Chapter 8

Lori rushed forward with a roar, swinging her fist at Zlatan's midsection. Her arm swung faster than any human should be able to move, and she threw a strike at him.

It hurt my neck just watching her punch that guy. But apparently, Zlatan was expecting that and dodged it easily. He caught her wrist in his own hands, pinning her arms against her body while twisting around to bring one knee up between her legs. She fell backward onto the ground with a thud, groaning loudly.

The catboy stepped forwards, grabbing the hilt of a short sword hanging from his belt. He drew it smoothly, pointing the blade directly at Lori's throat.

"You're making quite a mess," he said calmly. "Are you planning on cleaning this up yourself, little missy?"

I swallowed hard. This was bad...really, REALLY BAD!

If I hadn't known better, I might have thought this was part of some sort of trap.

I decided to try and help out anyway. Maybe I can distract him somehow?

I coughed, clearing my throat loudly so he'd notice me. "Um, excuse me..." I called out in a girlish voice, stepping closer.

His head snapped towards me. His eyes widened slightly at the sight of me in the shadows, and he started to speak, but I interrupted him. "Uh, sorry to bother you sirs, but I think you may need medical attention. Soon."

I stepped out of the shadows and glared at Zlatan.

Oh shit! Why did I say THAT?! Now he's going to kill me too!

I crossed my arms and tried to project as much confidence as possible. My arms just started trembling. I could feel my heart racing away from me as my pulse picked up.

Even if it was on a reckless, unbalanced attack, there was no way I could defend myself against them if Lori got taken down that easily.

The elf and brown-skinned looked at each other confusedly, and Zlatan paled visibly.

"Men. That's the girl from Rivershire Crossing..."

The elf stared at my arms, trembling. "T...This bloodlust..." he muttered, staring at my trembling arms.

At that statement, all three of them took a step back.

"Well, if you insist, I guess I don't mind helping you clean up your mess," I continued. I gave my best impression of a serene anime protagonist and flicked my stupid ahoge while walking forward.

I took a deep breath and held it for several seconds before letting go, exhaling forcefully, and staring at them. Hard.

"Stealing from the Adventurer's Guild...is strictly forbidden."

The background started ghoulish red and hazy. Everything distorted and twisted. Wait, was that me doing it?!

It was clearly a group hallucination, but ghosts and ghastly creatures began screaming in our mind's eyes. A witch's laughter went off, and my face projected into an abstract, laughing face with a cut-out mouth, empty cut-out eyes, and a matching hat.

My heart continued to pound in my chest. I was scared stiff, but I refused to show it. I was determined not to give them any reason to suspect that I wasn't a threat.

I focused my will on my staff, focusing on the enchanted crystal core. I only had the one levitation spell, but I focused on it with all the energy I had.

"Ahahahahahah AHAHAHAHAHA!" I laughed as the hallucinatory caricature of my face with a witch's hat cackled.

All the crates began to levitate in the air at once, and the dumbfounded catboy watched his loosely-held sword lift into the air.

And then I heard it. And smelled it. The sound and smell of the men collectively pissing themselves.

In a flash, Lori grabbed the catboy's sword out of the air and turned to wrap Zlatan in a chokehold.

"Hah! That's my sister!" Lori smirked.

Then she brought her elbow down sharply into his jaw. With a loud crunch, his head snapped back, knocking him unconscious.

The catboy stood still for a few moments, staring blankly ahead. Then, he slumped onto his knees before collapsing entirely to the ground, sobbing and pissing himself.

That was the first time I ever saw someone pee themselves like that.

I turned back to Zlatan. He was lying on the ground, clutching his bleeding mouth with both hands. Blood trickled through his fingers and soaked the dirt beneath him. He stared up at me in sheer terror.

"Wh-what are you?!" he cried out, trying desperately to stand up.

Lori stepped up beside me, glaring down at him. "What does it look like she is?"

She smiled and then offered me a fist bump.

My heart was pounding so fast I thought it would explode out of my chest. I was terrified, but I couldn't allow myself to show weakness. I put on my poker face, stared coldly down at Zlatan, and painstakingly returned Lori's gesture.

"Good work," she whispered. "Let's turn him in."

I nodded silently and winced as Lori kicked Zlatan in the ribs, sending him slamming into the alley wall. She dragged him by his arms to the front door of the Adventurer's Guild.

I leaned down to look the catboy square in his heterochromatic eyes. My lips twitched as anxiety almost overwhelmed me entirely, but I held it in.

"You'll be a good boy for us, won't you? Your friends too? Yes?"

I asked softly, tilting my head.

"Y-yes," the three of them replied weakly. The catboy wiped tears from his eyes with his shirt sleeves.

"Thank you very much."

With that, we walked inside and handed the unconscious Zlatan over to the receptionist. Seeing us walk in with Zlatan's unconscious body in tow, the imposter manager immediately began to try and run, as well as all the (presumably) Picaroso gang members in the crowd.

They quickly scattered when they realized who was there. Chaos erupted as officials and adventurers alike began to chase them down.

We sat at the bar and ordered drinks. Lori seemed particularly happy about something, but she didn't tell me what was happening. Instead, she told the bartender to buy everyone that caught a Picaroso member a round. I sniffed the mead here and was definitely tempted, but I thought better. I stuck with some floral tea instead.

As the chaos died outside, the mood inside gradually shifted to a celebration. Everyone cheered, drank, danced, and sang songs together. We stayed until the sun came up, celebrating our victory. After that, Lori and I retired to our rooms for the night.

After waking up late the following day, I headed straight to the guild office to see if anything new had come up regarding Zlatan or the case. When I arrived, I found out that Zlatan had been formally arrested by a pair of guards, along with a dozen other Picaros, after being caught breaking into the Adventurers Guild. There were a lot of witnesses to testify that he'd stolen some items.

I sighed in relief and let out a small laugh. It felt good to know that one of the ringleaders of the people that roofied me was locked up safely. Hopefully, he wouldn't escape jail.

When I finished talking with the receptionist, I left the guild. As soon as I stepped out of the building, I spotted a familiar figure waiting patiently.

"Hey there, Alice-chan!" Lori grinned at me cheerfully, waving excitedly. Her face lit up even more when she noticed my bag.

"Where'd you get those?" she asked, pointing to my bags.

"Oh, these? Well, uh...I got some basic spellbooks," I said sheepishly. "I figured I'd retrace some of my fundamentals, you know?"

She gave me an odd look before flashing me a bright smile.

"Yeah right. You're probably planning to sell them on the market at home for a quick profit aren't ya?" she teased, smiling brightly. "Don't worry, I'm not mad at you."

I shrugged noncommittally and started with her towards the carriage service.

"So...whaddya think of yesterday?" she asked casually.

I stopped walking and turned to her. "Why do you ask? What did I miss?"

Her smile grew wider, and she answered with a cheerful tone. "Nothing really big happened last night. But apparently, Zlatan and his crew is officially indicted now. That was quick!"

"Really?" I raised an eyebrow skeptically. "How many charges did they throw at him?"

That was....a little too quick for my comfort. What was the criminal justice system in this place like? That gave me a very uneasy feeling.

Lori shook her head. "They say he broke into the Adventurer's Guild and stole a bunch of stuff. But that's nothing compared to the news coming from the capital today!" Lori exclaimed happily.

A chill ran down my spine. I don't know; I just had a gut feeling. "News from the capital? Is everything okay?"

She giggled, shaking her head. "Not exactly...but it seems like the king's finally decided to take mobilized action against the Picarosa Gang next month."

"Is he mobilizing the army to arrest them already?!" I gasped in surprise.

Lori shook her head again, grinning mischievously. "Naw, they're not taking any direct military actions yet. Just arresting their known leaders and money movers. Hopefully the whole gang might end up getting wiped out without anyone actually dying."

"Huh...so that's good, isn't it?" I asked curiously.

Lori gave me another smug grin. "Yep! Low casualties, low bloodshed Hopefully. If anything happens, it'll just be a few head honchos."

"Right..." I muttered uncomfortably. "Well, thank you for letting me know."

"Sure thing! Oh yeah, the two of us are getting formal public credit for this whole crackdown because we brought in Zlatan. Can you believe it?"

She swept her hands across the air and began to do her rambling thing again.

"The Liddell sisters. Responsible for finally initiating a crackdown on the Picarosa Gang! Dealing a fateful blow to one of the most sinister and notorious organized crime syndicates in the Kingdom of Cheshire! I mean, they gave me the option to opt out, but I felt like we could use the rep boost. Especially with my little sister just coming on as an adventurer."

I just stopped walking and stared at her. The implications of pissing off what she just did came crashing down on me. She'd just flipped off a giant middle finger to the Mafia.

"Lori..." my eyes darkened, and that ghoulish miasma I had been leaking last night came back.

"A-Alice-chan?!" she shrank away.

"Are. You. For. Fucking. Real?!??!?!"