"A Nightspawn?" Mathew repeated.
"That is correct." The guard affirmed. She rested her hand on her sword, which should have projected control, but to Mathew it just seemed like a nervous habit. If anything, it gave the impression of inferiority.
"We are not worried about a single Nightspawn," Pandarus said. "If worse comes to worst, we could always talk it out with the beastie." As if to prove his point, he motioned at Dokkebi, who was hovering nearby.
The guard's eyes widened, and she took a full step back.
"I don't know anything about your strange pet, but I still cannot let you pass."
"You dare stand in our way?" Ophelia said, her tone low and sharp as a knife.
"I'm sorry, but it's the order I was given…" Ophelia clenched her fists tightly, and Mathew worried for a second this would turn into a fight. He knew she was not afraid to stoop to using violence to get her way.
"I see, I see," Pandarus cut in. "If it is on orders, I guess there is nothing we can do. We don't have the funds to pass along the bridge anyway, even if she were to let us pass, my Lady." This earned him a glare from Ophelia, but he held her gaze.
"What is your name, guard?" She said, walking up to the young woman. Ophelia stood a good head taller, so she could easily look down at the woman.
"M-my name is Stella." She replied.
"Stella. On whose orders are you acting?"
"I serve Lord Aventinos." Pandarus opened his mouth in surprise. Ophelia caught his expression out of the corner of her eye, and seemed to make a decision. She pressed her index finger against Stella's sternum.
"When we come back, you will be allowing us to pass," Ophelia said. Then she turned on her heel and walked past Mathew and Pandarus.
"So… What are we going to do now?" Mathew said.
"Assess the rooms that my maids picked out for us," Ophelia replied. "Guide, you recognized the name of the lord she spoke of. Inform me of whom we are dealing with."
"Aventinos is the most powerful merchant in the city," Pandarus replied. "He not only handles most of the civilian security, but also owns most of the merchant ships in the harbor. His private army is the closest thing Thalassa has to having a military."
"If he really has all that, why doesn't he just take care of the Nightspawn problem himself?" Mathew asked.
"Perhaps you two are unaware of how rare enhanced beings like us are. You could live your whole lives in some cities and never meet one. In addition, Numens are quite rare as well, and ordinary humans can't access the Divine Realm or bind them to their souls. You really want a force of helpless mortals not armed with Blessings to go fight against an abomination of the night?"
"Okay, okay. I get it." Mathew said. "But aren't there alchemists in this city? They can craft Curses or other weapons, right? Maybe they could fight the Nightspawn." Pandarus shook his head.
"Alchemists aren't warriors, lad, and they work for themselves, not for others."
"But I'm sure they have something for sale at the very least."
"Even if an alchemist were paid to craft a Curse, the materials for one would have to come from a being of the 3rd tier or higher. Where would the ingredients come from? You would need an enhanced person just to gather them. And even if you were to get them and craft a weapon, you wouldn't have enough Numens to arm an entire fighting force."
"So what… They just seal off the area and hope the thing doesn't enter the city?"
"If they try to kill the creature with sheer numbers, they will take a massive loss. They will most likely send for a mercenary from overseas to handle the problem, and hope nothing happens until then."
"Even creatures of the 3rd tier are really difficult to deal with, huh…" Mathew said. An image leaped unbidden to his mind, one he hadn't thought of for weeks.
The image of Ophelia and Argus cutting down the Disciples of Dread.
Just two people against a hundred, though Argus had done most of the killing, so it was really one person against a hundred. They never really stood a chance against them after all.
How had he let himself forget his disgust of the woman in front of him? It had faded recently to just daily annoyance. But she, and Argus too, were mass murderers.
"Do you have a plan, my Lady?" Pandarus said to Ophelia, pulling Mathew from his thoughts.
"Yes." She replied.
"…Are we allowed to know what it is?"
"No."
Pandarus sighed but stopped questioning her. The rest of the trip to the inn occurred mostly in silence, leaving Mathew to dwell in his own mind for a bit.
When they arrived, Siyah greeted Mathew.
"You will not believe this." She said to him, her eyes dancing around everywhere as if she were making sure no one else was watching. She grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him along with her.
"Wha…Ouch! What are you doing?" He exclaimed, the contact of her skin surprising him as much as her sudden energy.
"Just come with me." She replied as they entered one of the rooms. She pointed to the corner, where a sort of curtain had been pulled away, revealing what looked like a toilet.
"And what am I looking at?" Mathew replied.
"The water moves on its own!" She said. "And the wash basin too, if you turn the knob the water flows out! It's like we have a private fountain inside our room."
"Ah yes," Pandarus said. "Another feature of the city. I believe they call it 'indoor plumbing.' Clay pipes are built into the walls and floors in such a way that they can control the flow of water pulled from below."
"See?" Siyah said, "Isn't that so peculiar?"
"I guess so," Mathew said. In truth, it really was impressive to him that in such a world indoor plumbing existed, and not by any magical means either, but by human craftsmanship alone. But his mind was somewhere else at that moment.
"Now that we are all gathered together, we need to discuss the plan," Pandarus said.
"Plan?" Siyah asked.
"The bridge has been closed off due to some Nightspawn roaming around outside of town."
"What will we do about it?" Siyah asked.
"Before we speak of that," Argus interjected, "we must talk about money. I used most of what we had left in order to rent these rooms."
"I will sell off some Blessings in my possession to an alchemist in the city," Ophelia said. "That will provide us more than enough funds to pay the toll required to cross the bridge, and live off of for a time."
"I mean, if it comes to it, you can just cut off one of Dread's arms and sell that as ingredients, right?" Beyah added. Mathew grunted in response, causing Siyah to frown.
"You aren't going to say anything?" She asked him, prodding for a comeback. He sighed, and then decided to play along.
"I mean, why not just offer your own arm?" He said. "Or at the very least Pandarus can offer his. He seems used to giving up parts of his body after all."
"That would never happen." Insisted Beyah. "We are her lady's precious handmaidens. She would never give us up."
Ophelia nodded, her face serious. "Not for such a low price anyway. And the guide is much too useful to surrender to an alchemist." Pandarus chuckled.
"Uh-huh," Mathew said, losing interest in the conversation.
His eyes drifted to the corner where Era Belle Sat, arms wrapped around her knees. She seemed to be somewhere else completely, her eyes deadpan.
Then a realization hit him: If only Enhanced people could bind Blessings and Curses to their souls, that meant that Era Belle was Enhanced! She had that strange black light attached to her in the divine realm, so she had to be of the 3rd Tier.
But why hadn't she told him? Was she hiding it, or did she not even know about it herself?
She noticed his gaze, but he looked away quickly.
"Returning to our discussion," said Argus. "We sell some blessings to an alchemist for money, but what to do about the bridges?"
"I think the answer is quite obvious, is it not?" Ophelia said, stretching her arms.
"Is it?"
Ophelia looked out the window at the setting sun.
"Night is about to fall. The time is right for us to meet our dear friend Stella once more."