Chapter 56

It was kind of exciting.

I mean, in Orario, sneaking about like this, breaking into someone's home, was a crime of a 'minor fine'. If it was proven you did it, the guild gave you a fine of up to five percent of your Familia's assets. Now, most of the time, that fine was waived since 'getting caught' (and thus being proven you were guilty) meant you got the crap kicked out of you by the 'victim'. In that case, the guild wouldn't get involved. I mean, unless it escalated past that.

So something like this? A bit of break and enter? It was a new thing for me.

The interior of the little home was... odd. In the dark, where my vision went into a near total black and white spectrum, the place seemed normal. But as my eyes adjusted I started to see little differences that you wouldn't notice looking in.

For example, the main street' face of the building? Where the door and front window should be? Bricked up. Not boarded, but actually bricked. Since there were no obvious signs of that on the outside, it meant that after the work was done, they went outside to apply a thin coat of that plain white/brown clay to weatherproof and match all the other homes around it. That was also done inside, but less 'professionally'. But I wouldn't have noticed the work had I just glanced in from the back door's window.

Spotting no danger though, I let Shinkage in, then closed the door behind us, putting the length of wood on the floor in front of it to keep it from swinging open, but not barred in case we wanted to leave quickly. Oh, and if someone tried to open the door while we weren't watching it, the wood would scrape along the floor.

The home had a simple layout. Discounting the front door, it still had a 'mud room', a small dining table, clay stove, tiny kitchen counter next to it, shelves for plates and cups over it. The living room, such as it was, had a single wooden chair by dark fireplace. Behind the fireplace was a narrow staircase leading to the second floor. This kind of 'central fireplace' was a good choice for a home like this, giving the entire place a more even heat in colder months.

"light?" Shinkage asked, very quietly.

Seeing only the one window by the back door, I summoned up that sheet of mana cloth again and covered it. Now without even the starlight coming in from the street, I looked around one last time then summoned a little puff of foxfire, then a second one, which I 'handed' to Shinkage. Like her ability to borrow my foxes, she took control over the foxfire and started walking around the room again.

I met her eyes, then pointed towards the stairs. She nodded, and I started up to the second floor. The stairs were made up of sturdy planks that had been set into the bricks of the building itself, and hardly made any noise as I ascended carefully. The upstairs at first glance was just a simple single room with four beds and nothing else. A shuttered window at either end, the supports and rafters of the roof totally exposed, this was... barren. Or rather, a 'barracks'. A simple place to sleep out of the elements.

I 'hung' my foxfire on the chimney shaft pillar by the stairs, then started my search. Beds, not very clean, stale smelling like old sweat, and... thin hair? Beast-kin of some kind? None of the beds had 'human' hair on them, and one of them had a bit of blood spatter near a corner. Minor wound? No stray cloth around, nothing but dust under the bed frames... Mattresses were just cloth bags filled with straw... oh? Ah, definitely beast-kin of some kind. Four punctures in the mattress from sharp pointed fingernails. Okay... Dorm for some beast folk, didn't wash often, bits of blood on the sheets that weren't in the middle of the beds... Evidence was pointing towards an incognito flop house.

Nothing under the beds, no shelves, no candles... rafters?

Aha. Hidden from immediate view from below, there were some candles laying flat against the crossbeams. More evidence towards a secret safe house. Along another beam I spotted a pair of flint rocks. Was that all though? No obvious gaps in the bricks of the chimney. The walls were plastered smooth. Plank of the windowsi-aha!

The boarded up window, like most simple windows, had a ledge behind it. You know, the best place to put a potted plant or a glass trinket. I had given it a little bit of jostling and it started to slide inwards towards the room. Carefully, I removed the plank. Nothing sprung from the little compartment, except a small startled spider. Jackpot?

Small leather pouch, two rolls of clean (sniff, yeah clean) bandages, more candles... that's it?

Yup, that's it. The pouch contained a small amount of coin, including a single gold piece, and the candles were more of the same that I'd found in the rafters. Nothing special, but this only went to point towards a 'secret hideout'. The other window didn't have a similar compartment, the board locked solidly in place by the bricks of the building itself.

Did I miss anything? No odd lumps in the mattresses... no loose bricks in the chimney... huh... So, I headed back downstairs.

Shinkage stopped gently tapping the bricks of the chimney and waved me over. She knelt down and pointed into the fireplace, and aside from lots of old ash, there were thin bits of charred paper in the corners. Useless now, but again evidence of someone burning paper to hide the contents. I tried to pick up a larger bit of paper, but aside from a small symbol on it, there was nothing useful.

Symbol? It wasn't a letter, not that I could read the words here... oh of course... I facepalmed and said very quietly, "professional doesn't mean literate." I'd been hoping for some kind of document or rolled up scroll or something, but if your agents couldn't read...

"took you long enough to realize that." Shinkage mumbled, "what puzzles me though, is the door being locked from the inside and only having one door."

I perked up. She was right! Only one way in, but locked on the inside... well, someone had to lock it, and be able to leave. A basement? But I hadn't seen any stairs...

Shinkage and I seemed to come to the same conclusion and we both nodded at each other. A moment later we started searching again for some kind of way down. No carpets to hide things under. The floor was cobblestone. There was no door that led under the stairs, or even a hollow sounding wall under the stairs. The kitchen counter was solid...

So where...

"here?"

Shinkage called out quietly from the stairs, and I went over. She motioned to a very faint scrape mark near the bottom, something you could easily pass off as a boot scuff or the like. So, she and I took hold of the planks that made up the steps and started to wiggle them about. And to both our surprise, they slid forward towards us. It was a narrow square shaft of bricks, with a crude wooden board ladder nailed into the wall that led down into darkness.

Aha. Escape tunnel. There was even a small handle on the underside of the step to help close it back up when you entered.

"do we call it in and go exploring?" I asked Shinkage.

"you'll wake everyone up." She replied with a very clear 'it's my nap time too' look.

"well next time we do something like this, we'll just have everyone carry a whole necklace of beads so we can call point to point." I sighed, thinking that yes, that would have been a great idea to start with.

"that said, if the residents come back, we have clearly broken in."

She was right. Chances were that if someone did come back, there would be an 'unfortunate fire' or something.

"have a nap here." I said, "keep watch, and I'll go deliver our door guard."

"if you do not bring me breakfast, I will be very grumpy."

I nodded, "put the plank back on the door. See you in the morning."

Since the streets weren't very well lit, I had almost no trouble getting our somewhat bruised thug almost all the way to Miyu's keep in the middle of the city. It of course got a little harder the closer I got, since the guard patrols were more frequent and there were fewer burned out or missing street lamps.

Once within sight, at the last corner so to speak, before I would have to step into the light, I considered how to deliver the thug to the Manor. I could simply walk up to the gate and say 'here's someone for Aurea'.

But that would be boring. Polite, and safe, with minimal chance of causing some kind of diplomatic incident.

But boring.

The castle itself was built on a raised mound. This made it one of the highest points in the city and gave it a great view of anything that might try and sneak up on it. Except... at the base of that mound was a nice grove of trees. Great for looking good, but to a solo infiltrator (me) it was perfect for hiding.

So, with the poor thug leaning over my shoulder like a passed out drunk, I watched the patrols. Several on the top of the wall, two of them walking along it at regular intervals. Two guards at the Gate. Four patrols of two who walked the base of the castle wall itself... Plenty of shadowy nooks for me to hide in though... Including a spot right here for my nice socks and shoes...

On the ground level guards next pass, I waited just a tiny bit longer and jumped up from the bottom of the forested mound, and onto the ledge at the base of the wall. Then, using one arm, and my two bare feet I used my unbreakable grip to climb up to just below the crenellations on top of the wall. A half second peek over the wall, a count of eight, then a quick flip over the top, three good strides across the wall, then a quick flip over the other side.

Hanging by one hand, I looked left, right, then straight down. Amusingly enough, again, a smart choice against a siege worked out in my favour as a poor choice against an infiltrator. Along the inner wall, at regular intervals, were heavy stone supports. Not only did they look stylish, they reinforced a wall against things like a catapult.

For me however, it just offered me a nice shadowy place to drop down into.

From my little nook, I made sure my prisoner was still alive (yup) and looked at the inner keep. No guards were looking my way, and while there were torches at the top of each of the four corners of the square keep, there were no guards under them.

So, I did a silent run towards the scullery door I'd gone into last time, paused for a moment to make sure my maid outfit was nice and straight, and knocked.

Persia, looking bright eyed and purple tailed opened the door with a curious, "Nyaa?"

"Good morning." I said, doing a one handed maid bow while holding up my poor captive. "He should wake in a few hours."

She blinked at me, then the man I was holding, "Was your search a success then?"

"Possibly. Be sure to thank little Aurea for me." I nudged the sleeping thug forward and he flopped into Persia's arms bonelessly. Using her moment of inattention and the fact I was standing on nice firm cobblestone and not soft dirt, I jumped straight up into the air.

As I latched on to the wall high above her head, I heard, "Nyack? Where..." But then I pushed off the wall, sailed over the outer wall, over the guards heads, and with a little flying squirrel air-brake motion dropped into the nice forested area around the fort's perimeter with only a rustle of leaves to mark my passing.

From there it was only a matter of moments to get my socks and shoes, before I started back towards the Orario merchant's dorm for a couple hours sleep.

Sleep wasn't very restful, but thanks to the Adventurer's constitution, it was really all I needed. Of course, there was a bit of a gap between 'need' and 'want', but we had a mission to do. I made sure to bring a cloth bag of bread, wrapped up cheese, dried meat and a small keg of the cheapest beer with me on my way back to the slums. While I can't deny (but won't admit) I'm a workaholic when there is work to do, I did feel bad for Shinkage, who very much liked to sleep in.

Of course, at first opportunity, I dumped the beer and refilled it with well water. Either of us could boil it, and it wouldn't leave a terrible aftertaste.

"No problems?" I asked Shinkage once the smell of warm bread, melted cheese and meat woke her up from her hidden spot behind the stair case.

"If there (yawn) was, it wasn't enough to wake me up." She grumbled, "How many hundreds of years has it been since I tasted something so simple..."

I kinda wished I wasn't pretending to be a cat-folk, so I could hug her with my tail. "Best I can do without more prep and just my foxfire."

"It is fine." She said, "For now."

"Maybe I'll try and invent pasta night here too?"

"You would have Giselle's support for sure."

We ate in silence for a few minutes, then both perked up as our crystals buzzed.

"Morning check in." Mikoto said.

"Kodori isn't nearly as stealthy as she thinks, but it was amusing to watch." Ryuu said with a quiet fu-fu, "No problems in sight."

"I'm with Shinkage. Found a tunnel that goes under the city." I said, "We'll be peeking down there after breakfast."

"I'm going to look for some leads after what passes for breakfast." Maki said after a moment.

Kaede sounded very quiet, "I'm hunting breakfast now."

"Very well." Mikoto said, "This is a reminder that our caravan leaves tomorrow."

"We're not going to be done by then." Maki said, "Unless we stop acting like civilians."

"The guild knows we are here for a reason." I said, "They should simply ignore our absence from the caravan."

"They know, but the other adventurers do not." Mikoto said.

Shinkage didn't touch her crystal to speak, but said, just to me, "You didn't think of that, did you?"

"nope." I mumbled, then into the crystal, "Keep an eye on the situation for us Mikoto." I said, "I don't want you to have to lie, but do your best."

"Of course." Then when none of use had further comment she said, "Report if anything happens."

"Ah." Ryuu stopped the 'end call' before Mikoto could signal it, "I will move to the capital. If you are going underground, I am not needed here."

"Good idea." I agreed.

"Thanks Ryuu." Maki said, "I'll try not to get into trouble before you get here."

(Kaede)

Despite her young age of about sixteen years, Kaede was no stranger to rough living. She and Momiji had walked the entire distance from their remote Eastern village to Orario. So even though she'd spent the night outside of the small miner's town she woke up bright eyed and poofy tailed.

And hungry. She'd caught some kind of rodent last night before bed, but after cooking it there was hardly anything edible left. That said, she checked her equipment, then dropped down from her comfortable perch in the sturdy tree she'd slept in. As hungry as she was, she needed to make some friends, rather, some specific friends. But for that she needed bribe the locals.

Just like the Warrior Bunnies native to this world, her ears were easily up to the task of finding something bigger than 'rodent' sized in the forest she was in.

The mining town's tavern/inn was a bit ramshackle. It was mostly stone, since this was in fact a mining town and stone was abundant. But it was also next to a garbage pile of half burnt and scrapped wood, making it seem that this was a replacement for the last tavern that was here. Kaede wasn't really curious enough to ask what that was all about, but had noticed that the pile of scrap wood was slowly being used for the smelting furnace that was near the mine itself (far away from the other buildings and houses).

Issues with fire safety aside, the inside of the tavern was mostly clean and had the general atmosphere of 'go away I'm tired and thirsty' about it.

So, just like Aisha had taught her, Kaede strode through the Saloon styled door of the place, ignored everyone but the guy behind the counter, and with a (faked) grunt of effort, flopped bled and cleaned carcass of the boar-shaped thing she'd killed.

And in the same sort of tone her (secret) idol of the Hearthstone Manor, she said, "I'll trade you this for breakfast."

The patrons of the place, mostly human, and the barkeep, also human, gave her a collective raised eyebrow. The beast, even without its guts and blood, must have weighed more than the Warrior Bunny, and she had walked in here from the forest (a reasonable walk to be sure, but still a bit of a hike) and didn't even look winded. Just hungry.

So the barkeep did what any other smart person would do when given such a gift, "No problem lady! I'll get some eggs and sausage going just for you." He put on a thankful smile and with a groan of effort put the beast on his shoulder and carried it into the kitchen, "Hey! Help me hook this thing!" He yelled to the cook.

Of the two youngest members of Astraea's Familia, Kaede was by far the more social. She was more outgoing, more confident, and wasn't afraid to show off a little. This of course is why she admired Aisha so much. Kaede considered Aisha to be almost a paragon of all the things she wanted to be. This mimicry of the Amazon she admired meant she was better prepared for things that still turned her dearest friend Momiji into a hopeless stuttering idiot.

Like men. Momiji wasn't as bad as Haruhime had been, but the last time a man from outside of the Hearthstone Manor had asked them out for dinner, she'd hid behind Kaede and started emitting steam from her ears. She was fine being around men, until they focused on her.

Kaede on the other hand, brushed it off with a shrug and said, "I better take her home before she catches fire." And once she'd gotten Momiji home, hopped back over the Manor's wall and went for dinner.

This is important to know and understand, since right after breakfast, Kaede was approached by three heavily muscled men, one of which had grabbed her tail last night before she'd decided to camp in the forest instead of sleep here at the tavern.

The three men surrounded her table, their arms and shoulders thick with years of heavy work in the mines, while their faces and skin had an almost leathery look from exposure.

"Came back eh?" The one who'd grabbed her growled. He still had a bit of a bruise on his cheek from where Kaede had... discouraged him from doing that.

Without any concern on her face at all (easy enough to do since aside from being very large the three of them weren't armed), Kaede replied with a smile, "Barkeep cooks better than I do." She looked past the three of them and raised her mug of beer in salute to the barkeep.

No stranger to a bar brawl, the barkeep could see one about to start. "Knock if off you three. It's too early in the morning for this rubbish."

"Stay out of it yeh?" One of the others said, "Couldn't handle a bit of a friendly greetin' and she nearly breaks my fren's nose?"

Kaede, also no stranger to a bar fight, or how to provoke one, shrugged her shoulders, "You." She looked the one with the bruised cheek, "Are not the kind of action I'm looking for." She smiled, doing her best to mimic Aisha's 'hungry' smile, "And after I told you so, you still tried to put a hand on me."

"Ya say that." The third one said, "But everyone knows that all ya gotta do to get a Warrior Bunny riled up is to pin her down an' show her who's boss."

At this point, the poor barkeep was giving her a 'please don't wreck the place' look. So, out of respect for a good meal, and to keep up the act, Kaede lowered her hands to her belt, undid it, and wrapped it up around her two sheathed blades.

"Alright. Let's step outside then. I don't mind if people want to watch." She then stood and tossed the bundle towards the barkeep, "I'll be back for that." She took two steps around the trio, paused, then added, "And seconds."

"Yes ma'am." He nodded, tucking the wrapped up weapons under the counter top.

The three thugs followed her out, and the first one hardly waited until she'd cleared the threshold before putting his hand on her shoulder and trying to spin her around. He'd obviously done this kind of thing before, and he was expecting her to try and pull away, or to try and shrug him off.

But instead, she let him pull her, but continued the motion, bringing both hands up to his wrist and pulling him forward. A classic 'when you are pulled, push' technique. With a surprised shout, he was pulled out of the bar and over Kaede's foot. Unbalanced, he flopped to the gravelly street.

The second one didn't bother trying to grab her but instead went for a good old fashioned left hook. This time the Warrior Bunny faded to the side, away from the punch but towards the third man. It was child's play for her to duck under an attempted bear hug and kick him in the rear to push him over the first one, who was just getting to his feet again.

"Hm, seems I'm the one pushing you down. How does that make you feel?" She asked straight faced. "I wouldn't do that." She said to the still standing one.

He was reaching into his boot for a knife, a murderous look in his eyes, "You're the one who tossed your weapons over the counter!" He grinned, "I'm gonna cut your ear and keep you chained to my bed!"

Kaede, while not the most studious, took her job seriously. She knew what he meant by that. A Warrior Bunny with half an ear missing was a common sign that she was a slave. And of course, his words told her exactly what kind of slave he intended to make of her.

So, to keep up appearances, since this lot was no danger to her at all really, she dropped the smile, the friendly 'this is just a barfight' posture, and actually got into a stance. Arms apart, hands open like an eagle's talons, eyes wide and focused, "Last chance. You draw that, and I'm going to put you down. I'm sick of you humans thinking you can own us."

By now, the other two were on their feet again, and the third had drawn his knife. The look on their faces had gone almost feral, with no signs of backing down.

It was about then that one of the six Italica Guards that defended the town from things like bandits or wild animals showed up.

"What's going on! You! Didn't learn your lesson from last night? And you! Thought you left last night! Why'd you even come back?"

Wearing light plate and armed with a sword, shield and spear, the soldier had nothing to fear from some muscle bound miners who had at best three skinning knives between them, and he knew it.

"I came back for breakfast." Kaede said as if being next to a fully armed soldier didn't bother her. "Not like I'm welcome in your big cities, you want to chase me out of this place too?" By now a small crowd had gathered as well, so she continued her little 'rant', "First its the Empire, then its these green men, and now I can't even stay for breakfast?"

Being from Italica, and thus under the more direct employ of Lady Miyu, the soldier at least looked a little sympathetic. So instead of picking on the angry bunny, he turned to the three thugs, "You three, go home, or go to work. Cause trouble again and I'm tossing you in the stockade." Then to Kaede, "Go finish breakfast, but I better not hear any complaints."

"Yeah yeah." Kaede waved it off, but went back into the bar.

It didn't take long for someone to approach her. They were even respectful too, sitting across from her a moment after she'd pushed her plate away, ensuring that Kaede wouldn't be interrupted while eating.

It was hard to describe the one across from her. It wasn't like he was wearing a hood or cloak to cover their features. But he didn't look like any of the other races described in either the book Nanami had given Kodori, or the original group's descriptions of what they'd seen while trying to move the Gate. He looked... ugly.

Not because of scars, or pox, but just kind of... ugly. Like one of the pig nosed Orcs had a child with a pug. Wrinkle faced, weird twisted ears, hair that grew in little patches all over his scalp, a single tusk that jutted from the corner of his puffy lips... But even so, he had the wide shoulders and thick arms of any of the other miners she'd seen.

Not being a jerk, Kaede had no trouble keeping a civil tone, "Something I can help you with?" She took a sip of what ever it was in her mug. Tasted like water as always, but didn't smell like poison at least.

His voice seemed just as off putting as the rest of him, a combination of wheeze and snort, but it was no less clear. "Your talents seem wasted here in this unimportant place."

"Not like I've got anywhere else to go." Kaede shrugged, "What's left of the Empire doesn't want to fight, and the green men won't give me work." She raised her mug to the barkeep again, getting a friendly nod in reply, "Only reason I can eat is because I can hunt." She shrugged, "And the pit boss doesn't want me in the mine. Too distracting he said."

The one across from her snort/wheezed a little laugh, "You have your charms, to be sure." He said, obviously looking at Kaede in her Amazon Armour, but not leering like everyone else she'd met so far. "But those charms could be better put to use."

Keeping up the 'tough' act, Kaede tilted her head just a little and glared, "You better not be-"

"No no." He raised his hands in surrender, "I have work, not entertainment, to offer you." He shrugged, "Though, there will be fighting."

"Entertaining enough." She grinned, "If it gets me a bit of respect, I'm willing to hear you out."

"Can you read?"

Kaede snorted, "Pfft no. Who would teach me?"

He nodded, "I will meet you at your camp tonight." His face contorted into something you might imagine to be a smile, "It is my job to watch for talent. And you seem talented." He replied to her look of surprise.

Unlike most of the conversations she'd had today, that surprise was genuine. She didn't notice anyone near her little camp last night. "I'll go hunt something big enough for two then." She shrugged to hide her surprise.

He nodded, then stood, "Time to start my shift."

(Maki, early morning, right after the call on the crystal)

No stranger to 'making do' with a spot to sleep, Maki had actually left the slums outside the walls of Sadera and headed to the nearest treeline just out of sight of the slums. Sure, she was much stronger, much tougher, and likely more skilled than anyone she was likely to meet, but, old habits died hard, and she simply didn't feel safe unless there was no one around, or she was behind a locked door.

Yes, even in the Manor, there were only four people she could ever share a room with, and her bedroom still had a lock on it.

So, she had slept up in a tree. Holding her short sword in one hand, and hugging it to her chest with the other arm, she'd found the most impossible to climb tree she could, and found a spot to get comfortable. This was of course after finding this worlds equivalent of pine cones and sprinkling them all over around the base of the tree itself.

About the only thing that differed from the last time she'd slept in a tree like that, was that her adventurer ability kept her from feeling stiff after she'd woken up.

After making sure the area around her perch was clear, she climbed down, shook herself off, did a very short version of her usual morning stretching, and headed into the slums again.

Yesterday, she'd did her very best to just... scout around. Look for places to eat, hide, avoid, etc. While doing so, Maki had heard a scant few stories about how the slums used to be. It wasn't hard to guess, considering how bad it was now, but from what little she'd picked up from the locals, the JSDF had really done well here. The 'big five' crime lords of the slums were now the 'slightly over medium sized four' after one of them had tried to kick the JSDF out shortly after they set up a little base near the wall of the city. The JSDF had even said, very politely of course, that they didn't care what the crime lords did, so long as they didn't traffic people.

That's it. A simple, very firm 'no slavery' deal. The crime lords could still deal in drugs, stolen goods, and loan sharking. This had caused a large shift to the next, slightly less abhorrent 'indentured servitude', but at least people weren't walking around with chains around their necks.

But then the other thing happened. Where Zorzal had tried, and failed, to kill the Emperor, and fled the city. The JSDF had saved the day, and in an effort to not only keep his throne, but take the one and only way out of the war that a great many of the nobles wanted him to keep fighting, the Emperor started to openly cooperate with the JSDF.

Now squeezed from both sides, the 'slightly over medium sized four' crime lords were down to 'trying to make a profit two'.

One of the four crime bosses had seen what way the wind was blowing and just left. He packed his bags, sold off what ever he and his remaining loyal thugs couldn't carry, and went to find another place to start an empire. The second had refused to give up slaving, and was killed by his own men when he had said 'lets attack the JSDF and show them who's boss!' After what amounted to a complete and utter annihilation of the first crime boss and his gang, this one's thugs wanted nothing to do with a second go.

So now, the 'trying to make a profit' two, were simply competing in an almost friendly way. The Emperor had been very slowly increasing patrols outside the walls, and the JSDF were protected by their 'killer' reputation. At this pace, it would take years, maybe even decades, to 'absorb' the Slums into the city proper. But until it did, well...

That's what Maki was looking for. A crack in the slowly healing wound that was the 'old version' of the Slums. She was supposed to find someone like who Kaede was pretending to be. This gave her two real options. The fast way, or the smart way.

So, unlike her little scouting mission yesterday, where she had filled in the blanks left by Nanami's report, she showed off just a little. Oh, nothing like Kaede, who was aiming to get everyone's attention, and hope that the right person would step forward. No, Maki was going to look for the wrong kind of attention, and hope it led her to the right person.

So, she walked into the slums, except this time she had moved her simple traveller's cloak aside a little to show off the ruby on the end that was about the size of your standard six sided dice.

She knew all the ways to avoid attention, and had to stop herself more than once from reverting to those ways. So instead of taking the wider streets, instead of walking like she belonged there, instead of looking up and confident... She took the narrower paths, looked a little lost and let her gaze flit about, unsure. The change in posture was the difference between looking like an experienced hunter, and a lost teenager who was looking for something.

And it wasn't long before trouble found her.

The ambush site was basically the perfect place for one. Tatty tents were lined up in uneven rows all around her making visibility poor. The last time a guard even looked in this direction was... maybe never. And to top it off, the JSDF hadn't even done a survey of this area of the Slums.

"Well now..." It was a Volralden, the 'wolf man' race of this world. His low growling voice matched the nearly two metre height perfectly, "What do we have here?"

Maki could hear, even with her ears flat to her skull and hidden in her hair, at least three more standing up from inside the surrounding tents. They might have been thugs, or just very poor and desperate, but the sudden motion around her made it lean more towards 'planned ambush'.

Behind to her left, a cat-folk male. Behind and right, a scruffy little kobold. And directly left of her, a slightly portly but tall Pooka. All four of them were armed, but only the kobold had his curved dagger out.

Maki backed up a half step, just for show, but also to let her look at the four of them for a quick sizing up. None of them were armoured with anything but tough looking cloth and the 'weapon of the day' seemed to be wooden clubs. They were nice clubs, with properly wrapped grips and smoothed out. Perfect for beating someone into submission.

"I don't want... any trouble." Maki said, left hand going to her short sword, then switching with her right, as if she didn't know which way to draw the blade.

"Funny thing that. We don't want any either." The cat-folk said with a chuckle.

"You're going to have to pay a toll. A... no trouble tax. Yes." The pooka said, rubbing a hand over his bald head and horns."

The kobold didn't say anything, but instead started to pass his dagger back and forth between his hands, the hilt making quiet 'paf' noises with each catch.

So, now sure she was in 'enemy territory', and confronted with 'an enemy', Maki had to do one more thing to try and get the right enemy in front of her. So, she backed away from the 'most threatening' little kobold (most people would risk a bruise over a cut after all), then turned and ran.

The only path open to her (without showing off her adventurer ability) was nearest the cat-folk. He was fast, and had his club in hand and ready to strike before Maki could get two steps. But instead of say, drawing her weapon or even throwing a good punch, Maki dropped her shoulder a little and 'ran blindly' into him. They both went down in a tangle of limbs, but Maki was on her feet first, and started running.

The other three laughed, not just because one of their own had gotten careless, but because Maki was running away from the (relative) safety of the more patrolled areas near the city walls.

They wouldn't have been laughing if they knew Maki was doing that on purpose of course. But even so, when 'prey' runs, the 'predator' pursues.

The Volralden growled loudly, halfway between a howl and a roar, and the four of them started to chase after the 'human' girl with the very expensive sword.

Haphazard rows of tents, broken field stone hovels, a burned out log hut, more tents... Maki was purposefully running away from 'safety' and just slow enough that her pursuers might actually catch her. The half howl was an obvious signal, and sure enough there were suddenly people joining the chase. It was a careful balancing act. She had to seem 'obtainable', but also not get tangled up with a surprise encounter. Again, she was tougher than any non-apostle in this world. But enough of a beating and she'd go down.

She spotted a human, club in hand, and moving to intercept her. Instead of changing directions though, she did the same 'drop shoulder' trick, the two of them going down, Maki getting up first, then running some more. Behind her she heard one of her pursuers trip over the man, get up, then join in the chase.

It was about here, that she started to worry. A quick look over her shoulder gave her a count of around a dozen. This was maybe a little too much attention, and exposure. A secret agent who was smart wouldn't get involved at this point. And yes, by this time, the chase had gotten the attention of 'normal people' who peeked out of their tents or the shade of a broken hut, then ducked back in again, wanting no part of what looked to be a very bad ending for Maki.

She changed directions suddenly, making a near ninety degree turn towards what looked like a burned out attempt at a field stone collection of actual houses. Bandits, weather, or bored soldiers could all have contributed to the sad failure the shattered and ruined huts represented, but that wasn't important. An area like that would provide all kinds of solid places to hide.

Except a moment later, that same howl/growl called out from someplace behind her. A signal for more? For them to stop? Maki didn't know, but it was too late to try something else.

Left, right, left again, over a broken wall, through an empty window, right... Each way she turned she saw more people, armed and grinning. Until finally, she slammed her shoulder through one of the few actual doors she'd seen in this ruin.

Click

Maki froze.

"Ahhh, so you know the sound." The voice was to her right, "You've led them on quite a merry chase, but it ends here I'm afraid."

Maki turned slowly to face the voice. It was another Pooka, red skinned and bald with two rubbery looking horn stubs jutting from his forehead. He was sitting in a sturdy looking wicker chair and holding a standard issue 9mm handgun steady in both his hands. He wasn't aiming down the sight, but at this range he wouldn't miss.

It was then Maki realized that not only was this one of the few hovels with a door, it was also one of the few with a roof. The only light in here was from a few candles and some light filtering in from the poorly thatched roof.

"Yes that's it. How do they say it? Hands up. Yes." He continued, "You made a good choice, entering this little home of mine. Solid walls, a door, no windows... But of course, you were meant to."

Intelligence and arrogance. That was what this one sounded like. But the weapons of the JSDF were known by almost everyone in the empire now, and they were feared.

Maki raised her hands, putting them behind her head, but tapping her bracelet, making the communication bead 'ping' the others.

"That's a good girl." The pooka stood, both his hands still around the pistol's grip as he stood up.

Maki pinged her bracelet again, then took a couple of steps backwards, getting her back to the wall, then, she smiled.

"Facing your poor luck head on then?" He took another step closer, one hand coming off the gun and reaching towards her sword.

"Smiling at your poor luck." She replied, pinging a third time.

Then the roof collapsed, a green cloaked comet slamming into the ground just behind the pooka.

NOTES

I am not trapped with you, you are trapped with me.

Anyhow, just a little fun with different views and methods for finding enemy agents. Party on, and see you in five days.

Daeore on Ko-fi for art and to support me if you want.

Daeore on Inkitt (for that book I hope people read, Were Too?)

And now on Discord, aKAQg4bnYu (with all kinds of sorted channels and everything!)

And Azur lane, Kodori (Washington server) 268452286 for my guild there. :) Or even if you're in a guild, be my friend. My friend list is very sad...