Aisha found herself stuck in the sweaty, loud building that the rest of the people there called the guild hall. It smelled particularly bad that day… the hall was heady with the scent of lots and lots of cheap alcohol, making Aisha's lungs itch and burn. She started to cough, prompting her to cover her mouth and nose with her scarf.
.
She groaned, leaning back in her chair. That morning she had gotten particularly unlucky, and there had been a line at the board. Being a good foot shorter than most people there, she was unable to get past the crowd to rip a contract off the board, and now there looked to be no chance of the crowd dispersing anytime soon.
(Why do people take so fucking long!) She complained.
.
For a while Aisha just sat there, sulking quietly, wishing she had a friend to cuddle with.
"Hey, Aisha." Amir-
"Not you!" Aisha said in a panic.
"...What?"
"Um. Nothing."
.
Amir raised his eyebrow, and for a while he just stared at the fey girl, who gave him a defiant look back.
.
Finally, he broke the silence, after a full minute of awkward silence.
"...Whatever. Not even the weirdest thing you've done."
"What do you want?"
Amir held out a tattery sheet of parchment, folded in half. "I came to give you this."
"Oh. Thanks." Aisha muttered. She took the folded sheet from Amir, unfolding the paper with a finger and beginning to read the details of the paper. Every contract that the man gave her had been okay so far, so-
"Hey, what the hell is this?" Aisha demanded. "There's no name, and no pay!"
"Listen, normally, in order to file a contract, you have to go through the auditing process by the guild. No name and no pay means that the guild approved it."
"So!?"
.
He leaned in close to Aisha, looking around to see if people were listening in on them. "This is from someone with a lot of influence." He muttered. "This will be a good opportunity to make connections."
"Why would I need connections?"
"Sooner or later you'll need things you can't get normally, or do things that the guild might not let you do. Having a connection with people in high places will help you." Amir explained.
"I still don't think..." Aisha said, uncertainty in her voice.
Amir, sensing this, brought out a small, silvery object from the folds of his jacket, holding it out in the light. "Look, this is a ritual dagger. It's a very valuable item for thaumaturgy. But it's not sold by any vendors. I had to pull a lot of strings to get it."
"Why'd you buy it?" Aisha asked, reaching out to touch the ornate, shiny object. It pulsed with white light, almost like it had a heartbeat. But Amir quickly put it back into his jacket before Aisha could touch it.
"It's for someone else." He said hastily. "Just take the contract."
"Why don't you take the contract?"
"I'm busy." He muttered. "People will notice eventually, just take it!"
Aisha rolled her eyes, the man being unusually pushy, as if he was in a hurry to do something. She reluctantly folded up the piece of paper, getting up to hand in the contract to the clerk. "Alright, I guess..."
.
.
.
Aisha sighed as she navigated the twisting alleyways, following the map on the contract. As she went deeper and deeper into the darkness, she clutched the sword at her hip harder, preparing for an ambush. Despite what Amir had said, she didn't trust the contract. Or rather… she didn't trust his judgement.
.
She finally reached the location designated on the map to find a teleport circle, faintly glowing with a red tint. It was hidden well in the alleyway, in a little corner and covered with a layer of dirt. Aisha imagined that if she hadn't known what to look for, she would have missed it in the scarcely lit alleyway.
.
(A hidden teleport, deep in some alleyway. No name on the contract. No pay. Zero details.)
.
She decided that she was just going to put the contract back. She turned around, fully intent on getting the hell out of there. She would have to be retarded to take that teleport.
.
Aisha took a single step away from the little stone circle, before her ears twitched, hearing a faint shuffling behind her.
(Sounds like someone isn't happy that I'm leaving.) She thought. She took another step, and at the sound of more shuffling, she bolted away from the alleyway, ditching the stupid contract behind her, adding to the trash and refuse in the alleyway. She pivoted off her foot, turning a corner and narrowly avoiding a golden bolt of energy that came from behind her, whizzing past her head. She twisted her head to look behind her at the projectile, the golden energy morphing into chains that dug into the building behind her, sending tiny pebbles down the alleyway.
.
"Get back here!" Yelled a voice behind her, as if that would somehow get Aisha to stop running. She turned another corner, cursing as another golden bolt flew over to her right, forcing her to turn left into another alleyway.
.
She cursed again as she was led into a dead end, into what seemed to be a back entrance to a building. She gripped the doorknob tightly, denting the metal, twisting the knob aggressively, but only succeeded in twisting the round object completely off.
.
Hearing the sound of footsteps getting much closer to her, Aisha flattened her back against the side of the wall closest to her pursuers, waiting for one to turn the corner.
.
The first one turned the corner sharply, sending the figure's face straight into Aisha's fist, sending him sprawly to the ground. Aisha took a quick glance at the man, fully dressed in black, long coats, with slits in the legs for them to move quicker. He wore baggy pants tucked into long boots, and was wearing a black, angular mask, which Aisha kicked off, revealing the man's broad features and stubble.
.
It was just some guy. Aisha didn't recognize him. She retreated to the wall at the end of the alleyway, preparing for the rest of the pursuers. Straining her ears, listening for boot falls… she heard two more sets of footsteps.
.
The second agent turned the corner wide, avoiding the trap that the first one had fallen into. Stretching out both of his arms and palms, a golden wave of magic flowed from his arms, spanning the entire width of the alleyway. Aisha jumped easily over the magic, using the side of the building to kick off and extending her leg, intending to plant her extended leg in the second agent's face.
.
Her foot met the agent's mana shield, sending reverberations through her leg painfully, as if she had kicked a metal plate. She grit her teeth, but a crack formed in his shield, and shortly after, shattered, sending Aisha's foot into his head. He tilted his head, but Aisha's boot still hit the side of his face, sending him staggering sideways, cursing.
.
She pulled her arm back, index and middle fingers fully outstretched, fully intending on blowing a hole in the man's neck with her hand, but as she swung, the third pursuer sent a wave of magic into her chest, sending her flying back into the wall headfast. The impact hurt, but Aisha cushioned her head with a hand, keeping her conscious. She rushed towards the third, black-clad female with murder in her eyes, drawing her sword.
.
She swung her blade in a horizontal sweep at the agent, but the woman ducked down below Aisha's arm, moving her own leg to lock underneath Aisha's outstretched foot. With a twist of her body, Aisha was sent stumbling to the ground, her legs trying to find purchase but locked behind the agent's firm stance. She placed a hand on the ground to brace her fall, but it was soon chained to the ground by a third beam of golden magic, forming into chains that bound her wrist to the ground. She pulled on it aggressively, but it held firm, jangling a bit but not releasing her from the lock.
.
"Go pick up Falo." The woman said curtly, turning to the second agent, who was grumbling to himself, rubbing the side of his face. "I will get the target."
"Why the hell do you get the lighter one?" The man complained. "Falo's so heavy."
"Because I just saved your life. Now- Whoa!"
.
The woman scrambled to the side, barely dodging a thrust from Aisha's shortsword. She tripped over her feet, stumbling to the ground next to her unconscious teammate.
.
(How the hell did she get out of the chains?) She thought in a panic. As she fell to the ground, she caught the glint of blood on the girl's sword, falling to the ground in droplets.
.
(Where did that blood come from?)
.
Aisha raised her sword again, and for a moment, the cowering woman saw death, but then Aisha's wrist was chained again to the back of the wall by another bolt of golden magic, cast by the second agent. She grunted as the chains forced the sword out of her hand, clattering to the ground and creating a pool of blood on the ground, flowing outwards and merging into a second pool of blood. She struggled again, but stopped quickly, remembering the last time she had been struck by the binding magic.
.
The female agent's eyes followed the second pool of blood to Aisha's right hand, or at least, the stump that was left after the girl had cut it off. She jumped in shock, turning to look behind her, where Aisha had left behind a glove, also leaking blood.
.
"Damn, Aless, she really cut that thing off fast." The man muttered, following her line of sight to the bloody glove, no doubt with a small hand still inside. "...I think I'm fine with you carrying the girl."
.
Aless turned around to look back at Aisha, who was now unconscious from blood loss.
.
.
.
"Hey."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Hey!"
"Is she dead? Aless?"
"She might be, sir. She lost a ton of blood."
"Don't tell me we've dragged a corpse all the way back here!"
"If you hadn't spent that time checking Falo's wallet-"
"You checked my wallet?"
"GO CHECK HER PULSE!"
"..."
"..."
"It's faint, but it's there."
"Go wake her up."
"Understood."
"What are you doing? Why are you just shaking her!?"
"Sir, using a lightning spell might be fatal in her state."
.
Aisha groaned as the voices assaulted her ears, and her eyelids began to flutter open, eliciting another groan as a bright light assaulted her eyes.
.
"She's waking up."
"Yes, I can tell."
.
She heard a door open, followed by the sound of footsteps, and after a few seconds, she heard the door close shut. Her head felt weak, and she felt like shit. She tried to raise her arms to rub her eyes, but found that her arms couldn't lift themselves up.
.
No, that wasn't right. Strength returned to her limbs, but something was stopping her arms from moving up. Straining again, she felt the rough, itchy texture of something rubbing tight against her forearms. Her eyes fully opened, and Aisha found herself tied to a chair, sat in front of a desk. She glared at the man in front of her, no doubt the leader of the three agents that had assaulted her.
.
"Hey, you're that… that guy that cried in the middle of the streets."
The man lowered his head and put his hand on his forehead, rubbing it in irritation. "...I am Judge Raxas, yes." He said in exasperation. "I've known who you are for a while. You've-"
"What do you want from me?" Aisha demanded, cutting Raxas off.
"I've brought you here for-"
"Who are you?" Aisha interrupted again.
"What? I just told you-"
"Let me go!"
.
Aisha saw a vein pop up in the middle aged man's forehead. He put both of his hands on his face, leaning back and rubbing them up and down his face in frustration.
"Are you doing this on purpose?"
"..."
"Listen, girl. I'm sure you're aware of the fey prohibition. You want to know why?"
"..."
"Because of spies. We originally didn't have it, even when the war started. But then that was taken advantage of. By your kind."
"So what, you're here to interrogate me?"
"In a way, yes." He said, pulling out a sheet of paper from his desk. "Let's see. Aisha Izec. Age 23. Five foot four. Female. Platinum adventurer. Started out in a small town near Icaru. Residence unknown. You-"
.
"Are you just going to read everything you know about me? Because I know that too."
.
Raxas sighed, putting the sheet of paper down and crossing his legs. "You're right. What I'm here for is what I don't know." He cupped his hand, shouting at the door. "Aless!"
.
The aforementioned woman stepped into the room, standing stiffly, with her heels together and hands glued to her sides. It gave the woman a strict, military look. "Sir?"
"Prepare it."
"Of course, sir."
.
Aisha craned her head to look at the woman as she made her way behind Aisha, mask hiding her features. The woman put her palms on the side of Aisha's head, and while perhaps a regular person would be intimidated by the gesture, the touched starved Aisha found herself leaning into the woman's warm hands.
"Wha- Hey!" She sputtered, breaking her strict persona. "What are you doing!??"
"Your hands feel nice." Aisha whispered, turning Aless's face bright red.
"What did she say?" Raxas asked.
Aless stammered in embarrassment, shifting uncomfortably and moving her hands away from Aisha's curious head. "N-nothing."
.
Raxas raised an eyebrow. In the years that Aless had served him, she had never shown that side of her.
"Whatever." He muttered. "First question. Why are you here?"
"To have sex with every woman in the capital."
Raxas sighed, resting his head on his hand. Aisha was prepared for him to demand something from her, or tell Aless to hit her, but instead the man just took out a sheet of paper from the top of his desk and began to write on it.
.
(What's he doing?) Aisha thought. (A scroll or something? An order for torture equipment?)
.
She waited with a held breath for Raxas to finish writing, eyes locked on his pen, scribbling swiftly across the paper in a practiced motion. Eventually Raxas stopped writing. He checked the paper, and when he confirmed that it was filled out satisfactorily, he put it on top of a pile of papers to his left. He then took another paper from his right-
"What is he doing?" Aisha whispered aggressively.
"Paperwork." He replied flatly.
"...Seriously?"
"..."
"Are you trying to bore me into giving the information to you?"
"..."
.
Even Aless had doubts as to whether or not his strange interrogation strategy would work, but was surprised when after the third sheet of paper, Aisha began to struggle fiercely against her ropes. After only the tenth sheet of paper, Aisha cracked.
.
"Fine! Fine! Whatever! I'll tell you!"
.
Aless glanced at a clock in the room. It had literally only been ten minutes. She shook her head in disbelief, as Raxas set aside the form he was working on, folding his hands in front of him.
.
"Good. Now answer my question. Why are you here?"
Aisha grit her teeth. "I'm here because there are more contracts."
"Second question-"
"Sir? She's clearly lying!" Aless said incredulously. "She's a spy!"
"That's fine." He replied, leaning back in his chair. "Second question. Who are you?"
"...What do you mean?"
"You've got ears, but no tail… that means you aren't low, or beast-fey. But I've never seen a high fey wander around here."
"I'm a forest fey." Aisha muttered. "I came here for work. That's it."
"You're not entirely telling the truth, are you." He said, making direct eye contact with the girl. "That's a terrible lie."
"Neither are you." Aisha said, glaring at the man. "You know I'm not a spy."
Raxas chuckled good naturedly, clasping his hands together and propping his boots up on his desk. "You're observant. I like that. You also ran from the teleport. You're cautious. These are good qualities."
"Tch. If I took it, you would probably say that I have guts or something, right?"
Raxas let out a laugh, throwing his head back. "That's true! Truth is, I like you. You're the machine, right?" He said mockingly.
"I knew that stupid fucking nickname was going to bite me in the ass." Aisha muttered.
"Yes, I know that you're not a spy. Spies don't run around adventuring and drawing attention to themselves with rumors." He said. "And they use real disguises. And besides, high fey aren't even allied with Sakura."
"You seem to know a lot about fey." Aisha said.
"I am. I wouldn't be a good general if I didn't know my enemy." He sighed. "I didn't want to place the fey ban, but the rest of the judges wished it so."
He shook his head in disappointment. "It hasn't helped at all, but it's certainly made people feel safe. I guess that's something."
Aisha rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Why am I here?"
Raxas put down his feet, unclasped his hands, and pulled in his chair with a now serious expression. "I want another agent. Three isn't enough, and Falo…"
"Is incompetent?" Aless offered. "Is slowly dying of old age? Needs to get glasses?"
.
Raxas just raised his eyebrow, staring at Aless with a strange look. He paused for a second. "...Sure. Anyways, I could ask the senate for one, but… I don't trust their judgement. I want someone from MY program."
"What the hell are agents?"
.
Raxas motioned his hand at Aless.
"We're from a special division of the military, controlled by the magistrate." Aless explained. "Gifted children are selected from primary school and trained to be servants for the magistrate. Trained for combat and infiltration. Although we mostly just deliver paperwork." She muttered. "And some... turn out better than others."
Raxas nodded. "They also don't have real battle experience. But you do."
"So you want me to be your agent." Aisha said.
"Yes. Do you accept?"
"No."
.
"WHAT!?" Aless shouted. Aisha winced at the volume. "You've been given quite the opportunity by one of the greatest-"
"Stop." Raxas commanded. "I don't intend on forcing her to do anything. But I feel like I haven't fully explained the benefits of this job."
"Answer's still no." Aisha interrupted.
"...Why?"
"I just want to get to diamond and leave this place." Aisha muttered. "I don't need… distractions."
"You really think you can do that?" Aless said with disbelief.
.
For a second,
"...For every task you do for me, I'll count it as two contracts." Raxas said.
Aisha's eyes lit up at that. "Really?"
"Yes. I'll help you with getting anything you need. New gear, runes, illicit substances… anything you need. And of course, I will be paying you."
.
Aisha bit her lip. The offer was tempting, for sure, but she was reluctant to involve herself with another hume with an inflated sense of purpose. And Raxas didn't seem like the type to hold a grudge, so she could probably just leave whenever she wanted...
.
Raxas saw the hesitation in the girl's eyes, and after a few tense minutes, he sighed.
"I see that you need time to think. You can contact me-"
"No." Aisha said, firmly.
"...No?"
"I'll do it." Aisha muttered.
.
Raxas raised an eyebrow, surprised. The girl had accepted him terms quite fast. What made her change her mind?
"But I get to leave whenever I want!" She demanded.
"Sure."
.
Raxas shuffled around in his desk drawers, fishing out a little emblem and tossing it into Aisha's lap. It fell in between her legs, falling onto the ground. Aisha craned her neck down to look at it, tilting the chair forward.
"Oh. Aless, untie her."
.
Aisha's arms were unbound, and she went to go pick up the emblem with her right hand, but grunted, realizing that all that was left was a bloody stump, wrapped poorly with some sort of cloth. She picked up the badge with her left hand, and Raxas threw a bag of coins at her.
"Ah. Your arm. Aless, please take her to the church. You should… get some new clothes too. You're looking... "
.
Aisha looked down at her chest, her adventuring gear pocked full of holes and ripped in many places, from weeks of trudging through forests and fighting monsters. The cloth that she wrapped her small breasts with were showing, also torn and about to fall apart. Her pants weren't doing so great either, showing the flowy fabric of her uniform underneath.
.
Oddly enough, her uniform was completely fine.
.
"Alright." She said.
.
Raxas got up from his desk, walking up to Aisha and extending his right arm. He hastily retracted the hand and extended his left one, after Aisha held up her right hand, a drop of blood flowing down her arm. Aisha then stared at his outstretched hand, clearly not intending to shake it.
.
"Smartass." Raxas muttered. "Alright, get out of here."
"Wait."
"...Wait?"
"What about the contract?"
"Huh?"
"The contract that was on the board. That told me to go to the teleporter."
"What about it?"
"I want the completion credit."
"Huh? You didn't do anything!" Raxas said incredulously.
"I beat your agents." Aisha offered.
"You didn't even beat all of them!"
"I beat most of them."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Okay, fine. Now get out of here!"
.
.
.
"So Aisha, we know a lot about you… but you don't know a lot about us, do you?"
"No, I don't."
"Aren't you interested?"
"No. I'm not."
.
Aless and the second agent (Who Aisha didn't know a name for) accompanied Aisha on the streets, on their way to the church to heal Aisha's arm, which she carried limply by the glove in her left fist. The agent that Aisha had knocked out was noticeably absent, muttering something about church staff and concussions.
.
"Don't you want to get to know us?" The second agent said, walking in front of Aisha. "You don't even know my name!"
"It's ok. I'll just call you two."
"Wha- two!? Why two?"
"You're the second person I saw."
"Well, I still feel you should know! My name's-"
"We've been watching her for almost a week." Aless said in a dull tone, interrupting him. "You should know that she's not interested in men."
"Hey, there's always a chance!" Two said.
"There's not." Aisha said. "Wait, you've been monitoring me? When?"
"Well, around when the rumors of the soulless adventurer started." Two explained. "Uh. We didn't see too much." He scratched his head sheepishly.
"Don't lie to her." Aless muttered, but her cheeks were also a shade of light pink. Aisha noticed, grinning and latching onto Aless's side, pressing her cheek into the side of her chest. Aless was prepared for the gesture, having seen it many times, but nonetheless she couldn't stop the heat that rushed to her face, and the fluffy feeling that entered her body.
"Oouuuuuuuhhh..." She moaned breathily, quiet enough to avoid Two's ears, but not Aisha's. The little fey girl was just too cute, and her hugs felt amazing, almost unnaturally so. She wasn't particularly warm or soft, but something about her just… tickled her entire essence, making her feel giddy. Like she was drawing the warmth from inside her.
"Now I just feel weird." Two said quietly, feeling uncomfortable watching the affectionate display.. "I bet this is how Falo feels all the time."
"You didn't feel uncomfortable watching her have sex?" Aless asked.
"Uhhh…..."
.
Two was saved by their timely arrival at the church, the massive building dwarfing even the tall, imposing government buildings next to it. It shone out like a beacon in the midst of all the grayness, almost glowing with a holy light. The group trudged their way up the stairs, to a little desk, manned by a blond maiden in a white, silken dress, adorned with tons of glittery, jewel-encrusted religious symbols. Various other priests shuffled around the massive temple, carrying staves, books, and other religiously themed items. Aisha noted that all the priests there were blond and very attractive.
"What do you need?" The desk girl asked in a bored tone, not looking up from the book on her desk. "If you're here for Ifrit, he isn't here."
"I need an arm reattached." Aisha said. At the sound of her voice, the desk priest looked up, and at the sight of Aisha, her expression lit up, eyes widening and mouth breaking into a smile.
.
"It's you! It's you! Ohmygosh!" She said excitedly, visibly bouncing in her seat. She turned around quickly, waving over the other priests. "Girls! Girls! It's the cute one! The cute one's back!"
.
Aless and Two quickly backed off as a crowd of excited girls rushed over to Aisha, picking her up and smothering her in eager hands and soft bodies. They pet her ears, stroked all over her body, and cuddled her small little arms and legs, all the while cooing affectionate words. Aisha was surprised, for sure, but at the same time, she wasn't going to stop the women from hugging her.
"Aww… your arm's all better from last time! I'm so glad you're okay!"
"So what's the problem this time?" A mature priest cooed, caressing Aisha's cheek with a sinfully soft hand. Her voice turned sultry. "Let me take reeeeaal good care of you…"
"Hey!" A lithe, girlish looking priest cried. "I wanna heal her! You did it last time!"
"I-I'll give you the premium treatment!" One said shyly, muttering softly. "L-laying in bed with a pure maiden can heal you."
.
The herd of clerics devolved into bickering as Aisha was tugged softly from side to side. For a regular person, the tug-of-war would probably hurt, but Aisha enjoyed the attention.
.
"She's quite popular, isn't she." Two observed. "Man, what I would give for that. Lucky."
"Yeah." Aless muttered. "Sure."
"Jealous?"
"What!? There's no way I'd be jealous of those dumb priests." She mumbled, suddenly finding an interest in the dirt. "Besides, I've got a girlfriend."
"...I meant jealous of Aisha."
"..."
"Why's she so popular?" Two said, changing the subject, and garnering the attention of a priest nearby.
"Cause we don't get many people here." The priest responded. "And when we do, they're always smelly guys. Ew. But then she was brought here, like a week ago, and she was just sooo cute! She was just sleeping, and ohh it was so cute, and when one of us would pet her she would mew like a cat, and-"
.
Aless and Two slowly retreated away from the girl as she began to ramble on about how cute Aisha was, making their way down the steps of the church.
"Don't you think it's interesting?" Two asked, sitting down on the steps.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean… the attraction that those girls feel towards her. It's not natural."
"Seems pretty normal to me." Aless muttered. "She's cute. Girls go crazy over that stuff. Especially if you've lived in a coven your entire life."
Two shook his head. "No. It's not natural."
"You're overthinking things."
"Overthinking things is my job, Aless."
.
Aless rolled her eyes, sitting down on a step above Two.
"...Hey, Aless?" Two asked.
"What is it this time?" Aless sighed.
.
"..."
"I don't smell bad, do I?"
"You do."
.
Soon the girls had finished arguing, and sat collectively pouting, as Aisha was tended to by a nice looking girl with a kind smile, that she had picked herself. The woman had long, soft blonde hair, and while her appearance was somewhat plain compared to the other girls, with an average-sized pair of breasts, she was still quite beautiful, sticking her tongue out playfully at the other girls as she sat down right there on the steps of the church, dragging Aisha into her lap.
.
Aisha's priest tied her hand back to her arm with a piece of cloth, and then gently held it against her chest, humming the chants to a healing prayer, all the while petting the back of Aisha's head, feeling up her small body. An adventurous hand sneaked into the side of Aisha's uniform and began to poke and rub at her tummy, making Aisha mewl and giggle.
.
"Hm." Two mused. Aless turned to him in response.
"What?"
"I thought she would pick the one with the biggest breasts."
"...What!?" Aless said again, this time with more confusion.
"You know. The two girls she always hangs out with have huge boobs!" He said, holding his hands out for comparison. "But that priest's got kind of average ones! Probably isn't the best looking one eithe- OWwww!"
.
Soon the healing was finished, and the priest took the wrappings off of her arm, her hand and wrist perfectly joined together, as if they had never been cut in the first place. Aisha flexed the joint in wonder, turning her hand over in amazement.
She was sent back to her friends by the priest with a kiss on the forehead and a motherly hug, prompting the other girls, in an attempt to not be out-done, to also kiss her in increasingly adventurous locations.
.
Aisha smiled softly as she returned to Two and Aless, ears fluttering in tingly pleasure.
"Hey." She said, giving a small wave. "What's up with your face?" She asked, pointing at Two.
.
"...Nubbin." He replied, holding his broken nose.
"Why don't you get it healed?" Aisha suggested, motioning behind her at the church.
"Are you crazy?" He said. "I'm not rich enough to get healed there! Isn't it a platinum coin!?"
"Oh. They didn't charge me."
"Lucky bastard." He muttered under his breath, still holding his nose, as the group left the church, off to find some new gear for Aisha.
.
.
.
The group stepped into the guild store, the scent of freshly brewed potions, freshly polished leather, and steel wafting out from the shop like a disgusting cocktail. Aisha flashed her plate at the doorguard, and although Aless and Two didn't have identification plates, Raxas's symbol allowed them access from a reluctant-looking guard. A thought occurred to Aisha.
"Am I supposed to get matching outfits with you guys?" She asked.
"Huh?" Two said.
"You all wear the same stuff."
"Oh. No, we just happened to all buy our gear at the same time! We decided to match." He explained. "Don't worry, we don't always walk around in our stealth gear."
"Is that why you're still wearing those stupid masks?"
"...Yes."
.
For a while, Aisha just stared at him, and he stared back, in complete silence.
"Are you going to take them off?"
"..."
"..."
"Alright, fine." He muttered, looking around. When he saw that there weren't people around, he slid off his hood and mask, revealing a young-looking man in his twenties, with messy, short blond hair and a square jaw.
.
"Why's your nose broken?"
"No reason. Aless, you do it too!"
"Alright, alright."
.
Aless uncovered her face, revealing her soft-looking brown hair, cascading down her shoulders. Her eyes were piercing and blue, stony and intimidating, although there was a hint of softness and affection hidden within.
.
"Alright, happy?" Two asked.
"Sure." Aisha said, taking a black button up shirt with short sleeves off a rack. She held it up to herself to see if it would fit. "What about the other guy?"
"Who, Falo?"
"Yeah. Sure."
"He's kind of a older guy." Two explained. "His hair's kinda greying, and-"
"No, I meant…" Aisha interrupted. "Why would he match with you two?"
"Oh. He decided to buy his gear with us. He wanted to match."
"You mean that you wanted to match with him." Aless interjected. "You practically begged him."
Two scratched his head sheepishly. "Hey… I just didn't want him to feel left out."
"Yeah right."
.
Aisha was interested in the relationship the two agents had with the third, not present agent, but she decided that it didn't really matter that much. And besides, she had a feeling she would run into him soon.
The rest of the shopping trip continued without incident. Aisha decided to buy a new set of drakehide armor, and a new pair of gloves to replace her old beaten, sliced gloves.
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"I feel like I'm forgetting something..." She muttered, as she put all the stuff on the counter, absentmindedly feeling at her side for her coin pouch. "Something doesn't feel right. I've never bought from here before."
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Suddenly, a vision of a very racist, hairy, angry man popped into her mind.
"Oh shit."
.
.
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Aisha returned to Korian's little alleyway, suddenly remembering the promise and benefits of buying from the lanky man. The guild cashier had been quite miffed that Aisha didn't put her stuff back, but didn't press the issue, not wanting to anger Raxas.
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She arrived at the alleyway, looking for Korian's dingy stall, but instead found a large tent, consisting of large wooden beams with a massive tarp stretched over them. She stepped into the tent, but stopped in her tracks as her foot nudged a small, metal object.
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"What the hell?" She muttered, picking the thing up, but quickly dropping it out of her hands as it began to move.
"Hey! No touch!" Yelled a familiar voice from the back of the stall. Aisha heard footsteps, and soon she caught the visage of the thin, dirty looking man, jar of green liquid in hand.
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"Oh." He said, as he caught the sight of Aisha, and gingerly set the jar on a nearby table. "It's you."
"Yes. What the hell is this?" She said, pointing to the lump of metal on the ground. Looking at it closer, it… almost looked humanoid, with four lumpy limbs connected to a fat little body. Aisha witnessed as Korian picked it up, setting it on its feet, and the… thing, began to walk towards a ground-level cupboard, grabbing a piece of leather in it's stumpy little arms.
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"What the fuck..?" Aless said in disbelief.
"It's thaumaturgy." Korian said. "Experimental. I got it cheap. You like it?"
"What is it?" Aless asked. "Is that a living creature? It looks like an ore sprite!"
"It's a golem." Korian explained. "They built a little body, and then animated it with some code-monkey wizard garbage. Now it carries my stuff."
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"I've heard of this kind of stuff." Two mused. "Golemancy. It's new. People don't like it… because it's coming dangerously close to being heretical. To being Machina."
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He looked at the shopkeeper suspiciously, who glared right back at him. There was a tense silence as the two men stared at each other. Korian took the green jar from the table beside him.
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"What's in the jar?" Two asked, pointing to the bubbling, murky liquid
"It's a tanning solution." Korian said in a low tone. "Highly acidic. Unstable. It would hurt if I poured it on you."
"Is that a threat?"
"What do you think?"
"I think you're hiding some secrets." Two growled. "I've seen your file. You've dabbled in unethical practices. That's how you've been so successful."
"Yeah? So what?"
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Aless stepped forward with uncertainty, ready to intervene.
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"Hey, I just want some armor." Aisha complained.
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Korian scoffed and turned around, motioning for Aisha to follow him. Two glared at the man's back, untrusting.
"We'll wait here." He muttered.
.
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Korian sat down on his chair aggressively, the swivel chair creaking dangerously at the motion. He shoved a few things off the messy desk with two hands, before taking out a little package from the bottom of his desk, setting it hastily on his desk. He unwrapped the package, laying out the glistening piece in front of him.
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"This is drakehide." He said quietly. "The highest quality stuff that I can actually buy. It cost a lot. I don't know if you can even pay for it. Do you even know what money is?"
"I can pay for it."
"Fine, fine fine. You know, the only good thing about all these dumbass orders is that I get to work with better stuff. But now I can't go any higher. Can't buy anything better than drakehide. And I don't want to just keep burning money on it. You're probably the only person who can afford it, anyways." He muttered, tapping his foot on the ground impatiently. "Rrrrrrgh. Maybe I should go into bartending. Or blacksmithing. No, I don't have the arms..."
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Aisha didn't bother with the man's mutterings. She would let him figure his problems out himself. She slid the package of clothes off Korian's table, holding up a beautiful, glistening scale-plate. Running her hands over it, it felt as hard as steel, but she could easily flex and fold the armor. It was of really high quality. Aisha was impressed.
.
"Alright, thanks." Aisha said, interrupting the insane mutterings of the clearly distressed man. She dropped a sack of gold on the counter and left, before he tried to do something… weird.
.
.
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"Alright, what now?" Aisha asked, now newly fitted in her shiny set of gear.
"Raxas told us to come back as soon as you were done." Two said.
"What for?"
"For your first assignment!"