The Ancients World

I finish the last little bit of my steak, and I savor the taste. Sally finished a few bites before me. She can really put the food down. I have neglected regular meals and general hygiene cause we don't have access to a kitchen and bathroom regularly. It was super nice to get cleaned up yesterday. The feeling of a body free of grime and dried sweat is amazing. Sadly, I can't afford that luxury on the regular. Perhaps I could in terms of gold, but in terms of time, I can't. My schedule is constantly packed with travel, combat, and long quests. Investing in a property might be a good idea. A place to go and rest once everything is done. That's a dream, though, cause the work is never done. Not in terms of never having to work again.

I stand up and take the plates into the kitchen. We aren't going to be staying here again. Since the dead man downstairs has a secret passage in his basement, that means someone will eventually come through. Being here isn't going to be ideal. "We won't be staying in this house, so let's get out of here and start looking for the crew we need. We'll stay at inns for the time being, before anything though we have to stop off at the bank." I need to withdraw funds from my account and restore the gold supply. I should have accumulated over 200 gold since the last time I withdrew. That amount of gold is enough to take care of our expenses while in Bellvia. Sally nods her head in agreement with my priority list and begins walking towards the door. "Don't forget to wear your hood." She stops mid-step and groans.

She places the hood on her head to hide her face and ears. It really does suck that she has to do this because of prejudice and racism. She has the worst of both worlds. She is shunned and ridiculed by both societies. The elves and humans will never change. At least, I don't think they will. "So I take it the first place we are heading to is the bank?" I nod my head, confirming her words. I walk past her and open the front door to the house. We walk out and begin to look at the slightly dilapidated streets of Bellvia. The district we are in right now seems to be on the higher quality side, but I can still see the decay from lack of care. The government must be severely corrupt to let their capital city sink this far into disrepair.

The streets are moderately filled with the poor, and most of the people I do see with decent clothing are still dirty in some way. "This is one of the most disgusting cities I've ever seen..." I hear Sally whisper out some words that crossed my mind. If the higher society streets look like this, I can't imagine what the middle and poor class streets look like. Even the guards patrolling the streets as we walk have old and outdated armor. "Are you sure they even have a bank here in Bellvia... By the looks of everything, you would think they don't have any money..." You can tell how greedy a government is by looking at the things they are responsible for. The king of Bellvia, Quintin Merle, must be lining his pockets with the countries money.

We walk through the more and more depressing streets of Bellvia, and I'm starting to notice a pattern. The people, the poor ones, are getting sicker and sicker looking the farther we get away from the city center. Banks are usually located near the church branch and/or near the city's entrance, which is where we are heading. Even basic health care is neglected. "Don't get close to any of the sick, Sally. I don't know how contagious they are or what they have. I'd rather not risk you getting sick." My stats are probably too high for me to get sick, but I'd rather not find out if that's true or not. We continue walking the road we are on, and I see the bank and church up ahead. They are across the street from each other.

I make sure to keep out of view of the church in the newly forming crowds. We walk into the bank as the day starts. We woke up a little earlier than everyone else, it seems. I look at the lineless teller booths and see how old the bank looks. A single female banker teller waves us over with a gentle smile. I walk up to the booth and give her the relevant information for my account. "I'd like to withdraw all of my current funds." She nods her head and finally looks at my account balance. Her face goes pale, and she looks at me in worry. She tells me to wait for a couple of minutes while she goes and gets the manager. My account is under the name Slayer, so it doesn't have anything to do with my identity. If anything, they might not have the funds to give me my money.

The thought of a government being run like this really makes me ponder the direction this world is heading. Cause this is behavior that the leaders on earth would do. After a minute or so, the woman comes back with the manager. He looks the same shade of white as the teller. "Are you sure you want to withdraw such a large amount of money? There are risks to carrying around that much. Perhaps it would be best if you only took out 50 of your 360?" I hate this entire conversation. I sigh and roll my neck. Guys like this won't let up no matter what. "I'll take your silence as agreement!" I shoot him a hard glare, and his attempt is shut down. I walk up to the man, and as I get closer, he shakes more and more.

I'm several inches taller than him, and I look down at him. "Give me my money." I watch both him and the bank teller shake in slight fear. He slowly backs up and nods his head. They both leave into the back, where the safe is located. Sally walks up beside me and leans her shoulder on my arm. I was perhaps a little too violent with that action, but it's my money. I shouldn't be denied. "Once we are done here, we are heading to the most popular bars. The people we want to talk to are the bartenders. They know who's who and where to point us if they know anything." She slowly nods her head, and I feel as though the time I'm going to spend in Bellvia will be the longest time I've stayed in one location.

We stand in silence as the two come back with a few sacks filled with gold. They set them on the counter and have a look of defeat and desperation. "You are a cruel son of a bitch..." I hear the manager speak directly at me. It looks like he grew a backbone. "Do you have any idea the kind of trouble we are in now... You have doomed so many innocent lives..." The problems that they are involved with aren't mine. "I can tell by the look on your face that you don't give a damn... The people in this area need our bank. Thanks to you, we'll get shut down..." He can't play on my emotions, but it's working on Sally. She tugs on the bottom of my leather chest piece in a sign for me to do something.

I sigh and lean over the counter. "If there are any problems with anyone. I'll find out, and I'll handle it. Lie to your boss for all I care, blame me, and have their focus shift to me. I'll kill them all, so don't fret. You are already losing your hair." I stand up straight and turn around at their looks of disbelief. Sally is beaming with happiness. It looks like I did the right thing in her eyes. Normally I wouldn't do that, but they say women can soften the most callous hearts for a reason. "So that you know, I'm not going to do that again. This place is already becoming a headache, and we haven't even found a crew yet." She smiles as we walk down the road. She pulls on my arm in an indication to stop, and I do. She stands on her tippy-toes and kisses me on the cheek.

She gives me a couple more kisses and then stops. "Despite what you think of yourself, I see a really deep and complex man. I'm positive that you would have done something to help anyway, even if I weren't there. You have a beautiful mind and an open heart. People may not see it, but I do." I blush slightly at Sally's words. I've never had someone say something so nice to me. Even if it isn't true, she still only sees the angel-half of me. Once that human-half comes out, her idea of me will change. "C'mon, let's start our search." She gets my mind back on track, and we begin our walk again—time to ask the bartenders in town for information.