Chương 189: Speaking With The Fluff

Catching some animals and beasts took a little while, but it was easy enough. The only real issue was that there wasn't anything large in the area, so I had to make do with lots of small prey… Which ended up consuming much time as it meant that I needed to get my hands on a whole lot of them to actually return to my pristine condition–But at least, I didn't get interrupted by anything, so that was a win. The patching up of my attire was… Comparatively less successful.

I wasn't exactly very precise with the lumps of steel that were my fingers, and only Elowen could handle physical items… Let's just say that the tomboy wasn't very familiar with the concept of sewing anything. Explaining it to her felt the same as introducing her to spellcasting. Nonetheless, the final result was passable. So the next step was to catch an incoming carriage and ride it with the driver into the city.

I could try hiding in a barrel like last time, but I figured that I could always try getting on the carriage normally. It would limit the chances of me attracting unwanted attention to my person. The only issue with this plan was that there were no carriages around. It had taken a little while to find one last time as well, but for some reason the area seemed… Deserted, now.

I had to circle around the massive lake for a long time before finally finding what I was looking for, and it wasn't in the ideal circumstances… Or was it? Down a beaten dirt road, I spotted a rather large carriage surrounded by what I could only presume were a bunch of ragtag bandits. Ah, have there been bandit attacks recently or something? That would explain why it's so damned hard to find a carriage…

"Give us everything you've got, old merchant!"

"Everything?! You may be thieves, but you do realise that no one will come by eventually if you rob everyone senseless, right? You'll end up starving!"

"Shut up! We know what we're doing!" What an interesting conversation…

"A–Aherm–erm" No one had even paid attention as I had approached the bandit who was doing the speaking, whom I assumed was also the leader of sorts.

"Who the hell are you?" I didn't think that discussing would be of any use, so I just grabbed the bandit by the head, picking him off the ground, and like he was a towel I was using to whip someone else with, I swung him through the air, his head stayed in my hand as the rest of his body was violently ripped off, slung through the air before ending its course against a tree, where it exploded into blood and chunks of meat. I casually tossed his head to the ground.

I would have loved to eat all of the bandits, but it might have spooked my potential ride if I started feasting on sapients in front of his eyes.

"Shoo, shoo… Unless–less you want the same thing he had, get the h–hell out of my si–sight!" They dispersed like a bunch of rats, running off screaming and crying–It was just a little killing, since when did bandits grow so soft? I turned to the merchant, who was just staring at me with a slack jaw, his eyes glancing between me and the gruesome remains of the bandit.

"T-Thank you, kind traveller… How… How may I help you…?"

"Do not be afraid, old man–an. I am just looking to get into the city. Do you think you could give me a ride?"

"Oh… Do you not have coins to pay the entry fee, Miss?"

"No""I see… Well… Climb on, then!"

"Thanks" The ride was rather awkward. I could quite literally tell with precision that he was scared of me… Just because I killed a random guy a little bit brutally! It was a bandit! Criminals getting slaughtered is something to be celebrated, no? Thieves are low-lives, and this is a dirty, uncouth thief who probably lives in the woods next to animal shit. Hardly a contributing member of society. Regardless, the carriage driver was evasive when I tried to ask him questions about anything.

He clearly didn't feel like having a conversation despite me saving his life, or his goods, I guess. Same thing, really. Though he did allow me to gain entry into the city. The guards looked at me funny, but did not ask any questions. From their perspective, I was just a tall gal wearing a long, wide, somewhat tattered violet cloak, with my head covered by a big hood… And just so happened to have weird-looking hands and feet. I probably wasn't the weirdest-looking person they had ever seen, though.

This was a majority beastfolk country. People should be used to seeing some odd fellows. Especially when the place was known to attract monsterfolks as well. I got in without much problem… Now, where can I find people willing to discuss the news with me? Well, events from more than a year ago probably don't count as news anymore, but I needed to know how things were nowadays. Should I try a bar? The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

What about the local adventurer guild? I remember spotting one during our last visit here. I believe it was even merged with the merchant guild and the mercenary guild! There should be plenty of well-informed people there Good point. It's barely past noon as well, so it should be crawling with people. I followed Nara's directions, and soon found myself before a rather grand building. Inside, several guilds were indeed combined into one place. I guess it is just simpler to shove everything together.

Merchants often call upon the services of mercenaries and adventurers, and there is sometimes some overlap in the kind of jobs the last two take as well. Regardless, I stepped into the loud, rowdy interior of this composite guild–Who in the hell thought that it was a good idea to serve alcohol in a place filled with aimless sellswords and unemployed handymen? It was still bright outside, and I could already spot several people passed out on tables and the floor…

Not to mention the fistfight, which no one seemed to give a damn about. I greatly dislike this sort of place. No class. No decorum. Just filth all around… I approached a counter. It was so crowded that I ended up with a wall to my right and someone else to my left. For some reason, this person was being given a whole lot more personal space than anyone else, and she was busy reading stuff a worker here had given her.

Now, I could tell that this all meant that this person was important, but I could also tell that this meant that this was someone with a certain level of refinement, so I would rather try my chances discussing with her rather than anyone else whose breath smells of alcohol and a failed life. The woman in question was dressed somewhere between a temptress and a noble lady. Her dress was open near the sides of her thigh, which would certainly be more of a statement in my eyes if she weren't covered in fluff.

Rather than looking like a femme fatale, she just looked soft like a plush in my eyes. She was a snow leopard beastfolk, similar to Tilimia in her degree of beast-to-humanoid ratio, although covered in fur, her face wasn't too strongly animalistic, and she had a full head of hair… I always wondered if the hair on beastfolks like her would feel like human hair, like beast fur, or somewhere in between…

The leopard lady lifted her eyes from the papers in front of her, sighing softly as though she would rather be doing anything else but sifting through the words written upon them. Her eyes moved toward me–Sweet, I didn't even have to initiate the conversation.

"You must not be from town… What is your name?" …Her face was indeed not very bestial, for it was capable of producing a very human-like smile… The woman's thick tail moved slightly, which I think meant that she was genuinely hoping that I was going to be making good conversation, or something like that.

"I don't really ha–have a name of my own. I usually–ally go by aliases" I was uncertain how much 'Maeve' had been thrown around since I was gone, people might have learned that this was the name I had been using while working with Beelmart, so I couldn't just use willy-nilly, and besides, I was trying to sound mysterious since the leopard lady struck me as someone who wanted to take her mind off of something.

"Is that so? Then why don't you tell me what your favourite alias is?"

"Have you he–heard of the Silent Knightness, Miss?"

"It doesn't ring a bell""I quite li–like her, and she goes–oes by Maya. You can ca–ca–call me Maya… Mi–Might I know your name?" She smiled again, showing her fangs for a moment, extending her hand–Which was sadly without soft cushions–For a handshake. I held out my index finger, which she grabbed.

"I am Leou Palf. But everyone here calls me Miss Leou Palf" A family name? No wonder she actually has a good presence compared to the low-lives around, she is at least bourgeoisie, if not a nobility. Nice.

"Tell me, Maya, what is that odd quirk of speech that you have? It doesn't sound like a stutter. The repeated sounds almost overlap with the following words""Nothing mu–ch, I've had it since forever–ever. I am a sapient golem, you see–see? But I was born from mechanical remains–mains. I su–suppose that's why my words sometimes repeat themsel–selves""A sapient golem? How rare! What could possibly bring you here, Maya?

Our city isn't exactly in its best state since the Nightmare Plague a year and a half ago, you know? Our main method of trade is still somewhat crippled, even with the help of the crown, and we've been having bandit issues. Ahahah, I swear, you get rid of one group, and several more show up to take their place! I wish they would just let me catch a few and string up their corpses around. There is nothing like a warning, isn't there?"

"Mmh…? How come anyone–one wouldn't want to do this? Is it no–not standard practice with criminal scum–scum–scum?"

"You would think so, but–Ah… Randlac isn't led by a noble lord like most other cities. We have a council, and somehow, a bunch of soft bastards got elected, and apparently, torturing, maiming criminals is 'bad'. We don't even have public executions since they got elected, I swear… Nobody likes them. They're getting booted out at the first occasion. They should be thankful that they haven't been dragged out and sunk alive into the lake already""Mmh… Do you not have–ve influence, Miss Leou Palf?"

She was about to respond, stopped for a moment, and then shrugged.

"I don't know why, but I quite like you already, Maya! So come closer" I leaned forward, and for the first time, the snow leopard seemed to notice my two glowing dots hidden beneath my hood, and she seemed so interested in them that she casually pushed the hood up a little bit to get a better look. She removed her hand before speaking.

"Let's just say that my family's influence isn't really something related to the 'daytime', if you catch what I mean… I do have some pull in the matters of the city, but I prefer not to do anything when it comes to the council. They'll take care of themselves with their awful decision-making… Say… I wouldn't want to judge a book by its cover, but you're one hell of an intimate, big woman, Maya… What exactly are you here for? Sapient golems aren't exactly common""Me? Well…"

I lowered my tone to really sell what I was about to say.

"I am actually quite interested in the Nightmare Plague. You see… I was sort of in isolation for the past year and a half, so I missed it, but I heard about what had happened, and I can't help but feel like this nightmare power is incredibly powerful. I want to acquire it for myself, and I think I am on the right track""Oh? Is that so?" Leou blinked a few times.

"Have you ever killed someone, Maya?"

"I separated the head and body of a bandit barely an hour ago""Nice! I think you and I can be great friends, Maya! Why don't you come with me to my office? We could speak business. I guarantee that you won't regret it" Mmh… I think I just got very lucky.