Secret Underground Area

Louis reached a sketchy area in the town, complemented by the darkness of the foggy night. It was one of the many hide-outs for the guild of knowledge, but this one was disguised as your ordinary bar.

Just from standing in the front, Louis's nose was able to pick up detect the heavy stench of alcohol. The only reason he even knew of the place was because he knew someone who worked here. But the last time he saw that person was a long time ago. The best Louis could do was hope they still worked here. If not, getting information could be a little harder, these weren't ordinary thugs, they were trained to have somewhat of immunity to manipulation skills, like Louis's speech.

He took a breath before making his way inside the bar.

While every drunk and scary-looking man stared at him, Louis ignored it all and approached the counter, asking the bartender for a drink, a drink that was a code to speak to someone from the 'Guild of knowledge'

"I'll have a dragon-shot."

Even if it was a code, it was also a real drink. A pretty heavy drink.

"Sure thing." the bateder replied.

Slowly pouring the red liquid into a shot glass, the bartender asked a question related to the code.

"Who is it that you would like to see?"

"Stella. If she still works with you guys." said Louis.

"Stella? Of course, she's someone of importance. Follow me to the back. I'll take you to her."

Louis was escorted to a door that was guarded by strong looking men, guarding it. After being allowed to go through, it led him down a long air of stairs, until he finally arrived at a secret underground space.

There were many office-like rooms where people were working inside with paperwork and sorts. But despite everyone's appearance, Louis could sense that each person had capable abilities.

"Just a little bit further." said the bartender.

He led Louis down a hallway, until they reached a noticeably important room. It's doorway was slightly covered by high quality silver and there was a tag on it.

[Headmistress, Stella Verley]

The bartender opened the door, letting Louis inside.

Behind the desk with tons of paperwork on it was a woman who was relaxing on a chair. She had familiar short -black hair and purple eyes that nearly shined when hit by the light.

This was one of Louis's many friends that were shocked by his sudden disappearance 5years ago.

When Stella noticed the visitor who entered her room, her gaze lit up.

"There's no way. Is that really you? Louis."

"Yeah. It's me. Sorry that I haven't visited in awhile."

Stella firmly rose from her seat, shouting, "Awhile??!!! It's been five whole years! I thought you died in the line of duty or something. Where did you vanish off to?"

To avoid talking about the shameful reason for disappearing, Louis changed the course of the conversation, "Let's not talk about that. Instead, let's talk about you. I see you got a pretty high promotion, headmistress."

Stella nodded, "Indeed. I am pretty much the big boss of this hideout. But I'm not as big as big of a rank as the great three."

"Great three? I haven't heard of them." Louis stated.

"I would be concerned about the guild's security if you have. The great three are pretty much our equivalent of Royal Knight's."

Stella was feeling bored talking about herself. She wanted to hear about how Louis's life has been going and catch up on lost time.

She went on to steer to conversation.

"Now, It's your turn to talk about yourself. If you're showing up for the first time in five years, it's probably for something important."

"Actually, I need to know how to find someone. A man that goes by the name of Faust. I heard that the guild of knowledge had connections to him."

"I do know of a Faust. He's a pretty hard man to get a hold of. But he does have a good friend here in town."

"A friend?Please tell me more."

"His friend is a guy named Jess. He lives nearby in the forest. I happen to know the guy myself. If you plan on talking to him, I can go with you. He might try to kill any nosy strangers as yourself."

From the sound of it, Jess must be deep in criminal activity if he's willing to kill someone for snooping around. And depending on how many henchmen he has, he might be hard to go against if things went bad. Having Stella along to calm things down would be beneficial.

"Thanks. I would appreciate that." said Louis.

"When did you want to go?" Stella asked.

"As soon as possible. Now would be nice if you're not busy with all that paperwork on your desk."

Stella glanced at the stacks of papers scattered everywhere. Her office was like a dump for documents.

"Honestly. I don't plan on reading any time soon. I can show you to Jess's place, I just need to grab my coat. When we do get there, try not to mention working for the kingdom. It might just get us both killed."

"Don't worry. I don't plan on dying."