Chapter 25: Clear Water City

Early next morning, Silva and the gang woke up, ready to take on the city.

“Alright, everyone since we have to keep a low profile, I suggest a small group of us go to the city to gather supplies, and whoever wants expensive booze are welcome to join,” Silva slyly suggested.

“Yes, count me in,” Rufus said kindly.

“Right, I had a feeling you would, anyone else,” Silva asked.

“I would like to check out the shops in the city, so I am in,” Lisa agreed.

“Sil, I don’t think everyone should go, since you know what the rules of the city are,” Raquel pointed out.

“Yeah, alright, ok, Terrance, Simon, and Scout, you three stay behind and protect my daughters. I do not want any bad reports when I get back,” Silva warned.

“Oh, come on Sil, I would like to go,” Scout said.

“Sorry, Scout, but the city we are going to has a no violence spell cast on it, so you can’t really steal anything, sorry,” Silva explained. “You can hang out here with Julius. Which means you are out too.”

“Fine, I wanted to hit on some of your guildmates too,” Julius admitted.

“Fine, have it your way,” Silva said, heading out.

“Huh, I never thought a city would have a spell cast for something so strange,” Terrance wondered in shock.

“Clear Water City is a pacifist city. They ban violence and booze from the city after an incident that took place there a few years ago. The only place in the city selling booze is the Guild Offices, so travelers tend to avoid the city when they can,” Silva explains.

“This sucks,” Rufus said, annoyed.

“Silva, should we leave our weapons behind or take them?” Lisa asked.

“I think it will be fine as long as you don’t draw them out in the city,” Silva said kindly.

“Alright, since that is settled, we better be off,” Raquel pointed out.

“Yes, alright, be good to your uncles, my darlings, and try not to go crazy,” Silva warned, giving the girls a hug.

“Yes, we promised mommy, but can you please bring us candy,” Greer and Grace said together.

“I will see what I can do, Terrance, please take care of them,” Silva said, giving the girls one last hug before leaving.

“I will do my best,” Terrance agreed, staring at Silva hoping for more.

“Alright everyone let’s move out,” Rufus shouted, taking the lead.

The gang ready to head out to the city, but it did not stop Raquel from asking Silva this annoying question.

“So, I assume the guy you left behind was your boyfriend?”

“Ex-boyfriend actually. I am not really in the mood to talk about it. I did want my girls to know someone else besides the guild,” Silva replied, pissed off.

“I take it he lied to you and that is why you broke up with him, even though it is clear as day that you still have feelings for him,” Raquel pointed out.

“You are right as always and if you do not mind I don’t want to talk about it anymore,” Silva replied even more annoyed.

“Well, fine, but you should know I can tell he is hurting inside and still loves you. Why don’t you tell him, so you can end both of your miseries?” Raquel asked.

“I could, but I want him to suffer a little bit more before I give him a second chance,” Silva replied, not thinking about it.

“I will give you one thing you really know how to pick,” Raquel teased.

“Yes, well, let’s change the subject, we hardly talked about you, what have you been up to all this time?” Silva asked to change the subject.

“Well, I have been great, I have been promoted to S-class now. I have been traveling around taking on harder jobs. I must admit the job you took on in the desert sure trumps everything I have done,” Raquel explained.

“Yeah, it sure was a tough one, but I am glad I did it. Also, I wanted to thank you for taking care of the girls, I’ll beat it was not easy,” Silva said kindly.

“It was my pleasure. It was hard the first year since they wanted to escape and look for you, but Gale told them the truth about the reason they couldn’t leave and after they calmed down they were understanding. I know they miss you everyday over the years and still do. It starts getting easier when they receive gifts from you and letters. They have been happy over the years knowing you still care about you. Once they got older, they were allowed to join the guild and they have been a big help with jobs, especially translating languages.”

“That’s good, I am glad they are a big help to the guild.”

“Silva, I know you came here to escape and visit the girls, but why are you heading to the city you hate?”

“Well, we do need supplies and to get a job, also to visit the temple and Lilliana, I miss her too,” Silva explained vaguely.

“Right, I haven’t been up to the temple for a long time, it will be nice seeing her again.”

“Well, it will be nice seeing her together.”

“Oh hey, I know you left because you had to go home, but how did you end up with all of your old friends?” she asked.

“It’s complicated, but all I could say is, I got reinstated back into the Guild League and now I am here. Anyways, let’s hurry, I need to punch something,” Silva said kindly.

“Yeah, me too,” Raquel said kindly.

“It is nice seeing friends getting long again,” Lisa said, staring at the girls.

“Yeah, well, Silva and Raquel were the best, they were known as Team Roaring Lighting and after the group grew with six other members including me. We were a force to be reckoned with and nothing couldn’t stop us,” Lisa said with praise.

“I remember and you ladies were very hot,” Rufus said remembering them.

“And you see why you can’t get a girlfriend,” Lisa said, annoyed.

“Hey,” Rufus shouted embarrassed.

After many conversations, the group finally arrived in Clear Water City.

“Welcome back to Clear Water City,” Raquel announced.

“Wow, this is Clear Water City, it is so beautiful, no wonder they have that no violence rule,” Rufus said, impressed.

“It sure is amazing and you might like the bridge we have to cross,” Silva explained.

“Oh, look, Silva actually likes something, maybe I should give you a gift and see what you will say,” Julius teased.

“How about shut up or I’ll let Rajah eat you,” Silva threatened and Rajah was growling.

Once they finished talking, they approached a big gap before they entered, but they had to pass the check point first.

“Please show your passes,” the guard asked.

The whole group showed their passes and waited for the guard.

“Alright, you may enter and please enjoy your stay in our wonderful city,” the guard said as he materialized the bridge.

“Thank you so much,” Raquel said kindly.

They began walking up the bridge purely made of pure water and it was amazing.

“Wow it is strange we are walking on a bridge of water and yet we are not sinking in it,” Rufus said amazed.

“Yeah, the bridge is held together by magic, so you don’t have to worry about falling through and into the cavern at the bottom,” Silva explained, trying to be fearful.

“Yeah, thanks for the warning,” Rufus said, a little scared.

Soon after they safely crossed the bridge despite the fact Rufus was still scared of crossing it and entered the city discussing their next move.

“Whoa, this city is amazing, I never thought it would be so beautiful. I should come here more often,” Rufus said, mostly referring to the women passing by.

“Good luck with that because all you will be getting is a restraining order like in Flomorse City,” Silva warned.

“Hey, that was a long time ago,” Rufus said embarrassed.

“I still remember it,” Silva said, trying to forget.

“And that is why I like you Silva, you know me so well,” Rufus said, flirting a little.

“Try flirting with me again and I will kill you. You got that,” Silva threatened.

“I got it,” Rufus said, afraid.

“Yeah, ok, so Lisa I know you want to go shopping, so go with Seth. Seth, make sure she does not go overboard, also make sure you get the supplies we need for our next trip. Rufus, you can come with Raquel and me to the Guild Office, so you can get your drink. I think we should meet up here in an hour or so,” Silva said, coming up with a plan.

“Right, see you later, I smell a sale and I am not going to miss it, come on Seth,” Lisa said before grabbing Seth and running like a tornado.

“Let’s go because that is definitely not going to last long,” Silva declared, laughing a bit.

“Yeah, let’s go,” Raquel said kindly.

Raquel guided her friends to the Guild Office, while enjoying the sites as well as talking about their latest cravings. It seemed fine, but once they got closer to the building, Rufus ran straight inside to get some booze.

“Well, it seems someone couldn’t wait for his drink,” Raquel laughed.

“That is Rufus for you, he cannot live without his drinks, so should we go and find a job,” Silva said in a hurry.

Raquel and Silva entered the Guild Office and got to work in searching for a high paying job close to the city. The cool part of the office is all the monitors display the jobs all across the hall and to pick one you simply scan your id and the job is yours.

“There is a really good pool of jobs today, but most of them are pretty far from the city,” Raquel said looking at the screens.

“There sure are some good ones, but I don’t really feel like taking on any job far from the girls,” Silva pointed out.

“I think I found the perfect job for us, come here and scan your id. We are going to do this one as a team and split the money. We do have those pretty boys over here,” Raquel said to her friends.

“Right, Rufus put that drink down and stopped flirting with the girls and got over here,” Silva yelled, getting her friend's attention.

“Jeez, you do not have to yell, we’re coming,” Rufus said, coming over with a drink.

“Wow, you don’t waste any time do you,” Silva teased.

“Well, we are thinking about taking this job and doing it as a team,” Silva explained.

“If we are going to do this as a team, shouldn’t we get Seth and Lisa?”Rufus pointed out.

“There is no need for that, we are here,” Lisa announced as she entered.

“Lisa, I thought you were going shopping?” Silva asked, confused.

“Yeah, I did, but Seth passed out after ten minutes carrying my bags. Then I decided to take pity on him, so we came here,” Lisa explained with an evil smile.

“Wow, ok…,” Raquel said in shock.

“So, what is this job about?” Lisa asked.

“We will explain later, right now scan your id on the job post, so we can get to work,” Silva explained, annoyed.

“Let’s do it and it seems there is another job close to the temple. I think we should take it,” Rufus said looking at the screen.

“Alright, let’s go,” Silva agreed.

The gang got their ids out, scanned them on to the jobs they wanted to take and they were off to work.

“Since that is taken care of, we better report back to the others that we got our jobs to do while we are here. We should also gather as many weapons as we can for these jobs we are taking,” Silva advised.

“Right, it is a good thing that I got this,” Lisa said, taking out an amazing looking sword.

“Lisa, this is amazing, I love it, thank you,” Silva said looking over the sword.

“I thought you needed it since your old one is getting worn out,” Lisa explained, handing Silva the new sword.

“Oh Lisa, you are an amazing best friend, thank you,” Silva said, hugging Lisa.

“Yeah, I know,” Lisa said, knowing she is great.

“I hate to cut this short, but we better get to work,” Rufus pointed out.

“Before we go, we should check in with the others,” Rajah pointed out.

“Yeah, good point, Seth, can you take care of it,” Silva asked.

“Sure,” Seth said, taking out his watch.

“Rufus while we wait, pass me a drink,” Silva asked.

“Right, here we go,” Rufus said, passing Silva a drink.

“Alright, let’s go, everything is taken care of,” Seth said kindly.

“So, is everything taken care of?” Silva asked, taking a sip.

“Yes, it seems everything is going well and the girls are having the time of their lives with their new family,” Seth explained.

“That’s good, I am glad they are having fun, they deserve it. Which reminds me, we should get going?” Silva said, packing the candy in her bag.

“Right, let’s go,” Raquel said, cheering.

Soon after, the gang left the city and headed to their mission destinations.