A Different Type of Vermin

The last day for the quest was going to be a long one. The last two markers and the last secret room weren't too close together. These were the places that didn't line up well with any of the others.

I took out a few more monstrous rats nests and luckily a green slime. Its essence was useful to alchemists and it was considered a D ranked monster. Raginhard had told me there was a quest up for some. That took away some of the sting of not being able to capitalize on the black slime.

It was past dinner time when I started to head towards the secret room. The disc that Raginhard gave me for the markers had all its gems lit up. Once I turned it back in, I'd have to turn in the key to the sewer grates and I'd lose my easy access to the secret rooms for the time being.

As I got closer to the area I began to hear noises. The closer I got the clearer it became that there were other people down here. I rotated my shadow mote to lessen the sound I was making and blurred my form with the dark. When I saw light coming around the bend I put my bright stone back in my storage ring.

Around the bend I saw the secret room already open and people carrying packages out. Standing next to the opening was a man with an imposing bearing, a sword at his hip. It took me a moment to realize that I had seen him before. When I first was at the Jagged Tankard, he was pretending to be asleep at a table near the foot of the stairs. I had suspected at the time that he was the actual guard.

"I just don't think it's going to come to anything. All a bunch of bark." A bald man said.

"The last time the Bandit Queen was in the city there was nearly an all out war." A brown haired man said.

"Exactly. There was nearly an all out war. There has been nearly this or that for years. No one really wants to mess with the Night Mistress." The bald man said.

"I don't know, my cousin says the Bandit Queen hasn't been too happy with her cut from our fencing of their goods recently." Brown hair said.

"Then your cousin doesn't know shit. They've been giving us next to nothing. Even with the Grehgi plains unprotected she hasn't been able to get a decent score for over a year. It's not the Night Mistress' fault there's nothing to sell." The bald man said.

"I just don't want to get caught up in anything. I know my place. I bring things where I'm told. I'm not a fighter." Brown hair said.

"Will you two hurry it up? I want to get this passage closed." The guard had been ignoring them, but it seemed his patience was running thin.

"Who the hell comes down? We'd be fine if we never shut the passage." Baldy said.

"The Union sends Adventurers to take care of vermin every once and awhile. You never know when someone could be wandering down here." The guard said.

"You worry too much Aesgeirr." Baldy said.

"I don't know. He would know what he's talking about, he was an adventurer after all. Maybe we…" Before Brown hair could finish, Aesgeirr put his fist through his face.

"Don't ever bring that up again. As far as any of you are concerned I am born the moment we meet and die the moment we part, got it?" Aesgeirr said.

He was fast. At least peak Expert, if not low level Master in basic aura. Kloan had been a struggle for me and I nearly destroyed myself to beat him. Even with my Lydos Lineage stabilized I doubted I'd be able to beat him. They were obviously moving illegal goods and I had a thought to take them out hoping to get a bounty from the city guards but that was out of the question now.

I decided I had seen enough. I'd just have to report back to Raginhard. Giving up the location of one secret room shouldn't cost me the others. These people seemed to have been using this one for a while and they hadn't found the others.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Brown hair said.

"Blight be Aesgeirr, you don't have to take it that far. He's.." Baldy said.

"Shh!" Aesgeirr said. A chill entered my heart.

Did he hear me? I had just started to back away but froze when he shushed them. My own aura had allowed me to stay farther away and still hear them. Someone at his stage wouldn't have any trouble hearing me if I made unnecessary noise. Without my Cloaking spell hiding my presence, he would have already noticed me.

"Ahh, it's probably just a rat." Baldy said.

Silence followed the comment. The sound of footsteps coming closer to me barely entered my ears. I started to slowly make my way back down the tunnel. What little I could sense coming from him told me he was getting closer.

"What's the hold up? The Mistress wants these goods ready to move out of the city at first light." A woman's voice entered the tunnel.

As soon as she started talking I ran for it. I still made sure to keep my presence hidden as much as I could but I needed to use the distraction to put as much distance between the two of us as possible. Around the next bend I stopped and listened. Barely audible voices could still just be made out but I didn't hear the sound of pursuit.

Not taking any chances I kept my Cloaking spell going and crept through the tunnels. There was an exit fairly close by, but I didn't want to come out near wherever their base of operations was. Instead I wove through the sewers putting as much distance between us for over an hour. When I did exit the sewers I kept to the back alleys as much as possible on my way back to the Union.

By the time I bathed, Raginhard had already left for the day. I had a quick meal before retiring to my room. That night I had trouble falling asleep. The feeling from my heart had gone away shortly after I left their area, but I was left with other things to think about.

I had stumbled upon the criminal underground. This was definitely something a hero would get involved in. But I wasn't a match for this Aesgeirr. I could gather others to help me, but I'd have to expose my true strength and I wasn't sure I was ready to do that.

This encounter made two things clear to me. I needed to get stronger and I needed trusted allies. Vesta was the only person that immediately came to mind. Trust there would take time. Raginhard had been a C ranked adventurer but that was two years ago and he didn't seem like he wanted to go on quests any more.

The only other person I knew in the city was Floriana. That relationship became much more complicated after tonight. The man guarding her stairs a week ago was guarding the movement of goods for someone named the Night Mistress. What were the odds that they'd be the same woman? How would that affect our soul mark? Would it be bad to continue our relationship without knowing if they were the same person? I could spy on her during our intimate encounters. But she could also do the same.

There was also someone named the Bandit Queen and my mind couldn't help but go to the only female bandit I knew, Wassa. Obviously I'd side with Floriana if there was a confrontation. At least in the beginning. Eventually I'd have to turn her in also, assuming that she was the Night Mistress. Either way there was a connection there.

I gave up on sleep and sat cross legged in the middle of the floor. With three auras in the Intermediate stage I would be able to go without sleep for a few days. I had wanted to be at peak condition in case I was attacked, so I hadn't stayed up to cultivate my auras through the night like I used to. That was going to have to change. While gaining trusted allies was out of my control, I could improve myself.

The next morning I turned in the disc, map, and grate key to Raginhard. I also indicated where I saw the last secret room relating everything I saw and heard.

"I'll pass along the information to the city guard. Both the Night Mistress and the Bandit Queen have warrants out. They are actually A ranked quests, so I can sell the information to some guilds as well. I'll take care of finalizing the quest and get you the bounty for the rats. We can meet up for dinner to go over everything." Raginhard said.

I spent the rest of the day working on my basic aura. The Osgar aura needed weights and the Lydos aura needed night and a good place for moonlight, so I couldn't work on them. I didn't have any spell books to learn new spells and I'd need good catalysts to create new motes.

At dinner Raginhard laid out a sheet of paper with numbers on it in front of me. It was a breakdown of what I had earned from this quest. Two gold from the quest, nearly five silver from the rat tails, another gold from the rat parts I was able to harvest, seven silver for the green slime, two silver for the location of the black slime, and one gold eight silver for the information on the Night Mistress' operation. A total of 6 gold, 2 silver, and 57 copper for a week's worth of work. I hadn't given him the Ormstram parts as I wanted to see what I could get for them myself.

"You made out fairly well for your first quest." Raginhard said.

"Nearly half of it came from things not related to the quest. I'm not sure I'll be that lucky going forward." I said.

"The fact that you were alone also helped since you didn't have to split the rewards. I hope that isn't why you wanted to work as a freelancer. While the rewards for soloing quests will be greater, the risks are also higher." He said.

"I was actually going to bring that up. I don't want to join a guild but if you can find someone that needs temporary help I'd appreciate it." I said.

"I'll see what I can do. There's always a few other freelancers looking to group up, I'll ask some other representatives." He said.

"Thanks. I was also hoping you'd be able to procure a few items for me." I pulled out a piece of paper with some things I'd need to improve my auras and magic written on it.

"The weights and basic aura improving pills won't be too hard to get. The pills will be a bit pricey though. Most of the mote catalysts listed are available but out of your price range at the moment. The two that will be harder to procure will be for the shadow and lightning motes. Usually mages either gather them personally or put up a quest. They'll run you at least 10 gold a piece but that's on the low end and I can't guarantee quality." He said.

"I understand. Just keep your eye out for me." I thought they'd be the hardest to get but they'd also be the most useful for me. I wanted to improve my Cloaking and Lighting Rebuke spells.

"Should I mention that you can use magic when looking for partners?" He asked.

I liked the fact that he didn't even question why I hid the fact that I had a mana core and wanted my permission before revealing it.

"I'm not a mage. My spells are all designed to help with my swordsmanship." I said.

"In the south I believe you'd be called an Arcane Swordsman, here in the north you're known as an Eldritch Blade." He said.

"Being known as an Eldritch Blade wouldn't hurt."

**End of Sewer Quest Arc**