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Chapter 243: The City of James II

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I exit the inn and take in the sights of the buildings and people around me. Emerald looks on with curiosity as people pass us and give surprised looks. Emerald is a tamed magical beast, a legacy grade one at that. So it makes sense that attention will be on her. I\'ve come across great gear in my travels since leaving Cera. My most prized item is my sword. As the holder of the legendary class Battlemind, the skills I have are crazy, and I needed a strong sword to complement it. My sword\'s name is The Hearts Needle. It\'s perfect for the duelist nature of Battlemind.

The City of James isn\'t nearly the same size as a capital city. The actual design is nice, though. It\'s a victorian style. The archways and protruding edges give the city a sophisticated look. I\'m sure there is only a hand full of people that knows where the money for all this comes from. The fact that the church isn\'t on top of this severe problem says a lot. There probably isn\'t a criminal underworld they don\'t know about, and they still don\'t do anything. I\'m seeing more and more reasons why people of Gaia have lost faith in the church.

The new Pope is going to be determined by the process of an event for players. Maybe that\'ll be a good chance for change, but I have a sick feeling in my stomach when I think about that. I\'m sure a politician from the earth will worm their way in. I\'m sure that there are women who will compete for the spot, and I wonder what\'ll happen if that does occur. "Hey, pretty little girl!!" My thoughts are interrupted by the voice of a male. I\'ve come across this many times, especially after I got Emerald. He\'ll either demand I do something to please him or demand I hand over Emerald.

I kill men who try this. I have become numb to taking life. You would consider that monstrous, but I\'ve learned that it\'s required to thrive here on Gaia. I turn and look at the man. He has some of his friends with him. "How about you come with us, and we\'ll have a nice conversation. After we are ding with that, we can talk about you giving me that magical beast." He actually hit both of the most common topics. I have a rule when this happens. Don\'t talk. Just kill. I open my backpack and place Emerald in it. I see them get disappointed looks on their faces.

The fact we are in the middle of the road doesn\'t bother me. It\'s going to be stained with blood. I draw The Hearts Needle, and I can\'t help enjoying the thought of killing these scum. Before they can say anything else, I dash forward before any of them can reach, and I do several jabs with the tip of my blade. Puncturing all their vital organs. Many fall to the ground choking on their own blood, bleeding out. I sheath The Hearts Needle and quickly leave the scene of the crime. Some people witnessed it, but these guys aren\'t important enough to chase after me for it.

I walk down the street and make several turns. Now no longer near the site. I stop and pull Emerald out of the backpack and place her in her favorite spot. Right now, I\'m in the wealthy district. That\'s why my inn room had a private bathroom and great furnishings. My next destination is the poor district, and more specifically—the elderly in the poor community. One of the best pieces of advice I\'ve gotten from Cera is asking the old for information. They are a wealth of knowledge you can\'t find at the library. These communities have helped me greatly in the past.

I navigate the roads and follow the decay from the upper-class to the lower-class in the city. The parts of the city I came from are up kept and taken care of. These are now looking like rotten buildings. No longer made of stone, but instead made of wood, falling apart. The people are now wearing dirty clothes and rags. All look sick and hungry. It makes me want to help them, but I\'m already here on an important mission. I can\'t deviate from this quest to try and save so many people. I can\'t save hundreds of thousands on my own like this. So it\'s better not to try.

I look down the current road I\'m traveling, and I see many displaced people. Displaced isn\'t the right word. Abandoned is more fitting. Forgotten by society, tossed away like lepers. I look around at the people as I calmly walk the streets. Most don\'t look older than 30. The elderly are probably wiped out at this point if I can\'t see them with the regular people. Disease, famine, or neglect has caused most of them to die. I continue to look, and I eventually see a small group of people over 50 talking to one another. Sitting on the curbs or in chairs.

I make my way up to them, and as I do, they quiet down. They eye me up and down as if I\'m a possible threat. I take no offense. They have every way to suspect me of that. I just murdered a group of me that tried to take advantage of me. "What do you want?" One of the older women decides to be the first to speak. Asking for information is never simple with the old on Gaia. You have to give something to get something, which is easy in my case. I\'ve made a lot of gold in my travels, and that\'s the poor and old\'s favorite thing.

I pull a bag of gold out of my inventory, about 50 pieces. I shake it, and that gains their attention. I can see their eyes turn to the shape of gold coins in an almost comical way. "I need information. I\'ll give you guys this bag of gold to split if you can provide me with said information. No names, of course." I explain the terms, and I can see the desire for all the gold to go to themselves only in each of their eyes. This causes a good competition for me. It makes them more willing to open up and tell me the things I need to know.

Many look at each other ready for the challenge. My words that the gold gets split must have fallen on deaf ears. "Well? Tell us, missy! What is it you wish to know?" This time an older man this an entirely bald head speaks up. Trying to rush the information out of me. I can\'t let them know I\'m looking for information on the James family. Their fear of them will outweigh the worth of gold I\'m holding in my hands. How I need to broach this is in a way that isn\'t directly connected to the James family. An obscure connection, they have their hands in everything.

So an illegal black market for goods would be a good place to start. Once there, I can ask some people who are of lower morales for the real answers. "Do any of you know where I can pick up after-market goods?" They get the meaning behind my question. They look between each other in contemplation if they should tell. I\'m glad I didn\'t ask about the James family. They would\'ve told me to scram and never show my face around here again, and after about 15 seconds of pure silence. Someone decides to speak up. This person is the same woman who asked me what I wanted.

She adopts a cautious expression as she begins to explain. "What you need to do is speak to Saul in the adventurers guild. He is an old veteran. He\'ll tell you the meeting places and times of the after-market goods. The location and times have to be switched up, so the church isn\'t too wise about what\'s going on... So?" She holds out her hand as if demanding the payment. I look between the rest of the little group, and none of them have anything of value to offer. I place the bag of gold in her hands, and she smiles at me with a mouth devoid of teeth.

I say my thanks and turn around and leave. I make my way out of the poorer district and head towards the adventurers guild. This Saul man will be a small problem, I\'m sure. He could be one of those loyal henchmen that don\'t take bribes, but you never know I might luck out. Sarcasm. No way in hell this will be easy. He\'ll probably ask me to do something of an illegal nature for him before he tells me anything. Like assassinate someone, or sell my body. If it\'s the second one, I\'ll just kill him and search his body and home for the information I need. That will cause me to be an enemy of the adventurers guild for a little while, but it\'s nothing I can\'t handle. It\'ll be a worthy sacrifice. I hate the adventurers guild, after all.