Lord Joyde The Madman: Heylo, everybody! How are you all doing?

Well hello there my dear reader!

How are you this fine morning?

Oh, me?

I'm just here, typing yet another chapter during work time.

Lets see if I can push this envelope some more, eh? All for your pleasure and definitely not because I currently have not much else to do, yes.

Mhm. Gonna have to use this 30 gigabyte hard drive of a computer to type this chapter down though... so beware of potential unpleasantness.

I've honestly never seen a computer like this. I wonder if it can even process my writing? We are about to find out!

Don't mind me guys and girls! I'm just a line break...

A few hours later... - Sorcierre - Alice's Point Of View...

"So this is the famous city of magic? Feh, I expected much more splendor from a city built by an elf." One of my plate-bound knights scoffed as we approached the city. It seems that the couple hours of shuteye did very little to soothe my retinue of their angry nature, but then again, sleep never really soothed me either. It may just end up being a chaos related thing.

So many mysteries surrounding that one point of existence; Chaos. It makes me wonder if my questions about it will ever be fully answered.

Chances are that you do not actually wish to know the answers, milady.

Well Tius, that is also a fair point."We haven't even entered the first district of the city and you are already judging it?" Another of my retinue asked of his colleague.

A dark elven woman from the back line quoted."You know what they say: never judge a book by its cover, but I guess you weren't taught that in whichever paltry institution you originally attended, Farmann."

The knight scoffed towards the elf in mock anger."That's Sir Locksey to you, little elf."

The woman cooed right back in an even more mocking tone."Oh? And here I thought it was Sir whip-me-harder-mistress."

I do believe I just found out what it feels like when eternity decides to switch with seconds for brief moments in time. I think I heard some window cracking in the distance or maybe that was just the fabric of reality tearing itself apart at the seams.

Yet, I somehow managed to keep a straight face."Come on, people. We all know just how insane our kind can get but please do keep yourselves civil during your stay here. For my sake, if nothing else."

Lord Locksey approached me with a worried glance."On that note, young lady. Just where do you plan on setting us down? In some random city tavern? Because, I can assure you right now that a group composed of fallen nobility, giant orcs, dark elves and former criminals is not going to find accommodation so easily in a random tavern."

"That... I'm afraid I did not plan that far ahead. Guess our first order of business will be to find lodgings for you guys and girls. Preferably somewhere quiet and isolated." Muttering mostly to myself in reply to the knight, we finally managed to reach the city gates."Halt!"

One of the guards at the gate hailed and prevented us from entering the city."State your business here!"

Shrugging at the stoic-faced human man, I promptly took out my mana stone. These stones were handed to every student of Sorcierre on their first day here and serve as a kind of proof-of-person for those who wish to enter the city."I am Alice Pendragon, High Lady Of Axilar. I am here to study, meet business partners and possibly purchase housing for the establishment of a semi-permanent merchant outpost within the city."

"And your... friends, here?" The same guard questioned me with a rather aggressive tone which caused me to quirk an eyebrow at the offending man."... my retinue? Why? Is something wrong? I can't be the first noble to arrive with a squadron of personal guards to the city."

Every guard present shook their collective heads and their apparent leader nodded in compliance."Apologies, milady. It seems like you truly are who you claim to be. Be warned, recently a spree of gold-eyed individuals have infiltrated the city and are thought to be responsible for a spree of murders and seemingly random killings."

We all blinked in sudden interest as the guards recoiled from our joint gaze."... gold-eyed.. individuals?" A look back towards my retinue served only to confirm their own suspicions on the matter as I turned back towards the guardsmen with a question of my own."Say, do these individuals also possess hair colored white, like we all do?"

They shared a common blink of confusion before their leader replied."No milady, they only share your eye color... Do you perhaps have some information about this group of murderers, your highness?"

I shook my head in negative."I'm afraid that I do not, my good man. If they shared our looks in their entirety then there was a good chance that the killers were our very own countrymen and, as Axilars sole ruler, that would make this city's troubles my own. Alas, since they do not share our hair color then that means they are not from my county."

Another spree of momentary confusion ensued but I continued before the guard captain could reply to my assessment."Anyways, I am actually missing classes right now so if you could let us in, I would be extremely grateful."

The guards blinked once again, this time in full panic mode as they spread out in even rows to the sides."Please, do go in!... and may we beg the lady that thou does not mention this holdup to the headmaster?"

Ah, so that's why they suddenly panicked. The headmaster must despise guards who try to hold back his precious money supply, ah, I mean students."Chances are that there is nothing much I can do to prevent a visit from the headmaster, sir guardsman. That man most likely has this entire city overseen by clairvoyance and like-minded spells."

".. So that's how he found out about the murderers? Makes sense." He concluded and thus, blatantly confirmed my own suspicions.

Finally, after what seemed like an hour at the gates but was only around five minutes, we managed to get inside of the city. Immediately, a great deal of people turned their eyes upon us."W-what!? Those incompetent guards! They let the murderers back inside!"

"GUARDS! GUARDS! THE KILLERS ARE HERE!" To their credit, the great many guardsmen we just passed through promptly ignored us."It seems that we are going to be even more loved than usual in this place." One of my men muttered in a tone laced with sarcasm.

I let out a cheery laugh."Don't worry, friends. You'll get used to the stares. Anyways, lets go somewhere less open for now." Poking the elven coachman and pointing far right, towards a certain blackened alley which was the gateway into Sorcierre's criminal stronghold, I directed my entourage while ignoring the gathering crowds.

Perhaps Casper can help me find a suitable location to station my retinue without causing too much trouble. I certainly hope that they won't be killing anyone for the short time they spend here. Well, perhaps a week isn't that short a time, but my hope still remains.

The man in question wasn't all that hard to find. In fact, it seemed as if he was looking for me just as well."Alice!" He exclaimed in an angry tone while waving around his favored pistol and dragging with him a young man with a bag over his head.

Now that he had my attention, he promptly blasted the bagged man's head off."See, that's what happens when ya diss with me boys, Alice! I don't care if yer a demon or some other shit but no man, or girl, fucks with my boys and gets aw-..." He suddenly stopped his dramatic speech and looked at me, apparently finding my ever-so-amused raised eyebrow either insulting or terrifying.

Perhaps both for that matter. I decided to beautifully ignore what had just happened."Ah, Casper! Just the man I wanted to see. My retinue here is in dire need of housing you see, so I was wondering if you know of any easily-obtainable land for me to lay claim to?"

He blinked in utter confusion and then removed the bag over the now-dead younger male's head. Though his brains have been rather gruesomely strewn across the street cobblestone, his eyes were still golden, though lacking in any form of glow."Not one o' yers, Alice?"

Placing a shocked hand onto my chest in an equally dramatic manner as his speech just a moment beforehand, I asked with a hurt tone."Wh-what? C-Casper! I'm astounded and hurt that you would even think of such a horrid thing!"

A nearby guardsman quickly walked over to the supposed criminal mastermind and whispered something in his ear. Then Casper made several ooh sounds and promptly dispersed the crowds."Alright, then! False alarm, everybody! Back to yer shits!" Back to yer shits? Now that's a new one.

The crowd dispersed as quickly as it was formed and Casper approached me and my retinue, most of who were dying of laughter by now, with a rather surprising amount of courage for a self-proclaimed bandit king."So whats that you said about needin' housing? An' how much would ya be willing to pay for it?"

Translation; I have a place that I no longer need and is easily acquired. However, unless you want me to harass the shit out of you, you better pay up now."Casper, we both know that I'm not entirely grandiose on money right now, so don't play games with me and just say the price."

He harrumphed and nodded in recognition."Sometimes, I forget just how much I taught ya 'bout the bandit life, Alice. Am I to assume that this means yer gonna be startin' up your own gang in the city?"

I shook my head in negative, much to the mans surprise."Hell no! Its just that I'm already ditching class as it is and need to quickly find a place to set these guys and girls down for a time, maybe a week at best, two at worst and then we will be gone. It should be obvious as to why I want to do that so please don't even bother asking me."

"Ah, such a quick refusal! How interesting... well, so long as yer *bois and gals* don't start up trouble, I don't see why not. There's an empty mansion two streets down left from 'ere and I'll be willin' ta lend it to you permanently for twenty gold." Was his reply. Oh my, still trying to gauge my purse?

In Casper's own words, how interesting."Casper dear, are you perhaps short on money?"

Swallowing down hard, the man replied with sweat falling down his brow as he lead the way towards this supposed mansion."Ah fuck, its like I'm talkin' to myself when I'm talkin' to you. Anyways, yeah, I'm fucking short on money 'cause yer fokin' look alikes burnt down several of my warehouses yesterday."

"The murderers? They... attacked your people?" He offered a somber nod."Yeah, lotsa good lads and lassies died that night. We got one o' them killers after a prolonged fight... those guys moved with so much grace, hit with so much strength... I had no doubt in my mind that they was yers till now."

"Casper, why in the world would I ever make an attack on you? And in this very city, at that?" He grinned right at me."So you'd wait for me to leave this city if you were to ever attack me, eh? Good to know."

I just shrugged at the man without reply, because saying anything at all here can and would be taken against me."Dunno, lass. I guess I was just stressed of it all... an' with ya not being in the city when the attack happened... hell, it all seemed too clear to me."

A nod from me was his answer."Well Casper, what I can tell you is that the attackers aren't mine, but I think that its only a matter of time before they try to kill me."

He and my retinue by extension, blinked in absolute confusion for a brief moment before the man seemingly had an epiphany."... ya think that this attack on my guys is just a part of some grand plan to kill you, Alice?"

"Let me put this in a way that might clear up some parts of the story: recently I finally learned how white hair and gold eyes aren't all that strange within my county for peculiar reasons and was handed a whole bunch of seemingly random people who shared my physical appearance to a fault as a personal guard. Apparently, on the same day that this group was forged, Sorcierre had a spree of murders orchestrated by people who shared one of our rather blatant physical traits: the glowing golden eyes." I then turned towards one of the dark elves within my entourage."Go get that corpse for me, please." Pointing towards the man who Casper shot a few moments ago was enough for the girl as she seemingly dispersed into the shadows before re-appearing before me, corpse in hand.

I promptly shoved my hand into the corpses eye sockets and dug out one of his eyes."... fake eyes?" Casper quickly caught on and took the metallic eye from my hands, trying and failing to squash it in the process.

However, he did manage to wash away the color upon the eye which revealed magical runes and other symbols etched into the metal."Because simply recoloring their hair using magic would be way to suspicious." Farmann suddenly exclaimed with a snort and glare at the corpse.

"Now, lets say that these people know full well that we are on friendly terms and wanted to cement myself and my people here as the murderers by causing a bloody street fight between us and the guardsmen in front of the city. I assume that I only have you to thank for the fact that they all didn't attack me the moment we arrived?" Casper nodded towards me, seeming very interest and infuriated at what was going on right now.

"Aye, I said to let you in so I can deal with ya meself." He replied with a completely guilt-less tone, causing me to let out a chuckle."Thank you for that, I suppose. Anyways, moving on..."

I took in a breath."The killers seem to have timed these events perfectly together at first glance... however, the fact that one of their men was caught in the process only proves that their actions were hurried. They needed a scapegoat and fast, which is why they decided to attack you and your guys. All this in an effort to either damage my already-ruined reputation or to outright kill me."

A strange, bluish raven was caught in the corner of my eye and a smile formed upon my face."And considering the esteemed headmasters interest in all this, I'd say that my, or rather our, enemies are of a more... magical, nature."

"Magical? You mean like some sorta cult or something?" Casper quirked an eyebrow towards me as I nodded."Maybe, though Casper... considering that they attacked you first instead of me while I was on the road..."

"They already had agents here in the city and most likely didn't actually know that you'd be coming along anytime soon... ah fuck, I knew joking about it was a bad idea and yet I still did it." He spat onto the ground."Just what I needed right now; fucking vampires huntin' after me."

"To confirm, these attacks happened solely during the night, right?" Casper nodded and the raven seemed to hurriedly leave."That didn't strike me as weird as most gang fights happen during nighttime, but now that we know its fucking vamps behind it all... it only serves to confirm all this shit."

We played with fire and one of us got burned. I felt a piece of my soul burning on the inside as we finally reached the worn-out mansion. I took one look at it before I heard Casper say exactly what was on my mind."Whatcha willin' ta bet that our enemy is somewhere in there right now?"

"You just read my mind, Casper." He chuckled."What can I say? We think scarily alike. Anyways, what should we do? Burn 'em like last time?"

"While burning the creepy mansion might solve the issue for now, they've probably learned since last time Casper. Since we are dealing with nightwalkers here, they've probably holed their forces up inside of the mansions basement area and cast protective seals upon it. Their plan is most likely to assault me and my entourage during our sleep, leaving our cold bodies behind and then continuing on their rampage against you, possibly with those same freshly-drained bodies.... no, lets make the mansion into a trap. Set up firing squadrons above each and every single door to the basement and blast the soul out of every unliving thing that comes out of them." My soldiers and Casper seemed amazed at my capacity for murder yet said nothing.

The raven from before then suddenly landed upon my right shoulder. I was creep-ed out at first, but did nothing to stop the curiously-colored animal from putting its beak against my ear."Though I do have questions about your choice of allies young lady, my mage-guard will be there with you to help burn down these bloodsuckers."

"It seems like we have the headmasters support in this little endeavor, Casper." The raven flew away within an instant, almost as if magically teleporting away from my shoulder, causing Casper to nod."Right, then. I'll handle the organization required to set up the plan since I guess you've got classes to attend."

"Casper!" I yelled after him as I threw a bag of twenty clausian gold coins towards the man. He looked at me with a strange glance before taking the coin into his hands."It seems that I'll be taking your mansion, after all."

The man smiled and took the hint, his paranoid eyes darting across the city all around us, eventually settling upon a small darkened alley to our right before replying."Pleasure doin' business with ya, your highness!"

He then quickly scampered off to rally his nearby troops and catch was was most likely an enemy spy. I did not bother looking into the alley in order to avoid suspicion. Then I turned towards my retinue."Well guys, better get as much rest as you possibly can before the fight starts. I've other business to attend now, so please do take care."

Farmann and the rest only offered solemn nods as they grasped their weapons tighter."By your will, milady."

A few minutes later... - Sorcierre (Central District) - Alice's Point Of View...

"Mmmph!" A strange set of sounds escaped me as I stretched myself, still perched at the front of my vainglorious carriage much to my current coachman's dismay.

Having left my entourage back at the creepy mansion felt like dropping a huge weight off my shoulders. They are soldiers, so it may just be part of their everyday routine to make their would-be-commanders feel the weight of their lives upon their backs.

Have some mercy on me please, I'm just a chaos-infested little girl!

Anyways, where was I?

Oh yes, my coachman. The elf was a man of rather lithe but muscled build, kind of like that one thief who visited me in Casper's name. He also had the typical attire worn by slaves... aka, barely anything at all but a set of ragged pants and a patchwork shirt, which did very little to conceal his lower body.

Which is why the ladies all around us were either blushing or cursing me, while the men had no idea what to make of the situation. On the one hand, a lady-too-young-to-be-doing-this-intentionally was sitting next to a half-naked and handsome elven man and on the other hand, that lady was already known to be rather insane.

"So, could you tell me your name, at the very least?" The man-elf grit his teeth and turned towards me with a menacing glare. When I returned the look with a quirked eyebrow, he decided that I was apparently worthy of said name."Uveane, Uveane Rethrill."

"Are you Farmann's? Or someone else's?" He shook his head."I only belong to my master. Remember this and we will not have a problem."

I laughed at him."As you wish. Now, find me a shop where I can buy a painters set. After we are done with that, drive me to Master Merriel's tailoring emporium."

He tilted his head in confusion."And how shall I do this when I do not know where either of those are?"

I laughed at him once again."That's your job to figure out, mister coachman. My previous coachman could do it and so will you. And if you cannot well... you are easily replaced."

Perhaps I put a bit too much venom into that last bit but I sincerely found it very difficult to trust this man for whatever reason. Maybe I'm just being a bigot, but dark elves are said to be hard to trust.

Anyhow, my venom had apparently managed to scare the elf into submission as he begged the nearby ladies for aid. They were more than happy to answer his plight, offering to directly guide him wherever he might wish, especially if that wherever was a darkened corner.

Hah.

Well, its not like I don't understand....

Ah. Shake your head out of your stupor, Alice. This is no time for such pleasantries!

Deciding that I wanted to avoid any more stupid people and situations by extension, I promptly entered my carriage and closed the door just in time to see a familiar blue raven make a beeline to the inside. Once again, my aptitude for ignorance proves its almighty power as I just closed the door as if nothing happened, ignoring the crowds outside.

Don't mind me guys and girls! I'm just a line break...

Thats it for today, guys and girls!

Gotta blast!

See you sometime soon.

I'll edit out the mistakes when I get home.

Anyways, read and review! And Good Morning/Day/Night to you all! ADIOS FOR NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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