More than half the day passed before they sighted their destination.

As the carriage reached the summit of a hill walls that stood as high as thirty metres appeared in front of them. The city these walls encircled was huge, something they could see even from where they were. Although they were still quite a distance from reaching the place, the sounds from behind the walls were loud enough to be carried far by the wind. This was but a small indication of how lively Tiih, the second largest city in the Kingdom of Ysh, was.

There were all sorts of attractions that drew people to the city. Tiih did not only have a thriving production market in the field of smithing and tailoring, but it was also well known its high quality institutions. People from all over the kingdom and beyond came here to learn; whether it was just normal education or studying weapons and magic. The most famous of these institutes was the internationally recognised Tiih Magic Academy.

The closer they got to the city, the louder the noise became. Tiih’s gates were clearly visible now, a large access that stood ajar; inviting. Unfortunately, the line in front of it seemed to extend for a while. It would be at least a few hours before it was their turn to enter.

Seeing the line, Kaylee huffed and looked up while playing with her knife. In the sky she spied a raven circling around. It seemed to avoid the other birds as it continued to stalk the azure, maintaining an altitude low enough that she could count its feathers if she wanted.

I wish I was a bird, she thought as she watched it. Then I would fly over the fucking wall.

The line to enter Tiih always moved slowly. Shifting her gaze from the sky to the front, she guessed that there were at least three hundred people ahead of them. With how the line usually moved it would probably be night by the time they got into the city.

Her assumption was not wrong, mostly. By the time they got to the front of the line the sun had sunk and the stars were coming out.

Fortunately, the guards- seeing their mercenary credentials- did not keep them there for long like they did everyone else. Less than a minute after getting to the front of the line they were let through.

Upon passing the gates they found themselves on a smoothly paved road flanked by all sorts of businesses. Vendors could be seen on each side of said road, plying their trade even in the dying rays of the day. There were all sorts of shops in this street, from smithies to herb shops and even clothing stores; each of these shops was exquisite in design. Their purpose along the paved road was to show visitors the wealth of the city, both in goods and culture.

Looking at it all, Kaylee failed to control the twitch of the corner of her lip.

Everything in front of her was a farce.

To know the actual face of the city one needed to distance themselves from the paved road. The further they got from it the more obvious it became that the city was bullshit.

Almost half of the city’s population lived in poverty, leaving them with little choice but to get involved in the more unsavoury, yet highly flourishing, trades of the city. Thieving and prostitution ran rampant in Tiih, drugs flowed in the poor neighbourhoods like wine did in the flourishing ones. There were even rumours of the highly illegal slave trade.

Slavery was banned in the entirety of Rekke. Based on their explanation, a nation found to be dealing in slavery could face punishments as harsh the public execution of the culprit or the straight up dissolution of their nation. Considering the fact that the Imperium and Methos were both supporters of the ban, no country could resist punishment if found guilty.

Unfortunately, proof of slave dealing had never been found in Tiih… courtesy of the investigators being in the pockets of the aristocrats; who happened to be the ones running the industry.

Although Ysh was the most powerful nation in the neighbourhood, it was also well known for being the most indifferent to its citizens’ struggles. A well-known example of this was a few years ago, when during a famine the king; instead of lowering taxes and offering aid, did the opposite. There were a lot casualties as a result back then.

With how bad the ruling class was it was a miracle the country actually thrived. But then again, that could be attributed to the efforts of the Mercenary Guild and the Church of Life. On more than one occasion these two organisations had joined hands to offset the damage done by the ruling class.

There were also a good people who tried their best to help the commoners. Currently, a popular example was Sir Isaac, the new Guard Captain. His deeds of actually catching dangerous criminals and cracking down on the illicit businesses made him a hero to many in the city. He did not seem to be someone who would fall into the pockets of the nobility.

After a few minutes traveling the paved road, the carriage stopped. The carriage owner dropped them off and bid them goodbye before turning around and heading back. He had long passed his destination point to drop Kaylee and her friends off at theirs. She was grateful for that. If they had jumped off the wagon after it crossed the city gates it would have taken them close to an hour to reach this place.

Where they were the paved road ended, or at least a pair of tall gates blocked people from continuing to traverse it. These gates were part of the inner wall, which acted as a clear divide between the rich and the poor.

Looking at the gates, she had the urge to scoff. However, she was quickly distracted by her companions moving towards a large building on the side. Above its enormous double doors the words Mercenary Guild were engraved in big bold letters. This was their destination.

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Kaylee quickly followed after her friends as they entered.

Upon crossing the entrance they found themselves in a hall with numerous tables. Many of these tables were occupied by the most bizarrely dressed individuals, who animatedly discussed matters while they knocked back a few drinks.

When The Scarlet Quartet entered some of these individuals looked up and offered them salutes of acknowledgement. The members of the Scarlet Quartet returned the greetings before moving on. After entering the building, they made a beeline straight to the reception.

“We’ve completed the mission,” Marcus said at the counter, taking out a folded paper and offering it the receptionist.

It was a paper that detailed the mission specifics, with a stamp in the right bottom corner. This stamp had been placed there by the village chief of the rescued women. It was a one-time-use item prepared for him by the Guild when he had issued the mission. The stamp was meant to be applied by the employer to indicate that the task had been completed.

The receptions stared at the paper for a while before nodding. Then she turned around and retreated into the backroom. After a while she came back with a fat pouch and placed it on the counter.

“Here is your remuneration for the task completed,” the receptionist said. “The reward for the annihilation of the bandits and possible rescue of the hostages was five gold coins. The guild is authorised to claim ten percent of your earnings, leaving you with four gold and fifty silvers.”

“Thank you,” Marcus said, a little too happy as he grabbed the pouch.

Honestly, that was how Kaylee felt, and she was sure Zachary and Arletta felt the same. They had been broke since the undead bitch robbed them. Now that the damned quest had been turned in they were finally getting paid.

It was about damned time.

One of the reasons why this mission was horrible was that they had found nothing on the bandits’ corpses. Not a single coin. The whole thing was preposterous. If she had been in a better mood back then she would have probably laughed. What kind of limp-dick bandits did not have money? Why in fuck’s name had they become bandits if not to rob others of their wealth?

Unfortunately, none of them had been alive to answer her questions.

The Scarlet Quartet retreated from the reception and found an empty table to settle. There Marcus emptied the pouch on the table before proceeding to divide the money in four equal parts.

The net reward for the mission was four gold, fifty silver; that meant they would each receive one gold, twelve silvers and fifty bonze coins.

Kaylee let out a breath of relief as she clutched her share. The amount would be able to last her for at least a week.

“So,” Marcus began, looking around at them with a faint smile. His face had softened a lot after receiving the pouch. “Who’s up for a drink? My treat, just like I had promised.”

If it were any other day Kaylee would have been the first to jump up and say “I!”

However, after everything she had gone through over the past few days; from encountering Sage, getting robbed by her and subsequently signing a contract with the bitch followed by the looks she had been receiving from her companions, she was tired of it all. Now, she just wanted to sleep.

“Count me out,” she said, standing up. “I’m too tired. See you tomorrow.”

She left before they could say anything.

Exiting the building and stepping onto the paved road, she backtracked a few structures until she came in front of a particular building. The name plaque above the door read Good Hearth Inn. She had been staying here for a while.

Stay for one night amounted to five silver coins, which was neither too expensive nor too cheap. Kaylee had given the innkeeper an entire gold coin before leaving for the mission. Since that amounted to twenty days of stay, she still had more than a week before she would have to cough up another payment.

By this point night had fallen completely, so the inside of the inn was quite lively. Instruments hummed as the people cheered and toasted, chugging down their alcohol to smoothen the journey of the food down their gullets.

When Kaylee appeared some of them called out to her, but she ignored them; walking up to the counter and greeting the innkeeper.

“Oh, you’re back,” the innkeeper, Mrs Mable said joyfully. She was a plump woman of advanced age with slightly below average height. “Thank goodness you’re in healthy condition. With how dangerous the city has been getting I was worried about you. After all, the Sir Isaac got injured the other day.”

“What happened?” She asked sternly.

Hearing this news she could not help scrutinising the innkeeper. It was well known that the Guard Captain was a 6th Order sorcerer with a Grade 2 physique. Without taking his skill in consideration, this fact alone put him at the very top of the city in terms of fighting strength. The people that could pose a threat to him in Tiih were non-existent.

How was it that such a man got injured?

“They say he was cracking down on the black market when he encountered a necromancer,” Mrs Mable leaned in and whispered the next part. “Apparently this necromancer was very old and experienced. He summoned an undead creature that poisoned Sir Isaac. Despite this, before he succumbed Sir Isaac managed to beat his foe back, robbing the necromancer of a leg and the undead of an arm.”

There was a prideful gleam in her eyes as the woman spoke. Like many commoners in Tiih she worshiped the Guard Captain.

“I see,” Kaylee replied thoughtfully. “And how is he now?”

“He is fine. Thank Shea,” Mrs Mable replied. “The Church healed him, bless them. They even took care of the necromancer.”

“That is good to know,” Kaylee said. “Hopefully we never get to see the likes of such a necromancer and undead again.”

Hopefully the Church of Life and the City Guard would do their fucking job right next time!

“I pray to that,” the innkeeper agreed.

Kaylee smiled, took her keys from the woman and climbed upstairs. Moments later, when she entered her room, she found that it cleaner than when she had left it, her belongings arranged in order. This brought a smile to her face.

Fortunately Mrs Mable had one of her children tend to the room in her absence. At the moment she did not have the energy to clean the place and it would be irritating to sleep in a dusty room.

In the past week she had seen enough dirt to last her for months.

Locking the door behind her, she exhaled and released all the tension that she had been unaware she was carrying until this moment. The past few days had been really tiring. As she moved towards the bed she began to have dreams of sleeping for a least twelve hours. Only such a long period of rest would be able to shake the fatigue from the mission.

However, before she could implement the plan, movement at her window distracted her.

A raven had just landed there.

Seeing it, Kaylee immediately became alarmed.

This raven was the one she had spied outside the city, she was sure about it. Thinking back, she realised she had seen quite a few ravens on her way from the village to the city. At this moment she got the feeling that all those ravens had likely been the same one in front of her. Now that the bird was within five metres of her she could sense that it was not normal.

This raven was someone’s pet, a Familiar.

Having reached this conclusion, she immediately grabbed her knife. However, before she could throw it the bird spoke up.

“Caw! Put that down! No one’s trying to fight you!”

Before she could respond, the raven suddenly jumped from the windowsill to the floor and morphed into a cat. Then, right in front of her, it opened its mouth and regurgitated a full grown human.

Well, human was not the right word to describe this person.

The newcomer dusted off her clothes before directing her scarred façade at Kaylee.

“Hi,” Sage said with a smile and a wave.