Volume 1: Interlude: An ONI Agent In The Field

Originally Drafted: July 17th, 2022

Originally Uploaded: July 17th, 2022

/ Tristainia, Capital of Tristain, October 31st, 2558. /

The streets were filled with shops and passersby as an ONI operative walked amongst them, unbeknownst to the populace. Agent Johanne, full of curiosity, could not take his eyes off the baubles and odds and ends that dotted the stalls around him.

When he looked at one weird-shaped frog in a jar on a trader's mat, he was surprised at it trying to stare back at him. Odd. He thought, before simply moving away from it after. This place was strange, far from the normalcy of the many human cities he'd been on. But, he was here for a job, one that required his expertise in intel gathering and spycraft.

Today was his first real operation on this new world. He was sent personally by Lieutenant Redding in the hopes of gathering intel on the locals and their ruling class, with that in mind, the Capital was the best choice for him. He hadn't been here long, but already he could see the differences in lifestyle that the natives led.

Johanne learned how to discern between commoners and mages back on the Eternity. Mages always had capes on, and they looked really arrogant when they walked. According to their "informants," that was a noble's walking stance.

Aside from their unusual abilities, he hadn't found the locals to be too much of a threat, at least physically. The sidearm he had on his hip was more than able to dissuade any prospective thief from trying. Though, he wasn't sure how he'd fare against their more magically abled counterparts in a fair fight.

As he made his way through the streets as he looked at the signage in-front of them. As he was able to at least learn enough of the basics of this world's script, he was able to make use of it to make his way through the myriad of stalls and shops around him.

Johanne walked into an even narrower road. A revolting stench, coming from piles of trash and other dirty things on the ground, soon hit his nose. Realizing he was in an unfamiliar area. He looked around for anything of note here. Finding it to be filled with the disreputable sort of crowd. A back-alley into the less visited and unclean side of this city's life.

"Well, this should certainly be interesting." Johanne muttered to himself upon seeing a bronze sign. A sword-shaped design dangled under it. It looked like this was the arms dealer's shop. He decided to investigate.

Despite the bright daylight outside, the shop was hardly illuminated, likely to cover up any imperfections in his wares. A gas lamp flickered. The walls and shelves were filled with unorganized weapons. A detailed suit of armor decorated the room. A man in his fifties smoking a pipe eyed Agent Johanne suspiciously.

"Eh, another wanderer. Here to buy or just to look? If it's the latter you can forget it." The shopkeep grumbled.

Johanne chuckled at the man's dismissal. "I'll be your customer. It seems like an interesting shop after all."

The shopkeep eyed Johanne warily. While he wasn't dressed like a noble, he wasn't quite as disheveled as a downtrodden commoner either. Pegging him as a sort of mercenary, he'd decided to open his wares to him, albeit reluctantly. It was harder to fool an experienced Mercenary than an idiotic Noble.

He watched as the assumed Mercenary plucked swords from around the shop and inspected them before putting them back not long after. Seemingly discontent with what he saw.

The shopkeeper said as though he just thought of something, "Speaking of which, it seems that nobles like to let their servants bear swords lately. Is that why you're here too?"

"Is that the trend?" Johanne asked. The shopkeeper naturally nodded.

"That's right. It seems that there's an increase of thievery on Tristain's city streets lately." The shopkeeper gave an exaggerated sigh.

"Thievery?"

"Yes. Some mage thief that calls himself something like 'Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt,' and I heard he stole a lot of treasures from the nobles. Those nobles are getting really rattled, so they're arming their servants with swords."

"Hmm. Didn't really expect that to be much of a problem if everyone is quite capable with their... magic." Johanne said before turning back to inspecting the weapons.

"Great, he seems to have an eye for quality! I don't think I'll be making a sale soon with this kind of person." The shopkeep silently muttered to himself.

"Hah, it seems you have your work cut out for yourself here, baldie!" Shouted another voice from within a barrel of junk.

Johanne gave a short laugh at the noise. Assuming it to be a disgruntled assistant.

"Shut up, Derf! You're only good for driving away customers." The shopkeep shot back.

Finding nothing of value, Johanne went up to the Shopkeep instead. Who seemed to be intensely glaring at an antique sword.

"How much for that sword?" Johanne asked as he pointed to it.

"Eh, for that piece of junk? 100 Écu should be fine." The man shrugged. He didn't really like having it around, it tended to drive away any prospective customers; but the Mercenary who walked into his store showed keen interest with the item.

"Truly?" He seemed to pause in thought at that. "Seems too cheap for a weapon."

"Trust me, I'd rather be rid of that hunk of junk than I'd be concerned with having it be kept here any longer." The man crossed his arms.

He was hoping to finally be rid of it, but the Mercenary didn't seem to be interested in anything else. He wondered if he could even be swindled like most of his other customers.

Johanne pulled the sword free from its sheath, causing the shopkeeper to flinch.

"Relax." Johanne responded. "I do not intend harm to you. Just needed to inspect the quality of the blade."

Nodding at the Mercenary's explanation. He relaxed somewhat.

Johanne inspected the blade thoroughly, checking it from the base to the tip for any chinks in its metal form. He grasped the hilt and was shocked for a moment.

"Hey! Hands off my mouth there you furball!" The sword shouted at him.

"It talks. That's new." Johanne said, surprised at the revelation.

"Of course I can speak! What? Never seen a magic sword before? I am the mighty Derflinger!" The sword boasted.

"Hmm... Rather chatty for a blade aren't you?" Johanne hummed in thought as he held the sword in his hand.

The shopkeeper just prayed inwardly that the man would take the sword and be done with it.

"Hah! When you get to my age, you'd be rather insane not to want to have someone to talk to... Seriously, that man over there just keeps me inside that stinky barrel while he swindles customers. Doesn't even give me the time of day!"

"That's because you keep driving them away you insolent fool!" The shopkeeper cut in. He was furious at the sword, but he didn't want to drive away his potential customer now.

"Don't mind him. He's just senile." The shopkeeper tried to assuage the look of concern on Johanne's face.

"Very well." Johanne sheathed the sword back into its scabbard despite the protests it gave him. "A hundred… Écu was it?" Placing the pieces in front of the shopkeep, he eyed them with scrutiny. It seemed freshly minted, barely any imperfections in design. It seemed to have been made with much better quality than the usual coins in circulation in his country.

"I guess it could." The shopkeep slid the pieces into a drawer on a nearby desk, alongside the currency in circulation by the Kingdom. He'd have to have these coins appraised later on, but the Mercenary seemed honest.

"With that, our deal is concluded!" He jovially declared. "But no refunds!" He said in conclusion.

Johanne felt content with the purchase. A magic sword was a prized possession regardless of quality when it came to traders. He was sure that the eggheads back aboard the Eternity would be interested in the item if he showed it to them.

With a new spring in his steps, he made his way forth towards the city.

Author's Notes: I apologize for this not being an actual chapter. I felt kind of burned out lately but I felt like I needed to put something out there. I'm still working on rewrites for the other chapters as of the time of this writing. After I'm done with that, we can continue on to actual new chapters. Until then, I'll see you next time. じゃ、またね.