The former him would have been more interested in finding something to eat than following someone, who had 'danger' written all over him. However, the current Val felt his fear as an indicator of something that needed to be explored. He couldn't explain it, but he chalked it up to the burly man being an enemy, since he seemed to know Reitz well enough. That meant knowing about the enemy was half the battle.

  As Val trailed the man, he found the stink around him getting worse, along with the number of people moving about with purpose. It went from just a pervading stench to more of a complex smell of unwashed bodies mingled with with rotting produce and dried blood. The rundown shanties and homes also gave way to an open area market, with dozens of wooden, market stalls surrounded by others selling a variety of goods from baskets and carts. The whole place was buzzing with noise, as Val guessed there were hundreds of people in the large open market, doing everything from hawking their produce to stealing unattended goods.

  “Got some fine cabbage! Lettuce! Just freshly....”

  “You won' find no better beans...”

  “What're ya doin' lass? Don' drop them tomatoes! Who's gonna buy....”

  “Damn it, my purse. Thief! Where ar' the bloody guards....”

  The voices drowned out one another, but Val especially paid attention people screaming about losing goods or about thieves. Even if he proclaimed his innocence, his obvious 'street rat' appearance was enough for some idiot hawker to target him or for some guard to be overzealous. Moreover, the gold Tals he had hidden on him didn't make him any more comfortable. Thankfully, the burly bastard didn't enter the market proper and skirted along the outer edges.

  The 'low' market as it was called was where most common folk went to buy their daily goods, but it was more than that, as it was the crossroads to various city districts. To the south was the city's slums. The freeman districts stretched out to the north, north east, and northwest of the market square, while to west, workshops of various kinds run by merchants and nobles were already busy early in the morning. The man, however, headed to the east.

  Val dodged past street hawkers and people carrying goods around, trying not to get too close or stay standing in one spot for too long. At one point, he had to take a short detour to avoid a city guard, who was glaring at some poor vendor, while rummaging through the vendor's basket of apples. The bearded guard wasn't anyone spectacular, what with his rusty chain mail and dented, iron helmet that left most of his face visible. However, the guard's well used, wooden club with metal bands and the short sword still in its scabbard on the guard's waist weren't for show. Most of the 'guards' were not exactly peacekeepers, per the Earth definition of the word. Val had seen them be as vile as the gangs at times.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Fortunately, no one bothered Val, as he caught up the bald man, just as he exited the market place, heading to the livestock district. Most of the city's butchers, livestock pens, and tanners were located in this area, and the smell of blood, feces, smoke, and God knew what else mingled together. He was used to the smell, considering the butchers here were a good source of left over scraps of meat, especially right before 'farm days,' when the local farmers brought fresh livestock in.

  Most of the people on the streets here seemed healthier and moved about with purpose. Val saw some butchers, wearing bloody, leather aprons hacking on various sides of meat in their open front stores, while loudly advertising their products.

  “Come get yer shoulder of mutton...”

  “Finest shank of beef...”

  Val was almost drooling as he passed by them, even though the surrounding smell was overpowering, but he forced himself to stay on target. He dodged past more men and women, some carrying various haunches of meat, heading towards the market place, while others were busy haggling at the various stalls and butcher shops. Soon, the surroundings became less crowded but stronger in smell, as sounds of cows mooing, chickens clucking, and pigs grunting filled the air. Here, the gutters were overflowing in places with a mix of blood, urine, and shit, though there seemed to be some kind of movement, with the disgusting mixture flowing further eastwards.

  He was less familiar with this area, but Val still knew his way around a bit, since stealing eggs had always been a good source of food. Still, he tried to keep up the man, who cut into one of the side streets, heading deeper into where the animal pens and slaughterhouses were. Most of the people here were the local workers, who were busy handling animals or hauling wheelbarrows of bloody meat and offal around. Val slipped by them, trying to stay as inconspicuous as possible, but he caught a few workers glancing at him in confusion.

  Squeezing himself through a tight gap between some animal pens, he saw sheep and pigs, tightly crammed together and wallowing in mud, while awaiting their fate. For a second, he wondered if his life as a 'street rat' was any better than these animals, but his attention quickly returned to the burly man, who had finally stopped at a small building, that had most of its sides open. Val slipped past the animal pens and got as close to the building as possible, peeking at it from behind a nearby wall. There were no meat hooks or the usual slaughterhouse equipment in the building, but what Val did see was a pile of offal, bones, animal shit, and other things he could not distinguish in one side of the building. On the other side was a wagon, that was partially full of the same disgusting waste.

  The bald man shouted out to a skinny, weaselly looking worker, who was the only other person there and who was shoveling the the waste onto the cart. Val couldn't couldn't make out what the two men were saying, but watching the bald man toss the two bags onto on the ground, Val knew the man had reached his purpose for coming out all this way. A little while later, both men headed out the other side of the building for whatever reason, leaving Val essentially alone in the area.

  He hesitated, part of him telling him this was a waste of time but another telling him that he needed to make his move now. There was fear of course of being found out by the men, but there was something deep inside him telling him to find out what was in those bags and that he needed to know. Eventually, he gave in and quickly ran across the narrow street, into the open building.

  Avoiding slipping on the layer of scum on the ground, he kept an eye on the opening on the other side of the building, as he finally reached the two burlap bags that were resting near the large, wooden wagon. Quietly, he undid the knot of the rope securing one of the bags shut, even as he felt his heart racing. The first thing he saw as he opened the bag, however, plunged his mind into shear terror.