Chapter 76: A Small World [Bonus ]

Stepping out into the cold of night, Professor Treffle readjusted the mantle she wore that covered her body, protecting her from the elements. Harsh winter gusts howled between the tents set up surrounding the inn, blowing drifts of snow that built up against each one. A few men were still up, drinking sour ale next to their crackling campfires and talking amongst themselves, their hushed voices carrying far on the night air.

"Gods I hate winter." She grumbled to herself as she walked away from the inn under the light of the full moon.

Most of the city was fast asleep, their houses shut tight, and the candles extinguished. She passed by hushed houses, their dark windows watching her in silent judgment. She grudgingly made her way out of the residential district and into one with red tinted lanterns hanging in front of some of the establishments. This section of the city was still very much awake, drunkards staggering and stumbling their way from one building to the next, spending their coins on every manner of vice.

The eyes watching her now were anything but silent, jeers and catcalls were constantly thrown in her direction, filthy men beckoning her to have a fun time. She glared at them, stabbing at them with her eyes as she continued on silently. She was looking for something in particular, some place to buy the information she needed.

She had spent a few years on the road after her mandatory stint in the mage corps. Over those years she had learned of the usefulness of the dark underground, the less than legal channels found in every city. One could find everything they desired, as long as you knew where to look. She wasn't familiar with Säravast's dark underbelly but figured with deep enough pockets she would be able to navigate it without too many issues.

She stopped in front of a large, two-story building; its shutters were closed tight, but she could see the bright light from inside seeping out between the slats. Out of tune music was being played, its distorted melody polluting the air outside, a cacophony of laughter, yelling, and awful singing accompanied it. She sucked in a breath of frigid air between her clinched teeth, preparing herself, then started toward the front door.

A wave of warm hazy air hit her square in the face. She fought back the urge to cough as whatever was being smoked inside irritated her lungs. The sudden blast of chilly air drew the attention of a few of the bar's patrons, but they soon dismissed the new arrival and returned to whatever they were doing before.

She weaved her way through the throng of people, paying close attention to her wallet that she held close to her chest. Pickpockets were always a threat, even more so in such a crowded space. The more skilled ones could steal the socks right off your feet with their sticky fingers, and you wouldn't know it until your feet grew cold.

Finding a small, unoccupied table, she sat down. Taking a moment to warm herself up, she scanned the crowded room. She was looking for anyone that seemed out of place, something that made them stand out amongst the crowd. It could be anything, maybe it was a man with a white handkerchief sticking out of their back pocket, or someone wearing a hat one size too big, if she could find that, she'd be one step closer to finding what she was looking for.

Her icy blue eyes scanned the room full of people, never falling on one person for longer than a second at a time. She was prepared to stake out this bar the entire night if she had to, and if she found nothing, then tomorrow night she would try her luck at another. She would repeat this process as many times as necessary, although she had her fingers crossed that she would get lucky.

The seat in front of her slid out and was soon filled with a dirty looking man. Bits of food were stuck in his bushy beard and his breath reeked of sour ale as he spoke in slurred speech. "Heya beautiful. How much you chargin?"

Professor Treffle's face contorted into a deep frown as the man plopped a small bag of coins on to the table between them. She fought back the urge to slap the man across the face for insinuating that she was a whore.

"Why don't you go fuck yourself, you'd have more luck that way." She snarled at him, her eyes burning with mana.

The man scoffed, clearly amused by her fiery response. "I like 'em feisty." He leaned in closer, his stinking breath causing her to gag. "How about two whole silvers?"

Professor Treffle balled her hand into a fist, a scowl on her face. She was moments away from losing her patience and breaking the man's nose. Before she could lash out, a slim hand grasped the man's shoulder and violently jerked him back into his chair.

He let out a yelp of pain as the hand continued to tighten, crushing his shoulder. Ignoring the man squirming in agony, the owner of the hand spoke to the Professor. "Fancy meeting you here." Marissa said as she tore the bearded man from the chair, spilling him onto the floor.

The chair now empty, the auburn beauty took the seat as the man scampered off and disappeared into the boisterous crowd. "Would you like some company?"

Professor Treffle was more than a little surprised to see Marissa once more, especially in a place such as this. "What're you doing here?"

Although they had traveled together for quite some time, they hadn't really gotten to know each other. They had chatted here and there, but always on superficial topics. It wasn't that she didn't like the woman, it was just that her own near constant sour mood had built a wall around her, keeping her from wanting to grow closer to anyone. Over the last several days she had noticed that her curt attitude had been affecting the students that she was meant to protect, so she had been trying to rectify her mindset, but it had been more difficult than she had expected.

"Me, I'm just looking for a bite to eat, I'm a night owl really. What about you? Shouldn't you have an inn to run?" Marissa said, flashing her a toothy grin.

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"How did you..."

"Oh, I hear things. Plus, an inn run by mages isn't all that common ya know. It's easy to put two and two together."

Professor Treffle shrugged her shoulders. It wasn't as if they had been trying overly hard to hide the fact that they were mages, not with Ben's overuse of golems for the more tedious chores around the property. Although, it was apparent that many of their patrons had either not heard the rumors or just didn't believe them, if you went by the number of men that had attempted to grab her ass over the last several days.

"So, I'm sure you're not here for the food." Marissa pressed on.

Professor Treffle let out a sigh, she had no reason to hide anything from her, in fact, she could actually use the help. "You're an adventurer, right? Are you open to requests if it won't affect taking care of your sister of course?"

"She's doing great actually, with me around she can afford the treatments that she needs. Also, my brother just got into town as well, so now I got all sorts of free time on my hands." She said in a joking tone, lifting her hands up for Professor Treffle to see.

"I didn't know you had a brother." Professor Treffle said.

"There's lots of things you don't know about me, just like I'm sure there's things I don't know about you, right?" Marissa stated seriously. "If I help ya out, maybe we can get to know each other better?"

"So that means you'll help me?" She asked, trying to ignore the strangely warm feeling she was getting from the woman sitting across from her.

"Of course, what are friends for?"

Strangely relieved to hear her say that, Professor Treffle leaned in closely and started to retell the story as to what brought them to Säravast.

…..

Marissa leaned back in her shoddy, wooden chair and let out a low whistle. "That's gonna be a tall order. Most of them shady types would rather swallow their own tongues than to give up what they know."

"I realize that." Professor Treffle said. "Remember, I'm a mage, I have ways to make them talk. I just need help tracking down who to talk to, it's been years since I've ran around any of the underground circles."

"Oh, really? And here I had you pegged as just another pretty face, I'm glad to see you're somewhat... experienced." Marissa said, her eyes locking on to the Professor's, causing the later to feel a tingle run down her spine.

Feeling her face flush, Professor Treffle averted her eyes and cleared her throat. "Well, um. So, if you help me out by pointing me in the right direction, I can pay you a healthy fee."

Marissa smiled at the sudden bashfulness of the woman in front of her. "Sure, I can help you out, but only under one condition."

Nodding her head, Professor Treffle urged her to continue.

"You let me call you Sarah. I think we're close enough that I can stop calling you Professor, right?"

"Um, Yeah, sure, that's fine.." Sarah said, a small smile spreading across her face.

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