"Hmm…"
"So? What are we doing? Obviously we're busting this thing, right?"
Getting back to their base after asking the barkeep a few more general questions about the city itself, Tom found himself deep in thought while Lisa was already demanding they bust this slaver operation like Tom had with the one in Rover.
"Tom!?"
Finding Tom's lack of words extremely frustrating, Lisa was about to do something when he finally spoke up.
"Calm your tits, of course we're going kill them and blow this entire operation. I'm just thinking whether to skin or boil whoever is profiting off of this shitshow alive."
Explaining he had his mind filled with the finer things in life, Tom finally addressed Lisa and started sharing his plan.
"While setting fire to the premises and then busting out everyone might have worked in Rover, it was only because I knew the layout going in, and there weren't nearly this many guards active."
Taking out his pistol and checking the magazines he had brought with him, Tom brought up his other current issues.
"Then there's the supply issue, and while we could go get our rifles and all that I don't want to attract too much attention."
"Right, almost forgot you were paranoid about that…"
For some reason, Tom refused to resupply anywhere near a settlement after his last run in with those disposable troops near the elven village, while Lisa had heard the explanation and something about a 'trace' she didn't think their opponent was thorough enough to plant trackers in every single city like Tom did.
"... Hmm."
"You keep repeating that sound."
"Yeah, happens when you get older, your brain starts leaking."
"Gross."
"Mhm."
While there were multiple different ways Tom could skin this slaver, he wanted to avoid those that involved excessive civilian casualties, and unfortunately, those were the ways he was the most versed in.
(I could start a large disagreement between the adventures and the guards… Question is how to do it in just 44 hours?)
"Hmm…"
"I swear…"
Seeing Tom problerly wasn't going to move for the next few hours, Lisa grabbed her pistol and a few magazines before stuffing them into her plate carrier and putting her leather west over it.
"I'll go case the joint, as you say."
"Sure, remember to double tap if you get in trouble."
"Yeah, yeah."
"Now, what to do…"
Finding herself in the centre of town, Lisa was dressed like an apprentice adventurer without their weapon, in other words she blended in somewhat well and thus could do (almost) whatever she wanted for a change.
"Hey, give me one of those apples."
"Sure thing Missy."
Handing over the exorbitant price of 4 copper coins for a mediocre apple, Lisa bit into it as she was surveying the not so busy market.
"Anything you're missing, Missy?"
"Just blew in with my teacher, but he's stuck in his old man ways and sitting in one place saying 'Hmm' to everything I say."
Getting a chuckle in response to her brutally honest response, the fruit seller looked Lisa up and down as a warm smile spread across her face.
"Well in that case, welcome to Delth Missy, it isn't much, but it's home."
Extending both her arms, the fruit seller clasped Lisa's hand gently.
"T-thank you very much miss."
A bit uncomfortable with the sudden touch, Lisa nevertheless felt touched by this warm welcome.
"Ara, calling me 'miss'! I can see you were raised right, it makes me feel all young again~"
Holding a hand up to her cheek in embarrassment, the fruit seller still held onto Lisa and made her unable to step away. While she was happy (and a bit embarrassed) at this sudden development, there was a tiny part of Lisa who was still afraid of this kind of affection.
(I wonder if she would treat me differently if she knew I was an elver?)
Lisa had lived a while among humans on her own after she ran away from home, doing this time she had made a few human friends, but all of them ended up trying to betray her when she opened up and told them she was an elver.
"Oh my, what an adorable adventurer you found here Kaite."
"And so polite too, nothing like those rude fellas we normally deal with~"
"Yeah, she really is the perfect, adorable package~ please let me introduce you to my grandson."
While Lisa had been pondering her own inner demons, the nice elderly fruit seller lady had somehow multiplied, leaving Lisa suddenly surrounded by the rest of the aunties and grandmothers of the stalls.
"H-hey, wait a minute!"
"Oh, and her skin is so smooth too, that's youth for you~"
"Right? But look here, her palms are all rough from welding a weapon, it really shows all her honest effort."
"You must be strong Missy, I've decided, you must meet my grandson!"
Getting manhandled, examined and possibly married off by this sudden swarm of elderly women, Lisa felt a little overwhelmed, but nonetheless she sort of enjoyed the attention that stroked her ego.
"HEY! GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE ROAD GRANNIES! This isn't one of your dusty get-togethers!"
Having her sort of good mood immediately ruined by the sudden shouting, Lisa reached for her pistol as she examined the threat, the man that was shouting was a guard leading a detail protecting a group of armoured carriages. Met with the sudden hostility, the fruit seller and other older ladies pulled Lisa aside as they formed up around her in protection. As the carriers passed by, the sellers kept their guard up and kept close to Lisa, scowling at the guards all the while. As a young guard passed Lisa and the sellers he noticed Lisa and her adventurer attire as a vulgar smile kept onto his face.
"Hey! How much?"
"Eat a dick fuckface!"
Even if she knew that some adventurers did 'favours' for spare change between jobs, Lisa still felt violated at the sudden and completely unprompted solicitation from the guards, so she immediately let her displeasure known not only with words, but also plenty of rude gestures at the laughing guards.
"Ahaha! She how fucking red she got!? A tramp with shame, isn't that quite a paradox?"
While the guard and his buddies were busy laughing their asses off at Lisa's mistake, they didn't realise they had made a grave mistake by finally ticking her off.
"Says the mighty guard who still hasn't become a man! I guess you're compensating for something, poor guy must be defective!"
"Wha!-"
Seeing Lisa's offence landing where it hurt, the fruit seller's scowl transformed into a shit-eating before covering her mouth in a fake show of concern.
"Oh my, how sad…"
"That must be so frustrating… no wonder the poor boy is lashing out."
"That's William's kid right? Must run in the family… we need to share this tragic news with everyone."
Following the fruit seller's ruthless attacks, the other old ladies turned absolutely ruthless as they barely kept their fox-like grins hidden behind their hands.
"Seems like you fu!-"
"The fuck is going on here!?"
Just as the alteration was about to turn physical, a veteran guard who noticed the shouting roared as the convoy of carriages came to a halt.
"S-sir, t-this is-"
"This boy is harassing me and my granddaughter! He called her a harlot just because she's wearing armour!"
Taking Lisa in both her arms, the fruit seller suddenly looked distraught and started crying. Seeing the civilians' outrage, the veterans guard perhaps didn't fully trust their story and just dragged the young guard to the front of formation by the scruff of his neck as the carriers moved on.
"Good grief, those guards are getting more and more rude as the days go by. Now they're even transporting slaves for the lords too, all this instead of just keeping the peace."
Complaining like it was already decided Lisa was part of her family and she was personally offended by the guard, the fruit seller kept holding Lisa close to her chest even after the guards had left.
"W-wait, those carriages were transporting slaves? As in demihuman slaves?"
Feeling like she had just learned some extremely valuable intelligence, Lisa freed herself from the fruit seller's bosom and asked her to clarify while also tapping the silent alarm on her radio to make sure Tom was also listening in.
"Yeah, I'm afraid so… Those poor children are sold off to horrible people just because they're a bit different from us."
Putting a hand up to her cheek, the fruit seller shed a silent tear as Lisa realised that this elderly woman was one of the humans who didn't discriminate against demihumans. Receiving a silent alert from her radio, Lisa knew that Tom had received the relevant information and was tracking the carriages from up high.
"In any case, thanks for all the help."
Aware that things could have turned out very different if the street sellers didn't back her up against the guards, Lisa bowed her head politely as she tried to leave, earning her even more praise from the sellers.
"Oh my, how polite~"
"Really polite, and honest to boot~"
"Honestly, I think she might be too good for my grandson…"
"Okay enough, I've other things I need to do, so I've gotta leave, sorry to say… But could I get another apple first."
Insisting that she needed to get going, Lisa was way too uncomfortable to at the continuous praise, so she hurriedly paid for another apple and got going as she waved goodbye.
"See you around missy!~"
"The name is Lisa, and I'll see you around, I guess."
Finally escaping the women's clutches, Lisa continued to browse through the streets and smaller shops, noting the prices and how they differed from what she was used to.
(The prices are definitely way up… and the quality is way down too, they really are squeezing the life out of this city with those security restrictions.)
While the measures in of themselves were extreme compared to what the Kingdom was used to, the real issue with them was that they only seemed to be enforced to the south, so traders, adventures who escorted traders and other businessmen started avoiding the affected areas, leading to a shortage of imported goods, which in turn increased the price of most other things.
"Hey! It's that bitch from before!"
(Shit.)
Recognising the voice of the young guard from before, Lisa didn't even turn around to look in his direction before she started running and pressed the silent alarm button again.
[Two for now, keep them close so they don't call for backup, I'll be right there.]
Receiving a status update through her hidden earpiece from Tom, Lisa looked back at the guards chasing her for the first time to see it was only two young guards, still, they seemed pissed.
"What's wrong!? Why would you chase me just because I spoke the truth!?"
"You shut up now bitch!"
Hearing the young guard's anger spike while both of them attracted plenty of attention from people nearby, Lisa's smile bloomed as she put on a fake voice.
"Eek!~ I'm getting chased by a limp dicked pervert!~"
"BITCH I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!"
Making sure the two guards were following her by insulting them, Lisa increased her speed a tiny bit as she was careful not to outrun the pair of city guards with minimal training compared to what Lisa herself had endured under Tom.
Still, as Lisa wasn't a local like the guards, her luck eventually ran out and she ran into a back alley.
[Make some noise.]
Seeing Lisa was trapped, Tom continued aiding her as he moved into position.
"What the fuck do you creeps want with me!? Stay the fuck away!"
In response to Lisa's shout, the pair of guards drew their swords as their expressions turned obscene.
"You're going to learn your fucking place today bitch! You fucking adventurer trash exist to serve us!"
Feeling like their attitude had taken a turn for the worse, Lisa got ticked off and was ready to kill the two guards immediately, thus she didn't see why she needed to make this a loud affair.
"Can I please just kill them."
Speaking low enough for anyone other than Tom to hear, Lisa didn't see Tom's vision at the moment.
[Patience, young grasshopper.]
Just as Lisa was about to get pissed off, Tom's plan paid off and a door inside the alleyway between Lisa and the two guards was kicked open and a bunch of rowdy adventures poured out of what seemed to be a bar.
"What the fuck did you shit's say about us!?"
Clearly the adventurers had been drinking, and were already annoyed at the guards in general, so when they had heard the commotion they rushed out ready for a fight after getting indirectly insulted.
(Oh, that's cold… Well, I can't say these dibshits don't deserve it.)
Tom's plan suddenly made sense to Lisa, this was why he hadn't warned her she was running into a dead end despite already knowing the complete layout of the city.
"N-now, there's no need to get rash."
Finding themselves suddenly outnumbered, the guards with their weapons still drawn started backing off, just a few more metres of this and they would be back on a street where a patrol of guards would spot them.
"Now what the fuck did you two dipshits just say to my dear pupil?"
So of course that's when Tom showed up, laying a hand on each of the guard's shoulders as he forced them back into the alleyway.