V2Ch98 New Assassins

Babur returned from her bath fairly quickly. Her clothes were in hand while she wore only a towel. Her towel wasn't very low either. As she walked, every step seemed like she was about to expose herself.

I scolded myself in my mind for the lecherous thoughts and turned my gaze to the ceiling.

"So, what are nya gonna do from here?"

I could hear the shuffling of her clothing.

"Not sure. Do you know anything about the process of getting a permit?"

I felt the bed shift near my leg. Babur came into view and straddled my torso before she sat down on my chest. She was back in her usual clothes. I grabbed her ankles and began to stroke the fur around them with my thumbs.

"It was easy for me to get one. I had to go to Tianret to get it though."

Tianret. The dark elf city. This is my destination because it has the closest port to Missing Star.

Taking a ship from Fricity just didn't seem like the best idea for traveling to Tianret. Not just because of potential lulls in the wind but, because of the price for a specific trip like that. A lack of technology to keep food fresh would require stops. A regular crew would make it harder to hide my human form. Overall it just seemed like traveling across the land had more advantages than the sea.

Ultimately, Missing Star is my destination but, finding a ship to sail there would be even more difficult, especially in Fricity. Tianret may have explorers that are willing to search for the lost continental island, considering its supposed proximity.

"Hopefully I can get one here. I also hope it's easy..."

"Ummm. I kinda need anyuther one too."

"What? What happened to yours? Do they expire?"

"No... Sorry. That day when nya caught me before I fell off of that cliff, I got rid of most of my things."

I hadn't thought about that. She had no place to stay. Was it because she got rid of all her belongings? Gold, ranked room key and whatever else? She really was prepared to die.

I felt horrible.

I let go of her ankles and found her wrists. I followed them up to her arms and pulled her forward until I could hug her, our faces cheek to cheek. She was gently fighting against my embrace.

"I'm sorry."

Her struggle suddenly stopped.

"I'm sorry. I know I was nonchalant that day. I just kept trying to cheer you up. I don't think it ever registered to me how much pain you were in. I knew you were in pain, I just... I'm so sorry. You're such a wonderful person. You don't deserve that kind of torture."

I had to shut myself up or I wouldn't be able to hold back my own tears any longer. My eyes already felt glassy.

"Lake."

Her voice sounded calm.

"Don't be sorry. The way things happened for me... I think it was... a life lesson. After what happened to Leo? I thought I had turned my life around before I met nya. Then... it happened again. I felt lost. Even though nya weren't dead, I felt like I failed at turning my life around. I felt like I didn't deserve to live after a failure of that magnitude."

She broke my embrace and showed me that her face was as calm as her voice had indicated.

"Nya saved me that day. In body and spirit. Maybe Leo's death wasn't a life lesson but, a simple cruelty of life. Maybe it was destiny. Maybe I never would have met nya if Leo was still alive. Either way, I'm here now, with nya. And, I'm not about to let nya go."

The way she talked about Leo's death. Something is bothering me.

"What do you mean by life lesson? You sound as if you think you deserve what happened."

She leaned closer.

"I've already given nya my spirit."

She gave me a simple kiss.

"Before I give nya my body, I'll tell nya about my past. Please wait until then."

I showed her a smile.

"I literally have all the time in the world. Take however much of it you need."

She smiled back and cozied herself next to me.

"Nap time?"

"Nyap time."

I actually did feel a bit sleepy. It wasn't hard to lose consciousness.

I woke up feeling a little cold. Ah. I know why. This is one of those rare instances where Babur moved in her sleep and wasn't right next to me. That's probably why I woke up.

I figured a little shopping wouldn't hurt. We lost some camping equipment. I needed a new eared hood and clothes. I didn't like using my assassin's cloak in public if I didn't need to.

I left Babur a note and a couple of silver coins so that she wouldn't worry.

My shopping ended up being a success and didn't take long either, despite all the crowds. All the shops that had what I needed were in close proximity to the inn. A couple of new sets of clothes, sleepwear, a blue eared hood and some replacement camping gear. I also got a few things for Babur.

However, all of that was cheap compared to my largest purchase to date. Sophie and I simply made a promise to each other. I wanted to give her something more when we meet again. I got her a ring. No jewelry had stood out to me like this before. The moment I laid eyes on this ring, Sophie's image assaulted my mind.

As I crossed the street, I began calculating my money situation. After today's purchases, I was left with less than 200 gold. I guess I'm kinda bad with money. Not much of a haggler either.

My senses began to ring. The area quickly became quiet. No one within my view was moving. Suddenly everyone started to drop to their knees or simply keeled over. Blood began running from every individual body on the ground.

The only exceptions were 5 dwarven figures in white leather suits with matching hoods. They surrounded me. None of them looked like a leader of any kind.

I heard footsteps behind me. I turned and found that a single figure was missing... No. He was right in front of me. Something felt tight in my chest. The man pulled out a blade that was nearly a foot long.

"The Assassin's Guild in Fricity sends its regards."

He and the two others that were in my immediate view had disappeared before I could even try to blink. I had no idea if they were still watching. I decided to put on an act.

I stepped back twice and looked at the blood on my hand after touching the wound. It was already healing but they don't need to know that. I fell back and moved my head side to side before coming to a standstill.

Maybe I'll stay like this until the authorities arrive and claim that I was playing dead from the start.