"I'm here..." said Kyle, getting up off the ground.
I looked at him puzzled. When had he managed to fall and why hadn't I heard that? Afterward, I looked at the ground. It turned out that right next to the guild exit, the corpse of the furry that was hanging from the lamppost a moment ago was lying there.
"You can't see farther than your nose in this fog," Adele summarized, "we have to be careful or we'll fall into open sewer manholes. Poor people often steal the covers from them."
"This fog is unusual," Jeanne nodded. "Not only did it suddenly appear out of nowhere, but it feels kind of weird and not good. Can you feel it?"
"I'm not sure I feel the same as you, but there's still something strange about it," I replied. The others nodded.
At that moment we were joined by Uncle Jack, who had come out of the building. He was surprised, but didn't ask any questions and remained standing, waiting for us to act.
"Sigh, let's hurry up and settle things at city hall and then we'll part peacefully," I commanded. Adele got a little worried after these words, but didn't say anything.
The way was not pleasant. At first we met no people, and all the noise we could hear came from the center of town, but the closer we got to the city hall, the worse it got.
We started running into people of varying degrees of disgust. There were drunks and hobos collapsing on the ground, looking more like corpses; noisy, jubilant townspeople cheering for victory, tearing down furries corpses as if they were sacks full of candy.
On almost all the lampposts we came across we found hanged and mutilated carcasses of the furries, the same poor corpses were nailed to the walls of some houses. Sometimes there were even human bodies. I tried not to look at them or think about it, lest I lose my mind completely.
There was a horrible smell in the street, a mix of corpse stench, alcohol, urine, and other waste. In some ways it reminded me of the smell of Swedish surströmming or Chinese rotten tofu, but several times worse.
"I feel bad," I complained, covering my nose with the palm of my hand. It seemed like just a little longer and I was going to throw up.
And so, we finally reached the center of town. There was a huge four-story mansion surrounded by a moat of water. There were already some dead bodies floating there. The only connection between the city and the city hall was a good-sized bridge that could fit two jeeps.
I feel like even in my medieval times, such horror couldn't be found on the streets of cities. Although there are many stories of entire cities being wiped out after successful sieges, so not everything is so straightforward.
After walking some distance across the bridge, the stench finally started to make me feel queasy; at one point, I lost my balance and almost fell! But Uncle Jack managed to grab me in time and helped me.
"Thank you!" I exclaimed loudly, regaining my composure. The stench and what I had seen still heavily weighed on my mind and psyche, but I tried to keep myself together.
Finally reaching the city hall guard, I saw a sign at the entrance.
"Women are strictly forbidden to enter. If a woman enters, she will be required to pay a fine."
What the hell? I glanced at Adele; she looked back at me, and I nodded towards the sign. She scrutinized the writing, then looked at me with bewilderment.
"I don't understand what's written there, ask the guard," she said sadly.
"I don't understand either," Jeanne said next, frowning at the sign. Two guys also noticed the text, but their response didn't bring any joy either.
How? Why didn't they, the inhabitants of this world, understand what was written here, and I...
Wait... Now I began to wonder, how could I even understand the local language? How could I read, speak with them in the same language? Is it also some kind of convention of the system? Of this world?
Okay, I'll think about it later. Right now, I need to talk to the guards.
"Hello, we heard that the mayor is looking for adventurers who lost their belongings during the battle with the furries," I said. "We are those adventurers."
"Go ahead," simply nodded the grim guard in the iron helmet.
I glanced meaningfully at the sign again, fully aware that the guards had overheard our conversation.
"Don't worry, there's nothing important written there," another guard replied cheerfully, greedily eyeing the girls in our group.
It seemed I was beginning to understand what they were trying to achieve with this.
"It says that women are not allowed to enter, why didn't you say that?" I smiled.
Both guards became nervous, exchanging glances with each other but saying nothing.
"Answer!" I shouted, feeling the heat rising to my face from anxiety.
"Well, women often come to the city hall, usually in groups, to complain about problems in the city," the first guard, who looked more troubled, began to reply, "we let them in, and when they go back, we stop them and demand payment of a fine."
"They refuse, as they don't have much money, and we offer them... an alternative option."
[Congratulations! For your assertiveness, you gain +1 to charisma and +1 to intimidation!]
"I understand the mayor doesn't know about this, right?" I continued.
"Right," they both nodded.
"Take down this sign and don't do this anymore," I said as I passed through the gates into the mansion's courtyard.
Both guards vigorously nodded their heads.
At that moment, with my peripheral vision, I saw Jeanne, who had her hand on the hilt of a sword! So they weren't afraid of me, but of her? And if Jeanne wasn't around, how would these two bastards react then?! Would they have killed or just laughed us off?! Damn it!
"And are you really just going to leave it at that?" Jeanne asked, catching up to me.
I sighed heavily from worry and anxiety for my life.
"No, I'll still tell the mayor about these bastards, but I lied to them to stop the conversation and not provoke them further," I replied.
Jeanne and Uncle Jack nodded approvingly, while Adele smiled. Even Kyle, it seemed, brightened up after my answer.
Entering the mansion itself, the unpleasant stench was finally replaced by the smell of expensive perfumes and candle wax. Such ordinary scents, but how happy I was to smell them!
At the entrance, we were met by a large reception hall, with one man standing behind the registration desk, who immediately approached us.
"Greetings, I am the butler of Mr. Schneider, the mayor of Surrik. What brings you here?" asked the dark-skinned butler in appropriate attire.
His appearance was ordinary, the only notable detail was a neatly trimmed beard and short mustache.
I explained the whole situation to him, after which he nodded and led us through the hall up to the second floor. We emerged into a long corridor.
A red carpet was spread on the floor, with doors and stands with vases and other decor lining the sides, and occasionally paintings appeared.
Chandeliers with burning candles hung overhead. I can't say I wasn't expecting to see such an interior, but it still took my breath away.
Finally, we reached the mayor's office.
The butler knocked on the door, and from the other side came the voice of the mayor.
"Come in," said the mayor calmly, his voice low but melodic.
Entering, we were faced with a large dining table, in the middle of which sat a tall and bulky man in a shirt and a blue vest.
His face was pale white, his ears were sticking out, he was a short-haired man with thick mustaches. His gray-eyed gaze was friendly but somewhat arrogant.
"Welcome, dear guests, please, have a seat," the mayor said intelligently. "Bring more food and drinks, Robert."
The butler – Robert, – quickly left the room, apparently heading to the kitchen.
At the moment, in front of the mayor, lay a small pig's head, already half eaten, as well as a bear paw, a plate of eyeballs, blood jelly, but there were also more familiar dishes: steak, sausages, vegetable stew, and a pint of beer.
Despite the fact that the dishes were cooked and the room smelled of spices and fried meat, the sight of the dishes made me nauseous.
For a while, I stood in shock while my fellow teammates took their places at the table.
When I finally managed to overcome my disgust... or rather, when the mayor's smiling gaze fell on me expectantly, I had to take a seat.
Sitting down at the long table, I found myself face to face with the mayor. It was the only free seat...
"So, dear adventurers and Paladin of the Sun, what brings you to me?" asked the mayor, singling out Jeanne from our group.
"Mr. Mayor-..." I was about to begin on behalf of everyone, but I was interrupted.
"Mr. Alan, that's my name," said the mayor.
"Yes, of course, Mr. Alan. We came here to retrieve our equipment, but before we get down to business, I would like to inform you about your guards," I said.
After telling about the situation we encountered at the entrance to the mansion, I began to await Mr. Alan's reaction.
"So that's how it is," he nodded, frowning. "I'll take care of it."
At that moment, three more people entered the room with the butler. They all carried trays of food.
It seemed the butler understood that the mayor's guests wouldn't eat the same things as the mayor himself.
In front of each of us, including the mayor, were placed soup with a large piece of meat floating inside and several slices of potato; raw fish fillet in some sauce; fried chicken liver with mushrooms, and vegetable salad.
But there was something else. A sausage in batter, with two meatballs on one end and white sauce on the other, resembling mayonnaise. Perhaps that's what it was.
Anyway, in terms of presentation, it looked like... ah, never mind.
Noticing my lost gaze, the mayor said:
"This dish is called Surrik's sausage. It is named after the founder of our great city and my grandfather – Surrik Schneider. You're not a local, are you?"
"Yes, that's correct," I replied modestly.
"Hmm, I see," said the mayor with interest. "What do you think this dish symbolizes?"
I swallowed.
"I believe it symbolizes the strong will, steadfastness, and dignity of your grandfather, your lineage, and the inhabitants of Surrik itself," I answered.
"Interesting opinion, very philosophical, but you're only partially correct," the mayor replied with a smile. "First and foremost, it symbolizes my grandfather's male organ as the father of the entire city, as well as a symbol of our family's dominance over our people, our power."
Well, well... I simply nodded at the mayor's statement.
As for drinks, there was a scarcity – wine, beer, and cognac. I didn't want to get too drunk, so I asked for water. Everyone present looked at me strangely, but the butler still gave me water.
It looked a bit cloudy, as if someone had thrown a pinch of sand, dirt, or something worse into crystal clear water.
...
Seriously? Guys, you have magic here, plastic, and God knows what else, but you still haven't figured out how to boil water?
I looked at my glass of water again.
Well, maybe one boiling isn't enough here.
...
In the end, I opted for beer.
While we were eating, I decided to use my Insightful ability on the mayor. It wouldn't hurt to know at least his characteristics to understand who you're dealing with.
[Name: Alan Schneider
Age: ???
Race: human
Level: ???]
What the hell?
[Attention! The statistics of this character are hidden by some artifact or ability!]
Great, so my Insight ability can also be blocked. And I even thought it was overpowered.
The mayor himself apparently didn't notice my unsuccessful attempt to peek into his stats and was almost finished with the dishes brought by the butler.
...
After an hour of a hearty dinner, when my team and I finished our portions, and the mayor had already eaten his THIRD serving, we returned to the conversation.
"So, Mr. Alan, we are the adventurers who came for our belongings," I said.
"Excellent, but you must tell me what exactly these belongings are, otherwise I'll kick you out and make you pay for the food," the man smiled.
Each of us, except Jeanne, told about our stuff.
For me, it was a magic map and a book of spells, for Uncle Jack it was, surprisingly, not alcohol, but various healing ointments and potions.
Adele also had magic books, several of them! She must have read most of them already.
In Kyle's bag, there was a family knife and a purse with coins.
After listing our belongings, the mayor nodded to the butler to go and check our words.
While the black butler was gone, Jeanne spoke up. What she told the mayor wasn't much different from what she told us.
"Interesting, this explains the abnormal aggressiveness of the furries, after all, they lived in this forest for centuries, they must have been subjected to this incomprehensible influence," nodded the mayor, covering his eyes and reclining in his chair.
At that moment, memories of the bear mayor's fiery speech flashed through my mind.
He definitely mentioned that it was humans who intruded into furry territory, that humans began to penetrate deep into the forest and collect herbs, and if I'm not mistaken, the main client was none other than Alan Schneider – the mayor of Surrik!