The road to Sabre is long and surprisingly silent. Well, at least as far as the scenery is concerned. Naga absolutely refuses to shut up for more than three minutes, but at least the birds aren't squawking on top of that.
I draw forth the pendant resting under my cape with a sigh. This little number has caused me no end of trouble. After I grabbed it from a random bandit camp, I was approached by a noble lord's son. He demanded I return the pendant, then attacked me when I didn't accept his cheap ass reward. I don't know what he was expecting, though. Five-hundred for a noble's pendant is total chump change!
Especially when said pendant is cursed.
Granted, I haven't been able to figure out what that curse is yet. That's part of the reason I'm heading to Sabre in the first place. I have an inkling what it might be, and if I'm right it makes sense a noble would want it. Of course, conjecture can only get me so far. I think it's time for a field test.
"Hey Naga, stop for a second," I request.
"What is it, Lina?"
With little fanfare, I ask, "Be honest for a second. What exactly is our relationship?"
If I'm expecting her to blush and get flustered, I'm sorely disappointed. "Oohohohoho! Don't tell me you're so absentminded you actually forgot? I am Naga the white serpent, your most peerless rival! A-"
"-Third-rate wannabe sorceress who's also my debt slave. Trust me, I haven't forgotten."
"Grrrr!" Naga seethes. I ignore her in favor of putting on the pendant.
Turning to face her again, I ask, "And again, what exactly is our relationship?"
Naga looks ready to launch into an angry tirade, but she suddenly stops herself. Her eyes light up and she abruptly throws her arms around me. "Oh Lina, you're my best friend in the whole wide world! I couldn't imagine my life without you!"
Her complete one-eighty is surprisingly, to say the least. Still, it more or less confirms my theory on the pendant's curse. Moreover… "Is it bad I prefer you like this? I kinda don't wanna take this off…"
Despite my words, I swiftly remove the pendant. Naga blinks a couple times in confusion, before throwing herself off me. "Ugh! I can't believe I just did that!"
"So you were aware of what was happening? Interesting."
Naga fixes me with an accusatory finger, "Don't think I'm gonna let this slide! You used me as a guinea pig to figure out the curse. That's just cruel, Lina!"
"You're right, sorry," I tell her, stowing the pendant away. "Still, what a disturbing power…"
Naga sobers at my words, "Indeed. Forcibly charming everyone near you…"
We both shudder at the implications, especially when in the hands of nobility. Suddenly Sabre's love of its lord doesn't seem quite so innocent…
"At least now we know why that pretty boy Travis wants it so bad, and why he was willing to pay for our silence."
"Yeah, for five hundred coins…" Naga grumbles, and we share a disgusted shake of our heads. "Either way, I'm not letting you go with a simple apology! You've gotta let me use the pendant too, then we'll be even!"
"Urk!" I stop dead in my tracks, and slowly turn to face Naga. Her expression tells me she's a hundred percent serious, and I can't make a good argument against her. So naturally, I break into a sprint, "Sorry didn't quite catch that anyway gottagettoSabrebyeeeeee~!"
"Ah-get back here, Lina! You're not getting away with this!"
0 0 0
"There it is, the city of Sabre…"
After three days of travel, we emerge from the forest to gaze at our destination. Sabre is a large, industrial city resting in the center of a mountain range. It's filled with large buildings of brick and mortar that are connected through a wide range of winding roads. A real tourist spot, for all that it only has one road leading in and out.
I can't help but wonder if that fact is why we haven't been attacked on the road. Naga and I have hardly tried to hide ourselves, yet we haven't once seen Travis or his band of knights. Maybe they're hoping to catch us in the city?
"So Lina, care to tell me what exactly we're trying to achieve?" Naga asks.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, we can't hope to sell a magic item with a curse like that, and Travis fully intends to take it by force. Why not just chuck the damn thing and call it a day?"
"Excellent question, Naga, but tell me, why are you only asking all this now?" I question.
She swiftly turns red, "...I forgot."
I smack the back of her head, "Idiot. Well, since you're apparently so curious, I'll tell you. I'm here to settle everything."
"Settle everything?" Naga repeats.
"That's right. As you can personally attest, little doggy, I'm not the kind of woman who likes leaving loose ends. If I do just toss the pendant like you say, there's always the chance Travis finds it again, and that thought doesn't sit right with me. So my plan instead is to sneak in and have a nice long chat with the lord of Sabre. I'll make her tell me everything about the pendant, then 'politely convince' her to give up on it and leave us alone. Well, that and give me a pretty ransom for keeping this whole thing quiet."
"I appreciate the clear explanation, but…" Naga trails off, and next thing I know she's grinding her knuckles into my skull, "Quit calling me your dog, dammit!"
"Ow, ow, ow! Mercy! Mercy!" I wail, and she stops. Rubbing my head, I say, "Alright, enough playing around. We need to think of a way to get inside."
"Oohohohoho! You're such a simpleton, Lina! Obviously we'll just fly in."
"Oh yeah, great plan. Not like everyone will see us coming from a mile away. We're trying to be subtle, Naga!" I berate.
"Hmph! I don't hear you offering any ideas."
"Actually, I do have one. Though you're probably not gonna like it," I admit, grimacing fiercely. Naga just raises an eyebrow in question.
Thirty minutes later, the two of us are tenderly holding our capes above the grime covered floor of the sewer. "Ugh! I can't believe we're really doing this!"
"Shut up! I didn't hear you offer any other ideas!" I snap, throwing her earlier line back at her.
"Eeyah! What did I just step in?!" Naga squeals, ignoring me completely.
I wince in sympathy. Trust me, this isn't my idea of a good time, either. The whole reason we're down here is because it's too gross for words. Nobody in their right mind's gonna hang out in the sewer, so its the perfect way to get inside undetected.
Squelch.
…Even if it is totally disgusting.
Thankfully, it doesn't take us much longer to find a ladder leading outside. A fact both of us are grateful for. I go up first, and Naga trails close behind me. The manhole is pretty heavy, but I manage to lift it with a little effort. I take a quick peek to make sure the street is empty, then push it aside. Naga and I swiftly scramble onto the street, then slide the manhole back into place.
After that, we slip into a nearby alley. Neither of us have a disguise on, so we can't walk around in the open willy-nilly. At least our destination is obvious, so we won't risk being in the open for long. The Eudora manor is the biggest building on the southeast edge of town, so Naga and I start to move in that direction.
"Ugh. Lina, I know we're in a hurry, but you can't seriously expect us to go through town like this, right?!" Naga wails.
I turn to berate her, then look her up and down. Despite her best efforts, her boots, cape, and bottoms are stained with sewer grime. After taking a look down, I see I'm not much better. Now, I'm far from a germaphobe, but this is sewer grime, dammit! Just the thought makes me wanna hurl!
"Yeah, maybe our first stop should be a bathhouse…"
0 0 0
"Haaah~ I guess even you can make a good decision every once in a while, Lina."
"Don't forget who's footing the bill here! I could've told them to leave your stripperella outfit a disgusting mess!" I rant, settling into the bath myself.
Luckily for us, finding a bathhouse that doubled as a cleaners was an easy task. Perks of being a tourist spot, I guess. We're doubly lucky we didn't run into any trouble coming in, even if we did use an alias.
Of course, now that I'm in the bath with Naga, I'm forced to contend with her and her stupid, massive, flabby, unfairly proportioned tits!
"Oohohohoho! You're staring quite a bit, Lina. Should I be concerned?" Naga taunts, stretching provocatively.
"You wish!" I bark, before a devilish smirk crosses my features. Turnabout is fair play, after all. "If anything, I should be worried."
"Hah?"
"What if the pendant has some kind of lingering after effect?" I ask, hamming it up on purpose. "Maybe it forces the victim to fall in love with the user? You could jump on me at any time without warning. I mean, who could blame you when you're around all this~" I say, posing.
"Grr! Put a sock in it, Lina! Being in your debt doesn't mean you can do whatever the hell you want!" Naga shouts, lunging for me.
"Naga, you animal~! Control yourself," I tease, dancing out of the way.
Naga lunges forward again, but I'm not able to evade this time and she grabs me from behind. "Come here, you-!"
"U-um, excuse me?" A third voice makes itself known, and the two of us snap to it. One of the bathhouse employees stands at the entrance to the changing rooms, watching us with a bright red face. "I just wanted to say your clothes have finished drying, but I'm sorry for interrupting!" She cries in embarrassment before bolting out the door.
"Great. Look what you've done now, Naga!" I berate, my cheeks a tomato red.
"Me?! This is all your fault for teasing me!" She wails. "That girl thinks that we-"
"Yeah, I know!" I snap, covering my ears. "Geez… let's get out of here already."
Needless to say, changing back into our clothes is an awkward affair. Especially when we pass by that same girl at the front desk. We don't exchange any words, but her red cheeks say more than enough. Damn it all…
We leave the bathhouse to see night has fallen. With any luck, that'll make getting to the Eudora family manor a lot easier. I turn to Naga, trying to be all business, only for both of us to blush and look away. Stupid Naga and her stupid too-big chest!
I stomp away, and Naga noticeably lags behind, which suits me just fine. We lurk through the night-time streets of Sabre in silence. There's a surprising amount of people crowding the streets, but Naga and I are able to blend in thanks to the darkness of night. I guess Sabre has a more thriving nightlife than I expected.
"She isn't out tonight either…"
My ears perk up at these words, spoken by a nearby townsperson.
"I know, it's such a shame. I've been working on a new kind of pastry, and I wanted lady Audrey to try it."
Naga and I share a quizzical glance, and I sidle over to the crowd of people. "Sorry to butt in, but we're new in town. What are you guys talking about?" I ask.
"Hm? Oh, we're talking about the honorable lady Audrey Eudora. She has a habit of visiting the marketplace in the evenings, but she hasn't come by in a while now…"
"So you're saying she used to spend a lot of time here, and then suddenly stopped?" I ask.
"Yep, that pretty much sums it up."
"How long ago was that?"
"I think it's been a little over a month since lady Audrey's been seen outside her manor. Still, it's such a shame. I've really missed talking with her," he says.
Once more, Naga and I exchange inquisitive looks. This is getting even more interesting, to say the least. Naga hasn't shown any lingering affection for me after I took off the pendant, but these townsfolk still possess strong feelings for Audrey. In my mind, that means one of two things. Either extended use of the pendant makes the effects of the curse last longer, or the people of Sabre just genuinely love and respect their lady.
With any luck, I'll find out the answer soon.
Naga and I continue toward the Eudora manor. After a fair bit more walking, it finally comes into sight. I haven't interacted with the nobility a whole lot, so I can admit it's a pretty impressive place. It looks to be three floors, and has a huge garden in front of the three connected buildings that make up the premises.
I take a quick look around before using a levitation spell to scale a nearby building. Settling onto the roof with Naga, the two of us are able to get a better view of the manor, and the guards patrolling it.
"Oohohohoho! Can you believe it Lina? The Eudora family has to know we're coming, and they think such a paltry defense will keep us away? How embarrassing~"
I want to snap at Naga for being a loudmouth, but she's kinda right this time. I count a little over twenty guards surveying the manor. Between my and Naga's magic, we won't have a problem defending ourselves. Even if there turns out to be double the amount of guards I see inside, it won't be too hard to blast a hole in the wall and run away.
"I don't see any magical defenses, so I guess we can just fly in," I observe.
"About time. These nobles have caused us no end of trouble."
"Preaching to the choir, sister. Let's put the stuck-up bastards in their place. Raywing!" With my spell cast, I gracefully take off from the roof. The two of us fly over the buildings below us and close in on the manor. I don't want to stay out in the open too long, so I guide my way toward the closest of the three buildings.
I end up hovering beside a large porcelain window near the roof. Taking a quick peek inside, I see it leads into some kind of attic, or maybe a servants quarters. The dusty bed in the corner could speak to either one. Regardless, I pick the lock and carefully push the window open. Naga slips inside, and I follow before closing the window behind me.
Now that I can have a proper look around, I'd say this room is more attic than servants quarters after all. The whole place is covered in a heavy sheen of dust, and there are multiple wooden crates scattered across the floor. It seems like we're in some kind of storage room.
"Well, Lina, we've made it inside. Do you know where lady Audrey is now?" Naga asks.
The silence that follows is heavy.
"...You have absolutely no clue. Oohohohoho! I can't believe you're this unprepared."
"Oh, shut up! I'm not her freaking stalker, I can't know where she is all the time!"
Naga sighs dramatically, "Oh Lina, you're such a child. I guess we have no choice but to explore the manor room by room."
"Don't try to sound all high and mighty! I didn't hear you offering any ideas back there," I snap, walking toward the latch leading downstairs. I push it downwards, and it rolls out to reveal a rickety staircase leading into a random hall of the manor.
I begin my careful descent downwards, but not before rounding on Naga to say, "Don't forget we're trying to be stealthy. Try not to draw everyone's attention with that god-awful hyena laugh of yours."
"Ah, Lina-!"
I ignore her and continue down the stairs, only to be surprised by another voice.
"I want every possible entrance guarded. One way or another, we'll route out-Lina Inverse!?"
My descent comes to a sudden stop. Standing not even twelve feet in front of me is one Travis Eudora. A pair of what looks to be mercenaries stand behind him. A man to his right and a woman to his left.
And all three look flabbergasted by my sudden appearance.
"Stealthy, huh Lina?" Naga snarks from the top of the stairs. I want to snap something back at her, but swiftly find myself occupied by the trio of unfortunate timing.
"Seize them!"
"Why can't anything just be simple!"