Amadeus went into the bath, washed her hair and herself thoroughly, dove into the water, and, touching the bottom, slowly resurfaced. She lay on her back and swayed slowly in the water, pondering.
«There were three people following us today, from the moment we entered the town. I'm sure they're still doing it. There must be no obvious reason for them to follow us. Their target is definitely not Tsuri. The likelihood of it being about money is small. Only we knew about the stones, and the guild holds its reputation too high. They wouldn't do something like that, the money value was too small. And the following started from the town gate, not from the guild. We didn't call much attention here, so that's probably this make problem, isn't it?»
Amadeus looked at the machete, which she had placed, just in case, on the edge of the pool. There were runes engraved at the base of the hilt. She could read them, Blood Tiger.
«Apparently [Lunar Language] allows understanding not only speech but also the inscriptions,» thought Amadeus.
It was a hasty move to carry a weapon with the mark in view. It was the only good weapon, and Amadeus didn't want to be without it, and the risks of it causing trouble were minimal.
«I miscalculated somewhere. I relaxed a little bit too early,» Amadeus sighed and continued the briefing to herself.
«Five children and three men of bandit appearance. They had many valuables and bottles. Considering they were in the forest of illusions, the bottles were most probably potions to keep them from going crazy. These supplies would have been enough for a week. In that time, they would have crossed the forest. They didn't look like traders. Of course, even if they were traders, they were obviously illegal workers. Yeah, that's what I thought. The only explanation for this whole situation is the slave trade,» thought Amadeus, sighing longingly and slowly diving in the water.
«Why I should have gotten a problem with the most money-making business from the beginning?» she finished.
She still had to find out how she ended up in that forest, but to be honest, she didn't care about it much.
Sure, she didn't like the slave trade, but there wasn't much she could do about this situation. If Amadeus could do something to help, she would. But if she had to risk her peace of mind, safety, or even more so, life, she would refuse.
Finishing her impromptu briefing, she dressed, went up to her room, and.
«When I have spoken, NOT a lot, did you not hear the word, NOT?» said Amadeus, looking at Tsuri.
Little Tsuri lay on the bed, belly-up, with a happy face. Her belly was puffy from overeating, and her tail wagged slowly in all directions. Tsuri seemed to be sleeping, happily giggling and hiccuping. Amadeus sighed and laid a blanket over Tsuri. She turned off the light and put on her mask.
«Let the carnage begin, pam... pam... pam...» Amadeus said and jumped out the window.
Her lips curved into a sly grin. It was a pity no one could see it beneath the mask. Walking out the window, Amadeus headed toward the dark and desolate lanes.
«They're not even trying to hide,» thought Amadeus.
She clearly felt that they were watching over her. Just as Amadeus thought, there are only three people. Going into the lane, she turned to a cul-de-sac.
Without moving for several minutes, Amadeus said, «First, I know you've been following me since this morning. Second of all, the way you do it is ridiculous. And thirdly, for what reason would the Bloody Tigers want me?»
She wasn't entirely sure if they were related to slave traders or the band. But at least her doubts about the latter were dispelled when she saw them. Three men came out, they all dressed in black. They wore tiger masks on their faces.
«Where are the goods?» asked one of the bandits.
«What goods are we talking about?» said Amadeus
Even if she knew what goods she was talking about, she didn't miss the opportunity to find out more.
«Don't pretend. You have a sword with the mark of our organization on it,» the man said.
« Goods, goods... No, nothing comes to my mind. And this short sword I borrowed from a friend,» said Amadeus.
She pulled out the blade and began to swing it in her hands as she continued speaking, «And if you want additional information, you will have to pay for it.»
«How much are we talking about?» one of the bandits asked, obviously wary of the strange girl who was swinging her machete so fast it left a residual trail.
«The loss of a few slaves shouldn't be significant. It's not a problem for their organization. Hence, it's about something else,» thought Amadeus and stopped the blade.
«How about all your slaves you now have in the city?» asked Amadeus.
She decided to piss them off with such demands. They probably wouldn't say anything, or they wouldn't know. Anyway, she wanted to test herself after the evolution and slap some slave traders in the process, even better.
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