Chapter 188

I spent a while longer in the back room with Tenna hashing out the details of the weapon she planned on making me as payment. We decided to go with a simple longsword similar to the one I was using now. The benefits of Mithril as a weapon material were that it was very light and conducted magic well. It would be as light as a rapier but as sturdy as a longsword, it was also perfect for a [Magic Swordsman] like myself that could channel magic through my weapon. Before I left the back room she quickly wrote me a letter to the guild indicating the successful delivery. I would have to come back in two days to collect my new weapon, she wanted to turn it over fast to skirt suspicion.

When I had cast [Zone of Silence] earlier I had gained a new level in Illusion Magic.

[Illusion Magic has increased from level 4 to level 5][Learned Illusion Magic Spell Echo]

[Echo - Illusion Magic Spell]Create an illusionary sound mimicking another sound you have heard before. Maximum Volume is affected by Magic Force. Direction and control over the targets of this sound are affected by Magic Control.

I smiled as I read over the spell. It's been a while since I've learned a new spell and the first time I'd learned another illusion magic spell. It seems to be another sound-based spell, I wonder if that was because the only illusion spell that I frequently use is [Zone of Silence]. This spell isn't directly offensive but I could see it being useful with clever application. Unless I could crank up the volume to an absurd level using my Magic Force. That would require some testing though.

My friends save for Bella were lined up in the shop against one wall looking very professional. I frowned a little as I looked at how they were acting. It was to be expected I guess but it still grated on me a bit. I kind of expected them to wander around and look at the wares, hopefully they finished and were just waiting for me.

"Did anyone find anything you need or want?" I asked.

Torien nodded and stepped forward. "I wanted to buy some arrowheads. The ones they have here are good quality but I'd have to get the materials to put them together myself Mis- um... Lily." It felt really weird to be called Lily but I supposed it was better than hearing her fall into the habit of using the title she was about to call me. I wasn't mad but it still made me feel icky.

I sighed. "That's fine. Anyone else? Silva?" I asked looking over at her.

She shook her head. "I'm happy with the weapons I have at the moment."

"Alright." I went up to the counter and paid for the arrowheads. The bundle of fifty was only fifty silver so I didn't have any issue with the purchase. They came out to a silver per arrowhead which sounded like a good price. The dog boy looked a bit nervous as he counted the coins and didn't say anything until he finished giving the room an awkward atmosphere.

"I've confirmed the amount, fifty silver ma'am. Thank you for your purchase." He slid over the wrapped bundle of cloth that held the arrowheads and I handed it to Mimi to hold onto.

As much as my conversation in the back room of the smithy excited me, the awkwardness of my friends acting like slaves annoyed me. I was happy to leave the shop, but the fight that was going on right outside the door wasn't what I expected to walk out to. A fat man wearing high-class clothes was lying on the ground bloodied and unconscious while two guards were fighting with three demi-beastfolk slaves that had bruised knuckles.

The guards hadn't drawn their weapons yet but the level difference between the two groups was plain to the eye. They were trying to subdue the slaves without hurting them but the slaves were still futilely trying to fight the guards. Even if Bella wanted to step in and heal the man on the ground he was lying a little too close to where the group of five were fighting so that didn't seem like a good idea right now.

Despite the guards being significantly stronger than the slaves, two dogkin and a catkin, they were slippery and didn't look like they were going to give up despite the strength disparity. Then the crowd started to get involved. Beastfolk and other slaves from the crowd started throwing stuff at the guards while they were trying to subdue them and when the beastfolk slaves finally turned to run the crowd got in the guards' way and stopped them from chasing. The crowd was starting to get out of control and it was like a full-blown riot was starting to form right in front of us.

A Tamin paladin and two priests suddenly came up to the scene and that's when things really got bad. The anger of the crowd shifted from the guards to the Tamin adherents. A large stone sailed through the air and hit the paladin square on the helmet. He just shook it off and walked through the crowd to grab the offending person by the neck before throwing him to the ground. Several people tried to jump in and try and stop the paladin but he just slapped them away with the ease of his greater strength.

I stepped forward but Silva put a hand on my shoulder and pulled me back. "It's better if we don't get involved. He shouldn't have thrown that stone."

By now the unconscious man on the ground had been trampled to death under the crowd that was now openly fighting with the paladin and the priests. While the paladin was a juggernaut the priests didn't fare quite as well and the crowd started to swarm them while the paladin was tunnel visioning on the guy who had thrown the stone at him. The guards tried to intervene and stop the paladin from killing the guy but the paladin just attacked the guards like they were among the bystanders.

The already loud city was roaring in anger now, screams, threats, and insults were being hurled around and the crowd only grew more dangerous. Like a spreading disease, the crowd started attacking others in the area or destroying stuff nearby. Behind us, I heard the bar on the door to the smithy slide shut as the riot started to go full bore.

"Lil-y we need to get out of here!" Torien was pulling on my sleeve to leave so I numbly nodded and followed her away.

There were several moments where it looked like someone was going to attack us only to stop in their tracks once they realized how strong we were. None of us were an easy target and Silva was now openly brandishing her spear. The crowd started to move around us and let us through as we left the area. A dozen guards ran by, toward the place the fight had broken out. A few of them gave us a glance but since we were leaving and there were plenty of other problems they didn't look at us twice.

"Things are worse than I thought here," Torien mumbled.

"I've never seen so many people start fighting like that," Bella replied.

Morrigan shook her head. "I've never heard of a riot breaking out in the capital, much less slaves attacking their owners like that. Usually, the collars prevent that kind of thing."

"Automatically?" I asked.

"N-no. I suppose not. Most slaves just usually have standing orders not to attack others and especially their owners," Morrigan replied.

Silva gripped her spear and looked around a corner carefully. "It doesn't help that the guards don't seem to be on the same page as the Tamin adherents. By the time we left, they were practically fighting each other too."

"I didn't detect any demonic miasma either. That riot looked like it started organically," I added.

"I wouldn't be so sure," Silva said shaking her head. "Those slaves were acting strangely. They looked almost feral to me."

I furrowed my brows. "Really? I didn't notice anything like that."

"It was the way they were fighting. Their knuckles were bruised but they were slashing at the guards with their claws. They kept jumping at the guards as if they would be able to slash through their armor. No, something was wrong. They weren't acting normal."

I frowned. "I didn't notice anything like that but maybe you're right. What would that mean then? Some kind of magic was influencing them?"

Silva grunted and directed us toward an alley. "I don't know. I'm just saying we shouldn't discount that someone might be involved." Silva looked around the corner. "Shit. It's safe to say your meeting with the guard captain isn't happening. I don't think it would be wise trying to go back to the inn right now either."

Lines of guards were marching down the street trying to separate the people who were fighting and the ones just trying to run away. More than once one of the 'runners' took the opportunity to attack a guard from the side before being pummeled by other guards.

As we walked through the city avoiding even more angry crowds that had sprung up in different places, the guards were trying to get things back under control. It seems like there were pockets of the city that were just as bad as the one we were at earlier. Groups of people were fighting guards, Tamin adherents, or even just rich-looking people in big crowds. While we were right where one of the fights started, it wasn't the only fight that started at around the same time.

"Yeah, there's no way we're going to make that meeting and I can't even imagine trying to get back through the bazaar right now. The guard captain will probably be too busy for it right now anyway. We should go somewhere else and get off the street," Silva said.

"I hope Raya and Sibyl are okay," Morrigan said nervously.

"Where do you suggest, Silva?" I asked.

She was quiet as she waited for a group of guards to pass by. "Either the adventurer's guild or the Great Library. You have business there and both will be well protected. The Library is the closer of the two."

"Let's go to the Library then. The idea of being around other adventurers right now seems like a worrying prospect."

Silva nodded. "Sure. I don't think you need to worry about adventurers being involved though. Things would already be a whole lot worse if trained fighters and monster hunters were part of this riot too."

We made our way through the streets avoiding the crowds of angry people as best we could. The few times people got close to us, Mimi, Silva, or I were able to knock them away without anyone getting hurt. The worst part was the small projectiles that hit us from time to time but Bella's healing and my new barrier spell was able to keep the worst of it from impacting us much.

"This looks coordinated," Torien said after a while. "This looks like an attack, not an organic riot. It popped up in too many different places at once."

Silva looked over at Torien with a serious look on her face. "I think it's both. I was talking to your aunt this morning. There has been building animosity around slavery in the city ever since Baron Morrister died. But Morrigan's right, the collars should stop any widespread slave rebellion in its tracks. I think something is suppressing the collars and taking advantage of the situation."

"Amphores?" I asked.

She shrugged. "Could be. Hard to say. There are dozens of groups that could benefit from an unruly mob of slaves wrecking the town."

I glanced at Morrigan's collar. "Would whatever's causing the collars to be suppressed allow us to remove all of your collars?"

Silva chuckled. "No, unfortunately not. By suppression, I mean something is stopping the collars from reacting to orders. They're still magically sealed on. Come on, this way."

There was a break in the crowd that allowed us to walk deeper into the city toward the giant spire in front of us. The Great Library of Sorsette really did live up to the grandeur of the name. From the outside, it looked like a giant round tower that rose into the sky like a skyscraper. My guess was that it was at least eighty floors tall but that estimate only held true if the floors were roughly ten feet per floor like I was used to.

The structure looked like it was made from a single piece of polished white stone, if it was made with from multiple chunks the outside façade had been smoothed over. The shiny surface reflected the sun onto large parts of the city and cast a shadow on other parts like a gigantic sundial. Rounded panes of glass or maybe transparent rock were inset into the spire about every twenty feet.

Surrounding the base of the spire were dozens of guards wearing purple ceremonial robes over their armor. Few rioters had gone into this part of the city and none had approached the massive spire near the center of town. As we got closer one of the guards waved over a tall human woman.

I got a better look at her once she walked up to the ring of purple-clad guards. She had dark black hair that contrasted well against her fair skin and striking blue eyes. Like the guards, she wore long purple robes, though hers made her look more like a mage or a priest. She was beautiful, one of the first women who rivaled the perfect looks of the succubi, that thought alone put me on edge. Over the left shoulder of her robes, she wore a long chain with many ornamental keys dangling from it, the accessory almost looked like jewelry but it seemed functional as well.

She smiled at us. "Welcome Lilith and friends. We've been expecting you. Welcome to the Great Library of Sorsette."