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[Chevaleresse]

Heledd rolled her eyes.
"Does she expect you to travel with exclusively men?" She snorted after a moment. "Or maybe she'd be making the same sorts of accusations in that case, too." Heledd idly followed Claire as she perused the store, listening to her with one ear as she checked the shelves. She'd never held much interest in tomes, but maybe the girl would offer something to change that.
"I suppose, but I still would never trust my life to something so. . . fragile." Of course, she wouldn't trust her life to a bit of pointed metal either, but there was something you could count on backing those, at least. She'd not met a single mage that was more threatening than a child after being separated from their tomes.

[Blade Master Model 42]

"I don't think I've ever mentioned to her that I've slept with men as well. But I doubt it'd make her feel any better." Grae approached the counter, behind which sat a very old man who was reading a very small book that he was holding up to his face. "I'm looking for primers for Anima magic. Do you carry that sort of thing?"

The old man didn't raise his eyes from the text he was reading. "Not from my store, no."

"...But you have one?"

The man nodded. "My personal collection. I use light magics myself but I was interested in how the disciplines differ. I'm quite done with it for the moment. It's yours if you want it, Mr. Steelhart. No charge."

"I'm not interested in owing favors. I'd rather pay for it, if it's all the same to you."

The old man lowered his book enough that Grae could see his face. "I insist. I hired one of your boys the other week to track down my granddaughter after she ran off with some idiot boy. Found her a few towns over, and heavy with child, but she's back home and I'm grateful. Give me a few minutes to get to a good stopping point and I'll go fetch the book..."

[RedMageCole]

Milos said nothing about the sign. While he was afraid of cats like that... he didn't appreciate seeing such a gruesome display. He uncomfortably shifted a little bit after being patted, but tried to regain his composure quickly. He eyed the swords, looking a little bit confused as to what to get.

"Um... I don't know. If anything, I'd like to learn how to use a dance move, since that seems to be what I'm best with at the moment rather than front line attacking... I guess I might like a steel rapier, it's a bit heavy for me but I've been wanting to learn how to fence, it'd fit my style a bit better. But I know we don't have too much, so if we need to budget an iron rapier would be fine, but not necessary even then."

[rokubiraijuu]

As soon as he passes through the gates and takes a few steps in, watching the others of the troupe peel off and go their own ways, Jupi stretches his wings out in the sunshine and his arms hiiiigh above his head.

"Phew! All right then. Business like usual!"

His good mood shows in the slight puff of his feathers and the smile on his face as he heads further into the human city, humming to himself some tune from the mountain tops — his own rendition, of course. The original is much gloomier.

Reconnaissance isn't new for the young hawk, and over the years he's developed a penchant for blending right in. The key for him has always been mentality. As soon as he starts thinking about whether what he's doing is suspicious, he's going to act like it. The same goes for pretty much anyone. So it was best to just go with the flow! Stay lighthearted and friendly, stay himself, and don't be nosy. Let the natural rhythm of conversation guide his questions.

But first, before that, he had to find a conversation. Luckily, in a mercantile city as busy as this one, it was easy. And it helped that he was actually interested in the wares that were laid out in the stalls lining the street sides, placed in displays behind shop windows. His gaze drifted and lingered, keen and full of intrigue, on colorful human foods and trinkets, and he chatted with the shopkeepers where possible, always maintaining his upbeat tone, an easy laugh, and a picture of innocence.

"Yeah, that's right— I'm not from around here!" A ruffle of wings for emphasis. "What kind of places are around here, for a newcomer? Anywhere I should steer clear of?"

"That's too bad! I hope your cold gets better. Hey, you mentioned your son has a laguz friend, right? I don't see that a whole lot with the war going on! What's it like for laguz in this city?"

Collecting information, for him, has always been less about cutting right to the heart of what he wanted to know and more about building a picture from a lot of little pieces, like that old puzzle grandma used to work with him on when her aches weren't bothering her, even though it had been passed around so much that one could hardly make out the images anymore. Once he has an idea of the context, he can move onto another person and keep building from there. The hope was that, by picking out a clue here and an adjacent detail there, he wouldn't be leaving any one person with an odd impression.

With that step completed, he's onto part two: pretend he's on the side of the people he wants to know more about. Thankfully, he's always been a good actor.

"Yeah, yeah! The cat laguz are just tearing this area apart! If it weren't for them, I'd still be home, too. Is anything being done about that? Anyone out there putting a stop to what those mange-balls are doing?"

The taverns are a good place for this, where people and the things they say are already transient and alcohol makes memories indistinct. Whether or not he's telling the truth doesn't matter as long as he sounds passionate. If he can find any inkling of information somewhere about cat laguz being trafficked through the area — or better yet, if he can pinpoint a braggart who wants to tell everybody so — then he'll be onto something.

[Blade Master Model 42]

Jupi had, by chance, first stopped in at the Cat's Head. While the people of the city were not, perhaps, as warm to him as he might have liked, badmouthing their neighbors to the south seemed to warm them to him pretty fast. Three men were talking with him at the moment, each with a tankard in hand. The first of them was a red faced man with only three fingers on his right hand. "The army sure as hell ain't doing it. One of the shifty bastards stole my deer after I went and shot it, fair and square, just last week. Not more than three hours south of the gate, but there he was, bold as brass. I could've taken him, o'course, but he ran when I took aim again."

The second was a skinny man with greasy hair and a bad hunch, and an amused smile on his face. "Jim you liar! I bet your knees were knockin' too hard to get a proper draw when the cat showed up!"

The third man was fat, jolly, and probably a few cups deeper than his fellows. "Har-har!"

"Well what's it matter anyway? Thieving little shit took my kill! They're savages, every last one, not a bit of basic etiquette in the lot. But if'n you get the drop on them instead of you, I hear tell you can catch em. Get em in a cage small enough they can't change, and you've got 'em bang to rights." Jim gesticulated wildly as he said his piece, slopping froth here and there.

"If you had 'em in a cage, what's it matter if they can't change shape?" The second man, who at some point had been introduced as Rodney, chuckled at his own joke.

"Har-har!"

"Oh stow it William, no one likes your horse laugh. Still, I hear someone has been bragging about catching Laguz that come over the border."

"That'd be the army then?"

"Hah! Those bastards haven't the first clue how to fight the Laguz, let alone catch 'em. I swear, the wet eared little shits you see at the checkpoints now would be laughed straight out of the barracks when I served my duty."

"Har-har!"

"So who's the brave man catching the rogue tigers coming over the wall?"

"Dunno. I heard it second hand, wouldn't be able to tell you whodunnit."

"Fat lot of good you are then."

"Har-har!"

"SHUT UP WILLIAM!"
"SHUT UP WILLIAM!"

[rokubiraijuu]

Given how inhospitable as a whole this border city was to laguz, Jupi was pleasantly surprised to find that the people at the table hadn't started making excuses to leave or just given him the cold shoulder when he'd joined them. It was probably because they'd already had a few drinks, but he wasn't going to complain either way.

Keenly, he listens to the others discuss their disdain for the beast laguz, nodding when appropriate.

"You wouldn't believe how shifty they can be," he adds in after Jim's story about the lost kill and Rodney's disbelieving comment. "I've seen 'em do worse, without a conscience in the world! They think they're the best, and everyone else can take a piss."

In truth, Jupi hasn't met that many feline laguz except those he'd encountered on his travels through their lands to take up work with the King, but there is that one in their newly-formed band that acts pretty pleased with himself all the time, so might as well fluff it up a little.

He tilts his head at the offhand mention of kidnapping going on at the border, following the conversation as Rodney asks more about it.

"Wait wait... there's someone catching them?" His eyes glitter with well-performed excitement and relief. "Have they caught anything big? Something to really put those furballs in their place? Aw man, who told you about this? Maybe I should try finding them and buy them a drink or something, maybe several."

[Blade Master Model 42]

Rodney waved dismissively. "Eh, Jim's probably just making shit up. If someone was catching 'em, I'd've heard about it. That's not something you keep to yourself. And besides, why would ya go to the trouble of catching one when you could just kill 'em then and there?"

"It's all rumors. But the rumors say they get thrown into fight pits. And then people bet on the fights, see if man or beast comes out on top."

"I heard that too."

"You did? How come I'm only hearing about it now?"

"Well, I heard tell about the fight pits, not about the Laguz."

"Well it ain't happening in the city. The guards'd never put up with it, and you can't come or go without them knowing about it. Not with a Laguz, anyhow."

[Gaterhyme]

Claire flushed briefly. She hadn't forgotten that she was shopping with two others, but Heledd having replied to her about her ramblings about tomes was surprising, though not entirely unwelcome. She had only been speaking in the first place half to convince herself of what new tome to purchase, and half because she thought Grae might have gotten something useful out of it - that he had decided to seek out the shopkeeper to be proactive instead was something she should have expected of him.

"...Mm. They can be tougher than they look, even when dog-eared and weather-worn. And even steel rusts without good care."

"Besides," and she hesitated briefly but forged on, "I think there are times when it's better to be less dangerous."

She was keenly aware of what Heledd was, even hooded and speaking cordially and as someone to work together with. A laguz was a weapon - one that couldn't be separated from its owner, one that could be easily concealed at a distance. It was something that could make trust difficult.

[SeriousConcentrate]

Joachim moved slightly to be closer to Aya. She was the closest he had right now to one of his own.

"_{I've been thinking about it and I prrreferrr ourrr own cities. I don't like all this metal and strrrange smells.}"

His stomach rumbled quietly.

"_{Well, maybe some smells arrre all rrright. We should hurrrrrry and find some food soon.}"

[Sheyra]

Clover would enter the city on her own, a slight twinge of nervousness well hidden as she passed by the gates. It was unlikely that anyone here knew about her... indiscretions back in the capitol, and even if they did, they wouldn't know what she looked like, right?

Once inside, she'd begin to look around for a place where she could sell off this wooden ring she'd picked up. It was pretty, which meant it was worth something to the right buyer. She just needed to find that buyer. Maybe there was a market around here somewhere? Surely a port had to have some kind of marketplace. She'd begin looking around, walking the streets with confidence and a searching eye.

[rokubiraijuu]

"That makes sense. You could kill them on the spot, but you'd probably make more money putting up strong ones for betting in the pit." More status, too, if anything. A bunch of humans would be interested in something like that. A bunch of laguz, too.

"Especially if they're big shots! Can you imagine if you caught an enemy general or something? People'd flock to see them fight! Or— even nobility, maybe even royalty!"

He brings his own tankard to his lips, but doesn't actually let much of it go down. There's still a possibility this could be taking place in this very city — it's not impossible for the guards to be looking the other way, or for someone to have bribed them. But it is more likely that it's farther inland someplace. This place is still too close to the border for this kind of fight ring. If the laguz escaped, they'd have an easy time getting back to Sampia. He leans forward to the others conspiratorially, putting on a flushed, giddy look as if drink had loosened his inhibitions too.

"Hey, hey, if you had a big catch like that, where would you take them to fight in one of these?"

[Blade Master Model 42]

Clover was able to find a jeweler in fairly short order. "This ring is made from polished wood. Quite simple, but competently done. I'd be willing to give you... Let's say 150 gold, if you're looking to sell it." His available wares were beautiful, but unenchanted, and therefore not of particular use. At least at the moment.

_____________________________

"They've got Royalty? I just kind of assumed they all just..." He gestured vaguely. "... You know."

"I figured they just had the strongest one be in charge or something. And they don't got generals, do they?"

"I never fought a battle where they seemed like one of em was calling the shots."

When Jupi asked the question of where they'd take a captive Laguz, the men stopped to consider the question. "Uuuuuuuuuuh dunno. Probably like... One of the nearer eastern settlements."

Jim nodded. "Yeah, yeah. It couldn't be somewhere too out of the way. You need people betting on the fights if you wanna make money."

"What's it matter anyway? You'd never catch one and you spend all your money here!"

"Har-har!"

__________________________

"Oh-ho! They were together. My my, that is rich." The attendant of the magic shop picked up a strip of leather, and laid it within the book before closing it, standing, and moving into a back room.

Grae turned to look at Claire. "Anything you think we should be picking up? I know Iris is capable with Anima as well, but she's only carrying that dark tome."

__________________________

The young man watching the weaponsmith was staring at the group standing around at his shop. Mostly Aurelia.

[Twinwolf]

Aurelia did in fact notice the staring... oh, gosh, they were just standing around clogging up the shop.

"O-Oh, sorry, don't mean to be loitering in your shop, just needed to do some thinking if we were gonna buy something..." she said apologetically.

[RedMageCole]

"Y-yeah... sorry. It'd be easier if we could count everything up... but, um... maybe I probably don't need anything for now."

[Blade Master Model 42]

The young man looked at the floor and mumbled something that might have been "It's not a big deal."