Straight from shopping, I decided to hang my bag with my remaining money on the right side of my belt, so it wouldn’t get in the way if I reached out for my sword. Then, I decided to stay around the pub section of the city just to see the sites a little away from the more crowded center walkways. However, much to my surprise, it was actually the main road of the district. Weird. In every city that I had visited, the main road, which was connecting the city’s outer gates to either the mayor’s mansion, or main plaza, was always the widest, cleanest, most representative road, filled with most ‘gracious’ facilities or homes of importance for city people.
I would understand if the best inn was placed by it, or the largest, most noble restaurant. But pubs? Common drinking taverns? Left and right, from where I stood to where my gaze could reach. Entire streets were covered in dozens of small stores, pubs, and taverns. Ah, and a few facilities, next to which I noticed a red or pink lamp which right now - because it was the middle of the day - was turned off. All I could see was a lady standing outside it eyeing everyone on the street while looking at a small paper in her hand, maybe she was the owner? Always good to actively attract customers even when you’re not open. Hm. Later at night I would visit these facilities. The old man from the inn in which Captain Ghost and I have stayed wouldn’t tell me what these red and pink colored institutions were. His only description was that old people ‘eyebrow dance’.
… Old people and their cryptic methods of communication…Do they unlock more modes of communication with increasing hair and skin flaps?
Shrugging, I lazily moved towards one of the better looking pubs, hoping to take a seat and order a beer, which I later wouldn’t drink but I enjoyed going through the motions of ordering and receiving it. However, I was never allowed to reach my destination, as one of the ladies standing close to one of those lamps seemed to notice me wandering around without a specific purpose.
“Heya sugar, I couldn’t not notice that you were looking at ‘Black Kitten’ for a bit there...” she pointed at the facility with a red lamp “...We open later in the evening… Buuut, maybe I could make an exception for such a handsome man in armor like yourself”.
She licked her lips, winked, and blew me a kiss.
I was flattered indeed by such a display of affection, my pride as a man being nicely tickled.
“Thank you for the offer, my lady, though, I am afraid that there are places I need to be…”
“ ‘My Lady’?! Me!?...” her eyes bulged out, then she started laughing cheerfully “...Oh my, I apologize, I mistook you for one of the ‘regulars’. Well, the offer remains. As I just said, the day is young, and my work day starts in several hours. Would you have some time to spare? It's a bit boring out here standing all alone.”
She pouted with a sad, very much so, expression, as she moved to my right and gently hugged me under my arm and pulled herself closer to me.
It felt…weird. Wrong but also right in a way, yet I was so taken aback by her bold directness, that I didn’t know how to react.
“...I-I might have some time to spare to see your wares.” I finally muttered, defeated.
“My wares? Haha marvelous! Come, kind sir, let’s go for a walk.”
She said, start to gently ‘push’ me via alleyways, leading the way. I was confused as to why we were going this way rather than her store.
“You aren’t from around here, right hun?”
I had to bite myself in the proverbial tongue, as I nearly automatically admitted to being one of the knights from the Silver Lions group. My mind quickly grabbed onto the fake persona which Captain designed for me.
“N-no. I am a traveling sellsword. A mercenary. Just finished a contract of escorting merchant caravans from the far south. A friend of mine suggested to me this town as a ‘great place to lose all my money’ and I took him on his advice as I was interested in various equipment for myself.”
This earned me a giggle from the lady.
“We have something in common, I also escort merchants, quite regularly too…He recommended you well then. Crumbrock surely is a place where wine, blood, and money all flow into sewer drains alike…”
We moved off of the main road, into a smaller back alley, connecting the main road with other inn sections.
“...Though, you need to be always alert, kind sir. You never know when someone would abuse your kindness to wrong you…”
At this moment, I noticed a pair of hands reaching towards us from behind a corner, nothing strange, if it wasn’t for a knife held by those very hands.
“LOOK OUT!” I said, pushing the woman to the side, and striking one of the knives off of the trajectory.
Three men emerged from the dark, grinning like wolves seeing particularly fat sheep. I briefly thought about pulling out my sword, but a few quick glances to the sides told me it was a bad idea. The alley was narrow - I didn’t have enough room to swing my sword, and the range that normally the sword granted me, here, would actually be a hindrance.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
I took a melee stance moving to the wall, using it to cover one of my sides at all times and not letting the enemy fully surround me. Then, I waited for them to act, and I didn’t need to wait long.
One of the bandits rushed at me, raising his knife above his head…
…
…Was he an idiot? He left himself wide open.
I took a lunge forward, my right leg taking a step to the front, turning my shoulders, delivering a quick punch into his solar plexus. His eyes bulged as he was propelled back, onto one of his companions, both crashing into some nearby barrels.
“YOU FUCKING DOG! JUST GIVE UP!”
Another man howled as he stabbed - low - aiming at my belly. A much better place to stab at I commended - you would avoid rib cage which could block your stab, and pierce through several important organs… if your enemy had them that is. Still, not wanting to blow my cover, I decided to try to grab the man's hand and grapple him as if I was scared of his attack connecting.
I succeded.
My palm grabbed his wrist and twisted it around, making him drop his knife and fall to his knee. Then, a quick follow up of my knee into his face was quick to knock him out with a spurt of blood escaping from his nose.
His two companions, seeing what just happened, started to get off of the floor and run away. At first, I wanted to chase after them. But, remembering how I got here I stopped - I had a lady to take care of after all!
“...Are you all right!?”
I asked, turning around to my companion, who was sitting on the ground, eyes and mouth opened in shock and disbelief.
She seemed to pause at my question for a bit, looking around at the broken barrels and blood on the walls. She also kept glancing at some paper in her hand. Seemingly thinking about something deeply before shoving it in her dress.
Then, she started sobbing, jumping on me once again, and grabbing my side.
“Uuuu Wwww I WAS SOOO SCARED!”
She whimpered and sniffed loudly. Again, not knowing how to behave, I gently patted her head.
“It’s… ok miss. They are gone. No need to be afraid anymore, I’m here.” Each new word would keep coming out awkwardly from my mouth, as I tried to comfort the crying woman.
After calming her down, I managed to resume the walk and exited the alleyway, walking towards the closest restaurant, and buying her several drinks to help her calm her nerves.
One.
Two.
And three large mugs would vanish, as if in thin air, seconds after the waitress placed them on the table before her while eyeing the woman and me with a sad face. After some relaxation. The woman started telling me her history.
Despite not being able to produce tears, I nearly cried over her fate, as she told her story.
She was an orphan, on the street since before she could start remembering anything, how local gangs were taking from her every last coin which she earned working for ungrateful inn owners, who cheated her off her money as well. Sorrow and rage were mixing within myself in turn, as she mentioned how corrupt city guards were turning a blind eye on gangs activities, and on several occasions made sure she wasn’t fighting back when she was being robbed.
I might be undercover, but I was still a knight through and through, and as such, I couldn’t not help this woman. I would ask her once, twice, and finally thrice, before she would tell me what she ‘needed’ to be done, as she didn’t want to cause me any trouble nor to overuse my kindness.
Even in her situation she didn’t want to rely too much on strangers' help. What a humble woman!
I paid for her drinks - and dinner, which I insisted she had, handing her a small bag of 200 coins, which she quickly stuffed her bra with - obviously I turned my gaze aside, before I walked her to her house that was a short distance away from the lamp store - a simple house with several rooms, waiting for her to come back.
She went in and then came back out within several moments, passing me a bag.
“I am ah… very grateful for the help you offered. Here, take these… These are…” she made a long pause “...medicines for my mother, she lives in black district. If you could kindly deliver it for me… also, the gangs that are harassing me might be around there um…”
She proceeded to give me locations of two more groups of thugs causing mischief over the city.
With a strong sense of pride, I nodded, comforted her one last time, and turned around, off to my quest of making Crumbrock just a slightly better place.
----------------------------------------
After the giant of a man in armor walked away with a purpose in his steps the lady sighed deeply. Her shoulders slumped against the frame of the door to her small house.
She felt… conflicted at making the naive man a mark but she figured this was a sure fire way to improve her life without much risk on her part.
Fiddling in her pocket for a bit she pulled out a small scrap of paper she had received from some strange tavern she had visited while trying to find customers or potential marks.
On it, in almost vibrant black text was “Seek for the man, towering above crowd. With blade by belt and absent gaze. Stick to him, and your fate is bound to change. Money shall find you, your problems shall vanish. For all of that, praise the Fool that Cheats in Cards with Gods.”
To the note, a ‘Tarot’ card was attached - a ‘Jester’ - she knew these cards. In the end, she also cheated people on ‘fate-reading’ gag as well. But, what usually was a cheerful fool with a bag on a stick, now, looked much more sinister. The ‘fool’ instead of a funny hat, had a hood on his face, his eyes were barely visible, each of different color. His smile was no longer carefree, rather, sinister.
On the back of the card, there was an inscription. ‘Fortune favors bold’.
She wasn’t one to be religious, why would The Three care for small orphans like her, clearly they never did if she was in this position to start with. Many times she recalled unheard silent prayers she said to them while clenching her stomach, both empty and purple from bruises.
“Be it good or evil, whoever this is, at least it listens to my prayers..”
She muttered with a sad smile, before going back inside her decrepit house, waiting for good news from the strange intervention that had just entered her life.