[ANOTHER BODY FOUND IN ARKEN!!]
The Arken murders continue! Recent reports into the capitals bustling overgrowth reveal yet another case of tragic city butchery, as has become the norm. An unsettling pill to swallow. Credible sources cite that the young man's body, age unknown, was found around noon, dead across the sidewalk. Minimal investigation went into the identification of their killer, a gaping hole where their heart should've been, riddled the deceased's body in an uncomfortably terrifying familiarity. Clean, precise, practiced. This has become the 9th case in a string of murders of which authorities have dubbed as the 'Heart-stealer'. Investigations continue as the empire inquires upon the assistance of Coalition members in light of the recent tragedies, although the question still remains; HOW MUCH LONGER WILL WE RESIST CHANGE?
"So it's still a matter of mages' and their woes, it's never anything new is it?" He mumbled to himself, scanning the paper as he had for many weeks now, news between the Empire and its furthest outskirts came in stiflingly slow, much less out here just outside the Vargrove woodlands; whether it be the quiet or the woods themselves that birthed such natural inconspicuousness, it was a little more than frustrating. No more less when the only piece of entertainment sat with the irrelevant newsly drama's of the capital, the rising celebrities, the odd tales meant to draw laughs and fuel the topics of conversation. It almost made him miss the city, almost, the world seemed so distant from the past—from the war that enjoying it so far. away from city pleasures felt torturous.
Duty, however, came first, he could only find sanity or perhaps a sense of wary intrigue at the recent tragedies befalling Arken, frowning over that fact, like a concerned drunk worried another drink might label them an alcoholic; they already were. He sighed and stared over his study, catching a glimpse of the time from a clock in the corner of the room. Perhaps he was a crime consumer…
A knock on the door brought his gaze forward, readjusting the thin bronze frames of his spectacles just as a hesitant pair of hands pushed the polished oak open in front of him; small and tan accompanied by oaken gems he couldn't have been anymore familiar with. "Mathew" He started, smiling as the boy grinned back, gaining the confidence at least to swing the door open whilst gesturing behind him. "Pa, Sir Gohlm and Ms Velgra came back, they wanted to speak with you!"
Raising a brow at the mention, as though they'd been waiting right on cue, emerged the two individuals in question, stepping into the room half bathed in afternoon light. To have called them an interesting pair would've been an understatement although there weren't many ways to describe it, adventurers were a peculiar bunch as he'd come to realize from them, appearances drew eyes and eyes drew potential clients; the most of them were as odd as they came although that didn't make these two the most normal amongst the group. Full plated armour donned in a dull silver sheen described the man to his left, a dark cape, collared in white fur and a sword by his hip completed the rather familiar ensemble. If the cape hadn't been so tattered and the armour not so marred, perhaps he might've believed the man was a knight, prior or not although he wouldn't mention it. A towering wall of a man he'd rather not risk the misfortune of angering.
Contrastingly, however, to his right was a woman no more intriguing, standing beside him within the study, bright scarlet slits gazing below the messy baggage of hair similarly coloured, long and unkempt; an oddly enrapturing bush atop her head. She was taller than the man, perhaps a head or two and robust in a manner one would find easily endearing, slightly protruding fangs pinning her lower lip reminded him of her beastly lineage; at least that's what her compatriot had informed him of, some unknown ancestry, a tail swishing behind her back if only to solidify the mystery. In all honesty, the most resolute summary he could think of, was that if one was a battle torn knight, the other seemed otherworldly—a goddess if he could be so blasphemous.
"Safe travels I'd hope" He smiled, an expression the woman shared and one he could only assume resonated with the other. Laying the paper's down on his desk and shifting back to stand up and meet them, the odd stench of burnt meat assaulted his nostrils before he'd come to finally realize what was in one of their hands, Val's specifically. Still walking the space between them to properly greet them as Mathew took the liberty to scour over his study as he usually, the questions couldn't help but writ themselves along his face, much less how they'd managed to drag the thing all the way here and for what purpose. A blessing that he could barely be bothered by placing things such as carpets so at least it dragged along perfectly cleanable polished wooden floors, finally coming up to them and staring at him as he noticed the peculiar look, Gohlm coughed.
They'd thought this through rather sparsely, Nordebrooke operated as a town but wasn't nearly as large or perhaps, more aptly, developed enough under the grounds that more widely accessible buildings such as a guild outpost were present. Under normal circumstances, they'd have made their way back to the city to have their kill properly examined by the guild who'd in turn request as well as manage their payments from Nordebrooke. Arduous but simple and completely out of the question since they'd mangled the thing and couldn't be sure the guild would even consider it, in the past, the validity of a request's completion were and still could be assessed by the person or people who made it although it was widely cautioned against. Mages were easy tricksters, hunters were meticulous crafters so to the untrained eye it wasn't easy to spot a ruse. Giving the kill for them to assess for themselves seemed suspicious but they banked on the idea that Val was a supposed beast-kin adept in fire elemental magic and he was a warrior, neither one of them had been hunters before this so any skills to fake their request was well outside their capabilities
He crossed his arms and shrugged, pleasantly pleased by the fact that in moments like this, his face was completely hidden from sight, "Going back and receiving payment for our troubles would be a hassle, my partner and I are a little short on patience"
That seemed well within logic, Benedict didn't refute, veering his gaze elsewhere at the sound of falling books as Mathew flinched, "Sorry!" he sighed, shaking his head whilst refocusing his efforts back on the task at hand; frowning after a moment of silence. His bright blue eyes scanned the beast passingly, motioning for Val to set it down before stepping around it, "It put up a fight?" he questioned, crouching beside its head without glancing over to the two as Gohlm turned a sweeping gaze in Val's direction, conveniently however she seemed to have stepped away from them, picking up some of the books splayed across the ground near Mathew and only averted her gaze ever more at the mere mention of the fact. He sighed, "Partially, running more than anything"
Benedict nodded, assessing the wound where where his arrow had struck, the body and tail had gone, broken off at some point but the head still remained; come to think of it, had he lost the bow when he'd fell? He wondered, Benedicts voice peeling him away from such thoughts, "They're well versed in that, truth be told we'd have done it ourselves if it weren't so tedious" He said, pulling himself up from the ground. His voice was as smooth as polished stone, there was an accent to it quite thick around the edges, like every word had to drag on a bit longer than it had to. Not saying anything as he continued, Gohlm watched as he moved back to the desk, "But, Janette's more knowledgeable on these kinds of things, said it'd bring more visitors. I hear adventurers are a hot commodity nowadays?"
"Lady Janette?" He inquired with a shrug, "People love to indulge in fantasies, I can't see what draws them in so much"
Benedict laughed,"You make it sound more torturous than it seems, Mathew's so adamant about it"
As if on cue, the boy turned, still placing a book back into its shelf. "I can visit the city when I get my license, I'll go anywhere!"
Val scoffed, amusement in her breath as she trickled back into the conversation, "Stay away from bandits, nobody likes them"
"That's common sense"
She raised a brow, "And when you have a partner that can smell gold, trust them instead of your giant heart itching to help someone"
"Everyone wears gold these days, doesn't make them thieves" He grumbled.
She nodded sagely, "Of course, everyone here is simply smothered in it, drowning in it maybe"
He mumbled something to himself as Benedict chuckled, sweeping back a strand of dark blond hair whilst sifting through a drawer. "You're an odd pair, courtesy of the job I presume?"
They didn't refute that, not missing the fact that no clear verdict had been made on their kill. Val's attention pulled to a shelf as Mathew gestured for a lift to which she obliged just as Gohlm leaned against the wall. Finally picking out what he'd been sifting for within his drawers, Benedict sat down with the calm ease of the forty year old servant of Nordebrook he was, sixteen years under Janette's rule. Deception ran scarcely ahead of him, much less in matters regarding Janette's fervent interests in Nordebrook. One day, this would be a city, not just a farm masquerading as one. The world was moving to clockworks and steam she once told him, being a part of that meant exercising whatever tools they had at their disposal. He planted the bag onto the desk with a clink whilst sorting through a cabinet in search of papers, "A job well done, I've seen that beast enough times to recognize it charred or bones. I was never really much a savant with elemental magic but it's interesting so do allow me to praise such handiwork" He smiled, glancing at Val who'd inconveniently caught the stare with a flinch that made her inwardly berate the small hope that'd festered and allowed her to think she'd really gone unnoticed in this regard.
What even gave her such a hope, who else between them used fire anyway?
Noticing the glance and the bag of silvers sitting along the edge of his desk, Gohlm didn't move but tilted his head instead, "You're going to trust your own eyes like that? Trust us?"
"Ha!" He waved him off, "A token of gratitude, take it as that, Nordebrook is a generous land after all" Finished with the paper, he signed it off, handing it over as Gohlm stepped forward, "Don't lead them astray if they're interested in paying a visit"
Nodding and honestly far from ever wanting to refuse the offer, he took the bag, shook it a bit as the coins inside clattered together; a hundred indeed. A glimpse at the paper he'd just signed off, half revealed it to be a letter, likely detailing the private transaction that occurred here without the guild's monitoring, he stuffed it in the bag and glanced over to find Mathew and Val seemingly engrossed in one of the pages of the last book they'd had to put back; was that why it'd taken them so long with the others? He didn't question it for a long though, shaking his head and staring at the corpse still strewn across the ground, "Will we need to…—"
"Oh yes, of course" Benedict nodded whilst briefly glancing at the floor too, "It doesn't look too damaged, there's a butcher I'm sure you wouldn't have missed, pay a visit. His friend owns a food stall he sells to, a good meal before you leave" He winced at having to move the thing but his stomach grumbled at the thought of food, obviously heard by Val who peeled herself away from the book and stood to lift the corpse from the ground. Tying the bag to his waist, they made a motion to leave before waving them off, the thoughts of a meal swimming in their head more than ever.
𖤓
Rich was the scent that caressed his nostrils, an aroma so thick that somehow failed in being irritating, how could it be? Heat radiated from below his finger tips, traveling with it the slabs scent, how insidious. The tactic was so effective that any sense of manners dangled precariously off of the edge of a deep seated hunger waiting to be satiated and practically gloating at him as he stared the food down, flavours so enticingly apparent beckoned him forward as he fought to pull back. Delicious as that sauce covered slab roasted to a golden brown and accompanied by a healthy hill of cloud-like textured rice appeared, this was the first proper meal they'd had in ages, he couldn't possibly decide to abandon any kinds of savory! Slow and steady now…slow and..
"You're drooling" Came a smooth voice seated across from him, halting his thoughts as his gaze lifted. Resting her head atop her hand, the stare from her felt mirthful; perhaps a sense of teasing delight but he couldn't tell, leaning back with a masked sense of disinterest at the platter and shrugged, "You're mistaken, my thoughts wondered elsewhere for a moment although the meal does seem delectable"
Scoffing through a grin, she muttered an amused, "Mhm" before lifting up a fork and stabbing into the cubic bits of her own meat, diced up and served with nothing else, nothing but the healthy serving of a similar variation of the sauce tempting his nostrils. "They're weirdly really good with monster meat, you'd think we'd have to wait till we got back to the city just to have a taste of something like this" she sighed as he similarly let out a breath of relief at that realization. They would've surely made the trek back to the city starving if it meant a good meal, not having to do that however was a lot more appealing.
Glancing over at the scarlet pouch holding their remaining earnings, he skewered the meat with his own fork, grabbed a knife beside him and sliced a piece before half-lifting the helmet over his face just enough to bite into it, catching a curious glance from across him as she quickly stared elsewhere. He swallowed moments after and moved to pick the bag with a slight pang of dejection at the loss of weight, only holding about forty silver now from their original hundred, damn the price of good food. "One more job and we're at least keeping a roof over our heads," he mumbled between a bite, setting the pouch down with a clink of clattering metal.
She sighed, "Thrand said he'd lend a hand, we can let it go for a bit can't we?" He made a sound as though hesitantly contemplating the idea, "The greedy bastard isn't generous, he'd rope me into that tavern of his after that"
"It's doing pretty well though" She mused, a quaint little place within the city. Warm, always filled with chatter, the drinks went down well and you found it is easy to relax. Easy to feel at home. They were regulars enough to appreciate what a delight that was, skewering another cube as he spoke, "He's doing well for himself, you'd think it's difficult forming a life out of the guild…but I guess it's not"
"Everything's hard if you never want to try it," She corrected, a widening grin playing across his lips at the comment, "Like my swordsmanship!"
"Two very different things"
"I'll grow better at it, extraordinary in fact. They'll call me…" He looked over somewhere, "The sword saint"
Scoffing at the idea between a laugh, she commented whilst glancing over her meal and preparing for another bite, "The continent already has one"
"I'll be the second"
"There's never been two"
He playfully groaned at that, scarfing down another bite. He'd heard the current one was an adventurer too, no older than twenty. A real prodigy of the sword, there wasn't much anyone knew about them, apart from the fact that they currently weren't anywhere near the empire—doing some high level request with a party of theirs it seemed. Dwelling on that a bit, his memories naturally remembered days like that, a party of three; Thrand, himself and Tenma, Val became the fourth not long after. They were good times, the past always was sometimes. "Do you ever think about it too?" he stared, pulled back at the question, "Retiring, I mean"
Pausing as she shifted in her seat, the silence that followed felt longer, heavier than usual. Somehow the contents of his platter drew his gaze, the ambience of the room as he shifted, a complicated expression writ along his face, "It never comes to mind…"
There wasn't really a point where they were told to stop, if one really wanted to, if they had the capacity to keep going then they could. Retirement was, "A passing thought" She said, skewering another piece but not lifting it, she stared at it for a bit before continuing, "Thrand and Tenma are doing well, pft, I don't think those two had ever thought about it either, it just so much as…happened. I don't think we go into this thinking we can do anything else so we cling to it rather than wonder what else there is to love out there"
He stared, a sudden stillness, engulfing the two before he took another bite, sweeping her hand into his. She gleaned over, she wore the ring on her right and his own stood fashioned to his left. Rubbing a thumb over its smooth surface as he lifted his gaze, "Have you thought on what you're going to wear at the wedding?"
Blinking, she stared for a second before feigning a small frown, "It's what I'm wearing isn't it?"
"I won't say"
She rolled her eyes, "A dress is perfect, why wouldn't it be? Gale and I agreed on it ages ago" Hearing that, he tilted his head, genuinely surprised by the answer, "He did? I thought that'd be a topic of quite the great importance"
"We don't wear one because we'd ruin it, actually, when we'd put this all together he said it'd draw you—"caught mid-sentence as her free hand slapped her mouth shut, she grumbled into it with a scowl and made a face as though caught between the thought of something annoying. He chuckled at the sight, watching as before long whatever argument had gone in her head was resolved, finally gaining full control of her left hand. "You were saying?"
"Nothing"
"A shame" He focused back on the last remnants of his meal, peeling away from it only as her hand seemed to tighten around his, "I'm really more curious on how we're going to pay for all that"
"A few more requests"
"Gohlm…"
"It's a year of honest labor, we'll manage" She sighed, "So you don't know"
Wincing a bit but otherwise not refusing that deduction, he met her gaze again, reciprocating her grip around his hand, "No but however I can, I will"
"That's not a plan, Gohlm" She teased, smiling whilst contemplating over something, "…It's been on my mind for a bit but..we could do a black request, just one, make all the money we'd ever need"
"A black request?" He paused, frowning at the suggestion as her gaze hardened slightly, an intensity behind them as he stared at them, "Val, that's—"
"Dangerous? I know. Reckless? Maybe but that's never stopped us" She shrugged, "And fun? The most fun we've ever had"
She grinned, the look on her face was brimming confidence, the sheer absurdity of her suggestion couldn't have been made any more insignificant in her eyes. It was astonishing, staring on in a brief moment of silence and he shook his head with mirth, "Requests like that recommend a party"
She scoffed at that, leaning back and crossing her arms over her chest as though insulted by the fact, "What challenge is there that we can't handle, besides, I'm right here"
He shook his head alongside a laugh, leaning back too, "You're right, what do adventurers fear anyway?"
"The guild's rations" They shared a laugh, caught in that moment longer than they usually did. Figured, just as anything it was easy to catch yourself in the monotony. Every job felt the same only with a different client, the rush was sporadic, the enjoyment came from the highest heights that the average mission couldn't accommodate for. Right now It was the excitement of something new and challenging, not an ounce of fear existed in their hearts. That was the conviction of an adventurer after all, she half smiled at that as Gohlm motioned to finish off his meal, her expression growing complicated as she opened her mouth to say something but it died on her lips whilst she glanced down, lifting a skewered piece of meat and indulging in nothing else but savouring this meal.