Ikku wakes up and hear yelling outside the window. At first, he is not sure what it is, but he quickly realized that it's Anne yelling at Vera about her fighting stance. "Come on now, mind your stance! Get back into position after you swing."

Ikku hear a large clunking sound, then a sigh. "See, that's what happens when you don't maintain proper footwork!" 

Ikku decides to watch them from the window.

Anne continues to berate Vera, and it appears that they've put aside the training staff for now and are concentrating on her arms and legs. "Your hands and feet are tools, but without the proper arm and leg positioning, you might as well roll over and quit now!"

Vera nods, and Anne continues. "Now, pay close attention to my stance. See how the feet are staggered and placed slightly wider than the hips and shoulders? It's important to distribute weight evenly. Angle your feet slightly, like this."

Vera tries to do so. Anne sighs. "Raise your rear heel, never stand flatfooted…that's it."

Vera seems to be understanding a bit better when Anne throws something else at her. "Tense your abdominal muscles a little bit."

Vera seems confused and replies, "What?"

Anne gives her a hard punch to the gut, and Vera falls over, gasping in pain. "Hurts, doesn't it?"

Vera slowly gets up and nods. Anne shows her a better position with just the right amount of tension, enough not to impede her movements or breathing.

"Keep moving!" Anne yells. "Standing still just makes you an easy target. Let's work on blocking now, watch my stance for signs of movement, it can give you an indication of what blow I'm about to hit you with."

Vera manages to block a jab from Anne, and she smiles. Anne laughs. "Don't get cocky now." Anne feigns a right hook, then kicks Vera in the chest.

Anne happens to look over and see you watching. "Enjoying the show, Captain?"

"You seem to be enjoying it more than I.", said Ikku. Anne laughs and continues instructing Vera. Ikku leave the window and decide to get dressed.

Once Ikku is dressed, he goes outside and see Arlo already up and getting ready to practice with his spear. Redford appears to be looking over some important paperwork and beckons Ikku over.

As you walk over, Arlo sees you. "Want to spar, Captain?"

"Sure", Ikku then agrees to train with Arlo.

Arlo grins. It's been a while since the two of them have sparred. Ikku decides to chose wooden great sword as his main weapon. Arlo stretches a bit while Ikku selected his weapon, then he grabs a wooden spear and prepares to spar with you. He lunges forward, stabbing at Ikku with range…

Ikku decided to dodge out of his way.

Ikku manage to dodge out of his way. He takes the opportunity to attack Arlo with Ikku's great sword and hit him hard in the shoulder. He takes it in stride, using the momentum to spin around and sweep at his legs, and he has to jump back to avoid it. Then Arlo lunges again with the spear, but this time it's a feint as he turns it around, hitting Ikku with it like a staff. You barely manage to dodge it this time. Ikku then stumble back but regain his footing.

Arlo grins. "Not bad, Captain, not bad at all."

Before they can continue, Redford interrupts and says he needs to speak with Ikku. He nod and leave the sparring session.

Ikku walk into Redford's office, and he asks if he would like to look at the finances before talking about mercenary work.

"Sure."

He nods and says, "Don't go spending all our money now…"

Currently, Ikku has 1050 Gold Pieces in the treasury. He decide to improve the weapon quality, improve defenses, hire new guards and more servants. Redford hands Ikku a list of mercenary contracts and asks which job he would like to take. He also hands Ikku some contracts that involve more unsavory jobs.

Ikku looks at the mercenary contracts and decides to clear the streets of vagabonds for a lord. 

Redford nods and calls everyone over to announce your decision.

Vera asks if she can come along. 

Ikku tells Vera, "Fine, you can come along."

Vera smiles and nods.

Ikku, Arlo, and Anne head out to clear the streets of vagabonds for a lord from Northbury. Apparently, Northbury has hit some hard times, and as a result, a lot of people are out of work. There are beggars, thieves, and vagabonds roaming the streets and causing havoc. The mayor wants Ikku to take care of it, though he didn't really specify how. The group walk into town with their weapons sheathed.

At the slums, Ikku notice some guards trying to evict people sleeping in a rundown and abandoned building. Apparently, they were paid by a merchant to tear it down in the hopes of selling the wood. Ikku then tells the guard to leave the people alone.

The guards seem displeased. They continue to push the peasants around.

Arlo steps forward. "Hey! Don't you have anything better to do than harass the common folk?"

One of the guards laughs. "These bums…who cares?"

Arlo narrows his eyes at him and puts his hand on his spear. "Leave now…unless you want trouble."

The guards look at each other, then at your weapons. They decide it isn't worth it and leave.

The peasants seem grateful. Many of them begin to pack their belongings and look for a new spot to sleep, but a few of them stay, as they have nowhere else to go. The group head back to the center of town. 

Ikku then said, "Let's go to the tavern."

Anne seems pleased by Ikku's decision. They head over to the tavern in haste, partially because Anne is walking fast. When they get there, they saw a bunch of rowdy patrons. A couple of men run out of the tavern, laughing, and the tavern owner yells after them, saying they need to pay their tab. They reply that they don't have any money.

One of the two thieves runs into Anne and stumbles, dropping his drink. He seems upset. "Hey, you're going to pay for that…"

"No, you're going to pay for that," Anne replies. Then she punches him in the face, sending him flying.

The other drunk pulls out a knife.

Ikku then tells Anne to handle this...

Anne smiles. "Gladly, Captain." She walks over to the man, who's waving his knife around wildly.

"Don't get any closer or I'll stab ya!" yells the drunken man.

Anne looks at him angrily. "If you stab me, I'll kill you."

The man gulps and moves forward. He slashes at Anne, but she moves out of the way. He slashes again, and once again Anne dodges it. He attempts to slash a third time with an overhead strike, but Anne grabs his hand and knees him in the groin.

The drunk drops the knife and winces in pain. Arlo searches the two drunks for any Gold, but all they have on them is a few Silver Pieces. He gives it to the tavern owner, who scowls but says it's enough. Ikku wait a while for some guards to show up and take the drunken men away, then they heads back to the center of town.

At the merchant's district, the merchant district seems relatively tame, but a few beggars are bothering patrons as they enter and leave the shops. The group decide to let them be, the poor souls. 

At last, they arrive at the central courtyard.

This place is mostly for nobility and those of high stature. It's relatively quiet until someone hears a noble shriek and look to see a man in a hood running away. The noble yells that the man has stolen his purse.

Ikku decides chase after the thief. He dives in and out of alleyways, trying to get him off of his tail. Eventually, Ikku corner him at a dead end. The thief turns around. It's a young man, possibly in his late teens.

"Hand over the gold!", said Ikku.

The boy reluctantly tosses him the Gold. But, a guard is coming this way...

Ikku apprehend the boy and wait for the guards to come and take him away. The boy resists, yelling for the guards to let go of him, and when they don't he says he was simply trying to get enough Gold to buy a decent meal. One of the guards laughs. "You're going nowhere but the dungeons, lad…you'll probably get a meal, but I wouldn't call it decent. Best be glad you weren't killed."

Ikku gives the Gold back to the noble, and he seems pleased. He rewards Ikku with ten Gold Pieces. It starts to get late. Ikku decide to head over to the mayor. He paid them 25 Gold Pieces for your efforts.

The group head back to the castle.

Before he have a chance to look at the mercenary contracts, Anne takes Ikku aside and says that she wants to give him some progress on Vera's training. Ikku decide to sit down and talk to her.

Anne starts shaking her head.

"That bad, huh?" you ask.

"She has no talent for swords and can barely lift most normal-sized weapons. She isn't the greatest at archery, either. The only thing she seems to excel at is daggers, and when I say 'excel,' I mean she didn't stab herself in the arm."

Ikku then said, "Keep exposing her to different weapon types, she needs to be versatile."

"If you say so, Cap," Anne replies, then she walks away.

After a while, Ikku hear some clanging and decide to look out the window. He sees Anne training Vera. She seems to be doing a good job.

To be continued...