"And that’s what happened."
"..."
From across the table, Rosalía hadn’t taken her eyes off James and Faust, who sat together in front of her.
Shortly after, one of the guild’s waitresses came over with their plates and set them down in front of them.
James was served a generous portion of meat, while Faust got a salad.
He thanked the waitress and quickly picked up his fork to start eating, while Faust barely touched the salad, picking at it without much enthusiasm.
Rosalía, on the other hand, stayed silent, watching them with an expression James couldn’t quite decipher.
She didn’t seem angry or surprised; there was simply something in her gaze that made it clear she was still trying to process the situation.
"In my defense, they were going to kill her," James excused himself with his mouth half full. "I couldn’t just stand there."
"You could have come to find me..." Rosalía replied.
"There wasn’t time."
"And that’s why you jumped into a four-against-one fight?"
"Four against two," Faust corrected, raising a hand. "I was there too."
Rosalía shot her a withering look before resting her elbows on the table and clasping her hands in front of her face.
She stayed silent for a few seconds, her gaze distant as she organized her thoughts, until she finally looked up and stared directly at Faust.
"Hey, you, a question," she said, looking at the elf with a furrowed brow. "Those guys you worked with... did they have tattoos?"
"I think so."
"And by pure chance, did you happen to see if any of them had a tattoo of a skull with a snake coming out of its mouth?"
Faust frowned slightly, thoughtful.
"Hmm, honestly I don’t remember," she admitted with a shrug. "I never really paid them much attention."
"The bearded one with the mace had one like that on his arm," James chimed in, still chewing. "I saw it crystal clear when I cut it off."
Rosalía closed her eyes and brought two fingers to the bridge of her nose, massaging it slowly while letting out a sigh.
"I see..." she said. "Then I have another question."
She opened her eyes and looked at them again, this time with a much more serious expression.
"Did you kill all of them?"
James and Faust exchanged a brief glance.
"Nope" he replied after a moment. "The archer woman managed to escape."
"That was my fault," Faust added.
"Why do you ask?" James asked curiously.
Rosalía slumped back against the chair, tilted her head back, and let out a resigned sigh.
"...Shit" she muttered to herself. "We’re fucked."
"Why?" Faust asked, tilting her head. "All we did was defend ourselves."
Rosalía simply ignored her, pushed her chair back, and got to her feet.
"We’d better get out of here as soon as possible," she said, slinging her bag over her shoulder. "And by ’here’ I mean this whole damn city."
James set his fork down on his plate.
"Wait, wait, aren’t you overreacting a bit?" he asked, confused. "They were just some low-life mercenaries."
"I agree," Faust seconded. "Besides, they weren’t very strong either."
"Because those weren’t just any mercenaries," Rosalía replied, glancing sideways at Faust. "Thanks to your new pointy-eared friend, you’ve now got the Black Serpent after you."
"The what?"
"A criminal organization," she said, lowering her voice a bit so the nearby tables wouldn’t hear. "They move drugs through this region, and they’ve got people planted everywhere."
James, who had just taken another bite, choked on it instantly.
"Why are you so sure it’s them?" he managed to say between coughs, thumping his chest.
"The tattoo," she explained. "Everyone who works for them has it somewhere on their body."
"Okay, but how do you know that?" James asked, raising an eyebrow. "Because you’re talking like you know them pretty well."
Rosalía looked away, somewhat uncomfortable.
"Well..." she said finally, lowering her voice. "Let’s just say I tend to go play cards at a certain place they run."
"An underground gambling den?" Faust asked while grabbing some of James’s food.
"Yeah..."
"..."
"Yes, alright, I have my vices, okay?" she said, clearly annoyed. "But that’s beside the point right now."
And without giving him time to press further, she turned and started walking away from the table.
"Hey, where are you going?" James asked.
"To the board," she replied without stopping. "I’m going to find a job that sends us as far away from this city as possible, and the longer it takes, the better."
Rosalía stopped for a second and looked back at the two of them over her shoulder.
"Finish eating as fast as you can," she said, looking at Faust with a furrowed brow. "I’ll be waiting for you both downstairs."
And with that, she disappeared into the crowd toward the main hall, leaving James and Faust alone at the table.
"..."
"She doesn’t like me, does she?" the elf said, turning to look at James.
"Nah," he replied, going back to his plate. "She just needs to get used to you."