The room I found myself in looked much like a reception lobby, with a couple of sofas and low tables, and a counter at its far end, occupied by a short woman with teal eyes and brown hair, tied in a ponytail behind her head.
The woman’s uniform looked vaguely similar to that of the MIS clerks I’ve seen – the color schema was black and white, with golden (closer to dark-yellow) trimmings here and there, but the overall features looked sharper, and the added shoulder pads made the whole thing feel closer to a police - or military - outfit from Earth.
“Greetings. Are you the adventurer joining this shift?”
The answer to her discerning gaze was a simple nod.
“Alright. Have you done this before?”
I shook my head in response.
“Let give you a quick rundown, then…”
The summary of the 5 minute lecture was:
I would be paired with a Silver-ranked MIS mber.
The patrol route, as well as the finer nuances of this mission, would be explained by him.
During the mission, his word was the law – the only orders I was allowed to disobey were blatantly illegal ones, or those endangering my life outside my duty.
As for the duty itself, it was related to detecting unusual or suspicious activity, and investigating it, reporting such incidents to the coordinator imdiately. Potentially, we were also responsible for responding to active syndicate battles and terror attacks, although the chances of that were slim.
“Hmm.. the fact that you were eligible for this mission ans your senses are sharp. It’s not my place to tell you how to do your job, but let give you a tip – don’t hesitate to alert your partner of anything that seems suspicious, even if you’re the first one to sense it.”
“Alright. By the way, how are we supposed to report it when anything occurs?”
“Your partner should have a communication sphere.”
“...I see.”
With Thomas’s description of the communication array, I totally forgot there might have been smaller, cheaper alternatives in this world.
‘I guess that makes sense.’
Thanking the receptionist (or whatever her role was) for the brief, I continued onward, towards one of the doors.
The formal, strict atmosphere made my expression stiffen, as I placed my hand on the handle, and entered the room.
“You’re late, rookie.”
The man before , seemingly in his mid-twenties, had short, hay-colored hair.
Unlike the receptionist, who wore a uniform, his attire was that of the average adventurer – his body, slightly broader than mine, was clad in a scalemail, a two-handed greataxe hung behind his back, and long tal bracers covered his arms and legs.
His face, wearing a stern expression, had sowhat sharp features, and his light brown, almost yellow eyes, were locked onto in a stern gaze.
“I apologize. I got to reception ahead of ti.”
“Then you should have arrived ahead of that ti, too.”
He let out a sneer of disdain.
“I hope you didn’t forget your horse, at least?”
“What? My- I left it at the stables. I was told-”
“I see. I suppose we’ll have to cut your pay in half, then.”
“Huh?”
I didn’t even have ti to get angry – I was dumbfounded.
“Haa…”
‘I guess this is gonna be this kind of-’
“Ahahaha!”
Suddenly, a hearty, genuine laugh brought out of my thoughts. I raised my eyes to see the man’s smile, one reaching his eyes, his friendly expression completely disconnected from his previous persona.
“Ahh… sorry. The way you looked there, I just couldn’t help myself.”
I blinked, looking at the man in disbelief – and maybe slight annoyance.
“Ah, relax! This isn’t the army.”
The man approached , as I shook my head while letting out a small sigh of sothing between relief and annoyance. Maybe a tiny hint of amusent, too.
The man extended his hand.
“Ember Alrox. You?”
“Sebastian. Nice to et you, Ember.”
As I returned the firm handshake, the man looked at with a hint of confusion and suspicion. Upon seeing my equally confused gaze, his face lit in realization.
“Ah. You weren’t in the army before, were you?”
I simply shook my head.
“Hehe.. that explains it.”
He gave an awkward smile.
“I don’t have a family na, either. My rank is ‘ember’. Alrox is my na.”
“Oh. Sorry. Should I address you by-”
I halted my words mid sentence at the dismissive wave of Alrox’s hand.
“Don’t sweat it. Even if you’re my junior, you’re still my partner on this mission.”
I nodded, before asking a question born purely out of my montary curiosity.
“Which rank is ‘ember’?”
“Whi- ah. Regular soldiers don’t have a rank. Then, the ranks are ‘spark’ and ‘ember’, typically reserved for squad leaders and elite troops.”
He paused for a mont, but decided to sate my curiosity.
“Afterwards, those in commanding positions are ranked as ‘flas’, while individual elites are ranked as ‘blazes’. The highest regular ranks are the 7th fla and the 6th blaze.”
I nodded.
“This naming.. Wasn’t the old empire called the-”
The man chuckled before I could even finish my sentence.
“The Thousand Flas Empire. Indeed, we retained that naming across a whole milenium.”
I nodded one last ti. I was really curious about ‘irregular’ ranks, the existence of which was implied by the man’s words, but decided against asking more questions – after all, I was here to do a job.
“I suppose Elenor told you the basics?”
“Yes.”
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
“Alright. I’ll explain the rest on the way.”
I followed the ‘ember’ through another door, into a narrow corridor, which led to what looked like the back exit.
“I’m a level 3 Destroyer, by the way.”
“Level 1 Slayer.”
“I’m mainly an attacker, but I can stand my ground if need be.”
“Sa, but I also have a movent S- Technique.”
“Ah, so a minor assassin?”
“Umm.. if I never actually heard of that role.”
The man scratched the side of his head.
“Ehh… in short, assassins are mobile attackers who focus on the enemy backline. They don’t usually have wide-range attacks, but then again, nothing is set in stone – it’s just a role, after all.”
“I see. Then, yes, I guess I could be called a minor assassin, as well.”
As we were talking, we entered the fenced backyard, where an MIS guard (an active duty soldier, as far as I rembered) was holding two horses by the reins, saluting upon our arrival.
“This here is Gray Blaze, or just Blaze, for short.”
My shift partner motioned towards one of the horses, which was, unsurprisingly, gray.
“Hey there, Blaze.”
I slowly approached the beast, looking him in the eyes, and extended my hand. He lowered his head, letting scratch his mane.
“I’m glad you’re getting along. He’s used to all sorts of riders, but every year or so, there’s one unlucky guy who draws his ire, for whatever reason.”
Thankfully, this wasn’t the case with .
“Our route is simple – from here, we’ll go up north, towards the water purification facility. Then, we go west, circling the district.”
“That’s.. it?”
The man shrugged.
“What, did you expect we go patrol the slums? Or the big plazas?”
“...”
Co to think of it, I really didn’t know what to expect.
Seeing my dazed expression, the man chuckled.
“City watch’s got the crowded places covered. And you best believe there are proper squads keeping an eye on.. hotter zones.”
Well, that did make sense. I was just a contractor, brought in to reinforce a semi-regular patrol.
“Still, don’t be mistaken – it’s not like our route isn’t important.”
By now, we were already atop our horses, walking up the street leading north, towards the outer city wall – and the water purification facility, located beside it.
“Big celebrations like this are a pri event for enemies of Valoria to make their move. If, gods forbid, we were to be attacked, today would hold a high likelihood of that happening… The 2nd War Of Valor was a grim reminder of that fact.”
“So, what exactly should we do?”
“Half the ti, we’ll be trotting past the city walls. The fact that you’re here ans you have adequate perception abilities – just keep your eyes open, your ears peeled, and tell if you hear or see anything suspicious.”
I raised an eyebrow, even though Alrox, who was riding at the front, couldn’t see the gesture.
“I can try, but.. It’s not like I can tell what goes on in most buildings. Not through a Sealsense spell.”
When I began to speak, the man’s back subtly stiffened, but as I added the last part, he visibly relaxed again.
“Ah, don’t worry about that. Residential buildings near the outer walls are precluded from having those arrays. And those that do… Well, let’s just say it’s not our responsibility.”
“Oh.”
Perhaps I simply hadn’t traveled near the city walls for so ti now, but now that I thought about it, it seed quite obvious, so much so that I couldn’t understand why I hadn’t noticed this before.
“Of course, it’s not like we’re gonna spend equal ti on every location. We’ll spend about half an hour at each gate, and so extra ti on so of the plazas, including the Plaza of Devotion. And- oh, there!”
He pointed ahead, towards the intersection.
In front of the intersection was a large plaza – its width was roughly a hundred ters, and its shape was crescent, with the main road veering off to the right, and a smaller, two-lane street stretching to our left.
As for what lay beyond the plaza…
‘That Wizard definitely didn’t describe all of this.’
The first thing that caught my eye was the tall, long wall, stretching across (and slightly beyond) the ‘inner’ edges of the plaza, covering at least half a kiloter, by my estimation. In front of the wall, along the plaza, a few guards marched back and forth, ready to shoo away the stray children - or clueless adults - which might try to venture near the fortifications.
On top of the wall were the sa cannons I once saw at the Southern Industrial Zone, and just like that factory, this wall, too, was visibly shimring, even under the midday sunrays.
Beyond the wall were a few buildings. The largest of them was a massive stone do, occupying over half the complex’s size, with six massive stone arcs serving as its exoskeleton, and a few pipes of different sizes protruding from its smooth surface.
To its right - or rather, to its east - I could barely make out a few roofs; As for the left, a massive square building, made of the sa seemingly singular stone as the arcs, occupied the remaining space.
The large building seed to have had five stories, and a spire which reached almost as high as those of the major temples in this city. Its many windows were barred – looking at it, I felt like I was looking at an early 20-th century prison complex, although, judging by the many Valorian flags, proudly planted on its roof, my bet was on it being an office building, and the bars placed for protection rather than confinent.
“First ti?”
My partner noticed my prolonged gaze.
“Yes. It’s… impressive.”
“Ha! Indeed. We’ll see it again near the end of our shift – not that they’ll actually need us.”
Alrox motioned to the left, where, in the distance, the narrower path connected to the main district-spanning road once again.
“Now, let’s go. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover.”
***
The crowd near the large plaza had grown tenfold since the early morning hours.
Stalls which were only being set up were now running at full capacity, with no end of custors in sight.
Around the statues of the star and the man kneeling before it was a massive crowd, even larger than usual, reciting prayers and stretching their hands to the sky.
Among the crowds walked a robed man, his gray hair peeking from underneath the hood, and his face hidden behind a mask made of leaves, seemingly held together by so sort of adhesive, or perhaps glued to the surface of a wooden face garnt of similar shape.
On any other day, his concealed face, coupled with the massive fra and iron muscles, clearly defined underneath the fabric, would raise so suspicion, perhaps drawing a stray guardsman or two.
However, today, with such masks and different people were aplenty, and the city Watch had their hands full with far more important matters.
sniff
Taking a dark-red piece of cloth from his pocket, the man gave it one quick sniff, before returning it to its resting place.
“Hhhrmmph.”
His contemplating hum sounded more akin to a low growl.
Then, as if possessed, he quickly marched towards the northwestern exit of the plaza – a street which would eventually lead to the Ministry.
The afternoon sunrays, dancing upon his mask, reflected in a dance of crimson and topaz – the latter almost matching the color of his pupils, which shone with a cold, calculated glimr beneath the eyeshades.
***
“Isn’t this, too, a miracle?”
“Hmm?”
Alrox and I were standing beside our horses, ready to head out to our next destination, which was the northeastern gate – one which lay less than 3 kiloters north of the Plaza of Devotion.
“All those people – gathered around, drinking, dancing and enjoying the coming season. In a world where monsters and beasts roam the plains.. where worshipers of devils and evil gods endlessly plot their demise, and countless other threats aren’t far behind… to be gathered like this in celebration – isn’t it also a miracle?”
Throughout our patrol, which was less than an hour away from its conclusion, I began to warm up to the guy – sure, his initial ‘prank’ may have left a slightly sour taste in my mouth, but overall, he wasn’t that bad.. and it’s not like either of us wanted to spend this patrol in awkward silence.
Most conversations ended up related to this celebration, or the city, in general. So steered towards the Ministry, and how aningful and rewarding it was to work for it. Well, not those exact phrasings, but I didn’t miss the subtle hints hidden between the lines.
“Hmm.. I suppose you’re right.”
Still, it wasn’t like I disliked those conversations. At the very least, I could tell his words were genuine, and it’s not like he tried to force the topic.
“Is that why you joined the Ministry?”
The man beside nodded.
“In part.”
He looked into the distance.
“My uncle’s village was once at the center of a devil worshiping cult’s plot. On the surface, it was a peaceful, prospering settlent, ready to beco a town in the near future. Then, one day, all hells broke loose – by the ti the nearby sheriff arrived, only a few survivors could be found amongst its smoldering remains, desperately holding the line against a horde of infernal creatures.”
“My condolences.”
“Thanks.. Oh, no!”
He quickly waved his hand.
“My uncle was one of the survivors. Still.. I haven’t forgotten the stories he told of that night. Of all that ordeal.”
We have already gotten up on our horses, preparing to depart.
“So many people live their lives, not knowing how close they’ve been to teetering down into the abyss.”
“I don’t think it’s like that.”
Alrox threw a confused look, holding the reins in hand.
“It’s not like most people don’t know. It’s just, everyone’s trying to get by – what’s the point of constantly thinking about things you can’t control, anyway?”
The MIS agent paused, his face frozen in montary contemplation.
“You know.. Maybe you’re right. After all, that’s what we’re here for.”
The sound of hooves, slowly fading into the distance, accompanied our departure from the plaza, and the nearing end of this patrol.
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