Upset and feeling betrayed, Alice looked in the distance. The street was rather straight, getting there on her own shouldn’t be that difficult, should it? And besides, going there alone certainly beat watching those two having fun together. She set off grumpy, but after ten or so minutes of watching the beautiful facades of the buildings, some of which were even ornamented with bas-reliefs depicting ancient warriors and sorcerers, built along the street filled with palm trees in the middle of it, she somewhat cheered up a little. She thought about Marisa pledging to make up for it and… she was actually pretty happy.
Alice walked slowly, more sightseeing than walking towards her destination. Some people were already rushing, and stumbled over her, making her walk over closer to the side of the street. She checked out almost every shop there, and there were many: groceries, sweet shops, hunter supplies (she made a mental note to visit this one later) and a fortune teller, an obvious hoax, but aside from telling the future, the old lady in charge of the establishment was also selling creepy dolls alice was really into. The old woman recommended a few of them. She explained the supposed curses each of them had, one apparently would make a person it was gifted to fall in love with the giver. Pretty neat, and Alice wanted it even if it was fake. She wasted a lot of time trying to make the woman lower the excessive price. Eventually she was given the price of five gold coins, slightly over half of her advance payment for the quest from the guild… that she was yet to receive. Upon learning about Alice being penniless, the old woman kicked her out loudly complaining how she wasted her precious time and Alice retorted by saying how the whole thing is a hoax and how the woman steals money from people. Being reminded that she needed money she then once again went in the direction of the guild.
After about twenty minutes of walking, making sure she stays along the long street Alice entered a big square swarming with people and with many representative red brick buildings around it. What really caught her attention was ever present militarism there. There was a big steel and wood statue just in front of one of the buildings, resembling four men holding firearms. While in other parts of the city shops, cafes and similar establishments could be found on the ground level of most buildings, here, there were just single big entrances. The entrance of the building closest to Alice, the arsenal building, was exceptionally glamorous. While she couldn’t find an entrance on the ground level, heck… there weren’t even any windows on the ground level. Tens of stone stairs led straight to the second floor where people come in and out through a massive steel door that right now was opened. Eight guards stood in front of the door. In fact, when she looked at other buildings, she counted over twenty guards in different places, mostly in front of the buildings, and many people on the square were armed. A few of them even had what appeared to be spears. Alice has already seen some people with archaic weapons, many times in fact, most of them were adventurers. She walked around the square. Next to the arsenal building she found a slightly smaller army map service building and the museum of the war of liberation… Having checked out most of the buildings on the square, she noticed a lot of people gathering around the statue.
„Maybe there’s an event or something?” She wondered. She sat on the ground, as all the benches had already been taken. „I can wait a little bit, then I’m going to ask someone for directions… I wish Marisa was here.”
„This is for you, young lady.” Three men came to her. The one in front, a tall and skinny man gave her a flower. There was something off about them. Their accent, the way their suits that were supposed to be tight fitting, were baggy and bleaked out… And worst of all they were very sloppily shaven. They were trying to look elegant so hard it was almost comical. On the other hand it was somehow unsettling how they almost surrounded her, not that it scared her. She was in a place packed to the brim with the people, they were most likely trying to get money from her.
„Thank you, but I don’t need it.” Alice tried to be nice.
„This is for charity. For poor people. There’s so much money in here.” he explained.
The one on his right, a smaller, fat guy constantly short of breath inserted his „just take a look… a lot of big fish, swimming in gold”
„Yes, my friend is telling the truth. They have palaces, servants who work for them ten days in a week. It’s not a joke. They do. But no one gives anything to the poor '' He asserted, putting stress on ‘anything’.
„And we don’t ask for much.” A bulky man on the left added in a deep voice. It couldn’t have been an effective way of gathering money, Alice thought. They were really clumsy, and going more for pity than intimidation… Wait, what if they really were a part of a charity? Well, in any case these guys were probably harmless, she concluded.
„Erm, I don’t have money… ” She could see disbelief in their eyes, which made sense, she wore a dress that was probably pretty expensive. „But you know, I’m going to the hunter’s guild, It should be somewhere nearby. The thing is… I’m taking a quest, and I’m getting half of my money up front. If you get me there I’ll pay you.”
„Ohoho, you’re putting a bounty on someone, hope for some really bad types. There really are some nasty types in this town ” The fat man remarked.His wheezing breath was annoying her. Alice started wondering what’s wrong with him, didn’t he understand or was he mocking her?
„I’m being serio…” She didn’t finish the sentence as a gunshot frightened her. She jumped from where she stood and started running low, while simultaneously reaching for her pistol, but she didn’t fully take it out in an attempt to conceal it. After the first one, another followed. She quickly scanned her surroundings…. To find out the three men together with a few other onlookers laughing at her. The rest of the crowd was looking at mechanical movements of the statue of the four musketeers. The first two musketeers had already their weapons pointing at the sky. The third one meanwhile was preparing to shoot. In one fluid move with its right hand it put the butt of the weapon against his shoulder. For half a second it stopped all movement and then in another move it pointed the muzzle towards the sky. And after half a second, yet another gunshot was heard. Alice stared at the process dumbstruck. She wanted the ground open. She took her hand from the pocket where she had her gun, convinced no one saw it. Unbeknownst to her the tall guy caught a glimpse of it.
„Boys, quit laughing, we’re being mean to this lovely lady. We freaked out too for the first time. But not as badly as you. Oh, and I believe you’re an adventurer by the way. We’ll show you the way.” He was met with questioning gazes from his acquaintances, but they didn’t question his decision.
„We’re sorry missy'' He stopped here for a second, until the statue shot its last load.” it’s just this is the first time we see an adventurer walking to the guild in a ball gown. Most of them are not the dancing types you see.” [marisa felt stupid, but they were right, were she enter the guild looking like this, she would be a laughing stock of every hunter in the city. She could see how she wasn’t treated seriously by even these unserious men… Well, how could she be? She concentrated really hard, thinking how to make herself look more serious and then, of course! There was that one extravagant adventurer, wasn’t there?
„So I will be the first one to do so. You see Agapos has never been concerned with what others say and lived however he wanted, and I’m doing the same!” Alice exclaimed in what she initially perceived to be a moment of genius. They however didn’t look very impressed. Alice could swear she heard one of the guys in the back calling him a scoundrel. Pretending to be looking up to someone she knew next to nothing about turned out not to be such a good idea, huh? „I don’t really know him though to be honest. Like we’ve never met. So, where’s the guild? I need to get there so I can give some of my money to charity, remember?” telling that mellowed them slightly.
„The guild’s… well, you’re actually in the wrong place. It’d take about fifteen minutes to get there and it’s really easy to get lost in the hustle and bustle of the city” He was right, Alice thought. That’s why Albert wanted Marisa to show her all the way through, it was only natural that she got lost. Ten minutes was however slightly longer than expected.
„By all means, show the way! And why don’t you tell me what’s your name? I’m Alice” It was only proper to finally introduce herself, and ask for the names of her aiders.
„Name’s Fionnlagh. The big one’s Oisin and…” The guy in front smiled awkwardly. The fat one cut in.
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„And I’m Seumas Missy. We’re the best guides in the city, because we know it by heart. Much, much better than anyone else. We can even do a history class if you want to..”
„Oh, don’t listen to him, he was fed up with made up stories and now he believes them. You’re better off simply ignoring them, anyway follow me.” Fionnlagh Told her, making a follow me gesture and led the way. He hurried his companions, who for some reason were looking in another direction. The fat man grimaced, but immediately followed.
They left the square. They walked listening to the fat guy telling made up stories about this city. He was awful at that so Alice just focused on the architecture. But even that was quickly degrading… Westende wasn’t that rich outside of the city centre apparently. Soon they came to the dilapidated river’s bank. There were a few old buildings there, some of them looked like they hadn't been used in ages. There were barely any people here.
„The guild’s not here… we must’ve turned in the wrong direction somewhere.” Alice stated.
„It’s here! This is the guild building.” the fat guy almost screamed squeakily. She looked at the building again. It was an old, dilapidated, stinking ruin covered with moss. There was an old sign in front of it. It read Entran e to Se… Sew sy… wait, did it read Entrance to the Sewage System?
„The building fell into disrepair and is not ..” Fionnlagh tried to explain frantically and came closer to her. Alice realised they were all tensed up. Something was wrong. Suddenly she realised she was surrounded by them from all sides. She reached to the hidden pocket where she had her firearm.
„I am sorry missy,.. We have to do this for our people.” Bulky guy said, sounding miserable.
„Idiot! She has a pistol!” Fionnlagh yelled his head off.
Alice acted quickly. She sprang up to her feet preparing to run for it. She already had the gun in her hand when the big guy hit her, she lost her balance and she hit the ground. They jumped at her and soon she was dragged into the building, which looked much bigger inside than it seemed possible. It reeked much worse than it seemed possible. They led her deep into one of the tunnels. She was knee deep in some disgusting ooze.
„Stop struggling! Get the rope! I left it in one of these concaves there! You tie her up faster! Want to meet with the giant rats again?”
The characteristic crack of a gunshot was heard followed by a whistle of a bullet and the head of the bulky guy exploded splashing its content all around. It took a moment for them to realise what happened. A woman in the distance was pouring the content of a cartridge down the muzzle of her long rifle. The fat guy was vomiting and Fionnlagh’s grasp on Alice loosened. She acted quickly. Fionnlagh had her pistol in his hand now but she knocked it out, and pushed him away, getting free from her and dashed in the direction of the woman. Fionnlagh managed to grab the already torn gown and pulled as hard as he could but it tore completely and they both slipped falling onto the wet floor. The fall hurt Alice much less than him, and getting up took him a moment. When he was on his feet, she had already gained some distance and was getting closer to the woman, who was still reloading.
„Get a grip, she’s escaping” He shouted to the fat guy. He shook him violently, but the fat guy didn’t seem like he could do any fighting. But Fionnlagh himself wasn’t really a good fighter either, If there was a need to fight, they had the bulky guy or if necessary could gang up three on one. He tried raising him by force, and even managed to get him on his feet. The fat guy’s hands were shaking, and so were his legs. Then Fionnlagh looked at the woman, she was about to finish the reload. That was when Fionnlagh realised there wasn't much they could do.
„We’re getting out of here” He exclaimed. He grabbed Alice's pistol and pushed the fat guy forward.
By that time Alice had already gotten to the woman.who’s just finished the reload. Two men went behind a wall. Alice was safe now.
„Thank you thank you thankyou fankyuufank yuu” she spat out. She had no idea who this woman was, but she owed her life to her.
„Now we’re even. I thought of you like you’re some sort of all knowing super sorcerer or whatever. Turns out not really.” Woman a head taller than her was standing next to her holding a long rifle. A side sword was hanging from her belt.
„Agh… I…” Alice mumbled dumbfounded, not understanding what she meant..
„I’m Luca, A few days ago we met on a ship arriving in the city. You told me you saw the ghost of Rendor.”
„Ren...dor?” Alice still didn’t grasp the situation. She couldn’t remember these names either. It didn’t help that luca looked so different to how she looked on the ship only a few days ago that she was almost unrecognizable.
„You’re alright?” Luca slowly came closer to Alice and put her hand on Alice's upper arm, while looking her in the eyes „You look like you’re in shock. Take it easy.”
„Sure… so… agh we know each othe… oh, Luca, ship… yeah, y...you’re the crazy lady. ” She spat out without thinking. Luca crossed her arms. „You look better…”
„Crazy Lady? I thought you’re nuts too, talking about how there are ghosts next to me” Luca retorted with a smirk.
-
Luca offered to show Alice how to get to the guild from there, as Alice had no idea where they were and even lent Alice a change of clothes. On their way back Alice saw Marisa and Simon in the park having a picnic. She came closer but they were in such bliss they didn’t notice them. Alice just sat nearby and listened.
„And so… there was this one customer. Some kind of magnate…” Marisa was cut in.
„Them rich bastards wouldn’t go to your restaurant. They literally have armies of cooks in their palaces. They can Kiss My Royal Celtyh Arse.” Simon stated confidently.
„Hey don’t bring out this Celtyh stuff again, you know how it’s looked upon”
„I thought I can with you, sweatie”
„Yeah, I guess. Anyway, that guy must’ve been just some really rich guy or whoever, not important. So now, Imagine, a busy day and He orders the biggest table just for himself, gets some food and is drinking copious amounts of vodka. At one point he is like I’ll pay you 5 times what you’d earn today, come, sit and talk with me.”
„Sick bastard”
„I know right? I excused myself for a moment under some silly pretext and sent that one boy that used to work for us back then to him. He probably wouldn’t do any advances on a boy, right? Well, that’s what I thought anyway. But I was wrong about him”
„What?” Simon burst out laughing ”I don’t wanna know what happened… Or actually… I do. What happened next?”
„Well... He was given the money, food and drinks and they talked for an hour until the guy got too drunk to go on…. Erm, it turned out his wife died… and he simply wanted to talk…”
A few seconds of silence followed between them.
„Wow, that’s a banger… weird stuff seems to happen a lot at your work. It’s good you’re free today. You know what? Cheers to that Alice girly for that.”
„Seriously, for her?”
„You got a day off so you can show Alice the way to the guild, huh?”
„That’s right I guess, cheers” they clink their glasses. Wait, was it even legal for them to drink, and especially drink in public? Simon drank like half of the bottle at once, Marisa was drinking slower.
„Yeah, She should be home by now, even if she somehow missed the guild’s building, it’s literally next to the loudest statue in the city… you know, the arsenal’s mechanical musketeer, even she can’t miss that.” Marisa said. She was right, Alice didn’t miss the statue.
„She seemed alright to me. Didn’t you get a free day thanks to her? Don’t be angry at her…”
„Nagh… Am I angry? Dunno, she… yeah, she can be annoying even if I try being at my nicest. But like it’s not really about alice. Look, my dad shows up out of nowhere after a few months and I have to babysit some random girl younger than me…”
„I’ve always known your dad is that kind of person” what kind of person? What do you mean? I hate you! Were the thoughts going over Alice's head.
„Shh, no… probably no.” probably, huh? ” Don’t mention it again and be quiet you. ” She slowly lowered her head on his shoulders...
„Hey, how long are you going to spy on them? I get that you don’t like him but if you don’t want them together just wait for him to get arrested. All restorationists get caught doing some crimes sooner or later ” Luca told Alice, rousing her out from stupor.
„ You’re right, we probably should get going, just… leaving her with him is... ” She hesitated there for a moment.
„You rascal, what if people see us?!” Marisa cried out as he put his hand inside her clothes. That was too much for Alice to bear.
„Nevermind, I’ve had enough. just get me to that damn guild.”
„Shh, no… probably no.” probably, huh? ” Don’t mention it again and be quiet you. ” She slowly lowered her head on his shoulders...
„Hey, how long are you going to spy on them? I get that you don’t like him but if you don’t want them together just wait for him to get arrested. All restorationists get caught doing some crimes sooner or later ” Luca told Alice, rousing her out from stupor.
„You’re right, we probably should get going, just… leaving her with him is... ” She hesitated there for a moment.
„You rascal, what if people see us?!” Marisa cried out as he put his hand inside her clothes.
„Nevermind, I’ve had enough. just get me to that damn guild.”