Nez waited for the guard patrol to pass by, then he signaled his entourage to come out of the shadow and follow him.

Delilah, Phisena, and Bortheus moved quickly and silently enough.

They all somehow reached the outskirts of the slums without being noticed. The problem wasn't even the guards walking around, but the chance of being found by someone from Ulfric's smugglers gang.

Nez imagined they were pretty pissed after their boss got clocked on the head and a bunch of their comrades got roughed up in the tavern. Especially since they were after Delilah and her companions to extort some money, but couldn't get their hands on the golden goose.

For the first time since he got to Yronburg, Nez was involved in something he usually avoided. Too much attention from the wrong people.

I just hope the pay will be good, then maybe I can move somewhere else.

“We are almost there” he said to the others, keeping his voice low. He felt weird bringing other people to that place, but he didn't really have another choice.

He took in the fresh air while strolling around an old watch tower. When he got to the other side he stopped and pointed to a disheveled abandoned house, with a withered garden to the side.

“Here we are”.

Delilah looked at the house with an appalled face. “You want us to stay in that... decrepit place?” she asked, trying to find the kindest words possible.

“I didn't mean the house, you silly” Nez said with a giggle. “It would be too obvious”. He went in the middle of the garden and put his hand on an old well. “I meant this”.

Delilah's expression went from skeptical to astonished. “That's even worse than the house!”.

Nez pouted. “No it's not... I remodeled it to be quite cozy, I dare say”.

It was the first time he brought people to his hideout, and they were already mocking it without even seeing it.

The nerve.

“Just come down, and be quick”. Nez jumped right in the well, and landed on the ground beneath the garden.

It was dark, but Nez could navigate that space with his eyes closed. He immediately lit up the torch to his left.

His place wasn't fancy, but it was surprisingly comfortable. It took him a long time to dig out the space and bring down a few furnishes, including a bedroll, a makeshift couch, and a table and chair. But the end result was good, in his eyes.

He even had a constant stream of clean water that once was used by the owners of the house, he supposed.

It was a literal hole in the ground, but Nez couldn't really ask for more.

Much slower than him, his three new acquaintances climbed down the well. Bortheus was the first, so he could catch Delilah and Phisena.

Once they got down, they all looked around with a mixture of surprise, disgust, and sympathy.

“You live here?” Delilah asked. She didn't seem like she actually wanted an answer.

“Yeah. Why?”. Nez blinked in confusion.

Delilah looked around in embarrassment. “It's very peculiar” she replied with a degree of uncertainty.

Beggars can't be choosers.

Nez crossed his arms. “So... Who wants to tell me what's going on?”.

The other three seemed reluctant.

“I got you to a safe place. Nobody will find you here. It's time for you to hold up your end of the deal”.

Delilah finally took a step forward. “As you already guessed, we come from the royal castle in Astoria... Bortheus is a royal knight, while Phisena is the creation and apprentice of the kingdom's archmage”.

Nez listened with a focused but casual expression. It was all within his expectation. That meant Delilah was likely a noble.

“And I am Delilah Enerya, eldest daughter of king Tiberius Enerya and heir to the throne”.

“Excuse me, what?” Nez asked, completely in shock. He wasn't sure he heard her correctly.

Delilah didn't lose her composure. “I am princess Delilah Enerya, future queen of the Kingdom of Enerya”.

Nez's head began to spin. It was way bigger than he imagined.

“Alright... your highness” he said carefully after contracting his mouth. “Why are you here?”.

He doubted she left her kingdom just to be safe from the storm elemental.

“The storm elemental that's plaguing the Kingdom is an elder one. It's no joke, and it needs to be stopped” Delilah explained. “But someone someone is trying to blame my father for it, even if he's innocent”. She showed great concern. “A person who lives in the southern region of the Temenin Alliance can help in solving the problem”.

“My lady decided to embark in this journey, and we decided to assist her” Bortheus added with solemnity.

Nez needed a few moments to take everything in, and to think.

He came to the conclusion that he needed to send those three on their way as soon as possible. The last thing he wanted was to be dragged in a mess of such proportion.

He liked to lay low, and getting involved with the problems of the Kingdom was the polar opposite of that.

“How did you recognize the royal family's emblem” Bortheus asked after a while. “Actually, how did you know I'm wearing a royal knight's armor?”.

Nez froze on the spot. “I've seen it before” he replied without making eye contact.

“When?”.

“When I used to travel around”. Nez moved his arms around in a panicked way. “Just make yourself comfortable and relax... I need to think”.

Luckily, Bortheus dropped the subject.

“Sit wherever you want... and if you're thirsty there's some water” Nez pointed at the running stream and sat at the table.

Delilah examined her surroundings and went for a small curtain on the wall with a look of relief.

“That's where I keep some food” Nez told her immediately. “If you need to use the bathroom, follow the watercourse until you get to an opening”.

Delilah stopped and made an heartbroken expression. “Oh...”.

How did I get a princess in here?

That day kept being full of surprises.

Phisena sat down next to Nez. “It must be difficult for you”.

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Nez shook his head. “Only stressful... a lot stressful”.

“You are the first Devil Touched I met”. Phisena looked at him with the corner of her eye. “I thought you'd be less easygoing and more sinister”.

He started laughing. “I suppose I'm an anomaly... But i wasn't always like this. One day I simply realized that being always angry at the world was eating me inside”.

“You improved yourself” Phisena muttered, twirling a pink lock of hair around her finger. “Not many people can manage to do it”.

Nez finally laid his eyes on the animated doll. “It's not like I had anything to lose, and I already hit rock bottom”.

He lived by whatever life threw at him. It would have been pointless to complain or try to change something he had no control over.

Phisena's eyes kept darting to Nez's belt, and he had a hunch of the reason why.

“Do you want to see my gun?” he asked.

She straightened up and nodded energetically.

Nez placed his flintlock gun on the table and pushed it towards her.

“Usually people prefer rifles, since they are more powerful” Phisena said while examining the weapon with great care.

“Those are too big”. Nez didn't know what to do with a rifle. “This is much lighter, and I can hide it underneath my clothes”.

Phisena was completely absorbed in her study. “Hmm... It's a shame that it can carry only one bullet at a time. Maybe by adding a rotating chamber...”.

Nez tilted his head to the side. “I thought you were a mage, not an engineer”.

She immediately let go of the gun and looked back at him. “I practice elementalism, magic that controls the very foundation of the material world. It's the purest discipline after basic ritualism” she said, almost like she was reading a text book. “It's just that... I want to expand my knowledge”.

“And you can't?”.

“My master would scold me if he knew I was studying other forms of magic... or even worse, Magitech”. Phisena glanced at her backpack for a brief moment. “If I ever get back to the castle, i'll need to get rid of the evidence”.

That animated doll was so unique to Nez. Usually they never disobeyed their masters, for the simple fact that they created them or gave them purpose.

But not Phisena. She was a living being, after all... even if she was created artificially and didn't need to eat, drink, or sleep.

Maybe she and him weren't so different, after all.

Delilah finally came back from her bathroom break. She had a miserable look on her face.

“My lady!” Bortheus welcomed her back. He took off his armor, and was examining the bed and couch. “Are you alright?”.

“I don't want to talk about it” she immediately replied.

Nez tried to hold back a smile in front of that scene.

Phisena traced his gaze. “If you intend to go after the princess, you're wasting your time” she told him with a shrug. She produced a sheet of paper and a pencil from her clothes. “She and Bortheus kinda have a thing for each other, even if they shouldn't”.

Almost recoiling in surprise, Nez looked at Phisena with wide eyes. “I'm not delusional enough to think I could have a chance with a princess”.

How did she get that impression?

“And besides, she's not my type” he added. Not that he had a type, but he had a feeling that Delilah was just too much of a paragon of virtue.

Phisena, while sketching a gun blueprint, nodded in agreement. “Good answer. You're wiser than most who fell for her looks and charms”.

Suddenly feeling a wave of embarrassment, Nez stood up. “You can take the bed and the couch” he announced to his guests. “I'll sleep on the floor”.

Delilah seemed shocked. “This is your house. It wouldn't be fair for us to...”.

Nez raised his hands. “I insist. It wouldn't be the first time for me, anyway”.

She gave in and accepted.

“Please, my lady, have the bedroll” Bortheus said with a gentle gesture. “I'll sleep on the couch”.

What a chivalrous guy, Nez thought.

He started looking around for the best spot to lie down.

“Allow me”. Phisena reached him and started murmuring complex words and making gestures to the ground.

In a short time, a section of the floor rose up a few inches ad got softer.

“Is that a dirt mattress?” Nez asked, impressed.

“Yes” Phisena said. “Sorry I can't do much more in this situation”.

“Are you kidding?”. Nez happily got on his new bed made of dirt, finding it quite comfortable. “This is awesome”.

Nobody ever showed him such kindness.

Phisena, at first taken aback, smiled at him from above. Then she got back to work on her project.

----------------------------------------

“Are you insane?” Nez asked, almost offended. “We are not paying that much for a raggedy cart and two old horses”.

“I need to eat, too!” the merchant replied. He was a beastfolk covered in brown fur and with hare feature.

His long ears twitched. “I said it's fifty gold coins, and that's final!”.

Nez pinched the root of his nose. He didn't expect getting Delilah and the others what they asked for would prove to be so exhausting.

Finding food and general supplies was relatively easy. They just had to hop from shady dealer to shady dealer until they got everything, being careful to avoid those who were part of Ulfric's network. But as for transportation...

They entered that dimly lit shop almost two hours ago, and still couldn't get the merchant to make a fair price.

“It's fine” Delilah stepped in, politely. “We will pay the fifty gold coins”.

“The hell you are!” Nez said, turning to her. “You told me you have a tight budget, and I'm not letting you get ripped off”.

“Another mean comment like that, and I throw you out” the beastfolk said with a smug smile.

Nez wanted to shoot him.

Instead he took a deep breath, and when he exhaled he appeared relaxed. “We started off with the wrong foot”.

He clapped his hands together. “My furry friend, you'll get the gold coins you asked for”.

The merchant had a greedy spark in his eyes. “Really?”.

“Of course” Nez reassured him with a sly grimace. “Just give us a little time so we can go talk to Ulfric about a payment method that can make us all happy”.

Almost jumping in fear, the merchant waved his hands in a panic. “Wait a second! You can't bring Ulfric into this!”.

Nez squinted his eyes, a mischievous look on his face. “Don't tell me you're not affiliated with Ulfric...” he said, faking his surprise.

He knew fully well that beastfolk had nothing to do with Ulfric. It was the reason they went to him.

The merchant blabbed something in response, but Nez cut him off.

“Oh, I'm sorry then. It appears there has been a misunderstanding”. He turned around and signaled his three employers to go out. “We didn't mean to waste your time”.

“Wait! Don't go!” the merchant begged. “I can cut the price in half! What do you say? Ulfric will never go that low!”.

Nez immediately turned back on his heels, a big smile on his face. “You would do that? How incredibly generous of you”.

He could hear Bortheus's groans behind him.

“Luckily we stumbled upon you by mistake, or that rascal Ulfric would have probably taken advantage of us”. Nez made way for Delilah so she could pay.

Once they got out of the shop, Nez stretched. He felt excited.

The more he got Delilah to save with those purchases, the more it would be left for him at the end.

“Did you really need to go that far?”. Delilah gave him a frowned look. “I felt like we were scamming that poor guy”.

Nez chuckled. “Welcome to the slums, your highness”. He went for the back of the shop. “And you're welcome for not wasting money on stolen goods”.

“They were stolen?” Delilah asked in a high pitch voice.

“I would bet my right hand on it”

And even if they weren't, their quality was so low that they should've been free.

The shopkeeper got out form the backdoor and prepared the cart and horses for them.

Nez and the others made their way to the poor excuse for a trading post that their other goods were being delivered to.

It was almost time to conclude their arrangement and part ways.

I should start to think were to go.

Nez couldn't stay in Yronburg any longer, not after pissing off Ulfric. Even if he could go to the upper district, he doubted he'd be safe even there.

“We wouldn't have made it without you” Delilah said out of the blue.

“I'm sure you'd manage” Nez replied. “Maybe not as smoothly, but still...”.

She placed a hand on his shoulder. “You're kind, despite being treated harshly for being a Devil Touched. You deserve more than the few coins I can give you”.

Those words meant more to Nez than he expected.

He cleared his throat. “If we met just a few years ago, you'd say something very different”.

The trading post finally came into view. One of the clerk took in their new cart and brought it where the rest of the supplies were stored.

The group waited on the street for the preparations to be complete.

“I believe it's not the past that defines us, but who we chose to be in the present”. Delilah squeezed Phisena's and Bortheus' hands.

Must be nice to have friends like that...

Nez wanted to reply with something, but couldn't find anything to say.

He wouldn't have had the time anyway.

“It's too bad you chose to be a pain in the ass!”.

In the blink of an eye, they were surrounded by thugs. Among them, there was Ulfric.

“You didn't think we could track you down?” the gang boss asked with a ferocious grin that deformed the scar on his cheek.

Nez cursed under his breath. That brute was quicker than he anticipated.

He brought his hands to his dagger and gun.

But Ulfric snapped his fingers, and a few guards came out in the open. “Those are the ruffians who interfered in my business” he said, pointing at the four in the middle of the street. “May I have permission to deal with them personally?”.

The guards took a long look, stopping mostly on Nez. “Permission granted” one of them said. “We won't waste our time with the likes of them”.

Ulfric handed them a heavy looking pouch. “Thank you for your service”.

Figures... Of course he had the slums' guards on his paycheck.

Outnumbered four to one, Nez and the rest of his group couldn't do anything but be escorted away after being bound.