Minerva stepped out the backroom, wearing a teal sleeveless coat atop her grey tunic shirt like that of a farmer. Underneath were a black belt with a silver oval, dark grey pants and long and dark brown leather boots.
"Are the gloves necessary?" asked Nelle, who wasn't accustomed to wearing gloves.
"No, but I'm used to them." said Minerva, who inserted her hands in long and brown leather gloves, wrapping and sealing them tight with the buttons near the wrists.
"So, what are your plans?"
She paused and turned to him. "To be honest, I haven't thought of anything grand, I just wanted to see what was going on here."
"If you keep it that way, then you're gonna want to leave early eventually." as he sat down, his gaze landed at her again with confusion. "Wait, how did you get here? Did you take the inn route?"
She nodded, much to his surprise.
"Woah, it's either you killed that metallic beast or got to the door before him. Lucky."
I mean, me and Sévir did kill it, but Nell won't need to know. "When will you show me around the place?"
He rubbed his chin, thinking. "We could go for a bit now, then continue tomorrow." he sighed and stood up then walked to the door. "Let's go."
Minerva followed, unable to wait.
.
They walked forward in close proximity.
"This is Azure Street; a street dedicated to anything water-related." by the sides were shops selling water, fish–dead or alive among many other things. "This is one of the five major streets in this district–the Magic District."
He continued to mention other streets–Cherry Street for anything fire-related, Earth Street for earth, Yellow Street for light, Breeze Street for air, then Variety Street for miscellaneous. Variety Street was by far the biggest in road and shops, catering to a whole variety of items that could be used for miscellaneous magic–not too different from what was sold in the other streets.
…
Sévir stepped out of Demeter's office with a frowning Sanguinex behind him. "What was that all about, Sévir? Why are you going back to Magiaville? And without me?" she pointed to herself. "Isn't Minerva there?"
He nodded. However, this only deepened her frown. "You just want to be with Minerva, don't you?" she asked with a pang of jealousy among annoyance and disappointment.
He shook his head. Yet, Sanguinex sighed sharply and outright glared at him. "Don't give me your stupid gestures, speak up!" she raised her voice, much to Sévir's surprise.
He folded his arms by reflex and met her glare. "I'm not going there for Minerva–"
"Then for what!?" as the seconds passed by, her anger grew further than she could control.
"It's just.. Something." his unspecific answer left her dumbfounded. At last, her frown lessened and she took a slow deep breath.
"Even worse than us killing gang leaders?"
"Depends." he replied, to which she facepalmed. "Listen, I don't want you coming with me because there will be nobody around to watch over Zephyr."
"But–"
"The gangster population is growing." he said, and nothing more.
As Sévir walked away, Sanguinex stood there and thought of his words. He's not wrong–the gangster population IS growing, though I don't know how big, it makes them all the more dangerous. her gaze landed on Sévir's back. Still, you have to trust me and Zephyr more, you damn idiot.
…
Sévir stood before a never ending wall of trees, which behind its gaps were yet even more trees, and in-between was a pathway good for two ranks.
I've returned, Magiaville Forest. he looked up and crouched. However, I'm not going to waste my time and energy fighting. he jumped high with his shoes glowing green, then flew forward above the trees.
.
The purple-haired woman sat atop a wooden chair with a curvy and intricate back post, and beneath her butt was a silky purple pillow.
As comfortable as it may be, she rubbed her forehead with her right hand, her frown hinting at distress. She opened her eyes, exposing her ruby-red iris that stared at an unrolled scroll on the table.
"At more than several points in the districts Sutsa, West Sutsa, Eatsa and Wessia, I noticed a surge in gang and knight presence that ended up in clashes. The highlight was there were more gangsters than knights–a worrying amount." she read out. There were more beneath, yet she stopped there.
She rolled the scroll and pulled a drawer open, which she put inside. What's the government doing? she stood up, still with a frown. Why can't they do anything about people of the southern districts joining the gangs?
Then, a knock came from the door which pulled her out of her thoughts. "Come in." she said.
The door opened, revealing a familiar girl with long black hair, soft pink eyes and a grey and burgundy dress. A smile danced on her lips. "Ardell-sensei, I have a gift for you in your basement!"
Ardell raised a brow and pushed the drawer back. "A gift? In my basement? Why there?"
The girl gestured for her to come closer. "You'll see when we get there."
The girl walked away, Ardell shrugged and followed.
She closed the door upon leaving the room, walking by a hallway with several paintings of unfamiliar figures casting magic in certain poses and small tables with colorful and intricate pottery–alas, it was a short hallway, so she descended from the stairs early. The walls were coated by purple wallpapers that etched several symbols in a specific pattern; hearts, diamonds, owls, just to name a few.
The door from below creaked as the girl opened it, Ardell caught up and they both descended the stone stairs that led to a stone brick basement.
The basement was well-lit with torches within a consistent gap from each other.
"So, where is this gift you're talking about?"
The girl pointed behind Ardell.
Ardell turned around, her eyes widening to the sight of a muscular man with ropes wrapped around him. Amongst his tough-looking face, his very short beard and mustache, a black eye on his left eye stood out.
"Who.. is this?" Ardell walked closer to the man who glared at both of them with his aura hinting at hostility.
"A gangster from the Grader Gang in Eatsa," she smiled again–deviously, "I did a good job capturing such a muscular man, didn't I?"
"You certainly did." Ardell crouched in front of the man and grabbed him by the chin. "What's your name?"
"..Let me out of here." said the man.
"What's your name?" Ardell asked again.
"Let me out of–"
Ardell frowned. Her grip intensified and left the man wide-eyed as he yelled in pain–even the girl was surprised. "Don't test me, you scoundrel–I have a grip more powerful than your grip in your life." she said with seriousness.
His heart dropped as his glare was replaced with a gaze of fear. "I–I–my name is Axel!" said Axel with urgency. She loosened her grip, much to his relief–however, the pain in his jaw still lingered.
"Say, Axel.." she stood up. "Tell me something about your gang."
"I.. I can't–"
A loud smack echoed around the basement as she swung a kick to his face from the right. "I wasn't asking."
Axel groaned and hissed from the pain, facing her again as though he learned his lesson. "Argh.. The Grader Gang, i–it's one of the leading gangs in Eatsa–"
"What do you guys do?"
He gulped in hesitation. "We.. We abduct people and sell them–" a slap echoed around the basement as much as the smack–it was sharp and directed at Axel, who let out a face of pain worse than the smack.
When he looked back at her, her arms were folded and she tapped her shoe with a frown too hard to be unnoticed. "Is that all?"
She asked, yet he kept silent. "I said, is that all?" she leaned closer with a glare and deeper voice. It was at this moment that he knew leaving questions unanswered would result in worse punishments.
"We fight other ga–"
"Obviously."
"..That's all."
She stood back. "So you guys do nothing but commit abduction and sell them.. To whom?"
He kept silent again, but his mouth was left open as though he hesitated once more.
"Well?" she tapped her shoes again. "Don't leave a woman hanging.. Or else you'll be the one hanging."
He looked down and gritted his teeth as he shrunk himself, shivering.
Ten seconds passed, yet nothing came out of his mouth. Ardell relaxed her shoulders and turned around.
"You know what to do." she said to the girl, who smiled again and nodded.
Ardell walked up the stairs as she heard a click, then the man screaming as he pleaded, then a loud bang like that of a flintlock.
Today's society has such bold and dumb people. Ardell sighed in disappointment.