Critical Misclass - Ch. 28-30

CHAPTER 28 - Gray Day

"Well... glad we got all the fun out of the way."

I lifted my spoon, filled with the tasteless gray oatmeal, considered it for a moment, and brought it back down to the bowl. I enjoyed a nice bowl of oatmeal once in a while, especially with some cinnamon, sliced banana, maybe even some syrup, if I was feeling especially wild. The stuff being served at the inn, though? Not only was it the worst, blandest, oatmeal I'd ever had, they didn't offer anything to add to it. There weren't even any other meal choices or side dishes.

My stomach grumbled. I had worked up an appetite with our morning activities, so I needed to refuel at least a little. With a sigh, I grabbed the spoon again and forced down a few quick mouthfuls of oatmeal. That was my limit. I washed it down with the inn's signature beverage: room-temperature water.

Thia's bowl looked pretty much untouched. "You sure you don't need to eat?"

She looked down at her bowl with disgust. "I will need to find another option later. This is inedible."

Meanwhile, Ves had managed to finish most of her bowl. Thia and I looked at her with a mixture of surprise and concern.

Thia gently touched Ves's arm. "Are... will you be alright?"

Ves dropped her spoon into the bowl, the noise feeling amplified in the too-quiet dining room. "Eh, it's not that different from stuff I've had to make during really lean times."

Not wanting to dwell on the difficult part of Ves's past - for her sake - I spoke up. "Okay, before we do anything else, I'd like to return the money we found to the bank. How does that sound?"

The others agreed, and we returned to our room to gather the sack of coins, as well as anything else that we thought we might need. It was freeing to not have to haul around my entire pack, especially after the difficulty of the last leg of our journey. Thia chose to wear her breastplate, and removed it from her pack of plenty so she could begin the minutes-long process of donning it.

Ves helped her with some of the straps. "Are you expecting us to run into some kind of trouble here?"

"No, but I have been taught that one's armor allows one to be more easily identified as an adventurer at a glance. Although... that may not be as important to us, as we are not members of a guild. Regardless, there may be benefits to 'looking the part.'"

We placed the sack of coins into Thia's pack of plenty, to avoid carrying it in plain sight. On the way out of the inn, I asked the innkeeper for directions. It came as a surprise to hear a much deeper voice than I had the previous night, and took me a second to realize what was happening: this wasn't the dwarven woman who checked us in, but a dwarven man.

Their facial similarities were likely because they were siblings or some other kind of relative, but on closer inspection, the man had more lines around his eyes and his beard was a bit longer. Another thing they shared was a disinterest in small talk. That was fine with me.

We stepped out of the inn and back onto the main road leading into the city. The sky was still overcast, but at least the clouds weren't nearly as dark as they had been on the day of the storm.

Despite seeing more people moving about than in Perrenbrook, the residential district wasn't much louder. While I could hear the usual clopping of horses and chirping of birds, there wasn't a lot of chatter. Most people seemed to be minding their own business.

Now that it wasn't dark out, we could more easily see the city walls in the distance. Beyond that, I was able to make out a few towers. It definitely wasn't the kind of city I was used to, but it was a massive difference from Perrenbrook. Not too far past the inn, the road began to be paved with cobblestone.

I took Ves's hand in mine and squeezed it lightly. "What do you think so far?"

"It's... bigger than I thought it'd be. At first, I thought that this area here was the city, and even that was kinda impressive."

"And you, Thia? How does this compare to your home?"

"Karneissdran does not have any districts outside of the city walls, which are significantly taller than these appear to be. Despite the more intimidating exterior, the people are somewhat... warmer than the people here have been."

I nodded thoughtfully, and looked ahead, towards the wall. It was constructed out of grayish-blue stone, and I estimated that it was probably 15 feet high, at most. "Well... I get the feeling that the wall is more symbolic than it is for actual defense. In any case, I guess we're all strangers here, so maybe the vibe is different inside the walls." Not gonna hold my breath, though.

We soon reached the open gate, which had a female guard on one side and a male guard on the other, as well as another male guard inside of a small booth nearby. They were wearing breastplates, not unlike Thia's, but these were made of thinner metal and the design was simpler. They also wore metal helmets that only covered the tops of their heads, and each had a scabbard on their hips, complete with sword.

The guards next to the gate held out their hands to urge us to stop, which we did. The woman on the left side looked us over.

"Adventurers, eh? Are you aware that there is no Network in this city?"

It took me a moment to realize that she was referring to the Adventurer's Network. "Really? I thought there'd be one in every town. Even Perrenbrook has one." One that shares its space with other city services, but still...

The guard stepped closer. "Are you accusing me of lying?"

I held up my hands in a peaceful gesture. "Whoa! No, I'm just surprised. Did either of you know that?"

Ves and Thia shook their heads "no". I turned back to the guard. "We're not here for anything like that, anyway. We're here to study."

Still eyeing me suspiciously, the guard eased up a bit. "Fine. Don't cause any trouble while you're here." The other guard was just staring at all of us, his eyes narrowed.

We entered the city quickly... but not so quickly as to be suspicious, just enough to put some distance between us and the asshole guards. I could feel an immediate difference upon crossing the threshold into the walled city. Not so much physical, but it was more than just a feeling; the general vibe of the place felt... colder.

I was still trying to understand just what was going on with the guards, and why they had been so rude right off the bat, until I heard Ves gasp.

She was looking down the streets at the city of Vanndrenvar, which must have been mind-blowing to someone who likely had never even seen pictures of a place bigger than her tiny village. Not that it was unimpressive to this guy from Earth!

There was a stark difference between the buildings on either side of the wall. These weren't small, wooden, buildings with thatched roofs; the buildings were larger, sturdier, and constructed from stone. While the size difference wasn't massive - I don't think I saw a building more than three stories tall - there were towers scattered throughout the city as far as I could see. Their purpose was unknown to me, but there always seemed to be one within view as we moved through the streets.

Above all, Vanndrenvar was gray.

"Ves, I'm starting to understand why Tabur is, uh, the way he is."

She nodded, her head still on a swivel, taking in the sights of the city.

I had to wonder if at least some of my impressions of the city were the result of my Rogue senses, or for that matter, any combination of abilities I'd been picking up without knowing exactly how to use. Just when I thought Hey, there doesn't seem to be any kids here, we'd pass by another street and see a small group of children playing. Sure, they were being a bit quieter than I would expect kids to be, but there they were.

Thia just looked uncomfortable. "We should request directions to the bank before we are utterly lost."

I agreed, and attempted to ask the next person who passed by. They fully ignored me, continuing on their way without further disruptions.

"Huh. Maybe we'd have better luck with a bartender or something. But how do we even find a tavern?"

"Any establishment that serves food will do." Thia placed a hand on her stomach. "I do not regret turning down the oatmeal, but I will need to eat something before long."

We walked further into the city, sticking to the main road to prevent losing our way. I tried asking a few more people for help, but the most I got was when an old woman physically brushed me off and muttered something under her breath.

That was the last straw for poor, hungry, Thia. She slapped a hand down on the woman's shoulder and turned her around, giving her a death glare.

"I believe... this man was inquiring... as to where we might purchase a meal."

The woman stammered and pointed at a street ahead and to the right. "I-- wh-- S-S-Saint Ager's Pub..."

I expected passersby to, if nothing else, stop and stare at what was going on. Other than a few disapproving glances, no one paid us any attention. Thia released the old woman quickly, making her stagger back and nearly fall over. "Thank you." Ves and I both moved to catch her, but she managed to keep her balance... just barely. She went back to muttering under her breath, but didn't turn away.

Ves slapped Thia's back, hitting her armor. "Damn, that was good! Hungry Thia doesn't play around."

Thia ignored her, and I ignored the voice in my head telling me to introduce Ves to the portmanteau "hangry". The aevrana moved with purpose, in the direction that the old woman had pointed. I kept close, but looked around to make sure that there weren't any guards tailing us. Guess there's one upside to everyone minding their own business.

It was easy enough to spot the pub once we turned down the side road, thanks to the sign hanging out front that read "St. Ager's", along with a crude image of a green fist. However, nothing indicated if it was actually a business, or place of worship, so we could have easily passed by it if Thia hadn't managed to get some info.

On the other side of the street, and a few doors down, I saw a few people standing next to a building. There were two women wearing identical dark puce outfits, complete with feathered caps. One was talking to the third person, a furious-looking older man who was barely containing his rage. One of the women was using a hammer and chisel on the stone wall of the building, as the man argued with the other woman and occasionally pointed at the spot that was being chiseled.

I only caught a glimpse of the section being chiseled before I followed Thia into the pub. Something had been carved into the stone; some kind of symbol or graffiti.

The bell above the door jingled as Thia entered, with me and Ves right behind her. As my eyes adjusted to the dim light of the pub, I noticed that there were only a couple of other people inside, probably because it was barely past breakfast. Two men, a halfling and an elf, were at a table in the back. They looked miserable, as if they had spent all night thinking about the ways their lives had gone completely wrong.

It turned out that there was a third person in the pub, when the barkeep climbed out from behind the bar. He was a middle-aged goblin, with slicked-back black hair with a few flecks of gray, wearing a buttoned shirt that had the same green fist as I saw on the sign outside sewed onto the pocket. The shirt had seen better days. It was kept clean, but its buttons were stretched over the goblin's round belly. The barkeep gave us a nod and a grunt, then went back to whatever he was doing behind the counter.

Thia sat on a stool in front of where the barkeep had shown himself. I sat to her left, and Ves to her right. "Excuse me, sir, but would it be possible to order a meal?"

The goblin replied from behind the bar, without revealing himself again. "Depends." His voice was gravely, and made me want to clear my own throat. "What d'ya want?"

"Might you have any remaining breakfast? Bacon, sausage... mayhaps some steak?"

His head popped up, complete with a sharp-toothed grin. "We've got the same kind'o tastes, m'lady. But yer in the wrong city if its meats yer lookin' for."

"I-- I beg your pardon?"

"Meats has got big fees attached to 'em 'round here. S'not impossible to find, but if yer just visitin', it's prolly not worth payin' so much extra."

Thia looked absolutely devastated - I'd never seen her so pale. She lowered her head onto the bar, burying it in her arms.

"Tells you what. I'll make yer the next best thing. How's you like yer eggs?"

Her reply was muffled. "Surprise me."

CHAPTER 29 - Provincial Views

Over the next ten minutes, we learned two things about the barkeep: his name was Grumzzak, and he was only able to prepare eggs one way.

"Wuz hopin' yer'd say 'scrambled', cuz then I could say 'do I have a surprise ferya," an' make yer the best damned scrambled eggs this side o' Old Cendriss. But I hopes yer like'm anyways."

Thia swallowed her mouthful of egg. "It's... excellent. Thank you, sir." With a quiet sigh, she scooped another forkful.

I reached for my coin pouch. "What do we owe you?"

"Put that away." The goblin crossed his arms over his belly. Much like Mrs. Zurax, Grumzzak had a stool to help him be at eye level with some of the customers, and his belly was currently resting on the edge of the bar. "Th' poor girl wuz in need. But yer better be back ta' buy some drinks later. An' I won'ts turn down a story."

Ves's eyes narrowed, and one ear lowered. "A story?"

"What brought yer all here. Don't see much adventurers."

Her other ear lowered. "Not surprised, with the way they were treating us at the gate. What's the deal with that, anyway? And there's no Network branch here?"

Grumzzak shook his head. "Dunno. Don't pay much attention t'things outside th' bar, other'n what I hears about in stories. So..."

My eyes met Ves's for only a split-second before I spoke to the barkeep. We both knew we shouldn't say too much to him: namely, specific details about the rune. Just in case. "Not too much to say. We were hired by a guild to do some research for them. It's not really an exciting story, but we're just starting out, so we're still building up our reputation."

"Ahh, maybe I oughta charge yer after all. Y'think I could do this job fer years an' not tell when yer holdin' sumthin' back? Saw that lil' glace yer gave each others." Grumzzak made a dismissive wave.

"Well... some stuff did happen on the way here." I turned to my party. "What do you think? Should I mention the, uh, big fight we got in?" Our encounter with man we were calling "Red Gauze" might be of interest to the barkeep, but it was really up to Ves if she was comfortable with that story being told.

Ves grinned and pumped a fist. "Yeah! Maybe he knows something about that guy."

"Alright, then." I faced Grumzzak again, then told him about our fight with the undead wolves and the arrival of the mysterious, bleeding, old man. Of course, I didn't share all of the details, and left out everything about my special ability-sharing power, like when I cast the flame spell on my daggers. As for me managing to cast a healing spell, I said that we were lucky to have a single potion that was able to heal Ves enough that she could take care of the rest with her own magic.

"If I didn't deal with liars ev'ry day, I might not believe yer." The goblin scratched his chin. "Still dunno if I believe th' whole thing."

I sat up straight. "Have you ever heard of anyone like that old man?"

"Nah. Hope he don't follow yer here, though."

"Yeah, same. Alright..." I looked over at my party. "We should probably go to the bank, then we need to figure out where we can start our research. I feel like the less time we spend in this city, the better."

Ves and Thia agreed, and both of them muttered complaints about the little time we'd spent in Vanndrenvar. Grumzzak spoke over them. "Not much of a scholar, m'self, but yer could try the library fer research."

"I mean, sure. I was hoping there would be one here. Would you be able to tell us where it is?"

"Somewhere in th' Academic District. Dunno where, exactly, but I can tells you how t'get to the district, anyways."

"How about the bank? Could we please get directions there, too?"

"What, any bank?"

"No, sorry, uh... it was..."

Thia helped me out. "The Imperial Bank of Vanndrenvar."

Grumzzak gave us the directions, and we got ready to leave. I remembered something else I felt I should ask him first. "By the way, can you recommend a decent inn here in the city walls?" Something told me that any available options wouldn't be much different than the inn in the Residential District, but it would at least be nice to stay closer to any sources of information and spend less time walking around.

"Y'can just stay here. It's no proper inn, but I've gots a spare room upstairs, and I'll charge ya less. And th' meals'll be better."

Thia nodded thoughtfully. "Your eggs were actually quite appetizing."

The barkeep pointed at her and raised his scraggly eyebrows.

"You're sure? You've already been a huge help."

Ves shrugged. "He had me at 'charging us less'."

Grumzzak clapped his hands together and chuckled. "Two 'gainst one, and th' ladies are always right! Ahh, lemme check if th' room is decent enough."

He hopped off his stool with a grunt, and scampered through a door behind the bar with surprising swiftness. The patter of his footsteps could be heard as he dashed up the stairs, but none of us expected to be able to hear his footsteps so clearly when he was directly above us. It was as if there wasn't a ceiling between us and him. We could make out every sound: every grunt, every muttered curse, every deep breath. We all flinched when Grumzzak scraped a piece of furniture across the floor and it echoed in the mostly-empty main room of the bar.

The three of us looked at each other, wordlessly, as Grumzzak continued making loud and obvious sounds upstairs. I knew we all had the same thought: we'd have to put a pause on any... dalliances while we were staying there. That, and we needed to figure out what classes could create the noise-blocking enchantment, so that I could learn the ability.

Prior to leaving the bar, we decided to leave most of our belongings in the upstairs room and only take what essentials could fit within Thia's pack of plenty. I offered to carry the pack, since it seemed like the right thing to do as leader, even though it weighed almost nothing thanks to its magic interior.

The Imperial Bank of Vanndrenvar had a few branches across the city, which was a relief. The nearest one was more-or-less along the way to the Academic District. I thought for sure that we'd have to go in two completely separate directions and spend even more time walking around the city.

As with most of Vanndrenvar, the buildings in this part of the city mostly looked the same, only differentiated by the simple signs out front. I correctly guessed which building belonged to the bank, because a city guard was standing by the entrance.

Much like the guards at the city gate, this guy got into a defensive stance with his hand on his sword hilt before we even reached the bank. When it became clear that we were headed towards him, he called out to us. "State your business."

I stopped in my tracks, still a good dozen feet or so away from the guard. My party members stopped, each one standing on either side of me and a few feet back. "We found a bag of coins with the Imperial Bank's marking on it, and wanted to return it to its rightful owner."

"Wait right there." The guard went inside the building, and returned a minute later with an elven woman. She was wearing a shapeless black dress, like she was attending a funeral, and while she looked like she wasn't much older than me, her facial expression and body language gave me the impression of a much older, worn-down, person. That's elves for you, I guess.

Without missing a beat, the guard went back into his defensive stance. "Calm the fuck down, dude," I whispered out of the corner of my mouth, and Ves snickered.

The elf didn't bother with any kind of pleasantries. "One of you: present the bag to me."

I began to take off the pack, and decided to let them know what I was doing. The guard seemed jumpy, and I didn't want to give him an excuse to do anything stupid. "It's inside my pack. I'm going to take it off, and reach into it to retrieve the bag of coins." I did so, and handed Thia her pack before slowly approaching the bank's entrance.

Up close, the guard gave me even less reason to think that he was a threat. I knew that the three of us could take him out, easily, if we needed to. The real issue was making an enemy of the entire city while we were somewhere in the middle of it... and before we achieved what we came here to do.

I held out the bag, and the woman took it without breaking eye contact. She opened the bag and sifted through it briefly, then closed it back up.

"This appears to be the money that was stolen from a different branch... most of it, in any case."

"We suspected it might have been stolen. I'm glad that we were able to return it."

The woman narrowed her eyes at me, but just barely, like I wasn't even worth the effort of giving me a proper dirty look. "You weren't expecting a reward, were you? I'm sure you've already helped yourself to enough."

"Excuse me?"

She simply turned away. "Our business has concluded." With that, she walked towards the front door of the bank, and the guard only just barely opened it in time for her to not have to stop and wait.

After closing the door, the guard sneered at me. "You heard her. Beat it."

I had no intention to linger there, so I turned back to Ves and Thia. From this perspective, I could see a small crowd of people standing near an alley. I couldn't make out anything that was being said, but it was clear that they weren't happy. I tried to focus on what was in the alley, and saw some kind of symbol carved into the wall. There was no way to be completely sure, but I got the feeling that it was the same symbol we saw near the bar... or, at least, one that was very similar.

I looked back at the guard. "Hey, do you know--" The guy was already reaching for a whistle, so I double-timed it back to the ladies. "God damn..."

My companions were just as upset and confused about what happened at the bank as I was. Neither of them managed to get a look at the remains of the symbol by St. Ager's, so I couldn't get a second opinion on the similarity between that and the symbol near the bank. I made sure to walk closer to it so we could get a better look, at least, but didn't want to linger in case we were accused of another crime we didn't commit.

Grumzzak's directions to the Academic District were an enormous help, even if we didn't realize it at first. When we reached the district, we initially thought we were in the wrong place - much of the area was taken up by one of the largest buildings we'd seen in the city, which looked like a church at first glance. Fortunately, we kept following the directions, and learned that the building was actually part of a university.

This area was more crowded than the other parts of the city that I'd seen so far, with a large number of students moving between buildings, reading at benches or tables, or having conversations. It was also a bit louder than the rest of Vanndrenvar, by which I mean "I could kind of make out the sound of people talking at a polite level".

As we got closer to the main building, we saw a large sign out front:

V'AN reni VANNDRENVAR

est. 689 CER

It was clear to me that it had to be the name of the school, with the year that it was established, but asked the ladies if they knew what the name meant.

"Unfortunately, no," Thia replied. "It is written in Cendrissen, but I did not study the language when I was in school."

I suddenly felt the presence of someone approaching me from behind at a rapid pace. I spun around, one hand on a dagger's hilt... only to come face-to-face with a skinny young man, slightly out of breath, but somehow still filled with overconfidence.

"Um, actually, it's written in an ancient Dhoren dialect of Cendrissen, and it's..." He chortled a few times. "... Quite a clever pun! You see, v'an reni ordinarily means 'hallowed halls', but in that specific dialect, it can be translated as--"

I pointed behind him, feigning excitement. "Hey, is that guy giving away free Cendrissen dictionaries?"

The young man spun around, looking all over. "How is that possible? Each one weighs over two-hundred pounds, and..." He continued on like this, for who knows how long, because the three of us had high-tailed it out of there.

Once we were out of the student's line-of-sight, Ves stopped. "Wait, wait, hold on! Why'd you have us run off?"

"Let's just say that I've known more than my fair share of people eager to give you a lecture that you didn't ask for." Hell, I had been like that on occasion, in my youth, but there was no need to get into that just yet. "It's easiest for everyone to just... extract yourself before it goes too far."

Thia tapped her cheek. "I understand. It may be better to risk being rude upfront, rather than guarantee being rude later on."

"Hm, something like that."

Ves smirked. "Alright, let's find this library before Jeremy makes more new friends and ends up joining a club. No more wasting time: I'm gonna take Thia's lead and make someone tell us where to go."

I had a feeling that, if she wasn't careful, some people would be more than happy to tell her exactly where she could go. Despite that, I really wanted to see her do this. It came as no surprise that it came naturally to her, and she got the information almost immediately from a flustered student. I did wonder if he was more willing to help her because of her demands, her tight outfit, or a combination of both. Damn, I wanted to tell her where the library was, and I had no fucking clue!

The library, as it turns out, was on the other side of the main building. It was about half the size as its neighbor, which still made it one of the larger buildings I'd seen in this world. The stone architecture gave it a foreboding atmosphere. It took me a second to realize that there were no sculptures out front, like I was expecting to see at an ancient-looking library. Just as well... I probably wouldn't be able to shake the feeling that they'd attack us.

Entering the library was just as unsettling. My heightened senses weren't actually picking up anything, so I knew that it had to have been all in my imagination. Ves and Thia seemed tense, but if they were creeped out, they weren't showing it.

The only sounds that could be heard were footsteps on the marble floor, and the occasional gentle flipping of pages. I nearly had a heart attack when Ves spoke at her normal volume.

"How is it even quieter in here?!"

I'm surprised the barrage of shushes she received didn't knock her onto the floor.

CHAPTER 30 - Study Buddies

We chose to step back outside after Ves's accidental disturbance. It hadn't occurred to me that she had likely never been in a real library before, and the basic rules were unfamiliar to her. Ves was stunned by the reaction she had received, giving some resistance to me and Thia as we tried to escort her out.

As we left, I noticed some shelved books which had titles written in words I didn't understand. In some cases, the titles were written with characters I had never seen before. Makes sense, I guess, but this could be a problem.

Once we were outside and had put a bit of distance between us and the library, Thia put her hands on her hips. "Vestele..." While Thia occasionally used Ves's full name for no particular reason, in this instance, it was like a parent calmly disciplining her child. "Traditionally, while perusing a library, one is expected to remain as silent as possible."

I cut in to remove some of the tension. "I should have said something. I've been to libraries lots of times in my life."

Ves tried to play it off like it was no big deal, but I could tell that she was annoyed by this crowd of scholars shushing her together. "Whatever. Live and learn. Hey, now's as good a time as any to practice using Rogue stealth."

We smiled at her, and I changed the subject so we could move on from the incident. "On the way in, I noticed some book titles that were written in at least one different language. I'm not going to be able to make use of anything that's not in Eng--" I paused. "Okay, stupid question, maybe, but what is the name of this language? I feel like I'm still speaking and hearing my own language, but..."

Ves jumped in. "It's okay! Don't stress over it. Who knows what kind of magic or weirdness brought you to Fielende, but the language thing is probably related to that."

Thia nodded in agreement. "Yes! Should we find ourselves with any spare time, we could attempt to research the method through which you arrived here, but it honestly does not matter much to me. I-- I am just happy you are here."

Ves blushed lightly as she smiled. "Yeah, same here. Oh, and our language is called treos, by the way."

"I couldn't be happier to be here." I moved in to hug them both at the same time, earning us more than a few scoffs and glares from passersby. At first, I thought it was because I was hugging two women at once, but then considered that these locals were probably more upset about public displays of affection in general.

I held hands with both Ves and Thia after we broke up the hug, not yet ready to give up physical contact entirely. "As I was saying: I can only read the one language, so I won't be able to check a lot of the books in there."

Ves shrugged. "Same here. Never had a chance to learn any other languages. I guess I picked up some words and phrases in dwarven from some kids I babysat, but I can't read any of it."

With Perrenbrook being such a small village, this information came as no surprise. "Thia, maybe you should focus on anything written in, what was it, Cen...?"

"Cendrissen? I should be able to understand at least the basic concepts, unless it is written in an older or more obscure dialect, apparently. I am also capable of speaking some conversational valenestrai."

"Seriously?" Ves stretched and leaned against a wall. "That's impressive. I'm lucky I can read at all... a lot of people in Perrenbrook can't."

Thia shook her head. "It was the bare minimum, really. And my reading level in valenestrai is not particularly high."

Of course, I had no idea what that language was, but I had a silly habit whenever I found out that a friend or acquaintance could speak a second language. "Well, that could still help. Also.... Can you say 'Hello, my name is Thia' in that language?"

My black-horned girlfriend giggled, clearly a little embarrassed to be put on the spot like that. "Urve! Gi-gena haegi y'Thia." This was followed up by a quick curtsy, and the whole thing was just too cute. Even being utterly unfamiliar with this other language, I could tell that Thia's own accent stood out, so while she could most likely ask for directions in that country, no one would be mistaking her for a local.

Even Ves seemed charmed by Thia's greeting, as she held back a grin. "I heard--" she coughed as she tried not to laugh, "I heard that they wear some kinda special hat, with ribbons, over there. We should get you one."

Thia swatted at Ves's arm, making her release her laughter. "Oh, shush!"

Before re-entering the library, we walked a lap around the building to try and get our laughter and energy out. Afterwards, I had the idea to take out some of my parchment and divide it up, in case we needed to jot down any notes. I only had some charcoal to write with, however, which I had been keeping in one of the many pockets on my Rogue armor.

"Guess now we gotta find a... student store, or something," I sighed. "Glad I thought about this sooner, rather than later."

Ves's ears perked up. "Nah, screw that. I wanna try something."

Thia and I watched as Ves wandered off a ways, and approached a young man sitting at a stone table, writing something with a quill. Ves tapped him on the shoulder and struck up a conversation. Once I saw her body language, I had an idea of what she was up to: she was bending over to speak to him, clasping her hands together demurely, and generally acting like she was confused.

After a brief back-and-forth, the student eagerly handed Ves his quill. She snatched it, and quickly excused herself from the conversation. On her way back to us, she held out the quill like a trophy.

"Oh, that was fun." She stuck out her tongue at us and winked playfully.

I chuckled and shook my head. "Well, that's one down, at least."

Thia squirmed with a sort of girlish excitement I had rarely seen from her. "Allow me! I wish to try!"

Ves slapped her on the back with a "Go get 'em", making Thia stumble a bit. She looked around, then made her way over to two guys having a quiet conversation as they stood next to one of the nearby buildings. She got their attention, and looked like she was just having a normal conversation with them.

As I started wondering if she misunderstood what Ves had been doing, the two young men opened their bags and handed a few items to Thia. She bowed her head politely, and excused herself. Upon her return, she showed us what she obtained: two quills, two bottles of ink, and a small piece of candy in a paper wrapper.

Ves looked from the items to Thia, incredulously. "The hell...? How'd you do that?"

Thia gave us a saucy grin. "I have had dealings with boys like them before, and know exactly what they want to hear."

With the supplies procured, we went back into the library. Fortunately, no one paid any attention to others coming or going, but I didn't want to linger near the entrance any longer than we had to.

Having experience visiting libraries (in Fielende, at least), Thia led the way to the sections that would be most likely to contain the information we were seeking. Good thing, too, because I could see myself getting hopelessly lost in the rows upon rows upon rows of books.

There were plenty of windows, through which the sunlight illuminated much of the interior and made it easy enough to read. The highest parts of the ceiling remained out of reach of the light, giving it an ominous and oppressive feeling. I half-expected a swarm of bats to fly down at any point.

Down where we could actually see everything, however, the library was absolutely stuffed with tomes. Most of which looked old, and occasionally, I would see some that were downright ancient. I could just imagine myself trying to turn one of the pages, only for it to crumble into dust. Were that to happen, I would pray for shushes.

When we reached our destination, we split up to find some relevant books and actually begin reading. I grabbed a couple of volumes about magic and brought them to the nearest table, and the others did the same. Ves and I sat next to each other so that we could share one of the ink bottles, while Thia sat on the opposite side. It may be over a decade after high school, but it's nice to spend time in a library with a couple of sexy ladies, instead of trying to circumvent the school's internet filter with my buddies.

I hadn't realized that I was having increasing difficulty reading until Ves cast her light spell, making me shut my eyes. The sun had been setting and the library was growing darker, but I was so focused on the book in front of me that I didn't notice.

"Oh god," I whispered. "It's that late already?"

Other than a brief break to buy some bland sandwiches at a nearby shop, we had been poring through books for several hours. Now that I was actually thinking about it, I got tired and hungry all at once. Thia and Ves looked like they were feeling the same way.

Ves stifled a yawn. "Can we call it a day? The words are starting to blur together."

I wanted to stop, but at the same time, I felt like I had barely found anything relevant to our search. Each time it seemed like a book was heading towards something useful, it would change topics or make it seem like there was nothing else to say about runes or enchantments. Maybe it was the sunk cost fallacy affecting my brain, but I couldn't help but think that the source of all our answers was in the next book. Why stop now and risk not being able to continue where we left off tomorrow?

The fact was, however, that I was too frazzled to continue. "Yeah. Let's go."

I heard a gasp coming from behind me. We turned to look, and saw a tiny, older woman staring at us in shock and outrage. Her hair bun and glasses practically screamed - well, quietly whispered - "librarian." Her height and beard, however, told me she was likely a dwarf.

She pointed at us wordlessly, and motioned for us to follow her. I looked at the others. Ves merely shrugged, but Thia was already making her way around the table to join us. I got up and we started walking, but after a few steps, the woman turned around, walked up to us, and angrily waved her hand through Ves's mote of light, like she was trying to stop a smoke detector from going off.

With a somewhat rebellious look on her face, Ves dismissed her spell, and the woman turned and continued marching us towards... wherever she was leading us. Before long, we reached a door. The librarian opened it and ushered us into a small, cramped, office, then entered and closed the door quietly behind us.

"Just what in the Goddess's forgotten name do you think you're doing?!" She moved behind a small desk that had a few stacks of books on it, some of which were almost as tall as the desk itself. If we hadn't been standing, we wouldn't have been able to see her... actually, I'm not sure that Thia could, either way.

I tried to be as polite as possible. "I'm sorry, but we were just leaving. We were about to put the books away--"

She slammed a fist down on her desk, making the stacks of books shake. Thia quickly put her hands against a stack near the edge closest to her, stopping it from toppling over. "I'm talking about that egregious use of magic in my library."

Thia finished pushing back the books. "I believe we were unaware that there was any issue with the use of magic within the library..."

The librarian slapped Thia's wrist. The aevrana pulled her hands back, looking absolutely shocked, like a straight-A student who had just received her first B+.

I stepped between them with a "Hey, now..."

The old crank glowered at me. "Had I known adventurers were in my library... well, I wouldn't have allowed that in the first place. But there is no rule against magic within these walls, young lady. The issue is with magic being used for its intended purpose."

I processed this for a split-second. "Like... using light for illumination...?"

She pointed at me with intensity. "Don't get smart with me. Your ignorance, while typical of adventurers, is no excuse."

"What about a silencing enchantment? Wouldn't that be appropriate for a library? Maybe put one on each table, so people can talk at a normal volume, without bothering anyone else."

If looks could kill... "A library is not just about books. It is about discipline and manners. Using magic to allow students to... to chat and gossip and not just study or work quietly... Get out now, all of you, before I alert the authorities."

We didn't need to be told twice. Ves, who was near the door, held it open for me and Thia to make our exit. As Ves closed the door behind her, she muttered "Hukgril rurd..."

I could just make out the librarian shouting "I heard that!"