Right off the bat , I must apologize for the lateness of this chapter , I was going to have it published sooner but ...some unexpected developments came up and I found editing during this past week to be somewhat difficult both in motivation and time. So sorry that this chapter came out pretty late.
Now I'm also sorry to say that things will not be getting quicker in these coming weeks , because my semester is starting up again and I cannot promise consistent updates during that time. I'll still update as frequently as I can but expect things to be slow from here on out in terms of updates.
Alright now enough talking about my incompetence , let's talk about this chapter !
:P
Now originally this was actually going to either just be a Ren and Itsuki chapter or an exclusively Malty chapter...but after some discussion , I realized that I didn't have nearly enough material to do either hence why I merged them all together. Hope you all enjoy !
:)
Big thanks to Qinlongfei for beta reading this chapter and providing important feedback and critic.
With that said , let's get this chapter started !
Chapter 13 : Into the Wolves Den
Contrary to what many people thought about his quirk back in his original world, having Minor Aim Correction didn't mean that he was a super marksman or sniper that could hit somebody from ten klicks away. Having a power that makes you more accurate doesn't automatically mean you are suddenly a god with long range weapons unless you had one of those cheat ultra accuracy quirks he had heard about that lets you hit your target no matter where you shoot . If you didn't actually know how to use said weapons than your power is completely pointless, especially if you had a power like his.
Like with a sniper rifle , it wasn't as simple as just aiming and shooting at your target. You had to account for the gravitational bullet drop, horizontal influence of the wind , weapon recoil , weapon stability , aiming your shot ...
And most importantly controlling your breathing when you finally fired.
" Sir Itsuki ! On your left ! " He heard his party member Armina yell out to him. And he turned just in time to see a black wolf charge at him with murderous eyes.
He didn't even flinch as he backpedaled and pulled back the string of his bow, breathed in and took aim-
Itsuki was glad that his training was still useful even in a literal isekai world.
He breathed out . And a single shot to the head was enough to end the wolf's life, tumbling onto the grass with blood starting to come out of its wound.
" Great work Sir Itsuki ! To be expected of a Cardinal Hero !" His party member Mald complimented him , but he only gave a simple nod in return.
Itsuki let out a breath as he sheathed the bow on his back " I think that's all of them. Let's head back to the guild to report "
The quest they had accepted was as easy and straightforward as can be. A pack of wolves had been encroaching on some farmers land and they collectively joined their money together to register a quest at the guild.
Of course Itsuki had accepted, what kind of hero would he be if he didn't help out those in need ?
The walk back to the capital was quick for the most part but Itsuki couldn't help but take in the sights from time to time. In case he ever needed to make a quick getaway or something.
When he had first been summoned , Itsuki thought that this was going to be your usual standard isekai deal , go on adventure , save the world , get paid at the end and go home...
But then Naofumi almost got framed for rape ...and it became abundantly clear to Itsuki that there was more going on behind the scenes than he originally thought. The king was acting suspicious during the trial ...and there was something strangely off about Mein too , but he couldn't quite put his finger on it so he kept it to himself for now.
Of course , he couldn't openly discuss any of this with his party members ...they were hand selected by the King himself and they could very well be acting as spies to keep tabs on the heroes. But he couldn't just discard them either , he needed frontline fighters to handle the melee aspect of their party and he didn't want to waste money hiring mercenaries who would probably cut and run the second the going got tough.
He would have to investigate where their true loyalties are later. Right now he had to strengthen his weapons, rise in levels and prepare for the wave.
They finally arrived back at the guild , which was still as bustling as ever with the many different kinds of adventurers going about their daily business. Itsuki was still kinda amazed at how similar this world could be to Dimension Wave. It was like being in one of those shitty isekai stories ...only here Itsuki doesn't have mountains of cheat plot armor to help save this world.
Itsuki walks up to the receptionist , who he recalls name is Maria " The quest is finished "
" Thank you for your hard work Sir Itsuki ! " Maria gives him a happy smile as he hands him his reward for the guild. He returns the sentiment , Maria seemed like one of the more experienced receptionists. And it wouldn't bode well to have a poor relationship with the person who supports you during quests , even if it's from behind a desk.
" No problem , thanks Maria " Itsuki accepted the reward and walked away with his party.
" So what's next Itsuki ?" Armina asks as she leans her spear over her shoulder.
" Hey ! Speak with respect commoner ! That's a Cardinal Hero you're talking to ! " Mald scolds Armina. And Itsuki rolls his eyes , while the would be knight may have the size of a heavyweight fighter ...
Itsuki could tell from a mile away that he was a kiss ass through and through. From the way he was constantly praising Itsuki at every turn and how he swung his sword with the grace of a drunk lumberjack and never once acted like a proper tank for the party ...it was clear that Mald was all bark and no bite . He didn't even have to do any research to figure that shit out.
" Its fine Mald ...you can just call me Itsuki , Sir Itsuki just sounds way too formal " He corrected as he felt his stomach grumble " For now , let's get some lunch all that monster slaying made me hungry "
No disagreements were heard as they sat down and ordered some food.
As they waited for their food though ...Itsuki's eyes couldn't help but wander to the other adventurers in the guild. One that caught his eye was a man that was dressed cheap leather armor under several metal plates that looked just as cheap. A full face helmet covering his head and face. With his back facing them as he stood by the guild quest board.
He had actually noticed this adventurer a couple of times , upon first glance he almost looked like a rookie ...but he had the feel and aura of a veteran and experienced adventurer.
" Hey guys , who's that guy ? " Itsuki asks as he gestures toward the man.
" Oh him ? That's Beast Slayer or just Slayer if you prefer " Armina explained.
" Beast Slayer ? "
" He's one of the silver ranked of the guild ...or so I've heard " Armina shrugged " He got his name from only ever hunting demi-human or beastmen bandits. He never goes after anything else "
Demi-human or beastman bandits ...
Itsuki had already taken notice a while ago that this world had another race of people that had animal features or were full on talking animals themselves. He's pretty sure that in D&D those people were called padfoots or something , but it seemed like here they were called demi-humans or beastmen.
" He looks more like a dirty bum than a silver rank " Mald sneers from a distance at the man " Though if he's hunting those animals than I guess he's more experienced than he looks..."
" I imagine he's had his work cut out for him in the north " Welst commented with his usual emotionless tone.
" The north ? What's going on in the north ? " Itsuki asked once again.
" Lots and lots of bandits I'm afraid. Ever since the waves have started going on bandit raids and attacks have started to become a lot more frequent in the north than down south here " Armina explained " I even heard that the Hound Lord has become much more bold in preying on the northern lords and merchants that pass through there "
" Hound Lord ? "
" A demi bandit lord from what I've heard. The current leader of one of the biggest and organized bandit groups up north " Welst cuts in to explain " I actually heard they used to be a gang of petty thieves like every other bandit group but grew in size after the waves started . I even heard a rumor that he and some of his men uses black magic , but they are all just rumors ..."
Black magic ? Bandits ?
Too many questions at once.
" Why hasn't the King done anything about them ? "
"If we'd have the knights to spare, that son of bitch would have been dead by tomorrow " Mald crosses his arms in front of his chest plate, his mustache above his mouth twitches with the way he spits out the words. "But no, all sorts of animals and undesirables crawl out of the woodwork and rock they've been hiding when our knights and army are busy defending the cities and Lord's keeps. And them damned northern lords and sellswords they hired are too incompetent to deal with a gang of filthy bandits. Useless fools, the lot of them..."
" I'm sure our northern lords are doing everything they can Mald..." Armina chimed in.
" If that was true than this problem would have been dealt with already " Mald shot back " I swear it is because of incompetent naive fools like Reichnott that allow those filthy animals to live in the north that this problem has grown out of proportion"
Armina shot Mald a dirty look , but otherwise nobody rose to argue with him.
So the King and army are too tied up to deal with this bandit group , huh ? And the northern lords clearly can't handle a bandit threat this big...
Itsuki thought about all their information...and made a decision.
After this next wave was finished , he was going to need to pay this 'Hound Lord ' a visit.
Ren's POV
Ren hacked through the dragon bees that annoyingly buzzed at him when they attacked. Some of the mobs he encountered were very similar or even straight up alike some of the monsters he fought in Brave Star Online. While others were a bit different or were not familiar to him. It would seem that his video game knowledge wouldn't be consistently helpful here.
But he never would have thought all the hours he poured into playing Brave Star Online would actually help him adjust when he gets summoned to a literal isekai world like in one of those old timey shitty light novels.
" Crimson Blade ! " Ren easily slashed through the remaining mobs with his fire skill " Thunderbolt Slash ! "
With that last thunder skill , the last of the mobs were completely decimated and fortunately none of the grass seemed to have caught on fire.
He received the EXP bonus showing that he's already reached level 32.
Still not enough...
He had been grinding hard since day 1 they were summoned to this world that very oddly resembled Brave Star Online. He had spent much of his time grinding alone in the forest. Though things had become increasingly slow since it was getting harder to find mobs that were appropriate for his level and could provide good exp gains for him to level up. He would have to start travelling farther from the capital in order to hunt bigger and tougher monsters to level up and gain better swords and materials.
He takes a quick look at the grassy plains around him and feels the cool breeze brush against his face.
He had sent his party members away to grind by themselves. Though he had noticed that Farrie , the green haired fighter of his party looked less than happy about it and from the looks of it , the rest of his party shared the sentiment. Only Bakta , the older and much more experienced adventurer seemed to be a bit more understanding about it.
Ren hated to admit it ...but they were right.
Contrary to what they may believe...he isn't some wannabe Kirito edgelord who thinks he can do everything on his own. He is aware that he needs to start working with his party more if he wants to survive the wave that's coming . He could only do so much on his own...
But he just wants to be alone sometimes. They wouldn't mind right ?
Ren took a quick look at his status screen . His stats were decent enough. Agility was his best stat , right next to attack and going down from there. Ren briefly wondered whether all the heroes had some specialized stat and some worst stat. He already knew that Naofumi had the worst attack and the best defense but what about the others ?
He'll have to figure that out later.
Now though he begins his walk back to the capital to meet up with his party members. They had always agreed to meet up at a certain time after they finished grinding. He had received notifications every time they killed a monster through his status magic , so he could tell they had been hard at work grinding levels. They were just a little bit behind him in terms of levels alone.
It didn't take him long to make it back to the capital with the knights on duty giving him a short bow as he walked past them. And even while he was just walking the streets of castletown...he did take notice of the few people who turned their heads at him or were just totally staring at him in bewilderment or awe.
Ren wonders if there is a way to hide his identity , he would rather not be in the spotlight or more specifically have people stare at him when he's just walking. It makes him remember that there were a few variations of 'swords' in Brave Star Online that could make him look less conspicuous. He recalls they were named the 'mimic' series in which they looked more everyday items than actual weapons.
" Sir Ren ! Over here ! " A loud voice calls out to him and he turns to see Bakta wave over to him and walk over.
He'll have to think about it later he supposes.
" Bakta..." Ren gives a nod of acknowledgement as he approaches his party " How did grinding go ? "
Bakta was undoubtedly the oldest of the party , being around maybe his mid-thirties or so. Which was why Ren usually left him in charge of leading the others when they went on their individual grinding sessions. He seemed trustworthy enough.
It did feel somewhat odd to give orders to someone much older but ...he was the supposed 'Party Leader' so he guesses it's fine.
" Went quite well. Everybody was able to work together to take down the monsters we faced " Bakta said with a shrug.
" That's good ..." Ren nodded.
" So ...where to next Sir Ren ? " Welt asked.
" Well we're pretty much done with grinding for the day ...but there was one other place I wanted to visit before that " Ren gave his party a look " Is there an Hourglass or something in this city ? Something that can be used to tell when the waves were coming ? "
" As a matter of fact ...there is " Bakta , seemingly amazed at the accuracy of Ren's video game knowledge " It is called the Dragon Hourglass in our world and it is typically used to tell when the waves would come "
" I see...can you take me to it ? " Ren said. There was something he needed to take from the Hourglass.
" Of course Sir Ren , its located at the Three Heroes Church cathedral , we'll lead the way " Bakta said as he took point.
The Three Heroes Church huh ? So only one of the heroes is excluded then.
That certainly wasn't part of his game knowledge. Not like everything here was exactly the same.
Ren followed Bakta all the way to a very beautiful and grand cathedral with its sheer size doing justice to its equally grand exterior. Walking up the clearly cleaned steps to the cathedral , Ren briefly took the time to glance up at the crest that was situated at the top of the cathedral.
It seemed to be a cross of a sword , bow and spear. The shield was excluded from it.
Interesting...so the Shield Hero isn't popular here ?
Ren didn't have much time to think about it as Bakta walked inside and he hurried his step a little to keep up with him. And Ren was amazed by how ...oddly serene and calm the entire cathedral was. The hallways were pleasantly lit with candles and the scent alone had this strange comforting aroma to it.
Ren wasn't sure whether to be put on guard or relaxed honestly.
As they walked the Sword Hero noticed several of the nuns and priests turned their heads to stare at him in amazement and awe. Others seemed to be bowing their heads to him reverence of some kind. Ren wasn't sure. Religious stuff wasn't his forte.
Eventually they were approached by a nun of some kind , wearing glasses and white robes. She had a passive , neutral look on her face.
" Can we help you Sir Ren ? " The nun asked.
" Yes , I've come to see the Dragon Hourglass " Ren quickly said " May I see it ? "
" Of course , Sir Ren, all the heroes are allowed to be visit the Dragon Hourglass as they see fit " The nun gives a short bow of her head to him " I am Sister Amelia by the way "
Ren gives a short nod of appreciation as he and his party follow this sister all the way to the Dragon Hourglass. As they pass through a few corners and turns , Ren is guided towards a room where the Hourglass was.
Upon first seeing it , Ren thought that it certainly lived up to its name. It was basically a very big ornate Hourglass and he could see the sand slowly dribbling down to the bottom.
" This is the Dragon Hourglass Sir Ren ...have you come to check how long until the wave is to come ? " Sister Amelia asked as they stopped in front of the Hourglass .
Ren was trying to figure out how to explain that he just came to collect some sand from the Hourglass to unlock the portal skill for his sword. It was an extremely useful ability to have and it was basically fast travel but in skill version.
" I um-"
" Now what do we owe the pleasure of having the Sword Hero come to our cathedral ? "
Another voice cuts into their conversation and Ren turns to see an elderly man dressed in ornate white robes with gold trimmings here and there. Wearing one of those hat things he's seen the Pope back in his world wear.
" Your holiness !" Sister Amelia and some of the other sisters bow their heads in respect to the man who had just appeared.
" At ease sisters ...I have just come to see what our guest is doing here " The man turns to Ren and gives him a grandfatherly smile " Welcome to the Three Heroes Church Sir Ren "
" Who are you ? " Ren asked , sounding a little rude to the man who had just shown up.
The man however was undisturbed by it and just kept smiling " My apologies , I neglected to introduce myself : I am Biscas.T Balmus and I am the Pope of the Three Heroes Church "
The Pope ? So basically the leader then.
" I've ...come to take some of the Hourglass sand " Ren tries to explain and was immediately given some strange looks from the nuns around him " It is to-"
" Unlock the portal skill that the Legendary Weapons possess , am I correct ? " The Pope finishes for him with a smile.
" Uh ...yes actually " Ren says surprised that the Pope knows that " If I could have some , that would be appreciated "
" Of course , we always keep some in storage in cases like these " The Pope turned to one of the nuns " Please go fetch the Sword Hero the sand we keep in the vault "
" Yes , your holiness " The nuns bow before running off to go get the item.
In that time however , Ren was bothered by a question that was repeating in his head.
" How did you know about the portal skill ? " Ren asked , giving the holy man a strange look. He hadn't expected for someone to actually know the skill he's talking about.
" The portal skill is actually a very well-known skill that all the heroes throughout our history seem to possess " The Pope calmly explains " My old friend , the King even has that very same skill as well "
So pretty all the others heroes have had this skill to ? I guess it would be expected that we wouldn't be the first to have discovered this skill.
Wait a second , friend ?
" What do you mean the King has the portal skill too ? " Ren raises an eyebrow " How could that be ? "
" I suppose nobody gave you heroes a history lesson about how the world of Medea worked " The Pope mused before explaining " Besides the Four Cardinal Heroes , there are also the Seven Star Weapons. They are regarded as subordinates to the Legendary Weapons and are considered to have less potential power than a Legendary Weapon user. The main difference that separates the Seven Star and Legendary Weapons is that the Seven Star Weapons can also choose natives of Medea to wield them "
" And the King is one of them ? " Ren put the pieces together.
" Yes , the Staff Hero as a matter of fact " The Pope nodded " He got the title of the 'Wise Sage King' after helping Melromarc win its independence back from the Siltvelt invasion "
Invasion ? There was a war before we were summoned ?
"Your holiness , the sand ..." The nun the Pope sent away suddenly returned and with her she carried a small bag that likely contained the sand he wanted.
" We can continue this another time , but for now ..." The Pope took the sand and handed to Ren " I believe you requested this "
" Thank you ..." Ren nodded in appreciation before opening the bag slightly and pouring some sand into his sword's blue gem.
Dragon Hourglass Sword ( Locked )
Requirement : Level 50
You have got to be kidding me...
Of course , there was a level requirement. There were a couple of swords that Ren had copied from the blacksmith that had a level requirement of some kind. In Brave Star Online there wasn't any level requirement to use the portal skill ...but it seems that didn't carry over to here.
" Is there a problem Sir Ren ? " The Pope asked.
" Nothing its just ...there's a level requirement of 50 for me to use the portal skill " Ren shrugged as he stored the remaining sand away in his sword " Still better to unlock it now than have to come back here later "
" Well if you need anything else Sir Ren...please let us know " The Pope gave him a smile as he and his party left the cathedral.
Mein's POV
Mein takes a breath of fresh air as she feels a nice breeze blow up against her face, albeit it is covered by the black veil as she overlooks the streets of Melromarc from the rooftops of one of the buildings. The streets bustling with several people going about their daily lives. Seeing several stall owners trying to pander and sell of their merchandise ...but those aren't the targets she's looking for , no...
She's looking for two very frustrating brats who ran away from them and is now making them waste precious time looking for them.
She uses her Far Vision skill to hone in on potential figures who could be the brats she's looking for and yet ...she finds nothing. She spots a few demi-children with their parents hiding away in the alleyways and spaces between buildings , doing their best to avoid the knights stationed around the city. She focuses on some of them for a while but none of them have the same animal features of the two rogue slaves she's looking for.
After spending a few more minutes watching the streets , she eventually gives up and starts climbing down from the rooftop to meet with Naofumi and the knight who is waiting for her at the bottom.
" Anything Mein ? "Naofumi asks as she starts climbing down.
" Nothing Naofumi ..." Mein gave a slow shake of her head as she jumped down from a safe distance and back down into the alley.
The Shield Hero let out an irritated sigh as he puts his fingers to his forehead to massage a growing headache. And Mein honestly shares the sentiment , though not quite for the same reason.
They had wasted a grand total of four whole days looking for the two brats who had run away. Naofumi and his bleeding heart couldn't stand the thought of two brats being lost out there , even if they had left a less than kind note for them when they ran away. So the three of them had been looking up and down the capital for the two lost brats in hopes of convincing them to come back.
It had gotten even worse when their status disappeared from their view entirely a day ago , which made Naofumi panic even more. It likely meant that the two brats had figured out a way to get their seals off at last. Which only served to send the Shield Hero into a searching spiral.
Ake had directed them to ask around some of the local shops and restaurants to see if any of them had ever spotted any demi-human kids walking around ... or rummaging through the garbage looking for something edible to eat. But most turned them away or gave very vague answers that provided little to no actual help in their search of them.
So in conclusion ...they had wasted time , energy and some money since some of the restaurants required a bribe to get talking.
Mein hopes that those two brats stay lost , they were nothing more than deadweight to the party anyways. Especially since they had lost important preparation time for the wave with their little runaway forcing Naofumi and the rest of them to go looking for them.
" Still no sign of them ..." Naofumi slammed his fist against the alley wall " Damnit ! "
Mein let out a sigh as she pulls down her veil and hood. She was this close to telling Naofumi they should just abandon searching for the two brats and get on with preparing for the wave. Outsider knows they have already wasted enough time on this pointless search looking for two runaway slaves when they could have been growing stronger for the waves. But she knows she can't do that , lest she lose even more ground on the Shield Hero.
Instead she gently puts her hand on his shoulder " Maybe we should rest for today , its almost evening anyway ..."
Naofumi looks conflicted for a moment before nodding " ...Okay " It was clear that he wanted to continue searching but saw the reasoning for wanting to stop and rest for a while.
Their small party begins walking their way to one of the local inn's , but as they walked there Mein couldn't help but notice the somber cloud that seems to hang over Naofumi. No doubt frustrated and saddened over their lack of progress over finding the two brats.
Mein wanted to say something comforting to him but what could she say , that wouldn't feel like anything but empty placation ?
As they arrived at the inn and got everything settled , Ake suggested they grab some an early dinner at the inn's restaurant to which Naofumi only shrugs in agreement.
Even now as they sit at the table and eat their food ...Naofumi is still barely eating and still seems to be holding that same saddened and worried look in his eye as he slowly picks at his food.
The way he's acting ...it almost reminds Mein of herself ...from so long ago.
" ...Its not your fault you know ..."
Before Mein could say anything , the knight had spoken up and gained Naofumi's attention " It wasn't your fault what happened to Raphtalia and Keel. You couldn't have known they would have cut and run during our first night "
" ...I still should have seen it coming " Naofumi argued " I should have known something like this would have happened ..."
Considering how bone-headed the dog boy is , Mein can't say she was surprised something like this happened.
" It just doesn't make any sense that they would cut and run though ..." The knight seemed to muse out loud.
" ...What do you mean by that Ake ?" The Shield Hero gave a look over to the knight. Clearly paying more attention than he should have to the knight's off-hand comment.
The knight however was undisturbed by this and continued " What I mean is , it doesn't make sense for them to run away from what should have been the best option for them. Common demi-humans and beastmen in this country don't exactly have a lot to look forward to besides working the occasional odd jobs here and there to survive . Unless they become adventurers to make a living , that's essentially all they can do to advance and even then its still difficult for demi adventurers..."
Both Mein and Naofumi pay close attention to the knight's explanation , inclined to hear what he has to say.
" And I don't think I need to explain how rare it is for demi-humans to actually get a good master or boss to work under in this country ...or at least one that knows they get the most out of their coin if they treat their slaves or workers right. Either way , those that can find that 'good ' master are the ones that have the best chance to enjoy their lives in relative peace and security ..." Ake put a hand to his chin in thought.
Naofumi seems to be staring and the knight catches wind of it " What ? "
" N-Nothing I just ...didn't expect you to be so well-versed in this kinda thing " Naofumi confesses.
" Why wouldn't I be ? " Ake raises an eyebrow in confusion.
" Well ...because you're a knight in the king's court so I just thought that..." Naofumi doesn't have to elaborate. The knight gets the idea of what's Naofumi trying to say.
Surprisingly the knight doesn't seem angry , more annoyed than angry honestly.
" Just because I'm a knight in the King's court doesn't mean I don't know or care about the situation with demi's ... as a matter of fact I- " The knight looked like he was about to say something but stopped himself mid way " Nevermind it doesn't matter ..."
What was the knight going to say ? Something personal I bet...
Mein wondered but knew better than to voice it outloud.
" Anyway that's why it just doesn't make sense for them to run away. You're the Shield Hero ...even those kids should have figured that out by now ...so you might as well have been the epitome of kindness and compassion to them ...so why did they run ? "
Mein isn't sure whether the knight is intentionally bringing the topic back to the two missing brats or if he's just trying to change the conversation. Either way , he poses a good point ...why did those two run ?
Naofumi had been nothing but a perfect , patient and understanding master to those two ungrateful brats. Even the knight had shown some level of care to the two . And I tolerated those little brats more than I had to as well and even babysat ...for them ...
Mein suddenly realizes why the two slaves had cut and run.
It was because of my outburst at them ! That's what triggered the little brats to run away !
No doubt the dog thought that they would be treated no different from cattle and decided the best course was to run away when they still had the chance. A foolish choice ...but I can see the influence behind it.
Mein thinks about how she is the cause of the slaves run away ...and feels a sliver of fear slide into her heart.
If we manage to find those two brats and Naofumi ends up making them tell on what caused them to run away and the brats no doubt end up pointing the finger at me ...
Any hope of building a positive relationship with him might as well be set on fire.
I've already a lost of ground these past few days with Naofumi . Along with the Church's recent fair action towards him making me look like a liar in his eyes ... and I don't doubt that the dog and raccoon will try to paint me as some devil woman out of hell to buy sympathy from the Shield Hero and considering how easily Naofumi can be manipulated...
I have to stop them from ever coming back to us.
But to do that ...I need to find them before Naofumi does.
Mein calms herself as she comes up with a plan of action to find the little brats.
Okay... simplify. Those two are low level , runaway slaves with no money , food or connections. And only the clothes on their backs to keep them warm and the cheap , low level knives they had gotten for them. So they can't have left the city...
But they have already searched all the local restaurants for any sightings of the brats ...so they must have gone somewhere else...
And it is actually not true that they have gone to all the sources of possible information. There is one other person they haven't talked to that might be of help in finding them ...
But he is an acquaintance of Mein alone and he dabbles in the underground workings...and he prefers to meet at night.
It would seem that she has a long night ahead of her.
Mein waited another hour after they had all settled into their rooms at the inn before making her move. She didn't need Naofumi or the knight waking to find her missing from her room like the two brats did. And she personally made sure via checking them through Dark Vision to confirm that they were really asleep and not still awake like she was.
She quickly grabbed her cloak , veil and other equipment before opening the window to her room. But instead of dropping down to the bottom , she instead blinks to the top of the rooftop of the building that stands next to the inn. She lets out a breath as she sees her Mark burning red and smoking . She hopes that it dies down before she reaches her destination.
Looking over the buildings as she stood atop the rooftop , Mein had a long way to go before she reached her destination. She started running across the rooftops and jumping between them , with her high agility the gaps between buildings were nothing to her. And when she needed to make a particularly far jump , she used Blink to get to it without much trouble.
This short range teleportation power had much more use to it than it appeared.
Mein practiced her breathing techniques as she ran across the rooftops , not even breaking a sweat , making one long leap after another as she hopped from rooftop to rooftop.
She didn't know why ...but she felt oddly alive doing this. As if it had been ingrained in her from so long ago...
She shook her head , reminding herself that she has bigger things to worry about right now than digging up old memories about the past.
Mein stops on one of the rooftops as she takes a brief moment to survey her location , based on the increasingly bad state of the buildings as she went further and further...
The princess can safely say that she's close to the slums right about now.
She quickly climbs down from the rooftop , it would do no good to appear jumping across rooftops in the slums. Especially for the informant she's seeing.
Mein takes in a breath as she walks down the path that leads to the more 'well-off' area of the slums. If it could even be called that since the buildings still looked as terrible and downtrodden as the less well off section does.
Mein pulls her hood further over her head to hide her identity as she passes by some slum dwellers who give her a look as she passes by. That was the stark difference between the slums and the rest of castletown . When the ordinary and decent folk of the rest of the city go to sleep , in the slums it is the exact opposite. All the urchins, rats and snakes come crawling out of their holes to try and make a living. Though you had a much higher chance of potentially getting mugged or stabbed during this time...
It was only during this time that the players of the underground came out of their hidey holes.
" The end is nigh ! The waves will bring an end to us all ! The Void shall take us ! "
Mein glances over at a clearly crazy and homeless man that seems to be spouting off whatever random crap about how the end is near to whoever passed by and seems to be waving signs around repeating his words. She pays him no mind as she passes him by and heads for her informant.
As she rounds a corner and passes by some more slum urchins ...she spots one of her informant's men smoking a pipe and leaned up against a wall.
She never bothered learning any of their names , but she did recognize his face from the few times she visited her informant.
She wastes no time walking up to the thug and throwing him a few silvers. The thug looks at her in surprise for a moment before she spoke.
" Take me to Finn . I'm a buyer of his "
Was all she said and the thug seemed to have understood , putting his smoking pipe away and leading the way to Finn's place.
They walked down a few steps and stop at a metal door that is clearly reinforced , and the thug gives a few hard knocks with his fist.
The slit on the door opens " Password ?"
" Wolves Howl at the Moon "
" And real wolves aren't afraid to tear each other apart " The thug behind the door opens it and let's them inside " Welcome back , Kane ...and who's this ? "
" A buyer " Kane said simply as they walked past.
Mein kept her head low as she entered some kind of seedy underground bar. There were a few dozen patrons all going about their business , drinking and singing songs , others were arm-wrestling each other and others looked in the middle of a full on bar fight. Mein didn't bother with any of them , just wanted to get the info and get out.
" The boss is in the back " The thug said.
Mein said nothing as she followed the thug . Being fully aware that she was being watched by the other thugs in here that worked for Finn. She was not concerned though , she could easily kill them all and flee before the knight's would even be alerted of this place burning to the ground.
The thug opened the door to the backroom and Mein walked into a much smaller room that was pleasantly lit by candles hanging on the wall and ceiling , with there being much more lavish chairs and a round table.
And sitting at that table was her informant , Finn. Calmly smoking a pipe and enjoying his drink.
Finn was a middle aged demi-human wolf. But he was just as ferocious and cutthroat as his pure-blooded wolfmen.
" Boss this lady here says she's a buyer of yours " The thug said as Finn glanced at her.
The half-wolfman gave her a fanged smirk as he waved his hand " Thank you ...please leave us "
The thug seemed surprised for a moment " You sure boss ? "
" Yes, don't worry about it ...we're all friends here " Finn said with a bit more authority " Leave us "
The thug hesitated for a moment before giving her a glance " Don't try anything funny "
Mein said nothing as the thug left the two of them , closing the door behind him.
" Well your majesty , shall I offer you a seat and a drink ? " Finn said with his usual smirk. Mein said nothing but sat down opposite of Finn as the man poured her a drink and slid it to her " I must say it is a surprise to see you , usually you arrange our meetings ahead of time rather than dropping in like this , but I don't mind ...nothing but the best for my favorite customer "
Mein didn't say a word as she pulled her veil down and slammed the drink down in one go. It burned in her throat but she's tasted worse.
" Spare me the pleasantries and let's just get down to business " Mein said calmly as she put the cup down.
" Business as always ...that's what I like about you kid ..." Finn chuckled " So what are you looking for ? "
" Two runaway slaves. A dog boy and a raccoon girl. Hear anything about them ? " Mein asked , getting straight to the point.
" Hmmm... a little bit vague ...can't say I keep my ears out and about for news about runaway slaves ..." Finn says giving a shrug and Mein could tell he was speaking the truth.
" ...They found someway to get their seals off ...you know anybody in the slums who would be willing to do that for slaves with no money ? " Mein asked. Trying to narrow it down a little.
" That's a little more specific ... there aren't too many charitable folks down here ...and I may know of one that would be willing to do that for free..." Finn gave her a smirk " But it'll cost ya ..."
Mein gave no response as she took out 50 silvers and slid it across the table to Finn . Who eyed the silver with a gleam in his eyes.
" There's a demi-woman in the slums that helps runaway slaves get their seals off and sets them up with a new life of some kind. Don't know much beyond that " Finn said as he wrote something down on a piece of parchment " This is her location though... "
He slid the location over to Mein who took it quickly.
" Thank you for your help Finn ... pleasure doing business with you " Mein said as she got up and pulled her veil back up.
" Pleasure is all mine ...your majesty "
Mein didn't say anything back as she was about to leave the room-
" Happy hunting ..."
Mein froze for a brief moment , hearing Finn's words...before opening the door and quickly leaving the bar.
She had to follow up on this new lead immediately.
The location of this slave freeing lady wasn't that far away from Finn's place . In fact , it was only close to a half hour walk by Mein's estimation.
As the princess in disguise traversed the alleys and paths of the slums , she found herself instinctively sticking to the shadows to avoid as many other urchins as possible. The last thing she needs is for some idiots to try and rob her and then she has to waste even more of her evening getting rid of the bodies to make sure they can't be tied back to her.
Fortunately , she encounters no such resistance as she makes her way to the slave freeing lady's base of operation.
Which turns out to be nothing more than just a rundown house in the less well off part of the slums. Mein narrowed her eyes at the door that looks just as decrepit as the rest of the building. If not for the small light coming from inside the house , she would think that it was abandoned. The windows are smashed and wood and paint seem to be rotting off like the inn they had investigated.
Mein doesn't know if it was an intentional choice to choose an inconspicuous place like this or if the lady genuinely didn't have a choice and actually lived there.
She's about to find out.
Mein looks both ways to confirm there is no one coming before exiting the side alley she is hiding in and walking up to the door.
She activates Dark Vision first...and sees three people inside. All animals from the looks of it.
At least she knows what she's up against if this goes south.
She knocks on the door and hides her Marked hand behind her back as she heard the telltale sound of footsteps walking up to the door on the other side.
The door opens and Mein is greeted to a middle aged demi-woman...who appears to be of the dog kind as well.
" Yes ? " The woman says before she registers what Mein looks like " Who are you ?"
Mein smiles under her veil.
" I'm something of a ... hunter looking for something I've lost. Can you help me with that ? "
Goddamn you all have no idea how long I've wanted to show Malty's connections to the underground in this story. In case it wasn't immediately obvious from the previous chapters , Malty in my story is definitely more of a go-getter in comparison to Qin's story where she's more of a behind the scenes schemer. Which means that she doesn't mind getting her hands dirty to get things done which I have shown through her attempted murder of Ake.
And if you all ever wondered how she managed to forge a fake identity as an adventurer , well here you go. Since Malty is a go-getter it would mean she would have more than a few underground contacts that are willing to help out for a bribe.
Now she has been dropped straight into the wolf's den with her going into the slums and looking for Raphtalia and Keel...to silence them. I'll leave it up to your imaginations for now...
That being said , let's answer some reviews shall we ?
To OechesnerC:
Thanks ! I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far , hope my fetish for Dishonored hasn't been too off-putting for you.
:P
Oh I already know how they are going to find them...and its not going to be the way you expect.
To Guest :
I'm not going to argue too hard on Slayer , because I could quite frankly care less about him in my story since he's meant to be a relatively minor character in this story.
I'll leave this between you and Qin to work this out.
:)
Not much else to say here ,but see you all in the next one !
Angel Out.