Return to Jorgaldur Volume III: blood warrior

Spy

She appeared in a small uninhabited cave. It was night outside, and the lights of the city could be seen a little over a mile away. She wanted to go back to the beginners village, and go to the green area. It was the closest place to the mansion, and she could also visit Tili. However, there was a problem.

She had to go through the red area to get to the cave and the teleport. Any other option was a long detour that could take weeks, maybe months. However, if she entered with her current level, the alarm that covered the area reserved for low levels would raise.

So, she decided to go back to the city, to look for information, this time hidden under a hood. She had verified that it wasn't rare among adventurers, and thus it would be easy for her to search for information. Her goal was to find a transport or a way to level up quickly. At 48, she was supposed to unlock Disguise, with which she hoped to be able to bypass the shield. It is true that she wasn't completely sure that it would be effective, but it was worth a try.

She entered the tavern next to the Adventurer's Guild branch, as that was where adventurers usually met. Although what she found wasn't what she was expecting.

"It hadn't been a good idea to come that late," she told herself.

Being a creature of the night, she had momentarily forgotten the ways of the diurnal people. By now, almost all the adventurers had already left. Most of those who remained were quite drunk. One of them approached the newcomer.

"Hhhi, babbbeee. Do yyyou waaaant to... haaavvve aaa drrriinnnnk withhhh meeee?" a half-elf half-cat-man asked.

"No thanks," she walked past without even looking at him.

"Hhheyyy! Dooonnn't beee likkke thaaaat! Cooommmme wiiithhhh meeee..." he approached her, and wanted to put his hand on her shoulder.

She grabbed him by the wrist, kicked him in the ankle and he fell to the ground. Without stopping, she continued to the bar, where she left some silver coins in front of the barmaid.

"I'm just passing through. I need work for someone around my level. Do you know where I could find something?"

The middle-aged woman looked at her, as if trying to see through the hood, through her fake green eyes. Nevertheless, she didn't hesitate to take the coins.

"Your best option is to go northeast, to Caimrel County. There're little stampedes going on, so they pay for the hunted animals quite handsomely. They have no other choice, or a big one could arise," the barmaid explained.

"Thank you," she said goodbye and turned around.

"Don't even think about going through the forest, it's very dangerous right now. There're carriages every day, at 9:15," the woman suggested. "By the way, good job against Ilupto. Ha, ha. Not everyone can get rid of him so easily, and without breaking anything."

Ilupto was the drunk that the vampiress had thrown to the ground, from which he still hadn't gotten up. She ignored him and left the tavern, as she didn't want to get in trouble with him or other drunks. However, before leaving, something caught her attention.

Sitting in a corner, there was a hooded person, like her. It wasn't strange in itself, but she could feel something in him, her blood felt it, he was a vampire.

It wasn't normal to be able to detect them, but she was a pure vampiress, an ancestral one. Only a vampire powerful enough to totally hide their aura could bypass her senses, and he wasn't.

Nearly an hour passed before the reptilian vampire left the tavern. He had been waiting patiently for hours, but no one else had shown up. From the window by which he had been sitting, a small building could be seen.

They were four columns adorned with engravings of dragon bodies coiling around them. The upper part, their heads, could be seen in the dome that was supported by the columns. It seemed that they were challenging each other with their eyes.

On the ground, an intricate magic circle was carved, on which adventurers using the portal to exit the dungeon appeared. It was always watched by soldiers, because it wasn't uncommon for wounded to appear, and a healer could be needed. Disputes weren't so rare either.

The vampire had seen the group of the count's children leave, but not the adventurer who was supposed to accompany them, so he had been waiting to see if she appeared. What he didn't know was that precisely this adventurer was following him.

He approached the soldiers guarding the circle. He had made sure to befriend a few of them, by buying them some drinks. Therefore, the vampire headed towards one in particular.

"Codfo! What're you doing working at these hours?" he greeted the soldier with familiarity.

"Gavjo? Ha, ha! Have you already been drinking late?" he returned the greeting.

"Of course! Ha, ha. Someone had to drink your share! How was the day here, just as boring as always?," the vampire casually asked.

"Yeah. The count's children have come out, but nothing else worth mentioning. They all seemed perfectly fine. Not even one adventurer with bruises has appeared today," the soldier explained.

"Well, at least now you had seen the unknown friend of the little counts," he tried to obtain information, without asking directly.

"No way! She wasn't with them!" the soldier assured, something the vampire already knew.

"Oh? Had she left before?" he pretended to be confused.

"Not that we know of. She doesn't show up in any of the reports. I suppose she will stay a while longer for whatever reason. The rest didn't seem worried."

"Well, if she shows up make sure you take a good look at her. I'm already curious to know how she's like. Ha, ha. At least, you'll have something to tell!" he prompted.

"Sure! There're few things to see around here..." the soldier lamented.

They talked for a while longer while Gjaki was frowning. She didn't like that he was asking about her companions, much less about her.

As if that weren't enough, the aura she could feel from him was similar to the vampiress that she had found with the count's brother. That could mean that they had a common father or mother, so she made a decision.

A Bat was ordered to follow him while she wrote a letter. Only when she found out where he was staying did she finish it, and put it inside an envelope, which was sealed with something like wax. While it was still warm, she pressed on it the ring Kroquia had given her, thus engraving a coat of arms.