Come morning Fena was treated to a light breakfast courtesy of Micheal, the brothel’s chef. At this time of day the place was dead quiet; aside from the cooking staff everyone else was still asleep, either in their rooms or with clients. Fena took her time enjoying her meal as she didn’t eat as often as she would have liked. It was nearly 9 o’clock by the time Fena finished up, passing her plate to Edna and ignoring some of the clients that began stumbling their way out the door. She followed them out into a bright and shiny day which caused her to scowl and shield her eyes against the burning sun.

Better add a hood to today’s shopping thought Fena to herself as she headed south-west. 

Before long the narrow and muddy streets gave way to wide and spacious ones as Fena arrived back in the Southern District. Unlike the Eastern district, here the streets were filled with people bustling their way to and from market, their arms ladened with baskets. She even spotted a few non-human races, such as elves and halflings. They were typically a rare sight, as the city did not have any native non-human populations.

Fena had to dodge and weave between the crowds, one hand always on her purse in fear of pickpockets. She was glad she only had to bring her short sword with her this time; the only thing one had to fear in the city were people, and they tended to not spit acid. But the traffic was still dreadful even in the backstreets; it took her twice the time to make her way through them, squeezing past tough looking adventurers and scurrying servants before she finally found what she was looking for. 

A large, rather exclusive looking inn sat before her, dominating a sizeable portion of the block. It looked a little odd sitting at the corner of a narrow side-street, but Fena understood that it liked to advertise itself as a hidden secret for those who could afford it. But having seen it often enough, Fena didn’t pause to admire the view and made her way around to its  backside. There sat a walled garden that was completely overgrown; no one had bothered to maintain it in quite some time. However, someone had carefully made sure that thick vines crawled their way over the 7 ft stone wall and into the quiet backstreet, providing a convenient handhold for anyone who wanted to get in. Fena gave a quick glance around to make sure no one was watching, then quickly scrambled over it. 

Once in the garden, she clambered through the various vines and dead branches before reaching the backside of the inn, where a tiny metal door barely large enough to fit a beer barrel sat. Every bar had one; it normally allowed deliveries to be made directly to the basement. However this one was oddly well polished, considering the fact that it likely hadn’t been used as such in years.

Fena casually sat down next to the door, back against the wall and caught her breath. The Crow, having landed in the garden, began digging around looking for things to play with. It seemed particularly fascinated by the overgrown statue of a naked woman, though Fena had no desire to find out why. Instead, she leaned over and rapped twice on the door. 

Only a couple of seconds passed before it shot open and a creaky voice asked, “Yessss?”

Fena counted to six then answered, “It’s raining cats and dogs out here.”

“Yesssss, I can see that... Very well, what do you want?”

“A better secret passphrase. Stating the opposite of the weather is ridiculous.”

“It’s original!” snapped the voice. “No one has ever thought of it before! I’m a genius!” A cackle quickly followed. “It changes! Day to day it changes! All by itself! Hehehe…”

Fena sighed. “Just get me another longsword. Like the one you gave me last time. And do you have any more of those foreign swords? They’re really sharp.”

“What happened to the last one I gave you?! Those aren’t easy to get, you know! Are you reselling them?!” snapped the voice in a suspicious tone.

“No, they just don’t stand up well in acid.”

“ACID?! What are you doing to my precious children?! I swear girl, you come here every week, buy out my entire stock and then ruin them! It’s insulting! None, none, none NONE of my customers are as rude as you! I swear! I swear!”

Fena waited as the creaky voice crackled and pitched wildly as it vented its frustration.

“If you like destroying swords that much, get a, a, a, a weapons license! Then buy the swords of the nasty folk at Barrington & Sons. Yesss, yesssss ruin them, smash their inferior products, put them out of businessss!!”

Fena ducked her head down until it covered the opening and peered into the darkness. 

“You wouldn’t be doing nearly as well as you are without me. Do you really want me to take my business there?”

“No… nooooo… no please don’t. Please doooon’t. Just break their things yesss. But buy from me.”

Fena sighed again. “Alright alright, don’t cry. I won’t buy from official weapon shops anyways. They ask too many questions. Just get me what I want.”

“Too many questions yessss? Well we don’t liiike questions here. Money! We like money. We have more Yamatai swords, but I’m charging extra! I have other customers you know. And this is the last one I’m selling you! Treasure my products, yes treasure them I say. Thirty crowns.”

“Twenty.”

“No, I said I was charging extra wasn’t I? Twenty seven.”

“People are afraid of strange things. Your customers might not want to try out foreign weapons. Twenty two.”

“Ah, yes but they’re hard to get you know. Who knows when I can steal- ah, procure another shipment? Twenty five.”

Fena paused, thinking.“...damn I can’t think of another excuse. Twenty five then.” Giving up, she passed the amount through the window. 

“You wanted another Zweihander, yes? Yes?”

“Yeah, but I’m not paying extra for that.”

“Usual price, usual price. Ten crowns. Buuuutttt… I can cut it down to seven if you also purchase our new product the Stronginthearm 500. An autoloading hand crossbow, it can shoot up to-”

“Just the sword please.”

“Or! Or I have a new toy you’ll love, absolutely love I say. Love! They call it the Pilum! Perfect for absolutely goring a charging beast!”

“The sword, Shady.”

The voice huffed. “Fine then, the, the sword. How original. Stay boring then. See if I care. If you bought the cool stuff, you, you’d have men swooning over you in the street. But noooo, the breaky lady just wants to ruin swords I guess, not the weapons that cool, very cool AND original adventurers use.”

Fena wrinkled her nose as she passed over another fifteen crowns. “Ugh, as if I want the attention.”

“Oh you prefer ladies? W-Well, well you’d have ladies swooning over you in the street-”

“No, I don’t want anyone swooning thanks. It’s a waste of time.”

“Hng… yesss… I agree but the weirdos out there seem to like it yesss… your package, breaky lady.”

Fena reached into the dark and grabbed a long and narrow canvas package. But as she pulled, it didn’t budge.

“DON’T. Break it this time yesss? I can replace basic swords anytime, but the wakizashi is precioussss, very precioussss. I’ll kill your whole family! Family, no two families! If you have two! Do you have two?”

“I get it and no. Can I have what I paid for?”

“Yesss…” and the resistance faded. “Tha-ank you for your business and please come again! As they say in Yamatai, koonnichi-wachi!”

The door slammed shut as fast as it had opened. Fena studied the package in her hand, feeling the rough shape of the weapons hidden inside.

You meet some strange people on the blackmarket… thought Fena and headed towards her next purchase. 

An hour later and Fena had purchased several new sets of clothes. Most of them were old, ragged clothes that she got for cheap but remembering Sir Welsy she made sure to get a couple of far nicer sets, though they still kept practicality in mind. She also got the much needed hood that she immediately put on after leaving the store. She couldn’t help but admire her reflection in the window before leaving.

Hoods really do look cool after all.

The Crow sniggered at her, and Fena swept off towards her next destination, slightly embarrassed. It wasn’t longer before she was once again standing before the Adventurers Guild. Fortunately this time the cranky old receptionist was gone; a young man with long dark hair had taken his place, and he offered her a bright smile.

“Hello! Welcome to the Adventurers Guild, how may I help you?”

Slightly put off by the man’s bright smile, Fena answered,“Hi… I placed a quest here yesterday; I wanted to see if it’s been accepted yet?”

“Certainly! What was your name and Quest title?”

“Fena, and it was Rescue the Small Girl at Schattenn Village.”

“Ah yes, the Schattenn quest. That one had a rather generous reward. Give me a moment please.”

“Sure.”

Fena watched as the man scurried about, rummaging through various stacks of papers. She hesitated, then asked something that was nagging her.

“Are you new here by any chance?”

“Why certainly! It’s my second day. How did you know?”

“Something about your… attitude.”

“Thank you! Ah, and here we are… Schattenn Village. Well I’m sorry to say but it looks like the quest was taken down due to inability to be completed.”

An icy spike of fear ran through Fena’s heart.

“Wha-what do you mean?”

“Well, it appears that the quest was accepted rather quickly but the adventurer was unable to find the girl at the village. As such, the quest is considered invalid as we are not able to complete it.”

“What? But she was there! Are you sure the adventurer didn’t just miss her?!”

“I assure you madam, all of our adventurers are fully qualified professionals. There is no way they could have missed her. She was simply not there.”

Fena staggered back, unable to think clearly.

“Of course we will refund you the reward money, but there are certain fines we must deduct for filing a false quest. After calculations your refund comes to.... 3 crowns, 2 schillings and 1 Half-Follis. Thank you for choosing the Adventurers Guild!”

-----

Fena found herself wandering aimlessly through the streets of the city, with zero awareness of her surroundings. Her mind was buzzing with denial, confusion and frustration. The Crow seemed to be trying to talk to her but she paid it no mind; she only wanted to be alone with her thoughts. 

This is my fault. This could have been avoided.

“Hey! HEY! Are you even listening to me?!”

I was too afraid. Afraid of taking responsibility for her life…

“This is entirely your fault! If you hadn’t been such a godsdamn coward she’d be alive right now!”

Did she wander away from the village? Did she try to follow me?

“Why can’t we ever do anything right?! It would have been so easy to lead her straight to Welsy’s doorstep!”

No… there’s no use speculating about that. Speculating about how… how it happened. It's over and done with. You fucked up.

“We fucked up! And EVERY time we fuck up, someone dies!”

So… what now?

I’m… I’m sick of this. I’m so sick and tired of this.

Fena swung her foot and kicked a rock, wincing as she stubbed her toe on it. 

Something needs to change. Something… quit being a mercenary? I guess I already did that…

“What are we gonna do now?! Noone will want to hire us again…”

No… not something. I need to change. I’ve done nothing but run and hide. Montegrie was right.

Fena looked up in surprise as she found herself standing in front of the Mercenary Guild. Her feet had unconsciously led her here. 

“One last chance…” she muttered.

Fena carefully crept inside the building, trying to ignore the curious looks the guards gave her. The Crow hesitated for a moment, but then sighed and followed her in. It passed her, flying ahead onto Fenwick’s desk to inspect the papers that the halfling had put aside. Fenwick ignored the bird, but looked up and gave Fena a severe glare as she approached.

“Um... I…” Fena suddenly felt incredibly awkward. 

Why did I come in here in the first place?

The burning sensation of anxiety rose in her once again as she desperately sought an excuse. 

“Umm… Oh! I, uhh, came to return my… badge…”

“Did you now?” asked Fenwick. “Are you quite sure about that?”

“Yes… yes quite sure,” But the words caught in Fena’s throat. She suddenly found that the burning anxiety was preventing her from handing the badge over. It didn’t mean anything to her - it shouldn’t mean anything.

“Just hand it over. Get it over with, and then we can get out of here. Leave the city, put everything behind us,” said the Crow. 

But the anxiety within seemed something more; not just an anxiety, but a desire. A desire to be worth something; to stop repeating mistakes. And, perhaps, a desire to make up for past ones. 

Seeing her lack of response, the Crow just sighed and turned back to reading the documents on Fenwick’s desk. As it did so a loud clattering was heard coming down the stairs and a slightly out of breath Lady Montegrie appeared. She looked like she had just sprinted down three flights of stairs, but upon spotting Fena an unexpected smile broke out across her rugged face. 

“Fena! I know we didn’t leave on the… best of terms but did you think about my offer?”

Fena didn’t reply, still struggling with the choice that faced her. 

Leave and run away again or… or confront what I’ve been running from this whole time?

The Crow cocked its head, surprised by what was on one of the papers it was reading.

“Um… Fena did you see this? There’s a contract here to find a Lady Feraldina Carstan…”

That did it. Fena turned and looked Lady Montegrie directly in the eye.

“Do you still have room for me?”

“Y-you mean…?”

“I accept the contract. I’m going back.”