See first chapter for disclaimers.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks to Storyseeker for beta-reading this. As usual, if you have any comments or preferences, please don't be shy. RandR. Slight spoilers for the anime.
PREVIOUSLY: Wiseman's Grandon
Trial and Error
Another fantasy world, it seemed. The medieval-looking town and castle were familiar enough from any number of worlds they'd visited. The armored soldiers, the way the average citizens were dressed, the casual talk of magic, and even the signs advertising magical weapons and enchantments all made it clear what sort of place they had landed in.
As had become habit, they checked their clothes against local fashion and realized they might look foreign, but wouldn't attract too much attention. That had been a pain in the past. They would find a place to buy or, if necessary, steal clothes along the way.
Certain facts became clear just from looking around the town they found themselves in. The country allowed slavery. The world had animal human hybrids that most places called demi-humans. The demi-humans likely made up most of the slave population.
Faith put a hand on Xander's shoulder, stopping him from intervening in a 'disciplinary matter' they came across. "I doubt that's why we're here, and we can't solve every problem." She knew Xander hated that kind of abuse, and would have charged in without a thought. She was more than tempted to join in, but what they were seeing was probably legal, and breaking the jerk's fingers would probably interfere with whatever they were actually there to do.
They spent a good part of the day listening and learning, and only occasionally restraining themselves from hurting some bigoted idiot with a foul mouth and ready fist. Eventually, they got an idea about what was happening.
"Monster invasion, sounds like." Xander said as he leaned against the wall of the tavern and thought about what they'd heard. "How about we use some of the loot we've collected to get some magic weapons and gear?"
"Sure. Why not?" Faith shrugged. She'd never really trusted magic, but she knew how effective it could be. Magic weapons, as a concept, seemed pretty cool, so she'd see what she could do with a magic sword.
"Who doesn't love a magic sword?" He grinned, following her thought processes easily. He looked around and pointed toward a blacksmith's shop. "Let's try there."
They entered the shop shortly before sunset to find the proprietor busy with two customers, a dark-haired Asian man in chainmail who seemed to have never heard of combs and a redheaded woman who immediately put Faith's hackles up for some reason. She was gushing over the guy and generally making a spectacle of herself for his benefit. They browsed while eyeing the pair discretely. Red talked her companion, more likely mark, Faith guessed, into buying her some expensive armor and weapons.
After they'd left, the demon hunters approached the bearded man and told him they needed weapons and armor, but had little local currency, which was true enough, but they did have a few valuable items for trade.
"Well, let's see what you've got and I'll see what I can do," the smith said, smiling. Both opened up their packs and pulled out a variety of odd items. Some the smith recognized, others he had never seen before.
"This ought to be worth something," Xander said, placing a diamond on the counter.
"Isn't that the rock you got from that orc?" Faith asked.
"Yep." He saw the smith's puzzled expression. "This monster gave me a diamond in exchange for delivering a note to a friend of his. Called it a rock and laughed like he had cheated me somehow."
"So, not the brightest guy?" The smith chuckled. "Monsters. Go figure." He picked up the stone and examined it critically. "Good quality, worth at least five gold. This alone will buy you some good quality stuff."
Xander suspected it was worth a lot more than that, or the guy wouldn't be so nonchalant about it. "Okay. We'll see what we can find."
The two picked over the surprisingly large selection of well-made gear, and chose things that suited them. Xander chose a short sword made of something called magic steel, which was capable of blocking magical attacks and cutting through some magic barriers. A shirt of light chainmail enchanted to be resistant to magic, and a set of knuckle dusters, again reinforced with magic to triple the force of a blow and protect the hand.
Faith got the knuckle dusters as well and added a flamberge that would, supposedly, cut through most types of unenchanted armor and deal minor fire damage to an opponent, just the thing for vampires. She would have skipped the armor, as she preferred to remain unencumbered and flexible, but she rethought it after the smith showed her a light leather jerkin that, thanks to various enchantments, offered as much protection as Xander's chainmail.
Each added a new knife and a few knickknacks to their standard weapons and protection as well. One could never tell when an opportunity like this would come again. They decided to field test their gear and asked about trouble spots. The smith directed them to a field just south of town. They decided they'd try it first thing in the morning.
OOOOOOOOOO
They settled in the inn's common room for dinner, ordering a simple stew with the proceeds from the sale of a couple of valuable items they'd picked up but had no real use for. They'd gotten some local clothes during their exploration, and no one was looking at them twice. Blending in with the locals was something they'd gotten quite good at.
Making their selections from the menu near the door, they settled in at a table, only noticing then that the redhead and her companion/mark were at the next table. They half listened, hoping to pick up more information.
The two discussed the day's training, and the woman praised her mark to the skies while trying to ply him with wine. He wisely refused, saying he didn't drink, and left for bed soon after the meal was complete.
The demon hunters were finished with dinner, so, they rose and followed his example. Going up the stairs right behind him, Faith wondered if she should say something to him about his companion, but decided it could wait till morning. Judging by the look of him, and the odd set of scratches on the chainmail he wore, the man had had a rough day. Besides, such a warning, coming from a complete stranger, would likely be ignored and only cause friction, and she really had only brief observations of the pair to go on.
From what they could tell, the young man was one of the big noises in the kingdom, some sort of hero or chosen one. He seemed fairly skilled, too. He'd been training in that chainmail, and who wore armor to dinner, Faith wondered. The only mark she saw on it was a set of scratches left by something with really sharp claws. It had barely scored, fortunately. She decided she'd ask in the morning.
She and Xander had quietly agreed to approach the pair about working with them. That would let them keep an eye on the woman if she really was up to no good.
It would wait till morning, though.
OOOOOOOOOO
"What's goin' on, Faith?" Xander came out of the room next to hers.
"Not sure. The Asian guy from the smith's shop just got grabbed by royal guards, and Red is nowhere in sight."
Xander frowned and looked around. "Isn't that her room?" He pointed at the door across the hall. "Check on her maybe?"
Faith nodded and tried the knob. It opened easily to reveal one of the royal guards shoving Red's things into a bag. They watched unnoticed for a moment before Faith stepped into the room with a muttered curse and a look of disgust on her face, and knocked the man senseless.
OOOOOOOOOO
"That's my armor!"
Faith recognized the Asian man's voice as they entered the throne room. He was yelling at a blonde man with a spear. Faith looked at the spear-wielder and recognized the dark-haired man's armor from the day before.
"What's going on here?" Xander muttered. They'd heard the talk coming into the castle, but what little they'd picked up didn't make any sense.
"Something weird. Smells like a setup."
"Show me some damn proof," the accused shouted.
The king and several others looked around as the demon hunters walked in, flanking a guardsman with a black eye.
"Apologies for the interruption," Xander spoke up. "But we may be able to shed some light on this matter." Faith quirked an eye at him. "Don't worry," he said quietly. "I've binge watched Law & Order." Faith rolled her eyes but didn't protest.
"You have evidence to offer?" The king asked, a bit taken by surprise. "Very well."
"My partner here," he gestured to Faith as he approached the puzzled redhead with her pack, "had the room across from yours at the inn. When you didn't respond to the noise in the hall this morning, she got worried and checked your room. That was when we found this specimen," he indicated the injured guard, "in your room, stealing your things."
"I was not stealing!" The guard protested. "I was ordered to retrieve her belongings, as she had left the inn in such a rush."
"When you pack someone else's stuff," Faith cut him off from the place she'd maintained behind the man in case he did something stupid, "do you normally sniff their underwear and put it in a separate bag?"
Multiple eyes swiveled to focus on the suddenly pale and stammering guard. Xander passed Red her pack and a smaller bag. "You might want to wash those," he offered. "Or just burn them."
Red took the bag gingerly, looking like it was the last thing she wanted to touch. She shot a venomous look at the guard who was trying to protest his innocence, rather unconvincingly.
"We'll deal with this later," the king declared, motioning the man to be taken away. Xander turned and addressed the man on the throne, who was looking understandably irritated by the whole affair.
"Your majesty, I appreciate how troubling you find this, and I'll try to be brief, but I would like to clarify a few things, just to be sure everyone has the chain of events straight."
"Very well," the king ground out.
Xander nodded and turned to the wild-haired man with the spears leveled at him. "Can you tell us all what happened last night from your perspective? Only fair to hear him out, and be sure we have all the facts," he said when people started to grumble and protest.
Calming himself with an effort, the dark-haired man told his story amid scoffs and derision. Xander ignored that.
"Alright, then… You say you don't drink, and that you didn't have a drop of wine last night." He looked at Red. "When you went to bed and were attacked. Were you asleep?"
"Yes!" she proclaimed dramatically. "I was terrified when he forced his way in and tried to- to-" She broke off, sobbing dramatically. Faith placed a hand on the accused's shoulder, whispering for him to wait.
"He was drunk?" Xander pushed on.
"Very," she confirmed, wiping her eyes.
"Was he drinking at dinner?"
"Yes. He lied about that just now, obviously. He got very drunk and was leering at me through dinner! I cautioned him about the wine, but he insisted he could handle it."
Xander thought a moment. "When you went to bed, did you put out the candles in your room? Was it dark when you woke up?"
"Yes. Why?"
"So, how could you be sure it was him?"
"I recognized his voice!" She protested, suspecting a trap too late.
"In the dark, woken from a sound sleep, by a man groping you, ripping off your clothes, and talking in a drunken slur? You're sure?" Before she could answer, he moved on. "The thing is, me and Faith were sitting at the table behind you. We heard him tell you that he doesn't drink, and we could see that he was cold sober when he went up to his room." He turned to Faith.
"Hey, Faith. Is he hung over? Any smell of booze? I doubt they gave him a bath before dragging him in here."
She made a show of checking his eyes and breath, much to the man's irritation and the amusement of some of the audience. "Nope. Not drunk, not hung over. No way he'd not be feeling a bender like the one Red described."
"Faith and I both grew up with career drunks," Xander offered. "If she says he hasn't been drinking, he hasn't been drinking. Hard to hide it, and he isn't old enough to have the kind of experience you'd need to even try to hide it."
Now there were murmurs from around the room. People who had been calling for the man's execution suddenly seemed less sure of themselves. The strangers were making entirely too much sense. Two of the three men standing nearby with impressive and probably magical weapons were looking thoughtful. The one with the spear was scowling.
"What about you, Red?" Faith asked. "I recall you saying something about finishing the wine for him. How much did you drink last night?" Red turned away and refused to answer. "That much?" Faith asked mockingly.
"Let her be, Faith. She's not on trial. Though, I have to wonder if slander is a crime here." Xander turned to the man still surrounded by armed soldiers, some of whom were looking less sure of themselves. "You said that your armor was stolen?"
"That's right, obviously by that bastard."
'That bastard' protested. "She gave me this armor as a gift yesterday. It isn't yours."
"When did she give it to you?" Xander asked.
"Yesterday, I just said. Is it important to be down to the minute exact?"
"Not really, if you can't recall." Xander shrugged. "Yesterday's enough." He glanced at Red. "So. You gave him the armor yesterday," he nodded at the spear wielder, "but we saw him wearing it, or a set just like it, last night when he went up to bed. We were right behind him, leaving dinner."
"Hey, sword-guy," Faith called. "Would you check under Spear-guy's right arm? Just below the armpit, toward his back?"
"Eh? Why?"
"There's five scratches there, like something with really sharp claws didn't quite miss him."
"Eh?!" The spear wielder tried to shrug off the other man. "Get off, Ren. There's nothing there."
"Actually," a shorter blonde man with a bow interrupted. "There is. Five claw marks, just like she described."
"I remember that," the accused man said. "Some weird lizard-fox thing jumped us while we were fighting those balloon things and tried to rip her face off." Red flinched at this. "I knocked it away with my shield and it ran off. Must have tagged me, then."
Xander nodded. "It's sounding like things didn't go quite as you said," Xander commented to Red. Imitating the best courtroom manner he had seen on TV, he addressed the room. "Let's see. They go buy some armor and weapons and spend the day training, then go to the inn for dinner. I'm sure the blacksmith remembers who he sold the chainmail to."
Several of the audience started to murmur again, but Xander ignored them. The king was looking impatient and angry for some reason, but he didn't interrupt.
"While at dinner, he doesn't drink any wine and tells her that he doesn't drink. He goes up to bed sober after dinner, at which point Faith and I notice the scratches on his armor." The king still did not interrupt, which Xander saw as a win. "At some point during the night, while he's sleeping, Red here is… maybe… attacked by someone? Gotta say, I'm starting to doubt. She gets away, convinced it was him. She responds to this assault by sneaking down the hall to his room in her ripped-up clothes and swiping his gear, apparently failing to notice that he's asleep in the bed. She takes everything but his clothes and shield, and takes it to Spear-guy here-"
"I have a name."
"-and tells him she was attacked. He spends the rest of the night protecting her, and she gives him the armor as a 'thank you' for his help. First thing in the morning, she comes here and makes her accusation."
He looked around the room, and then turned to Faith and the accused man who had calmed considerably. "Am I missing anything?"
"Be nice to know why they're lyin.'" Faith pointed out.
"Yeah, but I've no clue about that."
"Bet they know." Faith jerked her head at the pair. "How 'bout it, Red? What's with the sloppy frame job?"
"How dare you!? You accuse me of lying?"
"Everyone knows you lied at this point," Faith reasoned. "All that's left is findin' out why."
"Enough!" The king drew attention back to himself, finally losing patience with the strangers' antics. "I have heard enough. Whether by mistake or misdeed, it would appear you were wrongfully accused." The words were ground out with an effort, and he shot a look at Red. "There are more questions to answer, but for now," he almost looked to be in pain as he said it, "the charges are dropped."
OOOOOOOOOO
The guard tasked with bringing in the princess' belongings flinched under the glare of the two church elders.
"You were given a simple task, and you failed miserably. God forgives all, but I am imperfect in that regard." He gestured for the unfortunate guard to precede them out of the castle. "Penance will be required." He glanced at his fellow elder and sighed. "We will simply have to try again."