more uncomfortable than that time I woke up naked in a pigpen.

She looked me in the eyes. "Do you know the worth of what you ask for?" she asked, voice calm and quiet, yet carrying across the road.

Damn, she called my bluff. I had no clue as to the actual worth of an individual chip. I hesitated, and she smiled a sweet and slightly sardonic smile. "Why don't we discuss the specifics?" she asked and gracefully retreated straight back into the carriage. The blonde princess looked like an angry chihuahua, and quickly followed back after her into the carriage.

The old man's hand left his sleeve, and he made a smooth and inviting gesture towards the carriage. He stayed silent and just smiled. Amelie scoffed and pouted like someone far younger than she was.

Well then. I suppose I've been persuaded. I dismounted, and began to walk to the carriage.