บท 2: Chapter 2
After changing into my hunting clothes, I went into my armory, and the wards inside were still online by using the power of the magic crystals I set up early.
'These babies are not cheap, but they are really worth it, too bad I can't afford them for the whole apartment .' I though
The first thing I pick is a sword, be it tech or magic, it will always do its job, fastening it in my belt, it's a simple silvery coated steel broadsword.
'Heh, still remember the time I wanted to wear it on my back, hadn't Angelo seen it and protected me I probably wouldn't be here today, bastard could have just tode me most creatures will try to knock you down, and you can't get to it if you are on the ground.'
Then I put my dual .50 AE handguns in my shoulder holsters, small magazines, but they can pack a punch, you don't need a lot of ammo when you hit your target correctly.
I took some assorted magazines with steel, silver, and iron bullets.
Then I get a complete set of potions and poisons from my stock, fastening some of them on my belt and putting the rest in my backpack.
'It's not like I always have some convenient divine healing available, and some creatures can only be taken down from the inside.'
Lastly, I take a dagger and fasten it on my leg, you really don't want to be unarmed, and the sword and guns are usually the first to go.
'If you are on the ground, you are already halfway dead, and if you can't get to a weapon, then it is probably your last breath' I remembered some of Angelo's teachings.
The magic fluctuation hit while I was packing everything up, I felt all my wards and defenses coming online again, so instead of my regular bike, I had to take the monster instead. An old, rusty, beaten reverse motorized tricycle, it only had one advantage, it ran on water infused with mana, and could be driven during a magical wave.
Its engine usually growled like a rabid dog, unlike the usual sounds you'd expect a vehicle to make.
'I don't really like cities but safety in numbers, I guess. We aren't in the big boys league anymore.' I thought
Luckily for me, this time, it took me less than ten minutes to arrive at my destination, Eternia's chapter of the Order of Merciful Aid, no one bothers a speeding hunter in the night.
I stood on the sidewalk and observed the run-down office building that supposedly contained it. The Order made efforts to conceal its actual size and power, but in my opinion, they had gone overboard this time. The building, a concrete box, stuck out as plain as a pikestaff among the villas flanking it on both sides. To make the office appearance worse, the walls sported rust stains caused by rainwater dripping from the roof through the holes in the metal gutters. The worse part is that the terrain that it stood on should value as much as this building weight in gold.
I'd bet there exists another facility in the city or underground. A place where the support staff could work while some agents put on an honest front for the general public. It would have a vast, state of the art armory, a magically protected and enhanced computer network, containing a database of files on anyone of power, be it mundane or magical. Somewhere in there, my name sat in its little catalog, the name of a worthless undisciplined reject, Just the way I liked it.
I touched the wall. About half a centimeter away from the concrete, my finger encountered resistance, as if I was trying to squeeze a stress relief ball. A faint shimmer of silvery-blue pulsed from my skin, and I withdrew my hand before things got violent. This building was warded against hostile magic. If someone were to hurl a fireball at it, it would probably bounce off without so much as scorching its walls.
I opened one-half of the surprisingly light metal double doors and walked inside. A narrow passage stretched to the left of me, terminating at the door with a large sign: Authorized Personnel Only. My other option was a stairway leading upward.
I took the stairs, noting they were clean, contrasting the outside of the building. Nobody tried to stop me. Nobody asked why I was there.
'Look at us, we are helpful and non-threatening, and live to serve the community, look we even let anyone walk into our office in the middle of the night. Hypocrites.'
I could understand the need for an unassuming building. Still, public records claimed that the entire chapter consisted of five paladins: a Venator, an Incantor, a Heraldor, a Questor, an Azyros. Five people, overseeing a city the size of Eternia. Really.
The stairway ended on a landing with a single metal door. Knocking on the door didn't seem like the best of ideas, so I swung it open and let myself in.
A hallway stretched itself before me, offering a fantastic variety of colors: gray and gray, and yet more gray with some white and black here and there. The carpet boasted a charcoal gray tile; the walls were painted in two shades of gray: darker on top and a light gray runner at the bottom with a white baseboard probably so people know where the floor finished and the wall began. A mesh of electric lights and feylanters on the ceiling looked gray, with their black decorations.
'I do not doubt that inside the bathroom, the interior architect chose a smoky silvered glass mirror out of aesthetics considerations.'
At least the place was clean. Several doors branched from the hallway, each leading into individual offices. At the very end, a large door supported two tower shields enameled in black and white. In the middle of each shield reared a red steel lion, each lion facing each other, polished to a bright gleam. The Questor office. Just the fellow I needed to see.
I marched through the hallway, glancing into each doorway as I passed them. On my right lay an immaculate but small office, and in there, a large black man dressed in an expensive suit sat on the desk, talking on the phone. He saw me, following me with his eyes, and kept talking as I passed his office. On the left, I saw a small armory. A petite, well-muscled woman sat on a metal bench polishing a dagger. Its silvery blade slightly shined as she drew an oiled cloth against its bluish metal.
'In his place, I wouldn't have kept my eyes off me either, everyone walks fully armed these days, and a careless mistake is all it took.' I thought
I reached the Questor's door and raised my hand to knock.
"Just a moment of your time, sir," said a stern female voice very similar to the one I heard through the phone.
I glanced in the voice direction and saw a middle-aged woman standing inside a cluttered small office full of cabinets. A large oak desk sat there in the middle of the office, and near it, she stood. The woman was of medium height, prim, and not thin nor fat, with long blond hair. She wore a stylish pink pantsuit with a matching pair of shoes to boot.
"He's with someone, sir," the woman said. She raised her hands, and with some practiced verbal chant and hand signals, she summoned a spectral hand, and with it, she proceeded to magically change the bulb on the ceiling next to a bright feylantern. "You don't have an appointment, do you?"
"No, ma'am," I said
"Well, you're in luck. That's the Questor's last appointment for the day. Just give me your name and the reason to visit, and I'll see what we can do."
I waited until she finished with the bulb, told her that I was here in connection with the Venator Angelo Graham, and gave her my visit card. She took it, showing no apparent reaction at all, and pointed behind me. "The waiting area over there, sir."
I turned and walked into it, which turned out to be like just any other office in the building, equipped with two grey linen sofa. A table stood against the wall near the door with a coffee machine and some capsules, guarded by two stacks of small espresso cups. Surprising me by its working condition, near it stood a jar of sugar cubes right to the cups, and near it sat some biscuit snacks.
I found a spot near the door, crossed my arms, and proceed to wait. The Order of Merciful Aid offered precisely what its name suggested: merciful aid to anyone who asked. They would charge you If you could pay, and if you couldn't, they would do it pro bono. Their mission statement was to guard and protect humanity against any and all harm. The thing is their definition of harm seemed somewhat flexible, and sometimes merciful aid meant they decide to extinguish your life instead.
The Order could get away with a lot. Its members were too powerful to be ignored, and the temptation to rely on them was enormous. The government has endorsed it as the third part of the law enforcement triumvirate. The Federal Police Division, the Military Defense Unit, and the Order of Merciful Aid were supposed to keep the general public safe and play nice together. Still, it didn't exactly happen that way. The paladins of the Order were extremely helpful, competent, and lethal. Unlike the mercenaries of the Guild, money does not move them, and they stood by their promises. But unlike us mercs, they also made judgments and believed that they always knew best.
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