The Guardians' Throne - The First Magic Swordsman

              The next morning, Zaos, Aleni, and Milliendra walked across the city without a clear goal in mind. They moved around like tourists, and they stopped in many places that seemed interesting. Thanks to that, Zaos had the chance to confirm that the people there didn't seem that military-oriented… Some shops sell magic tools and weapons, but they weren't that numerous.

            The number of the guard across town was also small. Still, Zaos felt like something weird was in the air, and it wasn't the smell of fragrances…

"This war is dragging out for longer than I expected."

"I agree, our weapons and tools evolved so much over the years… I thought that our army would wipe out the Sairus kingdom army."

"From what I heard, they had many capable commanders. That is why they are holding the borders more than expected."

            Zaos didn't want Intel to know about the war. Still, at that moment, it was impossible not to hear anything about it in the middle of a city like that one. Not to mention, according to the maps, they were only sixty miles away from the border. Ashiris kingdom was wide, but the length from south to north was less than half if compared to East to west.

"You should smile more," Zaos said. "At least for the sake of appearances."

"... Like this?" Aleni asked while grinning as if she was planning to do something really devious.

"No… just relax your face and imagine that you just gained something that you really liked," Zaos said.

"I don't want anything," Aleni said.

"You don't want to hold Milliendra without fearing that you will turn her into some sort of a monster?" Zaos asked.

            Aleni didn't know how to reply to that since that was exactly what she wanted. Aleni lived a very complicated life, but she wasn't that complicated person. Usually, those who had few things in their lives only wanted to experiment with the most simple pleasures. However, Aleni couldn't move on that easily because, at every moment, she was reminded of what she was forced to become. An assassin that couldn't see… a tool trained for years to take lives, not look after such a frail life.

"Right… right, you are almost there," Zaos said to Milliendra, who was trying to stand still by herself. "Yay! You did it!"

              Zaos clapped his hands and celebrated when Milliendra succeeded in getting up by herself. Her face was red like a tomato since she was putting in a lot of strength to keep her balance. Zaos tried to poke both of her puffed cheeks, but much to his surprise, only his right arm obeyed the command. When he looked toward his left arm, it eventually responded. However, it still had been a pretty slow response… despite that, when Milliendra almost fell, Zaos reached out to her and prevented it.

"Let's let your legs rest for today," Zaos said and then put Milliendra on his left arm.

"... Are you all right?" Aleni asked.

"It is fine," Zaos replied. "Anyway, it seems we aren't going to hear anything about the target today."

            Zaos and Aleni moved around the mansion in the city's center for quite a while. Still, they only found a couple of pretty relaxed guards. The place had walls, but those weren't that tall. From the entrance gate, Zaos could see how things were between the building and the wall. It made him recall his home since it had a big garden and numerous flowers. The sweet fragrance coming from the garden was pretty fresh. In any case, the mansion was twenty meters tall and had three floors. Still, as expected, Zaos could feel some presence underground and a lot of relatively strong presence inside the building.

"I see… they are waiting for the attack," Zaos thought. "No… they are trying to lure us."

            Waiting for a while longer probably would be the best plan of action since the target would get impatient and send his men to continue on his plan. At least that was what Zaos thought since greedy fellows aren't exactly known for their patience.

            On the next day, Zaos, Aleni, and Milliendra walked around the commercial area of the city since they would look suspicious walking around the mansion every single day. Zaos looked for shops that sold magic tools and weapons, but only those who looked particularly run down. He had some reasons to do that… When he found one shop where the owner was a fat baldy that greeted him by clicking his tongue, Zaos assumed that he had found the right place.

"Hello, I am interested in selling magic weapons," Zaos said. "I had a bad deal with one of the Lord's best commercial allies, so I decided to trade with someone who wouldn't let either of them profit from my weapons." 

"Ah, you too…" the shop owner said. "Lately, the number of merchants having to deal with things at lower prices thanks to that shit… honorable lord has been increasing."

"I figured as much, I have heard of that," Zaos said.

            That was a fat lie, but Zaos assumed that when the head of the Melvins family decided to work with a certain merchant, he assumed that he would give priority to him and his buddies. It was only obvious… After all, he would eventually profit from it as well. With that in mind, Zaos decided to do business with someone who had a grudge against them and certainly wouldn't talk to them about the commerce of stolen goods.

            At first, the owner apparently recognized the weapons like the ones that had been stolen a few months ago. It fit the criteria. However, he didn't say anything since the bandits had disappeared. In any case, the shop owner offered Zaos a price a bit lower than it should be. Still, he accepted because he needed to have contact with someone who didn't dislike the current head of the Melvins family.

"I have been hearing a few rumors about the current head of the Melvins family, but since I am not from here, I am not sure if they are true," Zaos said and then passed two gold coins for the man. "Do you mind telling me your impression of him?"