The patrol Alphonse mentioned was nowhere in sight as Kirie left the Guild Union building. She didn't need to worry about any advanced appraisals thanks to Alphonse's outfit, but she suspected the patrols would give her even more grief thanks to her being a demihuman. Her stealth and perception were nowhere near Alphonse's level, but she figured avoiding the patrols with the cover of night wouldn't be too difficult.

She arched her back and stretched her arms to the sky as she took in a deep breath from the cool night air. Both moons were prominent in the sky with their crescent shapes emitting dull glows in their half-hearted contest.

The only individuals in the plaza were two people sitting at the edge of the quiet fountain. A younger woman laughed as her partner said something inaudible and shoved her playfully on the shoulder. The woman moved closer, plainly more than was necessary and pressed her fingers together nervously as the conversation descended into silence. The man settled an arm over her shoulders and drew her close.

Kirie didn't see the rest. She knew where this was leading, and she had no desire to witness public displays of affection.

The catgirl made a motion of sticking her finger in her mouth in a sign of disgust, as if she were trying to force out some vomit. She made it about halfway down the stairs when she noticed the man turn the woman's face towards him and started to lean in...

Ugh, so gross. Kirie jumped to the other side of the steps theatrically when she'd only made it halfway. She landed with knees bent and a palm towards the ground to brace her fall. She kicked her legs a couple times to work out the stiffness and moved on.

She wondered why people couldn't make out somewhere that was completely remote. Sure, it was getting deeper into evening, but they were in the middle of the plaza that branched off to areas that received some of the most traffic in the city. Kirie could think of plenty more secluded spots. Maybe a high balcony, a cluster of trees in a park or, the best choice by far, the closed-off space known as a room!

Her stomach rumbled in agreement. Kirie realized that the thought of vomiting at the couple's romance actually made her hungrier as she started walking down the road out of the plaza. It was as if she had suddenly lost all the nourishment from her previous meal in the span of seconds.

There was a restaurant a few blocks away leading towards the western area of the middle district. It acted as a butcher shop as well and shared two interconnected buildings. The place stayed open late since the butcher oversaw both businesses and prepared some to-go meat the night before for adventurers in a hurry.

Kirie didn't know exactly what the butcher did to cook such fine slabs of meat, but the cuts had made it a popular place among adventurers.

I wonder how much extra it costs to put some garlic on. Kirie found herself salivating at the thought. Or maybe mix some beans with it!

Her stomach rumbled again, and she thought that it might've been loud enough to wake the whole block. It wasn't that she didn't get to eat three large meals a day, but her physical exertion through training and quests demanded that she consume more food.

She glanced around instinctively for any patrols. All was quiet. The silence felt ominous -- inscrutable despite leaving room for someone to pick up any sound that seemed unnatural. She'd never felt this way until she met Alphonse and his ability to sneak up on her without notice. She distinctly recalled the one time in the Mesatend forest when they saved Sebastian's family and Alphonse seemingly appeared from nowhere among the trees.

It taught her that silence wasn't necessarily the friend she thought it was.

That guy always gets me thinking such serious things, she thought.

Kirie stopped in front of a modest building with smoke trailing from its stack. Two windows splashed light on the cobblestone road with the door cracked open slightly to emit the tantalizing smells of fresh meat and prominent spices. The latter was enticing, but most patrons couldn't afford such luxuries.

Kirie stared down at the pouch of coins Alphonse had given her and tossed it up and down a few times to judge the weight. She unwrapped the string and stared inside. Her eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets when she saw how much silver clinked together. There were at least a dozen silver coins inside, with a gold piece hidden somewhere underneath that bounced to the top when she jiggled the bag around again, as if the extra coins were some optical illusion.

She wondered why Alphonse had given her so much money. She tossed around the idea that perhaps he knew exactly how much he had given her, and it was some sort of test to see if she could exercise restraint. They'd already been over how much it cost for a decent meal at a modest establishment in Forgedalk. A solid slab of meat might cost around two silver. A couple extra copper thrown in might give a customer some generous-sized pieces of garlic. Spices weren't even something to consider. Just adding the extra bit of taste with a few sprinkles cost double the meat itself.

Kirie threw the pouch higher one last time and snatched it out of the air to solidify her confidence. She was a lieutenant of GRIM. There was responsibility with the title, and she resolved to prove that she could exercise monetary responsibility to the point of being considered stingy.

Well, maybe not that much, she thought with a light chuckle.

Her stomach rumbled a third time as if voicing a confirmation. She rested a hand over her abdomen as if she were trying to assure it rather than herself. The food was so close.

Kirie pushed open the door. Her eyes adjusted to the light from the closed lanterns mounted on the walls. A few standing tables were set up for those who preferred a more informal setting compared to the connected restaurant next door. Near the front window was a sort of counter top area lined with stools that provided a view of the road. The air behind the far wooden counter was distorted from the heat of some meals being cooked in the back kitchen.

There were only a few patrons this late in the evening. A middle-aged couple sat at the only table with chairs in the back corner and went about eating their meals slowly and methodically. At two of the standing tables pushed together on the far left side of the room were five men drinking from large tankards. They downed their drinks as if they were water and one of them shouted for the waitress on duty to refill their mugs.

The largest of the group stopped drinking as he stared over the rim of his mug. His focus trailed past Kirie for a second before he lowered the mug from his scarred face. He locked on to her and narrowed his eyes as if he'd seen a particularly nasty bit of gunk stuck to the bottom of his boot. The asymmetrical lighting in the room made it seem as if the scars on his cheek glowed while the others morphed together to create a new skin tone on his marred face.

Kirie sensed his gaze on her as she walked the full length of the room to the counter. When she glanced to the side to see if he was still watching, she noticed that all five pairs of eyes stared with plain distaste.

She noted their rough, bronze-shaded armor with purposeful separated sections. Much of the armor seemed to have lost any bit of luster from extended use and lack of maintenance. Two of the men wore layered chestplates that didn't seem melded or nearly as functional as intended. It was forged with an impractical method, which suggested that it may have been a hasty addition mostly for the sake of appearance. The swing of a hammer from a large humanoid monster would shatter portions and leave the wearer with more than just a few cracked ribs. However, she did note that the scarred man's armor was of a higher quality than the others.

Mercenaries. These people were different from adventurers. They took on jobs more suited for protecting and killing targets of the more humanoid variety.

Kirie looked behind the men. A variety of weapons leaned against the wall out of reach: long swords, polearms and maces. No ranged weapons. She didn't see any other smaller weapons on their person.

She didn't observe them for too long in case they interpreted her as hostile.

Shit. Kirie forced herself to withhold her usual demeaning, brusque comments. She knew it would be easier if she wasn't so hungry. It was a terrible idea to put a catgirl in a delicate situation with an empty stomach.

She took in the details of the establishment a second time. Guess Alphonse's habits are rubbing off on me.

The waitress stepped around the counter with a tray full of beer and only gave the catgirl a passing glance. “He'll be with you in a moment,” she said simply.

Kirie noted the obvious aversion as the waitress increased her pace before she could respond. There was no hostility from the girl, but Kirie detected the unease as she felt the eyes of the five men continue to bore into her back.

She thought about what Alphonse said back at the Guild Union. She knew that he was just being playful, but at the same time, there was that underlying serious tone to him.

“Try not to kill anyone,” he'd said.

He knew how much she loved to fight – the adrenaline, the release of pent-up anger and the singular focus that suppressed the bad tidings roiling the world. But she would never even consider something in the city that would draw attention to them. Such an action was downright irresponsible. They were already in a precarious situation just simply having a guild that broke the conventions established by the larger organizations. Their guild was small, but the majority of their members were demihuman, a race frowned upon by much of the populace, which easily explained the stares from the clearly intoxicated men.

The side of Kirie's mouth twitched with distaste as she heard one of the men mutter something to his comrade. There was little restraint in his voice as he spoke, “Fucking demi...doing in this place?”

The one across from him snatched a mug off the waitress's tray and made a rude shooing motion towards her. “Fuck if I know. Should just stay in the eastern district.”

“Stupid,” another one added. He shrugged and took a long, drawn-out swig of his beer. “Practically letting monsters wander around. They always give in to their animal instincts.”

Kirie rested her hands on the counter to keep her arms from trembling. The anger started to well up inside her as they started purposefully raising their voices. She couldn't believe people actually classified her kind with monsters.

The discussion muted when a big man wearing black overalls and a long white apron appeared from the back room. He gave her a wide grin and raised a finger to indicate that he just needed a moment. He went to a wash basin nearby to clean his hands.

He spoke in a jovial and heavy, baritone voice fitting his build, “Hey there, lil' missy. What can I do for yah?”

Kirie noted the lack of hesitation as he spoke. It wasn't like some of the other citizens in Forgedalk who purposefully paused to collect themselves upon seeing her. She wondered if he had mentally prepared himself in order to display more respect when he came out to greet her. Even such a minute gesture was still appreciated.

“I'm here to order some meals for three people,” she said. “I need to take it to the Guild Union.”

The big man clapped his hands, rubbed them together enthusiastically and rested them on the counter. “Alright, I can get yah a covered crate to go for that.” He paused as he looked Kirie up and down for a moment. “Think I recognize yah. Aren't-”

He was cut off as one of the men at the standing table spoke up, “Must be with that new guild.”

“Yah, the weird lot,” the one to his left added. He wiped some foam from his thick beard with the back of his wrist and made a motion as if he were swatting a fly. “I hear it's full of demis.”

The butcher frowned at their tone, but he immediately composed himself as he turned his attention back to Kirie. “Ah, GRIM. I hear yer people do some fine work.” He made a notable shift of his eyes towards the men at the table before continuing, “I got some real fresh ones in the back. Three people yah say? How hungry are yah?”

Kirie smiled appreciatively at the man's unrestrained personality. Any doubts she previously might've had about him were gone. He was just a decent individual who didn't care if she was a demihuman. In his eyes, anyone who walked in looking to buy a meal was just another customer.

“We are pretty damn hungry,” she said. She considered ordering venison since she hadn't tried it before, but Alphonse had mentioned at one point that he would hunt a deer for them when they were deep in the country sometime. She was curious how it would taste out on the road, especially since he was taught how to hunt back on his own world.

Kirie settled on cuts of beef and pork instead. She also made sure to emphasize again that they were very hungry.

“Now that's what I like to hear!” The big man extended his hand to her. “Name's Bruce Lawry!”

Kirie accepted the gesture and shook hands with him. “Kirie Foirena.”

Bruce looked at their joined hands and his grin widened until all his teeth were showing. “Damn, lil' miss, yah got quite the grip. That axe on yer back ain't for show. That's for damn sure!”

Kirie chuckled along with him, but she wasn't quite sure how to take being called “lil' miss.” She was taller than most women, and her lean build was something she prided herself on. Then again, Bruce was an absolute monster of a man.

He let out a hearty laugh as he motioned to the serving girl. “We got anymore of that spare garlic from that other order?”

The serving girl looked to Kirie nervously before nodding. “Uh, yes, about a third.”

“No point letting it go to waste,” Bruce said. He then looked to Kirie and laughed again at her perplexed expression. “Don't worry about it. Free of charge. Just gonna get thrown out at the end of the night anyway.”

Kirie noticed one of the men at the table jerk his head up at the comment. He scowled vehemently at the butcher and even raised his mug a bit to slam it against the table. The alcohol sloshed over the rim and splashed on his lap. “Don't go spoiling the demi, Bruce. You'll just draw more of them.”

Bruce's grin reversed fully at the man's outburst. He rested both of his big arms on the counter and leaned forward to assume a threatening posture. “I won't be so lenient this time, Kent. You cause a scene in my establishment again, and I'll have the guards take you in. I don't care that you're in good graces with the damned council.”

Kirie followed the butcher's quick glance to the side and watched as the older couple in the back corner sat up straight. The man ran a hand over his bald head and tapped the table with his finger as he observed the exchange.

One of the other men downed the rest of his mug and nearly missed the table as he lost some of his grip. “Won't do much good anyway.” He leaned forward. “Especially with a demi involved.”

Kirie tightened her lips into a line to keep herself from responding. She had plenty of retorts building up, but she swallowed them back down like her metaphoric vomit from earlier.

She turned back to the butcher as he spoke in a hushed voice, “I'll move you up the list so you can get out of here,” he said.

“Ah, you don't have to do that,” Kirie said.

“Don't worry about it. They just spout their shit. Typical lower district mercenaries and all.” He gave the mercenaries one last look before stepping back to the kitchen. “Won't be long.”

Kirie gave him an appreciative nod and made it a point to stand against the far wall next to a window. The gazes of the mercenaries followed her all the while. One of them licked his lips in a repugnant manner as he examined her figure.

The man standing next to him tapped him on the shoulder and pretended to whisper, “Not bad looking...for a fucking demi.”

“You think they go into heat like animals?” another said.

“Probably. They act like animals enough.”

Kirie ignored the rest of their slanderous comments. She clenched a fist behind her to hide her displeasure. If it wasn't for Alphonse, Asa and the guild she would've struck first. But life didn't work that way anymore. It wasn't the fighting like at the Submerged Oasis. There were consequences beyond injury and death.

Kirie pushed herself off the wall and decided it might be best to wait outside. If the annoying mercenaries wanted to fight, then she was better off taking it outside. The men might resort to their weapons instead of keeping it down to a scuffle solved with just fists. Kirie was at a disadvantage inside the shop with its ceiling being lower than average. The double-edged axe she wielded was meant for open spaces, and the men, even in their intoxicated states, would at least be somewhat organized. She would be limited to horizontal swings and jabs with the axe's head.

She was about to push the door open when the latest verbal attack wasn't about her, but someone else. She could handle the demeaning comments directed towards her for the guild's sake, but something snapped in her head when she heard them mention Alphonse.

It was the scarred man who spoke. He had been quiet up until that point, satisfied with simply observing her for the most part.

“Isn't the guild leader an outworlder?” he asked.

"Yeah. He's one of those freaks.”

The second-largest of the group guffawed and spit some of his beer out. “Guess even his own kind want nothing to do with him. So he's stuck with demis.”

The scarred man propped his elbows on the table and laced his fingers. He gave Kirie a knowing look as he hid his mouth with his hands.

“Sounds pretty pathetic,” he said, each word enunciated carefully and deliberately. “Guess they suit each other then.”

Kirie lowered her hand to her side and stared at the door for a few seconds as their words started to process. The conversation behind her died down when they noticed her stand there completely unmoving.

The loud-mouthed one named Kent started to speak, “Oh-ho! Did we touch a nerve? Got a thing for your leader-?”

He cut himself off when Kirie turned slightly and glared at him over her shoulder.

Kirie's thin pupils narrowed even further as the animosity spilled from her mouth, “Say that again...”

The mercenaries gave each other uneasy looks as the catgirl warrior turned to face them fully. The one standing closest to the wall took a step back towards where their weapons sat propped up.

The scarred man lifted a finger at him and made an aggressive gesture as he clenched his fist. “Don't you fucking dare. You settle this square. No weapons.” He then looked at him pointedly. “Or I'll kill you myself.”

The nervous mercenary immediately shuffled back to the table empty-handed, but he opted to stand behind one of his fellows.

Kent regained his bearings first and gave Kirie a sly grin. “That's a nice look you got there. You got the sexy badass vibe going real well.”

Kirie didn't answer. She stood in the same spot with arms straight at her side.

“Think about it, demi. Your leader is an outworlder and he had to resort to your kind. That makes him,” Kent paused dramatically as he took a step towards her, “Pretty-fucking-pathetic.”

The impish grin on Kent's face vanished when the catgirl took a step forward to match him. He was throwing a fist on reflex when Kirie covered the distance between them with long, calculated strides. When she didn't raise her hands right away, he must have subconsciously knew that he had mocked the wrong person. His eyes widened when his fist passed through nothing but air. Kirie's hand was raised and brushed aside Kent's strike further to increase his forward movement. She punched him in the stomach and had him keeling over her bent arm. A spray of vomit erupted from his mouth and splashed the wood floor as Kirie's arm held him suspended so that he raised up on his toes.

The other three reacted instantly as their combat instincts kicked in. They rushed her from the front and both sides. Only the scarred man remained at the table, assuming the same calm posture.

Kirie gave them calculated looks as she observed their stances and positions.

“Three against one, huh. And you call my leader pathetic,” she muttered.

She removed her hand from Kent's gut and let him collapse face-first to the floor. He wheezed and sputtered as more bile built in his throat. Kirie planted a foot in his side as he attempted to rise and sent him rolling towards one of his comrades.

The other man was forced to side-step, which gave Kirie a precious second to close in on the other two. She blocked a wide swing from the mercenary to her left and lowered underneath it to avoid a sloppy strike from the one to the right. Her fist dug into the first attacker's ribs that left him staggering as more weight applied to his opposite foot. She then used him as a meat shield against the man who managed to maneuver around Kent's seizing body.

She moved in on the mercenary who was now solo and drove her fist straight into his nose. She heard the satisfying crack as the delicate bone broke and the warm blood slicked her glove and crawled to her exposed wrist. The man made another wild, instinctive swing that Kirie easily avoided. She grabbed the man's wrist, turned it over and drove her shoulder into him to disrupt any semblance of a stance he once had. The weight of her shoulder and straightening of his arm forced him to lean forward. Kirie stepped towards him and flung him over her hip and he hit the ground on his tailbone. He let out a noise somewhere between a shriek and gasp as the pain flared up his spine.

Kirie didn't have time to completely incapacitate him. She knew the others would have recovered by now. Unfortunately, she didn't anticipate just how fast they would collect themselves. She sidestepped and turned to face them but only saw the knuckles of her attacker's hand consume all of her vision. The fist connected with her cheek as she shifted her head at the last second. Kirie planted her rear foot to keep herself from lurching back too much as her upper body was forced to bend slightly at the hips.

As a result, the catgirl warrior barely moved, even after receiving the full force of the punch.

The mercenary's eyes widened as Kirie glared in his direction over the fist still pressed against her face.

“Weak,” she said.

She grabbed his wrist and pulled it down and across to open up his stance. She brought her fist up and drove it into the same spot he dealt on her and the mercenary collapsed to to his knees. He wobbled and fell back on his heels as he attempted to stand. Kirie still held the wrist that angled him awkwardly from the floor. In this position, she could break his arm with a quick motion if she chose to do so.

Kirie looked up and saw that Kent had managed to shift his trembling legs underneath him to stand up somewhat. The other mercenary had his intoxicated confidence bolstered, even if Kirie felt it was terribly misguided. Alcohol really did do strange things to the brain.

The catgirl pulled her victim up by the still-held wrist and drove her knee into his face. The man collapsed with a loud thud and lay there unmoving.

Kent and his companion didn't wait. They charged her and let out angry shouts.

Kirie gave them a mocking smirk as she dodged the first attack with a sliding step back. The strike from the other man she half-blocked and felt a slight impact on her shoulder. The glancing blow also threw the man off balance, and he was unable to stop his momentum as a result. Kirie let him pass by and planted her hand on the back of his head. She combined her own push forward with the momentum and slammed his face into the countertop near the window. His head bounced back awkwardly from the impact and he crumpled to the floor.

Kirie stumbled as she took a heavy hit to her side from Kent, who had propped himself up on one knee. Apparently, the blow to his stomach from earlier had him reeling again. There was barely any force behind the punch, but it did take Kirie slightly off guard. She massaged the area where he struck and spit a glob of blood towards him from the gash she received earlier.

Kent winced and fell back on his rear as the catgirl took a menacing step towards him.

“Weak,” she said again. She lowered herself into a crouch to meet Kent at his lowered eye level. She gave him a wide grin with a bit of red marring her teeth. “Pathetic. Four of you, and I barely worked up a sweat.” The smile vanished as she thought back on what he had said. “Now, what did you say about my leader?”

The man fell back on his hands and pushed his feet to get some distance from her. A terrified whimper escaped his bloodied lips as the catgirl took another step.

“N-nothing!” he finally sputtered. “I said nothing. Y-you fucking monster. You have no idea what'll happen.”

Kirie rolled her eyes. “Ah, right. Something about the council. That's really all you have?”

She grabbed him by the collar of his shirt to prop him up and punched him in the face with a quick jab. His head lolled a bit and he looked up at the ceiling with glassy eyes. He collapsed to the side as his upper body pulled his legs out from under him.

Kirie heard the floorboards creak behind her and turned to face the scarred mercenary. He had removed most of his armor, settling for just his undershirt and trousers. He never took his eyes off her as he pulled on a worn leather glove.

Kirie waited patiently as he covered the other hand and flexed his fingers.

“I'm the one who started the bit about your leader,” he said. The side of his mouth twitched a bit when he saw the catgirl take up a more serious, staggered posture against him.

He raised his fists and bent his knees to mirror her. “Now that's a real fighter's stance. Yeah, you ain't just some 'lil miss.'”

He charged forward and made a light jab with his leading hand to get a feel for Kirie's reaction. The catgirl warrior noticed the frown on his face when she anticipated the feint and sidestepped. She swung with a right hook that barely grazed the man's chin as he reared back out of reach. He reversed his stance and blocked another strike from Kirie and followed up with a straight punch.

The exchange went back and forth similarly for another five seconds before Kirie found an opening and drove her fist into the big man's ribs. He stumbled a bit from the blow, but he grit his teeth against the pain and managed a strike to the catgirl's shoulder. The attack deadened Kirie's arm with numbness and opened up her entire right side. Instead of retreating, the catgirl pushed forward and heard the satisfying thump of her knuckles hitting the soft flesh of his cheek. The mercenary's head whipped to the side, and he carried his weight over onto his rear foot to avoid another devastating strike from the catgirl.

He raised both arms to block another expected strike, but he lurched a bit in his stance and fell back on his heels when the punch never came. Instead, he felt his left thigh go numb and his knee bend inward to break his stance. He saw a split-second too late that Kirie had opted to deliver a swift kick rather than go into a full assault against his block.

Kirie hadn't delivered a kick during the entire scuffle, so she suspected that he would never anticipate the attack. Kirie knew she didn't have the calculated planning of Alphonse or the calm collectedness of her sister, but in a fight, she knew how to stay a couple steps ahead of her opponent. Her mind games involved a mixture of brutal force and unpredictability on all parts of the body -- things that few humans had the terrible privilege to experience.

The big mercenary hopped away out of reach, but it was plain from his limp that the kick had served its purpose. His stance would be riddled with holes on one side for the rest of the fight.

Kirie frowned when the mercenary lowered his hands and stood straight. He winced as he attempted to breathe life back into his deadened leg.

“I concede,” he said.

Kirie took a few steps back in case the surrender was a ruse. “Seriously?”

He smiled for the first time that night. One of the scars on his face curled up along with it to make it seem wider. “Aye. I've fought other demihumans. Most of them resort to clawing, biting and thrashing at this point. The animal instinct takes over, and they lose themselves. Not you though.”

Kirie wiped some blood off her mouth with the sleeve of her undershirt. “No idea what you're talking about. Maybe you pick fights with the wrong demihumans.”

The mercenary ignored the comment. His next words caught more of Kirie's attention, “I take back what I said about your leader. He ain't pathetic. He must've seen something special if he chose to team up with you.”

“Your personality change is really confusing me,” Kirie said. “But whatever.”

She looked at the man who lay unconscious under the counter. Behind her she heard a few groans as the other two mercenaries regained awareness of their surroundings. The big man rolled over on his side and looked at her stupidly, as if the blow to his head caused a bout of amnesia.

She would be lying if she said she wasn't a little disappointed. They'd spouted all that garbage about Alphonse and they didn't put up much of a fight to back it up. But at least the one standing in front of her had some bite to back up the bark. If they had kept going, she was sure that he had some tactics up his sleeve to get a few more blows in.

Once Kirie cleared her head, it was apparent that the scarred mercenary had been silent up until that point to see how she reacted. His insults towards Alphonse were calm and purposeful to get a rise out of her. And he'd succeeded, much to her growing dismay. The bastard had been looking for an excuse to fight, but there seemed to be some other underlying purpose.

Her eyes widened when the adrenaline died down.

Oh no, she thought.

She stared around the room. Fortunately, most of the damage consisted of blood, vomit and saliva.

She looked towards the kitchen and saw that Bruce was already standing behind the counter with a wooden crate wrapped in some cloth set on top. His lips parted a bit with admiration as he took in the aftermath of the brawl.

He cleared his throat to compose himself and gave her that typical wide grin. “Well shit! Yah seemed pretty tough, but I didn't expect it to be so one-sided.” He then looked to the side and spoke to the middle-aged bald man in the corner. “I spoke to yer boys next door. They'll be over in a sec.”

The older man chuckled and rose from his chair. He pressed a fist into his lower back as he stretched lazily. “I appreciate it. Looks like these guys need to cool their heads off in a cell for a bit.”

Kirie noticed him pull a set of manacles off his waist that had been hidden from sight while he was sitting down. On his sleeve she saw an insignia depicting two crossed swords over an anvil that indicated he was a soldier of the city guard. Not only that, the two cerulean bars underneath indicated he was a captain.

Oh no, she thought desperately. Oh no, oh no no no.

This was the last thing she needed. She'd stepped up in defense of Alphonse's name and reputation, but it might've only served to exacerbate matters for their guild. She cursed herself over and over for giving in to her anger. It was exactly what she had wanted to avoid. But the mention of Alphonse in such a way...

Just one errand! Why couldn't I just...

The older man frowned as Kirie started to raise her hands a bit. He stared at her for a moment before his mouth curled up on one side. “I ain't taking you in, lil' miss.” The emphasis on what was turning into a common nickname for her almost sounded mocking. “It looked like self-defense from where I was sitting.” He turned to Bruce. “What do you think?”

The butcher gave an enthusiastic thumbs-up. “That's what I saw.”

“It was self-defense.”

Everyone turned to the voice and saw that it was the scarred mercenary who spoke. He smiled with some amusement at their reactions. He dangled his wrists as he raised his arms straight in front of him. “I wouldn't mind sleeping in a cell. It's a long walk back to the lower district.”

The captain walked passed a stunned Kirie and slapped the manacles around the mercenary's wrists. "You're lucky I don't have to write reports for this, Saizo." He nodded towards the other men that still attempted to rouse themselves. "What about them?"

The scarred mercenary named Saizo shrugged dismissively. "Only did one job with them. They stuck with their fists, so I guess they aren't so bad."

Kirie's shoulders slumped when she finally realized that the captain had referred to the mercenary by name. She wondered if fights in this area were a commonality.

Her suspicions were mostly confirmed when the door to the shop opened to reveal a group of about a half dozen armored men. The guards arrived with a bit of mirth and went about their orders to rally the remaining mercenaries. Some of them lowered their visors and gave Kirie an encouraging wink as they passed by. She could hear the muffled voice from a guard's helmet as he expressed his thanks to her for keeping the fight mostly clean.

The captain of the guard asked Bruce if there would be any files charged, and the butcher waved him off good-naturedly and said it wasn't necessary.

Kirie stared in absolute wonderment as the guards shoved the beaten mercenaries out of the butcher shop. Everything was carried out straightforward and informal. Their reactions towards her went beyond her wildest expectations. She wondered how they could possibly be so calm about everything. There was no questioning, disapproving looks or any sort of attempts to place her in an unfavorable position. Saizo and the guard captain even gave her matching two-fingered salutes as they exited the shop. The other mercenaries stumbled out in a partial daze and stared around mouths agape as they tried to comprehend what had transpired. It was as if the other mercenaries had been used as tools for everyone else's amusement.

Kirie turned to Bruce after she stared at the closed door for an extra few seconds when they left, as if she expected them to suddenly change their minds and double back.

The butcher slapped his hand on top of the crate. "Alright, lil' miss, that'll be six silver."