Apologies on the late arrival guys. This chapter is a little bit longer if that helps?

Hope you guys enjoy it! :D

Warning: Mature

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-------Entering the village heading to the inn-----

I’m looking around the village like a child at an amusement park. I mean this is stuff out of books! Minus the shit on the road and the occasional stray dog peeing next to a beggar. Poor beggar, he’s going to have to find a new vacant street corner.

To brighten his day I fish a Draastifarian silver coin out of my space ring in my most inconspicuous manner possible.

Trying my best to put on a friendly smile I toss a coin to the beggar in hopes of him catching it. Maybe the worst throw ever in my life. The coin misses by a wide margin and rolls into the puddle the dog left. But I realize the beggar is blind and then he follows the noise of the coin hitting the ground and rolling towards the liquid, then you can guess the rest…

Melody looks at the beggar then at me, holding her laughter. Eh, she doesn’t seem to have as much remorse as me.

“fufufu Jared I’m not sure whether he’s lucky or not. Maybe you should have let me throw it to him.” [Melody]

Uh, yeah I have definitely seen enough of her accuracy. And I’d rather not again. There are still holes in the headboard of my bed. Holding my shoulders I tell her ‘no thanks’ before we finally arrive at our destination. ‘The Hunchback Hearth’.

That sounds like a Witch’s house. If this wasn’t a village I’m pretty sure I would hear an old lady cackling, along with and angry mob with torches and pitchforks. Well, who knows, maybe in this world witches are actually a type of mage that doesn’t trap little children for immortality and instead heals people with spice and everything nice?…Psh, that would be as crazy as saying Drake is able to have a conversation without spewing curses. Impossible right?

Anyways we open the door to the inn which is has a ‘hearty’ atmosphere. All is good until…

“Clan hea-Jared, we are finally away from the shit-filled road, my apologies for making you go through that.” [Drake]

All I could do is facepalm as the whole room goes silent with all eyes on us and very angry expressions visible. I try to at least keep from starting an all-out brawl that would end in a massacre,

“Ah, Drake they can’t help it, the village is poor and they can’t afford something like a sewage system. It’s not their fault.”

Oh I just made it worse. Leave it to the guy that has zero social experience. Time for plan B, ‘action speaks louder than words’. I pull out my pistol from my specially made holster-thanks Melody-and fire a round into the ground (Can’t fire into the ceiling, don’t want too much damage). Hm, maybe is used the phrase in the wrong context, but it still did the job.

The ki pressure mixed with my pissed of face and topped with the foreign weapon brings the silence much needed. Next phase of plan B:

“Where is the person who can get us some rooms?” Again, with my best smile of course.

“Over here young’un. Put that goddamn loud metal piece away first.” [???]

In the doorway behind the counter appears a person exactly what the inn’s name would describe. A hunchback. I stare with the ‘amazed child’ eyes before snapping back to reality. And he doesn’t give his name so I’ll pick Hunchback. I walk over to Hunchback while receiving the many glares of the dining crowd we had just made fun of…

“I would like two rooms please. For one night too.”

Reason? Drake, Tara, and Ally in one room, and Melody and I in the other. I already tried to invite Ally into our room earlier but Melody doesn’t trust her. Or is it just possessiveness? For my own self-safety my mind told me not to inquire further. Not if I didn’t want to get some tonight also hehe.

Hunchback eyes me for a second, probably trying to figure out who’s pairing with who. I’ll let his(?) imagination run wild.

“That will be 3 silver, kid. And meals are included” [Hunchback]

I hand the coins over before Drake can cause any ruckus about something like ‘Clan Hea-Jared should stay here for free, be thankful we don’t shank you.’ Although it sounds harsh I wouldn’t put it past the guy. He is still getting over like 3 ex-wives, so he is as tense as a pimp in a police station.

Then, since we haven’t eaten yet we go to the corner of the inn and pick a booth to sit at. Mostly because I’m hungry and also because it would be good to hear what is going on locally. As if on cue a big bearded muscular numb-skull stands up and shouts around his ‘minions’,

“The baron thinks he can make us adventurers pay for entrance into the village? And he expects us to just dish out money like a fucking banker? Are we going to stand for this shit?!” {numb-skull]

“NO!” [minions]

Woah that’s loud. Where is the Hunchback mediator when you need one? This is actually interesting to watch though. Medieval rebellion? ‘Stick it to the man’? Maybe finding allies in the human kingdom might not be as hard as I thought.

“That’s right! Those nobles and their schemes for making us bow down and lick their pretty boots won’t work on us!” [numb-skull]

“OHHH!” [minions]

Heh, more power to ya big guy. I think he is about to go overboard though.

“Those nobles are just a bunch of bitches that think they own our pockets like a sex-slave! How about we raid the Baron’s house and sell him to a slave trader and see how it feels to be a sex-slave! What the hell does he know about being a sex-slave?!” [numb-skull(formally male sex-slave)]

“…” [minions]

Trust me the inferred revelation is not what brought the instantaneous silence.

While numb-skull was ranting he didn’t notice at the end a young man entering the inn with two guards behind him. The young man was wearing expensive gaudy clothes that hinted towards being nobility. And added the fact there is guards following points toward the ‘Baron’ that numb-skull was mentioning.

Unfortunately the big guy during his glory speech was facing away from the door so he had no idea that he just plotted a kidnapping and selling of a noble. Well there goes any hopes of finding allies in this place.

Oh and furious doesn’t even begin to describe the facial expression on Mr. Baron’s face.

“What the hell did you just say peasant?” [???]

Numb-skull looks like he just woke up in his wife’s bedroom with a different woman, caught in the act. Turning on his heels he stutters,

“U-uhh Lord Godwinn I-I-I didn’t mean that last part about the sex-slav-“ [numb-skull]

Before he can get that last tid bit in the trusty guards are already upon him and ramming him face first into the wall while fastening his hands behind his back.

“You are arrested for plotting to kidnap the Baron!” [trusty guards]

They then drag him out of the inn while he is yelling and crying for forgiveness. I hear a sentence from Lord Godwinn, something like ‘Sex-slave eh? Sounds like a good punishment…’ that’s when I stop listening. The guards don’t forget to give the minions a menacing glare, hinting for any of them to come up and join their ‘boss’. They all look around at the floor like they dropped a fork. Hmmm, can always count on friends.

The commotion dies down after that with just whispers from other tables about what happened. Nothing noteworthy to remember. The whole scene did show how correct Knife was in describing the situation between adventurers and nobles.

After we are done eating we go upstairs to our rooms to turn in for the night. Drake just snorts when he sees the shit-eating grin on my face as I open the door and Melody follows me into the room.

The room is normal and bare, sort of like my room back at the cabin on Earth. Just a bed and a desk in the corner with a chair. There is also a small dresser and chest to put items in. While inspecting the interior I didn’t even see Melody take off her clothes until he coughs with an *Ahem*. Now I’m inspecting her body, and after that, well you know…

However I finish quickly because I already have some stuff to do huhuhu.

-------4 hours later-------

I have waited for her to go to sleep and so I quietly rise out of bed and slip out through the window. A second floor drop is nothing for my body as I land, roll forwards and use ‘Gliding Steps’ to blend into the shadows running silently high-speed.

Before I left the room I also unequipped all of my unnecessary clothes besides my morph-suit and a black balaclava-made by Melody of course hehe.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51SqTGa4t0L._UL1500_.jpg

This stealth errand I’m running is to test how well I can blend into buildings and fight by using my training from ‘Drill Sergeant Drake’. And where do I test my skills? None other than Lord Godwinn’s estate. Go big or go home.

Eh, home doesn’t sound too bad, there is Melody and Ally-ugh I’m getting off track here.

Anyways, getting my head out of the gutter, I find the Baron’s estate-can’t miss it, it’s huge-and see the two guards posted at the entrance of the place. The walls are quite large but nothing I can’t handle. Although it would be possible to jump up to the top of them if I absorb the ki into my legs, I would rather test my combat skills. And what better way than to fight some unsuspecting underpaid, beer-belly guards?

I sneak up on the one standing to the right of the gate who, fortunately isn’t talking to his buddy next to him. They are about 10 meters apart. It’s a big gate.

Blending in with the shadow the wall casts, I position myself behind him and slowly unsheathe my wakizashi without making a sound and then drive it straight into his back, piercing his heart while using my other hand to cover his face so he won’t make a sound.

Knowing that when I move him from his standing position to lay him down will alert the other gate guard, I pull my sword out of his body with grotesque *shliiing* and instantly start moving to the other man. Before he can see the incoming figure that I am, he’s already departed from this world. A quick beheading did the trick.

Content with my work, I jump the wall and blend back into the shadows. I’m not worried about the guards changing shifts only to realize their buddies are dead and regret that they never paid you back the money they owe. Probably a situation that seems legit. Hey, brothels ain’t cheap. At least that’s what Drake says. No wonder he has 3 ex-wives.

As I ponder the subject of wages and re-marriages, I dodge a couple of guard patrols and hear the occasional dirty jokes made, I finally see a window on the second story of the mansion. Making sure no one sees me doing my superhuman Olympic high-jump, I easily enter through the window and observe the inside.

It’s a room that looks like some kind of huge supply closet for the maids. Various tools and such used to clean the building. I pass through the small room and get to the door. Quietly turning the knob and opening the door a crack, I spot no one in the hallways.

The interior of the hallways is similar to the clan’s castle, just on a smaller scale. The walls have small candles instead of torches, and the inside walls are made of wood instead of the outside and frame made of stone. Stone is more expensive after all in this world. If you had magic it would be no problem, but this backwater village doesn’t have the money for that. At least, doesn’t have the ‘adventurers money’ I should add.

Sending my ki-sense out I can sense 3 people in 2 rooms up ahead. Two in one room, I’m guessing the Baron and his wife maybe. The other is most likely another family member. It’s too bad I haven’t developed my ki-sense enough to detect the various life signs for age. To do that have to be able to emit some of my energy in an amount that isn’t monstrous into their body, then bring it back and it will tell me their age, date of birth, and other health information.

It’s like looking up medical records through a computer from the network. It can be handy at times, but also invasion of privacy, not that it matters I guess. The problem is, if you send too much of your ki into the body it will hurt them. Much like when I can emit ki from my fist punch into their body to cause internal bleeding. So right now I don’t plan on making a person into a human-smoothie just to see if they are a kid or not.

Back to the situation at hand, I continue down the hall to the room with two people. Just as I am about to arrive, of course a guard has to walk into my ki-sense and I detect him. With nowhere to hide, I pull off one of those ninja moves where you jump up to the ceiling and use your hands and feet to hold yourself in place.

Yeah, I got the run-down on how to do it when I was finally getting pissed at waking up in the morning and opening my door to see a ninja leap down and bow to me. Scared the living hell out of me every time. Also I didn’t really want to be an ass and command him to stop greeting me every morning, so one day I just opened the door and walked out stark naked. Never saw the guy again.

Anyways right as the guard is below me I drop like a monkey from a tree-ugh bad memories-on top of him, and snap his neck but grab him before he falls and makes a noise. Now that it’s over, I make my way back to the bedroom the two people are in.

Slowly opening the door I see Baron Godwinn and a woman asleep in a bed. The plan is to find the keys to their dungeon and free numb-skull. Also to loot anything valuable. Yeah I’m stealing things, but do I care? No, because they are potential enemies and the guy just irks me. And a small part of me that detests what their ancestors did to my clan.

Wow look at me, here to be a secret ambassador that is supposed to stay impartial and be practical. Yet I’m pissed that something the guy didn’t even do but his ancestors did to us. No human is perfect. I’m far from perfect. Tattoos and bird-blood in my veins and such.

It takes me a while to find the keys with one of them that looks different from the others. It looks like it would fit in a prison lock. Larger than the others and made of sturdier metal. Not as fine cut as the others. I also ransack their room for any valuables huhuhu.

It takes me a while to dodge guards and get to the dungeon. I quickly dispatch the two guards that are standing at the entrance. Entering the dungeon, for the most part it’s empty except for a cell at the end of the room. The cell is similar to a huge dog cage and has a solemn looking fellow sitting in it. Oh Numb-skull, how far you have fallen. Life has gone on rewind eh? Once a slave, then free, then a slave again. I also ignore the price tag that is hanging on a thread from one of the bars, and open the lock.

He sees me finally and speaks up,

“Hey you’re the guy with the shit-stain servant right? You’re here to save me?” [numb-skull]

Well now I am considering not to…

Trying my best to pull off a smile I reply,

“No, I’m here to buy you.”

He gives a terrified look as if he was being bought as a slave- erm, maybe I shouldn’t say it that way. Just wanted to spook him.

“Just kidding, I’m only here because I have nothing else to do besides hack and slash some people.”

Oops that wasn’t much better. He finally calms down and exits the cage. After the both of us exit the dungeon he takes the clothes from a dead guard and puts them on. We both exchange a few words with him thanking me and I tell him my name. He tells me his name but I pretty much stick with my name I decided, I like it better.

We part ways and I merge with the shadows, leaving as quickly as possible since I have no idea when the dead bodies will be found. It only takes me a few minutes to get back to the outside of ‘The Hunchback Hearth’ near where my room is. I absorb ki into my legs and hop into my room.

Unfortunately Melody is sitting on her bed with her legs crossed, and her eyebrow raised. Definitely not happy. Then proceeds to tell me in a quiet but threating tone,

“You’re going to tell me where you went. And now.” [Melody]

“Guh- Yes ma’am.”

She’s got me whipped.

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AN: Don't worry I will get to the searching of Talonbane's daughter. The egg hunt will commence soon teehee