Chapter 34: This Doesn’t Usually Happen…

Eyes fixed on my target I followed him through the crowd. My palms were sweaty with nervous energy. While my concerns may not be important to most people if I failed here not only would I starve to death but so would my beloved little brother and sister.

Seeing an opportunity when my target, some fat noble I assumed from his getup, was jostled by a wolf beastman that was pushed into him by a crowd leaving a busy shop. Making my move while the bigoted man yelled at the offender I silently bumped into the man from behind and apologized before disappearing into the crowd with a new coin pouch before the man could react. Smiling to myself from my safe distance I watched as the man suddenly realized what had happened and turned on the beastman thinking he'd been connected to the theft. I felt a twinge of guilt at implicating the innocent man but I did what I needed to as would he.

Turning away from the scene as guards were called I prayed to any Gods listening that the man wasn't harmed by what I'd done. Regardless I spent no more time thinking about him as I made my way through the crowded street.

[What do you mean 10 each? That's 3 times higher than you sold them for last week?!?] - Unnamed Thief

[It's not my problem if animals like you can afford it or not. Either buy it or move on I have actual customer's waiting.] - Bigoted Vendor

Barely holding myself back from lashing out I grumbled before handing over 50 Small Bronze from my recently liberated purse and angrily took the 5 small bread loaves from the man while he looked annoyed at having to deal with "street trash" like myself.

[What about a bag? Am I supposed to carry these?] - Unnamed Thief

[That'll be another 20. Now leave you're stinking up my stall!] - Bigoted Vendor

Fishing out another 20 coins I stashed my newfound food in the bag while lamenting the much lighter purse. I'd have to "liberate" another one soon at this rate. Turning away from the greedy vendor I noticed two guardsmen talking with a pedestrian down the street as he pointed in my direction.

Feeling my heart race I quickly slipped into a nearby alleyway as the two armored men passed by without noticing me. Breathing a sigh of relief when they passed by I turned to leave once more only to be stopped by an armored hand gripping my shoulder.

[Wait right there street trash. Where did you get that coin pouch? It looks far too nice for an animal like you to own.] - Stereotypical Guard #1

[Yeah, maybe we should confiscate it just in case it's stolen goods.] - Stereotypical Guard #2

[Please forgive me noble officer's. This pouch was given to me by my sick grandma that's on her deathbed, I only wanted to feed her one last meal before she passed. Will you please allow me this one kindness?] - Unnamed Thief

[Hey George maybe we should let her...] - Stereotypical Guard #2

[What, are you shitting me? Are you going fucking soft? Street trash like this obviously doesn't have any family looking after... Hey wait!] - Stereotypical Guard #1 (George)

Taking advantage of the distraction I shook myself free from "George's" grip and immediately took off running down the street. I knew that if I made it out of their sight they wouldn't bother chasing me down since I wasn't worth it so my only chance was to lose them as fast as I could.

Turning into a narrow alleyway that barely fit my much smaller frame I grinned when the two idiots weren't able to follow me any further. Smirking as I stuck my tongue out at the two I vanished into a sewer grate seconds later.

Tugging my hood over my large upright ears to hide them unconsciously I slowly made my way through the Academy City Underdeep, we called it Hope's End which I had always thought was a depressing name albeit fitting. Reassured that my animalistic traits were hidden I felt relief that I might not be noticed by the resident anti-demi gang that controls this area but that hope was dashed a moment later.

[Well if it isn't Moon? Didn't we already warn trash like you to leave our territory? Tsk tsk, you're lucky I found you. Harris said he'd kill the next "animal" he saw. I'm more of a gentleman than him of course so I'll let you off if you give me a reason to, either coin or...] - Perverted Thug

Looking downward at my body lecherously as he trailed off I nearly threw up as I thought about what he was implying but kept at the ready as I slowly backed away from the group of 6 large men that were attempting to surround me with lecherous faces. Glancing at their expressions I knew that even if I paid them this time it wouldn't stop them. They were obviously dead-set on using me for sexual relief and I wanted nothing to do with that.

Acting quickly before I could be surrounded I flicked my wrist as a dagger suddenly appeared out of my sleeve and lodged itself into the throat of the nearest idiot, his gargling scream signaling the others as they immediately rushed forward to catch me. Luckily I didn't wait to see if my blow had killed the moron and by the time they reacted I used my catlike reflexes to rush past the slowly collapsing man, pulling my dagger out of his throat as I ran past. Weapons were expensive afterall.

Ignoring the shouts of anger behind me I realized that the time that my family could stay here had finally come to a close. After this exchange there was no way I'd be able to live here anymore. When their damn boss, Harris, heard about what I'd done he'd tear apart Hope's End until he found our hiding spot.

[Dammit! If only I'd never been born with these damn ears and tail!] - Moon

Losing my pursuers easily due to my much higher agility I angrily yanked at my catlike ears for what must have been the hundredth time. It didn't help that my looks, while petite and young looking, were rather beautiful. Now you might think that I'm being vain when I say that but when you're poor having good looks was a bad thing and could even be dangerous. And with my charcoal black hair, adorable face only marred by a scar that ran down one side of my face from a sword strike years before as well as my body that was starting to show the curved of adulthood I was highly sought after by many of the less reputable organizations that ran the criminal underworld. As product of course.

It hadn't always been this bad, in fact mother said that when she was young Demi's were welcomed. Mother used to talk for hours about what she called the "good old days". Until that day. Until he killed her.

[Hey I've got food today, split it into thirds though cause we're leaving tonight. We're gonna need to make it last.] - Moon

[...] - ???

[Kris? Lake? Are you he...] - Moon

Letting myself into my hideout through a loose roof tile which was the only way in I got worried when no-one greeted me and cautiously made my way through the abandoned house that had been built into the side of one of the many cave systems and sewer tunnels that made up the undercity. Gradually getting more worried I reached to pull out my dagger only to be bowled over by two small shadows.

[Hahahahaha! Take that Moon Moon!] - Kris 1If you don't get the Moon Moon reference look it up... too bad she's a cat rather than a wolf! LOL

[Die Big Sis!] - Lake

[Augh! Kris! Lake! What did I tell you about greeting me? You scared me half to death! I thought something had happened to you!] - Moon

Scolding the still giggling children I felt a smile break out on my face as well at their happiness which pushed aside the growing sadness in my heart, at least for a little while.

[Okay so make sure to pack everything you can, we're not coming back here after we leave so anything we can use when we find a new place will be useful.] - Moon

[But...!] - Both Kids

[And don't give me any lip about how you don't wanna help! It's an all hands on deck situation and I don't want to hear it!] - Moon

Automatically shutting down the protests that were about to leave the wolfgirl and bearkin's mouth I glared at the two of them until they sheepishly continued packing into their rucksacks. I knew it was hard for young children to keep up with rapid changes like this but unfortunately we had no choice as we had to leave the city tonight and as the older one I had to play the role of the parent whether I knew how or not.

Turning back towards the growing pile I was making of things we'd be unable to bring with us I sighed unhappily at the sight. If I'd had a little more time I might have tried selling what I could but as it was we'd be lucky if we made it out as is. I had no time to waste on trying to make a profit so anything that would slow us down had to be left behind. I'd make sure to leave the tile open though so at least the next person might be able to find these items and get some use out of them. No need to be vindictive to people that had nothing to do with what was happening afterall.

[Hey! Stop dawdling! If you're not ready in the next 10 minutes I'll pack for you and you won't like that cause I'll leave your toys behind too!] - Moon

[No Moon Moon! I'll pack! Honest!] - Kris

[Y-Yeah Big Sis, we'll be good!] - Lake

[Good, just hurry it up! We don't want to get caught if we can help it...] - Moon

[Fuck I knew we should have left sooner!] - Moon

[Ohohoho what do we have here? A little cat that thinks herself to be a lion? You've cost me a man little Moon and men cost money. Now how exactly do you plan to pay me back?] - Gentlemanly Looking Man

[I don't know Harris, maybe you should hire better men instead of blaming me for their idiocy now will you let me pass? <Kris! Lake! Drop you bags when I tell you to, they'll slow us down.>] - Moon

[No no no. That won't do, I mean I can't just let you go afterall I have an image to maintain. Can't let a fucking "animal" spit in my face and get away with it. No that won't do at all.] - Harris

After we left our hideout we carefully made our way through the lesser known sewer passageways and we even waded through water that was filled with things I didn't want to think about. All to avoid the person that was currently blocking the path forward with over a dozen men, including the one that had stopped me earlier that was glaring at me. Unlike the burly, muscled men that made up his henchmen Harris was actually a fairly attractive looking man, with a lithe body and good looking face. He didn't look like someone that controlled one of the most violent gangs in the undercity.

However, despite looking like he'd be at home in the noble's district above, he was the most dangerous of the bunch and up until this point I'd managed to avoid coming face-to-face with him without a large distance between us. Unfortunately that luck had run out as I fearfully backed away only to hear a noise behind me a second before a large hand clamped over my face.

[Hey we're getting close to the Tournament right?] - Veronica

[Well yes Ver, that's what the festival is for afterall.] - Malaise

[Okay so why isn't Rose here?] - Veronica

[How should I know? I'm worried about her too but the only thing we can do is wait for her to either show up or the search party to find her.] - Malaise

[...Hope safe...] - Shade

[Me too Shade. Me too.] - Malaise

Rose's three roommates were currently working on their class booth preparations after being forced to help by Legal Loli Sensei. When Rose had initially gone missing they'd tried to immediately follow after her but the teachers had forcibly dragged them back to the Academy. And to make matters worse they'd been put under house arrest as soon as they'd been brought back to keep them from going after her regardless. They'd then spent the month after that stuck in the dorm building and had only been released when Shade had convinced her mother to let them attend special training sessions with Legal Loli Sensei as well as go back to their regular classes.

Their goal had been to qualify for a teacher's recommendation to enter the Tournament and they'd been confident that they could do so. However that hope had been dashed only a few days ago when Lolianne Sensei had told them in no uncertain terms that her recommendation was going to Rose's slime friend Karen. Malaise and them still didn't quite trust the humanoid monster but she'd been friendly with Rose so while the situation wasn't what they'd hoped for they were willing to let it slide for now.

The reason that they'd gone through all this trouble in the first place was because of the last thing the adventurer Manic Blade had said before leaving with Rose. He'd said he was going to have her compete in the Tournament in 5 months and said event was less than a week away yet no sign had been seen of their missing snek yet.

[Ahh! I wanna see Rose! Wanna see her!] - Veronica

[I know you do! So do I but their isn't anything we can do! Better scouts than us are searching for her and I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I went out and got in the way of their search and something happened to her.] - Malaise

[...Trust for now...] - Shade

[Plus you heard what Rose's dad said, I guess that Manic Blade guy is known for following his word. If Rose's dad can stay calm and wait so can we! <Even if it's hard...>] - Malaise

[Y-Yeah! If Papa Rose can keep calm so can we! FIGHT ON!] - Veronica

[Right... Uh let's finish this up then go help out that humanoid slime with her training. Lolianne Sensei told me to help her out with sparring after we're done here.] - Malaise

Nodding back the three of them quickly continued helping with setup of their class's booth so they could leave as soon as possible. None of them really cared about the festival outside of Rose afterall and there was still another 5 days until the big fight.