Staring to the bottom of his cup, October sat in quiet contemplation. His black cloak pulled around his dark plate mail, signaling his disapproval of social interaction.

“Fifteen drink and I have yet to see one Gild, Traveler. Time to pay up, or leave.” The barkeep ordered.

October took a gold Gild out of his coin purse and slid it along the counter.

“That enough?” October asked, deep and gravelly voice wishing to stay quiet.

The barkeep stared at the coin in shock.

“Th-that’s a bit much, don’t you think?”

Taking the last drink of this cup, October motioned for another.

“Keep the change, but get me something stronger this time.”

The barkeep rushed into the back of his stores in search of something stronger.

Not even the strongest Vodka’s of the Dented Isles will be enough to phase me. Still, the burn leaves me wondering…

October’s thought was interrupted by a drunk man bumping into him and spilling alcohol on his back. Ignoring this, October pulled his journal out of his pocket to take note of his scientific findings.

The drunken man came back to harass October more.

“You’re not even going to…apopalgize, Freak?” he struggled to ask.

“You’re the one who bumped into me. Now if you don’t mind, I’ll go back to minding my own business.”

The drunken man pulled on October’s cloak, lowering the hood to reveal October’s blood red hair partially pulled back into a ponytail which left his bangs to hang by either side of his face next to his ebony five-o-clock shadow.

Several other men stood up, brandishing their weapons.

“That’s the guy with the bounty on his head, October Mourne!” the first yelled.

“He’s worth over ten-thousand Gilds!” the second announced.

“Get him!” the final screamed.

October rolled his crimson eyes and reached for his great sword, Gram. He attached it to the magnet on his back, realizing its insignificance in this situation. The three men all charged October at once. Wishing to claim his head and claim the reward for themselves, they bumped into each other repeatedly. They began to argue amongst themselves about who saw him first.

“I saw him first!” the first yelled.

“He’s mine!” the second announced.

“Not if I get him first!” the final screamed.

Why can’t any of the bounty hunters sent after me be at least slightly intelligent?

“You morons finished, or would you like to kill yourselves to save me the effort? My time is precious and you’re paying a gold Gild a minute.” October taunted.

“Let’s just all get him together and just split the reward!” the final screamed.

“No way, let’s just duel for him!” the first yelled.

“Fine, we’ll kill him first and then duel to see who gets the reward.” The second announced.

The three, having decided their course of action, charged October. It only took two punches from October to knock them out. One to the first and the second into the final which knocked him into the second.

October approached the unconscious three and took each of their coin purses. They each had one gold Gild and some change, but the change isn’t what October was searching for.

I told them I was billing them a gold Gild a minute.

The barkeep returned to find all of his customers fled and October standing over the three morons. Filled with shock, he nearly dropped his most vintage alcohol. October took the three Gilds and flipped them over to the barkeep. Attempting to catch the coins, he drops the bottle.

“W-why three?” he asked, hands shaking from shock.

“One for the mess, one for the trouble, and another for scaring your customers.”

October reached into his own coin purse for another gold Gild, then flicked it to the barkeep.

“And another for the bottle.” he explained, just before exiting the tavern and pulling his hood back up.

Great, the last thing I needed was to call unnecessary attention to myself. I should’ve just left when I had the chance. Damn you, Siegfried…

******************************************************************************

Fifteen Years Earlier

“Be sure to get a sample of from that one over there as well, Oct.”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

October looked up at his lab-coated partner Siegfried. The man was quite tall, with blonde hair extending to his lower back, pulled out of his face in a ponytail to keep his face clear during the retrieval of their samples. His piercing blue eyes motioning to the lesser drake laying dead a few paces away from them.

“When have you ever known me to miss a sample, Sieg?” October asked with mild irritation.

Siegfried let out a laugh and continued to scribble on his clipboard while October knelt beside the last drake to take his samples. He plucked eight scales in several different places across the carcass, then put the petri dish he used to contain them in his lab coat pocket.

“The hunters could have done a better job when it came to killing them, don’t you think Sieg? It was a nightmare to collect samples from forty different maimed corpses.” October asked.

Siegfried sighed.

“No point trying to reason with them, they don’t value the scientific importance of our research. Best to leave well enough alone and continue doing what we can.”

He nodded in the direction of Guilder.

“Let’s head back, I don’t want to deal with those buffoons any more than I have to.”

The two descended the rocky Guilder mountains, encountering all sorts of beasts along the way. The two scientists fought when they could, but preferred nonconfrontational scenarios. After all, time was of the essence.

“The sudden rise in monster activity is starting to worry me, Sieg. Even docile creatures are beginning to lash out.” October said, worry all over his voice.

Siegfried nodded in agreement.

“It is most unsettling. Hopefully the samples that we collected from those drake corpses will give us an idea of what’s happening.”

After half the day went by, the two finally managed to arrive at the gates of the Guilder Parliament building. Two soldiers approached the lab coated warriors of the mind.

“Halt! What brings you to the parliament?” the first leather-clad guard questioned.

Siegfried held up the badge of the Biological Inspector Organization. The guard took the badge and inspected it further.

“Doctor Siegfried Schlau…what business does B.I.O. have in the parliament building?” he asked.

“His Highness Gael Van Gogh has charged my partner and I with data collection. We have just returned from collecting samples pertaining to a theory that we are willing to test. His Highness wished to be present as we conducted our tests.” Siegfried replied.

The first guard pulled the second guard aside and spoke to him privately. After a few moments, the second guard left and the first returned the badge to Siegfried.

“You may pass. Proceed to Waiting Lobby One, His Highness will be with you shortly.”

The two began to pass, but the guard stopped October. Siegfried turned.

“He’s with me. Doctor October Mourne is a recent addition to B.I.O. and hasn’t received a badge until his training period is over, which is tomorrow.”

The guard reluctantly let October pass, irritation growing for every second he saw October’s cocky smile he wore on his clean-shaven face. As October and Siegfried moved out of earshot, Siegfried let out an irritated sigh.

“Bureaucracy…such a pain.”

October nodded in silent agreement, as the two made their way to Waiting Lobby One. As the two entered the massive scraper of the skies, October was shocked by the interior. Filled with technologies beyond his wildest comprehension, he stared in amazement. Noticing his colleague’s clear wonder, Siegfried couldn’t help but smile.

“First time in the Parliament Building, huh? This is just one of many of Guilder’s technological advancements. Unlike Florence, Guilder isn’t shackled by the chains of the Femian Church. Our focus is on the scientific side of nature, rather than the theological. Moving staircases, ascending and descending rooms, all of these advancements in machinery were made in the last decade or so.” he explained.

October looked to his bespectacled mentor with a look of confusion.

“Then why does there exist a parliament? Doesn’t that imply the existence of the archaic Monarchical government like Florence?” he asked.

Siegfried nodded in approval.

“That is true, luckily His Highness Gael Van Gogh had the same thought. He’s been trying to dissolve the nobility and create equality amongst the classes for quite some time, now that he’s made all of these advancements. But the nobles, on the other hand…”

“Don’t wish to lose the power and wealth they’ve drowned in all this time.” October finished.

“Exactly. And with Florence’s declaration of their independence, former Duke Lazario Van Gogh now has a pedestal on the world stage. With that power, he supports the nobles in all their wishes. His only goal is to keep the unrest going in Guilder.”

As a true scientist, this wasn’t the end of October’s line of questioning.

“Wait, if Lazario is Gael’s brother, why is he trying to cause civil unrest? Better yet, why would he declare independence from such a technologically advanced kingdom like this?”

Siegfried chuckled.

“For a scientist, you have a very narrow view of the world.” he mused.

October blushed and crossed his arms.

“Never mind, forget I asked.”

Siegfried put his hand on his friend’s shoulder.

“It’s just a joke, Oct. This declaration of independence is quite recent, not many know about this. It’s more of a national secret. Once the former Duke learned of his brother’s wishes to dissolve the nobility, he decided to separate from him and continue with the monarchy in his own way, taking a more Conservative Femian approach to his governing style.” he explained. “I have a few theories as to why, though only some are backed by true evidence.”

Siegfried sat in a cluster of chairs far from anyone else and patted the seat next to him. October sat, eager to hear the theories his mentor possessed.

“The cardinal of the Femian Church has been quite active lately, visiting Florence more and more to meet with the former Duke.”

“What does that have to do with anything? Maybe he likes Florence.”

Siegfried put his face in his hands.

“Anyone who identifies themselves as a ‘Femian Nation’ and contributes taxes to the Femian Church gains the protection of it. Meaning…” he trailed off, letting October make the connection himself.

“Soldiers.” October finished.

“Exactly. Ever since Florence’s independence, Lazario has been increasing taxes in Florence and giving them all to the Femian Church. Ergo, we believe that he is preparing for a full-scale Crusade. With the backing of the Church, Florence will crush all those who do not identify as a ‘Femian Nation’ with the aid of not only the Church, but also every other nation that identifies as a ‘Femian Nation’. Also, there has been some…disturbing news coming from Guilder’s contact in the church.”

October’s black eyebrows furled in confusion.

“What kind of news?” he asked.

Siegfried motioned him to move closer so that they could both lower their voices even further.

“News of possible testing. Biological testing. I brought this to the attention of His Highness Gael and he tasked me with collecting evidence in the local wildlife. I believe that they are being directly affected by a byproduct of this testing. As you know, drakes are normally docile creatures. But recently, that specific pack started raiding villages. Completely uncharacteristic of the drake.” he said, with a grim sound to his voice while pointing to October’s pocket. “Those samples will help me determine whether these drakes are being affected by a byproduct, allow me to isolate said product, and determine what is being tested by the Femian Church.”

October sat back in his seat, taking all of this information in.

A Crusade? A war of this magnitude would very easily shake the foundations of the planet. Even worse if biological testing is involved.

“Gentlemen, His Highness will see you now.” a man dressed in a black tuxedo with dark sunglasses approached the scientists.

The pair stood and proceeded to a room that raised by a steel wire. October looked through the glass roof to inspect this mechanism, amazed. Siegfried smiled without looking at his partner.

“Welcome to Guilder, October.”