[Author's note: Sorry for the late update. A bunch of things happened, I had my hands full with editing Vol 1 for the OELN J-Novel Contest, exams, yeah lots of stuff. I even got tested positive for Covid! But I'm feeling better now. I should be able to post once a week or two now. Unfortunately, the J-Novel contest states unless I've uploaded my work previously on some other website. I cannot post anywhere else until my work has been disqualified or qualified. This means I can't share the edited version with you guys until June at the latest. So, I'd like to warn everyone beforehand. All the chapters for Vol 2 will be based on the edited "official" Vol 1. This means some content, such as the battle between Charles and Medea in Medea's forbidden library will not be mentioned and treated as if it never happened. I hope you can all understand. Anyway, here's the next chapter, enjoy!
PS: We made it past the 25K mark! Huzzah! To celebrate, I'm kicking things off with the introduction of new characters as well as making this chapter extra long! (Not as long as the Vol 1 Prologue though, I had to split that one into several parts.) You'll probably know who the MC's
PPS: Vol 3 will still introduce new characters, just one who'll join the main cast though. After that, well let's just say that's when things kick off.
PPPS: It might actually be two, not one. Sorry, I'm rambling, guess the excitement from participating in the J-Novel Club contest and starting the second novel in the series still hasn't completely rubbed off yet. Guess this is a little late to say but wish me luck on the contest. Anyways, enjoy!]
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*PANT!* *PANT!* *PANT!*
A hooded girl ran through the bustling streets of a vast and tidy medieval city.
It nimbly wove through the crowd, narrowly dodging pedestrians by a hair's length.
Quite a few people who nearly collided into the hooded stranger stopped to yell at her.
"Hey! Watch i- *OOF!*"
Before they could holler a sentence, a group of mean, nasty, and tough-looking thugs pushed them off to the side.
One of the thugs. A muscular bald man with a black dagger tattoo on his right shoulder caught sight of the hooded stranger. The bald man yelled over his shoulder to his brothers-in-crime.
"There she is! The Don will pay us a pretty penny if we bring her in one piece! Let's get her!"
"UUOOOOOOH!"
The thugs let out a cry and chased after the hooded figure.
For several minutes, the chase dragged on, with the girl's pace gradually slowing down from weariness and hunger. As she slowed down, her pursuers put more effort into chasing her.
In a desperate last-ditch attempt, she tried to shake them off through an alleyway up ahead. Seeing this, the thugs wickedly smiled.
The poor country rabbit is about to be cornered by a pack of rabid city dogs.
As the girl ran down the alley, she found herself face-to-face with a dead end.
When she turned around,
The mysterious girl threw back her hood, revealing simmering blonde hair and pointed ears. Unveiling her race.
From her cloak, she took out a bow notched with an arrow. The elf drew back her bow and aimed it at the criminals surrounding her.
"Not a single step more."
One of the thugs licked his lips.
"Aren't you a cute one? Don't worry. We'll be gentle with ya. You'll be chirping a different tune after having some fun with us!"
The elf narrowed her eyes.
"Last warning, stay back, or I'll drop you like a fly."
Suddenly, a voice spoke. A regal voice filled with charm, slight curiosity, and an undertone of danger.
"What are you all doing?"
Everyone turned to look at the owner of such a beautiful voice. A tall, brown-haired, ruby-eyed girl, carrying a woven straw basket. Her looks were a bit on the plain side, but her voice and eyes captivated people's attention.
The girl wore a pair of simple, laced leather boots, a long green skirt flowing down just above her ankle, a frilled blouse, and an outer corset emphasizing her slim waist and long legs.
However, everyone paid attention to neither of those things. They only had one question on their minds.
(When did she even arrive!?)
Aside from the noisy thugs, this perplexed the blonde elf the most. Elves are well known for their keen senses and perception. Few beings could hide their presence from them.
The girl ignored the surprised looks on everyone's faces and repeated herself.
"Well? What's going on here? I'm giving you all a chance to explain."
The leader of the thugs, the bald man with the dagger tattoo, came to his senses and yelled at her.
"This is none of your business! Leave or else-"
"Or else what?"
The bald man became stupefied after hearing the ruby-eyed woman interrupt him.
Few dared to disrespect him like this and even fewer walked out alive.
Despite wanting to teach this girl a lesson, he could only grit his teeth and let it slide this time. They barely had enough hush money to pay off the guards for ignoring their attempts at capturing the elf. If word got out that they harmed a local, the authorities would be hot on their trail.
The bald man gave the girl her only and final warning.
"Listen carefully! Leave now, or prepare to face the consequences for getting in the way of the Daggers!"
To add extra emphasis, he and his goons threw away their clubs and drew their weapons. Not anything high-quality. Simple iron swords and such, but well-maintained. Evidencing they belong to an organized syndicate.
Anyone would break into a cold sweat after being surrounded by a dozen or so armed thugs. Anyone normal at least.
Rather than panicking, the girl with a ghost-like presence reached into her basket and drew out... a fruit knife.
Seeing the knife the thugs laughed. What's a girl going to do to them with a fruit knife? Peel them some apples? At this thought, the thugs laughed harder than before.
Despite being laughed at, the girl continued speaking unperturbed.
"Judging by the way you speak, you're definitely criminals. It shouldn't be a problem if you were found missing several parts."
At these outrageous words, one of the thugs lost his cool.
"You insolent brat! You're really-"
Before he could finish his sentence. There was a brief silver flash. The girl's knife held to the side, dripped with blood. Then...
*Thud!*
Everyone looked down to see what caused the sound. After seeing what it was, the thug who yelled at the ruby-eyed girl fell to the ground screaming.
"MY ARM! MY ARM!"
The thug used his remaining hand to cradle his armless stump.
After witnessing one of their comrades losing their arm to a little girl. They lost their temper.
"Get her!"
"Wait!"
The bald thug leader ordered his men to halt. A girl who could cut off a full-grown man's limb in the blink of an eye is no ordinary adversary. With a fruit knife at that! Despite witnessing this, they still blindly charged in, naively believing one teenage girl was no match for their combined efforts.
Seeing the girl about to be swarmed, the elf desperately cried for her to flee.
"Run! They're only after me! Save yourself!"
The girl seemingly ignored the elf's words, calmly walking toward the thugs.
One of the thugs got within arm's reach of her, and with a nasty sneer on his face, he brought his sword down on her.
"Gotcha, you little-"
*Swish!*
The girl swung her arm again. Then, another arm fell to the ground.
"AAAAAAH!"
A second thug knelt down, clutching a bloody stump where one of his legs used to be.
*Swish!* *Swish!* *Swish!*
The same scene kept repeating itself several times, one by one, they all dropped to the ground like flies. Limbs fell one by one onto the backstreet of the alley, blood spurted, and the streets became red. Yet oddly, no one who passed by seemed to notice this miniature hell. Almost like the entire alley's been cut off from the rest of the world.
The girl kept slicing away at the thugs until only the bald, tattooed leader remained standing.
Quivering in his boots, the bald thug fell on his butt and began slowly backing away from her on fours.
"W-w-who the hell are you!?!"
The girl coldly responded.
"Just a passing serving girl cleaning out the pests."
Seemingly lost his mind, the last remaining thug screamed in horror.
"AAAAAH! Stay away from me!"
He took out a pouch from his inner vest pocket, throwing it down on the ground. Upon contact, a cloud of smoke burst out, filling up the alley and impairing everyone's view.
The mysterious fruit knife-wielding girl clicked her tongue in annoyance.
She muttered something incoherent under her breath. The next moment, a gust of wind blew out the fog. Revealing the thug leader attempting to pry a manhole cover open.
"Sh*t!*
The bald thug doubled his efforts while the girl leisurely walked over to him with a bloody fruit knife in hand.
The brunette raised her arm and lightly chucked her knife.
At the last moment, the bald thug lifted the manhole cover. Having pried it open. He quickly slid inside, the knife whizzed right above his head as he disappeared into the sewers below.
"Tch! Missed him."
The girl clicked her tongue in annoyance and went to pick up her knife. Then she turned her attention toward the elf, who flinched after witnessing the brutality inflicted on the thugs. The thugs in question continued to lie down on the bloodstained alley, whimpering and clutching their missing limbs.
After picking up the knife, she turns her attention to the elf, opening her mouth to speak.
"Hey, are you alright?"
The elf, still dazed by the carnage she witnessed remained silent for several moments before coming back to her senses and responding.
"Um, yeah! I was lucky you showed up. Otherwise who knows what those nasty people would've done to me! By the way, if you don't mind me asking, what's your name?"
"My name? I suppose you can just call me Haz."
"Nice to meet you Haz, my name is- *Gurgle!*"
The elf's stomach rumbled, and her face burned with a slight pink of embarrassment.
"Um..."
"Oh, it seems like you haven't eaten in quite a while."
The elf sheepishly scratched the back of her head.
"Yeah, I didn't bring any currency with me when I left-"
"Your forest?"
The elf widened her eyes in surprise.
"How did you-"
"Know?"
Haz gave a slight smile.
"This isn't the first time I've met an Elvarian who wished to explore the world."
The elf opened her mouth to ask another question, but Haz cut her off again.
"Let me guess, you're wondering how I can tell you're from Elvar and how I'm reading your thoughts, right?"
The elf nodded.
"Well, it's rather easy to figure out. Aside from Elvar, most elven communities have some contact with the outside world. You displaying such naivety and unawareness of your surroundings really By the way, this may sound redundant, but do you have a place to stay or any contacts you know?"
The elf shook her head.
"No, this is my first time venturing outside of my homeland."
"Hmm, if you want, I can bring you to the restaurant I work at. My boss is a nice person. He'll cook something up for you."
The elf responded with a hesitant tone.
"Really? But I already owe you a lot. I don't wish-"
Before she could finish, her stomach interjected.
*Gurgle!*
"Actually, I'll gladly accept your offer!"
The brunette wryly smiled, offered her hand, and pulled the elf back onto her feet.
The pair exit the bloody alleyway, leaving the dying thugs behind and heading toward the restaurant Raz worked at.
After walking several blocks, they stood before the restaurant, not some shabby wooden tavern where rough-and-tough adventurers go for drinks. Nor a classy high-end restaurant catering to the wealthy. This building was something else.
Its base is filled with one meter of brick. Everything else, aside from some white columns and pillars supporting it, is glass. Above the entire building is a sign with two letters, MC.
Looking inside, the decorum is rather unusual as well. Pristine clean wooden floors, simple comfortable-looking chairs, and tables similarly made of wood, and a few potted plants here or there.
Several patrons, well-dressed, sat quietly, eating what appeared to be sandwiches and glasses of unusual, dark, bubbling liquid.
Overall, it's simple, yet radiates a certain noble prestige.
Seeing such a restaurant, the blonde elf became hesitant again. She'd been expecting to be brought to a rambunctious tavern, not someplace catering to nobles.
"Um, Haz, is it really fine for you to give me free food? Like I said, I already owe you big time for saving me back there."
"Of course! Although I do expect you to work part-time as compensation."
"Yay! Thanks, Haz! You're a lifes-"
The elf stopped mid-sentence after realizing what her new friend said.
"Wait how is working part-time considered giving me a fre-"
"We'll also provide you with fair wages and free room and board."
Upon hearing these two things, the elf's expression did a one-hundred eighty degrees turn.
"How do you make it official?"
Haz smiled at having hooked an extra employee for the restaurant. With a new employee, the workload on her back would be reduced a lot more. Even if she doesn't have any more work, her shoulders' would still be sore. [Author's Note: No further comments or questions asked. I'll leave it to your imagination.]
"Great! Now then, we should go meet the Boss."
Haz opened the door, a tiny bell sounded as they entered.
"Wait a minute! I'm coming!"
A blonde-haired boy in a chef's uniform apron burst out from the kitchen, carrying several plates of what seemed to be sandwiches and unusual gold sticks.
The sandwiches contained all the original ingredients, crisp lettuce, fresh tomatoes, melted cheese, but it's the meat that catches people's eye.
Rather than a few slices of ham and the likes, a brown disk with slight burn marks and the diameter of a fist, was sandwiched between the ingredients and two buns.
The boy walked to a group of teens, dressed in blue uniforms, indicating they were students from the local Babylonia Academy.
"Here you are! Five McCharles' burgers complete with a side of fries!"
The boy hurriedly set them down and came over to the girls.
"Haz! You've returned! Did you get the condiments I requested?"
"Yes, I bought the pepper, vinegar, sugar, garlic, mustard and apple strudel."
Confusion clouded the boy's face upon hearing the last item on the list.
"Apple strudel? I didn't remember asking you to buy that though."
Haz briskly responded.
"I just wanted one."
The boy shrugged.
"Well, Boss did say you can use the change however you like, but don't blame me if you get f- *Argh!* *Wheeze!*"
Haz used one arm to headlock the boy, her face expressionless and covered in a shadow. Intimidating the poor lad.
"Gordon, what were you going to say? It can't possibly be a three-letter word beginning with f- and ending with –at, right?"
Gordon, whose face became a light shade of blue from the lack of air, frantically shook his head. Satisfied, Haz gave a smile and let Gordon go.
"Good boy, now take these to the pantry."
Gordon took the straw basket from Haz and went to the kitchen, massaging his throat along the way.
After witnessing the rough horseplay, the elf concernedly asked Haz, who was in the middle of eating her apple strudel.
"I know "that word" is taboo and must not be said to any girl, but don't you think you were a little harsh on him?"
Haz quickly finished her pastry and replied.
"Don't underestimate the kid, he's been through a lot more than you think. It'll take more than a little teasing to break his spirit."
The elf sighed.
"That's not what I'm worried about. You literally made his face turn blue with your "teasing."
Haz looked at her new friend with a question on her face.
"But I considered it quite light, was it actually too much?"
"How do you consider choking someone half to death light!?"
"Back home, my siblings and I would put poisons in each other's food and drink, put poisonous snakes under each others' pillows, or set up pitfalls filled with spikes as pranks. Isn't that what everyone does?"
"What!?! Where do even live for that to be considered normal!?!"
Before Haz could respond, a voice joined in. One filled with energetic charisma and a tint of elderly wisdom.
"Haz! Back from the markets already? Ah! I see you've also brought a friend! Why don't you introduce her?
A tall elderly man with an enormous handlebar moustache walked in from the kitchen. He wore a simple white shirt and black pants, both appearing to be made of high-quality fabrics. On the outside of his clothes, he wore a white apron. Despite there being white in his hair, he was in fantastic shape. Broad-shouldered and straight-backed, his folded sleeves revealed well-toned, lean, and muscular arms. His golden-yellow eyes glowed with intelligence and mirth. Without doubt, this man is an absolute stunner, if it weren't for his age.
"Haz! You're back! Gordon just told me about your new friend! Why don't you introduce her?"
The errand girl turned to her elf companion, then she realized she forgot to do one important thing.
She spoke with an apologetic and embarrassed tone
"Sorry, I forgot to ask for your name. Um, do you mind telling me what it is?"
Her elf friend smiled.
"Oh! Don't worry about it! If it wasn't for you, who knows what those despicable thugs would've done to me! Anyway, my name is Ariel! Nice to meet you Haz!"
After saying that, Ariel held out her hand, Haz smiled and shook the elf's hand.
"It's a pleasure to meet you too."
*Gurgle!*
Charles let out a laugh and invited her to take a seat.
"It seems you're hungry. Why don't you have a seat? I'll whip up one of my signature Burgers for you to eat. You don't mind beef do you?"
Ariel embarassedly fidgeted with her fingers.
"Is it really alright for me to eat for free?"
"Of course! You're a friend of Haz's! A friend of hers is a friend of mine. If you're that worried about freeloading, you can work part-time to pay off the meal."
"Oh no! Don't get me wrong, but I'm just worried you might make me sign some shady contract."
The old man turned to face Haz with narrowed questioning eyes.
"Haz, did you try to rope her into the business?"
The ruby-eyed girl looked away whistling.
"*Sigh!* I'll let it slide this time, but seriously, don't worry about the manpower. I've got everything covered. By next month, you can expect yourself to be a manager!"
Haz's eyes glowed with joy.
"Does this mean I
"If by work, you mean physical work, then yes. In exchange, you'll get more paperwork!"
The ruby-eyed girl let out a sigh and plopped down on a chair. Her dreams of more vacation days are still far off.
The old man ignored his employee's behavior and focused on his new customer.
"Take a seat, I'll be back in less than five minutes."
Ariel took a seat directly across from Haz, barely two minutes passed before the old man brought a tray. On the tray is a round sandwich and a dark bubbling beverage she's seen other customers have.
A delicious aroma wafted from the round sandwich, causing the hungry elf's mouth to water.
"Enjoy the meal!"
"Thanks!"
The moment the tray was put down before her, Ariel's hands became a blur as she snatched it and brought it to her mouth.
She opened her mouth and took a big bite out of her first, real, fulfilling meal in days.
The moment she took her first bite, stars lit up in her eyes.
(So delicious! The crispness of lettuce! The juiciness of the tomatoes! The warmth of the cheese! The tanginess of the onion! The savouriness of the meat! And these unknown sauces! How can such delicious food exist!?!)
Ariel was so engrossed in eating, that she accidentally choked.
"Here wash it down with some Caco Calo."
The old man gave the elf the bubbling dark beverage. Ariel gratefully accepted it and took a sip. Her eyes lit up again
"So, tell me, how did you meet Haz?"
Ariel chowed down on the last bite of her sandwich. After washing it down with her remaining Caco Calo. Then she recounted her tale of how she arrived in the city and got saved by Haz from thugs with malicious intentions.
The old man, intrigued, asked Ariel a question.
"By any chance, did they say they belong to a criminal organization?"
"Um, yeah! They said something about being part of the Daggers or whatever. Why do you ask?"
"Ah, you must be a newcomer, so it'd make sense you wouldn't know what's going on. I don't have the full picture, but apparently, many criminal gangs are getting more active in the underdeveloped areas of the city. You're lucky Haz passed by. If you don't mind me asking, what exactly is a young elf doing on her lonesome in such a large city?"
Ariel's face beamed up with a smile.
"I'm here to attend Babylonia Academy! I heard it's a place where people from all over the world gather! I can't wait to meet them and learn about other places!"
"Oh? You're planning on attending Babylonia?"
The elf enthusiastically nodded.
"That's right! I heard it's a place where you can meet all sorts of people and learn about the world!"
Then her tone sobered up after remembering one key detail.
"Um, by any chance, do you know how to get to the Academy? I lost my map somewhere along my trip."
The old man smiled.
"Don't worry lass! You're in luck! It just so happens that I'm a teacher at Babylonia!"
Ariel smiled and her pointed ears perked up.
"Really? That's great thank you so much Mister..."
The old man did a quick facepalm.
Where are my manners!? I forgot to introduce myself! I'm Sir Charles, Sir Charles Integra, and I'd like to welcome you to Babylonia!"