It took Mila a couple more days before she could finally move without appearing like a wooden figurine imitating a human. The healers had made her drink more of their grassy beverage. In their words, it helped the body to recover the blood faster.

The stiffness was still there but manageable. Mila certainly could pretend she had recovered fully. Only Isabel was fully aware of how fragile her current condition was. And to Mila’s dismay, it also meant she was treated with far too much care. She wasn’t made out of paper, damn it. Isabel hadn’t even tried to touch her, despite the longing looks Mila received from time to time.

But yes, Mila’s condition was rapidly improving. Only the scar on her upper left arm lingered, refusing to fade.

Which was why Mila had arranged a meeting with Anthony. The man wanted to talk to her, and with Isabel guarding her, she was walking towards a small building he was using as his temporary residence.

The downcast sky made for a poor outing. The weather threatened to turn stormy at any moment. Mr Crow’s silhouette blended into the clouds. The bird was watching them.

Weather wasn’t the only part of what made the walk through the area unpleasant. Mila would have liked their walk to be more personal and use it as a chance to explore the local sites.

Of course, it wasn’t possible. The four days spent under the city had made it only worse aboveground. Mila gently rubbed Isabel’s back. Her girl had averted her eyes from a starving family begging for food. She bit her lip and mumbled curses towards people who allowed this to happen. They both currently had nothing to offer to others.

Isabel had left her coin in other suffering families’ hands soon after they had left the tunnels. Mila had nothing but a new set of weapons on her, either.

And despite, or perhaps because, the City’s guards had suffered such a blow to their reputation, they were out in force. They were pouring their vile irritation on those in more unfortunate circumstances.

Stilag had been shaken by scandal after scandal. Not only one of the criminal figureheads was colluding with nobles, but also one of the guard stations had suffered an attack. A new Inquisitor had arrived soon after and had started to visit various people, forcing them to submit.

No… It wasn’t only one Inquisitor. Mila had heard from Barcy that there was more, but the details were unclear. Despite the man’s ability to sniff out various rumours, the ruling class was still above his pay grade.

The King himself had commented on the situation and sent more military to the city. Apparently, the local authorities were firmly against it, citing the need for more funding to improve the state of the city's security. Nobles were demanding resources and complained about the military messing with their plans and the city at large.

At that point, Barcy had started to talk about how Helly had declared war on another local ‘Boss’. Then, about the inflation, and at that point, Mila had tuned out. There was even more information about turnips, of all things.

The man had a wealth of information to share, but it inevitably led to him rambling about something inane. Mila still tried to listen to him. Having the insight in the workings of this shithole could only help them.

But for now, Mila didn’t have to worry about the machinations of the upper part of society. She pulled Isabel along, away from the sorry state they had seen a pair of children. They weren’t worth getting involved with. She had seen them steal from someone before they had walked past them. Mila didn’t judge. They did what they must to survive.

“I wish we could do more…” Isabel muttered. She let herself be pulled by her Mila.

There wasn’t anything Mila could say to make Isabel feel better. Instead, she picked up a pebble and handed it to Isabel, who took it, not understanding what this was about.

Then Mila discreetly pointed at where a thug was harassing an amputee. Isabel’s eyes flared with anger, and she used most of her strength to launch the pebble straight at the thug’s head.

There was a loud impact of a likely empty skull, and the man collapsed in a pile of limbs. Isabel finally had a shadow of a smile on her face, which quickly vanished in the smell and cries of the miserable. “Thank you…”

“As long as it helps.” Mila nodded and reached for another pebble.

Isabel started to search for the next target, wondering what Mila had seen. It wasn’t hard to find. A little further along the street, a man had purposefully bumped into another and was shaking him while threatening violence.

After taking care of it, Isabel started to pay more attention to the surroundings as she searched for more people like these.

And, unfortunately, there wasn’t a lack of them. Mila kept picking up pebbles to keep her girl entertained. It wasn’t even close to how she wanted to spend time, but seeing the vengeful glee with which Isabel chucked the rocks, she felt compelled to continue.

It was kind of fun, all things considered. Isabel was careful enough with it to not get them discovered. It wasn’t a date, but there was a morbid fun to be had. Mila counted that as a win.

But soon, they found themselves in front of a shabby-looking two-story shack with a single window. It was clearly a repurposed warehouse. There was even a broken sign claiming it to be one.

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It was the right place. Mila let Isabel move forward and knocked on the doors. Then, they waited while people tried to wash them along with their daily worries and hurrying.

They didn’t have to wait for long. The doors slowly opened, and from them, a vaguely familiar man squinted at them. Seeing who it was, he moved back and let them in.

Isabel vigilantly stepped inside, not missing the chance to glare at the man. Mila followed. The man was not only familiar, but she felt mana signatures inside. Three of them, with one being Anthony. And after thinking for a bit, she knew who they were.

And Mila didn’t mind. She found Viola to be rather pleasant to be around. The woman wasn’t afraid to joke around and had shown goodwill without asking for much in return.

It was also clear the group of infiltrators had just acquired the building. The front room was completely empty, and a couple of walls looked to be freshly added. Isabel kept expecting an ambush, but Mila knew better. She walked towards the doors to a room she felt the presence in.

Without knocking, Mila opened the doors and, head held high, stepped inside. Her eyes immediately found Anthony and tired-looking Litro, who was nursing a bottle of a likely alcoholic beverage, sitting at a table. “Greetings, my dear acquaintances.” She headed for one of the five free chairs.

“Hey, aren’t you-” Isabel, who also stepped into the room, seemed to realise she recognised Litro.

Which Viola, who was hiding behind the doors, took as a sign to play her prank. “Bo!” She shouted in Isabel’s ear…

And was forced to stumble back, as startled Isabel whipped her hand at the noise. While Viola managed to dodge, the doors weren't as lucky. The wood splintered as Isabel’s hand made the contact and punched the doors out of the hinges.

“Ah.” Viola looked at the ruined bunch of wood pieces.

“What the hell?” Isabel glared at the woman.

“Note taken. Don’t surprise you.” Viola nodded. “Hey, Mila, glad to see you.”

“Likewise.” Mila returned and sat down. There was a plate of cookies on the table, and she obliged. “Litro, Anthony.” She lightly bowed her head before waving Isabel to come and sit down.

“The fuck!” Isabel continued to glare.

“I thought it would be funny.” Viola was unrepentant and walked to the table. “I still think it is. Shame about the doors, though.”

“Then why do that to me?” Isabel fumed and stomped towards the seat next to Mila. “Mila was the first one in the room!”

“Yes, but she knew I was there.” Viola snickered. “Ah, Litro, you fuck, that was the last bottle!”

“Don’t care. And don’t call me Litro. It’s Percy.” Came an automatic answer. “You also saw me take it before…” He muttered, clearly fed up by the woman’s antics.

Isabel realised something. “You knew?” She lightly punched Mila’s shoulder. “Why didn’t you tell me? I made a fool out of myself.” She grumbled.

“Well, I wasn’t expecting the reaction to be,” Mila glanced at the man who was picking up the ruined doors and trying to fit them back in the archway. He managed somehow, then left. “-so explosive.”

Viola agreed. “And you thought it would be funny as well.” She added something entirely unnecessary.

“Did you?” Isabel pinched Mila’s side while glaring.

“N-not at all.” Mila denied the accusation. “I didn’t laugh, now did I?” She presented her proof. It was a shame Isabel hadn’t let out a cutesy yelp. Mila had wanted to hear that.

Well, the startled face Isabel had shown had its charms.

“Very suspicious. Don’t you agree, Isabel?” Viola made another attempt to have fun at their expense.

Litro groaned while Anthony’s forced smile became a mask. Under the table, Mila kicked Viola’s leg.

“I do.” Isabel did, in fact, agree. “Whatever.” She suddenly gave up. “Mila can owe me for this.”

“This is hardly fair.” Mila looked at Anthony, who just averted his eyes, his smile unmoving. He was no help. It left Litro. She looked at the man, who sighed.

“Pepper…”

“Don’t call me that!” Viola’s attention was successfully diverted. “My name is Viola!”

“...The messenger calls you Pepper.” Litro took a sip from the bottle. “You may be my superior, but he is yours.”

“And that was my bottle.” Viola fumed. “Do you know how hard it is to get anything in this dump? Right, Mila?”

“I can guess. Although, our host is doing his best to accommodate.” Mila recalled the vine Naran had promised, several bottles even. She had also inquired about several other things. Her plans were coming together nicely. She couldn’t wait to have another date with Isabel.

“Lucky you,” Viola grumbled. “All our funds are strictly reserved for the necessary operations.”

Mila nodded while suffering another pinch in her sides. Isabel had not been so easily sidetracked. “I imagine it to be so.” She took another cookie. They weren’t all that good, but eating helped her to mask her reaction to Isabel punishing her.

“Yeah… We spent two weeks in the woods, with no civilisation in sight, and then we got sent to this shithole. There isn’t even a proper bathhouse here. Everything is overrun by people trying to find a roof above their heads.”

“Can you blame them?” Isabel scoffed. “You have seen what it's like outside.” She knew that some part of it could also be attributed to them. Despite the Inquisitors looking for the refugees from Ocheon, they could easily blend into the crowds. “And you did get a place for yourself, didn’t you?” There was an accusation in her voice.

The vast majority was due to the war, however. Viola shifted in her seat, showing at least some remorse. “Well, yeah. But it’s not much better back at home. And this place was… What’s the name?” She asked Anthony.

“Brandy.”

“Yeah, that guy. It was his place, and our pal Anthony did his number magic and managed to keep it empty. We didn’t push anyone on the streets.”

“I designed this place as a full warehouse in Brandy’s documents,” Anthony explained.

“So you planned to have this place as a base of operations, then?” Mila inquired.

“Well, no…” Viola shook her head. “To the business then?” She asked.

Mila nodded. They could catch up later. She wanted to know what Viola’s arrival signified.