Navidson was not what anyone would call an honest man. He was a simple city guard who was paid to look tough and angry and make sure that anyone who entered New Delport knew to behave. Just stand in armor at the gates with a sword and a gun all day, occasionally giving the stink eye to anyone who had the indecency of looking impoverished in public. And if some unmarked packages came through every six or so months that he happened to not register, well, sometimes he just missed things. And once his shift was over and coins had exchanged hands, he would go to his favorite bar and get wasted. Maybe he would also leer and catcall at the waitress if the grumpy old proprietor was occupied. Now maybe he was not that different from the lowlifes that skulked on the streets after curfew but he was a guild employed city guard. His enchanted armor made him better than the scum. He was a civilized man, dammit! He just had his vices. Everyone in New Delport had. His vices just required him to selectively not do his job.

  All that said, the point was that Navidson was a man who followed a particularly not so rigid routine that rewarded him and anything that could disrupt this routine was a problem. A problem like a small light olive skinned girl with a tamed spider-scorpion of all things.

  She was babbling something about being attacked by spider-scorpions after she was already injured in an accident, she pointed to her legs for emphasis. They looked like they had met the business end of red caltrops that grew into and within the feet of anyone unlucky enough to step on them. He winced in not entirely faked sympathy. She had apparently been travelling with a bunch of other people who were presumably all dead but she had somehow escaped alive due to what was basically luck with a touch of fighting like a suicidal lunatic.

  But no, the story didn't end there. She had managed to kill a few hatchlings to pick up a tamer class and then tamed her companion. And the story still continued, she had found a carriage in the forest with its owner dead from spider-scorpions and had driven it all the way to New Delport. He recorded her statements, confirming that as far as his skills could tell, she wasn't lying. Lie Detection was not perfect and could be tricked or simply overpowered but he doubted the shivering and slightly emaciated girl with bloodshot eyes and bags under them could do that. Afterwards he gently guided her towards the Security Guild quarters while calling a carriage for her. He made a show of being concerned for her, promising that the guild would take care of her, a soft smile on his face that didn't match his inner thoughts.

  Now there were quite a few issues with her story, though none of them were necessarily her fault. Spider scorpions shouldn't even exist this far out and she claimed that she encountered multiple. That implied an incursion was imminent if not already ongoing.

  And secondly, he recognised the carriage. It belonged to a gentleman who was to deliver his ‘packages’ and there was no way he could retrieve it silently from a somewhat hidden compartment now after the scene the girl had caused. And even if he could, what would he do next time? And the year after that? His other employers had a small stock in storage at all times but red powder spoiled easily, losing its potency. And that meant that his other employers would soon not have enough to sell to their customers. It would make them seem weak and in New Delport, weakness was always to be exploited. The primary distributor of red powder faltering meant that the market was now suddenly open after almost a decade. There would be a lot of blood in the streets before it was all over.

  \\Cold Blooded is now level 8!

  I sighed as Cold Blooded faded away. One look at the hulking guard in the black plate armor with glowing runes on it and I knew that he could rip me in half with his hands while simultaneously stomping Medea into the dirt. If he thought I was not honest or meant the city —New Delport, I corrected myself— harm, I wouldn't live another minute. So I told him the truth, just carefully. There was no possible way to not seem suspicious but I could seem suspicious in a way that no infiltrator would want to be, unless they expected infiltrators to think like that, of course. But that way lay madness. I predicted your prediction of my prediction of your behaviour! Mwahahaha. Anyways, I was inside and that was all that mattered, even though I somewhat regretted my choice to not rip out the blue pyramid that recharged my mana. If I made it here, I could probably eventually afford to buy one. Maybe.

  As soon as I had crossed some invisible threshold and before my conversation with the guard, I had received a notification unlike any I had seen before.

  \\Welcome, traveller. This is your first visit to New Delport, the crown jewel of the Eastern Sea.

  It obviously wasn't named that but that's what it meant. The new port of the Del.

  As a city-state that has endured for over a thousand years and with a legacy to match, New Delport is the premium destination for tourism, trade and education in the entire West Coast. The Central Sea connects over five thousand cities and towns and you can find almost anything your heart desires here. Casinos, fairs, exotic goods in the Strevan Auction House and even companionship awaits you.

  This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  In the south, the great forests stretch as far as the eyes can see. It is even rumored that dryads created the forests during the first calamity itself.

  To make your stay safer and easier, you have been granted fluency in the Dellish language. Dellish is the primary language spoken in New Delport and now you can avail yourself of the services of this beautiful city without any worries. We hope you enjoy your stay, be it temporary or permanent.

  I shook my head, the system notification equivalent of a cheery travel brochure didn't really match what my eyes could see, everyone at the gate seemed to be on the edge. Pedestrians moved quickly and with their heads down, occasionally accompanied by beast companions or other people. Smog covered the skies and I could feel a mild burning in my throat.

  Of course the guard had then taken all of my attention as I lied by omission and acted like a hapless child in a language I didn't even know ten minutes ago. The notification I had received when entering the city had been in English like every other notification I received.

  But anyways, leaving my spontaneous multilingualism aside, the guard had called a carriage for me and paid for it so I had nothing to do but stare out the windows while Medea curled up beside me. The streetlights were attached to poles that seemed rather excessively ornate to me but it was not like I disliked the opulence. Occasionally we would pass other carriages on the street racing towards destinations unknown. I even saw a man with a tophat and a Victorian style dress suit walking with what looked like an eight feet tall grey humanoid that he held on a leash. He tipped his hat at me when he noticed that I was staring and I turned away, feeling awkward. I didn't want to seem like a country bumpkin who gawked at people! My current attire didn't help either so my manners had to be perfect. I missed them but I had intentionally left my tophat and monocles with the other carriage, no reason to make me stand out like that.

  We eventually stopped in front of a large baroque building with a massive symbol on it that instantly drew the eye. A red and white shield with a vertical eye in the middle. A set of massive double doors with the images of two mirrored serpents intricately carved on them marked the entrance to the building. The serpents held the door handles in their distended jaws and red jewels were inlaid as their eyes. This had to be the Security Guild that the man had mentioned.

  “Do you want me to escort you inside, ma’am?” The ruddy carriage driver asked, pointedly not looking at my legs or crutches. I shook my head and clambered out while holding on the carriage with one hand until I could find my balance. The doors opened of their own accord when I neared them and I stepped inside with a sudden burst of trepidation.

  The inside was a vast hall and I could see dozens of people moving to and from half a dozen doors that were too high and wide to be just for humans, some jogged frantically while holding stacks of paper while others moved slowly and with purpose. A young man was yelling out loud about someone misplacing their cargo catalogue. A set of reading tables were placed on my left and a woman was hastily penning something on one of them.

  I hobbled towards a desk where a receptionist wearing glasses made of some reflective golden material and a purple suit sat.

  “Yes? How can I help you?” Her voice was gravelly and harsh, as if the result of a lifetime of chain smoking.

  “Uhh, the guy from the southern gate told me to come here?”

  “Oh Navidson! Yes he did send a missive, let's see. Hmm, young female, injured and with a pet spider-scorpion. Oh yes, please wait here. Someone will soon come for you.” The receptionist then covered her mouth with a hand and muttered something that I couldn't hear, probably some long range communication skill to summon whoever was supposed to pick me up.

  A tall and lean man with a pistol on his hip ambled in. He wore a lighter but more elaborate version of the armor she had seen the guard wearing. At least ten narrow swords were strapped on his back and four more hung from his hips. Brown curls swayed with each step he took as he walked up to me with the fakest smile I'd ever seen.

  “Oh hello, you must be Anya. I'm Rev, yes just Rev. I believe someone wants to meet with you. Let me help you.” He didn't wait for my reply and just levitated me behind him and began to walk as I yelped in surprise. Medea followed after its mistress through a maze of hallways and doors.

  A man, a floating girl, and a spider-scorpion walked into an office. A giantess of a woman, comparable to the gray humanoid I had seen on my way was waiting for them inside. Graying hair framed a slightly wrinkled face that betrayed her real age that I couldn't quite reconcile with her rippling musculature. A massive sword, bigger than myself floated behind the woman, bound by floating chains of golden runes and energy. The same golden runes decorated her black armor and her eyes flashed the same. A helmet shaped like a wolf's head rested on the desk between her and the newcomers. Her grey eyes stared steelily as Rev unceremoniously dumped me into a chair facing the desk and left way too quickly, slamming the door behind him.

  I was not being even remotely dishonest to myself when I said that the person before me was the most terrifying creature I'd ever seen. Even Medea seemed cuddly before her. Too petrified to move or make any noise, I just watched as the woman walked up to a cabinet and retrieved a sphere of the same blue crystal that I had used on the carriage. The titanic woman did something and the ball’s glow dimmed noticeably. She continued to ignore me, occasionally adjusting some contraption or reading some report until she finally sat down with a thump on an ornate high chair, her radiant gold eyes met mine and she spoke.

  “Well, Miss Anya, if that's indeed your name. Can you tell me why are you carrying fucking Godtouched bones as walking aids?”

  ‘Oh shit’, I thought just as Cold Blooded went into overdrive.