Chapter XVIII: Red Road Hotel – Everyone is Seeing Red

By definition, a vigilante is someone who decides to uphold the law outside of the legal institutions. The thing is, few were those in the lower ring who had the chance to read a dictionary. Or even could, for that matter. That is probably why nobody found it strange that the Lower Ring armed forces were called that way.

They were recognized by the state – read the LIBRARY – and as such, had a lot of advantages and even grades. That was one of the best positions someone in the lower ring could aspire to reach. A high-ranking official in the Agency, the organization handling the vigilantes, and located in the South District.

"..."

Half of that wasn't true. Being a vigilante was closer to being a mercenary or the employee of an enterprise providing services. All kinds of services. Alexandra quickly understood that as her eyes hovered about the Red Road Hotel's billboard.

"Mas— I mean, big sister, is there a problem?"

"Minus 1pt."

"Eh?! Why?!"

"I feel frustrated."

A quest about finding a lost beetle.

Another about carrying a lunch (seriously?).

Another one was about helping sort provisions.

Those quests were exactly what that Shogo doll said earlier. For some reason, Alexandra found that slightly annoying.

"If you want to make money, you should register as a vigilante. I know exactly the place and you can even sleep there."

Or so she said, but seriously what is this? As Alexandra asked herself that, she became more and more annoyed. The Red Road Hotel was, of course, a hotel but in the Berattelsian sense of it. If vigilantes were, well, all-purpose personnel, hotels were places where all matters were discussed, often leading to a 'quest' being issued.

Quests are… requests. Apparently, it sounded better to say quest so everyone just settled with it. Apparently. That is what Shogo said anyway.

Regardless…

Hotels are sort of bars where people drink and eat. Where people gather, people talk. Where people talk, people make requests, and alcohol help talking for sure. Once the customer has issued a quest, it is registered for free. The quests on the billboard are for those who paid to have them advertised like so.

Though that means people paid to post quests about… oh well…

To take a quest, you had to present your vigilante license which was, then again, not a license so to speak. It was a tattoo. You present your tattoo and register for the quest. Additionally, if you want to be the only one on that quest, you have to pay another fee.

All in all, hotels work fairly simply. The only issue was that not everyone could become a vigilante. On the paper, yes, but the reality was different. It wasn't a question of competence, not totally. It was all about factions.

Long story short, hotels thought one day "Hey! Why should we settle with only quest gathering? Let's have our own vigilantes working solely under us! Imagine how much money we can make!" or something along those lines. Thanks to that, hotels became sort of guilds with vigilantes under them. The problem was that, since the only way to officially obtain a quest was registering yourself in a hotel, every vigilante had to work under one to be able to accept any quest.

The resulting situation was this – hotels gained a sort of monopoly on quest handling. You had to join the roster of one of them or suffer as a freelancer. Sadly, it was difficult to join, especially for a random like Alexandra. Besides…

"Nobody must know that you are a bibliomancer. Especially not her."

With such recommendations, Alexandra couldn't stand out. She never had the intention to yell on the roofs that she was a bibliomancer of course, but she wasn't especially trying to hide it. If she had to hunt angels, her secret would necessarily be discovered at one point. Nevertheless, Alexandra decided to go out of her way to heed Shogo's warning. For now at least.

If everything the doll said was true, her opponent was a monstrously strong bibliomancer. So strong in fact, that just a meeting would be enough for her to die. That isn't exactly the kind of future you look forward to.

"Everything will be okay," Shogo said when Alexandra voiced her worry. "As long as you befriend Rouge in the meantime, your survival is assured."

Rouge. That was the name of Alexandra's rumored savior. Well, future savior. Shogo didn't describe her, she just said that the girl would leave a "strong impression" on Alexandra when they would meet.

"I will bring you to the Red Road Hotel. Enter, order something for you and your doll, and stand in front of the quest billboard. After a while, the rain will fall harder and she will talk to you."

Alexandra did as she was told. Everything went as the doll foretold even the rain. That meant she would appear soon and Grimm knew how hard Alexandra was wishing her to! She was standing in front of that billboard for minutes now and the clients were giving her weird glances. Thankfully, none of them talked to her because she felt capable of insulting the first one to make any remark.

Still, was it just her impression, or that Rouge girl was taking her time? Did the doll get something wrong somewhere? Alexandra couldn't say for sure, but she was getting more and more nervous. It was at that moment someone approached her.

"Ahem."

With one throat clearing a presence was announced. Alexandra nervously turned around, surprised by the sudden apparition behind her.

It was a girl probably around her age with wide and sharp eyes, short blonde hair, and a delicate oval face. Her outfit consisted of a knitted pullover with rolled-up sleeves, a long black skirt, and a white apron.

"Dear customer, can I assist you in any way?"

"Huh? Ah! Um… Actually…"

A blank. Alexandra couldn't remember what she wanted to say in the first place. But she wasn't really bothered by it since she now knew for sure that she found the person she was looking for. It was as if it was written on her face. This girl was definitely "Rouge".

"Excuse me," Alexandra began, "my name is Belladonna and I just arrived in town. Could you perhaps be Rouge?"

It was just a matter of formalities for Alexandra since she had no doubt about the girl's identity.

A bit earlier, she had a sort of flash from her childhood with Fresne in the middle ring. Her friend had that hereditary habit – or curse or whatever it was – that made her slip into languages known as "otherworldly". While Alexandra couldn't pretend to understand everything Lefresne was saying on a daily basis, their proximity allowed her to be able to translate a lot of words and one of them was this girl's name: Rouge.

From memory, Alexandra knew it was a color's name – the color red to be precise. But what was the girl's connection with said color, one might ask? Said one may be blind to ask that.

Red eyes, red headband, and red pullover. Oh, come on, even a child could have guessed that! Alexandra couldn't help but smirk. That girl either had a decent sense of humor or a really big ego.

"..."

The girl stayed silent, her fist hiding her mouth. It was as if she was studying Alexandra from head to toe. After a few seconds like that, she smiled brightly and extended her hand to Alexandra.

"Belladonna, was it? Nice to meet you!"

"Me too."

Hm? The girl in red was quite friendly now, maybe that is why Shogo insisted on calling her by her name. Maybe they talked before? Hm… A bit of cautiousness wouldn't hurt. For now, she will follow the plan and see how it goes.

"It might be a bit sudden, but I hope we will get along," Alexandra said, smiling back and imitating the girl's gesture.

"Ah, that? Well, you see…"

The girl caught Alexandra's forearm and pulled her closer.

"That will not happen, I am afraid."

"Huh?"

Alexandra had less than a second to realize what was going on. The girl had already thrown a punch with her left hand. Alexandra tried to parry, but she was too late. Thankfully, her struggle allowed the blow to miss her face, but she realized – too late – that it wasn't the girl's objective.

Her hand stopped at the last moment and opened. Suddenly, the girl let go of Alexandra's arm and used her leg to make her trip. It was a swift succession of moves and quickly; Alexandra was on her rear without realizing how.

The surprise on her face was visible and acting on that, the girl closed her eyes, sighing.

"...Dear customer, dear customer," the girl said, shaking her head and her hand on her hips. "You said you were new in these lands, did you not?" The girl then stared down at Alexandra with an air of cold disgust. "Where exactly did you hear that name then, hm? I am curious."

Alexandra glared back at the girl, holding her shoulder. She didn't appreciate her move and couldn't refrain from voicing her anger with a sudden rise in her voice.

"What was that for?!" Alexandra yelled, standing up and approaching the girl in red.

"Excuse me? Isn't there a little misunderstanding? 'I' should be the one asquestioning that."

"Eh? As-what?"

Alexandra was taken aback, her anger swiftly disappearing to let its place to incomprehension. What in the world was that word?

"Oh dear, another wordily challenged one," the girl said, shaking her head again. "You know what? Nevermind. I have to ask you to take your leave now."

She indicated the door after clicking her fingers two times.

"That way. Out, I say."

"..."

"What is it? Do you wish me to escort you toward the door? That, I can do," the girl with a condescending smile.

"... the one asking."

"Yes?"

"You should have said, 'I should be the one asking that'. Asquestioning isn't a real word, you know?"

"... Huh?"

As said before, Alexandra often had to deal with Lefresne's weird speech habits.

and while doing that, she noticed that her friend's default language was the otherworldly one. It resulted in a quite strange situation.

Often, people have words they don't hear anymore when they speak. They are like reflexes; like when someone breathes or when they bat their eyes. And just like those, they can't be heard unless the one uttering them pays attention to what she is saying.

Lefresne was like that. She would often ignore whole sentences unless she really paid attention which, admittedly, was not to be expected of her. Alexandra was used to that, so she had to remind her friend, from time to time, that this word or that one was not correct. That was a component of their friendship that just stuck with her naturally as years went by.

For that reason, when she heard the girl uttering that strange word, she couldn't help but correct her. It was a remark devoid of malice, just like a child's would be. And yet – maybe because it was a reaction akin to children's innocence – it stung the girl as absolutely humiliating. Alexandra didn't know at the moment, but this girl held great pride in her (in her own words) 'giantesque' vocabulary, and that simple remark hit her right where it shouldn't.

The blood ran to the girl's face, a sign of her growing anger. It didn't help that some customers laughed at Alexandra's remark and commented that she may just be right. Unknowingly, Alexandra had made the most well-intentioned bad move she could.

The girl forced a condescending smile and let out a small grunt. "Hmph! Wordily challenged as I said! Who exactly do you think you are, you cheeky lower ringer, to even begin discussing etymology with me? You are uneducated, and uneducated people should just shut up. It shows badly when they try to act the smart part."

Well, I am a bibliomancer, Alexandra thought, though she did agree with the girl on one point: When uneducated people try to act all smart in front of smart people, it just results in this exact kind of conversation. Not that she would say that.

"Hm? Are you not a lower ringer too?" Alexandra asked with a point of irony her smile could hardly hide. She found herself unable to get angry at the girl; if anything, she found her funny. Thought it was in a really bad way.

Of course, the girl noticed Alexandra's reaction. Needless to say, she wasn't pleased by this sudden display of superiority.

"You truly are ignorant, aren't you?" she asked, shaking her head. "Can't you even recognize nobility when you see it?"

Was nobility written on people's faces? Sure, the girl was beautiful with her curly blonde hair. She had that air of 'grandioseness' (yes) around her, but for Alexendra she was just like a younger version of Lefresne's mother without the power, the kindness, the innocent clumsiness, and the years on top. Ah yes, and she wasn't engaged to her daughter too so that was another point of difference.

"... she isn't like Fresne's mother at all actually," Alexandra concluded.

Sure enough, her mind was trailing far away now and the girl didn't appreciate that either – by mumbling random stuff with an unfocused gaze, Alexandra was basically ignoring her, saying that she was not worthy of her interest.

Another misunderstanding, but, then again, Alexandra WAS thinking that.

Either way, they had decided to use strength to force that rather annoying big-chested soon-to-be-not-customer out. No questions asked.

The girl distanced herself from Alexandra without a word and went behind a counter. For some reason, Alexandra felt in danger and she was right. When the girl appeared again behind a counter, she was holding a musket pointed in Alexandra's direction.

"Get out."

Alexandra looked at the girl without noticing the weapon at first which is why, after about a second of bewilderment, her mouth contorted into a smirk. For the red-clad girl, that was it; she aimed and shot Alexandra.

"Master!!!"

The girl fell to the ground and it was over. Well, the commotion was.

Sure, "rouge" did shoot and Alexandra did fall but those were unrelated events. In fact, Alexandra never got hit. She only fell because Minium pushed her down at the last moment. Thankfully, no one got hurt, but…

"Oh… Oh no…"

The red-clad girl jumped across the counter and ran toward Alexandra… well toward Minium actually.

"Are you hurt somewhere?!" she asked the little girl. She looked unbelievably worried, inspecting the little girl from top to bottom.

"Eh?! I… I…"

"Phew! It seems that nothing happened to you! I feel so relieved!"

"Y-Yes? (What is going on?)"

The girl then turned to Alexandra with a scowl. "Hey, you! How can you expose a kid like this to danger?! Are you out of your mind?!"

In response, Alexandra only stared at the girl her eyes widened by surprise. She understood that she almost got killed, but what she didn't understand was why her aggressor was scolding her about endangering someone when she was the origin of said danger. No, it was even worse – she was scolding her for endangering a doll! What was this girl's problem?

"Anju!!!"

Coming from the back of the room, a strong voice echoed. A tall woman with short dark-blue hair and yellow stomped her way to the red-clad girl and violently hit her head with a wooden mug. The girl let out a faint moan holding her head.

"What did I say about attacking clients?!! What kind of reputation do you think you are giving us?!!"

"Sorry…" said the girl named Anju in a voice so low that it could be heard.

"Sorry?!! Do you think being sorry brings back people alive?!!"

The woman raised her hand as if to strike again but after quick glances at Alexandra's and Minium's shocked expressions, she seemed to change her mind though her anger was clearly not appeased.

"Sorry for my employee's actions," she said, offering a hand to Alexandra. "I am Lupa, the one in charge of this hotel."

Alexandra having regained her composure stood up by herself and gave the woman a condescending look while attempting to take dust off her clothes. "You can be sorry! Is that how you handle your guests?! I could have been killed there!"

"Sorry for that again," Lupa said with an embarrassed smile. "Oh, I know. What about I offer you a diner? My cook is considered the best in the South District!"

"Do you seriously believe that a dinner is going to make me forget? Are you kidding me?!"

"Wow there! I understand, I understand! Okay, let's say the dinner is just an apology for my shameless proposal. We can discuss the more important matter during it, okay?" Lupa said, with a 'calm down' gesture before turning to Anju. "You heard me! Go and help Susu with the dinner!"

"Yes."

Anju nodded and meekly made her way to the back of the room. Some clients talked to her on the way, asking her to cheer up among other encouraging things.

What about me? Alexandra thought furrowing her brows. She was the person who was almost killed here! How about some consideration?!

However, her anger dissipated a bit when Minium – probably as lost as her if not more – clung to her sleeve as if to ask for help. Alexandra let out a sigh.

What am I going to do with you? she thought. Well, considering that neither she nor her "little sister" already are that day, it wouldn't hurt to accept the woman's invitation. Though she did seem a little too eager in Alexandra's opinion.

"Lupa, you said? Very well, we will discuss how you are supposed to repay me after the dinner. But let's make it clear, I am only doing this out of consideration for your position. This doesn't excuse any of your subordinate's actions!"

"Yes, yes, I understand. To be honest I prefer it this way. You know, I like girls with strong character!"

"Do you even realize this is part of the problem?!" Alexandra said angrily but in response, the woman only laughed.

Alexandra's eyes narrowed again. What did I expect from an uneducated Lower Ringer? she thought. From her point of view, it seemed that other people's lives didn't matter for them though she somehow started to grasp the truth – it wasn't that other's lives didn't matter, it was just that life itself was considered less valuable in the lower rings. A chilling thought, truly.

She had to make sure to not get killed by accident or by any random hobo. Her mission was far from over after all.