After another half an hour, Mia gave up on keeping watch as nothing was happening. She looked around to make sure that no one was paying them attention and cast a sphere of silence to stop any eavesdropper and an alert spell to notify them when the queue moved forward.

Making sure that everything was in order, she went back into the wagon. She navigated the tight confines of the wagon, taking care to not step on the card game of the floor. After a few awkward seconds, she finally found a seat and sat down.

Looking at the card game in front of her, she couldn't help but cackle at Astar. She had only known the beast-man for less than a day but if she had to describe him in one word it would be cocky. He always had a barb or retort for anything that was thrown at him but he never came across as conceited.

So Mia enjoyed his frustrated expression as he lost another round and Emile put another sticker on his face. The difference between the men's faces told the entire story of how their game had gone, on one side was Astar whose face was almost fully covered in white stickers and on the other side was Emile who had a solitary sticker on his chin.

Astar growled in exasperation and threw his hands up in the air, "I give up! This doesn't make sense, how can you be so lucky? I didn't sense any magic from you, so you can't have cheated that way."

He looked at the cards closely, but couldn't find any discernible marks on them. "Well, they aren't marked but still it's statistically improbable for you to win so many times."

While he was looking at the cards, Emile performed a sleight of hand that swapped cards in his hand with those in the deck. It happened so quickly that Mia thought she was hallucinating. It was only when he repeated that she saw the trick. As she caught his eyes, she saw him give her a wink and she promptly mimed zipping her mouth.

However, she wasn't as subtle as she thought because Astar caught her movement and glared at her and Emile. He looked at them closely but seeing that nothing was happening, he gave up and began to gather the cards on the floor.

As he was doing this Mia turned to Emile and said "So did you finish reviewing the information on Harold and the Bandits?"

"Yes, I did. While the situation in most of Tharren hasn't changed a lot since I was last here, Bastion Hill has become a hellhole since Harold became the mayor."

Astar's expression turned ugly at the mention of Harold, and he bared his fangs. "I can't believe they would let that psychopath rule an entire city. Everyone knows that he is a coward who enjoys hurting those weaker than him."

Emile did agree but offered a counterpoint "The leadership of the Black Plain Bandits are currently trying to change into a more respectable faction, but there are still many of its members that are still... how should I say this...?"

"Monsters? Bastards? Rapists?" Astar offered, and Mia cringed at those descriptions.

"Yes, thank you. And it helps the leadership to put those people in one place and if they decide to clean their unscrupulous member, then it's a simple target."

Mia noticed her alert spell going off and asked Astar to steer the wagon forward as it was easier for him to move. Astar nodded and nimbly jumped out.

While Astar was out Mia continued the conversation, "If you can deduce this, then wouldn't Harold and the members in Bastion Hill be able to."

"Yes, but knowing a plan is not the same as being able to stop. Harold's best course of action is to put himself in the most secure and well-defended scenario. Which is why he overthrew the previous mayor. Currently, he is safe because the Fist still values him and the reforms haven't passed yet."

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The queue was now moving at a considerable pace and it seemed that guards were letting people through more quickly.

"Anyway, Harold isn't really our concern, we have here to pick up the boy and hopefully we will be out within the week. Astar has some history in this city and knows people who can help us." Emile looked outside and noticed that they weren't too far off now.

Astar had changed his appearance to look like a human male through illusion magic since Bastion Hill wasn't a welcoming place for those of different races. The illusion didn't come from an active spell but from an amulet under his shirt, so most detection spells would miss it.

Emile also put on an illusion amulet and his violet eyes changed to green, his skin lightened and his dreads were replaced with a simple buzzcut. He threw another amulet to Mia. "Please put that on, it is unlikely anyone will recognise you but you can never be too careful."

Mia took the amulet and asked how it worked. Emile showed how to link to the amulet and told her that she should visualise the look she wanted before putting it on. Mia followed those instructions and her hair began to grow and turn red. Her angular face rounded out and gained a bit of fat.

Emile passed her a mirror and she was mesmerised by how different she looked. However, she didn't like the long hair over the shoulders, so she tied it up into a ponytail.

"How do I look?" She said posing to Emile. and received a thumbs up in reply.

##########################################################################################################

They arrived at the gate soon and Astar was still at the reigns. A guard came over and in a lazy asked. "Can I have your name and status?"

Astar with a smile too big answered "Hello, My name is Alexander Salazar, and my friends and I are new to the city. We are here for the auction later this week."

The guard not looking up from his board continued "Are you affiliated with any organisations that are hostile to Bastion Hill?"

Astar shook his head "Nope! We are adventurers."

The guard glanced at him and looked into the wagon. "Alright, you can go in but no wagon on the road so you will have to leave at the collection point."

Astar gave me a small salute and drove the wagon into the city. Mia poked her head out and whispered to Astar. "What kind of check was that?"

Astar shrugged "The guards are not paid much and this city doesn't reward diligent work. Also, the people that visit this city aren't the most upstanding, so the bar is pretty low."

He drove the wagon to a section of the wall where people left their vehicles and they took the donkey to a nearby stable. Astar handed the stable boy a few extra copper coins and gave him a stern look. "I know how things work in this city, but I like this donkey. If you take good care of the donkey, then when we leave I will pay you handsomely."

He then leaned over and whispered into his ear "But if this donkey is hurt or has any marks on it, then I will personally ensure that this city will know your name as a cautionary tale about pissing off the wrong people. Are we clear?"

The strength of his grip made the stable boy take him seriously and he nodded instantly. Astar let him go and went back to the rest. Seeing Mia's strange expression he said "In this city, threats are a common thing and the residents have become used to it. They actually prefer those that use threats, because they don't get hurt the first time."

Mia's expression didn't change but she nodded. "I already hate this city." She didn’t like the chaotic streets and the people bumping into her. A few times she had to bat away a wandering hand, either from pick-pockets or creeps.

Both Astar and Emile seemed very familiar with this environment and had no problems navigating the sea of people. Once or twice Mia lost track of them but before she could worry, Emile was next to her.

Eventually, they slowed down to make sure she didn’t get lost. Astar led them towards the commoner section of the city and seemed to be looking for a particular building. After a few minutes, he found what he was looking for and bee-lined for a small inn.

The inn wasn’t anything special and blended in well with its surroundings. It had a mossy green exterior, with cracked wood and dried paint with a sign that read ‘Hermit’s Home’. They walked into the inn and instantly the noise from the street cut off.

The interior is completely different from the outside. While the exterior of the inn gave the impression of a rundown and desolate place, its inside looked like it was fit for nobility. The reception was lavishly furnished and the perfumed smell drove away the stink from outside. They didn’t get far before two guards and a well-dressed woman stopped them.

The guards were suited in runic armour, a rarity in Tharren let alone Bastion Hill, and the woman gave the aura of a noble. She gave them a professional smile, “Good afternoon dear visitors. But this premises is off limit for those without invitations.”

Before she could continue, Astar took out a ring from his inner pocket and cast off his disguise. “Calm down Madam, we are not strangers. My name is Astar Nightfang and Vulcan can vouch for me.”

The woman stared at the ring in shock and her polite but condescending smile fell off.