201 An Introduction to the Scarlet Wings

Following Yue down the stairs, she leads us down to a metal door. She knocks on the door but doesn't wait for a response before opening it to reveal an unusually well-lit room for being underground. As the occupants notice us, they give a quick salute towards Yue before going back to what they were doing as she guides us to a room in the back.

"While you're here you can use this as your room. It isn't anything fancy but it can fit the four of you. Feel free to check it out for a bit, once I find some of my Captains I'll introduce you," Yue says, leaving us right outside our room.

Taking the lead, I push the door open and I've got to say, when Yue said it was nothing fancy, she really meant it. The room has two bunk beds for a total of four beds and that's it, that's all there is in the room. If anything, the room is large enough for us to spread out while still having extra space to spare.

"Let's decorate a bit," I say as I begin to create some wooden furniture, "a desk right there, a table over here, and a couple of chairs over there."

"Now it's looking better, but it still can't compare to a room at the inns we've stayed in previously," Aurelia comments.

"Why don't you go buy some furniture and do it yourself if your dissatisfied," I say.

"Forget that, have you all even touched the beds, they're awful, I think I'll just use my sleeping bag," Wanjing says.

Walking over towards the bed, Aurelia places her hand on it and immediately frowns, saying, "I think I actually will go shopping before we sleep, these beds definitely need to be replaced."

I walk over and repeat her actions, coming to the same conclusion, these beds really do need to be replaced. They're hard as a rock and they're also just as rigid as one too, making them incredibly uncomfortable to even touch, I can't even imagine having to lay on this thing.

We hear a knocking on the door and before we can respond, Yue enters with two people following behind her, they seem to be a couple since they look pretty close and are even holding hands. The man's face looks incredibly feminine and his long black hair doesn't help, if not for his clothing and lack of... actually that thought makes me a little depressed so I think I'll ignore that part, but put a dress on him and I probably couldn't tell the difference.

The one who I assume is his girlfriend also has similar long black hair, although she's a head shorter than him and he isn't even that tall. She looks a little malnourished but it's pretty well hidden, however, the real problem here is that despite that she may have been malnourished in the past, why are her breasts just as large as Lia's. This world is truly unfair.

"Cordelia, I get the feeling that you're thinking of something stupid yet I would also probably agree, but I'll ignore that and introduce you all to each other. These two are the ones who run this base in my absence, the girl is Shuren, she takes care of most of the logistics around here. And the other one is Wei, he usually takes the lead during our operations when I'm not around and is also in charge of taking care of the training of the people here."

Turning her attention towards us, Yue continues, "this is my friend Cordelia, don't let her appearance fool you, she's a true Dragon. Next is Lia, like Cordelia, she is also a true Dragon. Then there's Aurelia, a Demon. And finally, there's Wanjing, she's a Taotie."

Listening to her introduction, Shuren and Wei have a strange look as Wei says, "Big Sis, you've got some strange friends," then turning towards us, he fixes his expression, "anyways, I hear you'll be staying here for a bit and you'll be helping in an upcoming operation. A pleasure to meet you, I'm Yue Wei."

"And I'm Yue Shuren."

"Yue?" I question.

"I gave them the name. I picked them up off the streets when they were children and naturally having no significant background they didn't have a surname so I gave them one and took them under my care. It's not like I could give them my surname given my family, so I gave them my name to use as their surname," Yue explains.

"Does everyone here have a background like that?" I ask.

"Yeah, pretty much everyone is either an orphan or from a poor family. We are chivalrous thieves after all. We steal from the corrupt rich and give to the poor, and no one knows the difficulties of the unfortunate better than those who were once in a similar situation."

"Couldn't you use some of that money to have some better furnishings? We were just talking about how we were going to buy new beds before we sleep today," Aurelia says.

"Uhh, I don't actually deal with that, take it up with her," Yue says, pointing to Shuren.

"Everyone here is used to it, so we spend most of the money by giving it to those in need and assisting them with their lives. Since we don't require much, it's better to give it to those who truly need it," Shuren explains.

"That's all well and good, but we are still planning on replacing the beds with something more comfortable," I say.

"That's fine, but I can't accompany you right now. I need to report to the Inspections Bureau since they should be aware of my return to the city by now. I'll be back later tonight though, but for now, Wei, Shuren, can you two guide them around and help them avoid areas with lots of soldiers?" Yue asks.

"Sure thing, Big Sis," Wei says.

"I don't mind, its been a while since I left the shop."

"Good, and Cordelia take this," Yue says, handing me a wig," hide your hair and put this on when you go out. Since you can't wear makeup like the others this is the next best disguise we've got. Anyways, I've got to hurry, later," Yue says, as she leaves.

"So how about we show you around the city, at least the places we can safely move through," Shuren says.

"Alright let's go, oh but I want to try some of those dumplings before we leave."