Alix was glad to see that the map had continued to update as he walked, with about half of the Merchant’s District now current. Due to Galdea’s limited space, it seemed that the buildings never changed much, only their names and purpose, so the streets were mostly the same.

The quickest route to his next destination to take a short walk further around the ring to the West Gate Highway and follow that up through the Lower and Upper Class Districts until he reached the Guild District. Once there the road was diverted back around towards the South Gate Highway, then it was just a short walk up to the next ring.

The four highways that rose up from the gates were a constant stream of activity and the West Gate Highway was no exception. Alix slipped into the crowd, making sure to keep the brim of his hat pulled low, and made his way up to the residential districts.

The Lower Class District was the widest and most populated ring he had seen so far, and looking at the map, it looked like it was the largest of the lot. It made sense that there would be more commoners living in the Kingdom’s capital than Aristocrats. The streets became cramped as every inch of space was utilised to house the population, every building precariously tall. If any of the buildings in front collapsed, there would be a domino effect all the way down to the Warehouse District. The feeling that the looming buildings were about to fall down on him at any moment spurred him on to the next district as fast as he could.

Alix quickly began to feel the burn of constantly climbing upwards. He suddenly wished he hadn’t been knocked out for the duration of the walk to Galdea. With the ring seemingly at least doubling the effects exercise had on his muscles, he had missed out on some good leg day action. He was getting in his steps now though as he climbed upwards, the rings becoming ever steeper as they reached towards the castle. This deep in the streets, it had vanished from sight again. King Azuran’s words suddenly echoed in his ears. You have five years, Darknight. Do with that time what you will, but do not return here. What would Azuran do to him if he was caught back in the city? Would the effects of the potion make him hand over the throne? It was a tempting thought, but for only a moment. He had no desire to spend his five years as a politician.

The Upper Class District was more spacious than the one below, but the houses were no less storied for it. The Fifth Ring was also home to more frequent patrols so Alix made his way through the district with haste. It wasn’t far to the next ring, but it was as arduous climb.

The road finally levelled out on the Guild District. The highway was blocked from going any further by a large cathedral. When he noticed elaborate spires and stained glass windows, he suddenly realised he had seen the cathedral before, from the carriage window during his first journey through the city. It felt like a lifetime ago but it had to have been only a few weeks at most. Now that he was in front of it, he could finally see what design was shown in the stained glass.

A stylised version of what had to be the World Tree, Babyl, rose above the grand arched entrance of the Cathedral, which text from his interface told him was also the Guildhall for the Church of Babyl. Posters of Leon adorned either side of the double doors, alongside a pair of heavily and elaborately armoured Cardinal Knights. Down the side of the church were five smaller windows, but still on a grand scale, which showed an armoured figure in gold in various stages of battling a figure in black, with the final pane showing the figure in black decapitated, the figure in gold standing triumphantly over him, sword raised, Babyl glowing with life in the background.

That’s not going to be me you bastards…

Alix turned right and continued on around the ring towards the South Gate Highway, taking another swig of the Obscene Privilege, trying to time the hours in the city as well as he could. The street wasn’t as busy as the rings below, but it was filled with the wildest variety of people Alix had ever seen, men and women dressed in dressed in every sort of outfit he could imagine, wielding a greater variety of weapons than he had seen for sale below. He couldn’t help but stare at the armoured dwarves that stomped past, and the Elves with their elegant bows, until he caught sight of a Ringtail and he remembered why he was here. The Ringtail wielded a wicked looking hook sword and wore an eye patch over one eye, the scar running down to his mouth to cast him in an eternal grimace. Alix counted seven rings on his tail. He still wasn’t sure what the black rings meant, but he knew the size and amount of them denoted a complicated hierarchy. They worshipped their own goddess, as well as the World Tree.

Alix passed the Alchemists Guild, Archivists Guild, Carpenters Guild, Metalworkers Guild, Merchants Guild, the Guild of Brewers and Distillers, Magicians Guild, Librarians Guild, Banking Guild, and plenty others, one for each of the races as well, but one stood out to him above all the rest. It had the look of a very large hunting lodge. A man with a placard stood outside calling for new recruits.

“Will you be the next S-Rank Adventurer?” the man called. The Adventurers Guild Wants You! the sign said. Sign Up For 1 Silver Piece Today!

Alix had to fight a deep urge within him to take the man up on his offer, walk inside and spend the rest of the next five years levelling up to become a legendary S Rank Adventurer, taking on all sorts of fantastical quests for guaranteed rewards, finding the rarest gear in the deepest dungeons and having plenty of adventures along the way. If anime had taught him anything, the Guild receptionist was guaranteed to be buxom beyond belief as well. Then he remembered his Identification Card would probably be required to register, or a new one would be generated for him, and then everyone would know who he was.

As he sped past the Adventurers Guild, making sure to make note of where it was on his map for another time, he took out the day pass the guard had given him at the gate. Now that he studied it, he saw that it wasn’t just some letters painted on a piece of wood. The card was made from a very thin black lacquered wood, with an elegant golden filigree border. The letters on the card were a shimmering gold and seemed to hover slightly above the surface of the card, similar to how his interface looked like AR. The card read Day Pass. The bearer of this pass is to be granted access to all Rings and Districts without hindrance for the duration of the date of issuance.

A timer was counting down in real time. It said he had eleven hours, forty eight minutes, and twenty three seconds left until the pass expired. Alix hoped he would be long gone by then.

Is there any way I can duplicate this card or something? Alix asked the ring.

There is a spell named Duplication, but it does not work on everything and it has a very high mana cost.

Can you give me the spell to try out anyway?

Like I said, it has a very high mana cost. It would likely knock you out before you left the city.

Fine then, I will just put the ID card in my inventory and take it with me when I leave, then try the spell another time.

If you wish, but I cannot guarantee that it will work.

The walk around to the South Gate Highway was a lot shorter this high up the rings. Alix breathed a sigh of relief when he spotted the sloped path reading up to the Military District, but he instantly tensed when he spotted the guarded checkpoint that was once again checking everyone’s paperwork before they were allowed to continue further. Alix joined the short queue just as a posh wagon was waved on through without issue. Alix guessed it was due to the emblem emblazoned on the side, with the same image on small flags flying from the back.

The queue moved quickly, with what looked like a fifty/fifty success rate at being let through. Soon it was Alix’s turn and he handed over the pass he had been given.

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“What’s the purpose of your visit?” a gruff guard asked Alix as he examined the Day Pass.

“I heard some friends of mine are in the army hospital. I’ve come to see how they are doing,” Alix replied.

The guard looked like he wanted to find any excuse he could to turn him away, but his pass clearly said he was to be allowed past without hindrance, so in the end he had no choice but to wave him through. “Be quick about it, we don’t need civilians getting in the way,” he said as he handed back the card.

The Military District was the quietest ring so far, with the majority of the people there clad in heavy armour and wielding heavy swords and other weapons. Alix suddenly realised that it was probably the most dangerous place he could possibly be. He took a quick look at his map, wishing that he had spent a few moments longer in the Merchants District to look for a modern map. His old map told him that the hospital used to be further left around the ring. He set off, keeping his head low.

The Third Ring was also the smallest out of the ones he had climbed through so he kept a wary eye out for any sign that the building had moved. It only took him a short while to walk the distance around the ring to where the hospital was supposed to be. It felt like a bolt of lightning had shot down his spine when he got to the point on the map and saw that what had once been the hospital was now an administrative building named Imperial Records.

Alix tried to show no sign that he was bothered or lost and kept walking. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw text floating above a nondescript building named as New Hospital a few buildings further on. Alix made his way inside liked he belonged.

A quiet reception hall opened straight from the entrance. A young girl sat behind a counter doing paperwork when he entered.

“Can I help you?” she asked.

“Yes, I’m looking for some old friends of mine, I heard they were here. Warrick and Durgun?”

“They are on the first floor, third door on the left. It is a shame you came all this way to see them though, they are due to be discharged tomorrow,” the girl replied, her voice so soothing and quiet Alix could barely hear her.

“Well, I was in the area anyway and thought I would stop by. I will be gone by tomorrow. Thank you for your help, I won’t be long.”

Alix left the girl behind before she could ask for any identification or invitation and took the stairs two at a time. He took a left at the top, counted the rooms, braced himself and then stepped through the door.

Alix instantly recognised Durgun as one of the soldiers that had carted him off to the castle. Warrick was one he didn’t recognise at all. He had the feeling that he wouldn’t need to bother with him anyway. Alix closed the door behind him and then he stepped over to where the men had been playing a tile based game of some kind.

“Hello, Durgun. I never got to thank you for your hospitality before.”

Durgun put down his tiles facedown so Warrick couldn’t see them before turning to see who the newcomer was. The excitement at a visitor quickly turned to confusion as he saw the unknown man hidden under the hat standing before them.

“Who the fuck are you?” Durgun said with a lisp he hadn’t shown before, likely due to the bandage wrapped around his face, so the words came out as ‘U th’fak r u?’. He most definitely had received a beating from somewhere.

Alix had no intention of dragging things out here, and he was worried the effects of the potion would be wearing off soon, so he lifted his head and stared the pair of them full in the face. He turned his attention to Warrick first.

“Did you have anything to do with Ophenia’s disappearance, Warrick?” Alix asked.

“No, I swear!” the soldier cried.

“Good. I want you to turn around and cover your ears while I have a talk with Durgun, and then you will forget I was ever here.”

Warrick scurried back into his hospital bed, pulled the covers up over his head and curled up into a ball.

“Your turn Durgun. Tell me the truth. What happened to Ophenia?”

Durgun was already sweating profusely, as if he was trying to fight the effects of the potion, but he was a weak minded man and soon blurted out the whole story. He was a bit hard to understand at points, so Alix made him go over things several times until he had the full story.

It turned out all the discontent among Brant’s men about him marrying a Ringtail came directly from Durgun and Bolo, but as Durgun put it, it was a burning jealousy that made him do what he did. Their plan was simple. They got Bolo to dress up all in black robes and meet them where Durgun said he was going to be taking Ophenia out to the woods. They pooled their wages and hired a couple of mercenaries to beat up Durgun and Warrick, just enough to make it look real, while Bolo made a show of claiming to have been sent by the Darknight. Then Bolo grabbed Ophenia, took her to a slave gang known for dealing in Ringtail’s, and sold her. Durgun was just waiting to be discharged before collecting his half of the money from Bolo, which more than covered their expenses. Even under the effects of the potion, Durgun showed no remorse.

“D’yu wan me t’grab u one s’well?” he asked after spilling his story.

“Durgun, you are a real piece of shit.” In that moment Alix decided that he didn’t want to let Durgun go unpunished, but he couldn’t exactly do him any harm here. He thought about it for a moment, as Durgun grinned at him stupidly.

Just then the door opened behind him.

“Durgun, I managed to get you out a day early so we can celeb-“

When Alix saw Bolo, he instantly knew what he had to do.

“Soulbind!” Alix called, pointing the spell towards the two men. Durgun’s stupid grin turned to slack jawed bewilderment, and Bolo froze in his tracks. Alix quickly stepped over and closed the door again, making sure to lock it this time. “Listen to me very carefully, Durgun, Bolo. You are going to forget I was ever here today. You are going to forget everything that happened with Ophenia. From this day forward you are going to be perfect soldiers until I call on you again. Do you have the money you got for Ophenia on you?” Alix asked Bolo.

The effects of the Soulbind seemed to override the Obscene Privilege potion, so he mechanically put his grubby hand in his pocket, pulled out two gold bars and handed them over. Alix took them and placed them in his inventory.

“You are going to forget about this gold. And never mention a bad word about the Darknight again. In fact, make it known that you were wrong, it wasn’t the Darknight that attacked you, it was the slave gang that attacked you and stole Ophenia, and you are devastated that you couldn’t do more to help her. Got it?”

“Yes, master,” Durgun and Bolo said in synchronised monotone.

Alix unlocked the door and slipped out without another word. He had the information he needed, the name of the slave gang, and the location where Bolo had taken Ophenia. He walked straight back around to the East Gate Highway and started the much easier journey down through the rings.

When he reached the Merchants District, he took a very quick detour into a printmakers shop and bought the latest map he could find. Then he splurged a bit more and purchased a complete map of Babyl. It was a large and unwieldy thing, but he only had to carry it down to the next level and out the gate before he was able to deposit it into his inventory. First though, he had to get back through security.

Alix stepped into the queue, making sure to stick the day pass into his inventory, and then waited until he was face to face with the same guard again.

“How was your day, my l…my lord. It is so good to see you again.”

“It went well, thank you. I’m afraid I lost the Day Pass you gave me. I hope that isn’t too much of a problem?”

“Of course not. I’m just glad your day went well. Thank you for visiting Galdea, please return some day soon, I will have another Day Pass ready for you.”

Alix made his way over the bridge on shaking legs, expecting at any moment to be chased down by an armoured column of soldiers for the chaos he had caused in the city, but he managed to reach the other side unimpeded.

Once there he deposited the bulky map into his interface, and the majority of the fog cleared away. He was unable to zoom in on any individual villages, towns or cities, but it was a lot better than what he had previously. He noticed with some amusement that his own castle wasn’t on the map, and the area around it was simply marked Deathmount, Enter At Your Own Risk.

Just in case anyone was still watching him, he kept walking until he was out of sight of Galdea, and then doubled back through the woods to the rise where he had left Tifayn, Brant and Evory. Before he could even sit to rest, Brant stormed up to him.

“Well? What did you find out?” Brant demanded.

“Keep your eyes away from me, the effects of the potion are still pretty strong.”

“Don’t try and stall,” Brant said, becoming almost hysterical in his need for news.

Alix sighed and spilled everything he knew.

“Like I said, I had nothing to do with your wife’s disappearance. The whole thing was organised by Durgun and Bolo, the same two men that drove me to the castle. I don’t know why they tried to implicate me, but they hired a couple of mercenaries to rough up Durgun and Warrick while Bolo snatched Ophenia and took her to a group called the Ghost Company in a village called Mortlake.”

“Those bastards!” Brant roared. He almost stalked off in the direction of the city to snap Durgun and Bolo’s necks himself until Alix reigned him in with the Soulbind.

“Stop Brant! I have already dealt with those two. We have no time to waste now. We have to heard for Mortlake and find the slavers. I’ve got the gold they were paid for her, so either we can buy her back, or we will take her back by force.”

“I’m not purchasing my wife back! I’m going to kill every one of those fuckers myself!”

“If you want that opportunity, then we have to leave right now. I managed to pick up a new map, and Mortlake isn’t exactly close, but we should be able to reach it by the end of the day if we leave now.”

Brant seemed to know the way already, as he silently turned and began walking in the villages direction.

“Does anyone have any food? I’m starving,” Alix asked the others as they rushed to catch up.