The cloaked man rode on, following the tracks religiously. He had to pause for the night, but strangely the tracks kept on going as if they had long since passed through here.

[The speed of the odd vehicle must be remarkably faster than horseback travel] he mused.

The next day he had followed the tracks further before they stopped and two sets of footprints departed from the tracks. The cloaked man followed the footprints for about 10 minutes before coming upon a clearing. The first thing he noted was the crows picking at the flesh of the dead.

He stroked his chin. Once again, wherever his target went, death followed. He proceeded to inspect the corpses; they were all cleanly pieced from one side out the other. Only when he went to inspect the buildings did things get messier. Each building had the door blown in with various levels of trauma. The door to the first building was splintered and forced inward as if charged by a dark-horn bull.

Inside was a gruesome picture pained with blood and splattered flesh. The corpses looked similar to those at the earlier site, chest cavities blown open and a liberal amount of blood spatter painting the small room. The three had been gunned down without even drawing the weapons at their hips. He moved onto the next structure.

The door was torn apart similar to the one prior. Inside directly at the entrance lay two men. The first was curled in a fetal position with similar injuries to those prior, while the other had a fractured skull and throat torn apart by a blade. His target's brutal methods continued to bring a smile to the cloaked man's face. Finally, after all this time a worthy adversary.

The last building was different from the other. The door instead of being shredded was bashed in. There was a bit of blood spatter directly at the door, but no body to match it. The cloaked man scratched his cheek as he mulled over the scene. What was left of an archer lay in a pile of mush at the opposite end of the room, while the other corpse had 3 clean entry and exit wounds. He was left curious about the blood splatter left at the entrance. It didn't seem that it came from either of the two corpses, and there was no trail leading from it. This left the man to conclude that the aggressor who had entered the room had been hit b the archer and tended to their injuries after leaving a little blood.

Seeing what he needed to see, the man was about to leave and hike back to his horse, when he saw the sun reflect off something metallic in a bush. Curious, he crouched down and picked up a copper-colored oddly shaped object. It had an odd smell coming from the hole in its top, further confusing the man. He looked around and was able to gather more, as well as some round hollow objects primarily made of a weird material with metal bases, giving off a similar smell. The man gathered 3 of the weird objects that appeared different from each other. The cloaked man was stumped upon what they might be and pocketed them before heading back on the trail.

~~~

Hisoka stopped for the night after putting distance between where he had met the merchant. It was never comfortable to sleep in the Polaris, but it was better than cold dirt. Misumi, who often took naps on the road, seemingly able to comfortably sleep anywhere, was fast asleep in the passenger seat with a rifle on her lap and a pistol on her hip. Hisoka smiled at the sight of his well-armed companion before trying to get a bit of sleep for himself. He lay his shotgun in his lap and the MK23 in the central console, before closing his eyes to a rough nights sleep.

In the morning they drove on, Hisoka with a stiff back and Misumi seemingly fine. They had finally left the forest and started to see carriages more frequently. They often had to go off the road to pass carriages that were coming and going. After a bit of playing chicken with the carriages, they saw a large walled city off in the distance. It was a majestic looking city with pearl white walls that stood at least 15 meters high, with tall towers at each corner of the octagonal-shaped fortification. A tall gate stood at the center of the front face of the walls, and carriages lined incoming and outgoing, along with adventurer troupes heading to fulfill their quests.

They quickly approached the gate and fell in line with the carriages waiting for entry. After a long wait, it came time for their inspection.

"Please show me some form of identification," gruffly spoke a gate guard to Hisoka.

Hisoka didn't care for the man's tone but produced his Guild card. He noticed Misumi didn't draw hers but remembered she would likely be treated as his property in this discriminatory nation. The man mulled it over before asking about the elephant in the room.

"What is this odd means of transportation that you have here?" the man asked inquisitively.

Hisoka put in an effort to not smugly grin and donned his poker face.

"Oh, this? It's a carriage powered by a magic artifact from my land."

The guard looked like he didn't quite believe him, but it wasn't anything he could stop Hisoka for.

"If you would please allow me to search for illicit goods?"

Hisoka gave a carefree nod as he slipped his long gun into his bag of holding and gestured Misumi do the same. She followed suit and the two stepped out of the vehicle after shutting down the car.

3 guards stepped out from a passageway in the gate and began to thoroughly look through the car. After about 10 minutes of inspecting the car, they gave it the clear.

"There is a fee for entering the town, a carriage usually costs 1 gold to enter, 25 silver per person, and 15 silver for slaves. Once you enter the town you are free to come and go as long as you contact the guild, however, if you wish to conduct merchant activity it will cost a fee for bringing in goods. Goods procured by adventuring are taxed from the guild, not the individual," The man explained.

[Shit this is a robbery] thought Hisoka as he reluctantly gave 2 gold coins and received 10 silver in return.

He was still quite unhappy with the way beastkin were treated, but really, there wasn't anything he could do about it. He sighed glumly realizing how helpless he was in the grand scheme of things. After all, he certainly wasn't a hero.

After paying the entrance fee he was cleared to enter the city. He immediately went about procuring parking for his vehicle. The people here couldn't steal it, as they didn't even know such means of transport existed, let alone starting a car without a key. He ignored the looks he received and found a small plot of land situated behind 2 buildings with the city wall as the back border. it was a perfect little spot out of sight with a simple entrance. Hisoka drew the sheet he had purchased form an inn and covered the Polaris.

They traveled to the guild to register their presence within the city and headed to find an inn to stay. Hisoka planned to stay in town for some time; a town like this held many opportunities.

They eventually came across a large tavern that advertised open rooms. They entered the main bar area and were greeted with a bustling room full of adventurers and well-endowed women serving drinks. They passed through the tavern before entering the small office that functioned as a reception area to the inn.

"Hello there, are you interested in renting a room?" a young man looked at the two of them and gave a sly smile.

Hisoka frowned, "Two rooms please, how about 2 weeks to start with."

Hisoka produced a gold coin and received 8 silver in return. The man at the reception smiled and thanked them for their patronage.

He handed them each a card with 14 marks.

"These are meal cards, you each can get dinner 14 times at the tavern here. If you expand your stay you will receive another meal card which stacks upon the existing card," the man explained

Hisoka thanked the man before they left to take a stroll and look at the town. Their leisurely walk was interrupted, however, when they heard a woman scream fro man alley. Hisoka moved his hand to his holster before carefully approaching the alley. Misumi followed after drawing her rifle from her bag. They turned the corner to see 3 drunks that had cornered a waitress. She saw them and pleaded with her eyes for them to help. Many other people walked by not wanting to get involved, which disgusted Hisoka.

"Oi, shit faces, fuck off," Hisoka spoke in a deadpan voice, drawing the ire of the three men. They drew for their weapons but Hisoka had already leveled his weapon, with Misumi behind with her rifle raised for support.

"Heh what're you gonna do you brat? Can't you see we are buys here?" one of the men spoke as the continued to draw his blade.

Hisoka didn't give it a second thought and shot the man in the chest. A loud band resounded through the close space and the man fell dead clutching at his chest. One of the men sobered up real quick and ran from the alley in the opposite direction of Hisoka. The other man was not so smart.

The man was incensed and rushed at Hisoka. Hisoka smirked a bit and didn't move a muscle. This further enraged the man who sprinted towards Hisoka even faster. Two clean shots were sent by Misumi to put the man down.

Hisoka chucked, "These fuckers never see it coming do they?"

Misumi grinned in turn.

Town guards showed up immediately and surveyed the scene before Hisoka gave a rough description of evens with a deadpan voice as if this was a daily occurrence. The guards ask that they and the girl come to the guard post for further questioning.

~~~