I know, I know, its amazing I didn't take a month to update this story again but don't expect it to last long.
Big thanks to Qinlongfei for beta reading this chapter and providing important feedback.
With that said, let's get this chapter started!
Chapter 58: First Step in the Dark
Naofumi liked to think that ever since he got summoned to a literal isekai world, he started to become a lot more proactive at helping people. Back home he always preferred to keep his head down and mostly stay out of trouble but here he was supposed to be a Legendary Hero of this world, who was summoned to save this world from a literal world ending catastrophe that will kill everyone. No pressure at all there. If he couldn't even help people with a few tasks when he was asked, how could he ever hope to do that?
The former college student couldn't say that he was expecting Eclair to ask him to basically infiltrate a city in the territory of that noble woman who hates his guts and thinks he's a rapist of all things and stomp out some bandits who were living among the populace. Naofumi couldn't deny that he was uncertain about accepting the private request from Eclair, this sounded more like the kind of job Itsuki or Slayer would be capable of pulling off, but Eclair said that she needed Itsuki and Slayer's power and strategy for the next few days, so she couldn't afford to send them away. It was certainly a tough position to be in and Naofumi didn't envy her.
But after getting a reminder from Eclair about how that Ebonheart lady said that she was going to start clamping down on the local demi-human and beastman populations in her territory to hunt down the spies planted by the Hound Lord...he felt his skin crawl at the thought of it. Just the thought alone reminded him of that slave driving scumbag Beloukas and the conditions they found Raphtalia and Keel in when they first met. He couldn't bear the thought of an injustice like that happening right under his nose when he could stop it.
He gladly accepted the quest to take out the bandit outpost in Ebonheart city.
The main problem was of course, that Naofumi had no freaking clue on how to infiltrate a city and find bandits living in them. Naofumi was just a college student before he came here and he's just barely starting to learn the basics of how to use a shield as a weapon, he doesn't even know the first thing about infiltration except from what he saw in spy movies and he very much doubts those were applicable here.
Thankfully, Mein stepped up and offered to come with him. He was glad that he could always count on Mein for being their resident rogue of the party. Naofumi still has no idea how a daughter of a fallen noble house knows how to do the things that Mein can do, sure she told him that her father was a ranger but her skills seemed more like those of an assassin. He chose not to question it for now and just get on the with the job.
The two of them were dropped off within walking distance of the city by Ake as Mein said that they were better off entering the city on foot. He had already saved Silver Keep in his shield's portal locations so they could quickly get back if they needed to.
Naofumi couldn't deny that he felt more than a bit nervous as they approached the gates of the city. But mostly he felt uncomfortable walking around with a full-face helmet on his head, the weight making it a bit hard to walk straight and see as there was only one slit in the helmet to allow him to see. Mein had went above and beyond and got them both disguises so they could sneak into the city undetected since it would cause some problems if they caught the Shield Demon entering their city. He was dressed in the armor of a knight that he got from the armory along with a decorative sword at his hip to sell the look, while Mein was dressed more akin to a mage with light robes and a traveling cloak. They both kept their Barbarian Armor and Silver Huntress set in their respective inventories for now.
Mein had even used her Mimic skill to change her hair color to a nice hazel and her eyes to a blue color. He had to admit that as uncanny as the skill was, she looked pretty damn good. Though he preferred the red hair if he was being totally honest.
" Stay calm and keep your head down. We're just a pair of travelers looking for rest and repast is all." Mein seemed to noticed his nervous behavior from his body language and gently helped calm him down, even holding his hand which made him blush under his helmet." Let me do the talking. Remember, no hero skills out in the open."
He didn't get the chance to respond to his first companion as they got closer to the gate, where they were promptly stopped by a group of knights standing guard." Halt travelers! All visitors to our city are to be inspected." The guy in charge spoke up in a commanding voice.
" Of course, we wouldn't want to cause any problems." Mein said in a polite tone, that he was at least 50 percent sure was fake.
If the knight captain noticed, he didn't say anything as Mein handed him some papers that she had prepared in advance. The captain read whatever documents his companion had handed him, before turning his gaze back to Mein." Who are you and what is your business in our city?"
" I am a researcher at the academy in the capital, but I am making a business trip to Ebonheart city with my personal bodyguard here to meet up with an associate." Mein punctuated her point by grabbing his arm and pulling him close." I trust that everything is in order?"
There was a moment of silence as the captain seemed to stare at Mein who did not show any signs of weakness or faltering. She simply smiled at him in a way that almost unnerved Naofumi by how calm she was. He could see that the other soldiers seemed to be waiting on their leader's orders, not quite reaching for their weapons but ready to detain them at a moments notice.
But there was something else Naofumi noticed, the guards all looked on edge. At first he thought it was just basic caution, but from the way they tightly gripped their weapons and eyes shifted around at the nearby street where people were walking, it was almost as if these guys were expecting some kind of attack. But what could possibly have these guys so on edge that they are this tense?
He didn't get to think on it as the captain spoke again. " Yes, it is. Welcome to our city." The knight captain gave the go ahead as his men stepped off. " Just try not to cause any problems, we got enough with the damn animals causing problems recently."
" We wouldn't dream of it." Mein nodded to the captain as they walked right in, with his companion still holding onto his arm. But as they walked in, Naofumi noticed quite a few of the soldiers were giving him dirty and jealous looks.
" Lucky bastard..." He heard one of them mutter under his breath as they walked by.
Naofumi had to admit...that he did feel a mild boost to his ego at having a pretty girl at his side. But he quickly reminded himself that they were here on a dangerous mission and not out on a date. Mein unhooked herself from his arm once they were a fair distance away from the gate and started to blend into the crowd with him.
" Okay, so what's the plan Mein?" Naofumi turned to his first companion for guidance on what to do since he was very much out of his element here.
" We get settled in first, then we need to get the lay of the land and figure out where the spies are and take care of them." Mein didn't miss a beat, already coming up with a plan of action. It was days like this where he was glad that he had Mein to help him out when it came to stuff like this, otherwise he would be incredibly lost.
The two of them stuck close together as they moved their way through the crowd, it was actually a little difficult because he wasn't used to the weight of the armor he was wearing and the helmet certainly didn't help either. His Barbarian Armor was much lighter than this and he was used to its weight, but Mein assured him that he could switch to a cloak once they were in a private place. She helped him along by holding his hand and he was very much glad for it.
But as they walked Naofumi couldn't help but notice that the overall atmosphere of the crowd and the city in general felt...tense.
Maybe he had grown paranoid since his attempted framing, but the people seemed almost on edge like the guards from earlier. He could see that several people they walked past had weapons hanging off their belts either it was an axe for chopping wood, a rusty dagger or even the occasional sword. A lot of the people they passed were carrying weapons on the streets and none of the guards that walked by them seem to blink at it. They all had somber, aggressive or paranoid looks on their faces, as their eyes darted around looking for any kind of threat.
His first thought was that maybe these people were just carrying some basic self defense weapons against the upcoming Wave monsters, though he genuinely wondered how useful they would be in a fight considering just how strong even the weakest Wave monster was. But based on the way their eyes seem to be looking around the crowd, it made Naofumi realize that they weren't carrying weapons for monsters.
They were carrying weapons as protection against threats in the city.
" Up against the walls animals and hands where we can see them!"
Naofumi jumped when he heard a loud voice shout out of the blue, that was followed by a yelp. It didn't take him long to find where the shout came from, a group of knights had stopped a small group that he could see was a mix of demi-humans and beastman of all kinds. They had been forced up against a wall as two men patted each of them down and Naofumi had a bad feeling in his gut at the sight of what was happening.
" Hey, come on man! We weren't even doing anything!" One of the demi-human's, a man with cat ears shouted.
" If you haven't done anything than I'm sure you've got nothing to hide right?" The guards shot back with a sneer.
The two guards continued to pat down each of the demi-humans and beastmen down, finding nothing...up until one of the guards found a cleaver on one of the bear demi-humans and a knife on a raccoon man.
" Well, what do we got here? Looks we got some lackies of the Hound Lord here!"
" We don't work for that crazy bastard! That's just for personal protection!" The bear man pointed at the numerous passersby who stopped to watch the scene play out." Those fucks are carrying weapons and I don't see you hassling them!"
" That's because those are good honest citizens and not a bunch of rats-UFF!" One of the guards didn't get to finish when the bear man punched him square in the jaw.
" FUCK YOU, YOU DAMN MAN-ANIMAL!"
The sudden punch made a fight break out between the guards and the demi-humans and beastmen. It was hectic to watch as some tried to run but got tackled to the ground by the guards, while others tried to rush the guards but got swift punches and kicks for their trouble. The bear man who started the fight was quickly knocked on his ass when the supposed captain hit him square in the face with some kind of wooden club.
The guards didn't stop there as they kept beating on the demi-humans and beastman even after they got knocked down. The crowd just watched, some even cheered to Naofumi's horror.
The Shield Hero couldn't bear to watch this anymore. He had to stop this but just as he was about to go over, he felt a hand on his shoulder pull him back. When he turned he could see Mein giving him a somber look.
" No, not here. Not now. Too many eyes and we won't be able to help them anyway." Mein shook her head as she explained.
Naofumi wanted to argue with her that they had to do something, but looking around...he could see that there were more guards and the crowd that had stopped to watch the spectacle of demi-humans and beastmen getting beaten had grown. There were too many eyes on them and he couldn't do a damn thing, and he hated it.
" Damn it..." Naofumi cursed as Mein pulled him away from the scene, he forced himself to look straight ahead to avoid looking back.
They had to put an end to this. Now or sooner.
Mein found them a nice inn called the 'Sleeping Giant' by the time evening rolled over, the inn reminded Naofumi a lot of Daedric's Inn back in the capital. It was supposedly one of the higher end inns in the city that Mein paid upfront for three nights since that was how long she estimated they would need to find the spies for the Hound Lord. She had rented them a single private room that had a queen sized bed for them to share and quite a few amenities that made the room feel a lot comfier.
On any other day, Naofumi would be embarrassed at the thought of sharing a bed with a pretty girl like Mein...but his mind was still focused on what happened earlier that day and he couldn't even muster up the feeling of embarrassment. He had finally gotten the chance to take off the knight armor and helmet which gave him the chance to finally breath normally.
Could they have done anything to stop it? Would revealing themselves have done anything or would it have just made things worse? A dozen questions and thoughts and scenarios played through his head and none of them brought him any comfort. The fact that he wouldn't have been able to do anything anyway didn't soften the blow. His thoughts were put on hold when the door to the room opened and his companion walked in, who was back to her normal red hair color and green eyes. She had left about half an hour ago to talk to some people in the restaurant and gather some 'on the ground' information.
" Okay, so I talked to some people and I think I have a pretty good idea on where to start looking for tonight. The slums seem to be the place where all the demi-humans and beastmen in the city live so that would be a pretty good spot to start off. Its about an hour's walk from here but there are frequent patrols around the city stopping any 'suspicious persons' out after dark so I think it would better if I stick to the..." Mein explanation slowed as she turned to him, seeming to notice his glum expression." Is everything alright Naofumi?"
" Y-Yeah, I'm fine Mein just...thinking." Naofumi very poorly tried to lie to his companion who's face told that she saw right through him.
She didn't call him out on it right away, instead sitting on the bed next to him rather closely. " You're still thinking about earlier with those demi-humans and guards, huh?"
Naofumi almost snorted at the fact that Mein instantly figured it out. He never considered himself much of a liar back home, but man was he really an open book when it came to Mein who seemed so wrapped up in mystery and deceit?
" Yeah, its just...we should have done something back there Mein." Naofumi said, his mind still unable to get the memory of those people getting beaten and the crowd just watching." Those people needed our help and we just...walked away."
"...We could have tried to intervene but all it would have done is expose us and probably land us in jail. While we could probably get off with a light sentence or pay off our bounty to the right guards, it still would have caused an uproar in Silver Pass on how Lady Eclair sent a Cardinal Hero to infiltrate the city under the domain of one of her own bannermen." Mein easily pointed out the logical reasons for why intervening would have been a bad idea, the same conclusions that he has already come to. It still didn't make him feel any better.
" I know that but it just pisses me off that we couldn't do anything regardless if we intervened or not." Naofumi shook his head as he grappled with the reality of the situation. " And that crowd, they just...stood there and watched. Some of them even cheered! Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of racism back home where I'm from but seeing it up close and personal is just...wrong."
Naofumi looked at his own shield and gently ran his hand across the green gem in the center. " I'm the Shield Hero which means I'm supposed to protect people and I couldn't do that for those people."
Mein gave him a sympathetic look as she put her hand over his." I know what you mean Naofumi, having more power than most men can dream of but still being unable to help hurts." The Shield Hero looked down at the hand covering his own, seeing his companion's tattoo shining through her glove with wisps of smoke coming from it." There are days where even with this Mark on my hand, I feel powerless at times when I can't even use it without exposing myself most of the time. I hate seeing injustice and unfairness without being able to do anything."
Naofumi very much agreed with that.
They just sat like there for a moment, just enjoying each other's company. Naofumi was glad that Mein came with him for more than just her expertise in being a rogue and her ability to sneak around. He's not sure how he would be able to handle this without her here.
After about a minute, Mein gently patted his hand as she stood up. " Well, enough moping around. Let's make sure that doesn't happen again by finding the Hound Lord's lackeys and removing the excuse these bastards are giving for abusing demi-humans in the city."
His head perked up at that, Mein was right. This was no time to be moping around, they had work to do.
" So where do we begin?" Naofumi popped the question.
" Like I was saying earlier, the slums is the best place to start. Not to start tracking the spies right away, but rather just to get the lay of the land and put my finger to the pulse of the underworld here." A frown crossed Mein's face." Unfortunately, it would seem that guards have increased patrols around that area and have started hassling anybody they deem 'suspicious'. If I get caught by them then its over."
" Okay, so do we sneak around the city or use back alleys or something?" Naofumi asked before he caught on to what his companion." Wait, if you get caught by them?"
" Yes? Its better if I go on this scouting mission alone. I'm faster and can move around the city undetected better on my own." Mein said with a confused expression.
" I mean, yeah but shouldn't I come with you in case you need help?" Naofumi tried to argue on his joining. He felt kinda bad at the thought of just sitting on his ass while his companion did all the real work.
" I appreciate the concern Naofumi, but you're a frontline combatant who doesn't exactly excel in stealth." Mein gave him a look. " Do you know how to quickly jump between rooftops and nail the landing without making much noise?"
The Shield Hero briefly remembered back on when he got his coin pouch stolen from him by that mouse kid and how much he and Ake struggled just to catch the kid. He very quickly had to concede that Mein had a point.
" Alright, fair point." Naofumi had played some of the early Assassin's Creed games back in the day before UbiAss ruined it, and as much as he wanted to live out his lifelong hooded assassin fantasies, Mein very quickly reminded him of reality.
" Go to bed first Naofumi, I'll be sure to tuck myself in later with you when I get back." Mein gave him a wink as she prepared her weapons and got ready to leave.
Naofumi's not sure if this is just his insecurities speaking, but this type of mission Eclair sent him on feels more like the kind of job suited for Mein than him.
Mein's POV
Mein breathed in the cool night air of Ebonheart city, she always enjoyed standing on a nice rooftop in the dead of night as she felt the breeze of the cool air on her skin. She always preferred traveling over the rooftops than on the streets whenever she snuck out of the castle back in the capital. Not just for the easiness of avoiding patrols, but also the thrill of being so up high from the ground. Thomas had taught her the fine art of maneuvering across tree branches quickly and that same logic applied here, along with the lessons given to her by Mala on acrobatics.
But Mein had been given plenty of new tricks that made navigating the rooftops that much easier and quieter.
The agent of the Outsider took a deep breath as this was going to be her first time attempting transversing with her mind, she had practiced blinking across the rooftops back in the capital before they left but that was with her eyes. She had never done this with her mind before and the drop to the ground from the rooftop would not be immediately killable, would still result in broken bones.
It was do or die. Just the way she likes it.
Mein did a few little jumps on her feet as she backed away to get a running start. She focused her mind as she ran towards the edge and jumped from the rooftop and while in the air, she focused her mind on where she wished to be standing-
Her eyes were wide open but in that moment, ashes enveloped them and in the next moment she was performing a telegraphed roll to break her fall on another rooftop.
She took a deep breath as she stood up and saw the distance she had cleared with that one jump and transversal alone. She was now three rooftops ahead of where she had been standing. The Outsider was right, she really hasn't been using her powers to the fullest.
She'll be sure to correct that mistake.
The princess turned agent didn't waste anymore time as she kept moving towards the slums, conserving SP by choosing to jump to close by buildings and only transversing great distances when she needed to. The red haired agent felt an odd rush of adrenaline and excitement as she jumped from rooftop to rooftop, feeling more free than she ever has in a good long while.
She would have let out a laugh if it wouldn't alert the guards she passed by on the street down below.
It took her probably less time than it should have to reach the slums, considering it was apparently an hour's walk away from the inn. Mein instantly knew she had arrived at the slums when the smell of death, despair and overall decay reached her nose. Along with the fact that all the buildings looked rundown and dirty. She had been to a slum enough times to know that they all pretty much smelled and looked the same. Same shit, just different scenery.
She decided that it was better moving on the ground, as she was not the only one who used the 'thieves alley way' and she couldn't have rumors spread through the underworld about how some thief could swear he saw some witch teleporting across the rooftops. Mein doublechecked for any passing guards before she exited into a narrow path.
The princess turned agent kept her wits about her as she walked through the slums of the city, her enhanced sense of smell being turned against her as she could pick up just about every horrid stench there was in this place, but she knew all too well that was the least of one's worries here. The slums of any city was home to all kinds of dirtbags and where almost every kind of act of depravity has happened at some point, in some form or another. That was simply the nature of districts like these, the strongest survive and the weak serve as either food or cannon fodder.
But if she was being completely honest, she's not really concerned so much about them running into any scumbag muggers or thieves. She was already above level 50 and she doubts that anybody living in the slums were even close to reaching the pinnacle of the common range level. No, her real concern lies with her encountering a squad of guards. She gathered from the innkeeper and patrons of the restaurant that squads of men had been sent into the slums in recent days to crackdown on any 'suspected' minions of the Hound Lord that were in hiding.
Translation: They were beating up and detaining anybody that so much as looked at them funny.
Mein doesn't doubt she would also be deemed as 'suspicious' if she was caught at this hour. While she was certain that she could handle a squad of guards without using any of her skills, she still would prefer to avoid confrontation on day 1 of their trip here to Ebonheart city.
I need to find the black market, that would be as a good place to start as any.
For the uninitiated, some might think black markets only deal in material goods such as weapons, recreational herbs and potions, poisons, and many other illegal items that would never be sold in a proper shop out in the open. She had learned from experience that any black market dealer worth their salt in the underworld knows to keep their ear to the ground for any juicy information that can be sold at a price, she doesn't expect it to be much different here.
If she could find said black market that is.
The main problem problem is that she was unfamiliar with Ebonheart city and unfortunately didn't have any contacts in the underworld here. She's going to need to start fresh here.
Mein kept her ears and eyes sharp as she walked through the slums, even occasionally using Dark Vision to confirm that there were no guards nearby. The people she passed in the slums kept their head down and moved like they were in a hurry. The slums here felt awfully quiet at night, if you ignore the occasional distant scream and shout of the dying. Those were just part of the atmosphere of the slums.
But this dead silence felt unusual for such a place of despair and death. Or perhaps it was just normal for this city.
" Get off me! You fuck-AGH!"
Mein almost jumped as she heard a shout followed by a cry of pain...which was not distant at all and did in fact sound very, very close by. The agent didn't hesitate for a moment to lean up against the wall for cover. She waits for a moment to see if she needed to reposition quickly, but heard no footsteps coming her way, but she did hear voices coming from the nearby alleyway. Mein very cautiously approached the alleyway with her hand on the hilt of her sword just in case this went sideways.
She peeked around the corner to see several demi-humans and beastmen of mixed race on their knees with their hands locked behind their heads, around 20 plus men in total. They seemed to be detained by a group of guards made up of 7 men. The demi-humans easily outnumbered the human guards, but their steel weaponry and armor along with the fact that these guards were probably higher level than them was enough to force them into compliance.
" Well, well, well, what do we got here boys? A bunch of filthy rats living in the muck, living off the backs of good honest people." The supposed leader of the guards sneers down at them." How about one of you coughs up where the Hound Lord is and we'll let that one go."
" We don't have anything to do with the Hound Lord! We're innocent damn it!" One of the fox demi-humans shouted.
" Oh well, if you're so innocent than you won't mind telling us what happened to the several missing guard patrols here in the slums." One of the guards shouted back." We've lost more than a platoon's worth of men here in the past few days alone!"
Missing guard patrols? That's interesting.
" Hey, hey, come on man, my people here are just trying to live and survive. We don't want no part in-" One of the demi-humans who was surprisingly polite and spoke in a calm tone despite the fact that he was being detained by guards, was quickly silenced with a kick to the back.
" Shut up! Keep your head forward animal!" One of the guards shouted.
The agent of the Outsider face scrunched up in anger at the sight of such corruption and injustice, the demi-humans and beastmen didn't look particularly dangerous. Most of them seemed dressed in rags and didn't look gang affiliated at all. It would seem the guards had just rounded up a group of vagrants and civilians who looked at them funny and deemed them suspicious.
She didn't quite understand why, but she felt an odd quiet rage burn in her heart.
Mein needed to do something, if only just to punish these corrupt guards for their mistreatment of the innocent but very quickly weighed her options here. She couldn't outright kill the guards without this causing a stir up the chain of command later. Knocking them out is the best option she's got, but she's not sure a direct assault is the best option here with the demi-humans and beastman so close by.
Although all the demi-human and beastmen were lined up facing the wall, which meant they had no idea what was going on behind them thanks to the guards. Mein smirked under her mask as the foolish guards had given her the perfect opportunity to use her powers.
Mein took a deep breath as she focused on where she needed blink. She would only have a few seconds and could not waste a single one of them. It was good thing she got to practice knocking people out just a few days ago thanks to a certain black eyed bastard.
She activated Bend Time and instantly blinked forward with her mind, slamming one of the guards into the wall and bashing his face against it a few times for good measure. She forced another to the ground and slammed his face into the dirt, stomping on it once to make sure he stayed down. The princess didn't stop to breath as she grabbed the heads of two knights that were standing close together and slammed their faces together. She literally didn't have time to make sure they were down as she punched the leader in the face and followed it up with a hard knee before slamming him into the wall.
Mein quickly blinked for the last two remaining guards and kicked both of them in the nuts. Hard. Before teleporting behind them, not quite to knock them out but by her estimate the time stop should end right about...
Color returned to the world and all the events she set in motion happened all at once. One guard was slammed into the wall with a broken face, another ate the dirt, two guards hit their heads together and fell to the ground, the leader went limp and fell to the ground like a sad sack of potatoes.
" AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" The last two guards she kicked in the nuts screamed at the top of their lungs, before she silenced them yet again by tripping them up and stomping their heads until they shut up.
Mein let out a breath as all that really took the wind out of her, Bend Time was one of her high SP cost skills so it wasn't one she could repeatedly use. But when she did, it certainly tipped the scales in her favor.
Holy shit, I cannot believe I just pulled that off.
" What the hell was that?" The dog demi-human from before turned his head and his face went slack with shock when he saw her standing over the unconscious bodies of the guards that were just assaulting and detaining him.
" Need a hand?" Mein offered a hand to help him stand.
" Don't mind if I do sister." The dog man smiled as he took her hand and she pulled him up. The rest of the demi-humans and beastmen seemed to notice the guards were down and got back up.
" Thanks for the help sister, how in the name of Medea did you do that?" The dog man asked as he shook her hand.
"...I am very fast." Mein gave a short and vague answer that she was fairly certain the dog man didn't believe.
" Good enough for me." The dog man shrugged as he wisely chose not to push on it." Its nice to meet you! The name's Three Dog, thanks for bailing me and my boys out. Things have been getting pretty hectic lately in the city." Three Dog explained." Me and my boys were just minding our own business when these mooks suddenly detained us, hell we've been getting word that this has been happening all over the city."
" Yeah, I've been...hearing about that too." Mein thought back to earlier in the day where some guards beat the crap out of some demi's with excessive force.
" Tell me about it sister, things have been getting harder for demi's these past few days. Now I can't even preach my songs and message to the people in the nicer parts of town anymore without getting shut down." Three Dog with a sad expression.
" Preach?" Mein raised an eyebrow at Dog.
" I'm something of a bard and community leader around these parts." Three Dogs explained with a charismatic smile." By the way, I didn't catch your name."
" I'm Sofia." Mein instantly lied to conceal her identities." I'm new to the city."
" Well, I welcome you to our fine city. Sadly you picked a hell of a time to visit as we are going through...some problems." Three Dogs gestured to the unconscious guards before them.
Describing the situation in the city are mere 'problems' would probably be an understatement.
Mein was about to ask Three Dog a question when she was interrupted by a loud shout. " Not so tough now, eh motherfuckers!?" One of the beastmen who had the face of a rabbit kicked one of the groaning guards in the gut, resulting in a yelp of pain.
" Whoa, whoa, whoa! Come on man, they are already beaten." Surprisingly the one who stepped up to stop him was Three Dog himself. Mein can't say that she would have stopped the rabbitman on account that they did totally deserve it.
" Oh come on boss, these bastards have it coming!"
" Not disagreeing with you there, but if you kill them than you're going to bring down a whole mountain of problems on us and we can't afford that." Three Dog used logic to reason with his crew.
The rabbitman looked conflicted so Mein decided to throw in her hat to support Three Dog." He's right, if you kill them than they are just going to send more men to crackdown even harder on you guys than before. Kick them a few more times if you feel like it but let them live."
The rabbitman glared at the unconscious guards for a moment, before giving one last kick to the leader before walking away.
" You guys should get a move on. These guys are going to wake up soon or the guards will send additional forces to canvass for their missing patrol in the slums when they haven't checked in." Mein advised the group.
" You heard the lady boys and girls, let's get out of here before these mooks wake up." Three Dog ordered his crew just as they finished turning out the pockets of the unconscious guards. " Shame I can't offer much in return for your help besides my thanks."
" Actually now that you mention it." Mein smirked under her mask as she got the feeling this Three Dog knew his way around the slums." Do you mind pointing me in the direction of your underground market."
Three Dog didn't respond right away, but he did give her a sly look. " Well, I wouldn't know anything about that...but I hear they sell some pretty nifty stuff over at the northwest side of the district in an abandoned building that is marked by the symbol of two hands shaking together." Three Dog played the dumb act but he answered her question nonetheless.
Mein thinks that she likes this Three Dog already.
" Uh boss, should we really be handing out the location of the black market to this one?" A woman with raccoon ears said to her leader, as she eyed the two of them cautiously." She's...you know...human."
" A human who just saved our asses. You know our rule, we always try to pay back those who help us." Three Dog gave a salute to her as he took off with his crew." Take care, hero girl."
Mein snorted at the title, if only he knew how incorrect he was.
It took another half hour before she found the black market, mostly just because of the distance and dodging more guard patrols in the slums. Mein was really starting to get annoyed by the sheer amount of guards that were in the slums, she never had to deal with this sort of crap back in the capital where guards rarely if ever bothered patrolling that district. Though maybe that wasn't for the best of reasons in hindsight considering just how many knight captains were in the pockets of the various gangs in the capital to make sure business ran smoothly and there were no annoying interruptions from outsiders.
She knows for a fact that the leader of the Thieves Guild Mercer has around five captains in his back pocket that she could name. Probably more that she doesn't know about.
The black market was actually located in some kind of basement that was attached to a building that looked abandoned and rundown. Mein walked down a flight of stairs to a metal door which she opened that led her into the black market shop. A bell had been rung the second she opened the door- a clever trick to notify the shopkeeper whenever they have customers just like a normal shop. But if Mein knew anything in her experience with black market shops, they were anything but normal.
The first thing she noticed is that there was a barrier between her and the shopkeeper. An actual physical barrier where the shopkeeper was protected on one side in a completely separate room and there was a metal grill that only left a small space at the bottom on the counter where goods could be transferred. There were several goods on display on the shelves for sample that were protected behind an iron grill with what looked to be steel shutters in place at the top. It reminded her of the black market back in the capital.
Mein had to compliment the shopkeeper for his smarts on keeping himself safe. Any urchin or criminal living in the slums had enough sense to know that robbing the black market was usually a terrible idea, because most of them paid up to a certain gang for protection and who would swiftly deliver retribution for such a crime. But there was always the occasional idiot who gets the bright idea to try and rob and kill a black market dealer for some quick cash, which was why most black market shopkeepers kept a certain distance from their customers just in case.
The shopkeeper behind the grill looked quite dignified. He was a human with well-combed hair, a nice blue suit and a monocle over his right eye to the point where Mein briefly wondered if he was nobility but she put that thought aside as she approached the counter.
" Good evening, welcome to my shop...say, you don't look familiar." The shopkeeper said, eyeing her with not quite suspicion but caution." New to town?"
" You could say that." Mein responded in a neutral tone to not give anything away as she leaned on the counter. The shopkeeper did not take a step back. Respect.
" Well, my business is open to all. What are you in the market for then?" The shopkeeper was crisp and straight to the point.
" I'm in the market for information my good sir, relating to certain hidden elements in this city." Mein didn't outright say what she wanted, just to test the waters first with this shopkeeper.
The shopkeeper raised an eyebrow at her. " Information, huh? I'm sorry to say but I mainly deal in materialistic matters." The shopkeeper gestured to the shelves that displayed a multitude of items. " Weapons, ammo, poisons, gear, anything that pokes your fancy. I can acquire within reason."
Mein could tell that he knew more than he was letting on but just as she was about to call him out on it, she noticed something on one of the shelves on display.
A rune.
" What is that?" Mein pointed at the rune, pretending to be ignorant. She could practically feel the power radiating from where she was standing.
" Oh, that? Just one of a few bobbles I was foolish enough to purchase sometime ago." The shopkeeper explained as he wrote something down in a book." I thought they might be worth something at resell value because it was supposedly some kind of black magic artifact but so far, nobody has taken it. I'm considering just tossing it and the others out soon-"
" I will take your entire stock." Mein said with zero hesitation.
" Wait, really?" The shopkeeper sounded legitimately taken off guard at that." They are worthless to me, to anyone really except for..." The shopkeeper's eyes widened as he seemed to connect the dots.
" How much?" Mein repeated in a much more serious tone.
" 250 silver."
" Deal." Mein agreed as she put the bag of coins on the counter and the shopkeeper quickly slid back 5 runes to her. She tucked the little beauties away for later.
" Getting back on track, you look like the kind of man who keeps his ear to the ground for anything that happens in this city." Mein spoke in a calm but cold tone that made the shopkeeper cross his arms.
" Maybe I do. What would you say be in the market for?"
" I heard a rumor that the Hound Lord has some of his boys stationed here in hiding. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you?" Mein smirked under her mask as the shopkeeper faltered a bit in his stance.
" I don't really keep my ear to the ground or concern myself with matters of bandits." The shopkeeper lied through his teeth.
" Give me something. I just paid you close to 300 silvers for these..." Mein grumbled as she slid another bag of coins to the shopkeeper." Now it actually is 300 of profit you've made today."
The shopkeeper looked conflicted for a moment before speaking. " Look I don't know where they are hiding." The shopkeeper admitted." But word on the street is that someone has been smuggling weapons into the city among other things. That is all I know."
Mein's interest was somewhat piqued at that. The Hound Lord's men were smuggling weapons into the city? It would make sense if they are simply looking to arm whatever men he has posted here but from the sounds of it, there were a lot of weapons coming into the city. But for what purpose?
" Its a start at least. Thanks." Mein said as she decided that she could answer these questions later. She promptly left the store with her stash of runes and exited the slums.
By the time Mein got back to the inn, the Shield Hero was fast asleep in the bed after taking off his armor. Mein thought that he looked cute sleeping but immediately realized how creepy that sounded. She didn't jump in with him right away, instead choosing to unlock some new powers with the runes she bought. She unlocked two new abilities Mesmerize and Domino, the former giving her the ability to summon a living spirit from the void to distract enemies while the latter gave her ability to 'link' people's fates together. Both of these abilities would have been incredibly useful 2 hours ago with the guards, but at least she has them now. She used the remaining runes to upgrade both powers along with Dark Vision, which now allowed her to see 'items of interest' such as traps, ammo, loot and some such.
She fell asleep with him after and while it wasn't nearly as romantic as she planned for it to be with them sharing a room, it was still nice to fall asleep next to someone again.
When morning came, they both went down to the inn's restaurant for some breakfast. Thankfully the restaurant was packed at this hour so nobody was paying them any mind even though Naofumi was just wearing his cloak to cover his identity. The Shield Hero wide awake, and Mein sufficiently staying awake despite having a long night. And Naofumi was quite interested in hearing about her night.
" So...what did you learn last night?" Naofumi whispered to her.
" A start somewhat. I wasn't able to ascertain the location of where the Hound Lord's men are, but I did manage to pick up some rumors and info from the residents." Mein gave him the short version of what she learned last night." Apparently entire squads of guards have gone missing in the past few days. And there's been chatter on the streets about the smuggling of weapons into the city."
" That would certainly explain why all the guards are so cautious of visitors to the city." Naofumi recalled back to when those guards at the gate.
" But what could all those weapons be for? It can't be a coincidence that there's a sudden uptake in weapons smuggling into the city at the same time all this is happening." Mein said in a somewhat irritated tone as she tried to figure it out." The Hound Lord can't have stationed that many men in this city alone, even the one we found in Rabier city was only a squad's worth of men at most. So what could they need all those weapons for?"
A silence hung between them for a moment with only the chatter of the restaurant filling it, before Naofumi voice broke the silence." Could it be possible that the Hound Lord is...trying to recruit some of the local gangs into his group?"
" How do you figure that?" Mein gave him a confused look.
" I mean, think about every other bandit group we've encountered so far only started working for the Hound Lord because he promised them good gear and supplies. But with us taking out a lot of his men, he's got to start recruiting soon more people to replace the ones he lost." Naofumi explained in a surprisingly perceptible manner." Maybe he's doing the same here, tensions between humans and demi-humans are high. And with the guards acting the way they are, its not hard to imagine that a lot of demi-humans want some payback."
" You might actually be onto something Naofumi." Mein agreed as she took a sip of her drink, but she couldn't help but think they were missing something.
This much metal and people. They are planning something, but what?
That was the question that hung at the back of her mind even as they finished their breakfast. Afterwards she suggested the two of them take a walk around the city to get more used to the layout and see what there is to see. And it would especially useful to know where to go if they need to make a quick exit. While Mein preferred to do her work at night, she is more than comfortable operating during the day too and Thomas always said there is no greater sin a soldier can commit than burning daylight.
The Shield Hero agreed with her idea. It was around early afternoon when they left the inn, so they still had plenty of daylight out to spend their day. Mein had procured a local map of the city so she had a basic idea on where they could go and gathered some 'places to see' locations yesterday from the innkeeper who told her plenty about the city.
But Mein reminds herself mentally that they are not on vacation. This is an infiltration and should be treated as such at all times.
Still it didn't mean that she couldn't enjoy it for what little minutes she could scrounge up in this new city.
They had walked for a couple of minutes with Mein taking note of several key locations around the city. She was about to suggest they perhaps visit the local smith just to see if they had any new shields-
" Make way people!" A loud commanding voice shouted and Mein heard the wheels of a carriage coming from behind them.
Mein turned around to see a large group of guards riding on filorial's escorting what looked to be three carriages that were covered by white sheets similar to their old carriage. The people on the street immediately moving to the side, grumbling and some even shouting back at the knights at the inconvenience caused. But as the carriages passed by, Mein could see that the cargo was more knights sitting in the back.
Troop transports. All bearing the emblem of House Ebonheart. But what could they be doing here that would warrant a small army?
" They are here to reinforce the garrison." The Shield Hero seemed to answer her question, giving her a look." All those missing guard patrols must have depleted their numbers, so they are the reinforcements."
Mein was to respond to that but stopped as she saw something in the crowd on the opposite end of the street, a figure wearing a green cloak but with her sharp eyes she could see what looked to be rabbit ears and they were holding...a staff?
She wondered for a brief moment before she saw a spark of light come from the staff.
" ZWEIT FIREBALL!" The mysterious figure shouted as they launched a fireball directly at one of the carriages. The carriage at the very back erupted in flame, the entire transport being set ablaze. The men that were in the back jumped out, all of them on fire and screaming in pain. The crowd erupted into screams of terror as they all ran away from the scene.
At that same moment, a band of demi-humans and beastmen all armed and armored to the teeth charged the contingent of knights loyal to House Ebonheart out of an alleyway the escort was passing by. The sudden attack surprising the escort to the point they were unable to fight back as they were suddenly swarmed.
" WHAT THE FUCK!?" One of the knights screamed as they were attacked and the attackers threw bottles filled with some kind of bright yellow liquid. Mein didn't have to wonder what it was for long as the flasks impacted against the filorials and the riders, causing both to suddenly be on fire.
Alchemist fire!
Another fireball was launched hitting the carriage at the very front. The same result happened where everybody inside the carriage came running out on fire and dying.
" GLORY TO THE SHADOW DEMON!" The demi-humans and beastmen shouted like a war cry.
Well shit.
Okay, all cards on the table here I am a little embarrassed that Naofumi didn't really get to do much in this chapter as pointed out by Qin in the beta read. I won't lie when I say that the only reason Naofumi is here at all is because Eclair couldn't come up with a good enough excuse to borrow specifically his companion for a solo infiltration mission without the Shield Hero getting suspicious, so he's kind of an awkward inclusion in this chapter that doesn't do much. Hopefully he can get more attention in the next chapter when things really get out of hand.
And yes, this is the same Three Dogs from Fallout 3 who got roped in as a spur of the moment character creation while I was writing this chapter.
Now we can all get back to what I enjoy writing most: Extreme violence and anarchy.
:)
Now let's reply to some reviews shall we?
To EXCUBITORE:
Outsider is certainly one of my favorite characters in the series too. By the way, I never got to say this in the authors notes before but I preferred Billy Lush as his VA and that's how his voice sounds in this story.
:P
No spoilers, but let's just say that Reichnott's illegitimate heir might make things a bit difficult going forward. In a ' House Reichnott may cease to exist' type way.
Malty's father is smarter in this fic, but sending a detachment of soldiers to reinforce Silver Keep would be a bad idea politically as the other northern lords could see it as an invasion force from the royal family. So his hands are kind of tied for now.
Thank you all for reading and that's from me, I will see you all in the next chapter.
Angel Out.