JANE⁠

Jane shooed the disgusting loot box guy away and turned her attention to Quill. She had no intention of wasting real world money on those boxes. At least not right now. “Ok, new quest. And no poo slimes!”

“Always a good thing.”

“Who or what is the Gold Crusade?”

“I have no idea.” He looked down, thoughtful, then looked up again. “Wasn’t there that area we couldn’t get into? The Gold District?”

“Oh yeah. You think it’s that simple?”

“Have you ever known MMO quests to require much detective work?”

“Good point. All right, let’s see if we can get in now that we have a quest for that area.”

They travelled across the city until they were close to the palace. Next to that towering and magnificent edifice, they found a walled-off area with tall, golden gates guarded by six very large men and women in glorious, high-fantasy knight gear: full plate armour that was flat black with gleaming golden highlights that sparkled in the sun.

Other pedestrians and carriages passed in and out of the gate. Each one showed something to the guards that allowed entrance. Those leaving the Gold District didn’t need to bother.

Two guards crossed their long halberds in front of her and Quill, and one spoke, his voice cold. “Halt. Identification, please.” He held out a gauntletted hand.

Jane still stung from the way that widow, Glory, had rejected her earlier but tried to interact with the guard anyway. “Uh, we don’t have identification. We’re—“

“Only residents of the Gold District and those on official business may enter.”

Quill tried this time. “We’re looking for someone.”

“Do you have a pass?”

“No.”

“Only residents of the Gold District and those on official business may enter.”

“But—“

“Only residents of the Gold District and those on official business may enter.”

“Right.” He turned away, and she followed him as they walked off down the street. “Same as before.”

A man selling apples at a cheap stall on the edge of the street called out to them as they walked by. “Hey, you two!”

They stopped and made their way to the stall.

The apple seller leaned forward and lowered his voice. “You two trying to get into the Gold District?” The man had obviously been planted here as part of the quest to help further it along.

Jane answered, “Yes.”

“That place might look pretty, but it’s dangerous. A nest of rich vipers, that place is.”

“Can you help us get in?”

“Couldn’t do nothin’ myself. You two adventurers? If so, head on over to the Watch House. Ask for the captain. He might be able to get you in on some official business.”

She smiled at him, happy to have found an NPC that didn’t want to spit on her. “Thank you!”

“No, problem, miss. My wife was a street walker before we got married, and she found another career. Got a bit of sympathy for women who’ve done the same.” He smiled kindly, handed them each an apple and waved them off.

Jane was stunned as they strolled away, Quill snickering beside her. “Did…did he just call me a former sex worker?”

“Maybe he meant street performer? Or newsie? Town crier? Or…uh…maybe the city hires really beautiful people to walk around and make the place look nicer?”

“He called me a hooker. Do I look like a hooker?” She looked down at her cotton shirt and pants.

“The…uh, the pants can be a little see-through in bright light.”

She slowly looked up in shock. “Why didn’t you say something sooner?” She made to throw the apple in his face, holding onto it at the last second.

He ducked away, laughing.

She snorted and stormed past him. “We are buying underwear. Right now.”

“Aw.” He jogged to catch up to her. “Wait, we’re going lingerie shopping? I’m ok with that.”

“I’ll bet you are.” She looked down at his crotch and did a double take, coming to an abrupt halt in the street. “How come your pants aren’t see-through?”

“They might be. Remember that flag? I cut it up and made underwear out of it earlier.”

“And you didn’t think I needed some?”

“Nobody wants see-through pants on a guy.”

She fought to hold onto her anger, but a damned smile tried to force its way through, and she couldn’t hold it in. “But they want to see see-through pants on a girl, huh?”

In faux innocence, he looked over at a large, gray, stone building with long, white-and-blue banners danging from the roof. Several knights in silver armour with white-and-blue tabards hung around out front. “Hey, look. Isn’t that the Watch House over here?” He skipped away from her and towards the Watch House.

“Quill, come back here!” She hustled after him.

He ignored her. “The captain’s probably inside. We can see him right now.”

She hissed, “Underwear. Now.”

“It’ll be less sunny in there. Nobody will see anything. Maybe we can get you a nice suit of armour or something.”

“Grr. Stupid boys.” She gave up and followed him up the wide stone stairs, through the front of the Watch House, and into the lobby. “But we’re going after this.”

“I don’t know what your problem is. It’s not nearly as see-through as your shirt.”

She tried to smack him on the back of the head, but he playfully ducked out of the way. “Enjoy the view while you can, jerk. Cuz you won’t be seeing any more after today.”

He tried to pretend not to care, but she thought she could see a tinge of disappointment on his face. She didn’t mind that.

The lobby of the Watch House was rectangular, with multiple doors along the sides. At the opposite end of the room from the double front doors was a staircase going both up and down. Constructed of large, plain gray stonework, the room was simple, adorned with a few banners on the walls. An empty receptionist desk sat in the centre of the room.

A woman in a gray Watch uniform was crossing the lobby towards one of the doors on the left, saw them, and approached. “Excuse me. Can I help you?” She was stern-looking, but her tone was polite. She held a sheaf of papers in her hands.

Quill slowed to talk to her. “Hi. We’re looking for the captain.”

“I’m sorry, the captain is unavailable. However, the vice-captain is in her office.”

“Ok. Can we see them?”

“Right this way, please.”

The helpful woman led them to the door she’d been headed toward a moment ago.

Through that portal, they found a warm, cozy office lined with brown bookcases and a large picture window that filled the room with bright sunshine. A few flowering plants in pots sat on a shelf under the window. A rapier and a wooden buckler hung from the wall next to the door.

A woman in a green version of the Watch uniform tunic looked up from a semi-circular desk near the window, the work surface covered in papers. She looked stressed out and very busy.

“Madea, we have visitors.”

“Here to see the captain, ma’am.” The woman placed the papers she’d been carrying next to the three piles already awaiting the vice-captain’s attention.

The vice-captain saw them and groaned. “Madea, please! Have mercy on me. It’s not even lunch yet.”

The woman in gray tsked. “With the captain missing, there’s no one else.”

“This is why I’ve been advocating for more staff for ages. How is it there’s always more funds available when the army wants it and never enough to go around when we need it?”

“Perhaps you can ask the king the next time you see him.” The woman in gray nodded to the vice-captain, then to them, and exited, closing the door behind her on her way out.

The vice-captain gave the two a weary look but smiled and stood, revealing the fact that she was wearing skin-tight white leather pants that went rather well with the emerald green of the jacket. “Good morning. I’m Jeanne L’arcenciel, Vice-Captain of the Knights of the Storm.” She was pretty and in her thirties, with a tumble of golden locks around her shoulders and confident green eyes. “Unfortunately, the captain is unavailable. Can I help you with something?”

Jane smiled, hoping her low Charisma wouldn’t put the lovely woman off. “We’re trying to get into the Gold District, tracking a killer. They won’t let us in without some kind of pass. We were hoping we could get one here.”

“A killer?” Jeanne’s attention focused like a razor. “What happened?”

Quill explained, his words short and to the point.

Jeanne nodded. “This is definitely a matter for the Watch. I’d…” She sighed. “I’d like to investigate immediately. We can’t have a murderer on the loose. But with the captain missing and us already shorthanded…” She growled with frustration and paced in thought.

Jane sensed another quest. “The captain’s missing?”

Jeanne absently looked up. “Um, yes. It’s nothing you need to worry about.”

Quill spoke up. “We saw the killer’s face.”

That got the vice-captain’s attention. “You did? Hmm. Well…” She grew resigned and then checked them over. “Are you two adventurers?”

“We are.”

“I hate to do this, but we are very short-staffed, especially with a number of us trying to locate the captain. If you really can identify a killer and you’re prepared to go after them, then perhaps I could ask for your help, just this once.” She returned to her chair and sat. “From your description, it sounds like the killer was a member of the Gold Crusade. As much as I hate to admit it, they’re too powerful to confront directly. But if you could find and apprehend the killer directly, the Crusade wouldn’t be able to block our efforts.”

“We’re not familiar with the Crusade.”

“They have three branches: merchant order, knight order, and rogue order. All three are dedicated to amassing as much wealth as possible. The merchants do it through commerce, the knights through conquest, and the rogues via any underhanded means they can come up with, from shaking down businesses for protection money or outright stealing anything they can get their hands on.”

“Sounds like organized crime.”

“The Gold Crusade has a long history and a lot of influential friends. Not even the royal family can challenge them too much. The last monarch that tried was found naked and dead in bed, painted in pure gold from head to foot⁠2.”

“That’s awful.”

“They’ve long used their knights to maintain order in their district and prefer to handle things themselves there. Trying to issue you a security pass to get into the Gold District would be troublesome and time-consuming. However, there might be another way.”

“We’re open to new ideas.”

“Visit Guang’ning⁠3. She’s known as the Vessel of Serenity. She’s the top merchant in the city who is not a part of the Gold Crusade. Very influential. Go to her and tell her I sent you. She’ll loan you a merchant pass. With that, you should be able to look around a bit. Your best bet is to locate the killer and follow them back into the city proper. Then alert me, and I’ll bring the Watch to arrest them.”

Jane and Quill left the Watch House and found Guang’ning seated in the streetside terrace of a beautiful tea house across the street from a bustling store selling a wide variety of goods. The customers flowing in and out of the store were almost all lower and middle class. The tea house was filling up with lunchtime patrons looking eager as charming staff in pink skirts swooped from one table to another, delivering towers of sweets and sandwiches and steaming cups of tea and coffee.

Guang’ning was tall and willowy. She had long, flowing black hair and wore a stylish blue-and-white dress with irises on the hem. She dealt with a line of clerks armed with papers and clipboards, coming in off the street from the store across the street and probably the offices above it. As each stopped by her table, she was brisk, no-nonsense, and commanding in a way that made her underlings’ eyes shine with respect.

When Quill explained who’d sent them, a small wave of her hand cleared a wide bubble around them, the clerks deferentially backing away and allowing Jane and Quill to sit down at her table.

Quill explained the nature of their quest and why they needed a pass.

Jane found it difficult to tear her eyes off the beautiful terrace, the adorable serving staff, and the mouth-watering food and drinks they were serving. Her stomach rumbled.

Guang’ning noticed. She crooked a finger at a nearby server who rushed over. “Sandwiches and tea, Sheryll. For three.”

“At once, Mistress Guang’ning.” The server vanished in haste.

Jane gave the merchant an appreciative smile. “Thank you.”

“It’s my pleasure. And an investment. Once you taste the food here, I’m certain that you’ll be back often enough on your own.”

Jane’s brows rose. “You own the tea shop?”

“I own many places in Stormstadt. That is to say, the foundation I established and oversee does. While I direct operations, I have no interest in accumulating vast tracts of property or obscene wealth. Profits earned by the foundation are turned back into our businesses in order to improve the lives of our staff and customers.”

Quill barked a surprise laugh and looked over at her. “I don’t know how this got approved by the development team. There’s no way the guys who trapped us in here would have allowed it.”

“I know, right?”

Guang’ning did not comment on their non-quest-related speech, but for a brief moment, a look of confusion passed over her normally serene features.

A trio of servers appeared at their table with a three-tiered tower of ornate sandwiches, another of sweets, and a tray with carafes of tea and coffee and water.

Jane bit into a sandwich and moaned. “She’s right. We’re coming back here. Everyday.”

Guang’ning looked pleased and spoke as they dined. “I’m glad you like it. Now, as to your mission. A pass into the Gold District is easy enough to loan you. The two of you will pose as adventurers I’ve hired to deliver something. The killer you seek will likely be found in the Enclave of Shadows, the rogue order’s main building. Those narcissistic criminals are so full of pride and so well protected by their wealth that they don’t bother to hide the way our Thieves Guild does. You won’t be able to enter by any means, and even if you could, without being a member, it would be your death to try.”

Quill brought a cup of coffee with milk to his lips. “We’d like to avoid dying, if possible.”

Guang’ning’s own lips quirked. “I should hope so. My advice is to watch the place, covertly, and see who comes and goes. When the one you want emerges, track him. Try to follow him out of the district.”

Jane agreed. “Right. Then we contact Jeanne.”

“A wise move. The Gold Crusade’s members should not be underestimated. Here, I will draw you a simple map to help you find your way in the Gold District. Best not to draw attention to yourselves or you may never come out from that place.”

They finished lunch. Quill bowed to their host, and Jane felt the urge to follow suit. Then she and her partner headed for the Gold District once more.

This time, one flash of the pass and they were allowed through the gates without issue. It felt almost too easy and rankled her that they weren’t challenged.

Quill nodded at the fancy armour worn by all the Gold Crusade knights at the gates. “I hope we don’t stand out too much here.”

His fears proved unnecessary. While the merchants, knights, and rogues of the Crusade might be rich, all that wealth was only possible when made off the work of an army of dirt-poor labourers and clerks and others, all of whom filled the streets as they hurried about the business of their employers. No one took any notice of a pair of poorly-dressed adventurers merging with the throngs.

Jane craned her neck in awe as she took in the sights while they walked. “Damn. Look at this place.”

While the bulk of Stormstadt was made of gray stone and brown or blond wood, the walls of buildings here were of black marble, windows and doors gilded. Every building had knights in front, silently guarding it. Businesses stood on the main thoroughfare, but down side streets, they could see fabulous estates behind tall, spiked walls with more guards.

Quill shook his head, his voice tinged with disgust. “People here are rich. And I think that might be an understatement.”

“Yeah. All the black and gold kind of reminds you of the Horde, doesn’t it? The architecture is beautiful but also kind of evil-looking.”

“You don’t become this rich by being a good person.” He pointed at a pair of guards standing in front of a building with a sign reading Glimmerfeld Imports & Exports. “See the armbands? There seem to be different ones on different knights. They all might be Gold Crusade, but I’ll bet they belong to different factions.”

Jane saw the way a nearby knight followed her, helm turning her way as they walked. It was very creepy. She crossed her arms over her chest as they walked. “Ok, we really have to go clothes shopping soon. I need a cloak or something.”

“Ah! Nice idea. Probably cheaper than buying a whole new set of clothes.”

“I’d still like underwear.”

“I’m totally on board with that.”

“I’ll bet you are.”

The little map that Guang’ning had drawn on a torn piece of paper was easy to follow and led them right to the Enclave of Shadows.

Quill smirked. “Wow. Yeah, they really don’t care to hide at all, do they?”

Jane agreed. “You have to be a special kind of arrogant for an order of criminals to set up shop like this. Is it weird that it looks like a lot of fun?”

The Enclave was shaped like a horseshoe facing the main street. Three stories tall, each level was ringed with balconies that overlooked the central courtyard and a currently empty stage. Even in the middle of the day, layabouts and naerdowells of all kinds hung around, chatting up scantily-clad women and men in the balconies, downing bottles and mugs of alcohol, and gaming at the tables surrounding the stage.

“I think the upper two floors are whore houses. Or whatever the politically correct term is. Brothels? Sex worker facilities?”

“A good time?”

He did a double take at her. “What?”

She smirked and refused to elaborate. But if she were a member of the Gold Crusade, she’d probably be spending a lot of time over in the right-side corner of the second floor where all those muscular hunks in strips of leather stood, oiled skin reflecting in the sun. “So much muscle. So little clothing.”

“Ok, say what now?”

“Nothing. You see our guy?”

“I’m looking.”

“Me too…”

“If you’re going to drool over male-harem fantasies then I’m going to drool over female-harem ones.”

“Ooh. They’re hot, too!” She pointed to the third floor on the left side. “Look at that one!”

Quill’s jaw might have hit the ground.

She put a hand on one hip and threw him a challenging look. “What? I can’t like hot girls, too?”

He blinked twice, then went back to staring at the mostly naked sex workers. “Awesome.”

The next hour passed in probably the best stakeout anyone could have asked for. It was Jane who finally spotted their mark.

“Hey. Is that him?”

“Don’t point! Which?”

“Just came out of the red door on the bottom floor. Talking with those guys at the table on the right.”

“Got it. Yeah, might be.”

Luckily, the guy of note shared a few words and a laugh with whomever he was talking to, then moved on. He came out of the enclave, stood on the main street for a second, and looked around, giving them a clear angle to identify him.

Quill turned his body away so that he wouldn’t be recognized. “That’s definitely our murderer.”

“He’s heading toward the gate. Let’s follow him.”

Staying on the opposite side of the street and with plenty of other people between them, they tracked the rogue back to the gates. Letting him go through first, they hustled after him to catch him before he slipped away.

The rogue feigned casualness as he strolled through the streets of Stormstadt. When he reached a particular furniture maker, he slipped through the front door and out of sight.

Jane noticed a particularly obvious teen boy leaning against a nearby lamp post, twirling a coin in his fingers. He was so obvious that he had to be planted there as part of the quest. She nudged Quill, who kept his eye on the door, and went over to the teen. “Hey. Want to earn some money?”

The teen eyed her with distaste. “Maybe. What’s the job?”

“Run to the Watch House. Ask for the Vice-Captain and tell her that the adventurers she hired have their man. Give her this location.”

“The Watch House?”

“Yep.”

The teen looked uncertain. He seemed to be on the brink of turning her down, making her inwardly curse her low Charisma, when Quill joined her.

“Pay you double, if you run.”

The teen appraised Quill, then nodded. “Deal.” He took off at a sprint.

Jane looked at the door. An unfortunate thought occurred to her. “You know, he’s probably in there shaking someone else down. Someone else might get killed.”

“Maybe. I hate to say it, but they’re ‘just’ NPCs. You think we’d fail the quest if someone died?”

“Might. Or maybe another branch opens up, and we have to track him down a second time?”

“Could get a bonus reward if we save someone’s life.”

“What do you want to do?”

He pressed his lips in a line while he thought. “I checked his level on the way here. He’s a couple of levels higher than us. We might be able to take him if we work together?”

“I don’t know. He’s a proper rogue. He’s wearing armour. He’s carrying knives. We have,” Jane pointedly looked at them both, “really thin t-shirts that are not going to stop a knife.”

“I hate the idea of dying and losing XP again. Still, we might have a choice here. And maybe choices matter.”

She arched a brow. “You think the game has branching quests? That decisions we make could change how things go? I don’t know. That’s pretty rare for most games. Most devs make really simple, linear quests.”

“I know. Boring. But I feel like we have a bit more flexibility here.”

“Really?”

“Didn’t we change things with the moss bear and Sapphire?”

“Did that have anything to do with our choices, or did we just break the quest somehow?”

“Could be. We could take a chance and go in there and maybe die if it leads to a fight and Jeanne doesn’t appear in time to save us. Or we might be heroes. The quest line is probably set up so we just wait.”

Suddenly, Jane wasn’t so sure. “If that was true, wouldn’t Jeanne have been right here, in the area, easy to contact? Why plant that boy and have to send him and then have to wait around? Would they have designed a quest where we sit and wait for who knows how long for an NPC to show up and finish things for us?”

“So you’re thinking we’re supposed to go in?”

“Or maybe you’re right, and we have a choice.”

Quill looked down the street in the direction the teen had run, then back at the door of the furniture maker. “Bah. We’re low-level. If we die, we die. I say we slip in and scope it out. If it leads to a fight, let’s hope we can beat him. Or hold out until Jeanne arrives.”

Jane pulled out her new knife. “Ok. I’m in.”

Together, they went up to the front door, listened and heard nothing, then opened it and entered.

The interior of the workshop was dimly lit. The main room was quiet, and no one seemed to be about. On two walls were reinforced shelves loaded with sheets of wood and planks of various sizes. Multiple projects were in different stages of completion, including a wardrobe with a lion and a witch⁠4 on the front, a silver-painted chair⁠5, and a carved figure of a rocking horse with a boy⁠6 riding it.

Jane made her way around the wardrobe, which she noticed had a false back, intent on an open doorway at the back of the room. Before she could reach it, she stumbled over something soft on the floor. Looking down, she stifled a cry. There was a body; from his clothing, he worked here. Silently, she beckoned to Quill.

He soon joined her. Crouching, he held a hand over the prone man’s mouth. He whispered to Jane, “He’s alive.”

“But you won’t be. Not for long.”

Jane whirled, and Quill stood.

Standing in front of the door was the target. “You think you stupid adventurers can follow a rogue of the Gold Crusade in broad daylight, and I wouldn’t notice? You must really underestimate me. That pisses me off.” He paused, then squinted and took a step closer. “Wait a heartbeat. You’re the two who screwed up my last job, aren’t you?” An evil grin creased his lizard-like lips. “Knuckles and knives, lady luck is with me today. Ha! Got a chance to rub out a pair of interfering witnesses. I do hope you two got some coin on yuh. I feel so blessed I’m going straight back to the dice tables after I gut the pair of you.” He attacked.

Jane dodged behind the half-finished wardrobe. When he came for her, she jumped through the false back and out the front door, which she turned and slammed in his face.

Quill slammed his shoulder into the wardrobe, and it fell forward onto its face.

The rogue grunted and sprang out of the false back in a flash, twin daggers leading.

Jane knew they were outmatched and in trouble. She felt pathetic compared to the trained killer in front of her. Slashing at him and missing by a mile, he laughed at her and sliced her across the belly in return. She cried out in pain.

Before he could land a killing blow, Quill picked up the silver chair and drove the rogue off.

They danced and scampered, ducked and threw everything not nailed down at the rogue to hamper him, anything they could do to buy time or create an opening. It cost them dearly. Each soon bled from a half dozen cuts. Jane could barely avoid the killer with her Stamina constantly running out. And the couple of times she and Quill actually managed to strike back, it was ineffectual.

The rogue laughed, toying with them, taking his time to enjoy their increasingly desperate plight rather than finish them off quickly.

Jane cast a forlorn look at Quill and caught his eye. She shook her head. They couldn’t do this. She was too weak. She was just a rookie adventurer. There was no way she could hold her own against an experienced rogue levels higher.

Quill clenched his jaw and quietly cursed. Almost insolently, he picked up the rocking horse, throwing it and making the rogue duck but doing no damage.

She understood how he must feel. It was so frustrating not being strong enough. Rationally, she understood that she just hadn’t levelled up enough. Emotionally, she hated feeling weak and incapable.

The rogue’s humour melted away, replaced by a look of boredom. Perhaps he could sense the fight going out of the two of them, their resignation to their own failure and death. “About time we ended this. It’s been a lark, but it looks like you’re both spent, and I got better things to do.”

The front door of the workshop crashed open.

Jeanne L’arcenciel barged in, buckler on her right arm, rapier in her left.

The rogue whirled and showed real fright for the first time.

Jeanne shouted a battle cry at the rogue and stomped a foot. A circle of compressed air exploded in all directions, hitting the rogue and hurling him backwards through the air.

Jane breathed out in relief. Good timing!

Not a rookie like the two adventurers he’d been about to slay, the rogue tumbled to his feet and — turned and ran. He obviously had no interest in going up against the Vice-Captain of the Knights of the Storm.

Jeanne wasn’t about to let him escape. She reached forward with the arm with the buckler strapped to it and pulled.

The rogue was yanked off his feet by some invisible force and carried backward.

Jeanne lunged with her left hand, driving a meter of steel into the rogue’s back, the tip punching out of his chest, then retracting.

Whatever force held the rogue in the air ended, letting the body drop to the floor. The rogue groaned and coughed. But he seemed to hold his breath when Jeanne’s rapier touched his throat.

Her voice was steel. “Give up and cooperate, tell me a few things about your bosses, and I might have a healing potion to close that hole going through you.”

He tried to sneer, but the expression failed when he looked down and saw all the blood pouring out of his body. “I…can’t. They’ll kill me.”

“You’ll be dead in a few seconds. Talk, and I’ll lock you up somewhere nice and safe where you can live out the rest of your natural lifespan. Behind bars, of course. Murderer.”

“O-ok. I’ll cooperate. I’ll tell you about—“

Before he could finish, a nimbus of golden light like a halo formed around his head.

“No!” he cried out. Then the nimbus constricted, digging into his skull. He whimpered in pain once before the bone cracked, and his eyes went lifeless.

Jeanne’s face turned stormy. “Gah! Those sly Crusaders.” Her shoulders slumped.

Quill walked over and put a hand on her shoulder. “At least a killer got the justice he deserved today.”

Jeanne stared at the floor a moment, then raised her head and took a deep breath. “You’re right. There’s at least that. I just wish… never mind.” She forced herself to brighten and sheathed her sword. “Thank you, both of you. I assumed you’d wait for my arrival.” She nodded at the shop worker who was groaning and getting up. “You did a very brave thing and probably saved a life. I’ll remember that. Come to the Watch House and I’ll reward you for the service you’ve done this city today.” She turned and strode out of the workshop.

Other Watch members entered, two in suits of armour, two only in uniforms. It appeared this part of the quest was over.

Jane slowly got to her feet, the cuts on her body painful, her chest also feeling like someone had knifed it after breathing so hard. “This is one of those realistic but annoying times when we finish the quest in one location but have to run all the way to another location just to get paid, isn’t it?”

“Yup.” Quill winced and held out his arm for her to lean on as they followed Jeanne out of the workshop. “I really hope we get healing potions soon.”

Jane watched her HP bar tick up as she automatically healed. She looked down at a knife wound on her arm and watched it heal before her eyes. A glance at her partner and it was obvious that his lower Health meant his recovery was slower. “No rush. Let’s take our time following her.”

Jeanne had disappeared by the time they got outside. They found her back in her office. She looked happier and more energetic when she saw them again. “There you are! Thank you again for all your help. This is for your trouble.”

The quest reward was money and some XP, both very welcome.

Jane grabbed Quill’s shoulder. “We’re going back to that tea house for dinner.”

“But—“

“We. Are.”

“Whatever you say.”

Jeanne didn’t seem to be done with them. “You know, it might be best if the two of you got out of the city for a while. The Gold Crusade might be looking for you after losing one of their own.”

“Oh, oh.”

“Oh, oh is right. But you might be able to help me with something. I’ve heard rumours that the Gold Crusade has some kind of training camp in the hills east of town. If you could investigate and tell me if it’s true, and what’s going on out there, I’d really appreciate it.”

Quill was quick to agree. “Sure. We can do that.”

“Thank you. If the camp exists and we can find signs of criminal activity, it might help us disrupt some of the Gold Crusade’s illegitimate activities.”

She and Quill said their goodbyes and left the Watch House. On the steps outside, she remembered how the quest had started. “We got the justice that Glory wanted. Think she’ll give us a reward, too?”

Quill grinned. “Let’s find out!”

They made their way to the the weapon shop and Glory did, indeed have a reward.

Glory was still grieving, but she did firm up at the news. “He’s dead? The one who killed my husband? Thank the stars. Thank you both. Here, take this and may you both see good fortune in the future.”

Jane and Quill both got the opportunity to choose a free weapon as their reward.

Quill picked up a one-handed mace. “I don’t have a shield yet, but I’ll get one eventually. I’m taking this so I can start levelling up that weapon skill.”

“I’d better take a staff then.” She pulled a gnarled stick of wood as tall as she was out of a stand. “They’re not magical, but they’re something.”

“That thing has reach. You can poke the poo slimes from far away with that.”

The idea revolted her. “I think I’m vetoing poo slime quests. You can do them on your own, if you want.” She pushed the door of the weapon shop open and returned to the street.

Quill took a few experimental swings with his mace after joining her. He held up the mace before him and stared at it. “You know, with this, I finally feel like an adventurer.”

Jane gripped the staff in both hands and raised it before her in a fighting pose. They shared a slow grin. “Yeah. Me too.”