The Villainess was Loved

Chapter Fourteen: When the Cat is away…

“Do you have it?”

“Have what?” I frowned at Breca’s sudden question.

“What do you mean, ‘have what?’, an adventurer’s card, of course?”

“Oh, no, I don’t-,”

“Gods, how the hell did you think you could join us on a quest without a card?”

“I need a card? I thought that I would just be your porter, you know, bustling bags around.” I answered.

“What the hell do you mean bustling bags around? Yes, that is part of your job description, but do you think a porter can maintain their safety without having the means to defend themselves?”

“But.. I do have a means of defending myself, I am really good with the bow, and I can hold my own with a dagger.”

“The card!! The card needs to say that you are good with the bow or the dagger so the officials can let you enter a dungeon, or guild or…” Breca paused to control her tone, seeing as she attracted the evening crowd with her volume.

“Well, I mean, I could always offer a pinky promise.”

“f*****g nobles.” Breca cursed then increased her pace two folds.

“Well, don’t go holding in your feelings on my account.”

It was early evening, entirely her suggestion that we leave the school early to buy supplies.

We were currently in Pool Borough, a small town on the outer walls of the central metropolitan area. Norvig Royal Academy was about two days from the metropolitan hence Breca preferred it. It lowered the number of schoolmates she could meet and those who, in turn, knew her.

So far, we had everything, from recovery potions to elemental crystals, all on her tab because I…I don’t walk around with money?

Well, needless to say, because of my spoilt responses, she quickly grew tired of my personality.

I did withdraw fifty gold from my account at her insistence, but I have yet to spend it.

“Fine, we should have started there, though.” She sighed then began walking in a more focused manner than when we were shopping, “We don’t have much time, so I can’t negotiate a discount with the merchant; you have the money you withdrew?”

“Yap, where are we headed?”

“To an old friend to get you a fake card.” She said, “how many coins do you have on you?”

“Coins, as in gold-?”

“Are you f*****g crazy!? Who the hell walks around with gold coins!? Did you withdraw any coin in florin form?”

“No, I was in a bank…I mean. Plus, I know a place where I can get a better exchange rate than ninety-three; I mean to you, that exchange rate might look like a steal, but if you withdraw a lot, it does catch up..”

“Ah!” Breca exclaimed as though I had just tucked my new blade in her stomach, “You dumb…fucking cow.”

At her curse, my mouth flew open, and I found myself uttering her syllable.

“Ah!”

I barely had time to formulate a response, ‘cow’ is not a common word spouted by nobles. All the same, she clicked her tongue then proceeded on her way.

“I’ll use my money; matter of fact, I am starting your tab.”

“You know,” I chirped as I struggled to catch up to her long strides. “you remind me of my nana, Bella. Tough as an ox, that one.”

“Don’t make jokes on your obliviousness. It is really annoying!”

“I like to keep myself entertained.”

“Such a shame that it's at my expense.” She replied, then readjusted her cloak, “Wear your cloak better and don’t open your mouth. Your posh accent will only invite preditors.”

Though the sun still dominated the area, the alleyway we turned to was dark. There were sketchy looking people laughing at their own quietly told stories as we navigated the trash smelling walls until finally, we reached the end of the road, to a run-down building with a loose signboard written: ‘The Cracked Mug.’

As Breca swung the flimsy door open, the chatter in the tavern died down for the first few seconds before instantly resuming.

She walked straight to the patron on the table closest to the bar, to where a female dwarf was speaking quietly to two wounded men.

“Hey Dwali, can I talk to you.” Breca said, and the dwarf raised her gaze to meet hers.

“Well, well. Look what the cat dragged in. You look…healthy.”

“I look alive.” Breca uttered, then gestured to a more isolated area, “Look, It's kind of….”

The dwarf gave the men a look then stood from her chair to follow Breca.

“You know my usual,” She muttered to Breca before turning her sudden attention to me, “You with us toots?”

Had I been granted enough time, I would have blushed. Sadly, Breca interrupted her attention by yelling to the tavern keeper.

“Creca, we’ll have a pickled mutton with carrot and a tankard of beer.”

‘Gotcha, that’s thirteen florins.”

“Thir- thirteen?”

I followed them both as they settled at their isolated table.

“Taxes are a b***h, you know, so stop grumbling. You ain't even cooking in your fancy school!” the young tavern keep, an elf, responded.

“Make that two Creca!” I chirped. However, almost instantly, a hand smacked the back of my head. “Ow!”

“She’s joking. My companion is broke.” Breca glared then adjusted her posture on her chair.

“Meanie!’ I pouted.

The dwarf, Dwali, smelled of earth and tree sap, a combination that hinted she was from the forest.

That and there were a few ripe spores on her that tugged at my mana.

She chewed her gum quite audibly, and as though my thoughts leaked, she spat the gum and plastered it under the table.

Hmn…perhaps the adventure life is not for me.

“We require a card.”

“Off! a card? At this hour?” the dwarf frowned, then turned her attention to me.

“Yes, in fact, in the next ten minutes.”

“Ten minutes!? Honey, I am not a miracle worker...I am barely a worker as it is.”

“Oh, come on! For the right amount, everybody is a miracle worker.” Breca replied.

“HAH!” the dwarf slammed her hand on the table then licked her lips. “The right amount?”

“Okay, okay, I hear what you are saying.” The dwarf nodded, “thirty thousand florins.”

“Dwali, come on. How long have we known each other?”

“And you still don’t understand I don’t mix business?”

“But thirty thousand is unreasonable! You charge ten!”

The dwarf’s brown eyes burned at Breca’s words, but the smile never left her face.

“Then take care of the wyvern in the East Woods.”

“What?”

“My men keep getting hurt. It's bad for business.” She shrugged, “If you do that, perhaps I will stop overcompensating. Maybe even charge fifteen thousand florins.”

“Why not write up a quest for adventurers?”

“And pay them thirty thousand to get rid of an overgrown lizard? Are you kidding me?”

“Correction, an overgrown lizard that you could not get rid of.” Breca finished, but Dwali was not impressed by her answer.

She struck me as someone accustomed to getting what she wanted. It was all in her posture, from the way she fiddled with her weapon of choice, a massive hammer, to the way she wore her muscles as if they were an artistic statement.

Gods but commoners were free…perhaps as free as the crows that danced around my corpse.

My hand flew to my neck at the thought, and a bitter feeling claimed me.

The Marquis was, no doubt, on his way back from Patum, but it will be too late by the time he makes it back.

The command was issued on Starday, and as he does not know my location, the next time we meet will perhaps be Sunday or Moonday morning, a few days before Regina’s admittance. Either way, the week issued by the control freak will have ended.

The warm ordered food was brought in large metal and dented bowls on the table.

Dwali must have seen my eyes follow her food because she winked the second our gazes met.

“So, what do you think about the deal.” She asked.

Breca turned to me.

“Are you…do you wish to fight a wyvern?”

"Why not give us the card for free?” I asked Dwali, ignoring Breca’s question.

Boisterous laughter erupted from the dwarf.

“How about I f**k myself before I go to sleep?” she spat, “Because I don’t want to. ‘Why?’ you ask?”

“I really did not…” my easily ignorable voice trailed.

“Because the western whorehouse is open, and like the whorehouse, I need money to c*m!”

I do not recall at any point in the conversation wondering how wild her s*x life was, yet still, here she was feeding information that my own mother, a professional in the field, had never bothered to share.

“Thank you for the…information.” I began, “But I mean that you can cash in the fifteen thousand as a favour. Currently, we are short on time, so a wyvern quest is not the topmost on the agenda. So what if we owe you one instead?”

“You owe me one instead? Child, have you lost your mind? What are the chances that I’ll see your posh ass after tonight?”

“We can sign a contract.” I offered.

At the mention of ‘contract’, her visible anger seemed to subside.

“A contract?”

“Yes.”

“Child, how old are you?”

“Fifteen and a half.” I smiled.

“And a half, huh?” she scoffed, “My interest rate is two hundred per cent. I might ask you to kill an even more enormous monster, hell even a person for that fifteen gold.”

“I have a feeling you will not ask me to kill another. Even so, when the time comes, I will force my heart to still.”

“Hah! A feeling, huh?” she bit into her meat loudly and sloppily, then shook her head, “Crazy.”