[Cecilia]

“And you let them go!?”

Cecilia sighed as she was berated by one of the higher authorities of the adventurer’s guild for her actions in the Ciminian forest a few days ago. The bandit group that had kidnapped her were a thorn on the side of many merchants that travelled, and although they never killed or took more than their fair share, they were still bandits at the end of the day. They were people who took from others for their own benefit, and that fundamentally put them at odds with society at large, especially as far as travelling merchants were concerned.

The widow had dearly hoped for a peaceful merging so that things could go smoothly and everyone would benefit, but word of mouth was an insidious thing. Like weeds, it spread its unwanted presence around and inserted itself in every corner like an infection. Eventually, everyone knew that bandits were now among them. Rumours of their wrongdoings quickly followed; they kidnapped children for ransom, they burned cities, they drugged people to make them give all their belongings! All sorts of wild rumours spread around.

To Cecilia, it was an affront to the truth and what she stood for. It was why she was here now, speaking with the guild about these rumours and if they could do anything about it, and why she was now being berated for her actions. They had taken the news rather poorly, and the meeting had turned from a civilised discussion into a tense argument.

She shook her head as she sat opposite the man. He was always one of the harsher ones, and she really disliked having to deal with such sticklers for rules. Still, this was the hand she was dealt with. She had to deal with it somehow, lest she suffer the consequences.

“Stoking the fire of conflict served no purpose.” She said. Her tone was gentle as always, but held a firm undertone that clearly told him she was not going to back down, “I removed a potential danger and turned it into something that could benefit everyone involved. I don’t see what I did wrong.”

“You let bandits into the city!” He instantly retorted, “Now that they’re close to us, they could steal from us in the night, and-”

“If they wished to continue their criminal activities, they would have stayed in the forest outside the area of protection of Romalia where they would continue to harass merchants.” She interrupted him before he could continue his line of thought, knowing exactly where it was headed, “They have everything to lose by coming here. They wouldn’t be here for any reason other than to atone for their crimes.”

The man paused, narrowing his eyes as he glared into Cecilia’s eyes for a few moments. Despite his best efforts, however, he couldn’t come up with a retort. If the bandits still wanted to commit crimes, they were massively handicapping themselves by staying. It’s not as if they were skilled sneaks and pickpockets. They were merely highwaymen who strong-armed their way into other’s possessions.

“And how exactly do you believe they will atone for their sins? We can’t let them go unpunished.”

“By working to benefit the community. Which is precisely why these rumours need to stop, in fact. How would they be able to work for anyone if they are treated with scorn wherever they go? Your word is trusted, and at least some of the more poisonous words will die down and allow them to contribute to the people.”

“Hmm…” The man put a hand on his chin, closing his eyes in thought. His poker face didn’t betray his emotions, to the dismay of Cecilia. Being unable to read a person was a bad thing in her line of work. Eventually, however, he opened his eyes with a grim look.

“I’m afraid we are not responsible for the swirling of rumours of individuals that have nothing to do with us. If they wish to restore their reputation, they will do so through their own merit. They brought this ill will upon themselves, at the end of the day.”

Cecilia opened her mouth in protest… but then closed it. His was the look of someone who was not going to budge on this matter, and she knew well that pushing could sometimes worsen the outcome. Suddenly, she smiled gently, getting up.

“I understand.” She would turn around and begin walking out the door, “Thank you for your help. I hope we see each other again.”


Although her voice was sweet as ever, the message was obvious. The man had done exactly nothing to help, and she was definitely going to remember that in future. He sighed. Cecilia was a lot more difficult than she let on.

As the gladiator walked down the hallway, her head swam with thoughts, mostly of anger. That stubborn fool! How did he ever expect them to do anything if they were treated like pariahs!? They would just be right back where they started and leave out of frustration! The masses were emotional and a lie could fester and worsen a situation in a moment. How he could ignore that in favour of them “restoring their reputation on their own merit”. Ridiculous!

“You seem on edge.” A familiar voice called out.

Cecilia blinked, looking behind her. Out of the corner came…

“You’re the bandit!”

He chuckled, adjusting his hair as he approached her.

“My name is Vulpes Galarius.” He introduced himself with a small, roguish smile, “I’m happy to see you again, although it appears you’ve had a bit of an altercation. I assume it has to do with our treatment?”

Cecilia sighed, instantly pegging Vulpes as the shrewd type, and that he had her pegged for a do-gooder type. He wasn’t exactly wrong…

“Yes. I suggested coming here with the purpose of atoning for your crimes, but that’s hard to do when no one will accept any help from you or your group.”

Vulpes nodded, frowning as he put a hand on his chin in thought. Cecilia had an inkling, however, that he was doing this for theatrics rather than actually thinking.

“But I presume you would accept my help, yes?” He said with a small smile, “You seem like the proactive type. I would love to assist in your endeavours.”

“And you and your group would have their reputations restored.” Cecilia pointed out. She knew ulterior motives when she saw them, even if his were harmless, “Don’t worry, I’ll help you out.”

Vulpes chuckled and nodded, “At least you’re no fool. Indeed, this will benefit us as well. However, what benefits us will benefit everyone else too.” He looked around before walking down the hallway, gesturing her to follow him, something Cecilia complied with. She came up to him to walk in step with the taller man.

As they winded through the hallways of the building, Vulpes would speak, though only when they weren’t in the presence of people, “I know of a smuggling ring here in town run by an associate of the guild. He isn’t a member, but he has worked with them frequently enough that they trust him with most matters and don’t really look into his operations. He’s responsible for transporting wares and supplies, but he has used it for his own gain at the expense of the guild.”

“And I presume he was once an associate of yours?” Cecilia shot him a sideways glance.

He chuckled once more, “You catch on quick. Indeed, I used his services to get supplies, but then he started doing other things. Human trafficking, for one, is now one of the services he offers. I stopped associating myself with him after that. That sort of thing attracts attention.”

Cecilia frowned, in thought. It seemed this place wasn’t as squeaky clean as first impressions might lead one to believe. Personal ambition at the cost of others.

“Unfortunately, he has never shown his true face or revealed his name. I only know him through his men. He goes by the codename of N, and I’ve seen some of his men around before.” He hands over a paper with rather detailed drawings of their faces, “Perhaps you should converse with them at the bars they frequent.”

“Aye. I was planning on doing exactly that.” She said with a nod.

“Good. I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to help you further, but I wish you luck. I haven’t been given access to so much as a training sword yet.” He sighed, shaking his head, “Farewell for now. I’ll see you soon.”

Cecilia stopped to think as Vulpes walked away. How should she approach this…?

…

As Cecilia got to work, she could feel her reporter’s instincts coming back to her. She knew where to look, who to ask, how to be subtle… or as subtle as she could be considering what she looked like. She knew when to push and when to back off, and she soon found herself at a bar. It wasn’t the most honest-looking establishment in the world, but it was a lot less seedy than she imagined. She had managed to find the suspects easily enough, and she was rather surprised to see that they were a lot better off than your average thug for hire. Perhaps that was how N maintained the loyalty of his men; paying your men well was a common tactic for the mob, and it made your men feel rich and powerful when they had things they would never be able to afford otherwise.

Entering the bar, she felt somewhat out of place. Every eye fell on her as she walked up to the bar and sat down. She looked around, and though some were still staring, most had lost interest and gone back to business as usual. As her eyes scanned for them, she recognised a few men sitting at the tables. She ordered some ale; a common drink, and though it sometimes tasted like piss, it was bound to draw less eyes. As she waited, she thought on how to approach them, debating various strategies in her head. The sounds of the bar meant that a conversation likely wouldn’t be heard over a table, so that was an advantage… if she got close to her target, that was.

As she received her ale, however, luck shone upon her. Her target seemed to have taken a liking to her, as he called her over.

“Oy, miss! You look mighty stunning! Come over here and I’ll buy ya some drinks, on the house!” He smirked. That… wasn’t a good way to pick up a woman, but he seemed drunk on both money and alcohol. With the way he was ogling her body, his intentions were clear. He wanted to sleep with her, and something told her he wasn’t afraid to use unsavoury methods to get in bed with her. She didn’t doubt that whatever drink he bought would be drugged.

But she was immune to those.

Internally smirking, she would smile and make her way towards the table. She had hit the jackpot.

…

The drunken laughter of her companion resounded throughout the bar alongside many of the other customers around. It seemed the alcohol and Cecilia’s charms had steadily loosened his lips; no doubt, he was too drunk to notice the fact that the drugs weren’t affecting Cecilia. It was easy to get him to speak more and more around her; bat her eyes, smile and giggle, nod along with his words. It was a simple matter to be a bit more carefree, and that seemed to satisfy the drunkard. He was surprisingly conservative with his touches, likely so he wouldn’t scare her off, although his body language clearly suggested he was still interested in her. With that in mind, she began asking questions about his job. Drunk as he was, he was particularly loose-lipped and prone to bragging. She used that to his advantage.

“That looks like some pretty expensive wine you’re getting us.” She noted, using her experience of wine tasting to her advantage, “You mentioned before that you were a caravan guard, but you seem to do a bit more than that to be able to afford this. Are you particularly strong and famous? You look like it.”

“Oh I shure aaam!” He slurred out, mind clearly affected by the alcohol, “But really, being a caravan guard don’t pay nothin’! You gotta be smart, so I took up some other jobs.”

Cecilia blinked, tilting her head to feign cluelessness, “Other jobs? Like what?”

“Oh, y’know… making sure stuff gets to clients without them being bothered by some stickler for rules… contacting Numerius’ customers. Stuff like that.”

The woman merely nodded along, making a mental note of the name in her head. She was sure she had heard it before, but she didn’t want to bring attention to that matter, lest the man realise his blunder. As they further conversed, the man would get himself even drunker, to the point where he wasn’t quite aware of what was even happening around him. Oh, dear… what was the point of drinking if you weren’t going to be properly conscious to enjoy it?

Regardless, she easily slipped away, merely shaking her head at his folly. She really couldn’t understand the mentality behind it, but at least she had her information now. Numerius was an adventurer forcefully transported here, if she remembered right, but he seemed to have no interest in risking himself in a fight. Despite the fact that he couldn’t die, he was quite averse to the notion of toiling through the life of an adventurer. He had proven himself a reliable and punctual man in the short time he had spent here, and he took over responsibilitie of another man after he retired, ensuring everything was done properly.

Cecilia had always suspected he was up to something, though. The way he so quickly got into an advantageous position, took over for a trusted person, and gained the confidence of the adventurer’s guild made her believe that there was foul play involved. It didn’t help that his mannerisms and interests pointed to him being older than most of the other players, further exacerbating the notion that he had done something. Perhaps blackmail was involved.

Fortunately, she knew where his transports left. If she could find evidence that he was smuggling and engaging in human trafficking, however, he wouldn’t be able to hide under anything.

The woman frowned. It was time to act.

…

The guard yawned as he looked over a fenced area leading to some private stables owned by Numerius, lazily keeping watch as he fought fatigue. He wasn’t your average guard; tattoos and a distinctively rough look gave the impression of someone who wasn’t quite on the right side of the law. To go along with that, there was some activity within the stables. Carriages being loaded, men talking. Although no one seemed to bother them, this activity was suspicious.

The noise of a barrel falling would cause the front guard to look back at him, wondering what the others had screwed up on this time. He, however, would hear the sound of chainmail in front of him. He turned around to the noise.

And then his world went black.

Heaving a sigh, Cecilia would catch the unconscious man as he fell, dragging him off into the darkness. Although Cecilia had briefly considered bringing with her some adventurers, she didn’t know anyone well enough to trust not to somehow compromise the operation. She briefly considered her strategy; there were several men at work, likely armed. They didn’t have much in the way of armour, so she could likely take out two of them before the others realised what was going on. After that, however, she would still have to deal with far too many for her to be able to handle. She would have to distract them somehow… looking at the horses, an idea sprung to mind. If she could somehow get them to move away, the thugs would be torn between fighting her and getting back the merchandise. It would allow her to fight them on more even ground.

Sneaking up on the horse was easy; they wanted to keep this thing a secret, so there were hardly any torches lit. Staring at the horse, she could easily see that it was on edge when compared to the others. It was likely pushed hard and would act out at the slightest spook. Deciding to test that theory, Cecilia slapped its rump. It wasn’t particularly hard, but it was enough for the horse to suddenly zoom off with the carriage in tow, the combined weight of the horse and its carriage breaking through the flimsy fence in front of it.

Cecilia herself was almost run over by the carriage, having to leap out of the way to avoid being bowled over by the suddenly accelerating vehicle. Cecilia was thankful for her natural cushioning as she landed on the ground, looking around to see the situation. Already, there were people shouting to go and get the horse without even so much as looking at her, a lot of the thugs running after it as it ran for the hills.

“Hey, over there!”

… But the other ones weren’t as hasty. Although their torches made their eyes unaccustomed to darkness, they still had the sense to search around for the culprit while the others left. Wasting no time, Cecilia stood up and drew her large blade. Its heft made her feel confident in herself, but she was facing seven men. Though unarmoured and armed only with arming swords, they could easily overwhelm her in a moment’s notice. She had to play it smart.

Looking at them, she noticed that only some of them had torches. That could play to her advantage. Frowning as the two sides momentarily stood at a standoff, Cecilia suddenly thrust forward. It was much too quick for any of them to properly realise what was going on; Cecilia had used Unus: Acheron to get the jump on one of them! She aimed for his leg, and he fell almost instantly. The unarmoured man was out of the fight almost instantly, dropping the torch he held to the ground in the process as he clutched his leg in pain.

This attack triggered everyone else to act, but Cecilia was ahead of them, stepping back and into the darkness. The thugs never stopped to consider that they would hear her if they stopped yelling and stomping, merely running after where she disappeared. Unfortunately for them, she wasn’t there.

Coming up from behind them, Cecilia would run up and swing… only to phase through one of the men and move into the darkness once again. The target suffered a similar fate to the last one, the strike aimed at his knee joint knocking him down and disabling him as well, knocking down yet another torch wielder and diminishing their field of view further.

The thugs had become wise to her tricks by now, however. Smartly, they formed a tight formation back to back, making sure to keep the one wielding the torch in the middle so that he’d be a harder target. When they ensured that they were airtight, they began slowly pacing around and listening for her. The air was still, silent. The tension was palpable as the thugs all waited for the next attack that would come from the darkness.

Cecilia leaped from the darkness once more, sword reared back to strike, but they were ready this time. One of the bandits blocked her hit while two others move in to slash her with their blade. The force of the blows wasn’t enough to deter her while she was wearing her armour, but a third one would move in with a thrust that managed to land true while the torch-wielding thug would put his torch in her face, causing her to rear back in pain as the fire momentarily blinded her.

Now on the defensive, Cecilia struggled to block their blows as they pushed her back. They were keeping track of her, not letting her use the cover of darkness again. The widow gritted her teeth as they began to corner her, feeling the stab wound in her gut as blood seeped past her leg to the ground. She was losing her breath fast by virtue of the wound.

One man got cocky and committed himself too far into a blow, a mistake she punished by slashing him across the torso. Not fatal, but cutting him like that would make him unable to properly swing his blade. Her counterattack, however, left her open to another blow. One thug came at her with a slash she managed to parry, but she couldn’t block the other blow that landed in her previous wound. Crying out in pain, Cecilia fell backwards and stumbled on her knees. Looking up at them with gritted teeth and sweat beading down her brow, her mind scrambled for a way out of this.

A pillar of ice suddenly erupted from underneath them, making them scramble away at the unexpected intrusion. Widening her eyes, she looked behind them to see…

“Vulpes!”

The man sighed, shaking his head.

“Now, did you really need to announce my name for everyone to hear? We’d best make sure none of these men escape.” He said, pointing his sword at them, “I figured you were the one who caused this commotion. My men are already in the process of stopping that carriage and the ones chasing it, but I thought you might need my help. It seems I was correct.”

Smirking, he would slowly approach the thugs while Cecilia used the distraction to power through the pain and get herself back on her feet. Hefting her sword in her hand, the fight seemed to be taking a turn.

Suddenly, the sound of clapping could be heard, confusing all the fighters as they looked around to see…

“Numerius.” Vulpes remarked with no small amount of disdain, “Now I understand why N began trafficking humans. You blackmailed him into handing over his operation, didn’t you? I had hoped I would not run into you twice.”

“Oh, don’t gimme that look.” Numerius said; strangely enough, he had a Scottish accent like hers, “You’ve hardly got the moral high ground, do ya? You were quite fond of N’s services, after all.”

“That was before you started tearing apart families.” Vulpes said hatefully, glaring at him. Numerius ignored him, however, and turned to look at Cecilia with a strangely familiar smirk.

“Even here, ya always have to get up in other people’s business, huh?” He said with a mixture of smug condescension and irritation, “Why couldn’t you just stay here an cook for all the other fools? Now you’ve gone and ruined my nice little business.”

“Who are you?” Cecilia questioned, narrowing her eyes at him. It couldn’t be…

“You forgot about me already? Oh, that just hurts, Mrs Ainsley.” He says with a widening grin, “Does the name Logan Murray mean anything to you?”

Cecilia widened her eyes, memories of their deaths appearing in quick flashes in her mind. Logan Murray, one of the orchestrators of her family’s death, and a cunning man who was particularly good at getting his claws into someplace and using it as a front to hide his identity. He evaded her for years until she finally gathered evidence, but he was somehow here. Had he gained access to this game on some sort of prison computer? It couldn’t be… after so much toil and effort to make him pay for his crimes, he was now here operating with impunity.

Something snapped within Cecilia, her once kind and concerned eyes possessed by rage as if a wraith of wrath and vengeance had taken hold of her body. Her face was twisted with fury as she suddenly thrust forward. The thug stood no chance; having used Tres: Cerberus, he was instantly thrown back in a stream of blood before lying on the ground, motionless. The other thugs all jumped back, looking at her in shock as she furiously rushed Numerius.

“YOU WILL DIE WHERE YOU STAND!!” Was her wrathful declaration, ignoring her previous wounds as she was blocked by the thugs. She was in no mood for mercy, however, as she pressed her strength against them as their blades locked together. Vulpes, meanwhile, assisted Cecilia in defeating the thugs while Numerious fled. It seemed his previous smugness had crumbled in an instant when put in real danger; ruined as he was, he needed to go into hiding and find some other way of doing things. Still, seeing that look on her face was the best silver lining ever…

The thugs quickly crumbled under the combined might of the spellsword and the gladiator. Cecilia, in particular, offered no quarter. Her swings were brutal, both slicing and crushing them under the weight of her blade.

By the end of it, Cecilia panted heavily, blood dripping from her blade, on her face, and from her wound. Her eyes were elsewhere, completely focused on the place Numerius fled from. Vulpes stared at her as she stood there, looking around at the thugs. At least two of them were dead by her hand, the fires of revenge having fuelled her wrath against them. He sighed internally.

It seemed everyone had their demons. Even someone like Cecilia.

…

“Three dead.”

She was back at the guild, speaking with the same man as before. This time, Vulpes accompanied her, standing behind the woman as she conducted the meeting.

“Normally, there would be dire consequences for this, but the recovered carriage that Vulpes’… associates recovered didn’t just have illegal merchandise in it. It had people, kidnapped for ransom, slavery, and other foul activities.” He sighed solemnly, “Numerius was an object of suspicion, but several members vouched for him. I’ll have to make sure they’re looked into as well, but regardless…”

He paused for a moment, looking at Vulpes.

“It seems I was wrong about you. You put yourself at risk to ensure that things went as smoothly as possible.”

He shook his head, “Come now. I only wished to ensure me and my men could find work in the city. This seemed like a good way of restoring our reputations.”

“Yes, of course.” He said, turning to look at Cecilia, “Now, I know you likely had no choice, but in future, try to avoid killing. It could cause some problems if adventurers kill the wrong person. Do you understand?”

Cecilia stared at him for a moment, face unreadable as her eyes betrayed nothing of what she was thinking, something which was very unlike Cecilia. As the seconds wore on, the man opened his mouth to ask once more.

But he didn’t need to. Cecilia smiled her sweet smile, looking at him sweetly as she spoke.

“Of course.”

---

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