Chapter Two
Guards
"You hear about Geralt, Jaune?" Said Scarlet passively.
"No." I said immediately.
I've never even heard of a man named Geralt, yet Scarlet expects me to know of them regardless.
"Come on, you don't remember Geralt!"
"No, I don't remember meeting a man named Geralt."
"Scarred eye, white hair?"
"No."
"Had two long silver swords?"
"Not ringing even a single bell, Scarlet."
"Well, he went and got himself executed for stealing bread from the baker yesterday."
I blinked my eyes.
"What?"
"Yeah, the bastard stole some bread and the king decided to have the sod executed for it, make an example, was what the king said to the crowd watching the thing."
"That seems rather harsh, especially for just stealing a single loaf of bread from the bloody baker." I said.
"People were surprised, even the ones who love watching the executions all the bloody time felt bad for the poor bugger."
It definitely seems as if the King is getting a bit more violent than usual, that is not good at all for anyone who breaks the law, which means he has it in for around 30% of the entire population of the city.
I got a mischievous smile on my face.
"Looks like you're screwed big time, Scarlet."
"What do ya mean by that?" Scarlet asked, slightly confused.
"I bet the King has a whole army of spies all around the city, looking for information to use against people like you so there's an excuse for the King to execute you."
"You're pulling my leg."
"Well we don't know if it's true or not, do we?"
"You're just trying to screw with me, aren't you?"
"Maybe, maybe not."
"Stop it, you're unnerving me!" Said Scarlet with irritation.
I laugh aloud at his frustration.
"You are just too easy to unnerve!" I said still laughing the entire time.
"Well screw you then!" Scarlet replied back at me in return.
"Oy, get back to work!"
Scarlet and I turned to see who it was.
"I said get back to work, ya gits!"
It was our bloody Sergeant, angry with us as usual.
"Sorry, sir" I said quickly.
"What do ya mean, sorry!?"
"We were just talking about the recent execution sir, that's all." I said quickly to avoid him getting any angrier with us.
He stopped his angry glare and looked down quickly.
This was unusual and weird for him to do this.
"That was a dirty business that was." He said quietly but still loud enough for us to hear him.
"Yeah, a bit too harsh for stealing bread." Replied Scarlet.
"Still, I very much assure you, boys, that the King wouldn't do something like that without good reason." Our Sergeant said to reassure us.
"I hope so, wouldn't want the King to be going mad now."
"I don't think that's a good idea to say out loud, Scarlet." I said.
"Yeah yeah, I hear y-"
"There's something coming out of the forest!" Shouted one of the guards along the wall.
We immediately ran across the walls to the gate that allows outsiders access to the city.
"Is it them?" The Sergeant asked one of the guards.
"Can't tell, too much mist to see them clearly."
"Damn, don't shoot them until we can confirm what they are."
"Yes, sir." Replied the guard.
We watched the large looking figure move through the mist, towards the gate.
As it got closer, we saw that it was not one, but three figures walking towards the gate.
We also saw that the other two were helping one of the figures along.
"I think their just normal people sir." Said one of the guards that were with us.
"One of you go down to the gate and check if they have either the entry fee or papers to get in, now."
Said the Sergeant to the rest of us, with the hint of urgency in his voice.
"I'll go!" I said quickly.
"Me too!" Said Scarlet.
"Be careful." The sergeant said simply.
Scarlet and I went to the door that led off the walls, unlocking the door with a sound of frantic turning of a key.
We moved down the stairs as quickly as realistically possible when in full plate armour along with chainmail underneath.
We reached the end of the stairway, unlocking the door at the bottom and getting to the gate in a quick and frantic run.
The figures had just reached the gate at that point.
"Let us in, please." Said one of the figures, who wore a red cloak, I noticed that she had white hair, marking her as an Atlesian.
What were folks from The Land of Atlas doing here?
I then saw that one of the figures, wearing dark clothing along with a hood, had hazel eyes, marking her as of Valourian ethnicity.
She was carrying the third person in the group, who had animal ears, which meant she was a Faunus.
"You got the papers or do you have the money?" Scarlet asked the group.
"We got the papers." Said the red-cloaked one.
"Show me"
The woman put her hand into her bag, which hung from her side, she pulled out a wrapped up paper and handed it to me.
"Well?" Scarlet asked quizzically.
I unwrapped the paper quickly and intently, reading it to make sure it was not a forgery, which was actually pretty common in this city, so much so that most papers 4 out of 10 times will be fake.
Unless you can tell the fakes from the real ones, guards are rarely given this job.
"It's real." I said with a sigh of relief.
"You sure?"
"Ye-"
I heard someone shouting from atop the wall.
"There's something coming from the forest!"
I looked out into the mist, and as they said, there is something coming from the forest, but it sure as Tartarus does not look in the least bit friendly as it is aggressively running towards the gate at the speed of a very rabid wolf.
I shouted at the people that operate the gate.
"Open the gate now!"
The operators worked quickly to have the gate lifted, the sound of chains straining.
The three strangers got through the entrance, pulling their injured friend along the way to get him to safety.
"It's getting closer!"
The figure, which appeared to be one of the monsters of the forest, was getting closer.
"Close it!"
"Close the gate!"
"Do it now!"
"We're doing it!"
The gate fell down with a thud and the sound of chains being loosened.
"Come on; let's get your friend to the priestess." Said Scarlet, being surprisingly helpful to the strangers.
"Thank you."
"Who are you?"
"My name is Weiss"
Yep, definitely an Atlesian.
"But you can call me White instead."
"Alright, you should go to the tavern for some rest while your friend is fixed up."
"I know; I'm a regular patron at the place."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"How come I've never seen you before?"
"I'm usually there in the morning." White replied.
That explains it instantly.
Most guards, including myself, only go to the tavern at night or the afternoon, usually too drunk to remember anything that happens while their there.
Well, except probably wondering where all their hard-earned money went, but that's beside the point right now.
"You need any more help?"
"No thank you, we'll be just fine now." She responded.
"How'd your friend get hurt?" I asked.
"Take a guess." She said with a hint of aggression.
"Woah, sorry for asking." I said in defense.
"Well I've had a rough day today, not only did I get lost in the forest because of that damn mist, but also I had to survive getting an unwanted ear piercing from some not very friendly monstrosities." She said with anger and frustration in her voice.
"Calm down."
"Sorry, it's just been a really bad day." She said passively while sighing, the aggression gone from her voice.
"I hear ya." Says Scarlet, joining the conversation.
"You lot are the first group to get here while in the mist that weren't missing any body parts."
White showed obvious disgust at Scarlet's comment.
"I bid you two adieu." White said aloud.
Then she turned and walked toward the tavern.
"Wanna go to the pit fights after our shift ends?" Scarlet asked me immediately.
"Sure."
"I hope that lass with the playing cards is still there." Said Scarlet.
I laughed out loud.
"Yeah right, and Princess Cinder will kill her father." I stated with an extra dose of sarcasm in my voice.
"Get back to work!" Shouted our Sergeant.
We both saluted the sergeant.
"Yes, sir!" We said in unison.
We walked back to the stairs, getting right back to doing our rounds until our shift was over.
It was pretty boring.
But hey, that girl with the playing cards was still at the tavern.