It was already pas midnight when we got in the town called Golles. The place wasn't walled since it wasn't close to the border before and it never suffered many attacks thanks to the nature of the numerous types of inhabitants that lived in it.
The place didn't have guards either at the entrances or even walking around. The public security of the place was lacking more than a fair bit. In any case, the houses and buildings on the external most parts were made of wood, but the ones close to the center were mostly made of stone. I assumed that the most rich folk lived there, some people some times can make money with all that diversity.
The streets were mainly empy and dark, but there were some torches open close to the center where some taverns could be found. Diran guided us there, but the other dark elves left us and went somewhere else.
"We have some informants in the taverns, but it is never a good thing to walk around with such a large group inside those places. They are heading to the slums on the other side of the town to lay low for a while before going back to business."
"Can you resume your business like that?"
"Of course, I manage the branch of the thieves guild and the guild is where I am. Now, let me do the talking and keep your face hidden."
"Ugh, this smells… when was the last time you waushed this hood?"
I couldn't remember, so I ignored Serana's question after I covered my head with the hood. Hopefully, she will stay silent for a while under the hood, the last thing we needed now was some odd rumors spreading around about us.
Regardless, we headed into the tavern and even though it was well past midnight, there were some people there still drinking. They didn't look like they had many coins, but they could be people that work until evening or something.
They looked at us with interest, but soon they looked away to mind their own business. That was kind of suprising since I found two orcs among them a bear-looking man and a dwarf there as well. They didn't look like guards, but I was supposed to be hunted by people like them.
"Give us the strongest ale in the house."
Diran declared and then headed to one of the tables in the corner of the room. As Diran ordered the strongest ale, I couldn't help but think: There are two kinds of people who drink ale: those who enjoy it and those who think they can handle it. And I was about to find out which one I am.
I was never much of a drinker before, so when the ale arrived, I couldn't help but frown; the smell was weird, to say the least. I couldn't help but think that people made that by smashing some berries with their smelly feet.
Regardless, I put those thoughts aside when I saw a piece of paper under the mug that Diran received. He quickly grabbed it before the others in the room could notice and tossed some coins to the tavern keeper. He looked like a grumpy old man who had few friends, but it looked like he had some contact with the thieves' guild, too… maybe Diran had already informed some people in the town that they were coming there.
In any case, we couldn't talk about it, so we began to drink. The taste wasn't good, and it wasn't strong enough either, so I couldn't see the point. However, I forced myself to drink everything.
"I will return when you have truly strong stuff to drink; this is for lightweights."
The other guys in the tavern looked at us as we left, but they didn't say anything… eventually, we left the area and headed to the slums of the town as well.
"Although we enjoy working in the shadows, we need to start our names as troublemakers in one way or the other. People will start talking about some troublesome individuals, and those who are aware of us will look for us to give us work."
"They leave their assignments in the hands of that tavernkeeper?"
"Only those who know him for years do it, yeah. If others want to make us work for them, they need to pass a long test to make sure that they aren't connected to authorities."
I think I read something about that before… how some shady organizations have many layers to avoid their activities being found out and revealed. That seemed like standard work for thieves. In any case, it looked like the tavern keeper passed some work for us from people that he trusted and doing that kind of work would increase our reputation.
"This makes me think that changing locations unless it is absolutely necessary would make a branch of the thieves guild lose a lot of influence. Considering that a lot of you guys were captured, I take it that you are the assassin of the guild with the least influence, aren't you?"
"... You are right, there is no denying that."
"What about the excuses?"
Diran grunted at Serana's question, but she had a point despite her annoying time. Usually, there was an explanation for that… come to think of it, he mentioned a traitor. I decided to investigate that.
"What about the traitor?"
"... He was my right-hand man in the branch, but he betrayed us when he realized that he could get on the good graces of the new alliance. He should have obtained a position in one of the shady organizations that work for the new alliance by now. He tried to sell us all out, but some of us managed to avoid the ambush."
Diran clenched his teeth after that, and it was pretty obvious that he didn't want to talk about that. As we navigated through the narrow, winding alleys of the slums, the atmosphere grew heavier with each step. The streets of the town had given way to a maze of dilapidated buildings, crowded together like they were holding each other up. Diran moved with a sense of purpose, clearly familiar with the area, while I kept my eyes peeled for any signs of trouble.
Eventually, we arrived at a corner where Diran stopped in front of a rusty metal grate set into the ground. It didn't take long to figure out where we were headed. One look at the entrance made it clear that our new hideout was going to be down in the sewers. As he pried the grate open, the stench wafted up to meet us, thick and overwhelming. The smell was as bad as it could be, a potent mix of rot and decay that clung to the air and made my nose wrinkle in disgust.
It wasn't the kind of place anyone would choose to spend time in, but that was probably the point. The sewers were the last place anyone would think to look for us, which made them the perfect spot to lay low. Even though the thought of spending any amount of time down there was far from appealing, I knew we didn't have many options.
"You can't be serious…"
Serena stole the words from my mouth. Still, despite that, she decided to stick around… she knocked herself out with her own sleep powder.