The prospering market district of the Yuhin Capital was full of merchant shops, merchants, and their stalls with merchandise and products for sale. The district, in particular, was the sole reason why the capital was a major trade node considering it had a large port for shipment by sea and allowing traders from all across the continent some form of easier access than going through trade routes by land.
Occupying roughly 30 percent of the royal capital, it was the second-largest district with just 10 percent behind the housing district. It is also in this district where crime was rampant and dreams are fulfilled or shattered. Many people come here in the hopes of earning a large number of Denars and finally escape from the rampant poverty which plagues the rest of the country.
Many have failed and are launched into more debt. Behind the shining stalls, delicious foods and the expensive merchandise are the starving slaves and peasantry who are forced to do labor for the merchants and nobles just so they could have a slice of bread, which was in short supply.
Due to the previous war with the Herlion Kingdom, many fields to the east were burned and almost all of the harvests were seized by the enemy. Peace was seen as a defeat to the eyes of the peasantry, the Herlion Kingdom did not repay any war damages and the harvests they stole remained in their storehouses.
Amidst the busy market however, there was a small store separated from the rest. 'Gin's Merchandise' the sign hanged over the old door. A run-down yet fully stocked store separated from the busy streets, located in a secluded and abandoned area of the district, it was a wonder the store was still open.
Two figures emerge from the busy streets and diverged onto the abandoned street. Lily and Shia were on their way to buy supplies for the mission and the store was their place of business.
"Do you think the old lady has one I requested?" Shia asked as they walked, she had requested a peculiar magic item for her own personal use.
"You and your workings with men, you disgust me as always," Lily shrugged her off, displaying her coldness once more. Shia pouted, frisked her hair and blushed.
"Stop blushing, you bitch,"
"Hey! That's a bit too far..."
"You're a bitch," this time, Lily seemed to be teasing Shia rather than genuinely attacking her, much to the distress of the 'bitch' who was her friend.
The two arrive at the store, welcoming them was the old granny who had been running the store for ten years. Old and wrinkled, she wore a plain and old apron around her waist. The old lady was nearly bald but her smile hasn't changed since.
"Grannyyyyy!" Shia skipped towards the old lady, her eyes were shimmering like the stars. Though, her perverted voice didn't suit her expression.
"Hoho, well if it isn't my two best adventurers," Her voice was old and dry.
"It's been a while granny," Lily approached the two over by the counter and a smile appeared on her face.
"Well, it's only been a month but I am delighted you came again and uh... Shia..."
The old lady kneeled down and grabbed an item from one of her drawers.
Shia's eyes lit up even more as the item was presented in front of her.
The old lady placed the glass bottle over the counter, the bottle contained a rosy liquid of some sort which bubbled and fizzed.
"The potion took some time, but here it is. I suggest only applying small drops because they may lose all control of themselves."
"Yes granny! Thank you so, so much!" Shia carelessly grabbed the bottle and placed the item inside her bag. Lily's eyes were fixated on the excited Shia, weirded out by her friend's weirdness and slutty attitude.
"Well, if it gets the job done, "Lily thought to herself, still disgusted.
"So, how can I help you two?"
-
In his chamber in the royal palace, Ignis was reading through a pile of papers. The papers contained the latest information obtained by the scouts on the eastern Fortress City. It had only been just recently that the news of the attacks on the Freetan Theocracy made its way to the kingdom.
"This is impossible, magic armor? Magic weapons? Not even the theocracy could assemble this!" Ignis thoughts were running high, nothing in the documents made sense. The reports stated that the occupiers were of unknown race, they were humanoid in appearance but not entirely human nor beastmen.
Their appearances were similar to metal but could not be defined. Their weapons were theorized to be experimental magic weapons according to the clergy and magic librarians. Furthermore, the old structures of the Fortress City have been demolished, and strange new unknown and mystical buildings have been erected at their place. These strange creatures also roamed occasionally around the perimeter of the Fortress City in groups of 4, exhibiting a menacing aura whenever they face the forest, presumably staring at the positions of the scouts.
The scouts were comprised of twenty mages, each specializing in covert magic to avoid detection and equipped with magic items to improve their scouting capabilities, as of yet the clergy have not confirmed whether or not the items or mages have been fooled with a false information spell.
Regardless, it has not been ruled out that the reports were just elaborate illusions to induce fear upon anyone who dared approach the city, a common tactic by invaders.
"Still..."
There have been no sightings of any civilians from the Fortress City.
Three knocks sounded on Ignis' door, the person he called had finally arrived.
"Come in, Rudelf,"
Rudelf entered the room, smeared by kisses and practically drunk.
"Playing with women again?" The Great Warrior teased.
"Ah, Nah, the women were playing with me!" He drunkenly replied.
Ignis thought, if Rudelf was just as rational and disciplined as any good soldier, he'd be in one of the highest rankings of the adventurers guild. He knew the fellow since their childhood, the two would occasionally play together using wooden sticks as swords and both aspired to be great knights.
It's a shame only one of them achieved his dream, while the other drowned himself in the ecstasy of women and lust.
The half-sober Rudelf clumsily made his way towards Ignis' desk and sat on the chair against it. His posture was lazy and eyes droopy, Ignis sighed at the sight of his childhood friend.
"Check these documents; they'll be of great assistance to you and your group,"
Ignis handed over some of the papers and Rudelf gladly received them. After a few minutes of rummaging through the papers, Rudelf couldn't help but repeat Ignis' initial thoughts and reactions.
"Magic gear... unknown... this, is bullshit,"
"It's the best we got from the scouts,"
"This is probably some excessive use of illusion spells, but the appearance of this…"
"Hmm?"
"A new species of beastmen perhaps?"
"We're still trying to verify that, but since you adventurers will be embarking soon, these documents have been given to each group leader. We need you all to try and confirm these findings and see if you can find any sort of weakness to the enemy,"
"Yeah, yeah chief, you already told me that a few days ago with the others,"
"I'm just reminding you Rudelf, you may distract yourself with women there or…"
"Pfft..." Rudelf laughed.
"Come on, Ignis, I won't do something stupid like that, besides! I already have-"
The great warrior cleared his throat; this was a sign for Rudelf to close his mouth.
"As I was saying, obtain any information regarding the enemy which we can use for the future siege. Each useful information obtained will be an added 1 thousand Denar for each of your group members,"
"What!? Are you serious!? That's actually ridiculous even for you"
"We will gain the money, the queen plans on purging two great noble factions. Their riches will be transferred to the treasury and will be used for you adventurers,"
"Huh, I see..."
"Now for the next topic..."
The Great Warrior pulled a thin wide paper from the mess of papers and presented it to Rudelf.
"This came from Theo, look through it"
-
"Impossible"
"It is what it is,"
Rudelf's eyes were opened wide, his mouth agape as he continued to stare at the paper. The mere thought of such destructive power was too much for him to handle.
"100,000 dead, impossible... Ignis this can't..."
"The pope was also found dead during the Papal Estate attack, he was found in such a horrifying state that the perpetrators have been excommunicated as demons,"
"Such destructive power... power magic users perhaps? Ancient cataclysmic beings from the Forgotten Era?"
"We don't know. The clergy has already launched an investigation. For now, all we know is that the Freetan Theocracy is in a state of disarray, unrest is spreading among its citizens and doubt has befallen the church,"
The two were silent.
The silence continued as Ignis stared at Rudelf who was thinking deeply.
"We're going on a suicide mission, aren't we?"
"Likely so," Ignis nodded.
Rudelf sighed and moved towards the door. He opened it and stopped halfway.
"Just make sure the money comes in after this." Rudelf then walked out the room.
Ignis silently watched his childhood friend walk away as he clutched the report in his hand.