xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Psycho Circus Guildhall, 2:15 p.m. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
After the revelation that Bernard was removed from his managerial position for Psycho Circus, the guild was thrown into a state of uncertainty from his mother, Alfana, now assuming what was originally her son's role within the guild. After heading upstairs to her newly made but slightly empty office, Alfana sat in her chair behind a dark mahogany desk as Camilla slammed both of her hands down.
"Are you completely insane?!" Camilla exclaimed with an aggravated tone.
"We're both part of a guild called "Psycho Circus." Is that really even a question that should be asked?" Alfana replied with a smug tone of voice as a vein popped on the side of Camilla's head.
As the two of them conversed, outside of the room was a myriad of Psycho Circus wizards, all standing outside and trying to listen in through the closed door and walls. On the right side of the door was Anatoli, Marlene, Harriet, Nole, Andy, Chester and Gigantia and on the left side of the door was Pietro, Swan, Mary, Silencio and Kawazu.
"Any of you guys picking up anything?" Anatoli asked around.
"Nothing." Harriet said.
"These walls are thicker than I remember..." Marlene said as everyone was leaning to eavesdrop on Camilla and Alfana's conversation as Daphne appeared, walking past the right-side group and opening the door without knocking.
"Uh!" Anatoli remarked as he and the rest of the eavesdropping guildmembers ran out of sight of Alfana, who was looking at the now open door where the bespectacled cowgirl hat wearing wizard was standing.
"Pardon!" Daphne said loudly while holding a stack of papers as Camilla turned around to look at her.
"Do you mind?! We're in the middle of something!" Camilla shouted with a furious tone.
"Sorry, but the new boss lady requested I give her some of the inventory paperwork the old boss man had me collect for the past month." Daphne said with an oblivious smile as she approached the desk.
"Thank you." Alfana said with a casual tone as she placed the papers down on her desk.
"Great, you're going to suck up to her now?" Camilla thought with a twitch in her eye as she glared at Daphne.
"So, if I may, I'd like to go over some things with you, boss lady." Daphne said with perceivably approachable tone.
"Make it quick, please." Alfana said as she propped her head on her right hand while resting her right elbow on the arm rest. "I was informed already that this one was a bit of a "saleswoman."' She thought.
"First things first, I'd like to discuss some opportunities to expand the guild out into other parts of Fiore and possibly to open up a second performing arts center for myself to run and perhaps a little bit of investment money into some of my other projects like my high-quality dietary snack, "Metamo-chan!"' Daphne said as she started making a pitch to a visually disinterested Alfana.
"Is now the time for this?!" Camilla thought in frustration.
"Secondly, a minor issue from the old guard involving pay." Daphne said as Camilla placed a hand over her own face in annoyance and Alfana raised an eyebrow. "The old boss has yet to pay me for the wages that my cat plush servants have put in and as I was the one who created all of them, it only seems fair I see one hundred percent of their paychecks, yes, yes, yes." She said as she adjusted her glasses. "On top of that, he owes me for the multiple magic pins he's been storing his critters in and the money he was deducting from my pay for minor infractions like a fool." Daphne continued as the last word out her mouth caused Alfana's eyes to widen.
"Gee... It's almost like you lack self-awareness." Camilla commented as Daphne turned to look at her.
"Hey, I just want what's owed to me. The old boss man made his fair share of completely unwise decisions like a moron and one of them was taking my assistance for granted by reducing me to low quality meager work like helping to tend the bar for tips." Daphne said with a cocky smile on her face as Camilla and Daphne failed to notice Alfana reaching for her cane behind the desk.
"...You do realize I bartend here, remember?" Camilla said with a hostile tone.
"Oh, come on, you don't want to piss off the new boss by assaulting her prize assis- ahh!" Daphne said with a nonchalant tone until the sound of gunfire went off with a projectile proceeding to fly past the area between Daphne and Camilla, embedding in the spot above the door to Alfana's office.
Turning their heads slowly, Daphne and Camilla were caught off-guard by the sight of Alfana holding her cane up in its shotgun form and a bit of smoke appearing out of the barrel of the trick weapon. Turning it around, Alfana clicked a button on the side of the folded cane and manually shifted it back to its original form before placing it down on the desk. Meanwhile, the eavesdropping Psycho Circus wizards were all on the floor with their hands on their heads, ducking from the possibility of more gunfire.
"Woops! I appeared to have taken out my cane, loaded it with bullet balls instead of beanbag rounds, morphed it into its shotgun form and fired a round into my door header! Silly me!" Alfana said with a clearly aggravated tone while staring at Daphne.
"Uh!" Daphne muttered as she was now terrified as Alfana leaned forward and clasped her hands on her desk.
"Now, "Daphne," was it?" Alfana said with a threatening tone as Daphne nodded quickly to confirm her name. "Remember what I said earlier today about you keeping your head on if you talked less?" She said with a smile on her face.
"Ye-yes, ma'am! I-I'ma just get back to it! Yes, yes, yes!" Daphne said as she quickly ran towards the door and rushed out of the room, passing all of the members that were listening in while leaving the door slightly ajar.
"...I like her..." Chester said, referring to Alfana.
"She's got a sense of authority, that much I agree with." Gigantia commented.
"Shhhh..." Pietro muttered, shushing everyone.
"Wasn't expecting that..." Camilla said towards Alfana. "I think Daphne didn't realize Bernard is Alfana's son..." She thought.
"He might be a moody stick in the mud, but I won't tolerate anyone insulting my son in front of me." Alfana thought with a bothered look on her face before softening it upon locking eyes with Camilla once more. "You were saying before we were rudely interrupted?" She said.
"Oh uhhhh, right. I can't believe you got rid of Bernard!" Camilla said as she went back to arguing with the new manager. "Do you have any sense!?" She questioned as Alfana sat back in her chair.
"Obviously I have sense, I wouldn't have removed him from his position if I didn't." Alfana replied as Camilla looked at her in disbelief.
"What the hell does that even mean?!" Camilla exclaimed in frustration.
"When me and my son were in Barney's office talking, me and Barney came to the conclusion that Bernard is currently not the right kind of the person who should be in charge of operations here. We came to an agreement after assessing some things." Alfana said with a calm voice.
"How can you say that with a straight face?!" Camilla questioned.
"...I... Just did?" Alfana thought with a raised eyebrow as she continued to look at her son's girlfriend and fellow guild wizard.
"What were the reasons you said were enough cause to throw him out?" Camilla asked as Alfana sighed in response.
"First, his responsibility management." Alfana said as she raised a finger. "When this new guildhall tent was put up, Pietro told me that he, Marlene, and the conjoined twins were in charge of certain areas in the guild, correct? So as to lighten Bernard's workload?" She asked as Camilla looked at her.
"This new guildhall was based on his own designs..." Camilla thought as the groups outside the room begun to converse with one another.
"...I said I would handle inventory checks from now, Nole and Andy would work the bathhouse, and Marlene would handle the infirmary." Pietro quietly said as the others looked at him.
"We handled it for a few days but then Bernard would show up and take care of everything before we could get started." Andy said as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Not like I'm complaining, I didn't want to clean a whole washroom..." Nole said with a lack of enthusiasm as his twin glared at him briefly before raising his arm and slapping his conjoined brother. "Ow!" He said in pain.
"Marlene?" Gigantia said towards the lizard-like girl.
"I would handle when people got injured but more often than not, Bernard would take care of my supplies. I was expecting to have to deal with that, but he basically would take the responsibility out of my hands." Marlene explained.
"That's similar to what happened with me." Pietro said, catching everyone's attention. "I told Lil' Bern that from now on, he should leave at least a third of the inventory related work to me and a third to that obnoxious ex-personal assistant of his." He continued. "...But I guess "old habits die hard."' Pietro thought.
"With all of these other members in the guild to turn to, he still chose to willingly put the hassle entirely on himself, plucking away their roles. Some would find that worthy of merit to take that much on themselves... Given his health issues and general apathy towards trusting others to handle things, I thought otherwise." Alfana said as she looked at Camilla, who silently looked at her with her arms folded. "Secondly, let's discuss the other "employees" in this guild. You for example." She said as Camilla's eyes widened.
"What about "me?"' Camilla thought with a raised eyebrow.
"What's your hours and general work week?" Alfana asked as she crossed her legs under her robe.
"I wake up and get ready to work a little before nine and then I don't leave until Bernard leaves... Usually." Camilla said in response to the question.
"And based on our guild master, there are times you don't leave the guild until, what? Ten? Eleven o'clock at night?" Alfana said, continuing to prod Camilla for information. "Are you actually okay with being in this guildhall for over half a day every single day of the week?" She asked.
"It's not as big of an issue for me as you might think..." Camilla replied with a serious tone in her voice. "I'm an S-class wizard, I run the security staff, and I tend bar, I handle a lot of responsibilities just like Bernard. We close up early every now and then for a date night but it's not like it's a problem for me to have to wait until his neurotic ass gets everything done..." She thought.
"I'm saying this from a point of concern; you shouldn't be okay with that." Alfana said with an earnest voice. "Everyone in this guild, who works for the guild directly, deserves a day off that they've earned. And judging by Bernard's management style that's a mishmash of working himself to the bone and then making everyone else do nothing but practice their routines and you being the only one he gives a pass to on the "I can do things without you taking away the work" criterion... It's definitely not fair at all." She explained further as Camilla winced.
"Look, I know it's not perfect but we're not just a simple wizard guild where everyone just drinks all day and gets loaded with requests." Camilla said in defense of her boyfriend.
"Correct. We're not." Alfana said with half-closed eyes. "You probably won't get the answer right, but what do you think Psycho Circus is to me, specifically?" She asked as Camilla looked at her with confusion.
"...I don't know, an entertainment group?" Camilla thought, unsure of how to answer and silently shrugging in response to the question.
"Psycho Circus can be viewed as wizard guild. It can be viewed as a "freak show" by some even. It can even be viewed as an entertainment group but to me, at its core... This guild is a family business." Alfana said, giving her opinion as Camilla quietly looked at her. "And "family businesses" are built on shared experiences, where every setback is a chance to grow stronger together." She said as she stood up from her chair. "What does that mean combined with all of the criticisms I have with him currently running this guild?" Alfana asked.
"...You fired him from his job because he won't reach out to anyone else to help him run this place..." Camilla said as she locked eyes with Alfana. "You included..." She thought.
"At the end of it all, the reason we fired Bernard is for one major reason: he's selfish." Alfana stated as Camilla's eyes widened. "He wasted his childhood spending every single day working inside this guild as the custodian, the show organizer, the ringmaster for a period, and as his parents, we allowed him to because we thought he was "learning" what's important about running a guild and that this is a "group" project, not a solo one." She continued with a serious tone in her voice. "Instead, he decided to force everyone to take a backseat to his own self-pity over the rock in his chest and then abandoned the guild when at any second, there was always someone ready and willing there to help him do the work... But nope, just "leave it to Bernard."' Alfana said while pointing at Camilla then at herself and then spinning her finger around to signify the whole guild.
"...She's right, you know." Chester said as the group of eavesdroppers turned towards him.
"They're talking about selfishness, you're one to talk, Chester..." Marlene said with furrowed brows.
"Am I?" Chester replied bluntly to the surprise of everyone. "When I joined this guild after the beanie wearing douchebag left, I worked my ass off to get the ringmaster position. I earned the right to give myself a pat on the back. It's also not my fault everyone in this guild was predominantly reliant on a guy with a Lacrima pacemaker to do every little thing." He said in his defense as the eavesdroppers fell quiet.
"It is a bit concerning..." Swan said, speaking up. "We all know about his pacemaker, but we see him all the time trying to clean the guild, organizing the shows and maintaining our practice schedules." She continued.
"I always got the feeling he did it just to be nice." Mary said.
"That's one way to look at it." Chester said, catching everyone's attention once again.
"But in another way, you could say he was doing it to absentmindedly prove something that he didn't have to." Pietro said with a bothered tone. "He doesn't want anyone to think he's as "fragile" as he really is." He said while folding his arms.
"...Dude..." Anatoli said quietly.
"One of the reasons I don't like him." Chester said. "Regardless of whether or not he does a good job at it, why should we all be okay with a guy who refuses help of any kind be in charge?" He stated as everyone fell quiet, all making faces of varying emotional states.
"It might not be as simple as- huh?" Gigantia said until suddenly being caught off by a loud slapping noise, prompting everyone to go back to listening in.
Inside Alfana's office, Camilla had her open right hand raised with a barrier orb around it and had attempted to slap Alfana in the face with it, but Alfana had quickly stopped the S-class head of security with her own right hand, grabbing her wrist. Silent, the two of them quietly started staring each other down before Camilla opened her mouth to speak.
"...Where do you get off in acting like you made the right call?" Camilla said with a confrontational tone. "Isn't it just as "selfish" just to push him out and taking away something he cared about?" She said while pulling her hand out of Alfana's grasp.
"You know, a part of him probably agreed with me and Barney." Alfana said with a similar confrontational tone. "After I told him that we didn't want him to run the guild because of the way he manages it, he didn't even yell or scream like he normally does." She said as she reached for her cane on the desk.
"Obviously because he was in shock that someone who claims to "love" him would be so cruel as to kick him to the curb." Camilla said with spite in her voice.
"We didn't-... Grrrr..." Alfana said with a loud voice before stopping herself to groan in frustration. "...You know what... You're pretty heated right now, aren't you?... Same goes for me..." She said while grabbing the handle of her cane. "...And I don't have to see your future to tell that you want to form a fist and try to strike at me with full force... Correct?" Alfana said with serious eyes and a smile filled with anger appeared on her face.
"...I hate how accurate you are..." Camilla thought as she quietly glared at her boyfriend's mother.
"Barney!" Alfana said loudly towards the ceiling to Camilla's surprise. "Give us an arena!" She requested.
Suddenly, a magic circle appeared on the wall of Alfana's office as a doorway had appeared with the guild master of Psycho Circus emerging from it.
"Ladies! It's time... For a cat fight!" Barnum said with a smile as he waved his cane like a magic wand.
With a magic circle forming beneath both of their feet, Camilla made a surprised expression as she and Alfana disappeared into thin air. Running towards the door to her office, Barnum looked at everyone as the group of eavesdroppers had spotted their ever comical and short statured guild master.
"Everyone! To the main room! We have a sight to behold!" Barnum exclaimed with a wide smile on his face.
The magic circle that caused Alfana and Camilla to disappear had formed in the center of the main area of the Psycho Circus guildhall as the S-class head of security and the show managing fortune teller had appeared, startling the clown and acrobat members of the guild. Suddenly, as Camilla looked around in bewilderment, all of the stools and tables begun to levitate into the air slightly and formed a circle space for the two of them to fight. Hearing the cluttering noise, the group of wizards that were trying to listen in earlier rushed down the stairs and stood behind the newly formed barricades made from the tables and stools.
"What the heck is this?!" Anatoli exclaimed in surprise.
"It's a makeshift arena I made." Barnum said as he pulled up a chair for himself, holding a bucket of popcorn. "Now shut up, my wife is about to fight Camilla!" He said while bouncing up and down in his chair.
"What?!" Kawazu exclaimed in surprise as the lights went out and a spotlight appeared over the arena.
Reaching her right arm upward, Alfana grabbed the top of her robe and removed it in one pull, revealing her businesswoman-like combat attire underneath. Raising her cane with one hand on the handle and the other on the sheathe part, Alfana clicked a button that let loose a spring noise and proceeded to pull the handle, revealing a dagger blade and tossing away the sheathe.
"She's fighting me with a knife... Close quarters... My kind of fight actually." Camilla said as a smirk briefly appeared on her face as she clenched her fists and barrier orbs appeared around them.
"We're both angry in our own ways... So, the only way we can quell this feeling is to let it all out... And considering you can cover yourself in layers of magic for protection, I can fight you with a blade with no problem..." Alfana thought as she made a combat pose with her knife raised in her right hand and her left hand set up like it was grasping the air.
"Master Barnum, are you okay with this?" Chester asked towards the guild master.
"These two just need to let loose some steam." Barnum said with a smirk as he started munching on his popcorn.
Rushing forward at Camilla, Alfana attempted to stab her in the sternum with her knife, prompting Camilla to sidestep out of the way to dodge. Seeing an opportunity to strike, Camilla raised her leg backwards for a kick as Alfana shifted her weight to sidestep out of the way as well.
"Hyia!" Alfana exclaimed as she raised her knife in the direction of Camilla's face as Camilla lifted her right arm to block it by connecting with Alfana's arm.
"Duh!" Camilla grunted in surprise before grabbing Alfana's dagger wielding hand and forced it downward to leave her open for a hit.
Lifting her left hand for a strike, Camilla attempted to punch the fortune telling show manager but was also met with a block by Alfana, who used her free hand to grab Camilla's wrist to stop her approaching fist. Both applying force, the two women pushed each other off before Alfana attempted another forward stab.
"Whoa!" Camilla shouted as she ducked with Alfana running past her. "Now she's behind- huh?!" She thought as she turned around but to her surprise, Alfana was not in her blind spot as she suspected.
"...Yoohoo..." Alfana quietly said as Camilla heard her voice coming from behind her, prompting Camilla to reflexively cover herself in a barrier layer for protection.
Another attempt at hitting her with the blade, Alfana thrust her knife at the back of Camilla's skull, but the S-class head of security nimbly avoided the attack by shifting her head and slightly bending to the side, Alfana's blade and arm now hanging over her shoulder. Seeing an opportunity for another attack, Alfana lifted her right arm and attempted a slash with her dagger as Camilla rolled out of the way with there now being a few feet of distance between the two women.
"Whoa!" A male clown Psycho Circus member said with an impressed tone.
"That was cool!" A female acrobat Psycho Circus member said.
"Kick her ass, Camilla!" A female clown Psycho Circus member exclaimed.
"Show us what you got, Alfana!" A male acrobat Psycho Circus member screamed.
"The other members seem to be picking sides..." Pietro said quietly.
"Lady O is very skilled..." Anatoli said with a worried tone.
"Her Barrier Magic will keep her from getting killed but still, does Alfana need to fight with such ferocity...?" Marlene said defensively.
"First rule of a good "fight club," everyone." Barnum said. "Have fun and go wild." He said with a smile on his face.
'"I thought it wasn't to ever talk about a fight club...?"' The guildmembers who were eavesdropping earlier all thought in bewildered unison.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Hemlock, 3:08 p.m. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
With the rain still coming down hard throughout the town, Baurs the Earth Elemental stood in an alleyway as the water fell all over her large body.
"Mr. Bernard. Are you feeling better?" Baurs said telepathically to no one around her.
"Not really..." The disembodied voice of Bernard said in response as Corvus and Vulp approached the Earth Elemental.
"Got an umbrella for you, kid." Corvus said while Vulp held an open umbrella in his tail.
Opening her mouth, Bernard revealed himself to have been laying inside of Baur's hollow stone body as the Celestial Spirits looked at his depressing face. Reaching out of the Elementals mouth, Bernard grabbed the umbrella and crawled out of her large body, standing up with the umbrella blocking the rain with Corvus and Vulp getting under it with him.
"You know, a part of me rescinds ever thinking your mom was kinda hot." Corvus said as he looked up at Bernard. "But only partly..." The crow thought.
"Whatever..." Bernard said with a headshake as Vulp nudged the top of his head against Bernards knee in a comforting manner. "Down, boy..." He said as he bent down slightly and petted Vulp on the head.
"Soooo...?" Corvus asked as Bernard lifted up his hand towards Baurs, signaling for her to turn back into her bracelet form. "What do we do now?" The crow asked as Baurs transformed and Bernard picked up her bracelet form off the ground.
"I'm still figuring that out... I never expected this situation to happen to me." Bernard replied with a tired voice.
"Well, first things first, we need to get out of this rain." Corvus said as Bernard and Vulp nodded with the trio slowly walking under the umbrella out of the alley.
Before the trio could walk down the street, however, a hard gust of wind blew through the air with enough force that it caused the umbrella to fly straight out of Bernard's hand. A look of disbelief on their faces, Corvus started flapping his wings to try and go after it until the sound of thunder rang out through the town, prompting the crow Celestial Spirit to turn around and fly back toward his magical benefactor, landing on the ground.
"Forget it..." Bernard said as he, Corvus and Vulp proceeded to walk down the street with the rain continuing to land on them.
"Where we headed?" Corvus asked with his wings overhead as Vulp looked at Bernard for an answer while stretching his tail over himself.
"...My happy place..." Bernard said as he had his hands over his head to try and block the rainfall.
"Kiernan's Pastries..." Corvus thought as he looked at Vulp, the two Celestial Spirits now knowing their destination.
After several minutes of walking in the rain, the beanie sporting wizard and his beastly allies had arrived outside of Bernard's favorite pastry shop with him, Corvus and Vulp standing under a small awning in front of the building. Before stepping inside, Bernard took off his beanie and started to wring it as Corvus and Vulp shook themselves to get rid of the water all over their bodies.
"Oh!" The small elderly woman in a baker's outfit said as she noticed a familiar young man outside her place of business. "Bernard!" She said as Bernard and his beastly allies walked in.
"Hey, Mrs. Kiernan." Bernard said with a plain tone as he approached the counter.
"How're you doing, old-timer?" Corvus said, greeting the baker.
"Hello, Corvus. Hello, Vulp." Mrs. Kiernan said, saying hello to the Celestial Spirits. "Look at that weather out there." She said as she pointed out the window.
"Yeah, it's raining cats and dogs out there." Bernard said with a headshake. "A crap day deserves crap weather..." He thought while scratching his face.
"Wouldn't that be an answer to your animal problem? Hehe." Corvus joked as Bernard looked at the crow with a bothered gaze for a brief moment.
"Bit too much "cat and dog" out there... Speaking of which, I don't even think it matters anymore if I make an animal show... What with me being no longer being in charge of anything at the guild..." Bernard thought as he looked outside. "I'll have a chocolate chip scone." He said as Mrs. Kiernan grabbed what he requested.
"Just that? Normally you get half a dozen cookies and brownies alongside it." Corvus commented as he flapped his wings and perched on a chair in front of a table in the bakery.
"He's right, this is small for you normally." Mrs. Kiernan said with a tone of concern.
"...Don't worry about it. I might be back in a few minutes." Bernard said with an apathetic voice as he took his scone and walked over to join Corvus as he pulled two chairs out, one for him and one for Vulp.
"Well, we're here... Now what?" Corvus asked as Bernard sat down and placed his scone on a napkin, Vulp hopping onto the chair next to his.
"Now... I try and think..." Bernard said as he stared at his snack.
"...You aren't thinking of leaving town again, are you?" Corvus asked as Vulp looked at his owner.
"Not happening..." Bernard said while pulling off a piece of his pastry.
"Good, because you know what-" Corvus said until Bernard cut him off.
"I already know what you're going to say and I'm not leaving town..." Bernard replied with a serious look in his eyes as he looked at Corvus and then Vulp. "After everything I've been through with them when I got back... I leave again; the damage would be irreparable." He thought as he started picking apart the piece of scone he had in his hand, turning it into crumbs that fell onto the napkin without eating it.
"...Good." Corvus said with a sincere tone as Bernard just sighed.
"And besides..." Bernard said as he reached down and removed his shoe and sock, revealing his guild logo was still on the bottom of his foot. "I'm not excommunicated from the guild..." He said with a frustrated voice.
"Well, you're still a member. That's still a positive." Corvus said as Vulp nodded in agreement as Mrs. Kiernan overheard the groups conversation while Bernard was putting his sock and shoe back on.
"Is everything okay over at Psycho Circus?" Mrs. Kiernan asked as Bernard turned his head towards her.
"Ye-yeah, things are fi-..." Bernard said until he suddenly stopped talking as a thought appeared in his head. "Actually... Can I ask you something?" He said as he stood up from his seat and walked over to the counter.
"Kid?" Corvus said as he and Vulp raised an eyebrow at him.
"Of course." Mrs. Kiernan said, allowing Bernard to ask his question.
"I learned some information earlier today about some things my dad is involved in... Are you...?" Bernard said as he pointed at the ceiling of the bakery while not directly mentioning his father's activities in town.
"Are you referring to his handouts?" Mrs. Kiernan asked.
"So, she's aware..." Bernard thought. "You wouldn't happen to be one of the people who has a debt with my dad, are you?" He asked as the Celestial Spirits looked at the elderly baker.
"Me? No, everything here was my own doing and started from nothing." Mrs. Kiernan said with a confident smile as Bernard breathed a sigh of relief.
"Okay... That's good to know." Bernard said as he looked away briefly.
"Why do you ask?" Mrs. Kiernan said out of curiosity.
"A part of me was worried that you might have always been nice to me because of my father having some money tied into your place." Bernard said with a slightly embarrassed tone. "Sorry, it was a dumb question." He apologized.
"It's no trouble. You've always been coming in and buying my goods. I've always been appreciative of the fact you've enjoyed my pastries." Mrs. Kiernan said as Bernard cracked a small smile in response.
"Thanks for that..." Bernard thought.
"Though, I do know of a few shops in town that either have been paying rent or directly got a handout from Master Barnum." Mrs. Kiernan said as Bernard and the Celestial Spirits looked at her with interest. "There's probably more than the ones I know of, but I know Mr. Pavernact who has that ramen shop down the road and Mr. Nygmus who's from that crafting village both have received money from your father." She explained as Bernard looked at his Celestial Spirits.
"...Okay..." Bernard said in response as a thought formed in his head. "I'm going to go, Mrs. Kiernan, what do I owe for the-" He said until Mrs. Kiernan raised a hand to cut him off.
"You come here all the time, consider that on the house." Mrs. Kiernan said as she pointed at the scone.
"...Thank you." Bernard said with a smile on his face as he motioned for his pets to follow him.
"We're heading somewhere else now?" Corvus asked.
"Yeah, up the road to that ramen shop. I have something I want to do..." Bernard said as he opened the door and started running through the rain with the Celestial Spirits following behind him.
Left alone, Mrs. Kiernan looked over at the table and noticed the scone was uneaten.
"Didn't want you wasting your money on something you didn't even eat." Mrs. Kiernan said with a headshake and a smirk on her face.
You know, it would actually be appropriate to call Camilla vs Alfana a "cat fight" when you consider some of their antics. With Bernard out and Alfana in as manager of the guild, things are now tense as hell with the members having to adjust from the sudden upheaval of the leadership. Camilla, however, has taken a stand against the decision and after an argument with the fortune telling mother of her boyfriend, the two of them seem to be looking to hash thing out the old-fashioned way: with a fight in front of an audience of Psycho Circus members! Meanwhile, our somewhat depressed beanie sporting wizard, is out in the rain and has taken to snacks to calm himself while also asking around about his family's dealings in town with the businesses that have money from his dad. What is Bernard prepared to do with the knowledge of at least two places in town that are tied to his father? Who will win the battle of Alfana vs Camilla? Find out next time on Menagerie II!
Author's Note: (Originally, I didn't plan for a fight scene to be added in, but I felt like we could use it after teasing those additional weapons in the cane lol)