“So,” Arciel lifted a finger to the sky, “We’ll split up, and look for clues.”
“I’ll head to Guild HQ, they’ll respond better to an adventurer.”
Kana said.
“While I do what? Rummage the garbage?” Arciel lifted her hands in a pout. “I’m coming with you – The only semblance of a government in this sorry excuse for a town is the Guild. Who else am I going to talk to as a noble? They’ll listen to Andestine.”
Arciel said, flourishing her emblazed robes.
The sun was out, but it was quite cloudy, and gray. Despite the occasional sunlight, it was also bitterly cold out, but at least it wasn’t windy. Yesterday, we found out that Alisson was in the city. So today, we’re set on finding any traces of him. There exists two possibilities, either he’s still here, good news for us, or he could’ve moved on. Either way, he should’ve left some evidence of him being here.
“So if you two are heading to the Guild then…”
I speak up, but Arciel, already turning away with Kana, flashes a sour frown at me, and then waves me away.
“Just go scrounge around or something. I thought you said you had street smarts.”
With that, she left me outside our inn, in the middle of a foreign town, in broad daylight. I sat there frowning for a long moment.
“Tch…What a brat…”
Rolling my eyes, I start down the other direction from the Guild.
I can only hope that I won’t just suddenly find Alisson in the middle of the street, and be forced into a confrontation again like that time in Foksly. At least this time I know I could buy some time for Arciel and Kana to come to my aid.
What a dump, seriously. It’s a big town, but I can’t believe people can be content to live in half destroyed buildings with no floors with garbage and trash just littering the streets. The people here all look skinny as hell too, obviously malnourished and just barely getting by. Still, I can hear a drone of speech among the town, the hum of activity was still present, even with the town’s miserable condition. Birds chirped and wagons rolled.
I kept my eyes sharp, looking at everyone’s faces, especially the people who wore cloaks and hoods like they had something to hide. Every time I saw any splashes of yellow or blue, I immediately locked my vision onto them, either to find the odd wagon of wheat or the blue cloak of an adventurer.
I scratched at my chin. Well, asking the locals is probably the best bet on finding out some info. I traversed a little deeper into the slums and came upon an inn that was missing it’s front wall. I walked up and laid my steel encased arm over the bar with a heavy thud. Apparently hearing me, an old woman came from the mess of rubble from deeper in the inn.
“What do you want?”
The woman asked with the voice of a snake, eyeing me up with a suspicious frown.
“I’m looking for someone, or someones. They could either be well known here or you might not know at all, but I’ll ask either way.”
The woman gave me an irritated glance.
“Who’s asking?”
She replied sharply. I moved my shoulder into her view, flashing one of my massive pauldrons with an insignia of Andestine on it.
“Andestine.”
I said simply. The woman’s expression darkened.
“…I might be able to help you.”
I sighed.
“There’s these two kids, probably two or maybe even five years my junior, one has bright yellow hair and yellow eyes and the other has blue hair and eyes. Both of em’ wear cloaks, and are armed to the teeth.”
The woman pondered my description for a bit.
“Hmm…Yes, yes yes…I think you’re in luck, Andestinian. Everybody in Pūshkinskaya knows about them. They made quite a splash when they first showed up. You can ask Marcel in the back, he ran into the little girl with blue hair, and got his teeth kicked in. Don’t go causing any trouble."
"Yessum.”
I nodded in thanks, and walked around to the back of the inn, into a dark alley. I found three men squatting around what looked to be some kind of simple board game with coins and bottles close by.
“Which one of you is Marcel?” All three men’s expression’s darkened immediately upon seeing me, and I was quick to add. “You aren’t in trouble or anything, I just want to ask a few questions about someone you might know.”
One of the men, sighing in relief from my elaboration, looked up.
“Yeah, I’m Marcel. What is it?”
“You ran into a little girl with blue hair recently?”
The other two men burst into laughter immediately. Marcel was quick to punch one of them, who kept on chuckling despite being on the ground.
“Mm. Me and Ilknen here were just walking the street, minding our own business when…”
“Don’t lie!”
One of the men, the one who’d been punched, quickly interjected.
“He was trying to make a quick buck on one of the fancy-pants nobles who strolled into town. Normally that’s exactly what they are – Rich kids who don’t know how things work around here, but get this, Marcel and Ilknen get their shit kicked in by a little girl-! Ahahaha!”
Marcel put a hand to his forehead, with an irate frown, but the man continued on, eager to make fun of his friend.
“And, word gets around the next day, that they were actually Five-Stripe adventurers! Ha!”
“They?” I tilted my head.
“Yup, two of em’, pretty boy with a rapier and that girl both joined up with one of the Five-Stripe teams. Word spreads fast here about newcomers, even more so when they looked so rich with their expensive weapons and their horses’ gear.”
“Now that I think about it, I heard they were paying double the asking price for everything in the city, from smithy repairs to scrolls, just how loaded are they? If they have that much money, then what the hell are they doing here?”
The men chattered on.
“Speaking of which…” I butted in. “Is there any indication of why they were here?”
“They’re adventurers, it’s rude to ask about that sort of thing…But your guess is as good as anyone else’s as to why such rich people are here in a bum-fuck town like this.”
I nodded.
“Thanks for info.”
“Heyyy, no problem man, maybe next time Andestine sends some soldiers to kill some beasts then?”
I looked back.
“Next time.” I said, and continued on my way.
…
From what I’ve managed to gather around the town, it sounds like Alisson and his apprentice were indeed in the city. They aren’t anymore, which is leaving a sour taste in my mouth. It feels like I’m missing something; and I am, I can only infer so much when I have no clue what they’re here for.
Still, it sounds like they screwed up big time. For wanting to keep a lid on their movements, everybody in the city has heard some kind of floating rumor about them; Both in part to their actions and to Pūshkinskaya’s nature. But, these are Sidonians. They can’t have ‘screwed up’. Their objective, whatever it is, seems to be at hand. Otherwise, why would they remain in Pūshkinskaya, joining an adventurer team and publicly exposing themselves? There has to be a reason.
I’m now on my way to the Guild’s hub, where Arciel and Kana went off to. I’m surprised that the brat actually told me to go off on my own, normally if I take a single step out of line that’s reason enough for Arciel to whack me over the head. As I walked down up a crowded flight of stairs and into the largest building in the city, people took notice, extreme notice of me. Adventurers parted and made way for me like I was a rock in a river, and eyed me with either terror or suspicion. I didn’t care.
Among all the adventurers paying their attention exclusively to me, I immediately noticed a large group that weren’t. In the middle of the hub, in the one of the depressions in the floorplan, was what looked to be a circle of adventurers surrounding something. Being the wiser, I had a pretty good guess as to whom where in the middle of the crowd.
“We don’t need your kind anywhere near Pūshkinskaya!”
“Go back from where you came you fucking noble!”
A punch was thrown at Arciel. Kana stepped in front of her, grabbing the arm and tripping the adventurer in a slick action. With that, the rowdy adventurers surrounding them on all sides, mere inches away, all broke into violence. Kana was strong, but she couldn’t take them all on. She could only stand there with Arciel, wide eyed with a look of terror as a wave of anger would collapse on them and rip them apart.
I threw a punch of my own. The first person to receive it got their ribs caved in. The second person, right next to the first, still was thrown of their feet, coughing blood, despite not directly meeting my fist. With a cobra quick step, I threw a second punch to the other side, and with it, the adventurers were dealt with. They went down like dominoes, it’s almost funny. The rest of them backed away, frightened by my sudden appearance. I stood in the middle of them along with Arciel and Kana, scoffing. I had a hand on my sword, and that was what everybody was wide eyed at.
“Alright alright! Break it up!”
Two adventurers, much larger and more well equipped the rest, appeared behind me. One had flowing long red hair and an eyepatch, and the other had a sharp, prince-like face with bright hair, wearing bright white armor.
“Marie’ann and Rafael from Team Salthith! No way!”
The adventurers, the ones who could stand, were quick to disperse. A few groaned and writhed on the ground, unaware of anything but their pain.
“Are you two unharmed?”
The prince-like adventurer asked casually in a refined tone.
“Thanks to you all…we are.”
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Kana was quick to nod in thanks. It’s funny how short she and Arciel are compared to me and the other two adventurers who just showed up.
“Well good day then.” The prince-like adventurer turned away, adjusting his collar.
“Well, stay out of trouble Andestine. Holler if you need us.”
The pirate looking adventurer said, frowning, before joining her companion’s prompt withdrawal. A few medics from the now much larger crowd that had formed around us scrambled to heal the wounded at my feet. I turned to Arciel. She had a slight blush, and was staring at the prince-like adventurer with a parted mouth. She then looked to me with a frown, her shock and blush fading instantly.
Not wanting to hear it, I quickly whisked the two of them away from the scene.
Almost hugging the wall of the colossal room, and relatively secluded, I finally asked,
“Are you alright?” I eyed Arciel’s face.
Bruises and blemishes dotted her face, clearly having been on the receiving end of some physical action. She crossed her arms and looked away, opening her mouth to say something when I interrupted.
“So what happened?”
“She wasn’t playing nice with the other kids. They don’t take to kindly to Andestine or nobility ‘round here.” Kana replied.
Being completely ignored, Arciel frowned with irateness, an eye twitching.
Still ignoring Arciel, I responded to Kana, “If that’s the case, then who were those two adventurers? They seemed friendly.”
Kana closed her eyes, frowning. She opened one,
“Those two were from Team Salthith; one of strongest adventurer teams in the world. They’re an international team, I wasn’t expecting to see them here.” Kana shook her head. “Because of that, they’re not going to side with some random town against Andestine when we could very well be their next employers.”
“Mm.” I nodded. “It sounds like we can call on them if we need some extra punch.”
“Let’s get on point!”
Arciel said suddenly, waving her arms around, pouting. Straightening herself, she cleared her throat.
“It seems that Alisson has joined an adventurer team.”
“Team Crimson.”
Kana butted in. Arciel flashed a look of annoyance, but continued nonetheless.
“Crimson was apparently sent out not too long ago on a contract. If we can get in touch with their advisor, then we’ll know where Crimson is, and thus Alisson.”
I nodded.
“It all sounds too good to be true. If he’s really on a contract, and in a team for whatever reason, then that means he’ll be operating around Pūshkinskaya for a coming time.”
“Freudlin will have plenty of time to catch up with us.” Arciel concurred. “Once he arrives, we can be liberal in our exposure.”
Arciel said, her face softening and veering off to the suspicious stares of surrounding adventurers. She clutched her staff tightly.
“Pardon my French…” Arciel looked up at me, confused. “Fuck that.”
Arciel furrowed her brow at me, but I was quick to elaborate.
“I’m not going sit back and do nothing. We can take the initiative. We can corner him.”
Arciel frowned. She shook her head.
“You might want to, but I’m the one in command here. I say we wait for the 153rd, and gather as much information about Alisson’s objective as we can in meantime.”
I crossed my arms.
“We’ll have all the information we need…After we capture him. I can ask him all the questions in the world…”
“Sheperd.” Kana stepped forward, and put a hand on my vambrace. “Calm down. That glint in your eye is no good.”
I scoffed and turned away.
“Mm…” Arciel shook her head. “Either way, we should talk with Crimson’s adviser firstly.”
Upon hearing Arciel’s words, I started off toward the most official looking person in the immediate vicinity. She was wearing a large hat and had glasses, and was pinning up a poster on a board.
“Hey-“
I asked, but was quickly cut off when Arciel shoved passed me, speaking in more polite tone,
“Pardon us…But would you happen to know where we can find the adviser for Team Crimson?”
The woman looked at us for a moment, eyeing up our swaths of Andestine insignias. She adjusted her glasses.
“You’re looking at her.”
Arciel smiled, and opened her mouth when I stepped in front of her.
“We need to talk.”
Perhaps intimidated by my words, the lady’s eyes widened, and her fear became apparent.
…
“So what brings Andestine to our little slice of hell?”
Presír, the so called adviser to Team Crimson, asked. She sat across from Arciel at a small table in one of Guild’s many rooms. Me and Kana flanked Arciel, standing ready with stern expressions.
“First,” Arciel rose a finger, “Let me state that Andestine has not come to help you or attack you. We’re only here for a very specific reason that just so happens to be in your neck of the woods. You’re not at all responsible. Just cooperate, and everything will be fine.”
I wasn’t expecting Arciel to speak so sternly and confidently. Compared to the brat that I know, she sounded like a genuine princess in her rhetoric and tone. Presír crossed her arms.
“And if the Guild doesn’t?”
“You’ll only be hurting yourself. We’re here to protect humanity solely. Our enemies are one in the same.”
Arciel responded, again contrary to my past assumptions about her.
Presír sighed.
“Fine then. What do you want? This town is going through one of its darkest periods yet. Guard posts are being destroyed, our adventurers have been slaughtered in mass and the remaining ones are missing.”
Arciel bobbed her head.
“I understand. We won’t take too much of your time, Presír.”
“Don’t use my name.”
Presír snapped, an eye twitching. Arciel sighed.
“…The team you’re helping…we want to know about one of its members.”
Presír frowned, but didn’t object.
“He has bright hair and yellow eyes, very distinct. He uses a rapier and is skilled in combat. We have reason to believe he joined Crimson not too long ago.”
Presír closed her eyes.
“Alavier Euwald. He’s one of the two new faces to the team, the other being his sister. What do you want to know about him?”
Arciel was taken aback for a moment when she heard the name.
It’s probably an alias.
Thinking the same, Arciel cleared her throat.
“Where is he right now?”
“With the rest of Crimson probably. Crimson went off in a retrieval op with a couple other teams not too long ago.”
“To where?”
Presír was silent for a long moment. She fixed her glasses.
“…Freigat. That jungle north of here crawling with beasts.”
Arciel shot a glance back to me and Kana, and we stared at each other for a long moment. Kana had wide eyes.
“Why…why in the hell would he go in there…?”
She muttered to herself.
“Explain.”
Arciel commanded. Kana looked up from her thoughts and nodded.
“Freigat is a lush part massive forest, chock to the brim with the most and worst beasts you can find. Most dangerous place topside on the continent, short of the Deadzone. If he didn’t need to go in there…he most certainly wouldn’t…”
This is huge. I looked to Arciel, urging her to continue the questioning.
“And how long ago was this?”
Presír breathed a deep breath.
“…Just this morning at the break of dawn.”
“Damnit!”
I slam my fist down on the table.
“We missed him!”
“Calm down. We’re not here to-”
Ignoring Kana, I set my sight on Presír.
“I’m sick of this crap. Those two new faces?”
“Sheperd don’t-!”
Arciel tried to stop me, but I didn’t listen.
“They’re Nekomata! That’s Alisson Vi Nuam you’ve got contracted to your team!”
Kana and Arciel were speechless, staring at me. Presír looked down to the table, her eyes closed. She then stifled a chuckle, then broke out into a laugh.
“I don’t know what you’re trying to pull here, but do you really believe-”
I straightened my back and looked on the lady with scorn.
“It’s true. Why else do you think we’d be here!? Alisson and his so-called sister are from Sidonia!”
Presír, upon seeing my expression, broke into thought.
“Sheperd, why the hell-“
“Shut up! I’m not just going to sit around with my thumb up my ass! I’m going after him!”
After a moment of silence, Kana slowly walked toward me. I looked down at her, but what came up, was a knuckle into my face. I stumbled back. Blood was dripping from my nose. I shot a glance to Kana, a hand over my face.
“You’re lucky I don’t hit girls…”
“Get a hold of yourself! You don’t know what you’re messing with; If Alisson’s in Freigat, there’s no way we can go after him.”
“What!? Why!”
Kana pointed to me, then to Arciel, then to herself.
“Three people isn’t enough to survive in there, especially if two of them aren’t even adventurers! There’s no way we’ll live long enough, there’s no point.”
I clicked my tongue, but lowered my gaze in submission. As much as I hate to admit it, Kana is the beast expert here. If she’s acting like that, then it mustn’t be a joke. I wiped the blood off my face.
“I’m…I’m sorry.” I looked up, “But I’m not going to do nothing.”
“Don’t even ask.” Presír said sharply all of a sudden. “From all your arguing, you either rehearsed this well, or you’re telling the truth. Even if you are, the Guild doesn’t have any men to spare. We sent out all of our reserves already, there’s no going after the retrieval expedition.”
A light popped on in my head. “What about Team Salthith?”
Presír face twitched in anger. “I already told you. Don’t. Even. Ask. Team Salthith isn’t even in the town proper, only two of their members are here for some house cleaning, and there’s no way they’d agree to escorting you into Freigat, even if they are Andestinian dogs. One half-baked team isn’t enough.”
She growled.
Arciel was frowning all the while. She furrowed her brow. The words that left her mouth surprised me.
“I understand you still don’t believe us. But it’s as my summon says. The fact that you’re in such disbelief is all the more proof that Alavier and Ferris Euwald have done a good job infiltrating the Guild.”
Presír clicked her tongue.
“Wha…?”
I hadn’t been expecting Arciel to roll with me dropping the truth about Alisson. She’s not usually that adaptable.
“Really, Pre…” Arciel cleared her throat. “Just think about it. Why did Alavier say he was here for?”
“He said he wanted to make enough money to buy a ship south, why?”
I broke into a smile. “That’s a hole in their story. How come there’s rumors of them paying double asking price for everything in the city? Word is that they’re loaded. It doesn’t make any sense, if they wanted to leave, they could’ve done so.”
Presír’s mouth furrowed when I brought forward that little hint. I wasn’t done though.
“There’s also a story I heard…about how a little girl beat up two grown men twice her size. It was like she had ten years more combat experience. Do you see anything fishy with that?”
“Nekomata have long lives…” Presír muttered to herself. “Alavier was…Alisson, was way too mature for his age too now that I think about it. And far too good with his blade – Being raised by nobility doesn’t explain it.”
I smirked.
“Now you’re getting it.” I crossed my arms, happy with how the meeting was going. “Well, there you have it. We don’t know why those two bitches are here, but whatever it is, it must be important. We need to find out, and put a stop to it.”
Presír didn’t share in the same enthusiasm as I did.
“If that’s true…If he’s really a Nekomata…”
“Then your team is in grave danger.”
Arciel finished Presír’s thought. Upon hearing it aloud, Presír’s expression took a drastic change. Up until now, her expression was mostly stoic, and stern. Now though, her façade was broken, and she stared through Arciel with a dark face, her eyes wide in horror.
“What if…what if…”
“He’s not on their side.” Arciel shook her head. “Nekomata don’t have any qualms about stabbing people in the back.”
Presír put a hand to her forehead, and stared into space.
“Damnit…”
The single door to the room suddenly opened, and in walked a large man, half muscle and half fat.
“I heard everything. You can call me Brasden, I’m one of the Guild’s officers.”
I could see keenly through the door that there were a few soldiers peeking through at us. It looks like they were ready to storm in and arrest us if things went wrong.
“If what you’re saying is true, then we have a serious problem on our hands.”
Arciel nodded.
“I’m glad you understand. Sidonia poses a threat to all of us, regardless of our differences.”
“So, what do you plan to do about it? What Presír said was true. We don’t have any means of mobilizing another retrieval team.”
I stepped forward.
“Alisson shouldn’t know that we’re in the city. He shouldn’t know about the tracking spell we have on him.” I looked to Brasden. “Is Pūshkinskaya the closest city to Freigat?”
He nodded. “There’s not another settlement but us for weeks in all directions.”
“Then I think there’s a good chance that he’ll be coming back here. Unless on the off chance he dies in Freigat or stays in there…but all the better. We’ll know too with our tracking spell where he goes either way.”
Kana raised an eyebrow at me.
“What are you getting at?”
“We have the initiative. We might not be able to chase him directly…” I broke in a grin. “But we can sure as hell be here when he gets back.”
Arciel put her hand to her chin, nodding. She looked to Brasden.
“I didn’t mention this…” She started, “But there’s battalion of knights that’ll be arriving here with the next few weeks. We’re only the advance party – Killing Alisson won’t be a problem with our reinforcements. It’s finding out what he’s doing in Freigat.”
“Are you suggesting…”
Brasden started to ask with angst.
“No. I’m not asking for any men. After we capture Alisson, I want to ask if we’ll have permission to enter Freigat.”
Brasden’s eyes widened.
“You mean…you mean an actual military unit…? In Freigat?”
“Yes.”
Brasden put a hand to his bald forehead in shock.
“I…I can’t believe I’d ever see the day…I’ll have to ask the council but, I’m sure we’d be happy to let you go in.”
Kana nodded affirmatively. “A couple dozen platinum knights? We won’t have any problems following in his footsteps.”
Arciel nodded to Kana. “If we need more, we can always send for more from the homeland.”
I sat there, smiling.
“Nekomata in one your teams is bad news, but it looks like we won’t have any problem handling it. We’ll tell the whole damn town about them, and get ready to meet his return. Coming back to a city that suddenly wants you dead is one way to get the rug pulled out from under you.”
Brasden nodded.
“I need to notify the rest of the Guild; We’ll get started on preparing to apprehend him. Good work, and Godspeed.”
He hurried out of the room.
“Dane…Rei…everyone…I-I’m sorry.”
Presír apologized suddenly after mumbling a couple names. She bowed, and hastily followed Brasden.
A long moment of silence followed.
“Well that went better than I thought it would.”
“Wipe that smirk off you face.” Kana said, smiling.
Arciel stood up out of her chair suddenly, and walked toward me. She lifted a handkerchief to my nose, and I realized that I still had blood on my face.
“Uh, thanks.” I grabbed her handkerchief and wiped my face.
She stared into the floor.
She then let out a large sigh, her shoulders falling by her side.
“God that was exhausting!”
She slumped back into her chair, her hands and feet up lazily.
“I hate to say it but this wouldn’t have happened if you’d kept your stupid mouth shut.”
I smiled deviously at her.
“Where’d that princess go?”
“Oh shut up.”
***
Addendum
“Isn’t this where Crimson was hold up?”
“Somewhere around in this canyon, yeah.”
“There’s a hell of a lot of dead beasties here, it was probably them.”
“They must’ve gotten washed down the river – Let’s head further downstream.”
“Right.”
“Wait, hold up a second, is that who…”
“…Are they alive? Get that body off of them.”
…
…One, two...three.