Его не звали, но он приперся / They never called, yet he is here: Глава 9

Chapter 9

Camrad_RIP 02.06.23 в 06:31

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Camrad_RIP 02.06.23 в 06:31

The capital of one of the continent's strongest states and not the world's last hegemon inspired more respect than any other Alurea city I had visited. First and foremost, oddly enough, was the size of the city itself. It was nowhere near the size of Moscow or New York, but it still beat the average millionaire by a minimum margin. Especially when you consider the suburbs, the personal estates of the imperial aristocracy located near the Eternal, the territories of the Guilds and Orders, formally considered states in the state, and other pieces of land that constitute all that is famous Eternal.

Camrad_RIP 02.06.23 в 08:16

When we emerged from the teleport, we found ourselves in the central part of the capital, in a rich and presentable shopping and administrative district. The others don't need teleportation rooms, and they don't let poor people live in such neighborhoods. Our point of arrival did not impress me with the beautiful and, at times, overly pompous buildings, the clean streets and expensive shops that looked more like small fortresses, the rich clothes of the occasional passerby, or even the very frequent carriages or palanquins that flew by. No, the respect was inspired by a rather serious network of enclosed fields, which seemed to cover the entire block.

Camrad_RIP 02.06.23 в 08:18

Nothing harmful, and against the background of the same Stone, not powerful enough, but these thoughts passed as soon as I realized the territory covered by magic and calculate the cost of energy and human mage hours to install and maintain all this, to feel a certain respect for other people's work. The barrier could track both the death of an intelligent endowed (and not only endowed) within its boundaries and any noticeable use of costly magical techniques, not necessarily even combat ones - especially since combat ones would light up three times stronger - and make some interference with subtle techniques. All sorts of thieves, with their love for limited spatial manipulation and teleporting other people's money right out of the owner's purse, it's harder to work in such places, as if at once lost a dozen levels. And the spy classes have a hard time keeping their disguises.

Camrad_RIP 02.06.23 в 08:22

The composition was completed by the carefully concealed, even from clairvoyance, ability to send a powerful spell at the alarm signal from a very long distance. Not that it was so well hidden, but it would be hard for ordinary people, or those who didn't look too closely to see, to spot such a setup beforehand. Especially if you don't know about it beforehand.

Camrad_RIP 02.06.23 в 08:24

And it was only one completely general field, covering exclusively neutral street territories. And almost every building here already had its defenses. Not necessarily as cool, but individual and much denser due to the uniform coverage of a relatively small area. The richest houses really could be considered small, and often not small at all, fortresses, which should be taken by a small army. Or even not small, yes.

Camrad_RIP 02.06.23 в 08:26

And this isn't the Aristocratic Quarter or the Imperial District. It would be a lot more fun there. But we don't need to be here right now. We could get a room at one of the local hotels, but it would be too expensive for our legend. I mean, maybe not expensive, but usually such spending attracts unwanted attention. And we drank up our share of the "joy" back in Tavimark, so it's not like we have anything else to celebrate.

Camrad_RIP 02.06.23 в 08:28

Of all our company, only two of us were able to keep poker faces and not stare around, Hestia and me. And, I suspect, only because my skills and her physiology allowed me to perceive the picture without turning our necks. Personally, at least for me, the sphere of shadows was almost completely silenced. Yes, the lights were frequent, and yes, some houses were not fully visible and interfered with, but I got the main picture in an uninterrupted stream.

Camrad_RIP 02.06.23 в 08:30

We had to hire a roomy rickshaw to avoid walking like fools. There wasn't enough room for everyone, which made Taria, who sat on my lap, the happiest of all. Hestia's gaze was still unreadable, but she was clearly bemoaning herself for not having thought of it first. It was understandable, given her temper.

Camrad_RIP 02.06.23 в 08:32

It was a long ride, and they even changed the rickshaws for us (yes, horses and other animals were allowed into rich neighborhoods in limited numbers, so we were driven by muscular men, not pink horses) because the previous ones were either tired, or it was no longer their neighborhood. It did not bother me much, and it was easy enough to keep up a conversation. Even Losius, always trying to remain unperturbed, was quite impressed by the beauty of the Eternal.

Camrad_RIP 04.06.23 в 10:07

By the way, one of the rickshaws was reeking of disdain for us. Classic contempt for the " newcomers," you know, just distilled. Honestly, this emotion from a level 6 rickshaw, working as a horse, did not make me angry but amused me and made me laugh. What do people think of belittling those around them and not seeming like losers in their own eyes? I know it. I can see it because I'm just as much of an asshole myself.

Camrad_RIP 04.06.23 в 10:09

I wasn't joking about the asshole, for understanding is understanding, but it's too tempting to make a joke about someone who thinks mean things about you. My vessel of essence is full to the brim, full of healing aspects and concepts. The cure, however, is itself a poison. This is not as categorical a truth concerning essences as it is with earthly pharmaceuticals, but mastery allows for all sorts of things. By mixing even exceptionally positive concepts like healing or renewal correctly, you can grow a bunch of tumors or completely renew brain cells, making a person a zucchini.

Camrad_RIP 04.06.23 в 10:10

I still wasn't crazy enough to kill for having bad thoughts, so I limited myself to exhaling a golden cloud from my mouth, so thin that it was impossible to distinguish without a heightened perception. Control of the essence allowed the cloud to be directed at the rickshaw, causing it to settle on his skin. Now he'll have a hell of a buff for the next week. Any food will be digested many times faster, no poisoning will be possible, and his overall health will only improve. Well, at the same time will attack wild and incredibly fast artillery diarrhea, along with increased hunger. The main thing for the man is not to forget to drink plenty of water so as not to get dehydrated, or it will be a shame.

Camrad_RIP 04.06.23 в 10:13

Leaving the hospitable transport, we even threw a coin for a tip, as should be the ideal customers.

Camrad_RIP 04.06.23 в 10:14

The second time I walked, I caught something that had been hovering on the edge of my awareness since my first moments in this city. The Eternal was really very old. Ancient, even. The catacombs beneath it were many times larger and more intricate than those in Tavimark, literally, and a large part of those catacombs were streets and houses that had gone underground and forgotten mines from the days when the capital was under construction, and only under them were unscrupulously old buildings, like the ones that had been in Tavimark.

Camrad_RIP 04.06.23 в 14:32

The city stood on its bones. Just as human skin peels away and turns to dust, so Eternal stood on a mound of such dust. It's a paradise for the clairvoyant wishing to pump up their profile skills. But one could look for something concrete in this maelstrom of times gone by until the end of time.

Camrad_RIP 04.06.23 в 14:33

As we wandered through the streets of the residential neighborhoods, peeking into individual inns and taverns or simply admiring the scenery, I slowly and surely guided us to our intended destination. A couple of times, I gave small coins to local children or passersby in return for information about the next place where people like us would be easily accommodated. Once, I deliberately allowed us to be tricked. A faded ferret-looking little man deliberately gave us false directions. Later we "accidentally" come to the same Susanin, who prudently planned to go farther away. We kicked him in the teeth, took the money, and kicked him in the teeth again, just as providentially without waiting for the guards.
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Camrad_RIP 04.06.23 в 14:38

Only a few hours later, I let us approach the person who I sensed could give me exactly the advice I needed. I was right because it was a really good option. It was just right for someone who wanted to settle down well, inexpensively, and without attracting unnecessary attention.

Camrad_RIP 04.06.23 в 14:46

A spacious two-story house in a fairly decent neighborhood was empty because its owner had moved to a nicer neighborhood. Man wisely did not want to sell his real estate in the capital, even if he and his family no longer lived there, preferring to rent it temporarily. The previous tenants were adventurers like us. They had moved out only two days ago, and no new tenants had been found.

Camrad_RIP 04.06.23 в 14:48

We were found.

Camrad_RIP 04.06.23 в 14:49

Negotiations with the owner, who, by the way, was quite officially considered one of the prospective appraisers and antiquaries of the Adventurers' Guild, went quickly and evenly with as many rough edges as I wanted initially - to make the situation look natural. Our status as newcomers, having only just gained membership, of course, embarrassed the poor man, but not too much. His past clients, and the ones before that, had been figures just like us: already established teams who had joined the Guild for preferential treatment. He could've gotten into trouble because some of them were dishonest, and that suspicion of spies pretending to be adventurers wasn't born out of anything. Take us, for example.

Camrad_RIP 04.06.23 в 14:52

The house was rented, along with a small courtyard with a training ground made especially for his clientele and servants. Not many people could afford such a house, but, as I said, the man was lucky to meet such adventurers - seasoned, well-to-do, and eager for peace of mind and the absence of prying eyes and ears.

Camrad_RIP 04.06.23 в 14:53

The servants were three women - a pretty widow and her two nieces. All three were quite aware of what the brave adventurers might demand, and they were not at all opposed to it. They were also very good at keeping their long ears to themselves and knew that if they were told not to go into a certain room or go into some chest, then that was the right thing to do. Don't go in and stay out.

Camrad_RIP 04.06.23 в 14:55

Apparently, we are going to spend quite a lot of time in the capital, and it would be better to spend it in comfort. I would certainly like to believe that I will take all the clues I need right now and have this world rid of Yoke and retire by tomorrow. But I have this suspicion that just probing the Eternal Library's defenses will take many months.

Camrad_RIP 04.06.23 в 16:17

The first thing I had to do, alas, was not to get access to the damn book depository, which, even for money, was not easy to get. Or rather, we could do it, but we would have to pay so much that I almost born a typical isekai toad in my soul. And we hadn't spent so much effort on being members of the Adventurers' Guild for nothing, had we? We even completed two full-fledged contracts, albeit frankly unrewarding and unprestigious.

Camrad_RIP 04.06.23 в 16:19

The guild's metropolitan branch was not a combat branch in the full sense of the word. The main mass of fighters rustled on the border with the frontier, where they could work, get paid, and have free reign and a part-time job. Inside the Eternal walls were groups of analysts, scribes, and chroniclers (the Guild of Adventurers of the Eternal Empire is one of the oldest and richest), artifactors and potions-makers, sitting on a gold mine of treasures mined by adventurers, ritualists, and antiquaries and other public, for direct combat is not intended.

Camrad_RIP 04.06.23 в 16:34

That didn't mean the Guild didn't have any fighters here. No matter how many of them were squeezed out of their home areas, leaving the soft and tasty underbelly unprotected was a stupid thing to do. Another thing is that they wouldn't let us into the ranks of these thousand-times-tested wolfhounds. Well, if we tried to join their ranks.

Camrad_RIP 04.06.23 в 16:35

The central branch of the Guild wasn't a separate mini-fortress, as the same trading houses liked to do, but an entire block, fenced in and carefully guarded by a tireless guard. I could see heavy golems, though, not Dwarven ones, but also several spatial folds with undead warriors, a dozen anchors for summoning powerful spirits or elementals, and a hundred or so select undead tucked away under the sidewalk. The guys sure knew how to be paranoid.

Camrad_RIP 04.06.23 в 16:37

They welcomed us without much hospitality but also without negativity, even though they took note of the suspicious company. The girls also attracted the unhealthy attention of some colleagues, but no attempts were made to "get acquainted" - in these walls, there were girls who could replace, if not an army, then a full-fledged garrison. If you slapped a girl like that on her luscious ass, it would be easier to paint you than to scrape you off the walls.

Camrad_RIP 04.06.23 в 17:02

The boy guide assigned to us carefully showed our group the way. Apparently, the provincials, of which the guild was in the majority, managed to get lost so often that it was easier to get a squad of boys, most often the relatives of older workers, to escort the guests. There was an opportunity to unobtrusively drag us through the sensors on the walk route and to reduce the likelihood that we would "accidentally" go where we shouldn't.

Camrad_RIP 04.06.23 в 17:03

The disguise was working quite well, though I was already thinking I should create Shadow Helper again, just to be on the safe side. Especially for Hestia. Though if they did uncover her, they'd be pretty fucked up. Intelligent monsters and creatures, if they had the talent to infiltrate human society freely, certainly didn't try to visit (voluntarily!) places where they could be easily recognized. Places where those who are used to killing such creatures and making a living from it gather.

Camrad_RIP 04.06.23 в 17:05

When we piled into the small lobby, somewhat subtly reminiscent of the waiting rooms of the communal services of our native Earth, we all sat down on fairly comfortable chairs and waited. There were plenty of people besides us, even if there weren't enough of them to create an "ophthalmologist's line" effect. But still a small crowd, both singles and small, like ours, groups of specialists.

Camrad_RIP 04.06.23 в 17:28

The levels are about the same as our masks. From the twentieth to the twenty-fifth. Classes are rare and unusual, only two have quite serious epics, and both owners of such classes are captains of their teams. One was a twenty-sixth Blade Master, looking like a typical Viking, only not with an axe but with a sword, which is obvious. The other was a mage, Spellcaster of Thunder of the twenty-fifth. A slightly overweight man with an absent gaze seemed to be asleep with his eyes open. If it weren't for clairvoyance claiming that he was assembled and ready to burst into action at any moment, I would have even believed such a disguise.

Camrad_RIP 04.06.23 в 17:30

"Dear Grzegorz, please go down the corridor." Next time it was me who was called. "They are waiting for you."

Camrad_RIP 04.06.23 в 17:31

They are called, by the way, not in order of line but according to some algorithm known to them alone. Maybe they were even pointing fingers or throwing coins. I would not have been surprised by this kind of rudeness. Although, it's probably because we registered in advance and settled all possible issues back in Tavimark rather than going straight to the capital to sign a token contract. We, who had somehow proved ourselves, were treated differently, even if only in small ways.

Camrad_RIP 04.06.23 в 17:33

The interrogation was not an interrogation but rather a polite conversation. The receptionist, a manly lady with an administrative class, told me straight out she had a couple of acquaintances in Tavimark, so she was interested to know what the hell was going on there. I even answered to the extent of my mask, managing to enlighten her about the fate of her dear grandmother. It was a good thing she'd asked me about her and not Taria because my companion remembered that Combat Scribe for a long time, and she would have liked to do her disappearing act at the bottom of some river.

Camrad_RIP 04.06.23 в 17:35

After this heart-to-heart talk, during which I wasn't even scanned, I was handed back my badge, which had already been magically imprinted on our permission to stay in the capital, confirming that I belonged to the Guild. Yes, yes, ordinary slackers who came to the Eternal looking for fortune preferred to be kicked out of the gates or driven to the slums. Or better yet, not allowed through the gates into the Upper City at all. It's just we, as portal users, were transported here at once, so they didn't bother with us at first.

Camrad_RIP 04.06.23 в 17:43

"Then call the next one, if you don't mind." The receptionist asked me just as politely but a little warmer. "Which one? It's up to you."

Camrad_RIP 04.06.23 в 17:46

I sent, of course, Losius as the most polite one. Otherwise, Hans would make a dirty joke, and so would I. I didn't want to spoil relations with an official who seemed to be sympathetic to our group. And I should certainly instruct Taria not to insult the official's beloved grandmother by accident.

Camrad_RIP 04.06.23 в 17:48

"And how?" Hestia, who had already received her mark, asked Taria from the position of her head on the commander's strong shoulder. "Have they tried to pressure you?"

Camrad_RIP 04.06.23 в 17:48

"Nah, she's all right." The dancer answered, batting her eyes, but under the friendly gaze of the crew, she gave up and answered more fully. "Well, I couldn't take it anymore and verbalized her grandmother, the old bag of goblins to chew on. And this Dyrrha wasn't even surprised, just clapped me on the shoulder and said, "Welcome to the list of those who want to kill this bitch". She even complimented me on the fact that very few people dared to say a word against her. And all the young and beautiful, or at least younger and prettier than herself, the hag is bulling. Or, according to Dirra, she's testing them. Bullshit."

Camrad_RIP 04.06.23 в 18:06

All Hans can do is whine quietly into his sleeve about another "joke" of Taria, who can't keep her mouth shut on a purely conceptual level. What if it were really the administrator's favorite grandmother? I would have tried to tell her all this, but I didn't. At least because the girl was second to me in the ability to feel the interlocutor, and in some aspects, even first. I didn't go into the family relationships of the guild clerks with clairvoyance and Taria without clairvoyance, was able to read the situation, and seem to have become even closer friends with this Dyrrha. They even used names, which hinted, if not at friendship, at a buddy relationship.

Camrad_RIP 04.06.23 в 18:14

"Don't tell it, Taria, don't tell it." Losius, who has understood about as much as I have, answers his companion with a kind of thoughtfulness. "It's an old prejudice, but many believe women have no place among adventurers. I was a digger, after all, and these units are something like small and very narrowly confined guilds. One of the senior officers of an allied squad we sometimes worked with was famous for some..."

Camrad_RIP 04.06.23 в 18:15

"He was a jerk!" Hans interrupted, barely able to control the urge to spit on the waiting room floor. "The girls in his squad, the new girls, he used to bully just like that. Even to the point of trying to squeeze them into the corner against their will. If they couldn't fight back or tell him to fuck off, they had to give up their place in the squad. He was bragging, too, like he was testing toughness, bitch. To me, he liked to see the tears and fear. He was held up because he was an officer and tactician of the best, and he had some kind of title that allowed him to bring down ghosts and spirits without silver dust."

Camrad_RIP 04.06.23 в 18:18

In response to an expressive rebuke from Hans, who had been in the same squad a lot longer, Losius was quiet for a while, as if he hesitated to speak. If I know anything about him, he didn't want to reveal someone else's secret, but he overcame that reluctance.

Camrad_RIP 04.06.23 в 18:38

"I've only heard rumors from other officers." He began slowly and quietly but confidently. "He joined the diggers from the Adventurers' Guild, though you know that yourself, Hans. What he didn't tell was that his partner, I wouldn't say she was his sweetheart, but there had been some sort of connection between them, not necessarily intimate... His partner was roasted alive by a tribe of some savages, almost before his eyes. After that, he went into archeology, joined a large detachment, and, it seems, got used to it. So he began to push out every kind of lady out of his fiefdom and was always strictly against hiring any woman, even on a temporary contract. I don't know how much of this was natural squeamishness and pettiness or spite and dislike, but I do know that any rapist or killer of women, even if one had been on holiday in town, he, if not cut up on the spot... all of them either didn't stick around or mysteriously disappeared. Such is the revelation."

Camrad_RIP 04.06.23 в 18:44

Hans was silent for a long time, wrinkling his face in disbelief and incomprehension, obviously trying to fit the information into his picture of the world. He knew Losius too well to disbelieve his words, but he believed his ears and eyes no less, so he tried to compare the available data from all sides.

Camrad_RIP 04.06.23 в 18:45

"I know that Rangmaz and his moles didn't keep any scum... And that they strangled all the thugs in their ranks themselves." The tracker began less confidently. "But I've never heard of that freak's past, and every dog was talking about the girls he raped in every corner."

Camrad_RIP 09.06.23 в 12:27

"Should that be surprising?" Losius didn't even raise an eyebrow at that argument. "Con Athor treated them like the worst of whores, rudeness and humiliation at every opportunity, and in the duels that he was occasionally called upon to fight, he spared only life but not pride or health. He could very well have been slandered, and if he followed his logic, he only supported such rumors - then girls and women would not go under his command. In fact, in recent years, they did not even appear as part of the Moles."

Camrad_RIP 09.06.23 в 12:28