The inn was bustling with activity in the late afternoon. The whole establishment was filled to the brim with both travelers and locals tired after a long day of working. Those who could afford a drink indulged themselves, creating a loud and chaotic atmosphere by engaging in conversations with the travelers. The occasional laughter, the aftermath of a good joke, or an argument, and the fruit of the collision of two different worldviews, only increased the volume of the overall noise.

In the outskirts of it all, sitting by the table in a corner, was Viki. Her well-masked frustration made her very tense, but she endured it, pretending to drink her watered-down cider.

‘Fuck this! Move your ass!’ She screamed in the confinement of her mind, stealing glances at her target. The drunkard engaged in a conversation with a group of wagoners, who sat at one table. ‘I can’t even finish my drink because of you! I bought it, and I have to waste it! I can’t get drunk like you! I’m working here, so do me a favor, and move your ass! We can’t speak in here!’

She took a deep breath before exhaling loudly to calm her nerves, then her gaze for a moment focused on the mug filled with the mixture she ordered. At this point, she dreamt about getting at least tipsy, but such pleasures were way out of line. Her task was simply too important to allow mistakes born from indulging in alcohol.

She stole another glance. ‘This bastard. He spent half a day in here already… He should be completely wasted… I guess he is a good drinker because he appears sober enough to hold a conversation with those guys, and they only had a single mug of beer. On the other hand, he mostly listens, speaking only occasionally,’ she observed, before looking around the establishment to keep the facade.

‘Observing him outside was so much easier… Why did he have to come here? I want to be so done with this…’ As this line of her inner monologue passed through her mind, the guy got up from the table.

He raised his mug, trying to pour what was left into his mouth, but only a few droplets fell on his tongue, then he placed it back on the table, erecting a few chuckles from the wagoners who observed his comical move. Then he left, throwing a few words at them, but Viki was simply too far away to hear anything in the noisy environment.

She waited for a moment before she got up as well, then headed seemingly toward a different table but ended up turning around and heading towards the door as well.

Outside she was hit by the intoxicating fresh air, which was like a bucket of cold water. It woke her up. Spending time in the inn filled with the smell of beer, sweat, and farts dulled her senses. She got so used to the stench that she stopped even noticing it. The boring waiting also made her lose her focus, only anger kept her from fully giving in.

A quick glance allowed her to locate the man. He was clearly heading toward a dark alley behind the building. ‘This bastard is going to piss… That’s even better. We can speak away from prying eyes,’ she concluded, moving in his direction but keeping the facade that her destination was further away.

As she reached the alley, she quickly turned around and rushed towards the shadows, then slowed down to not approach the man hastily, avoid surprising him. Her pace remained fast enough to catch up to him, but not to appear as if she was chasing after the man.

"Psst!" she hissed, making the target stop. She quickly took a peek over her shoulder to check if anybody was looking, so when her gaze returned to the drunk, he was already facing her, looking at her curiously.

"Huh?" escaped his mouth. The surprise was painted all over his face so vividly that she noticed it despite the dim light.

"I want to talk with you… Alone," she whispered.

"Why?" he asked, surprised.

"Let’s say we can help one another."

He needed a moment to process her words. Then his eyes scanned her from her feet to the top of her head, and he gave a nod.

"I need to take a piss. I’ll come out on the other side, so wait there for me, and follow me. I have a place where we can speak," he instructed.

"Fine," she threw before turning on her heel and leaving hastily.

She marched quickly to the entrance to the alley, stopping there briefly to peek outside, checking if anybody was watching, then properly emerged, heading out straight to the other side of the road. She followed the line of buildings, pausing as she lined with the edge of the inn. She froze there, pretending to fix her clothing, but she kept an eye on the spot where the man was supposed to appear.

He did after a moment, which caused her to start moving again. She appeared to head straight, in a different direction from him but crossed to the other side of the street soon and changed her direction. She followed him quite discreetly, appearing as if she was not interested in the man at all, but when he went inside an old grain warehouse, on the edge of the town, she followed him there carefully.

She opened the door, just a little, to see what was inside through the crack she created. It let out this short creak. A heavy stench of mold hit her, forcing a grimace on her face. She noticed a dim light from a fragile source, probably a candle, and a fragment of a shape that undoubtedly was the man.

Taking a deep breath, she slid inside. He was standing there, waiting for her among the bags of grain. There was a barrel next to him on which stood a single candle – the light source.

"I’ll cut to the chase. I think we can help each other," she whispered. "I know who you work for."

"You do?" the man asked, and a smile crept on his face before he let out this drunken cackle.

At this moment, she knew he was actually more drunk than he appeared. His walk was quite straight, and his moves sharp, but behind this facade, he was heavily intoxicated, to the point she started to doubt if he was capable of understanding the situation. 'This fucker,' she thought, getting slightly irritated.

"Yes. I want to work with you. We can help each other," she said.

"How can you help us?" The man asked.

She didn’t really know how to answer on the spot, as she never thought through what to say during this conversation, so she didn’t respond immediately. After three breaths worth of time, the man decided to take a step forward, which jolted Viki back from her thoughts.

He put his hand on her shoulder, which made her almost jump. "How can you help me?" he asked, lowering his face to meet her height. "I know how you can," he said before the cackle returned. It was dull, stripped of any thought but filled with dumb desire. Then he pushed her.

Viki lost her footing, falling heavily on the bags of grain behind her. The stench of mold hit her with twice the force, but she ignored it, growling as she reached for the knife in her shoe. Before she managed to reach it, the man with his full weight dropped on her, grabbing her both arms.

"Get off me!" she hissed, kicking him in the belly with her knee, but he was too anesthetized with alcohol to feel it.

"You will help me, girl," he mumbled, drooling. "You will help me feel good," he said, only to start laughing again.

It didn’t last long, since it was stopped abruptly because the man fell on Viki with his full weight, as shadow appeared behind him, and she saw some swift movement in the dim light, accompanied by a dull sound of impact and a much sharper crack of wood.

"She is not going to help you feel anything," said somebody.

Viki quickly recognized the voice. It was Bruno.

He grabbed the man and rolled him off her. She was so furious that her first move was to kick the drunkard. Then she noticed the young alchemist leaning over her with a gentle smile on his lips. He was extending a hand toward her. She hesitated to take it.

"Drop your pride, V. We all make mistakes. I did several ones today, and you only committed one," he said with a calm tone of voice.

This made her finally accept his help, so a moment later she was back on her feet.

"He was too drunk," she complained.

"He is the wrong guy," he informed as if it was obvious.

This revelation shocked her, but she kept it hidden. Unfortunately, a quick glance at the knocked-down drunkard betrayed how she really felt.

"You probably picked him because he is a drunk, and they tend to pass by people without raising too much suspicion, so it would be a decent disguise to spy. He probably was quite the curious one, wasn’t he? But notice his clothes. They are well-made and from good fabric. He has them stained with food. Judging by his state, he can also afford to drink a lot. Where does all this coin, which he is clearly spending, come from? He is not a rebel. If they had coin, we would all be hearing about their actions, because they would be able to afford them. They must be poor, so whatever people they have here, you won’t be seeing them spending this much. This man is a spy, but I bet he works for the king or somebody from his circle. Probably keeps them informed about the mood among the people to squash any brewing rebellion," he said.

This information shook the girl. Her eyes went wide, and she looked at the drunkard once again. Bruno seized the moment to take a step closer to her. He moved his hand quickly, placing it on her hip, but she only noticed when it was already there. Then her eyes moved toward him.

"Don’t worry. We all make mistakes, but the crucial part is to learn from them. I made several ones today, but I learned something from every single one of them. You need to draw conclusions from yours, so you will never repeat it,” he said, gradually moving closer to her. His face drifted slightly to the side, so he could whisper to her ear.

Feeling his breath on her skin, Viki’s heart started to race. She swallowed nervously, slowly giving in to her feelings.

“So… Tell me V, are you going to learn from your actions today?”

“Y-yes,” she stuttered.

“Good. I know you wanted to impress me, so you moved quickly. In the future, I want you to be more careful. I could lose you today, and I can't afford to lose you,” he said, placing a gentle kiss on her lower lip. “You are too precious,” he added, placing yet another kiss. “Irreplaceable,” and another kiss.

She could feel the heat in her chest expanding, gradually taking over her whole body.

“I-I… I’ll be careful,” she gasped.

At that moment, Bruno took a step back, putting a stop to the tender moment they shared. As if nothing happened, he reached into his pocket, pulling out a small vial, which he uncorked before leaning over the drunkard. He brought this little bottle to the man’s nose and moved it there before plugging the cork back and hiding the vial.

“When he wakes up, he won't remember anything,” the young alchemist stated. “He will probably conclude that he passed away from all the alcohol he consumed.”

Viki was bamboozled by the sudden change. She opened her mouth a few times to say something, but she couldn’t find the right words. Noticing it, Bruno smiled at her.

“We will continue this when everything is over,” he said, then he left the warehouse.

She watched him go, completely stunned.