“So, exactly what kind of people are we looking for?”
Aidan asked, figuring there was nothing wrong with getting some information beforehand.
“As you know, I sent Nicky and her party down to the adventurer’s guild to pick up on anyone that would be working with us for the defense of the city,” Nina answered. “Using the fame of the Wise Guys, it’s likely that they’ll come around to the idea that an attack would be coming.”
“Okay…” Aidan nodded. “That sounds good, right? So why are we still looking for more people?”
“That brings me to the main point. Adventurers are finicky at best, and paranoid at worst. In the end, it’s better to find some more solid personnel to be on our side when the moment comes.”
Aidan nodded in understanding, crossing his arms in thought. “Fair point. So who are we looking for?”
He felt like he kept asking the same question over and over, which finally got Nina to get around to answering the question.
“We’re going to the Chainlords and see if we can get some slaves.”
That immediately got Aidan dumbfounded, his brows raised in tandem to her words. It looked like that was the reason why Nina took a while to explain before eventually answering.
He knew that slavery was a thing, and that the Chainlords was a gang like the Red Riot that dealt primarily with slavery. Whether they did so under legal loopholes or went as far as trafficking people, he wasn’t sure. But suddenly getting a slave didn’t feel right to him. And he wasn’t the only one.
“What?” Haley spoke up, coming up from behind Aidan. She looked just as flummoxed, if not outright outraged, at her response. “You’re kidding me? Isn’t it bad enough that you got both me and Aidan down? You’re planning on getting more slaves?”
“Being under a bound contract is different from being an official slave,” Nina simply answered. “In fact, you should be lucky that you have as much freedom as you do.”
“But that’s… are you really so desperate to get somebody else under the collar like that? Aidan should be enough to deal with whatever that’s going to happen. You were there when we tackled the dungeon together!”
“Regardless of his outstanding performance, this isn’t something I would change my stance on. And I suggest you understand your own place before you speak any more than this, Haley.”
Nina’s eyes thinned at her, causing Haley to immediately falter and step back. Aidan comforted the poor girl, knowing that her heart was just in the right place.
“It’s okay, Haley,” Aidan said. “It’s not like she’s gonna have them stuck in a kennel or something. I’m pretty sure it’s just a temporary thing, right?”
Aidan said, directing his gaze to Nina, or rather, to her soul. The reason why she was hesitant on pulling out the slave word and her adamance on not speaking any further on it was obvious. Her soul basically said that the idea itself was offensive, but she was forcing herself to go through with it.
It was just one of those moments in one’s life where you had no other choice but to do the things you’re not proud of in order to survive. Aidan did exactly that when he took out those two guards so long ago, and to the gang members that were about to kill them during their first dungeon run.
Though anyone with eyes could tell that Nina was more than happy to effectively force someone under contract and make them her slaves in all but name. But he did read up on how contracts work, and those under a contract do have some actual freedom, while those in slavery had no freedom whatsoever. They couldn’t even eat or sleep without their owners saying so, so perhaps there really was a difference. A small difference, but a difference.
He kept patting Haley’s back, offering a smile to calm her down. Despite that, Haley still looked distraught.
“You’re actually okay with this?” She asked him this time. “Is this attack so bad that we need to have slaves around now?”
“I don’t think anyone here is a fan of it,” Aidan said, implying that even Nina wasn’t into this despite her track record. “But I do agree that we’ll need more feet on the ground if we want to survive. You didn’t see it Haley, but that vision scared me to the point of pushing me to raise my level. Even now, I still don’t think it’s enough.”
“Wait… you’re serious?” Haley lowered her voice, her eyes widened. “Even when you’re this strong?”
“I told Nina this, and that’s why she’s going this far. It’s all to protect the city and everyone in it,” Aidan said. Once that was clear, Haley finally decided to drop the matter as her shoulders slumped.
Just then, the door opened up from the front to show Van returning. When he looked at the group and sensed the mood, he frowned.
“What’s going on?”
Aidan wasn’t sure whether Van shared the same sentiment as Haley, and he knew that Nina didn’t want to go through this song and dance again either.
“We’re just discussing our next steps for the attack. Van, you mind looking over the store with Haley? Me and Nina are gonna head out and do some business.”
“Uhh, yeah, sure, no problem,” Van nodded. “What’re you planning on?”
“Looking for more people. You know how it is. Haley’ll fill you in on the rest.”
Aidan moved forward, patting Van on the shoulder and greeted him before he and Nina walked together to the entrance. Once they left, Aidan already sensed Haley beginning to explain what they were talking about, and just as he suspected, the vibrations coming from Van’s soul showed no sign of approval.
“I guess I should thank you for that,” Nina suddenly said. “You know already, but they’re still not receptive around me.”
“You don’t tend to show you have a good side around anybody,” Aidan answered. “They just don’t know you as well as I do.”
“You barely know anything about me,” Nina said, actually tilting her head at him. “What makes you so sure?”
“I can tell,” Aidan answered. “I can sense more than just knowing when somebody lies or not.”
“I’m not sure if I’m a big fan of you knowing me that deeply.”
“Well, it’s a good thing I’m under your payroll, isn’t it?”
Aidan was still doing exactly as Nina wished him to do, but that didn’t mean she had absolute control over his will. And despite knowing that, Nina seemed adequately fine with it, her soul relaxing despite him getting cheeky with her.
If he were to say anything about her character, it was that her soul sang in a sharp high-rising rock song, but when you get over that, you hear a soothing melody that hits you deep in your core. Not a totally peaceful song, but more of a techno beat that he really got behind. He wouldn’t be surprised at all if somebody couldn’t handle the first part of the song, but once you hear the rest, they’ll learn that she wasn’t actually a bad person.
She did a lot of bad things, but she didn’t strike him as someone truly reprehensible.
“I get that we’re doing this, but where are we heading?”
“First, we need to find a place where they actually sell the slaves,” Nina said, already dressed in her usual cloak. She never once bothered to ask for the Windwalker Cloak back, so Aidan went ahead and pulled it out to wear it himself. He had an inkling that he might need it to cover himself for this occasion.
“Can’t we just go to these Chainlords and, like, buy some?”
“Unfortunately I’m not very popular,” Nina smiled, knowing full well that her reputation preceded her. “We’re going to have to go the roundabout way of it.”
“Ah, and that’s where I come in.”
“As expected of my assistant.”
“Wait, so I got upgraded from bodyguard to assistant?”
“After seeing your recent work, I believe it’s only to be expected. You’ll have many positions to fulfill, but I’m assuming you’re fine with that?”
“As long as it doesn’t get me killed,” Aidan smirked. “So what’s the plan?”
“Same as always,” Nina smiled. “We make the first move and head to the Grim Corner.”
“Aah, shit. That place again, huh?”
“Where else are you going to find a bunch of backstabbing, soulless wretches that trade slaves?”
“Ahh… good point.”
He really should’ve figured that one out himself. Still, he mentally prepared himself for the visit to the Grim Corner as they made their way there.
…..
Honestly, Nicky thought that she would have an easy time the moment they returned to the city after their little escapade into the dungeon.
Sure, being forced to sign up under the infamous Nina Alcatroz wasn’t part of the plans, but she always liked to see things in a positive light, to see the silver lining beneath the tumultuous dark clouds.
And that was none other than that absolute monster known as Aidan. Even now, despite her years working as an adventurer, she had never seen anyone work quite like he did.
After returning to Forontia, she did as she was told to do by Nina. Being told that the city would be under attack by some crazed entity took a bit of convincing, but seeing how it came from Aidan who had a vision about it, she couldn’t refute it any longer. And despite her infamous tales, Nina seemed more than willing to defend the city from its destructive fate.
She was tasked to find any willing adventurer party to help defend the city when the time came for the attack. Since it was unknown exactly when it would attack, that would mean she needed to make sure no other party would leave the city for any reason, at least for a long time.
Which was a quest in and of itself. To tell able-bodied adventurers to stay behind in case a random attack would arrive is like telling them to live entirely on bread and water, which is basically the same thing as their income relied on going on long-tour quests. Some have debts to pay as well, so trying to convince them is equal to forcing them to starve for who knows how long.
Thanks to that, Nicky had been hard at work at the guild, talking to as many of her contacts and fellow adventurers to try and get them to stay for the foreseeable future. They needed as many fighters as possible for the eventual attack of many monsters, but actually saying it like that to others was bound to make her seem like she lost her mind.
Thankfully, or rather unfortunately, Nina knew that the Wise Guys were a serious party dedicated to gaining power by constantly going to the dungeon. They were the sort to risk facing gang members on a constant basis for the sake of improving themselves, which spoke volumes of their tenacity. Their reputation preceded them, and having none other than Ander who was well known around the parts as having a powerful combat talent was also a boon on Nicky’s part.
Still, it was tough going. Some scoffed at her, while others ignored her entirely. She couldn’t outright say that an attack was going to come, but instead subtly tell them that it was in their best interest to stay around for a while, perhaps around a month or so.
Perhaps the month-long stay might have been too much. But Aidan had received that vision more than a few weeks ago, and the attack still hadn’t arrived. She wasn’t actually sure on what the timeline was, so it added more stress to the pile.
“Any luck?”
Nicky raised her head from being cuddled in her arms on the table, seeing Bill bringing in the sweet nectar from the bar, a pitcher of the sweetest ale she ever drank from. She grabbed for it like it was her precious treasure and drank gulps of it before answering Bill’s question.
“What do you think?”
“I get ya,” Bill sighed. “I’m not having a good time either. And you know Ander–he’s just chilling like usual.”
“Well, speaking’s not exactly his strong suit,” Nicky wiped the suds off her lips before continuing. “Actually, it’s better that he doesn’t. He might as well blab about the threat and think nobody would question him on it.”
“Yeah, he’s living in a whole other realm,” Bill chuckled softly. “But seriously though, what do we do? I think we pretty much talked to everyone we can talk to in this place. Do we expand? Go to other taverns or inns?”
“Anymore and people are going to start avoiding us,” Nicky groaned, leaving her half-empty pitcher of ale alone for a bit. “Would you want to keep talking to a party saying we need to stay?”
“Yeah, definitely not,” Bill shook his head vehemently. “I would start thinking they got something planned and get rich quick while we get scammed.”
“That’s the problem,” Nicky let out another heavy sigh. “Everyone’s only out for themselves.”
“I mean, we kinda are too.”
“Yeah, but at least we know what’s coming,” Nicky answered quickly. “Not like anyone would want Forontia erased from the map.”
“On that note,” Bill asked carefully. “Can we really trust that info? I mean, it is coming from Nina of all people. Her name alone is becoming legendary even among the normal folks around these parts. Especially since the gangs are often looking for her because of what she did to them.”
Nicky knew what Bill was talking about. For the past few days, she had heard rumors about Red Riot and the Chainlords going around searching for Nina. Apparently she did something so foul to them that they were going all in on finding her. It wasn’t like Nicky was afraid of them, and she was more than pleased to find out that a young woman like Nina managed to get even the notorious gangs up in a tizzy as a fellow opportunist.
But at some point, if you start flying too close to the sun, you’re bound to get burned. And of course, that would soon start affecting everyone else close to her as well.
She got a bit worried for both Haley and Van. Unlike that crazy bodyguard of hers, those two seem like ordinary people forced to be with her. Especially Haley. Even putting aside her amazing talent, she didn’t want such a cutie-patootie to get harmed by those vicious guys. Something about her made her sisterly instinct kick in, something that she was sure Haley’s brother Van would know all about.
“I don’t really trust Nina, but Aidan’s another story,” Nicky answered. “You’ve seen what he did. What he can do. And he said so himself.”
“What if he’s just following Nina’s plan?” Bill asked a rather important question.
“Let’s say the two of them are planning something,” Nicky suggested. “Considering that they forced us to be on their team, we stand to gain nothing if we go against them. If they want us to participate in this scheme of theirs, we can at least get something out of it. And we already did. Quite a lot, actually.”
“I know, I know,” Bill nodded. “I just can’t shake off this feeling that something’s wrong.”
At that moment, Ander came by to their table. She noticed quickly that he looked rather serious, almost like he was back out in the field with his blade. Whenever he had that kind of expression, rather than the dopey look he usually had when he got nothing in his head outside of combat, her nerves would tense up.
“Ander? What’s up?”
“I heard something interesting,” Ander said, his voice low but assertive. The loud noise of the guild around them was constantly overlapping, but Nicky kept her ears sharpened for his words. “Apparently some Red Riot guys are planning something.”
“Planning what?” Nicky asked, her brows thinning.
“I don’t know. That’s what everyone keeps talking about,” Ander answered regretfully. “I tried to find out more, but nobody seemed eager to tell me.”
“We’re talking about Red Riot here,” Bill said. “They’re a bunch of crooks, but they got some strong folks in there.”
“And considering that all we’re hearing so far is them having a problem with Nina…”
Nicky eventually said, the three turning silent as the noise around them kept overlapping.
Nicky wasn’t sure about the situation, but one thing was clear–she wouldn’t like what this plan the Red Riot was cooking up. Slamming the table, she called out.
“We’re moving,” Nicky said, and the two replied with quick nods without hesitation.
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