Following the river, we made our way to the city of Knigwick. Unlike Urd, Knigwick didn’t have any city walls even though it was located in the middle of the great forest. According to Lena, the city was a major shipping point for the empire. Goods from the mountains in the north or materials and products from Urd were regularly funneled through Knigwick. From there, they were put onto boats and sent downriver to the capital or other places.

The plan was to charter a boat for the last leg of the trip, but Lena would need to greet the local lord and Sunni wanted to hand over all the bodies we’d collected to the local Watch. Gratefully, I could be in more than one place at once.

The city, itself, was rather charming. There were loads of people, all moving about, working hard. At this point, the river was wide enough that there was probably some local annual event for swimming across it. Many boats were docked with people scrambling to load or unload them before they headed back downriver. I could also see plenty of merchant caravans coming in from elsewhere to transfer their goods.

I noticed there was a small Guild Hall here as well and wondered what sort of place they ran as compared to Urd or Trone. Sadly, the thought would have to rot on the vine unless my personal Adventurer, Carnivac, made a trip down here. While I did see plenty of various species intermingling, I didn’t spot a single Automata. The thought of just wandering around on my own didn’t seem like a good one.

I dutifully followed after Sunni, along with Lance Corporal Dash. Marshoo, Lieutenant Toadwart, and Sergeant Atsa went with Cyc and the Princess to visit the Mayor. Was it a Mayor? A Baron like Karza? Some other form of nobility? I didn’t care enough to actually ask. The rest of the soldiers traveling with us had headed off to check out the local watering holes or to clean up at a nearby bathhouse until it was time to head out again.

As we walked, I glanced at Corporal Dash. Being a centaur, and part horse, I wondered if she had that animal smell, not that my sensors would be able to define it as such. Was the bathhouse equipped for larger species? Did they have special baths? Maybe it was set up like a carwash.

I would like a carwash...

Yes, yes... with “cute attendants.”

Oh shutup [>_<]

Emojis? I was getting emoji subThoughts now? Sorry, ‘Hide, I doubt the bathhouse here is equipped for one of your... stature. Cyclone, be nice.

Pfff.

“What?” a young, female voice broke into my thoughts. I locked eyes with Dash. “You’ve been staring at me for a while... It's creepy. Stop.”

“Huh? AH! Sorry!” I apologized. “Just got lost in thought, had a good stare going...”

“Whatever...” she huffed, putting on a professional expression, though her thrashing tail betrayed her annoyance.

We stepped into the Watch headquarters and were greeted by a number of curious looks. Captain Sunni marched straight up to the desk sergeant and gently tapped on the service bell, even though the old knight was looking right at her. His species reminded me of Porky Pig. The skin I could see, that wasn’t covered in well maintained armor, was pale and unblemished in a light peachy color. His face was that of a pig, there was no getting around it, though he had a beard and mustache combo that left out anything on the chin and only a few lonely hairs sprouted from atop his otherwise bald head. Maybe he was more of a boar since he had large tusks protruding from his mouth. In some books I’d read in my past life, this was the depiction of orcs, though here orcs looked more like what I was used to in video games. In my head I tagged the species as “Porcs” and chuckled to myself which earned me a glare from Dash.

“Can I... Help you?” the sergeant asked, giving me a questioning glance.

“I am Captain Sunni, commander of her royal highness imperial Princess Relena Peacecraft DuFangwell’s company of Royal Knights. We are passing through this city and on our way we encountered Jock ValDeeze and his band of river pirates.”

“Oh him? I hope they didn’t give you too much trouble, missy,” the pig said dismissively.

“Not at all, they’re all dead,” Sunny replied coolly.

“Dead?! What? You killed them?” the pig said incredulously, standing up and knocking over his chair.

“We did not, they were all dead when we happened upon them,” she said, examining her claws. “We’re just here to turn over their corpses.”

“I... I see,” the pig said, visibly shaken and righting his chair.

“We also found the remains of some women in their camp. We’ll leave it to you to identify them and find their next of kin.”

“We do have some open missing persons reports,” he said, tapping a finger on a tusk. “Okay, I assume you have them in [Storage] then? It would be better to unload them with the coroner. Hey, Emmet! Walk these folks down to Doc Dead’s office.”

“On it Sarge,” came a nasally voice from a back room beyond the service desk.

What can only be described as an otter wearing the Watch uniform came waddling out on stubby little legs. Since my rebirth in this world, I had come to accept a wide variety of sapient species— many of which look like animal hybrids from the island of Doctor Morrow. This little guy, straight up, looked like a river otter in pet clothes and I wanted to take him home.

“So... Doc Death?” I asked, following after the armored fluff weasel.

“Ah, that’s just a nickname,” Emmet chuckled. “Her name is Estrella but the sarge likes to joke that all her patients are dead. So yeah, that’s it.”

“Gotcha.”

“An Automata, huh? I guess they come in all sizes and shapes.”

“There are some more common models, but due to our customizable nature, we can be pretty unique from individual to individual.”

“I guess that makes sense. It’d be weird if you were all butlers like Mister Jarvis.”

“Mister Jarvis?” I asked, tilting my head to the side.

“Oh yeah, nice guy. He’s the head butler for Lord Fishcakes. Really busy though, since he’s in charge of the estate, so he doesn’t hang around for chats too often. But he’s quick to help out if you’re in a pinch. He’s the only Automata in town, though, so don’t be too surprised if you get some looky-loos peeping your way. They don’t mean no harm, just curious I expect. Here we are, this is Doc Muerta’s office. I’ll leave you in her care.”

We stepped through a set of double doors, into a spacious room full of metal tables. One of the tables was occupied by some sort of avian species— at least I assumed so— it was hard to be sure since if there had been any feathers, they were removed. Someone in a black set of hooded robes was leaning over the possibly avian corpse and muttering things as they carefully pulled things apart with various instruments. Just behind them, an attentive horned frogman with pale green skin and bright red eyes was dutifully scribbling things down in a book.

“Doctor Muerta?” Sunni called out.

The person in black didn’t look up, but they did raise a black gloved finger in the universal sign of “wait a minute.” After completing whatever it was they were doing, they turned and mumbled some things to the frogman, who frantically began writing more into the book.

The figure stepped away to a coat rack to the side of a large wooden desk covered in neat and orderly piles of papers. They pulled the hood back and disrobed, revealing what could only be described as a black silhouette in the shape of a naked woman but with bright white hair that had an ethereal quality to it. The woman hung the robes up on a hook and pulled something that reminded me of what looked like a white lab coat from another hook and put it on. She then stepped behind the desk and took a seat, resting her elbows on the surface and, possibly, resting her chin on her hands. It was hard to tell since the black parts of her reflected nothing at all and no details other than her hair or her lab coat could be discerned.

“I am Doctor Estrella DeLaMuerta. How can I help you?” she asked. Her voice was calm and sweet, yet giving you the impression of something unfathomable.