after leaving behind Russell and the sightly flustered Alice and saying goodby to Blue Phoenix, Dax found himself without something to waste time on
(well what to do now? ICI time to daybreak?)
(OPERATION COMMENCES IN APPROXIMATELY 9 HOURS)
"well shit, maybe I should have stayed and defended Alice, her reaction was cute though"
observing the people of Black Hollow that seemed busy as the sun was slowly setting behind the outer wall. after walking around the city for about half an hour, Dax finally found something to entertain himself with.
"what the fuck are you looking at, huh!!?"
"yeah keep walking there's nothing here for you!"
Dax found himself in a leisure district witnessing an assault. what appeared to be two lowly ranked hunters were assaulting a young looking barmaid in a back alley. the barmaid looked like she was about 15 years old and wore a robust looking brown shirt and skirt with a white apron that was slightly torn. her red hair was done in a slightly messy ponytail and her freckled face and green eyes showed only fear, against her attackers and Dax.
(racism against demonkins seems deeply rooted in this city, but I might as well help her since I'm bored)
"is it normal in this city to be that kind of human garbage or you guys just spacial?"
"is this demon piece of shit actually insulting us!?"
"well it might just be your intelligence, for now go to sleep"
rushing forward Dax hit the closet hunter with the hilt of his sword, crushing his nose and sending him flying into the ally and hit a wall with a dull and wet sound. in the same breath, he kicked the other hunter in the shin, completely shattering the bone and before he even screamed in pain, Dax hit him in the head with an open fist, giving him an extreme concussion and he collapsed on the spot.
(EXTREME MUSCLE DECAY DETECTED.)
(yeah I detected that too, am I bleeding somewhere?)
(NEGATIVE.)
"huh?"
"sorry for showing you such a cruel spectacle, are you okay miss?"
after the barmaid had accepted Dax's helping hand and getting up from the ground, she finally seemed to catch up on what had happened
"ehhhh!? what happened?"
"first I send that piece of filth flying and then I hit that guy and put him to sleep. more importantly, are you okay miss?"
"y-yeah I'm okay… wait you're a demon! don't kill me please!"
(not this shit again…)
"miss I won't hurt you so calm down, now are you okay? can you show me the way to your place of work?"
"get away from me!"
"that I won't do"
suddenly turning serious Dax grabbed her hand, and received a volley of punches and kicks from the now frightened barmaid
"miss, calm down, ah, douche move don't go for the balls! calm down I need to make sure you're safe before I leave"
after about a minute of getting punched and kicked repeatedly for about a minute, Dax grabbed the flustered barmaids other hand before lowering his head to make direct eye contact with the barmaid, before giving a warm smile.
"you're really great at fighting miss, now I don't want to hurt you, but I need to make sure you're safe so where do you work? or do you know any place nearby that you can stay?"
finally, the barmaid seemed to be calming down as she collapsed on her knees, exhausted after trying to get Dax away from her. letting go of her hands and sitting down in front of her Dax gave a warm smile as he slowly started patting her head as she started crying, a valid response from someone how almost was assaulted. wiping her tears away she once again got flustered as her face bloomed in full red.
"I-I'm sorry I hit you! thanks for saving me!!"
"you're finally calm, now please let me escort you to a safe place miss, here grab my hand"
after grabbing Dax's hand the barmaid briefly tried to stand up, but she couldn't seem to put strength into her legs
"please help me"
after briefly considering teasing the lovely red flower that now had bloomed completely while covering her face in shame and seemingly letting steam out her red ears, Dax instead picked her up her curled up body with great care.
"where to my princess?"
"uuuuu please don't call me that"
"but my princess, you never gave me your name! what is this lowly knight Dax else supposed to call you?"
"my name is Rose! so please don't call me princess, I'm not pretty enough to be one anyway"
(well you are.. but saying that will probably jam her up for a while)
"okay then miss Rose, where might this humble and lowly knight take you?"
"my workplace is around the corner, it's the inn called red boar"
"yeah I walked past that place a few minutes ago, I'll take you there"
"please put me down first"
"now what was it?"
"please put me down I can walk on my own!"
"did you say something Rose?"
"please let me down"
"nope~"
"you demon!"
in the bar of the Red Boar inn the hostess Lillian was slowly getting nervus, her barmaid didn't meet for her shift. Rose had been working with her for a few years, in that time she had learned that although she was a cheerful but a bit of a…. slow child and might have run into some trouble, and while her head was filled with worry the inn was slowly filling with customers, mostly hunters having returned in the evening to fill their bellies with food and beer. some of the older patrons walked directly up to Lillian at the bar and but quickly noticed that she wasn't feeling quite right
"hey Lillian can I get the usual? Lillian are you okay?"
"Rose is missing, could you go look for her?"
"again.. boys! Rose is missing, let's go look for her"
"this is the third time this month, did she get lost around the corner again?"
"yeah she probably just got lost again.. was she really born in this city?"
"I wonder.. well Lillian we'll be right back with her, have some beers ready!"
as the group of what looked to be veteran hunters were about to leave, Rose surprisingly arrived, being carried by a tall demonkin wearing strange clothes
"we have arrived, my lovely princess Rose, you're safe now!"
in a single moment, all eyes in the inn were gathered on the strange demonkin and the unfortunate Rose that had bloomed all the way to her ear tips
"uuuuuuuu"
(ah, i guess that was a bit too far)
quickly makíng his way to what appeared to be the hostess Dax explained the situation in a low voice and handed Rose over to one of the older patrons that carried Rose out to a back room where she could calm down and change her tattered clothes. after handing Rose over, Dax started to leave but was quickly blocked by the older patrons
"can I help you?"
"yeah you can! come and drink with us!!"
"sorry but I recently arrived in this country so I don't have any cash on me at the moment"
"that's fine! it's on the house! and have you eaten yet? if not I make a pretty good shepherds pie if I do say so myself"
(RECOMMENDING SECURING OF SUBSTANCE)
when the hostess offered free food and drinks and ICI also tipped in Dax found it impossible to refuse
"are you sure it's fine?"
"it is yeah, come on sit down and have a drink I'll get you some food!"
after being somewhat forcefully sat down, Dax was quickly served a whole shepherds pie by the strangely grinning bar hostess Lillian
"here you go!"
(what the hell is up with her?)
"thanks for the meal"
picking up his spoon, Dax dug out a large piece of crispy mashed potatoes with a crunchy sound and some of the finely minced lamb meat under that assaulted his nose with smells of herbs and umami in perfect union.
(SCANNING FOR TOXINS, STANDBY..)
not waiting for ICI's toxin screening, Dax quickly took a large bite and was overwhelmed by the harmony between the crispy, smooth and round taste of the mashed potato top and the mix of several herps balancing out the powerful minced lamb meat
"this is fucking great!"
munching down the rest of the pie in record time, Dax impressed Lillian with the sheer fervour that he goofed down the pie
"miss Lillian that was the best meal I had in a hundred years!"
"ara! please don't joke around like that you'll make me blush"
after almost 100 years in cryo sleep being sustained through a tube in his back, Dax wasn't kidding in the slightest, even before his ship had been ambushed he had spent years living (or surviving depending on your inclination) on military rations.
"I wish I was kidding... anyway thanks for the meal"
"enough of this gloomy shit, I'm John, this is Mike and Axel, let's share some stories over a lot of beers!"
"um h-here is a beer for you Dax!"
at some point when Dax had chowed down on the shepherd's pie, Rose had appeared in some new clothes, and she nervously offered Dax a large pint of golden ale.
(INTAKE OF TOXINS IS NOT ADVISED.)
(ICI shut up.)
(INTAKE OF TOX-)
(master mute, 8 hours. registration 044587356420)
"ooh the lovely princess brought this lowly knight provisions! I am eternally grateful please let me kiss your hand!"
"kyaa no!"
after receiving the glass of ale, Dax tried to kiss Rose's hand and received a slap to the face and responded by downing his beer in about 5 seconds
"this beer is awesome! love the balance between hops and barley!"
"you sure can drink lad!"
"a-awesome…"
"are you really a knight?"
"of course!"
Dax quickly kneeled down in front of the sceptical Rose, placing his left hand on his chest
"Dax of the 125th combined ops orbital drop troops from the Galactic Empire, at your service miss Rose"
"Galactic Empire?"
"a place far away from here"
"well can people handle their drink there or are you just the exception?"
"nah I'm just that special, I don't think I ever lost a drinking competition. ever"
"that sure sounds like a challenge! Lillian keep the beers coming, it's on me!"
---
"where the fuck is he!"
in the morning when Alice and Viktor was supposed to meet Dax at the inn Russell had rented for him, the sleep deprived Alice was severely pissed off when she couldn't find him
"Alice calm down please"
"no I fucking won't calm down! first, he left me to be chewed out by Russell and then he's not even at the inn when we come to pick him so. fucking. early. in. the. morning!!"
"I'm sure he just went to the gate a bit ahead of time"
"but he never even came back last night!"
"the host said that yeah…"
Viktor found it increasingly harder to defend Dax
"well let's just go to the gate, okay?"
"fiiiinnnne!"
making their way to the outer gate as the sun was slowly rising, Alice immediately spotted Dax that was sitting square in the middle of the road meditating
"Dax where the hell have you been! DAX! HALLO!!"
Alice immediately went over to Dax and started demanding an explanation, but he didn't seem to respond, that is until a minute later
"good morning Alice, and Viktor too, it's been a while"
"where the fuck have you been all night?"
"I was on a great adventure. first I saved a princess from some thugs, then I took the princess to where castle where I dualed several of her veteran knights all night for her hand in marriage, and after a long and honourable dual I emerged victoriously"
"hey Dax?"
"what"
"can I hit you now?"
[PLEASE PROCEED.]
"with pleasure~!"
channelling mana into her arm and fist with a smile on her face, Alice prepared to give Dax a not so gentle love tap, to the face
[DISABLING COUNTERMEASURES]
"oh shi-"
as expected Dax tried to block the incoming fist, but was betrayed by ICI as it blocked his ability to move. with the result that Dax took Alice's fist right in the face. the result being Dax falling over on his back in pain and
"aw fuck! how is your face that solid!"
Alice also feeling great pain, even though she enhanced her fist enough to normally punch through bricks without issue, Alice felt like she just his a boulder
"what the hell is going on here? Dax are you okay?"
at the same time Blue Phoenix arrived and they all had different reactions, while the tiny white haired mage Laura as expected didn't care at all, Eduard the swordsman visibly flinched and Redmond the large bestkin guardian asked if he was okay
"yeah I'll be fine, Alice you do really pack a punch I'm impressed"
getting up while rubbing his sore cheek, Dax looked around with a confused look
"isn't Russell supposed to bring the supplies?"
"ah Russell already gave me and Alice our supplies yesterday, Blue Phoenix should have received there's this morning"
"yeah I have them here"
Redmond showed that he was indeed carrying a robust looking backpack
"okay. Viktor, Alice, do you have yours?"
"yeah"
"of course I do, are you gonna be fine?"
"it's only gonna be a few days, and I got plenty to eat a few hours ago so I'll be fine. you all got what you need for this job?"
"yeah"
"of course I do!"
"Blue Phoenix is ready"
"okay then let's go we need to make headway so I can believe all of you on the finer details of the operation over lunch"
(DECAY NEARING CRITICAL LEVELS, MAIN 4 LINK IS COMPROMISED.)
(fucking great..)