Ch 3.15: Odds

It was a pleasant walk. Elaina knew that she probably should have told the others where she was going. She wasn’t lying to them, not in her mind at least, but she wasn’t going to tell them until she’d already done it. If she said anything now they’d just try and stop her. Once she was back she’d let them know, and everything would be fine. If I make it back. No, she was definitely going to make it back, surely, guaranteed, probably.

She left the castle grounds, heading towards the town alone for the first time. It had threatened to rain earlier, so much so that Elaina’s fencing lesson had been cancelled, but those clouds had moved on in the early afternoon, leaving a nice open sky and a chill to the air that was refreshing rather than biting, only a bare hint of dark clouds off in the distant north. That wasn’t the direction Elaina wanted to think about though.

It was her first time leaving the school alone, she realized. She hadn’t even left the building alone since the first time she snuck out to the cave, and even then Carly had actually been following her, so she hadn’t really been alone.

That also meant it was her first real time out of her home village alone. That idea had scared her half to death before Char had picked her up, seemed like one of the most terrifying things in the world, but at this point it was merely a curiosity, a slight wonder how she hadn’t actually managed to do it herself yet.

The trip into town took quite a bit longer than she expected, over an hour without a carriage, but she enjoyed it nonetheless. There was a time when walking that long up and down a hill would’ve worn her out, but those days were over as well. As she approached, the bustling town itself still amazed her, caused her to wonder what a “city” even was if this vast sprawl of two and three story buildings, almost all made of expertly crafted wood, didn’t qualify.

There was a degree of anonymity as she walked the streets, clad in on of the few dresses she’d brought on the trip, a casual yellow affair that she thought fit the spring afternoon, Carly’s leather satchel thrown over her shoulder. No one could recognize her by the uniform this time, at least. Some fifty people or so in the town would’ve seen her that night the week prior, but there were clearly hundreds living in the town, far more than than attended Endrin, so the odds of running into one of them were low.

The red light district wasn’t any nicer in the daytime, really. The smell in the air changed from the earthy smells she was familiar with into something far more vile, dirt and cow droppings giving way to stale booze and dried vomit from the night before. Elaina had never thought she’d miss the smell of cow shit, but here she was.

She wasn’t sure what she expected as she approached Mirage’s nondescript entryway. She did have to doublecheck her surroundings to make sure it was the right facade, and the unmarked door, unguarded as well this time, still gave her pause, but she was convinced she had the right place, and thus pressed onward, pushing the door open and peering inside.

Mirage in the daytime looked about like what she expected. The crystal lights were all at full blast, no eerie, colored lighting like during the night, and there were no patrons either, just a handful of workers walking around, some carrying tables and chairs, some sweeping, some stocking drinks at the bar. It was almost too normal for what Elaina knew was probably the most central point of debauchery for many miles, especially when she also knew it was a front for possibly the largest criminal element in the same area as well.

Shein herself stood in the center of the room, leaning over the shoulder of a worker holding a board and pen, nodding along as the worker spoke, occasionally pointing at the paper. Elaina recognized the worker too, Mille, the second-to-last opponent Elaina had dueled, and presumably Shein’s right-hand woman.

Elaina pushed through the entryway and into the main club area. Two bouncers who had been chatting amongst themselves finally noticed her and her lack of club uniform, one walking over with a pounding gait, saying, “Hey, who do you think—”

His words and stride halted at the same time, meeting her eyes, the look on her face telling her he knew exactly who she thought she was. But he didn’t resume moving, didn’t threaten to kick her out, the only sound from that direction being his fellow bouncer muttering, “Naked Sword Demon,” under his breath.

Elaina turned to the ground, closing her eyes and trying to fight the blood rushing to her face. The odds of her being recognized outside had indeed been low, and she’d made peace with that at the time, but in the casino itself the odds were stacked against her indeed.

“Elaina, darling,” Shein’s voice said from across the room. Elaina looked up at the mention of her name, seeing the proprietress sauntering over, a grimacing Mille following up just behind her. “I half expected to never see you again. Not that I wanted that, but I certainly didn’t expect to see you this soon.”

Elaina was struck by the sight of the woman again, despite knowing at least part of it was an illusion. The tight, short blue dress on her body was certainly the most nightlife-like thing Elaina had seen on her walk, pulling Shein’s chest together, leaving nothing of the shape of her body to the imagination. Elaina couldn’t help but wonder just how much of everything was an illusion, which was really Shein. And how did she put the illusion on my eyes before she saw me? “We need to talk about something,” she said, burying the other thought for later.

Shein’s playful smile faltered a bit, sensing the seriousness in Elaina’s voice. “Very well. Come to my office. Mille, see to it those shipments aren’t delayed any further.”

Mille bowed. “Yes ma’am,” she said, still eyeing Elaina.

“Good. Right this way,” Shein said, turning around and walking back to her office. The sight of it was already making Elaina have a harder time focusing than she wanted.