PW Chapter 289: Seeing Ginnastadt (Patreon)

With a week of separation from the events of the war, Astrid was no longer unable to take in the sights like before. Instead, she continued walking, following the press of foot traffic as she glanced around. Even though she actively tried to look at the city, the first thing that caught her attention was just how many people there were. Obviously, a large number of the people present lived here, but even more had come for trade, as the Duchess had mentioned putting special effort into improving everybody’s current situations now that she was back in control. Something about tax reductions?

Regardless of whatever the reason was, thousands of people were on the street. The press of bodies was uncomfortable, and Astrid had to fight to keep herself from just shoving through everybody or jumping up to make her way along the roofs. That would be, at the very least, really impolite. 

So, she was stuck among the stink of so many bodies. Several people around either took no care of their hygiene or had been deprived of water, because the sour smell of dry sweat and unwashed bodies pressed in from every direction. The sound of arguments and excitement filled the air, with a constant hum of conversation and the rumble of cart wheels on the ground accompanying it. The streets were crowded, but Astrid was large and imposing enough that most people gave her half a meter’s berth, which was more than anybody else was getting.

The buildings, as Astrid looked past the people, looked to be in pretty good shape, all things considered. She had anticipated seeing burned-out and ruined homes everywhere, windows shattered and doors broken in the chaos of battle. A different part of her, a part of her that she could admit was probably traumatized, expected to see dead bodies and bloodstains as well. Instead, though there were obvious remnants of damage throughout the city, largely, everything was still in good condition. While she thought about it, it would seem that somebody nearby had the same question, as they wondered about the state of the city aloud.

“It’s the Duchess,” somebody answered. Astrid continued walking, but pushed a small amount of Acumen-aligned aura to her head to make sure she could keep listening. “The highest-level Architects and Builders were enslaved by the Marchioness, but because she’s dead, the Duchess is paying for them to fix everything as fast as they can. At no cost to the citizens!”

“I said she couldn’t buy my loyalty,” the first person grumbled as Astrid grew farther away. “I think I might’ve been wrong.”

“What, were you wanting to be forced into a contract?” the second man asked, incredulous. “Are you stupid? Why would you need to be convinced to agree with the Duchess?”

The two’s conversation quickly became an argument as Astrid stopped paying any attention. She allowed a smile to cross her face as she continued on her path, though. Already, Ruth was starting to show that she was going to be a better leader. Hopefully, that continued to be the case. Astrid had made a threat against her if she went and became a tyrant, but she had no idea how she was going to take care of the problems that would arise if she killed this leader of the country. Things would certainly become a lot worse if she sent the country spiralling into confusion again…

With a sigh, Astrid pushed that thought from her mind and instead looked at the storefronts that lined the street she walked on. Small displays of what could be bought in each place were set out, and Astrid was struck by the variety of clothing. Here there were dresses, there were suits, and further down the road were heavy laborers’ uniforms. More than the price of people, that reminded her that this was more than just a big town. This was a place with established factories, and probably parties among the upper echelon and high-level individuals. There were firmly stratified sections of society here, something that she’d never really seen before. How many of these stores had continued operating much the same under the rule of the Marchioness?

She walked past several inns and a few bars besides, and finally, she exited the press of people. It was almost instant, as if they had all been going to the same place, and looking behind herself, Astrid could see that that was the case. The traveling merchants only had reason to go to the inns right now; it was late afternoon, almost evening. In fact, most of the storefronts seemed to be closing as she had walked past. She hadn’t really noticed that over over the general awe she had felt as she looked at the city. But while the bars were getting busy, everything else was about ready to close.

Even so, Astrid continued on her path forward. If she wanted an inn, she’d be able to get one without too much issue. If nothing else, money talked, and even if she ended up getting ripped off, she had hundreds of gold that she could spend without any worry.

Following along the same street, as the crowds completely died until she was alone, Astrid entered what was obviously the homes of the rich and powerful. Before, the buildings were pressed up next to each other, with no real space between them. Now, each building had a larger yard than the next. Walls surrounded each property, at least waist-high, though some reached even higher than Astrid’s head. Guards were stationed along each entrance, and she started to attract no small amount of attention as a lone stranger who had entered their world.

It wasn’t more than a hundred meters or so before Astrid was seeing homes larger and more elaborate than the Viscount’s manor back in Stahlstadt. Ornate decorations patterned each building, each more gaudy and useless than the last. In no time at all, Astrid found herself wondering how somebody could even be remotely comfortable in one of the homes. They were more bits and baubles than homes, and Astrid could only see it as stupid. 

As she continued on her path, she didn’t miss how over half of the massive buildings were empty, without a single soul within. Only maybe one out of three of the buildings was actively protected by the guards, and Astrid wondered how much of that was because of the Marchioness and how many owed their emptiness to the Duchess.

Again, Astrid shook the thoughts from her mind, and it was only a few minutes later that several people approached her as she walked down the street, looking left and right as she wondered how much the idiot nobles had wasted on the homes she saw.

“I’m sorry, but I’m afraid you’re going to need to leave,” the guard said as he walked up to her. At his side walked another guard, presumably someone he worked with. Their armor batched, with the Duchess’s coat of arms emblazoned across the chest. “This area is closed to anybody who doesn’t live here. With everything that’s happened, we don’t want there to be anything or anyone hat goes missing from hidden dangers that might still be lurking.”

“Makes sense,” Astrid nodded. She didn’t argue with him, but asked, “Do you know where the Wanderers have been staying?”

“I’m assuming you mean the party that killed the Marchioness,” the second guard ventured. The woman, by whose presence Astrid guessed she was probably high Iron or low Steel, sized Astrid up more critically. “I know they haven’t been opposed to visits from fans, but it’s getting a little late. How about you try tomorrow—wait.”

She stopped herself from speaking as she looked up into Astrid’s face before then taking in her frame and narrowing her eyes.

“If you were to put on your equipment,” the guard asked, “are we going to see a draconic helmet and a dark full set of armor paired with a hammer?”

Instead of saying anything, Astrid equipped her helmet with a quick thought before dismissing it. The guards in front of her both cracked into smiles as Astrid silently affirmed their guess about her identity. Both came closer to her with obvious excitement.

“Did you really kill three different people a tier higher than you?”

Astrid, surprised by the excitement, considering what the war had actually been like, nodded slowly. Then, before either of them could ask anything else, she raised a hand to forestall any questions. Once there was silence, she asked, “Do you know where my party is?”

“No,” they glanced at each other to confirm. “I know that they’ve largely stayed up here in the downtown, but not where they specifically have stayed. The Barbarian lady, though, she’s been poking her head around and just investigating people. She’s the most likely for you to stumble across while wandering around.”

“That does sound like Muti,” Astrid chuckled. “I’ll see if I can find them, then. Is anybody else going to stop me? If so, should I just tell them who I am?”

“There are going to be a few other people around. As long as you just say your name, you should be fine. Now, go ahead. Have a good night.”

The guards didn’t say anything more as they saluted and started to walk away. Astrid was struck by the strangeness of how they acted compared with what experiences they must’ve had, but didn’t feel any need to go ahead and interrogate them about it. Instead, she simply took the opportunity to continue to walk around the city. She made her way to the entrance into the Dungeon proper, where the guard presence was heavy. A couple dozen people stood along the repaired walls, and they all started to bristle as she came closer. Instead of trying to explain herself without exposing who she was, Astrid pulled her hood back and summoned her armor.

Standing there in the waning light of sunset, her armor cut a sharp figure against the fading sunlight and bright enchanted lights. Those people who were looking nervously at her stopped their negative reactions. Instead, they snapped into a strong salute as soon as they recognized who she was. Astrid could hear whispers of her name going around the square fortress, but before anybody could disrupt their patrols, she waved them off. Then, with heavy steps, she made her way around the newly constructed building.

She remembered which wall they had exploded out of, and could see the abandoned wreckage where the innocents had been killed. The broken bodies that she hadn’t been able to bring herself to look at there were long gone. Everything was cleaned, but the wreckage remained. Maybe she would ask the Duchess why she had chosen to leave it like this, or maybe she wouldn’t. She was just so done thinking about the war. So long as things were getting solved, she didn’t want to have to concern herself with how it was going to happen. She wasn’t the leader of the country, and she wanted to stay that way.

After just a few minutes of wandering around, something prickled on the back of her neck. Astrid didn’t need to think before she ducked low and caught Muti’s fist. For a few short seconds, their strikes flashed back and forth, though Muti didn’t rely on any of her magical Skills. Instead, with only physical strength to guide them, Astrid quickly gained the upper hand and pinned Muti to the ground. The Barbarian woman grinned widely, her teeth flashing in the low light.

“You never change,” Astrid said, the words almost a comfort as she said them.

“I change. I get stronger,” Muti laughed. “The problem is that you do too.”

“All right, where’s everybody meeting?” Astrid asked with a smile as she helped Muti to her feet. Before either of them could go anywhere, Eve jumped out of nowhere to stand nearby. When she looked and saw the two women talking conversationally, she shook her head.

“Welcome back, Astrid,” the Adamantium tier woman greeted. “How was your journey?”

“As good as it could be, considering the reason why I had to go,” Astrid answered. “Is there a problem?”

“No,” she answered, though she stared at both of the women in front of her. “Next time, though, please refrain from getting into a fight in the middle of the city and scaring everybody who can see you.”

With that reminder, Astrid felt her face flush as she looked at Muti. The Barbarian didn’t look at all bothered by the warning that they’d been given, and Astrid shook her head.

“I’m sorry, Eve. That’s my fault. I’ll make sure that, in the future, any random combat like this that occurs will happen somewhere that isn’t going to scare anybody. I can understand why people were scared.” Then, Astrid turned her attention to her friend and, with a series of decreasingly polite and increasingly threatening words, got Muti to apologize for her part in scaring the people who lived nearby.

“Are you intending to go to the meal with Philip?” Eve asked once the apologies were given.

“Honestly, I’d forgotten about it,” Astrid answered without answering. “When is it?”

“Tonight,” Eve said, looking at the sky. “Maybe two hours from now?”

“Then, if you see us, you see us. If not, know that we just couldn’t make it today.”

Eve didn’t make any further demands on their time, and like that, Astrid and Muti were alone and ready to go to their own meal.

“Show me where everybody is,” Astrid said, waving a hand. She didn’t feel the need to have some long conversation with Muti right this second. Instead, she could wait until the party was altogether. In a companionable quiet, they made their way down the same street that Astrid had entered from. Now, instead of simply covering her head and hoping that nobody would pay too much attention to her, Astrid moved through the crowds quite easily. Muti’s presence and influence made it so people didn’t look at them and subconsciously avoided going near where the two women walked.

It was interesting to Astrid how the journey felt so different. Instead of feeling like one of the people coming through the city, now she felt like some sort of foreign creature, able to walk among people and remain completely unseen. With the streets lit up by the glowing blue enchanted lights, it felt like a different world, and Astrid felt almost lost walking among the streets. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that, but fortunately, it wasn’t long before Muti reached their destination.

Unlike some of the extremely busy inns, where she took them was a fancy building with a few large windows decorating its front façade. Muti seemed to bristle a little as she walked forward and opened the door, and a host there gave a warm greeting as he gestured for them both to follow him. They fell in line and walked down a hallway with dozens of closed doors. Evidently, the place catered to private gatherings, which Astrid supposed the Wanderers merited on their last evening.

“How did you know I was here?” Astrid asked as they approached a small room. The host knocked softly twice on the door before opening it for them and revealing Skandr, Felix, and Benedict.

“You said you would arrive today, and you do not break your promises,” Muti said.

“That doesn’t seem like much of an answer to me,” Astrid laughed as she hugged each of the men in turn. 

“We’ve been keeping an eye out,” Skandr answered. “With you saying today was going to be the day, it wasn’t too hard to feel you coming in.”

“Really? It was that simple?” Astrid confirmed as she found a seat and got comfortable. 

“Basically,” Skandr shrugged. “You weren’t trying to hide your presence to  anyone looking out for it. Regular people probably couldn’t tell, but anyone sensitive to mana could feel the ambient area react to you.”

They continued chatting for a while before the waiter came and took their order. At that point, the difficult conversation couldn’t be put off any longer, and Astrid raised her glass with a bittersweet smile.

“Welcome to the disbandment dinner of the Wanderers, my friends. I hope you enjoy the night.”