Weiss, Arc 3: A Narco's Rise

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Chapter 1: Blissful Ignorance

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Brain Unglaus strolled by the carnage with a smirk as he marched forwards. He already took the sips of his magical potions and items, and he was more than prepared with his Katana in hand.

He walked into the cave entrance, narrowing his eyes on the two figures before him. Around them, a choking scent of blood and steel was heavy in the air, mutilated corpses of the Death Brigade's mercenaries scattered everywhere in this tight space.

"Oi oi, it looks like the two of you had a lot of fun."

"Hardly. I don't know if it's because these people are too weak, but they're not filling up the Blood Pool."

One of his opponents replied casually. Brain had no intention of hiding himself; he guessed that his enemies may have expected him; unfortunately, the truth was that his opponents didn't seem to give care in the world about his presence. He was far too beneath them in their eyes.

His foes were two women, one of them was a pale woman in a skimpy white dress, and the other wore a more conservative purple evening dress with frills and all; the latter appeared to be nothing more than a little girl. Above the girl's head was a floating orb of swirling blood, which was pretty blatant for a red flag.

"Don't think I've seen that spell before… are you two magic casters?"

"I am a divine magic caster who venerates the First of the Blood, the Divine Ancestor Cainabel."

The little girl answered smugly with a thin smile; the taller one remained silent and emotionless. It was easy to tell who was the leader and the follower here.

"Cainabel? Never heard of him before. Is he some sort of evil deity?"

"That is correct, but he was defeated by the Supreme Beings. Apparently, he was just a 'weak event boss,' or something. Of course, one would expect nothing less of the Supreme Beings."

The two were speaking gibberish to him. Event boss? Supreme beings? The human Swordsman was too simple-minded to even care; his hand was just itchy for his swords. While the ladies were itching to fulfil their roles. Hence the Swordsman yelled:

"Forget it; I'm ready. I can wait for you if you're not. How about it?"

The shorter girl covered her mouth and laughed at him. She made some comparisons to one of her companions. It starts with "Aur-" something. Some blurry banter was made between the two parties. They both talked about dreams and desires, then disagreed with their outlooks with mutual arrogance.

The girl sent the taller woman to go after the Swordsman…she guessed?

With a swing of his Katana, the taller woman was grazed with a wound. She had her eyes turn into a hypnotic red to charm him, only to get cut once more. The one standing on the sideline was getting frustrated. Finally, with a snap of her fingers, she ordered:

"Eh, tag out."

Too late, Brain lurched forward and swung his blade, creating a crescent flash of light and he sheathed his Katana back. Then, just in a second`s delay, a red gash ripped itself open on the Woman's abdomen, spraying rotten blackish-red blood all over. After that seconds-long display, she fell dead.

"So… Vampires Huh? Fast regeneration, mystic eyes of charming and all that. Seeing how that woman obeyed your whims, a Vampire lord I guess?"

The shorter girl, who in reality was a True Vampire frowned at the Swordsman's words, her concubine servant, a Vampire Bride, lay slumped on the floor in the pool of her blood.

"Hmph, utterly unforgivably pathetic."

Brain steeled his face slightly, and he realized she wasn't referring to him but to her fallen comrade.

"You seemed upset."

"Not really; I would have gotten rid of her myself or given her the ultimate punishment for dying so easily. Now tell me, what is the name of the one who insulted my name and killed that sad little thing."

Shalltear wasn't even looking at Brain, just coldly at the corpse of the Bride. This caused the Swordsman to momentarily bit his tongue before regaining his composure,

"I…I am Brain Unglaus."

To this, the Vampire smiled, and all frustration seemed to melt away as if nothing happened.

As per her pre-programmed behavior, she performed a graceful curtsy to Brain, an act of condescension easily mistaken for elegance. Then, with her cutesy voice, she announced before a drawn blade:

"My name is Shalltear Bloodfallen. And the pleasure will be all mine."

Brain responded with a smirk. He planted a foot back and fixed himself into a sword-drawing stance. It was a pathetic attempt as a trap, from his poise, she can tell he put way too much confidence in that one move.

Smiling back, Shalltear eyed him and playfully asked:

"Are you not going to use martial arts?"

"Hmph, I won't need martial arts for a brat like you,"

After this, the Swordsman stood his ground, not making a move, at least one that was offensive to the lady. Hence, Shalltear felt a slight tinge of insult, but not enough to break her smile.

"Are you done preparing yet?"

Brain said nothing, but his smile was gone, glaring intensely into his opponent`s eyes with killing intent.

"I'm ready to make my move, so if you have any last words, feel free to say them~"

Beat—

Her sharp ears heard the beat of the human`s heart, and she smirked. It was still a normal pulse.

"—Then let the trampling begin."

She strutted towards Brain, past the body of the dead Vampire Bride, with playfulness and without caution.

The moment her sole stepped three steps away from Brain, a divine arc of light flashed before her eyes.

The Swordsman had drawn his blade.

An average human, nay, a level 25 magical beast, wouldn't have seen it coming. It would be either confusion and horror they were feeling or not indifference in dying before they even knew it.

However, Shalltear Bloodfallen merely thought to herself:

"Ah∼ so he was lying about not using Martial Arts, liar liar pants on fire."

She smirked to herself; the sadistic glee on her face widened when she heard his heartbeat again…

Beat-Beat-B-Beat.

The skill that was meant to cut her down in one go, the skill that took years of training to perfect, the skill that wasn't even meant for her, only resulted in the edge of his katana gripped merely by Shalltear`s thumb and forefinger.

The one-upmanship of arrogance was finally over.

"...Im-Impossible…"

He uttered.

"You understand, right? You can't beat me without using martial arts. If you understand, please don't hold back. Shouldn't you go all out now?"

She mocked, her words stabbed into what remained of the Swordsman`s pride, his trade. Then, in his teary verge, he croaked:

"...You damn monster."

Hearing this, Shalltear`s eyes lit up in joy; what Brain said was merely a compliment to her.

So she chided back innocently.

"Is that so? Do you finally understand? I'm a cold, merciless, cruel — and lovable monster."

And she let go of the Katana and played with her food.

The Swordsmen swung his blade again and again; he trained so hard for this, for that one martial art. Only to be deflected by the Vampire`s pinkie covering her mouth to yawn with her freehand.

For every strike that was parried, the Swordsman sobbed harder. His face was redder with tears and snot, as if his sword was the one getting hurt.

"I got bored, so let's end this."

In the blink of an eye, Shalltear swiped her claws at Brain with a lazy swing, blood spraying all over her porcelain cheeks.

A single hand reached for Brain's throat and clamped its fingers and nails into his skin. Then, with a gasp, the Swordsman was slammed onto the ground and let go of his Katana. He began to bawl like a child crying for his mother.

At this sight, a childish rejoice crept onto Shalltear's lips as she pressed her boot onto Brain's back and eyed her prey while covered in his blood.

"I did it! Arisu! My successful first task in this world for my supreme being!"

"But I…I trained so hard..."

"Trained hard? What a pointless statement. I was created strong, so there was no need to train hard in order to become stronger!"

Shalltear interrupted and Brain whimpered harder.

Wait.

The Vampire's smile melted instantly, and clarity took over her bloodlust.

Who was the one who created her as such? Why was she doing this? Who was she even doing this for?

She sobered up as she absentmindedly touched her face, blood strands stretched from her fingers and cheek as she pondered:

…Why hasn't she gone berserk yet?

"Good questions~!"

Someone chirped behind her, causing her to snap her back and turn behind, spooked. If she had a beating heart, it would be her turn to beat harder.

The corpse of her fallen Vampire Bride rose back up as if she was a puppet with its strings pulled. As she rose from the ground, her spine and joints were cracking from rigour mortis. A Cheshire smile spread across her face. Out of nowhere, she pulled a white hood over her head.

Shalltear's vision blurred as she blinked her eyes again. Then, something changed.

She was still in the tunnel, Brain was still whimpering under her boot, and her Vampire Bride still bore red eyes. However, she was no longer wearing her default skimpy dress but a more conservative white vestment with a religious habit of matching color as her headwear. Her skin regained a human pigment, and her hair became short and blonde instead of her long raven one. She wore two stilettos at her sides. A scythe was resting in her elbow while a hand was holding onto a golden ball with six gems grafted into it; two of them had cracked.

Noticing the Vampire's wariness towards her, she jokingly chuckled.

"Be at ease mi nina…"

She pointed up and closed her eyes.

"...according to the proper definition: A scythe (/saɪð/ SYDHE) is an agricultural hand tool for mowing grass or harvesting crops. It is historically used to cut down or reap edible grains before the process of threshing. Sadly many people tend to forget its original purpose. I don't. Oh, I am long out of practice with my stilettos."

She gave the Vampire mixed feelings, feelings that made no sense. She felt motherly, sisterly, sincere, yet sinister, all at the same time.

All of this disturbs her.

"Most importantly, it is against the rules to hurt you. Also, right now, I really want to help you in seeking what you want which made us friends!"

While the Vampire was distracted, Brain regained strength and wriggled free from Shalltear's feet. Running away wildly with his back exposed, Shalltear just watched as he ran.

"Oh, he escaped. Don't worry; we both know we are not here and none of this is real. Well… it was real, sort of."

"Who the hell are you?"

Shalltear glared at the mysterious stranger with hostility, flexing her sharp blood-soaked claws. In response, the stranger grinned back at her playfully.

"Fufu, who am I … is not important. You can call me a Saint if you wish."

"A…Saint?"

"Si, mi nina. Even though I wanted to help you, for I am a saint, it can't go beyond the rules. So I can only give you suggestions based on what you already know or, in your case… what you remembered. And it seems… you remembered a lot. Yorokobe shoujo!"

The Saint clasped her hands together and giggled; the golden ball she held floated beside her. Shalltear grounded her teeth and frowned, but she knew everything she do right now was going to be pointless.

"Why the angry face? My cold, merciless and lovable… well not so much lovable, little monster."

Shalltear said nothing as the Saint strutted towards her; instinctively, she stepped back against the stranger's advances.

"Or is it… that you feel remorse for your deeds."

"I don't remember any of this; I should feel nothing about it."

"You just did, though why you feel this way is something I don't know. Is it because you spent enough time with that resilient old fart hence you gain empathy for those from a similar trade, or that your newfound sentience brought you a moral compass?"

The Saint bent down and studied the still Vampire with curious eyes, then grinned slyly.

"Whatever it was, that little something that made you revisit all this and think: 'Oh my Supreme Being since they are mercenaries, my boss is probably both strong and rich. So, what if I just said hey, I can make you stronger and even pay you AND BOOM,' you got yourself a Martial Artist under your employ! Mission accomplished, and someone achieves his dreams of becoming stronger, a win-win."

Shalltear stares at the Saint, saying nothing; hence, the lady in white continues her monologue while strolling in circles.

"Yet, both of your massive egos, lack of mutual respect, and the sheer complacency to sin unsurprisingly lead to your mutual fuck ups. The Swordsman was scarred to life while you ran around like a headless chicken before losing it all. However, I can't really blame you, as I attribute it to your motherless and later fatherless upbringing."

Then the Saint opened one eye and closed another, turning towards Shalltear with a mischievous peek.

"Oh? You are still here; you should really chase that man. The direction he was running is really where the fun is at. That is where the party, the power and your memory awaits. But, of course, there will always be an entry fee. Nothing is free in this world."

She pointed her scythe at the darkness before them, which Brain ran into. Shalltear remained where she stood, not moving a muscle.

"Oh, don't get the wrong idea, I am one hundred per cent fine with sinners. I just hate when people feel safe doing it unpunished, disrespecting the rules. So I actually want you to walk there."

The Saint put a hand over Shalltear's shoulder and nudged her forward slightly.

"It is just that, when you say:'I was created strong, so there was no need to train hard in order to become stronger', really disappointed Onee-chan here y'know?"

Shalltear cringed as the Saint tightened her grip on her shoulders, nearly tearing her skin off with her nails. On the edge of her eye, she felt the lady in white breathe down her neck with a malicious grin that thinly veiled her rage.

Then she let go of Shalltear`s shoulders and sighed.

"There is, however, always a safe and mediocre route. If you put your heart into it, you can disappear forever and retire in peace as a nameless being. Aside from a few small hiccups along the way, all the crazies in this world will not touch you. It will be hella boring but peaceful if that is what you seek."

"What are you even babbling about?"

The Saint jerked her head, gesturing to whatever was behind Shalltear, causing her to turn back again.

A blinding light causes her to squint her eyes. Compared to the crippling darkness she was accustomed to earlier, this one felt disturbing and unnatural. However, it somewhat and somehow… felt more soothing.

"Sally? S-Sally? Where are you?"

Someone called from that end of the tunnel. Shalltear widened her eyes and pursed her lips.

"Eferdora!"

"Now, now, you don't want her to catch you literally red-handed here, do you? So you better move along and plan your move because that… will always be a possibility, or you can rush to those two bad influences over there."

"What…"

The Vampire turned back to the darkness again and stared into its abyss. This time something changed, standing from where Brain ran to, was a giant silhouette of a giant Skeleton dressed in a black and purple regal royal hood, he gripped a giant golden staff with seven snakes engraved to its top. Inside the jaws of each snake clutched an opulent gem of varying colour. He stared down at Shalltear with two commanding red flames flickering inside his empty socket while a giant red orb glowed with dread under his ribs.

He reached out an alluring hand to order the Vampire to approach him, this gesture emanates authority and power. Something about this man was familiar to her.

Then something disruptive and chaotic can be heard in the corner of her ear. Two large crates that were propped against a wall were toppled over, revealing a secret tunnel from which someone crawled through it. Panting, the newcomer had a sack full of glimmering gold slung across her shoulder and a semi-automatic pistol in one hand.

She was dressed in a black-brimmed hat and a coat of matching color, beige pants, and a simple dark green shirt. Her snow-white hair flickered in a firebrand light as she ducked for cover next to a burning torch; intense flames were reflected on her glasses. She stared at Shalltear with fierce blue eyes and screamed:

"COME ON SHALLY, I GOT THE MONEY AND I HAVE A PLAN! LET'S GO! WE NEED TO GO! NOW!"

"Speaking of the devil." The Saint announced with glee.

This newcomer peeked out of cover and fired a few shots at the Skeleton, ducking back, covered in sweat. Strangely, the shadow reflected by the torch next to her wasn't a defiant outlaw with a gun, but a robed woman with a spiked crown, holding a torch of a firebrand up high above her head in one hand and a book in another.

This one, Shalltear remembered, she was none other than Weiss herself. The absolute bastard.

Shalltear stood still in the heart of the entire chaos that unfolded before her. In the route of darkness and where the "fun" was at, two pairs of eyes stared back at her, a burning blue one and a flickering red one, while Eferdora's concerned voices called from the bright exit behind.

"Now, there is a difference between these two routes; one of them is a one-way route where there is no way back, while the other, you can stay forever but can leave at any time. The One before you will be bountiful but a lonely one, the one behind is of mediocrity but of safety. Now, which way will you go?"

Then the Saint turned towards Shalltear and frowned.

"What?! Are you still here? Is it because you are too scared to move on?"

She snapped at her, but the Vampire said nothing, just stared silently at the maddening mess, shivering slightly.

"Well, it doesn't matter what you do here; everything right here right now is pointless. So let's repurpose this place and test a hypothesis, shall we?"

Snapping her fingers, everything turned black and white.

Both Weiss and her skeletal foe back walked to where they came from. The boxes that were knocked over floated back up to their neatly stacked form while Brain ran with his back facing Shalltear and slid back under her feet… before sliding away… back and unnaturally floating and transfixed back into his sword-drawing stance.

Shalltear found herself clean of blood.

Time was rewinding…

"I'm ready to make my move, so if you have any last words, feel free to say them~"

Shalltear repeated, once again in her bratty tone. However, inside, she felt terror and begged herself to stop.

However, she can't. Her lips moved on their own.

"—Then let the trampling begin."

She stepped into Brain's [field], and an arc of light cut through her.

A nasty yet bloodless gash split open on her palm as she stared into it in horror, and part of her dress, which was given by a supreme being was torn slightly.

"HOW DARE YOU!"

Another slash of light cut her in her face and she let out a screech of pain. Looking down, an unsightly gash yawned itself open on her abdomen. Brain let out a smug smile at his humbled foe.

"You can look down on some people, but not others."

Shalltear Bloodfallen, the monster with the exterior of a little girl… was nothing more than a little girl at this very moment. She began to shiver in fear and whimper out tears to run down her delicate little cheeks.

"Well, time to end this charade. Oh, and I lied, I did use martial arts. But I am saving the best for someone who deserves it."

"I…impossible I was created strong..."

"And I trained for my strength. See the difference between us?"

Brain smugly interrupted her, driving a knife deeper into her wound. Shalltear looked around and realized she was out of her depth. She tried to summon her divine class items, skills or anything she had under her sleeves, but she had nothing.

So, she did the one thing she can do, she grabbed the folds of her dress with her hands, bawled her eyes out, and ran the other side like the little girl she was. Leaving a trail of her tears in her wake.

Behind her, the Saint smiles as she watched the bratty vampire flee. Shalltear ran and ran, while the Saint slowly strolled behind her.

"Shalltear! You shall tear for your own good!" The Saint cried with a face-splitting grin.

Then something suddenly hooked onto her ankle, a gnarly hand that tripped her.

"WHY HAVE YOU KILLED ME? I WAS ONLY DOING MY JOB AND FOLLOWING ORDERS! YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO BE THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE!"

That thing screeched, a rotting corpse of an old lady with a tied-up bun for a haircut was the one who was yanking Shalltear on her leg. She wore a shining white robe with golden threads, probably a magical item. There was a bloody hole in her chest, it was as big as her head and one was able to see the spine, broken ribs and through that hole.

Lumbering out of the shadows were soldiers in white uniforms and hoods with a single eyehole. They also bore religious symbols etched onto them, which had been also mangled and bloodied.

A brigade of shambling corpses crept closer toward her, malice emanating from them. They weren't the mindless zombies the adventurers talked so much about, these things were something else.

"S…STAY AWAY!"

Shalltear kicked herself free of the old lady`s wrathful grasp, and broke into a sprint.

She ran out of the caves and into the dark woods. Twigs and leaves got stuck onto her hair and messed it up.

"You…why have you killed us? Why do you need to kill us? We…did nothing wrong."

Shalltear stopped dead in her tracks and widened her eyes as she realized she was surrounded.

The corpses that encircled her, were adventurers. Some wore gold plates, others wore silver and most wore copper. Like the old lady and soldiers earlier, they were too bloodied and mangled. Some missing a head and others a limb; most have their arms outstretched and reaching out for her.

"...We were just patrolling the place for criminals, why must we die worse than one…"

Shalltear try to twist her body to make a run for it again, but a rusty crossbow bolt nailed her in the chest and pinned her to the ground. Whimpering in fear and pain, she looked up with her wet eyes.

The Culprit was that Junkie she met in the slums that day before. In her hands was the crooked crossbow and a bottle of liquid black dust, the wound on her head was still bleeding.

"...vvvVVAaMPIrE!" She moaned and slurred in rage, still high on the dust.

The hoard of angry corpses now gathered around Shalltear, surrounding her and staring down at her with bloodshot rotten eyes.

"Fufu, so it seems without your racial abilities, powers, and stats, you are nothing. For now, at least."

The Saint joined the corpse, bending down to inspect the crying little girl that was Shalltear Bloodfallen.

"T…this is just a bad dream." She croaked.

"Si, mi nina, for now at least."

The Saint sighed and look up at the moon, clicking her tongue.

"Divine items, Overseer, Nazi, Trample. Tank, Ruler, Undead, Sasuga, Teacher. Ashurbanipal, Idol, Negative energy, Zeta. Suzuki, Actor, Maids, Archdemon."

"W…what…?"

"Oh, just reciting some off-hand words you remembered somewhere in the back of your head. Good job∼you made Onee-chan so proud even if you have barely any idea what they meant!"

The Saint gave Shalltear a head pat with a warm smile on her face.

"Well, I will be on my way now. The next time you meet Onee-Chan here, it will be pretty unceremonious, adios~."

The Saint stood up and disappeared into the crowd, humming to herself cheerfully. Leaving Shalltear to be punished by the vengeful mob of undead.

"Please…someone help me."

No one came, she was all alone in the end and they caught up to her.

The mob trampled her, stomped her in her face, ripped her into a gore of black flesh and purple cloth with their rotten nails as her screams echoed throughout the dark forests.

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…

…

Sally screamed her lungs out as she burst out of the pushed-over closet she used as a bed.

Looking around, she found herself back in the small inn she rented with Eferdora. The said elf was snoring peacefully in her bed next to her.

She stood up in her pyjamas and take a look at her bag of coins which was getting lighter and lighter.

She doesn't need a candle due to her [dark vision] racial ability, but she chose to light one out of preference and to avoid suspicion from others. Truth to be told, due to her racial biology she preferred to rest in the morning and work at night but their current living situation forbade that.

They have a job tomorrow with that other crew.

She sighed as she pulled out a small leatherbound book from her satchel bag, her journal.

Inside, it detailed her thoughts, her memories and her journey ever since her reawakening at that faithful grass field and meeting Weiss.

She wondered, how was she holding up.

It has been a few days since she and Eferdora ran away from the raging scumbag.

Shaking her head off the memories of the Chemist`s rants. She flipped to the most recent pages and her eyes trailed to the most recent sections… About this man known as Brain Unglaus. This curious swordsman who knew lots of her past and triggered a lot of it. Seek him and she may learn more about herself.

Yet something was holding her back, for those memories that she tried so hard to seek, now scares her.

She turned slightly to look at a defenseless Eferdora, who was sleeping blissfully in her pajamas, ignorant to who her partner was.

Was she really such an awful person? What will Eferdora think of her if she knew who she was.

Sally might not have the full picture, but it was already ugly enough.

Fearing to move forward, she can only walk very slowly. Or simply just stay in her comfort zone away from danger.

All this, however, came with a price. To run away from them all and start over somewhere way away from the kingdom was pretty costly, and it was not like they can simply find a legitimate safe business to settle down right away as an ex-slave Elf and a Vampire disguising herself as a human.

So they have to tolerate the shattering of glass, and ravings, sounds of bar fights between Battlefield looters and drunkards outside in this neutral shanty town just The North of the Katze Plains, as well as their dwindling finances. The only thing that Sally and her partner can comfort themselves with was that this was merely temporary, for now at least.

She tells herself, hopefully by a few weeks they can finally move to the Empire or even the Theocracy to settle down and disappear. Even though 'as what' and 'how to' were questions that stuck to her rotten unliving brain like a tumour, questions that they don't have the energy or don't want to answer right now.

So as amateurs in life, they both thought, let's live in this confusing moment and make the best out of it.

…

Morning strikes as the duo have long left their room, they both head to a rickety round table to wait. In the morning this inn was pretty barren, but there were still two or five guests a table away. Outside was all dust, dry weed and sand where their mules were hitched. Small plumes of sand constantly get blown by the wind.

This place had barely no normal folk or adventurers to gather, for it was no adventurer guild or tavern, after all, a poor imitation, daresay. It was their equivalent, but for battlefield looters, petty mercenaries and the sad social class both Sally and Eferdora found themselves in: workers.

Adventurers, Workers and Mercenaries, were all hired swords. Adventurers were respected and protected by society, they also followed a few rules. Workers were not respected and unprotected, they followed no rules. Mercenaries were the same as workers, it was just that they were prosecuted and treated as criminals while the former lived in the grey area, tolerated by most civilized nations. As much as Adventurers like to deny it, there were little differences between the three, all were different shades of mercenaries in a pecking order in the end. All one way or another, did what they did for personal reasons and gold.

Sally and Eferdora knew they were trapped in the middle and will suffer more than a typical adventurer. Unfortunately, they were still on the blacklist all thanks to Weiss.

The disguised Vampire sighed behind the scarf and white-brimmed florist hat that concealed most of her face, as well as to protect herself from the dust. Eferdora watched anxiously around her surrounding with a mug of cheap ginger water.

The rough-looking innkeeper spat on the counter and wiped it with a cloth. Sunlight and dust leaked from the poorly planked, unpainted walls. Some crooked nails can be seen sticking out of uneven furniture. This place was falling apart, fitting for temporary lodging.

Hopefully, Sally thought, it would be just like their current predicament.

"Eferdora you have been awfully quiet, you doing fine?"

"Y-yea, it was just that things feel different."

"Things always feel different for the both of us recently, for me especially. As far as I am concerned, that night where Weiss found me and then I found you was where my life began. Ever since that night it had been one mess to another different mess."

"I…I agree that hopefully after this things will get better for a change and we can put all this behind us."

"I don't know..."

"Sally-san?"

"About change, I mean, things felt strange. Workers are supposed to earn high rewards for high risk from what I heard. Yet both of us have been doing low-risk jobs like herb gathering, cheap medicine escorts and other stuff. Now? We been earning worse than the lowest copper plate."

"Oh…"

Eferdora sulked, Sally immediately felt bad at this sight.

"Sorry, it wasn't your fault, I just had bad nights recently."

"Are you… still thinking about that Brain person?"

"No, don't plan on seeing him anytime soon."

"Is there anything wrong Sally-san?"

"No, is there?"

"It is just that you been frowning whenever he got mentioned."

"I did? I didn't notice. Well, he is just one of the many things in the whole long list of things we need to worry about. Let's just focus on what matters to us right now. Heard the Empire and Theocracy is a better place than the Kingdom, we could move there."

"Uh Sally-san? The Theocracy hates Elves. My country is still at war with them."

"Oh, then scratch that, sorry Eferdora. I forgot about that, like always, I never liked to think much about these things."

"It's ok Sally-san, Neither do I…"

Eferdora gave Sally a warm smile and she returned the favour. The two finally got the freedom to plan whatever they want to do, but at the same time despite having both freedom and literally a map, they also felt lost.

Some part deep within them, they wished they had someone near them yelling "I have a plan!" Sally and Eferdora realised not everyone wished or was capable of filling those shoes. So it pains the amnesiac to wear the shoes of the one having a plan ever since they picked this occupation at a whim and this was their first "big one".

The double doors open with a soft yet deafening creak, murmurs from the few remaining patrons hushed as they reared their eyes to the doors; the Innkeeper glared at his newcomers with hostility, Sally pull the brim of her hat down slowly to cover her eyes while Eferdora took a huge gulp of her ginger water.

Everyone in this inn was armed, be it a sword or club, or an axe underneath the innkeeper's counter. For Sally and Eferdora, their revolvers holstered at their waist, ready to be used for a potential alteration that was way too common in a place like this, even if Sally knew her timid partner would possibly crumble before a ruffian.

Four newcomers cast their shadow upon the seedy patrons of this inn, the shortest one amongst them approached Sally and tapped her on the shoulders.

"Do you happen to be Sally and Eferdora?"

"Yea, why?"

"Then uh… I take it that you are our partners?"

"They are!"

The gruff angry voice of the innkeeper yelled at them, a bald man who wore a dirty apron with a bushy grey eyebrow and mustache by the name of Nutel La. Part innkeeper, part info broker and fixer for workers and mercenaries. A man not very patient and hospitable but it seems he earned more whispering to petty mercenaries and workers rather than providing smiles and stellar service. Another thing Sally and Eferdora needed to bear with for people like Nutel La were rare to find.

Fortunately, their partners weren't the brutish thugs they encountered most of the time in the worker trade.

A young mage girl with short blond hair, an armored man with religious symbols, a young man dressed in light armour equipped with two swords and a purple-haired elven lady armed with a bow, she was the second elf Sally encountered as far as she can remember and something about her was different than Eferdora.

At least all four of them seem friendly.

The mage reached out a hand to the duo.

"My name is Arche, nice to meet you."

"Likewise."

Sally took Arche's offer, and their hands joined.

…

End

…

Shalltear's current influences

Weiss - 10

Eferdora - 15

Nazarick - 0

Each Person/Organization represented something important to the Vampire in the future.