Alvis stood hunched over a trash can outside a convenience store, powering out small bottles of eye drops into the trash and mumbling to himself about whether he would ever be able to watch another movie
A pair of humans walking into the store watched him mumble to himself. Disgusted, they gave him a stink eye
" damn, druggies downtown has gone to crap. I bet you're on hellcat piss, aren't you? Already hitting the hard stuff?! This early in the morning?!"
They took one step towards him, causing the elf to snap his neck, almost like an owl staring at them. His eyes said everything. 'I will kill you' with no warning of another step, just pure uncut murderous rage
The pair scuttled into the safety of the store; Alvis stuffed the bottles into his jacket while yelling at the humans almost as a whole
" you baby humans reaching forty-five acting like you have worldly wisdom, having twenty years of job or combat experience, acting like you mastered it! When you hit Ninety, let's have a deal and see who wins!"
The two probably thought he was crazy, but Alvis took the opportunity to vent his frustrations, which were actually directed to them before Solomon. He was on a case against homeless hunters, and those two were hanger-ons to some of the gangs
The anger gripped him tighter. He flashed his badge at the store at the humans who tried not to look or get caught looking. There was no outward effect; unsatisfied, he darted into the back alley
Finding a secluded spot away from anyone, he sat down, covering his head with his jacket by pulling it up, and started to gnaw at his hand like an alley rat
Spilling blood, spitting any he caught in his mouth into the eye drop bottles, then massaging his arm for the blood to flow, dropping like rain into the bottles, filling them up the best he could
Once they were filled, Alvis used some essential healing magic to heal his hand. Fully healed, he took puddle water near him, washing the blood off his face
'cleaned up,' he emerged from the alley to the road. Checking his phone, he let out a damn it at the site of six missed calls, all from his police chief and none from Duckworth
He summoned his car and drove towards the police stations, calling the commissioner to check-in. The phone answered after one ring
" Duckworth and Shinji give me the you are okay status, then you disappear for a few hours from them only to reappear yelling at humans at a corner shop." the chief's voice was human, disappointed but not surprised
" a lot of elves yelling at races down here; it's the forest district; it's what elves do here."
"I take it from your tone. You are good to get back on the beat. "
" yes, please give me something mundane. I don't need excitement."
Alvis merged into clustered traffic, making him feel packed like a sardine in a can. The sun was baking down through the storm, boiling him in his car. He started to smell like one, too
A low raspberry could be heard from the other side of the phone, along with pages being flipped, finishing with a hmm, then a mmmmm
" were you educated in Cimmera?"
"This sounds like an HR question, but of course, trained in the ten ways to kill and breed at the same time." sarcasm dripped at the end
" blood elves and Cimmerians can't hold civil jobs. It is illegal. there is no HR for you!… Seriously, Alvis, i have heard the horror stories i am asking, did you, an average elf, have access to education!"
" i got lucky i was educated, but what does that matter, though?"
" that damn wizard's tower fused with the starter dungeon spitting out mobs and artifacts. The guild and riot police are handling the mobs… the artifacts, on the other hand."
A groan left Alvis while he thunked his head on the steering wheel; flicking on his blinker to switch lanes, he knew where to go
" while adventurers get some, most feel it's below them, so recovery is slow. Yet, they are disappearing at a rapid rate, with reports of raccoon-like creatures being seen at night along with an unidentifiable goblin. "
" that damn klepto Tanuki wouldn't risk his shop for illegal artifacts."
'yes, but the goblin would sergeant you are tasked with using your expertise in Cimmerian culture to track down the flow of artifacts into the city and plug it, then tracking down the buyers. Do you understand"
" yes, sir." with that, the chief ended the phone call
FATE
Adventurers have two choices: be blessed with wealth or cursed with none. If you have money, then adventuring is your path, with all support included
With money, you can shop in the historic adventure district east of downtown with cozy shops with not-so-humble wares giving adventurous starting equipment that would frag any starter dungeon and start you with easy C rank
But like many, if you do not have a fortune, you are forced to go to the sergeant's destination downtown antique district buildings packed with second shops that mostly stack the wares with previous 'retired' customers
But among all the swindlers is one shop that doesn't hide behind any facade on items, services, or price brush wood treasures the pride of f ranks!…bane of the police
Run by a gold and white tanuki whose army of enchanted raccoons stalk every sanctioned dungeon, cleaning them of scrap loot that adventures miss or leave
A shop that will take every item no matter the past and one that never closes its doors day or night
That is why Alvis seeing a crude closed sign on the front of the metal door raised red flags that pilled further on by the fact the store was windowless, hiding any activity away
The elf wasted no time stomping his way to the door, yanking it open only for it to open partly then slam shut with a vast commotion heard behind the door
" Barron open this door right now!"
" BY LAW OF LOCAL BILL THREE NINE SIX STATES A OFFICER OF THE LAW MAY NOT ENTER A CLOSED ESTABLISHMENT WITHOUT CAUSE! "smooth voice of a con man with the sound of a dying squeaker at the end that was Barron talking
"EHHHHHHH Marshal law Barron You little trash weasel, by marshal law of Yggdrasil, any congregation of individuals behind closed doors must allow a police inspection or be charged with plotting."
Alvis pressed his ear up to the door, waiting for chaos, and so did the chaos commence. A symphony of chittering, cursing, and cousins flooded the inside with the crashing and dragging of heavy objects along with the continuous hiss of an aerosol can
The chaos didn't last long, but it was evident when the door swung open, nearly forcing Alvis to dodge out of the way. In the doorway in front of clutter was a four feet tall gold and white tanuki wearing a sweat-stained wife beater
The tanuki slowly patted its big belly like a drum, eyeing the officer up and down before cracking a smile and flinging its arms wide open
" COUSIN COME IN! COME IN!"