James left the guild and stopped in the middle of the street.
The city was just as packed as before, with people coming and going in every direction, so finding Faust in the middle of all that crowd wasn’t going to be easy at all.
"Damn it..." he muttered, frowning. "Where the hell did she go?"
Luckily, the elf’s white hair stood out in the crowd, so it didn’t take him long to spot her again, and he immediately took off running after her.
However, pushing through the crowd made catching up to her much harder than he expected.
Every time he thought he was closing the distance, someone would cut in front of him, or he’d lose sight of her for a few seconds and have to look again.
’This doesn’t make any sense...’ he thought, dodging a woman with a basket. ’She’s not even running and I can barely keep up.’
James picked up his pace and, rounding the next corner, caught sight of her disappearing into a narrow alley between two buildings.
He went after her right away, and the moment he crossed into the alley, the noise of the street faded down to a distant murmur.
The buildings were so close together they barely let any light through, and a few meters ahead the elf stood with her back to him, completely motionless.
"Hey, you’re Faust, right?"
"...Yes," she replied curtly. "Who are you?"
"I’m James, and I was wondering if you’d like to join my Party."
"Huh?"
"I heard you don’t belong to any, and... well, I need companions."
"...Are you serious right now?" she said, frowning. "Do you even know who I am?"
"Well, I know your name and a few things people say about you," he replied with a shrug. "But if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that rumors are almost never true."
"..."
She stayed looking at him for a few seconds, as if trying to decide whether he was serious. However, something seemed to catch her attention.
Her gaze shifted toward the alley entrance and then turned toward the opposite end.
And in an instant, her expression changed completely.
"Go."
"Excuse me?"
"Go, now," she repeated in the same flat tone as before. "You shouldn’t be here."
"Look, if it’s about joining my Party, you can—"
"That’s not why."
"Then why?"
"Just go," she said, not taking her eyes off the far end of the alley. "This has nothing to do with you, and you don’t want to get involved."
"Involved in what?"
But before Faust could answer, footsteps came from the alley entrance.
James turned around and immediately understood what was happening.
Three figures blocked the path they had come in through, while a fourth stood at the other end of the alley.
They were surrounded.
"I told you to leave..." she said, letting out a sigh.
The big bearded man was the first to step forward, tapping a metal mace against his own palm.
"Well, well... the little rat crawled right into the hole herself," he said with a smile. "And here we were thinking we’d have to search half the city for you."
"I already apologized..." Faust replied, lowering her gaze. "What more do you want from me?"
"Apologized?"
The bearded man let out a dry laugh and looked at the other three.
"You hear that, guys? The little bitch is apologizing to us."
"How thoughtful of her," the sword-wielding mercenary replied with a mocking smile.
"Maybe we could reach an arrangement," the woman with the bow suggested. "You give us back the five hundred silver coins we lost because of you, and we’ll let you live. How does that sound?"
"You know perfectly well I don’t have that money..." Faust replied, looking away. "Besides, I had no way of knowing the road was going to be—"
"You had one damn job! One!" the bearded man cut her off in fury. "And you couldn’t even manage that, you useless bitch."
"Because of you we lost the entire shipment," the archer woman said.
"Not to mention the boss wasn’t exactly thrilled about what happened," the swordsman added. "That merchandise was worth a fortune, and someone’s going to have to answer for the loss."
"And you can bet it’s not going to be us," the dagger-wielding woman continued, spinning one blade between her fingers.
But then the bearded man seemed to notice Faust wasn’t alone.
His eyes shifted to James, looking him over with curiosity for a few seconds, as if only now wondering who he was.
"And who the hell is this?"
"No idea," the archer replied.
"Is he your boyfriend?" the dagger woman asked, looking at Faust.
Faust didn’t answer.
"Hey, you," the bearded man said, pointing the mace at James. "This is between us and her, so get lost while you still have the chance."
"And if I don’t?"
"Then we bury you next to her and that’s that," the swordsman replied with a shrug. "One more corpse doesn’t change anything."
James looked over at Faust, who was still waiting for him to leave.
And to his surprise she didn’t seem bothered or surprised by the situation. It was as if she simply assumed he would do the sensible thing and go.
’Damn it...’ James thought, letting out a sigh. ’And here I was hoping for a quiet day.’
"I’m afraid that’s not going to happen," he said, turning toward the four of them. "You see, it just so happens she’s part of my group now."
Faust turned to look at him, frowning.
"I never agreed to anything—"
"Shut up."
Then James extended his right hand.
A handful of dark particles gathered above his palm and, an instant later, his sword finished forming in his hand.
The four mercenaries exchanged glances, and then the bearded man let out a whistle.
"Well... that’s quite the party trick," he said, amused. "You pull doves out of a hat too?"
"Only if the pay’s good," James replied.
"Last chance," the swordsman warned. "Leave or die."
And as the four began closing in on them, James simply watched them without moving from his spot.
"Hey..." Faust said quietly. "You still have time to leave."
"Not until you accept my offer."
"..."
James let out a sigh and looked at the mercenaries as he rested the sword on his shoulder.
"So, what the hell are you waiting for?" he said with a half smile. "Come on, get over here"