Chapter Twenty-One - The Good Silver

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“Do you know anything about the rebellion?”

Cricket blinked. She had been happy to meet up with Rosario once more, mostly because... well, a [Jester] ought to shoot her shot, no? But that didn’t prepare her for the question. 

They had met at the tavern that Rosario had suggested. It was a little rich for Cricket’s tastes, but she wasn’t tossed out of the place just for loitering... yet. When Rosario arrived, Cricket was quick to join her and then they started walking northwards.

The quest was a simple escort, and that’s what Cricket intended to do. They were still within the North City, though the houses were spaced out a little more now, and she could see a long countryside road stretching out ahead already.

“The rebellion?” Cricket asked. She hummed. “I know more than some and less than others, I suppose.”

“Hmm,” Rosario replied. She had a piece of paper that she held in hand. It was folded up nice and neat, and Cricket was beside herself with curiosity about it.

Of course, she didn’t ask. She knew what curiosity did to the cat, and as a smart little bug, she didn’t want to experience that.

“Why did you want to know?” Cricket asked. Of all the places in Alpta to talk about that particular gaggle of scallygags, this was perhaps one of the most interesting. The rebels did have quite a few grudges against the folk that called the North City their home.

“Ah. I’m just curious. Why do they exist at all?” Rosario asked.

“That’s an easy one! Because there’s new management, and the old clowns don’t like the new ringleader’s whip. Heh! It doesn’t help that with the Aerie in charge, a lot of folks that lived cushy lives aren’t anymore, and... well, the Aerie folk don’t much care for people that don’t fit a certain look.” She gestured to herself. “I, for example, the world’s pre-eminent [Jester], am a bit of a bug, and though thou favourite bug do be smug, the old folk of Aerie don’t much care for us.”

“Racism?” Rosario asked.

“What else?” Cricket replied. “It’s a convenient reason to hate someone, isn’t it? Their antennae are shorter than yours? Must be unworthy!”

The [Scullery Maid] made an indelicate noise, a snort. “Figures, even a fantasy world can’t escape that kind of thing.”

Cricket’s antennae twitched. Fantasy world? My, her maid friend was a strange one, wasn’t she? They eventually made it to the edge of the city and beyond. Cricket decided to continue where they had left off, to keep that conversation going, even if the topic was rather dull. “The rebellion make sense, I think. Though... I don’t know if they’re misguided or not. People are upset, and angry, and they’ll lash out for it. I’d rather keep my cute button nose out of it!”

“Keeping your nose out of politics is wise. Until the politics show up at your doorstep,” Rosario said. Then she sighed. “No, I don’t think I’d want to get involved either. I have nothing to gain from it.”

She looked at the paper again, then muttered something. A tiny flicker of magic came and went, and Cricket thought she saw a magic circle blink to life. The paper caught fire and burned merrily for a few moments in Rosario’s hands. She didn’t seem bothered by the flames licking her delicate skin.

“So,” Rosario said as she pulled out a small kerchief and wiped her hand. “What are we fighting?”

“Fighting?” Cricket asked. “Thou said that thou merely wanted free space to practice thine skills?”

“Ah... maybe I should have...” She trailed off as Cricket giggled.

“I jest! I jest...er, even! Haha! But don’t worry. There ought to be some fiendish monsters around. This area is oft patrolled by the Adventurer’s Guild to fight off [Forest Raptors]. The guild regularly sends out [Hunters] and [Trappers] who put out spoiled meats with lure bells near them. It makes the raptors associate the particular clink of a lure bell to food, and they come running along into the waiting arms of the adventurers. There hasn’t been a patrol in two weeks now, so...” Cricket wiggled her head, and her new bells clinked merrily. 

She still missed her old bells, but these were nice. Maybe a change in jingles wasn’t so bad?

Cricket made sure to move while shaking her head more than usual, mostly to make her bells jangle, but also because once Rosario caught her walking so strangely the maid let out a tiny squeak of a laugh.

Girls laughing was good. It was worth any amount of embarrassment! 

“I hear something,” Rosario said. They were a decent ways out of the North City, past the space that was patrolled by the city guard and well into the countryside. This area was mostly vineyards and small forests, with the occasional road leading off to a hillside mansion owned by one noble family or another. It wasn’t uncivilized, but it was on the edge. 

They happened to be next to a small but open field, with grass that grew up to Cricket’s knees and an old, dilapidated wooden fence around it.

Coming from the far end was a rustle, the monster emerged from the forest, moving low and slow with a stalking gait. If Rosario wasn’t aware of it already, Cricket might have missed it entirely. The browns and blacks of its mottled fur blended in with the shadows. 

A [Forest Raptor]. 

The creature was tall enough to reach Cricket’s waist, with a face that looked more like a cat’s than anything else. It had a little nose and long whiskers and large, slitted eyes. The monster's forelimbs were short, ending in nasty claws. Its rear limbs were far longer, more muscular, and they had talons that could reach deep inside of a person’s chest to rip them apart. 

[Forest Raptor]s were the apex predators of the region. They were also rather lazy and sometimes their smarts were their downfall. 

“[Forest Raptor], level eight,” Rosario said as she no doubt used an inspection skill on the monster. “That’s not too strong.”

“It’s second tier,” Cricket warned. “They start off as [Raptor Kittens] for their first twenty-five levels. They level fast, though.”

For the average person, the best they could expect was to spend half the day working on their job. A monster? Whatever they did was monster-like, and so they levelled constantly. Every hunt, every mid-day nap, every time they went around to sniff curiously at things. 

“Did you want to fight it?” Cricket asked.

“I did.”

“Magic?”

Rosario shook her head. “No. I know that my magic works. I need to run through my entire repertoire, of course, but that can wait. Over half of my spells are utility spells.”

Cricket blinked. That was a strange bit of information to pick up. Was one of her other jobs not combat focused, then? What kind of non-combat focused mage gained [Disintegration Beam]? She’d poked at the library at the Adventurer’s Guild and didn’t find any mention of it... though she did admittedly get bored of looking rather quickly. 

“So, not magic, then?” Cricket asked. That left another, less appealing option. Cricket continued to pretend not to see the raptor, who stalked forwards with slow, precise motions.

Rosario hummed, then reached into the air. Her hand blurred as she interacted with her inventory, then she pulled out... a kitchen knife?

“I don’t have most of my weapons. They’re in my bank. Ah, but I do have this?”

Cricket would, under normal circumstances, have dismissed the weapon. Most weapons were what they seemed. A knife was a knife. But... a quick [Inspect] on the blade returned more information, even if her skill in that regard wasn’t the best. 

[The Good Silver]

Enchanted Kitchen Knife - Second Tier

Cricket felt her tummy do a little bit of a flip. An enchanted weapon was uncommon. Not insanely rare, she’d handled one or two, but only tier one weapons. There were a few richer adventurers at the guild who had second tier equipment, of course. It was just expensive.

“What is that enchanted with?” Cricket asked.

“Hm? Oh, this old thing? It’s just a silver knife. I enchanted it with [Sharpness] and [Bless]. Sharpness for obvious reasons, Bless lets you target a wider range of enemies, even more than just a silvered weapon would.”

Rosario flipped the knife over with a little toss, a small show of dexterity. Cricket was mostly paying attention to her wording, however. ‘I enchanted it...’

“It’s quite pretty,” Cricket settled on. And it was. The knife had some engravings on its side, little fleur-de-lys and viney swirls. The handle was some sort of ivory for the guard and pommel with a dark leather wrap around the grip. 

“Thank you!” Rosario hopped over the fence, then she shifted her hips and switched her stance. The [Forest Raptor], now aware that it was spotted, lowered itself, exposed its teeth, and [Hiss]ed even as its tail wagged behind it for a pounce.

Cricket felt a deep coldness sweep through her. Sweat broke out across her brow and back and she was, for a moment, rooted on the spot, like someone who turned a corner and discovered a snake at their feet. 

The [Hiss] was a pretty strong ability, one used to freeze enemies. Rosario was entirely unaffected, but Cricket regretted that Wisdom was her dump stat.

Still, it meant that she had no choice but to watch was the two fought.

The [Forest Raptor] leapt first, launching itself with so much strength that clods of dirt flew out behind it. Its rear legs climbed with the motion, exposing those long, dangerous talons.

Rosario’s foot dug into the soft ground, then she blinked forwards. 

One moment, she was beneath the raptor’s growing shadow. In the next she was next to the raptor, flying vertically past in a blur of black skirts and white petticoats. 

Then, somehow, Rosario spun.

Her knife caught the last of the sun’s light, and kept it, glowing brightly as she corkscrewed through the air. 

The edge of [The Good Silver] sliced repeatedly through the raptor. Each cut was thin, fast, barely leaving a line behind. 

Grass exploded upwards beyond the raptor, little cuttings of it taking to the air as they were severed, despite being paces away from the fight. 

Rosario’s skirts flared out with the centrifugal force of her spin as she slowed down, flipped, then landed primly on her feet with only the barest flex of her knees.

She looked down at her bloodied knife, inspecting its dripping edge. Then she turned towards Cricket. There was blood splatter on her cheek.

Behind her, the raptor landed with a swish of its tail. The hiss it had been making ended in a choking, wet rasp. Then the creature fell apart, like a roast being divvied up by an expert [Chef]. Its tail toppled down, then its hindquarters, then the rest of it. Cricket saw naked bones and bisected organs as the monster fell into the long grass.

“Hmm. So, [Cut] still works. I’ll have to test a few other skills,” Rosario said.

Cricket swallowed. “I’m sure we can find more pray for thine practice?”

***