"What's this?" asked Cairn, staring at the banner hanging over the tent's entrance. His ability to communicate with everyone he encountered led him to believe English was the native language, but the characters on the banner looked more like Arabic script.
"This is where the Boss is," answered Fuusha, entering the tent without further explanation.
Smiling wryly, Cairn exchanged glances with Kai'ankh before shrugging his shoulders and following in Fuusha's wake. There, he found the Dark Elf in question standing off the side with crossed arms, barely noticeable due to the presence of the figure seated leisurely atop a red-cushioned chair that sat only a few centimeters off the floor.
Like Fuusha, the figure was a woman with red eyes, dark skin, and silvery-white hair. Instead of appearing boyish, however, she exuded the charm of a mature and exotic woman, her free-flowing hair extending to her ribs and a fully-developed figure made all the more alluring by her well-toned physique. As for her attire or, more accurately, her equipment, she wore a form-fitting leather breastplate trimmed in gold, similarly adorned metal pauldrons, purple harem pants that ended past her knees, fierce-looking metal gauntlets, thigh armor, knee guards, and metal greaves that left her toes and heels exposed.
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Name: Rubena
Species: Dark Elf(80%), Human(10%), Elf(10%)
Gender: Female
Age: 108
Title: Coliseum Champion(Cha+50%)
Class: Gladiatrix(Epic)
[Attributes]
Level: 58/75[Vagrant(20), Brawler(20), Gladiatrix(18)]
HP: 62,680/85,076
MP: 1,911/5,387
Str: 160+150
Agi: 144+80
Vit: 392+447
Int: 97+49
Dex: 337+316
Cha: 130+65
Talent(s): [Survivalist(20/20)], [Unwavering Spirit(20/20)], [Prize Fighter(18/20)], [Dark Elf Physiology(58/75)], [Child of the Earth(58/65)], [Streetfighting(68/70)], [Slaughter(61/69)], [Martial Arts(55/75)], [Gauntlet Mastery(49/69)], [Cooking(47/60)], [Dancing(44/53)], [Bedroom Arts(39/52)], [Pain Tolerance(50/50)], [Torture Resistance(19/50)], [Murder(35/49)], [Mental Fortitude(33/48)], [Poison Resistance(33/45)], [Wild Cooking(30/44)], [Iron Stomach(28/40)]
Skill(s): [Earth's Protection(MAX)], [Earth Imbue(MAX)], [Steal(MAX)], [Crippling Blow(MAX)], [Bite(MAX)], [Sand Toss(MAX)], [Headbutt(MAX)], [Armor Break(MAX)], [Internal Disruption(MAX)], [Sand Burial(MAX)], [Lifestyle Magic(6/6)], [Fissure(7/10)], [Earthquake(4/10)], [Castrate(1/10)]
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While Cairn was paralyzed, staring at her with wide eyes, Rubena asked, "What do you want...?" in a lazy, incredibly husky tone.
Answering in Cairn's stead, Fuusha explained, "We made an agreement. In exchange for some [Grain Pill]s and several kilos of Longcat meat, I would provide them with information."
Turning her gaze to Fuusha, Rubena questioned, "Then why'd you bring them here? Want me to intimidate them or something...?"
Shaking her head, Fuusha pointed to Kai'ankh, revealing, "That one is a Neophyte of the Restia Church. Those assholes guarding the gates will 'have' to let her through."
"Oh...?"
Sitting up a little straighter, Rubena gave Kai'ankh a once-over while caressing her chin.
"I've never seen a Karakut parading around as a Priestess," said Rubena. "Aren't your people a member of the 'Forsaken' like us?"
"That was a very long time ago," replied Kai'ankh, wearing a neutral smile but unable to prevent some of the hairs across her body from sticking up, clearly bothered by what Rubena had said.
Resisting the urge to ask what the Forsaken were, Cairn got to the heart of what was on his mind, remarking, "This situation is weird. With your strength, you shouldn't have any problem hunting or gathering food for the children we encountered earlier."
Shifting her gaze to Cairn, Rubena sized him up a second time. She had done so the moment he entered her tent, but because of how 'weak' he was, she had immediately lost interest.
"How do you know I'm strong?" asked Rubena.
"Because I'm not an idiot?" replied Cairn, clarifying, "There must be more than a thousand tents pitched in the area, but yours sticks out like a sore thumb due to its size and color. There was also a noticeable gap between your tent and the others, so even a blind man could see they're scared of you."
Though he was speaking facts, Cairn attempted to make his words more compelling by activating his [Sophistry] Skill. His 60 Cha couldn't hold a candle to Rubena's 195, but he was fairly confident in his ability to bullshit and the appearance he spent hours fine-tuning.
"You're pretty cheeky for a human brat," remarked Rubena, rising to her feet and popping her neck. Then, faster than Cairn could blink, her figure vanished, a burst of wind spread through the tent and causing its fabric to flare outward as she reappeared right in front of him, the centermost 'nail' of her gauntlets pricking the bridge of his nose.
"So my intuition was correct; you 'are' a weakling," said Rubena, retracting her hand as a thin trickle of blood flowed from where her nail had pierced Cairn's nose. Then, seemingly having lost interest in the situation, she sat back down, leaning onto her side and scratching the back of her left knee with the toes of her right foot as she lazily droned, "If you want to be a busybody and let these people take advantage of you, be my guest. But me? I don't owe you, them, or anyone else a damn thing..."
After reaching up to touch the spot Rubena had stabbed him, an action that curiously only drained his HP by 2, Cairn stared at the blood on the tip of his fingers. He didn't think his [Sophistry] had failed, but it was clear Rubena wasn't very fond of being questioned. In hindsight, he realized he could have reached that conclusion on his own by looking at her maxed-out [Pain Tolerance] and Level 19 [Torture Resistance]. She had clearly been through some shit, and with her age listed as 108, her suffering had likely persisted for decades before she got powerful enough to overcome it...
...
..
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After leaving behind the supplies he had promised, Cairn stepped out of Rubena's tent alongside Kai'ankh. Once they were out, the latter sighed, but instead of commenting on what had happened, she turned to Cairn and asked, "So? What did you want to ask? If it has anything to do with my sister, you can piss off now."
Shaking his head, Cairn asserted, "Your family and circumstances are none of our concern. What I want to know is why the Representatives of the Restia Church haven't stepped in to mediate this situation. From what I hear, they're pretty charitable."
"Oh, is that all?" asked Fuusha. "Then this will be quick. A few weeks ago, one of the Dungeons beneath the city evolved, unleashing a ton of slime-type monsters into the sewage system. Rumor is that the son of the local Lord was in the Dungeon at the time, so he has the Knights and members of the Church fighting 24/7 to reclaim the waterways and locate his baby boy. Because of that, the guards aren't letting anyone with a transit pass enter the city, regardless of whether or not they can afford the entry fee."
"I see..." muttered Cairn, his gaze fixed on the massive, ancient-looking city wall that seemed to stretch from one end of the horizon to the other. Then, recalling what Fuusha had said inside the tent, he turned to her and said, "You mentioned to your sister that the guards would 'have' to let us through. Is there something you need within the city? Or were you trying to get us to pass along a message to the Church...?"
Convincing Cairn that their encounter wasn't mere happenstance, Fuusha, after several seconds of silence, revealed, "My sister and I were headed to the Capital to participate in the Decennial Tournament of Champions. I tried convincing the guards she would be able to aid in the search, but as members of the Forsaken Dark Elves, the so-called Sovereign Races don't place much trust in our words."
Though Cairn was largely unaffected by Fuusha's words, Kai'ankh's ears and shoulders drooped. The Forsaken were tribes that had chosen to stay out of the conflict a thousand years ago, so the majority had been ousted from Cliabhaan during the formation of the Runegraad Kingdom. Tensions had decreased substantially since then, but due to the Elves and other long-lived species, the process of a Forsaken Tribe gaining recognition as a Sovereign Race was long, arduous, and full of trials...
Noticing Kai'ankh's condition, Cairn decided to cut their encounter with Fuusha short, saying, "I can't make any promises, but I'll see if I can't do something that will allow you, your sister, and the refugees through even a day sooner. Then, if fate allows, we'll meet again in the Capital."
Raising her brows, Fuusha asked, "Are you planning to participate in the Decennial Tournament of Champions? If so, I would advise against it. I'm nowhere near as good as my sister, but I can tell you lack the strength to pass the preliminaries, much less participate in the main tournament. As a human, you should treasure your life more."
"Thanks for the advice. I'll be sure to keep it in mind," said Cairn, earning a disproving look from Fuusha as he, very clearly, didn't take her words to heart. However, when he and Kai'ankh turned to leave, the pint-sized Dark Elf didn't try to stop them. Instead, she watched them for a few seconds before turning around and reentering her sister's tent to begin preparing a meal for the brats she had taken under her wing out of boredom...
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..
.
"You okay?" asked Cairn, power-walking to make it easier for Kai'ankh to keep pace with him.
"I'm fine," replied Kai'ankh, but despite smiling, the look in her eyes made it clear she wasn't in the best of moods. Cairn could have used that as an opportunity to press her for information, but while there was a possibility that everything he was experiencing was part of virtual reality, he decided to treat the people around him as if they were real rather than NPCs. After all, unless he met another Player, he had to press forward with the notion he was the only one in his situation on the entire planet...
"Well, if you need to talk, I'm a pretty good listener," said Cairn. "Not as good as you, for obvious reasons, but I can at least nod and provide an outsider's perspective. Sometimes, that's all it takes."
Looking up at Cairn, Kai'ankh appeared to be considering his words before a far more genuine smile developed across her face. However, instead of taking him up on his offer, she expressed, "Thank you, but I really am okay. I'm just thinking about the situation of the refugees and whether or not there's anything we can do about it."
"That's probably easier said than done," admitted Cairn. If this were a game, the Quests available to him and the NPCs he encountered during them would be scaled to his Level. Instead, a monster like Vulkaanagan appeared during the 'tutorial' while someone on the level of a Coliseum Champion casually lazed about amid a group of refugees. With Austral being the domain of a Duke, a veritable army of individuals between the Levels of 25-60 must be scouring the underground, leaving little room for a Level 1 like him to intervene.
"First and foremost, let's confirm whether or not we can pass through the gate," suggested Cairn. "Do you have any money on you?"
Nodding in affirmation, Kai'ankh replied, "I do, but as a representative of the Restia Church, I am entitled to pass freely through most checkpoints. We shouldn't have any problems."
"Good," said Cairn. "Then, once we enter the city, we can either look for a place to stay or visit the Church. I doubt anything will come of it, but we can at least explain the situation with the refugee camp and ask if there's anything they can do to address the food shortage."
Wholeheartedly agreeing with Cairn's suggestion, Kai'ankh's ears gained their usual vivacity as she replied, "That's an excellent idea. As expected of Sir Cairn."
"Eh, I'm not so great," contended Cairn, preempting Kai'ankh's response by adopting a cheeky smile and adding, "At least not yet. Give me a few months, maybe a few years, and solving problems like this will be as easy as turning my hand."
Seeing Cairn emphasize his words by holding out his hand and flipping it several times, Kai'ankh felt a sudden and intense urge to roll her eyes. At the same time, however, the corners of her mouth curled up at the notion he might be telling the truth. After all, he was the person chosen by Lady Restia...that had to amount to something...
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(A/N: Xenophobia in my slice-of-life transmigration story!? Well, to be fair, the ancestors of the Forsaken did kind of just stand by and watch the world burn...)