Chapter 36 - Introductions 2.0
"Ehm, if you don't mind me asking, what exactly are we doing here?" a bright voice sounded out behind Scarlett as she gazed at the grizzled exterior of a large wooden building. It stood at the end of a narrow street ladled with tight alleyways and older houses. While the neighborhood couldn't quite be described as dirty, it certainly appeared lived in.
Scarlett turned around to look at the short young woman who had asked the question. Allyssa wore a mix of pale blue clothing and brown leather armor that was partially visible through the front of the dark blue cape, along with the lids of flasks of some kind hanging from a bandolier under the cape. She had long blonde hair that was mostly curled up in the hood of her cape, along with a pair of large leather goggles that sat upon her head for some reason.
"Are you here to meet someone?" Shin, the young man that stood next to Allyssa, asked. He was almost a head taller than his colleague, with short black hair; deep, tanned skin; and a hefty scar above his left eye that looked like a claw-mark of some kind. Unlike Allyssa, though, he only wore a light set of brown clothes right now — if you discounted the shield he had strapped to his back and the oddly-shaped sword that hung from his side. Scarlett seemed to recall that in the game it was a type of weapon you could often find in the eastern part of the empire and the Unresting Steppes.
"One could say that, yes," Scarlett answered as she looked over the two new Shielders working for her. She had only first met them the day before so she didn't know much about them. But they looked capable enough, probably. Her eye wasn't exactly trained in these matters, but she trusted in Kat's and the Guild's judgement. They were a bit young if you asked her, but she couldn't really criticize. You were probably considered an adult around fifteen or sixteen in this world, if she were to guess. And she herself had been their age when she had had to start taking care of herself and her sister.
It didn't hurt that the Allyssa girl was apparently the daughter of an influential character from the game. Scarlett had been surprised when she first heard the name Astrey from the girl's mouth, but she sure wouldn't mind the chance of establishing a relationship with Allyssa's father in the future.
Said girl was giving her an odd look right now. "Don't you think you'll stick out too much?"
Scarlett followed Allyssa's eyes down to the dark lavender dress she was wearing. It was one of the less ostentatious dresses Scarlett owned, with a relatively simple cut and not too many embellishments. But it was still the dress of a noble. She did have some 'simpler' clothes—like the travel clothes she often used when she went out with Kat—but in general, she felt more comfortable in this type of clothing when she didn't have to do anything physically taxing. No doubt a consequence of the original's influence.
"That might be the case," she said. "But I see no reason to concern myself with it. Only a fool would attempt anything untoward, and I bear no scruples towards teaching fools a lesson." She swore, if any morning drunk tried something with her, she'd make sure they couldn't sit right for weeks. If she was lucky they might even be a person that was strong enough to have some form of magical defense and she wouldn't have to hold back. She'd grown to enjoy using her pyro and hydrokinesis after all her sparring with Kat.
She turned back to the building before them. The morning sun was still inching higher in the sky, although not much of the direct sunlight made it down to this street because of the surrounding buildings. The particular building she was looking at right now was the pub she'd been given directions to the day before by the man who worked at that jewellery stall, 'The Whishing Cod'. She had wanted to make sure that they arrived at this place early enough so that those who were staying here—because despite having been called a pub in the game it was basically an inn of sorts—had woken up, but not yet moved out for the day. While the companion could be found during most times of the day in the game, she couldn't assume that would be the same here.
Leaving that early did mean that Scarlett had missed the chance to talk to Evelyne about the potential businesses here during the morning, though. And she'd been too tired the night before to push herself through having a longer conversation with the younger Hartford sister. She'd have to do it later on, it seemed.
She began striding forward toward the pub and opened its weathered doors. Inside, she was met by a wide room filled with several tables of different shapes and sizes, the space lit mostly by candles set upon simple wood chandeliers that hung from the ceiling by iron chains. The lower half of the room's walls looked like murals of stones stacked atop each other in an old-fashioned manner, with wooden beams running along them. The upper part was made of a simple, murky white stone that she had seen on many of the buildings in this part of the city. In addition to the tables and the people sitting at them, there was also a large unlit hearth set into one of the walls, along with a bar at the far end of the room beneath a set of wooden stairs. The bar was currently manned by a short stout man who was leaning over the counter and speaking with a guest.
She scanned the room, taking in its inhabitants. She hadn't been entirely certain it was true, but as she'd been told it did indeed seem like this place was pretty active in the mornings. The tables were at least half full right now, with probably over thirty people spread across the room. As her eyes roamed across the space she saw a team of men drinking while playing dice, a woman with long hair and her back turned to the entrance playing a light tune on some instrument in her hands, a pair of men in thick brown robes that looked to be busy eating breakfast, until her gaze finally locked onto the figure of a young man sitting alone at one of the smaller tables in the corner of the room. Wearing simple grey clothes, he had a lean but athletic build and looked to either be a young adult or in his late teens. Though he almost seemed to lean into himself with the way he sat, as if very poorly trying not to catch anyone's attention, he had a very distinct appearance with his wild, neck-length hair that was a stark white.