(Part 1)
Archester City, the Capital of the Elgardish Empire, is a city where darkness looms in every corner and is hardly considered safe, yet despite all the dark reputation, it is the capital of fame and riches and the center of the modern world.
The Arcunians (residents of Archester) were always a crafty bunch who coped with the situation of their city wisely, harmonizing their inner relationships as an upper, middle, and lower class without any visible social struggle.
A city like that, which reeks of crime and hidden currents, has such a code embedded deep within. Last night, however, that code was broken when a rumor spread that a couple of lowlife harlots associated themselves with two foreign spies and tried to mug a Lady from a noble family. This was bound to echo deep in the social structure of the city and cause many to be restless.
If a noble —no less a noble lady— was attacked on the streets, then one can expect the watchmen and the constables of the metropolitan police to conduct a ruthless investigation in which many heads are bound to roll, however, the investigation was called off and the culprits announced killed. From the rumors, the two spies were northerners from Novark and their aim is yet to be known.
Some rumors were about to fly about the identity of the lady but the information brokers were wary enough to kill such rumors before anything spread. Everyone knew the consequences of upsetting House Moore, the house that feeds half of Archester's households and opens their businesses. Still, many hands in the darkness seemed to be working on spreading scandalous rumors about the lady in question. With such recklessness, no one knew where the situation was heading.
Meanwhile, the mansion of House Moore was silent and still. Lord Julian Moore forbade his wife and her maids from taking as much as a single step out of the mansion with the excuse of fearing for their safety and assigned two of his personal guards to watch over Robert or rather… to watch out for Robert leaving the mansion.
Saskia and her maids would surely try to tarnish Vivian's reputation at all costs and until the sleeping beauty wakes up, everyone in the household is to stay put and hold their breath tight.
Logan and Esmeralda were put on arrest and were questioned for the whole night about what happened. Logan's carelessness was not to go unpunished but there was more at play here than just a knight going careless in his duties.
From Esmeralda's testimony, she and Vivian were taken from the front of the Auction House and led to a nearby stable. House De Clare sent their young Lord that night to give their deepest apologies and promise to bring the wrongdoer to justice regarding their lack of security, the statement which made things even worse for Lord Julian, who could only suspect one culprit behind all of this.
If the place where most of the nobility was not secured for barely a single second, the fingers can only be directed in one direction, which no one points at no matter what, House Black. They see through the shadows and know everything before it even happens. If they were truly the ones who lifted the security so that Vivian gets attacked, it means that corruption has gone further than anything that happened in recent history.
House Black can't just neglect the duty of protecting the Nobles even if these nobles are the black sheep of society. These are downgrading, scandalous, and very very serious accusations.
Still, Lord Julian put all that aside and focused on something that made less sense than all of that. Vivian, his precious daughter, killed three of the assailants on her own and injured the last fatally. She even had a Storage Purse on her and the details of the accident were almost unbelievable.
"She woke up?" Lord Julian asked.
"No, your Lordship." Butler Theo answered slowly, "While bruised and swollen. The aura she was stuck with didn't do her much harm but it was her first time to be struck by such force… She is doing fine."
Lord Julian nodded as he sat at the large dining table with some reports and items lying in front of him and a line of knights at his left.
"Old Theo, your thoughts." He said.
Butler Theo gazed upon what was lying on the table and sighed.
"You are wasting your time." The old Butler said.
"How so?"
"The cane sword is not bad… not as good as the one I use but still not bad. It has traces of Bronze Aura to it but that's all there is to it. But even if the attacker was a mere Apprentice Knight, how Vivian brought him down is… beyond my estimation. I wouldn't bet on her against such odds." Old Theo said as he dragged a chair to casually sit down, "According to the maid girl, Vivian killed the two women, threw the knives at the men, took out an umbrella to distract the man, and fired her gun from behind it then physically tried to overpower him, who was staggering before getting the situation turned on her, and finally he struck her with the force of his aura, causing his aura protection to break down and die from the fatal wound in his eye socket."
After summarizing, Old Theo entangled his mustache with two fingers and put a final estimation.
"You sure this is your daughter?" He asked.
Lord Julian was normally dismissive of Old Theo's attitude but this hit him on a bad nerve.
"Of course she is my daughter." He replied imposingly.
"Anyway…" On the other hand, Old Theo was the one acting indifferent, "She has acted like a real killer, a crafty one. The young lady is neither a killer nor a fighter in normal cases. Who knows what pressure makes of people."
No one wanted to add more to these words. Whatever happened will remain unspoken until Vivian gives a full account. Many questions were to be asked regarding what happened, how she fought, and why she owns a Storage Purse that is impossible to access.
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A few hours later in the afternoon, the maids reported that Vivian had woken up. Everyone in the mansion held their breath as she passed the word that she was coming downstairs and summoned a few people by name including her Father, her Knight, the Butler, her Maid, and whoever was responsible for investigating the incident. Unwanted parties were surely interested in attending and everyone gathered in the main hall.
And she showed up.
***
During the boot camps, the instructors would usually chase us with batons whenever we stole food or broke the rules. In fact, this is how they trained agents so we had some different rules than normal military camp.
I remember getting struck by these batons once and the ones used by the instructors were equipped with stun tasers, so I am very familiar with how it feels.
In normal cases, people would be shitting themselves and developing skin burns where they were stunned but there is also headache, momentary loss of some senses, seizures, muscle spasms, and more.
In my case, I thought I had seen the worst of it but after that Aura I was attacked. Now, I miss the boot camp days like no way one can imagine.
At least I understood my purpose back then… or had an Illusion of one. Now, I am a stranded agent on an alien frontier. Wizards, Knights, people who don't die from a damn bullet to the eye… I mean… WTF!
"Nothing makes you pay attention like getting a good beating until you hear your bones rattle."
I remember these words very well. My friends used to say such things just to look tough but let's be honest… it makes you really rethink your life choices all over.
"… choices like… why the fuck didn't I stuff the gun down his fucking throat and BANG!"
Whoops! That was spoken out loud, right?
"You're switching between what you have to think and what you have to say, my Lady."
I looked up to see her standing beside the bed putting a tray on the end table. Esmeralda seemed like… it really got to her, eh? No ordinary maid would just witness what she witnessed and be alright.
"You alright?" I asked.
My question felt strange as she was looking at me with empty eyes before flinching backward with a slight quiver visible in her large arms and shoulders.
"I am the one who is supposed to ask you that… my Lady." She said.
I felt the gloomy change of her attitude so before she could say anything, I had to make my stance clear.
"I will be fine but you… I am sorry about that night. On that account, I can't promise you sunshine and rainbows, especially after what happened. If you don't feel like it, I guess the trial period applies to both of us in the end."
Esmeralda's face became more dejected with the words I tried to comfort her with. I guess I should have said something nicer.
"Can you please inform me of what happened?" I asked.
"I… I must inform the Lord that…"
"For the love of Saints, inform him later. I don't think I can handle him without fainting again. Let me know what I need to know before seeing the others."
"Very well, my Lady…"
And she told me. Under my belt to this moment, I have three kills (four if we count the little piggy) and a dark reputation of a loose lady who was attacked on the streets because she strayed away without protection. Saskia won't let me see the end of this, Goddammit!
Okay, what to do now?
Flip the tables, and remix the cards. Play chaotically, that's a strategy. Don't let them corner me.
"Alright, Esmeralda. Go inform the Lord that I am coming down right now." I moved off the bed but all sorts of pain were waiting for me just to make such a move and I almost groaned.
"My Lady, you can't. The doctor said to keep you in bed for at least a week." She said.
"A week my a… ehem! Don't worry, I heal faster than normal people. Just go down and tell them I am up."
Esmeralda seemed hesitant before taking her leave and going out. I instantly fell on my back withering from pain.
"Sir System!"
« You have survived 3 enemies! Calculating your reward! »
« 790 Points were awarded. »
"Such… wait! What quest was that?"
« Quest: [Survive] »
That… that's unexpected. A quest with no single hint of explanation just rewarded me for defending myself just because I survived as it said so… I mean, as long as I survive any situation, there would be a reward.
"That aside. Sir System, give me Panacea."
« Common Grade Panacea: 300 SP »
"Yes, confirm."
« Purchase Successful! »
A potion flask appeared before me and I mindlessly took it to my lips. Before drinking, I took a look at my status.
====================
< Profile >
* Name: Vivian Moore
* Age: 18
* Condition: Hunger, Thirst, Fatigue, Muscle Spasms, Torn Muscles, Dizziness, Headache, Bruises, Numb Muscles……
* SP: 2498
====================
"Holy shit!"
I couldn't help but stare at my condition like an idiot. How am I still alive? Better drink that potion… and so I did.
« Full Recovery failed! »
Huh?
« Only Fatigue, Muscle Spasms, Torn Muscles were healed! »
Just that… should I buy another one?
It took me a few seconds before getting another Panacea and…
« Full Recovery failed! »
« Dizziness, Bruises, Broken Nose were healed »
"Are you flipping kidding me? How was I still alive? I can't believe I am buying a third one."
900 System Points were spent on 3 Panacea Potions just to get to full recovery.
« Full Recovery successful! »
====================
< Profile >
* Name: Vivian Moore
* Age: 18
* Condition: Energized
* SP: 1898
====================
My precious SP… *sob* I am sad.
« WARNING: Repetitive use of Potions may cause Potion Addiction. You may experience Potion Withdrawal effects after the Energized condition is over! »
And I am becoming a Potion Addict… that's some terrible news, Sir System. Terrible news indeed.
Now, where are my clothes?
I finally could move out of the bed but as I found my Storage Purse. My outfit returned back to the Purse once it was taken off. All the system items are bound to me as the User so they got to the default bound storage… or something along the lines. Still, they were in pretty bad shape after the fight.
« Repair & Cleaning Cost: 122 SP »
Fucking Microtransactions!