There were four taverns in town. I decided to eat at one of them instead of buying supplies at the market. I needed hot meals to recover my strength. Since the council club was out of the question, there was the eight plates tavern, the lucky lockup tavern, and the South Wall cornerclub where I was supposed to ask about Caius Cosades whereabouts.

I stuck to the eight plates since the lucky lockup was next to the council club. The place was clean and the food was good. The barkeep explained the layout of the town at my request. On the east side of the river you had labor town, full of low cost houses and the South Wall cornerclub. It was the less reputable part of Balmora.

The waterfront was all residential on either side of the river. Here on the west side, you had the commercial district where most of the legitimate businesses were, including the two guild halls. There was another section of town carved into the hills beyond the commercial district called high town. This is where nobles had their mansions with a few high profit businesses and the Hlaalu town hall.

After breakfast, I decided not to waste the day sightseeing and checked out the fighters guild. The sooner I could start earning money, the sooner I could go home. The guildhall was right next to the mages guild and the building was identical. They had probably been built at the same time.

I entered to the sound of yelling. The main floor was empty, but I could hear people in the basement. I followed the noise to a training room downstairs. A half dozen people were gathered around a large open room. A bulky redguard man with a shaved head stood in the middle with a mock wooden sword. He bounced on the balls of his feet as a bright red haired nord woman stepped into the arena with her own mock sword. They traded blows fiercely for a minute, then the woman stepped out and an Imperial man stepped in.

The fights flowed together without any pause in between and I had to be impressed with the Redguards stamina. Sweat poured down his face and his breathing was hard, but he kept going. The Imperial man was replaced by a dark elf and they continued sparring until I cleared my throat.

They all turned to look at me. The Nord woman greeted me. "Hello sir. Are you looking to hire some help?" The other residents seemed to be holding their breath.

"Actually I'm looking for work."

The fighters all groaned, not trying to conceal their disappointment. The Nord turned on them. "Can it! I didn't tell you to stop." With lots of grumbling, they obeyed and she returned her attention to me. "That's tough luck. Work is a little dry right now. Besides that, you look a little on the scrawny side."

I nodded. "Thank you for your time then. I guess I'll just keep looking."

The woman bit her lip and the redguard called from the training floor. "Hey Eyedis. We can give the kid a chance, can't we? There is that one job."

She looked back at the group. "Yeah," said the Imperial man. "Besides, if he's got any skill at all, we can train him."

I looked curiously from Eyedis to the others. She sighed. "Alright. I have one job if you're interested, but it's none too glorious."

"What is it?"

"There's a woman who lives on the waterfront on the east side named Drarayne Thelas. She contracted me to exterminate some cave rats that have invaded her house. The problem is, none of these mommas boys want the job. If you can clear out the rats and collect the payment, I'll consider you an apprentice in the fighters guild."

Clearing out rats wasn't exactly what I had in mind, but it was a job and I needed the gold. "Alright, I'll do it."

Eyedis looked relieved that I'd accepted. "Good. She's expecting someone this morning. But keep in mind, clearing out the rats is only half the job. Some clients will try to avoid payment. The agreed amount is one hundred septims. If she won't pay, either do a better job or strong arm her."

I grinned as I turned back the way I came. Some of the guild members were snickering at me, but that last part sounded more like what I was used to."

***

After a bit of asking around, I found Draraynes' house. The old Dunmer woman was sitting on her porch, tapping her foot to alleviate her anxiety. Before I said a word, she sprang to her feet. "Are you from the guild?"

"Yes I..."

She interrupted me. "Oh I'm so glad you're here. They're in my bedroom and my attic. I don't want you stabbing them and getting blood all over my house, so I got you this." She took a short fat basket with a woven lid and stuffed it in my hands.

"What do I..."

"You can trap them inside and then drown them in the river. Now quickly, before they can do any more damage." She shoved me through the door with surprising strength for an old woman. The main room was small with only a limited kitchen and sitting area. There was one door besides the one I had come through and I could hear scratching on the other side.

I approached the door quietly and readied the basket. Flinging the door open, I found two rats the size of watermelons standing in the threshold. "Oh sweet Mephala, what are these things?" I don't know who was more surprised once I trapped them in the basket, me or the rats. There had been rats in the prison in Cyrodiil, but nowhere near this big. "What's wrong with this place?"

I slid the lid under the basket. The vermin squealed as it pushed against their feet. I then flipped the basket over, tied down the lid, and dragged it out of the house.

"Oh, are they in there?" Drarayne looked torn between wanting to see and wanting to stay away.

"Yep, two of them." I dragged it out onto the small dock closest to the house and lowered the basket below the water while the woman watched from a safe distance. After the cave rats quit struggling inside, I opened the lid and let the bodies float away.

Drarayne wasted no time in leading me to the loft. I prepared for much the same thing as before and kicked the door in. I dropped the basket on the first one I saw. A second one darted for the door, but I dove, grabbed him by the tail, and threw him under the basket before he could bite me. My breath caught in my throat when I saw a third dart out the open door. Drarayne screamed and I whipped around, looking for something to weigh the basket down so I could go after the third rat.

Stacking a broken chair on the basket covering the first two, I took off down the stairs. Drarayne was pointing down the street, jumping up and down. I just caught a glimpse of an ugly pink tail disappear around the corner. Giving chase, I cornered it in front of a doorway. It hissed as I advanced and I wished I had a club or something.

The door swung open and the rat made to dart inside, but before it could, I raised my right foot and crushed its head with the heel of my boot. It wasn't a clean kill. Blood and brains squirted out and splattered the young Dunmer who was leaving the building. She gasped, seeing the stains on the hem of her dress.

I had to sweep my hair out of the way to see her face, which was turning from its natural light blue to a magenta. "Look what you've done you degenerate s'wit. What have you got to say for yourself?"

"I... uh." No words seemed to come to me. Should I apologize? Why? Looking at her clothes, she was obviously a noble. She could probably afford new ones.

"Well?" She insisted.

"What's a s'wit?"

She gawked for a moment, unable to come up with another insult and then turned without a word and left. I glanced around me. The sign on the building said south wall cornerclub. There were a few people within sight on the street and none of them looked as well dressed as the lady. In fact, most were fairly disheveled. Two men, one Dunmer and one Nord watched as she passed. The Nord tapped the dunmer on the shoulder and nodded towards her. The Dunmer smiled crookedly. Before they could pursue her, I cleared my throat loudly, grabbed the curved knife off my belt, and flashed it at them. They took the hint and walked briskly in the other direction.

I huffed and nodded in satisfaction. I suppose I owed the girl that much. With the situation under control, I wiped my boot clean in the dirt and took the rats body by the tail to dispose of it in the river.