Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Chapter 798: Catching Up

A towering city with advancement like they’d never seen before, not even in Elenaris. Something was very strange about this place, as if it were meant to be cut off from the outside world, never to be interacted with by people like him. That thought plagued the young Magus’s mind. In his head, the only reason for the city’s isolation was to avoid the news of such a flourishing society getting out.

Polished streets, wagons powered by magic instead of horses, and lamps and everyday utensils made from pure human ingenuity to be as convenient as possible. Even now, as he stood in front of a barrel of assorted alcohol, he was surprised by the runic marking on the item–each labeled with different names of alcoholic drinks.

Pressing one button would get you wine, and the other crude beer. For a moment, it made him wonder if the knowledge of these people was handed down to them by some otherworlder. And of course it had, but with no proof to back that claim, the thought just slipped past him.

’Mono and Linkle would love this place. If only it wasn’t so hard to get in and out.’ Filling his glass with some beer, Amedith rejoined the others who’d been sitting at the table and waiting for him. Gathered in the most pristine inn that they’d seen in their lives, the party had taken to a corner so nobody else could hear them talk. If only the teleportation rings were working, these meetings would’ve been easier, but the invisibility barrier surrounding the city not only dampened magic inside but also made most items useless.

"So anything new?" The magus asked, his eyes turned towards Erika.

Leaning forward on the table, the priestess joined her hands and whispered to the others.

"There are two temples here. One for Fortuna and the other for Mesmerazia." Glancing quickly around to ensure nobody was looking at them, the priestess leaned back and adjusted her golden spectacles. "I can’t contact our goddess here, but this Fortuna she must share the unfortunate parent with her. I can just sense something similar."

"Another one of Aphrodite’s daughters, then..." Leaning forward as well, Raven placed his bronze adventurer’s badge on the table. "Finally got this thing. Only a matter of time before I can qualify to work for the tower."

All eyes slowly turned to the elves. Wearing masks, the sisters had disguised themselves as a pair of twin humans. But instead of searching the temples or applying for the adventurer’s guild, they had taken work as street peddlers to gather more information about the locals, amongst other things.

"Well...the city’s split by faith, obviously. One side has the market; it’s a neutral zone, and we’re peddling gems and whatnot, as we discussed." Taking a pause, Aria turned her attention to Mel to urge her to continue.

"Fortuna’s side, as expected, is more service-dependent. They have massage parlors, gambling houses that they call casinos, and the usual red district stuff."

"Although everyone is allowed to visit both sides, from what we gathered from gossip, it seems that fights often break out when someone from one side visits the other. They overcharge people of different faiths, so that makes things more explosive than they need to be."

As the elves were done, Amedith began speaking.

"Believe it or not, there’s no organized criminal network here. No shady information dealers, no drugs, nothing."

"Oh, that reminds me," jumping into the conversation again, Aria added. "We found lots of peddlers peddling drugs in the open; maybe that’s why you didn’t find them in shady places. The guards didn’t do anything, so they must be legal."𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

"That sounds incredibly irresponsible," Erika hissed with visible discontent.

She was already upset with the open gambling and the strange customs of these people. Deciding things on a coin toss, needing all agreements to be made on parchment, even the smallest ones, like lending a pencil with which to ink one’s name on said agreement. In her eyes, it was absurd, but to the locals, that was life, and somehow it worked.

Approached suddenly by a waitress–dressed in a prim skirt and white top with suspenders–she smiled at Erika with her hands folded by her hips.

"Can I get you anything else, Ma’am?" She asked, her eyes glued to the one human female who wasn’t shapeshifting herself.

Dressed lavishly in a shimmering golden dress with a deep cut over her cleavage and the shoulders being quite open as well, Erika–the priestess–had donned the persona of an heiress. Her golden spectacles were proof enough of her wealth, and thus her treatment so far in the city had been the best.

"No, ask my s...servants, I guess." Still struggling to play her part, however, Erika passed up the opportunity to speak to her ’servants’—something a true heiress would never do in a million years.

Even so, the waitress smiled and saved her complaints for when she was alone with the kitchen staff. She asked everyone what she wanted with a false smile, but being told they needed nothing felt worse than having to talk to the servants in the first place.

"Alright, let me know if you need anything..." Squeezing her pencil hard, she clenched her teeth shut and walked away.

"Sooo, what now?" Aria asked, but nobody truly knew.

Things have been slow for a while. Ever since the war in Eclanor, nothing has really aligned that well for the heroes. One way or the other, some problems kept arising, and now standing before them was a wall that couldn’t easily be invaded or escaped from. That left them with few options, one of which was to slowly earn the trust of these so-called ’Elects’. And if everything went as planned, then Raven could get out on the other end, and the party could get out of the city to use their rings and teleport to him on the other side.

But alas, there was much time before any of that could happen. A lot had to be done, and for now, it was time to gather more intel and do as they were told.

"We get back to work; I’ll see you guys next week." Rising from his seat, Raven was the first to head out, but that promise he made to meet up next week–well, something or rather someone, was waiting outside that would make him expedite that next meeting. For the elf of the elf, as always, quite fucking absurd.