As their carriage crested the top of the hill, Van couldn’t help his wide-eyed wonder at the city that suddenly came into view after their several day-long journey. Sticking his head out of the burrowed carriage given to him and his wife, he soaked in the bright lights of the city slowly coming into view, Luna joining him, also excited.

And what a city it was…

Bright city was the biggest city Van had ever laid eyes on, at least ten times bigger than Thea’s city, at least from what he remembered from when he last visited it. And twice if not three times taller. With buildings so packed together that they looked squashed, with narrow suffocating streets that were filled so heavily with merchants and commerce from all corners of Alcray that it looked like the clogged arteries of some giant beast.

As they drew in closer and were allowed entry into the city, in some parts quite quickly thanks to the Knight rangers who flashed a few badges at the guards to see them through. Van couldn’t help but understand why the city was called Bright city…

There were dazzling lights everywhere…

Just because Alcrayneins could see in the dark and lacked the need for long periods of sleep, didn’t mean they were strictly nocturnal as some people outside of Alcray would believe… But this city, despite being extremely late in the day and nearing the time most would start heading home for bed, was probably even busier than what it would be in the morning…

Giant luminescent crystals and blue fire bathed the city, allowing all comers to see perfectly where they were going. Some of the lights shined and sparkled, a few even making images and shapes to draw the attention of would-be customers with promises of a good time and much more…

As Van and his small caravan, guided by rangers made their way through the city, they found their traveling slowly crawling down to the speed of a snail… the streets were so packed, that even with the rangers and their important Knight rangers leading the way, hardly anyone moved to give the caravan space to pass through. If anything, the fact that such a strange combination of rangers and what was clearly a large group of bandits making their way down the street drew so much attention that people stopped to stare, slowing the caravan's progress even further…

In contrast, the few actual adventurers, real-life humans, and a few other races, with their gear and obvious look of being outsiders, had a small dearth of people around them. Almost as if they had applied a mana barrier to themselves…

The slowdown in speed, while at first annoying Van and his wife at first, soon became something they were slightly thankful for… as it gave them time to more enjoy the sights of the city and everything it may have to offer.

Down one street there seemed to be some sort of singing competition, with some people doing what Van could only describe as karaoke… a few seemed to be actual singers and many would applaud when they came up on stage and started playing a few of their songs for the audiences below.

Down the next street seemed to be a light show of sorts, with a lot of party people dancing to the beat of a strange rhythmic music that bopped to the flicker of the ever-changing lights that washed the street in a dizzying amount of different colors every few seconds and in disjointed patterns…

Continuing down their path, the next street was a literal street bathed in red where males dressed in skimpy outfits and were quickly snatched up by the women drunk on the street after, which was filled with pubs and inns where the alcohol seemed to be free-flowing…

After that was a street of restaurants and after that a street filled with merchants hawking their merchandise to anyone that lingered more than just a single second…

The whole city hummed with noise and life. Van even saw a few rare lich's and demon-kin walking about, a few beastman and demihumans as well.

Finally, they stopped at a large and imposing gothic-like cathedral. Two large banners were placed on both sides of its imposing double doors. Each depicting a golden scale, on one end a bloody dagger, on the other a magical contract…

This was no doubt the hall of blood and justice…

The Knight rangers then talked with a few of the guards, after a few moments of speaking with each other, one of the Knight rangers went over to the carriage Van and Luna were staying in.

“Alright you two, get out, we're here…” She said rather rudely, motioning with her head to get going.

Nervously, and perhaps a little intimidated by everything around them, they slowly exited the safety of their carriage and placed their feet on the firm stone-worked ground. One of the guards then walked up to them and motioned them to follow, and they did, following the guard and leaving the caravan behind them as the captive bandits followed another guard, Karmine being taken by a third and far more heavily guarded detail, no doubt to a separate and more secure room…

Van noticed that these guards were somewhat different than the ones at the gate. The ones at the gate as they entered the city wore a combination of black, red, and gold. While these ones just wore red, with some black, in different patterns. He then had to remind himself that the hall of blood and justice was religious in nature and that it probably meant that the duchy soldiers and the ones that worked at the halls of blood and justice were of different factions…

Which made Van wonder how that worked… it would be like leaving all the laws of your country to a third party, making him wonder where the line was drawn.

The guard though didn’t look like she was willing to answer any questions he might have, and soon found themselves in front of a large wood door. With a gentle knock, the guard waited for an answer.

“Come in.” a young voice replied.

The guard then opened the door, ushering Van and Luna inside.

The room was plush, but filled with an overwhelming amount of red… There was a red carpet, red curtains, red tapestries, and a red couch, all filled with gold stitching to help break up the color. In front of the couch was a plain wooden desk filled with and overflowing with papers, several pens, and two jars of ink, one filled with regular black ink, and the other filled with magical blue.

Sitting at the desk was a woman in a red robe with long straight red hair and golden eyes. She wore half-rim glasses, though they didn’t look prescribed and more like it was to help her eyes from straining than seeing clearly. Her robe was somewhat similar to someone who was a judge, with some religious aspects woven into the stitching with gold and silver, creating beautiful designs.

“Excuse the intrusion mistress… we have a… complicated situation that needs addressing.” the guard said, handing over a copy of the contract that Van signed with karmine, no doubt given to her by the Knight ranger he gave it to. The guard then gave a quick summary of what little she knew and then waited at attention.

The red-robed woman gently took the papers, allowing Van to notice that her fingertips were stained in ink. She then carefully began to silently read the contract, her fingers delicately holding the papers in such a way that prevented a single crease from forming. After a few minutes, she gave a nod and dismissed the guard.

Once the guard left, the priestess/judge-looking woman turned her gaze to Van and Luna and gently asked them to sit on the couch, her hands clasped together, fingers entwined, elbows on the desk as she stared at them for a good long while as they tried to not twitch too much on their seat.

“Before we begin… I would like to introduce myself.” the red-robed woman said. “My name is Venadetta… and yes… before you ask, my mom did name me that… but you can just call me Vena…”

“I am the head priestess of this hall of Blood and Justice… which means I am the head judge here… and also hold the right to thoroughly investigate anyone that may have broken a contract… you may be wondering why you are not directly sent to Duchess Rosalyn… after all, technically when it comes to the breaking of the law, the lord of the land is the one that punishes lawbreakers and criminals… but that is not always the case… rulers do not always have the time to deal with every petty thief… and we… are given special privileges when it comes to the enforcement of… contracts… our services after all… are important to all people that wish to have a proper binding contract… that is because when it comes to contract’s… we have a goddess that backs it up and can enforce the rules of said contract, whether you like it or not… it is a service that few can provide and is necessary in our culture where our word is our oath…”

“Now… you have come to us with a… interesting little contract… one that no doubt will force the interference of both duchess Rosalyn… and one duchess Karmila…” her gaze sharpened… “Do you have any idea… what you have just caused…?”

Van and Luna swallowed.

“We were… just trying to survive…” Van began. He then shivered. “I was raped by one of Karmila’s daughters before… I know what kind of woman she is, without even having to meet her… we were desperate… who knows what she would have done to us if we were captured by her…” Luna nodded along with everything Van said.

Vena studied them for a good long while, not indicating at all that what Van said had any effect on her, only slowly nodding her head after a minute of thought. “That is somewhat understandable… desperate times call for desperate actions… and your previous experience, coupled with the rumors of what kind of woman Karmila is… makes it perfectly logical that you might even be willing to sign such a contract in the first place… yes… there is some wiggle room to say that you were… coerced into such a contract… though…” her eyes roved back to the papers given to her. “It almost seems too… in favor of your position… tell me… did you write up this contract?” now giving another sharp look towards Van and Luna’s direction.

Van and Luna stiffened, but slowly shook their heads in the negative.

“I see…” Vena said, looking back at the papers thoughtfully. “That means it must have been written by Karmine directly… interesting…”

“Umm… What is going to happen to Karmine?” Van asked, sounding curious.

Vena’s sharp eyes once more pierced Van. “Interesting… you almost sound… worried…? What exactly happened between the two of you… if you don’t mind me asking…”

Van looked at his wife nervously and back at Vena. “umm… first… before I say anything more… uh… do you… provide lawyers?” he asked nervously.

Vena blinked, and oddly enough… began to give a light laugh, a small smile playing across her lips. “Of course we do… but you don’t have to worry…” she said with some mirth. “Everything you say will be shared with me anyway. My job isn’t just to ensure that a contract is enforced… but that justice is served. Regardless of whether you are a noble, powerful merchant, or humble commoner. So long as you have nothing bad to hide, I will be your greatest ally. Trust me… I only wish to help, I’ll even swear on my name!” she then chuckled at that last bit, probably due to an inside joke or another.

Van and Luna shared another look, but then both gave a silent agreement. They turned and began to tell the story of everything that happened, hiding only a few personal matters that they did not wish to share.

By the end of it all, Vena seemed very invested in the story and now was in a deep state of thought about everything she had heard and what to make of it. “Interesting… very interesting…” she said over and over again.

Just then, another knock came at the door and she allowed the person in. The guard then handed over a very nice-looking envelope and quickly left. Vena then opened up the envelope and began to read the letter inside, her eyes widening and then giving a meaningful look towards Van. “And things just keep getting more interesting…” she said, putting the letter away.

Soon another knock came at the door, and a guard delivered another letter. Vena read this one as well, slowly and carefully, her eyes going wide before carefully putting that letter away along with the first one.

Minutes passed as nothing happened… and then…

“You're free to go,” Vena said out of the blue.

Van and Luna blinked.

“Wait… seriously?” Luna asked, surprised.

Vena nodded. “Duchess Rosalyn is expecting you, and she delivered a letter pleading with me to let her precious future fiance go, willing to take full responsibility for anything that might have happened… not only that… Karmine has given a full confession, admitting all the wrongdoings she has done, and laying them all as ordered by Karmila herself. She is also willing to take full responsibility for everything, so long as her comrades' sentences are reduced and given a chance to rejoin society. Now other than fixing the contract that you signed with her a bit, there is practically nothing left to do… interesting…”

Her gaze now studied them as if they were some sort of exotic animal. “You know… I have the strangest familiar feeling about you two… tell me… are you perhaps blessed by the goddess of fate? You seem to have a… holy aura about you… and the luck you two have… hmm…”

“Well… about that…” Van said, now feeling suddenly put on the spot.

Vena immediately raised her hand, stopping him. “No need to tell me right now,” she said. “You two have been through a lot already as is… and you’ll have to come back to confirm the changes in the contract between you and Karmine anyway. If by then you feel more comfortable telling me, then I don’t mind listening to whatever you have to say and maybe helping you if you want me to. For now, just go home… err… go with the escort provided to you by duchess Rosalyn and maybe get some rest in a nice soft bed. It will take a few days for us to properly revise the contract, so you will have plenty of time to relax. Do you have any questions?”

Van wanted to ask how in the world did duchess Rosalyn already know about their predicament so far in advance that she had already sent a letter to Vena to arrive by the time Van and Luna sat down on the couch. It was also a little odd that Karmine had already written a confession letter unless she already had planned one out beforehand… Van’s mind was swirling with possibilities but in the end, ask a simple question that asked far more than one would expect in such a situation.

“What’s going to happen to us…” the question implying far more than the normally simple six words would usually amount to. There was worry and fear about their future, about what Karmila may do to them, about a bunch of other things too…

Vena wasn’t sure how to answer that. “I’m sorry… I don’t truly know… but I do know you don’t have to worry so long as you're in this city. Duchess Rosalyn will take care of you… you're safe now… Can I help you with anything else?” she asked gently.

“...do you know where the bank of Thram is? We have to… apply for a better bank gem…” Van said lamely.

Vena quirked an eye, then nodded and brought out a floating image with the bank of Thram. “Since you are within the city’s limits, you should be able to download the app and apply through your Vespera bangle. Just send in all your information, it will take a few days for them to process, after that, you can either have them ship the gem to you, or you can pick it up yourself.” She then flung the image towards Van and it got absorbed into his Vespera bangle.

“Thank you...” Van said, looking at his bangle in surprise, not realizing such a thing was possible till now.

“Just glad to help. If you need anything else, please don’t be afraid to come by and ask. I’m always willing to lend a helping hand to those in need.” Vena said, giving another gentle smile. She then pressed something on her desk and a guard came in. “Please guide these two outside, I believe an escort is already waiting for them.”

The guard nodded, and Van and Luna were led out back the way they came. Going outside, they noticed a new carriage waiting for them below, surrounded by heavily armed guards with the crest of duchess Rosalyn on them, a black and red rose. Going down the stairs, they were ushered inside the plush confines of the carriage.

Without much fanfare, they went off. Moving through the crowd like a hot knife through butter. None wanted to accidentally get in the way of the heavily armed guards of duchess Rosalyn. As they moved, they made their way not far from where they were down through a large open street that seemed to have everything. Van noticed many other places, such as a coliseum of sorts, a theater, what probably was the bank of Thram, an auction house, and so much more, making this place clearly the heart of the city.

But just as quickly as they entered the area, they left and soon found themselves heading towards a large and imposing castle at the center of the city not far from its heart. The carriage stopped, and they exited it to look up at the amazing towering structure before them. They were guided in, more rushed than anything, and it was down one of the halls towards the room that was supposed to be provided to them that they met… her…