The room had gone dead still. Davi kept his usual blank look, though this time it seemed to be more of naivety or innocent bliss.
Olivia resisted the urge to slap him on the back of his head and instead kept her eyes down low. How did he even get that number?
Yeah, Mrs. Ward didn't look as young as she said, but the woman didn't seem to be over fifty. Davi even said she might have been in her seventies, so where did he get ninety-four from? She was convinced he knew what he was doing and decided to be petty.
"Ninety-Four?" Alice Ward's tone came out flat and cold. "Is that your answer?"
"Yep." Davi gave a nod.
Alice Ward also gave a nod. "Close. I'm ninety-one."
Olivia and Falco both nearly collapsed at that casual reveal. Olivia did a double-take and looked at the woman. Yeah, her hands had some wrinkles on them, but not as much as she would have thought, and sure, her hair had greys in it, but her face was young-looking, and she was still rather tall. Even saying she was sixty felt like it would be a stretch. How in Haru's name did Davi get so close?
"You're the second person ever to guess high." Alice kept talking. "Most people give absurdly low answers for some reason, and that tends to piss me off. Kiss asses. That's what I call them." Falco and Olivia both awkwardly shuffled. "You definitely take after your captain, though. Only she came close to my actual age."
"Who was closer?" Davi asked.
"She was. By about one."
"Damn." Davi sighed and folded his arms. "I'll guess your next question correctly then."
Alice Ward let out a laugh at that. "Really now? Oh, I like you."
"What the hell is going on…" Olivia muttered.
"I have no fucking clue…" Falco whispered back.
Alice's gaze shifted toward Olivia and Falco, the two straightening up as she gave them both a critical stare. "I have been alive for a very, very long time. Aging has been something I've done with grace, and so I happen to look far better than I should. I am well aware of that, and yet I highly doubt I look like a newborn lamb, as so many have claimed. It's such a foolish thing. They do so in such a way as to try to garner my respect. As if lying to my face would make me like them more."
Falco went to answer but closed his mouth. He felt a little confused. He had spoken with Alice Ward a handful of times, and when she asked him the age question, he had also answered young. Things were always tense, but she never wrote a hit piece on him. The other members of the guild had all also answered with a small number, and nothing happened to them. He had no idea Laerton gave a high number.
Unknown to Falco, this was because Laerton had been blacked out drunk when she spoke to Alice Ward for the first time and couldn't recall anything about that conversation, so she never passed on that bit of information…
Alice Ward let out a hum, and she finally turned to look back at Davi. "Your guild is one I enjoy working with. They don't ask a lot of questions and tend to get the job done, no matter what I ask of them. It should go without saying, but this is all under the table, also. I've already sent the payment to your captain."
Falco nodded. "And what do you need us to do?"
Alice snapped, and the big man in the suit walked over to a section of the wall that had an expensive painting of a woman in golden armor on it. The painting, as it turned out, was a secret door, and the large man opened it and tinkered with a safe on the other side. He pulled out something wrapped in brown cloth, held together with a bit of thread.
Davi caught it when the man tossed it to him, and he held it, looking down at the package. It was bumpy and awkwardly shaped. It seemed to contain a plastic bag inside, which rattled around with something.
Olivia felt her face pale a bit when she saw the package. This felt a bit illegal.
"Things have been a little tight getting in and out of Narcissus City," Alice explained. "I'm sure you know of them, but the Pantheon guild has a base within this city. Myth, the leader of Pantheon, is quite a smart man and knows most of my people now. We can't just waltz into the city anymore. That's where you guys come in. I'd like for you to go there and deliver this package to a "friend" of mine. His name is Narcis. He owns a library near the city gate. It shouldn't be hard to find him."
It no longer felt a 'bit' illegal. This was illegal. Olivia went to speak up, but before she could, Falco nodded.
"Of course. We'll make sure it gets done."
Olivia held her tongue until after they were outside the apartment. When they walked down the stairs, she finally spoke up. "We're not delivering this thing, right?"
"She asked us to." Falco shrugged and took the package from Davi. He placed it into a bag he had at his side. "Ward's our only client, and we make most of our money from her. We can't turn her down otherwise; we're all out of a job."
"What about what Ragna does?" Olivia countered. "He goes into dungeons and gets money."
"Not all dungeons have a vast amount of wealth, and most of the time, other guilds can beat us to them. They don't like it when we enter dungeons while they're taking a quest." Falco shook his head. "Ragna's method works sometimes and helps, but it isn't a surefire way. Alice pays us a lot and helps us out when we need it. She's a powerful woman, in control of a lot of gangs. As long as we stay on her good side, our guild isn't fully doomed."
"This is wrong, though!" Olivia raised her voice, then lowered it into a half-whisper. "Those are drugs!"
"Of course they are." Falco snorted. "I'm not stupid."
"Knights don't do things like this!"
"Olivia," Falco's tone turned sharp, and his eyes narrowed. "We're not Knights."
"What?"
"Don't consider yourself a Knight." Falco shook his head and folded his arms. "The king doesn't give two fucks about you, me, Davi, or any other member of our guild. He saw you as data. You were numbers. Your nature of wanting to help people, the same for Davi, was a useful tool for him, but because of who you both are—being weak or from another land—he didn't want to put any resources into it. That's how our guild is. We're the rejects. The losers. The fuck-ups. The king isn't going to ever promote you from the rank of Squire. You'll never be a full Knight, nor will you earn a Title. That isn't how our guild works. The king saw you for who you were. He looked into your memories. Your emotions. Your very way of thinking. Two people end up in our guild. The ones whom he wants to silently remove, and so he places them here, putting a curse upon them, knowing that eventually time will do his deed and assassinate them. The second group are those with kind souls but no use to his greater plan. He knows that he doesn't need to worry about you doing quests. You'll help the people of his kingdom all on your own. Without benefits, you'll struggle and bleed, and you'll die for the people of a country that, in some cases, you weren't even born into. The king loves his people, but we are not part of that love. We are a tool, one that will go on to be discarded and thrown away."
"T-Then what do we do?" Olivia winced.
"You do what you want." Falco hummed. "Some of our members end up like Gormay or Vlad. They sit, fester, and refuse to do quests because what's the point? They're going to die one day, so why bother doing anything at all? Others are like Ragna. They have this sentence of death put upon them, yet they still smile. They still run around helping people, and they enjoy doing it. So do whatever you want." Falco sighed. "I want to help Alice Ward because she has helped us, and to be honest, I don't give two shits about any laws this kingdom has."
"If the system is broken, then why doesn't someone fix it?" Davi asked casually. He had remained silent throughout the argument but decided to speak up now. "I get that compared to other places, this kingdom is good, but I still see flaws. I also understand that a place without any flaws is impossible, but a lot of these are big ones. The kingdom relies on Arcane Knights, yet only the rich and powerful can become them, and only the rich and powerful can truly hire them. The disparity of positions also stands out to me. Only the elite are able to reach the top, while those who aren't part of the branch family have a point where they can seemingly go no further. Phoenix Flight itself seems like a total mess, despite how the curse works and how they have to keep it around. This kingdom isn't something grand or magical. It's a place where people are ignoring the flaws until it comes to bother them directly."
It would be impossible to make a perfect place. Such a thing didn't even exist in fairy tales. Corruption would exist everywhere, but that didn't mean it had to just be accepted and ignored.
The villages, the towns, and even the cities were all worth less if they weren't home to nobility. Everyone was a cog, going around in a big circle, powering the wheel that the kingdom used to march forward.
For those on top, they had no need for the system to change. They got to sit and exist in their perfect world. It was those at the bottom who had no say who had to suffer.
"And how would you fix it?" Falco raised an eyebrow.
Davi gave a shrug. "I'm not that smart when it comes to these areas. I'll admit, I can see the issues, but I'm clueless on how one should run a kingdom. Still, if I had to start anywhere, I think it would be best to remove the king and put someone else in charge."
Falco laughed at his response. "You know, if some people heard you saying that, they might think it treason."
Davi gave another shrug. "I don't have any strong feelings about it either way. Maybe the new ruler wouldn't be any better. Maybe he'd be worse. I think if you wanted a change, though, that's what would have to happen. From what I was told, the current king is old. Ancient even. Around since the time of Haru. People like that do a lot, but everyone has a time when they've done enough."
"That may be, but it doesn't matter at this moment. It isn't like we could do such a thing. I doubt we'll ever be at the point where we could." Falco turned to look at Olivia. "I'm doing this mission. Come if you want, or don't; do whatever you want. I don't care."
Olivia hesitated but then nodded. "I'll come." She muttered. "I'm a Knight for the Phoenix Flight guild. If this is the quest that must be done, then I'll do it."
Falco's face softened a bit at her response. "Alright then. Let's go get our ride."
"We're not going to use the same method Ragna did, right?" Davi asked, shuddering slightly. Even he, someone who didn't feel much emotion, was filled with fear at the thought of hurling through the sky again.
Falco snorted and shook his head. "No, don't worry. I'm not as batshit crazy as Ragna. We have a different method for traveling. Let's go find Pock. He should be back at his church."
As they walked through Oleander and avoided the many disasters that threatened them along the way, Olivia couldn't help but think back to what Davi had said.
A different ruler being in charge.
She had pondered the idea. She wasn't stupid. Being in Phoenix Flight was never her goal. This guild meant that she was a Knight, but not one anyone would recognize. She had plans for that to change eventually. She'd help people and do her best to show them she had what it took. She didn't want to give up yet.
Being a Knight was her dream, but the more she learned about them, the more she saw that the versions of the Knights she had in mind were different from how they actually were.
Perhaps Davi was right.
Maybe a change would need to be made.
What would happen if she became a captain?
That was a fleeting idea. She did want to go up the ranks, but for that to happen, she'd have to show everyone why Phoenix Flight was worthy enough to be Knights in the first place. She'd have to change the system itself. Break the machine and have something else take its place.
Was such a thing even possible?
She'd find out.
When they arrived at the church, the three of them entered, and once again Pock was seated up near the top. His hands were clasped together, and he had his head bowed, muttering several prayers under his breath.
Falco stopped when he saw him and decided to let his friend finish what he was doing. While he did that, Davi glanced around the room. "Does Pock own this church?" It was the second time he found Pock here, dressed as a priest. He doubted anyone would hire a Magical Mutant, especially one from the Phoenix Flight guild, yet here Pock was. The fact that the place also seemed to always be empty wasn't lost on Davi. Nobody was coming.
Falco gave a slow nod. "Yeah. It was his father's church. It's his now."
"I didn't know he was that religious the first time I met him." Olivia hummed.
"He's not," Falco said sternly.
Their talking alerted Pock, who stopped his prayers and turned to look at them. "Oh! You guys came back!"
"We're here for a mission, Pock." Falco interrupted the man.
Pock winced slightly. "Another one? Damn. I just got back, you know. Had to take Ragna to go pick up the two new recruits."
"Oh? Are they back at the base now?" Falco raised an eyebrow and hummed. "I guess we must have missed you as we were leaving. I felt your mana when I entered the city and assumed you were back. To be honest, I expected you to say you still weren't able to get them."
Pock chuckled. "Luckily, the Holy Saint put her foot down. I took them back to the base, and they should be training with Ragna now, so don't even think about getting them roped into whatever mission you're going on."
"It was one requested by Ward."
Pock's smile faded, and he let out a sigh. "I'll go get my stuff. Give me a moment. I'll meet you three outside."
"Thanks."
"Dang, he instantly agreed the moment he learned it involved Alice?" Olivia muttered as the three of them stepped outside and waited for Pock. "I knew she was respected in the guild, but geez."
"I told you." Falco leaned against the wall and hummed. "She's an important woman. That's for damn sure. It's amazing that Davi was able to not piss her off. Maybe the next two recruits can do that as well."
"I wonder who they are." Olivia looked to Davi. "Any clue?"
Davi stayed silent and stared up at the sky. It had started to rain. "One of them can change the weather. I bet."
"You can tell all that just by looking up at the sky?" Olivia questioned. The rain was soft, and she held her hand out, watching as the drops splattered onto it. "That's kind of amazing."
"I'm very familiar with magic that changes the weather," Davi explained. He looked toward the sky, letting the rain fall onto him. "The mana in the air always feels a little off, and the way the water touches your skin isn't how normal rain behaves. As if it's being forced into the act. I hate the rain, too. You can't properly fish."
"I get the feeling you hate a lot of things," Falco responded in a flat tone.
"I do."
An awkward silence filled the air before it was finally broken by Pock. The mutant stepped out of the church dressed in simple leather armor that was similar to Olivia's own but a bit slimmer. Zippers covered it head to toe, and he walked past them, cracking his knuckles.
"Alright! So where am I taking us?"
"Narcissus City."
"Seriously! That's so far! Why didn't you tell me before I agreed to help?"
"Whoops." Falco gave a half wave. "Open the gate."
Pock rolled his eyes and unzipped a zipper across his palm. He held it out and announced his spell. "Vil Zipper Gate. Open." The space before Pock rippled and twisted. The air cracked and fell as a line formed, and a zipper appeared midair. It came down, unfolding the world and opening up into a large pocket. Pock panted a little and waved his hand forward. "Alright. Let's go."
He stumbled through the gate, and they followed after him. Olivia had never seen Narcissus City before, so she was excited to gaze upon it, but she didn't even get a moment to look before a foot rammed into her ankle. Pain exploded through her, and she was slammed into the ground. Her face paled when she felt the barrel of a gun press into her back.
She wasn't the only one on the ground, either. Pock, Falco, and Davi had all been slammed down and had someone on top of them, pinning them in place. She managed to crane her head up and gasped at who she saw.
The woman on top of her was a familiar face. She had long black hair and a pair of blue eyes that were ignited as if they were full of fire. She clutched a long handgun, and her finger was already on the trigger.
This woman was Cinder—one of the up-and-coming members of the guild who joined last year.
"Teleporting into our city without any notice?" Cinder growled out. "That's illegal."
Pantheon had just caught them.