“Ya sure ya don’t want to lead a slave revolt?” Reysha asked.

Aclysia looked up from the book to shoot a warning glance at the redhead. “Please do not get us in further trouble. Our popularity with local authorities is already doomed to sink due to today’s actions.”

“Psh, what’s the worst they could do?”

“They could destroy the carpenter’s shop,” Apexus responded plainly and slammed shut the book he himself was holding. Not because he was finished with it, but because the words were swimming in front of his eyes. For all of his interest in the topic, reading remained the kind of activity that did not mesh quite well with his instincts. ‘If only words required a hunt,’ he thought.

The group was located at the edge of a plateau that bordered the docks. Of the local ones, it was the tallest and it had once been the most luxurious district of the entire city. Now, it had fallen into disrepair. The houses there could not be given to slaves, since that would put them right next to the walls with the military equipment meant to put down any large-scale uprising. Simultaneously, it was not given to the rich citizenry, who preferred the higher places far away from the smell of fisheries and sweat. That left only the middle class and the bums to populate the areas. A combination not often seen next to each other, but where luxurious houses bordered long empty streets, such things happened.

They sat in a circular cut-out at the edge of a ruined mansion, so far in disrepair that not even the homeless saw it fit as shelter. Of the railing that would have protected people from the drop, only broken pillars remained. It had once been a balcony, now it was a safety hazard.

The party neither cared about the drop nor the state of disrepair. A cliff was far from the worst hazard they regularly interacted with. From the angel to the kobold, the worst the ten metre drop could do to them would heal within a matter of a week, naturally, or a matter of moments, magically.

That the mansion did not offer protection from the elements similarly did not matter. They just needed a place that hid the entrance of the Change Estate. Apexus had been willing to show the carpenter and they knew that rumours were likely to spread. There was no reason to leave more trails for stalking predators though.

Another reason for this stay was the phenomenal view. They could see the ocean before them and the sun slowly setting in the west. In the far-off distance, a rainstorm descended on the ocean. It had missed the city by a few kilometres. Only the slaves, still toiling in the salt fields and other hard labour tasks, spoiled the scene.

“T-they would do that?” Korith stammered.

“It depends on how much we annoy them,” Aclysia stated. “We are the first strangers in this land in a long time. We appear to have the begrudging respect of the guards and will maintain it if news of Darling defeating the wretch’s guard spread. A factor of import, in all of this.” The metal fairy turned the page. “The fool will attempt to shield the reputation of Mayana by keeping the incident silent, thus making it difficult to justify a move against us. If he shares the incident in its details, it will be our reputation that will make the guards hesitant. In either case, there will be an understanding that messing with us is not worth it initially. However,” Aclysia pointedly stared at Reysha again, “there is a limit to their calculation. They will move against us in whatever ways they can if we appear to be a threat not just to their relations to their trading partner, but also their internal safety. The disgusting, slimy, arrogant cretin will be lent ears if we open them.”

“Gotta say, you’re really dedicated to finding new insults for the guy.”

“What kind of dumb ox insults my… our darling like that?!” Aclysia snapped. “A stooge, and a loon, and dolt, an absolute disgrace of a human shaped pile of sh-“

“Aclysia,” Apexus softly interjected. “You are most beautiful when you’re at your centre.”

The metal fairy took a deep breath and let it out just as slowly. “I apologize, darling. I just dislike that such a… person saw it in his right to call you a creature.” She shook her head. “The proof that some existences may be asinine.”

“Don’t ya fall on us, girl,” Reysha laughed.

“Angels are allowed to love,” Aclysia responded in a matter of fact tone. “To fall is to act in one’s selfish interest, to be deemed incapable of operating among the rest of the divine host in the extermination of Parasytes in the Branches. Not-“

“Yes, okay, alright, I was just joking, ya wordy fae,” Reysha laughed.

“To this day, I don’t understand what the difference between angels and fae is…” Korith mumbled. “…o-or how we got here? Uhm, we were talking about people smashing up the carpenter’s shop?”

“They cannot hurt us,” Apexus stated simply. “Or they will believe they cannot without taking considerable risk to themselves. Rather than hunt us and risk injury, they will kill what we eat to force us to migrate.”

“…I understand the Apexusism,” Korith stated. The term had been created by Reysha forever ago. Back then it had been because Apexus, as a slime, did not have the greatest grasp of language and common idioms. Nowadays it was because, as a Monk, he tended to overthink or draw similes that were unusual, even if sensible.

“Basically, they’re cowards,” Reysha summarized.

“And we are a lightning rod for trouble. We stand out like an innocent child on a Demon Leaf,” Aclysia added. “Only a fool would make business with us after we have attracted the ire of the local powerholders. They have to live here long after we have passed on.”

“Hmmm, but did ya think about the people who hate the current leaders?” The redhead’s tail flopped about, as her head turned back to the district and its wide disparity. Then she gazed again at the salt fields below. Slaves were moving about. Overseers were approached by messengers and their shift replacements. Sewage poured into the ocean. “Old Rogue saying: there’s always stubborn dirt under the foot of the mayor.”

Reysha stood up and moved towards the entrance of the balcony. “Where are you going?” Aclysia investigated.

“Gonna try to find some books that aren’t state sanctioned,” Reysha purred. “I’d take one of ya along, but ya ain’t sneaky enough. I’ll come back if I need some extra muscle.”

“We will stay here until tomorrow noon,” Apexus stated and tried to get back to reading.

Aclysia sighed and did the same. Korith looked confused between the two of them and Reysha, as the tiger girl walked away. “Uhm, are we really going to just let her do that?”

“I personally would prefer it if she did not contact the local criminals. It is, regardless of my preferences, a productive use of her time,” Aclysia scanned through the pages. “These texts net us little good, all in all, entertaining as they are.” She looked at the blonde kobold. “Unless your book is of any true interest?”

“Not really…” Korith confessed, flipping through the pages. “Just account after account of how terrible pirates are and how we should all do our best to exterminate them blablabla.” She tilted until it was her back that was on the ground and her feet in the air. The red-scaled limbs kicked at nothing. “Some mention of ancient treasures, but only in the context of all the stuff in them that the Walled Cities and the two fertile countries want back.”

“And how is your reading going, darling?” Aclysia extended the conversation to the hulk of a man. He carefully turned the pages, greatly respectful of the calligraphy, if not what the calligraphy was used to convey.

“Propaganda,” he responded simply. “The caste system is to be a mortal copy of the balance in heaven, it says. The few stand at the top, the Progenitor and his 33 chosen, followed by the other deities, their angels, then mortals, and finally demons. It appears that this Leaf was the first creation of a god called Serpentis… a snake person in life or just a snake enthusiast? It is not clear. Or I have not gotten to that part yet.”

Where Apexus was less than a third through his book, Aclysia was currently scanning the final page. “That would match the historical record in large part. It appears that this Leaf went through three ages. The age of its creation, when Serpentis walked the earth and shaped it, effectively making this a Sanctum Leaf.”

“Like Kobidzan!” Korith declared enthusiastically.

“Quite, except this deity did not intend to stick around, like Hoard has,” Aclysia agreed. “The people here were no less religious though. Their god left them after a prolonged celebration, during which he imparted final boons and lessons. The historical text mentions that Serpentis laid the fundament for the legitimacy of the castes and slavery at the time. Considering that this book would be written by the current people… I have my doubts about the validity of such claims. In the second age, interest of outsiders in this Leaf waned. The third age began with the return of Serpentis for a brief moment to crown the Maya and the Elaya. Those that disagreed with this arrangement became the pirates that harass the just commerce. After that, it is mostly a record of how the castes came to be anchored in their current responsibilities, notable members of them, their dates of birth, particularly heinous raids…” Aclysia drifted off and shook her head. “It is a thoroughly one-sided text.”

Aclysia put the book aside, then noticed that Apexus was extending his book towards her. “You need something new to read,” he told her.

“You were not finished? I am content just watching you go through the text,” Aclysia assured him.

For a moment, Apexus contemplated those words, then he nodded. He was happy to watch her read as well, so why wouldn’t the opposite apply? Even if the continuous study bored him, he engaged in it. It was worthwhile because it was a struggle.

“Well… hopefully Reysha will find something interesting,” Korith sighed.

“Hopefully nothing too interesting…” Aclysia sighed deeply.

____________________________________________________________________________

‘Never use what I am about to tell you to become an assassin. You do not want bought blood on your hands.’ The words of her teacher echoed in Reysha’s head, as she walked around the docks. She laid on her back, exhausted to the point of being unable to move, while the Infiltrator spoke. Perhaps that was why Mai’s words stuck so well. ‘The quickest way to find a criminal society is to stalk the guards.’

Reysha sat on a wine barrel, slotted for further transportation. The expensive nature of the good had led to six of the guards directly overseeing the efforts of the slaves and sailors. More frequently than was natural, eyes strayed in her direction. It took Reysha a bit of self-control, to not meet the gazes. She wasn’t invisible, she was only very difficult to notice and direct eye contact was the most likely way someone would manage to break the effect.

‘Whether they are corrupt or just, guards know about ongoing criminal activity in a city. Often they even tolerate it. They give the thieves rope and the smugglers paths. It is easier for everyone involved if it is understood that the guard can intervene if the criminals ever overstep. They will tolerate a little dirt and the criminals are given leeway.’

Reysha watched as one of the six guards announced he was going to get some grub for everyone. There were a few jokes about it and none of them were related to food. The tiger girl jumped off the wine barrel and leisurely strolled after the unaware guard. ‘Like taking candy from a kid,’ she thought. It did not take long for the guard to arrive at a dark corner that seemed practically made for shady deals. Judging by the smell and the groves in the wall, it was actually made for bladder relief. The guard stepped up to a man and money exchanged hands. ‘Corruption it is, then.’

There was a quick conversation about where they would leave a couple of marked barrels and when it would be safe to extract them. Either the wine trade was being used to smuggle something else into the city or the wine itself was worth enough to make the effort. Reysha didn’t care much, she had just found her new target to follow.

The guard moved on to use his newly acquired money to actually buy some food, while Reysha stalked after the criminal. Judging by the clothes, he was an overseer or at least someone posing as one. He moved in the general direction of the salt fields, taking a few conspicuous breaks to make sure no one was following him.

‘Between corruption and toleration, you can always assume the corrupt criminals to act more brazenly. After all, they have more of the guards in their pockets. When there’s a struggle against truly just guards, the criminal elements will move their main base somewhere they can’t be found. They will always attempt to slip out from under the thumb of the local authorities. Depending on the scale of the corruption, they are the local authorities.’

The sun had set, by the time Reysha followed the overseer into what, outwardly, appeared to be a slave house. It was located at the edge of a salt field and against the side of one of the shallower platforms. Inside, several slaves were lounging, taking what joys they could in the hours of their day they weren’t performing hard labours. The people in the house lived a little denser than was comfortable, were a little thinner than was reasonable, and were scarred by years upon years of demanding work. All of that acknowledged, they weren’t in squalor. The house was hooked up to the canal system, so it was clean, and they had clean water to drink and bathe with. The slaves weren’t free, but neither were they dying.

The overseer walking among their midst was barely even acknowledged. When he was, it was only to invite him to a dice game. Not the typical action slaves took towards their masters, Reysha reckoned, and it became clear that it was a disguise not all that much later.

Moving into the back of the house, where the supplies for the slaves were kept, the overseer shuffled a few crates aside and revealed a crawl space. ‘Bingo,’ Reysha thought, as she first let the man go through, then followed half a minute later.

On the other end was a crudely worked tunnel system. It likely ran in parallel to the city’s sewage and rainwater gathering systems. A fairly typical way for smugglers and thieves to move about the city unseen.

The man she was tailing had lit a torch and was moving deeper inside. ‘Only makes my job easier,’ Reysha thought and hung behind. The darkness would give her additional cover and her nocturnal vision would do the rest.

This was way more interesting than reading a book.