"Alright!" Ken exclaimed as he clapped his hands together. "You," Ken pointed to the slightly smaller white mouse, "What are you good at?"
"M-Me?" Dex stammered. "U-um, I'm usually the lookout for the boss. Sometimes I get into places that the boss can't fit into. Oh! And I'm a lot quieter than the boss! He says that I'm so quiet that he sometimes forgets I'm even there!"
Ken quirked a brow at the last statement but ultimately ignored it. Then he turned towards Rex, "What about you?"
The one-eyed mouse chuckled for a moment before standing up and flexing his little arms, "Whattya think? Obviously I'm the muscle *and* the brains of our operations."
Ken just nodded in reply until Rex spoke up again. "What about you? What can you do?"
Ken jabbed a thumb at his own chest before saying, "I can use the D rank haste spell. I'm also pretty good at pickpocketing and sneaking around in general."
Rex thought for a moment before asking, "Are you a mage by chance? Because I didn't expect a broke fool like you to be able get their hands on even a common skill book or be a mage. And you look too weak to be an adventurer.
Ken scowled at the brown mouse, "I'm not a mage or adventurer. My parents gave me the skill book when I was younger. Also, I'm not the only one here living on the streets."
"We're mice! How the hell are *we* supposed to live in a house or room without being someone's pet?" Rex laughed.
Ken was going to reply, but decided to close his mouth. Rex was right, and Ken had temporarily forgotten that he was speaking to mice and not actual people. Well, humans for that matter.
Changing the subject, Ken spoke, "You said common skill book earlier when referring to Haste. How'd you know it was a common skill?"
"We used to live in a tavern, so we got to hear plenty of things," Rex replied with a shrug. "We learned a lot from the adventurers while there. Lots of food and a warm place to sleep. It was pretty nice too, until some brat showing off their new flight skill found me and Whitey in the rafters. Long story short we were found out and nearly killed during our escape. That was last night, and then we found you this morning."
Ken was a bit surprised, but overall pleased with this. He was sure the knowledge the mice had would come in handy at some point.
"U-um boss," Whitey spoke up, catching the attention of the other two. "I'm feeling a bit hungry." Dex's stomach growled after its statement.
"We can all go grab something…" Ken started to speak, but as he fished around the inside of his pocket, he found nothing. He must have lost his coin pouch while drunkenly escaping the dwarf from the night before. This greatly upset him, since he had been trying to save some coins to buy his old home back. Now his plan would have to be on hold for a bit longer. 'Fuck that sucks' he thought.
Moving past it for now, Ken asked "Can you hold off for a bit?"
Dex nodded, "Yes Mr Zombie. It wouldn't be the first time I've been a bit hungry."
Ken groaned, "Just call me Ken. And for now, how about we all go and get some money so we can eat. I think I can get us enough money for breakfast."
Both mice nodded in agreement. "Perfect," Ken smiled, "You guys can sit in my pockets." The young man pointed to the two pockets on either side of his slightly dirtied white shirt. Rex and Dex quickly made their way into the two spaces.
"Onward my steed!" Rex commanded with a tiny finger in the air. Ken rolled his eyes and quickly began to make his way out of the alley.
Soon after, Ken and the two mice were walking through the continuously growing crowd in the streets of the capital. The large city was separated into chunks by beautiful streams floating throughout the city, with large ornate bridges above the calm waters.
Ken liked to stay in the one of the common districts. Most people that lived in this part of the city were regular folk just making it through another day. While they weren't rich, they were desperately struggling to survive either.
While Ken had to move sleeping spots more frequently, it was still a decent enough area. Guards were common enough and the people happy. Most of the city was like this, minus the 'Dark Zones'. They were rundown parts of the city far off into the corners. Instead of guards patrolling through the 'Dark Zones', they guarded the singular bridge that connected them and the rest of the city together.
Ken had only spent one night in one, yet he managed to get stabbed during a shakedown with some thugs. He really appreciated his haste skill during that moment since he had barely made it across the bridge and got lucky enough to run into a kind healer. After that night, he decided to stay away from those parts of the city.
Easily pushing his way through the crowds of people, carriages, and market stalls, Ken eventually made it to one of the inner parts of the city.
In the center of the capital named Rothguard, sat the castle which held the royal family. Fanning outward from the center went from nobility and the high class, then outward from there sat the regular parts of the city. The capital's shape was circular, with the richer residents closer to the center.
The chunk of city Ken now walked through was of an upper class, yet it the prices of wares and goods were still humble enough. It was a sort of transition area between upper class and middle class citizens.
All around Ken, people walked, ran, ate, talked, yelled, haggled, and many other things. It was one of the busiest parts of the city, with regular folks and the higher class mixed together. It also meant it was a lot easier to not stick out too much.
While Ken had gotten one or two odd looks due to his slightly dirtied appearance and the not so well hidden mice in his shirt pockets, he was mostly ignored. To others, he was just another miscreant not worth acknowledging.
"Are we almost there yet? I'm starvin' over here!" Rex squealed. "We're here. I'm looking for something," Ken replied, still scanning the crowd. Rex was going to say something else, but noticed how focused Ken was and decided to stay silent.
After another minute, Ken began to walk again, this time he seemed to be in a rush. The two mice poked their heads out, curious what was causing Ken to walk so quickly.
A few steps into his stride, Ken collided with an elegantly dressed pot bellied man who was wearing a tacky amount of jewelry that lined his body. "Watch it kid!" The fat man shouted. "I-I'm so sorry sir!" Ken stammered out, bowing quickly with a look of surprise and remorse on his face.
The man only scowled and patted his jacket. A moment later, the man replied, "Just watch where yer goin' ya little rat!" The large man then huffed and continued in the direction he was going.
Ken took off towards one of the spaces between the brick and mortar buildings, where once inside, he smiled. "What was that?" Rex asked questioningly.
Ken's smile grew as he held up an ornate pocket watch, "I just secured us food for the day."