Priscilla's firm yet quiet footsteps echoed along the streets of Arivaul. Her eyes naturally scanned for potential threats as she moved while also keeping a mental note of the type of person to walk in those streets at that hour of the day.
'Workers should either be finishing up or heading home… others might be adventurers…? Aside from them and guards, it doesn't seem like most folks carry weapons in the open…'
She was skeptical—life in the bustling streets of the Arcadian capital left her leaning more on the side of caution rather than just gut feeling. A dagger's blade could come out from any given person with enough animosity after all.
She sighed quietly. Another cursory glance around the central square made her notice a few nobles eyeing her from a distance which soon turned into quick flicks of heads to avoid direct eye contact with the knight.
'Hmm…'
Her feet lingered in a half step for a brief moment before her whole body moved towards the guild's entrance. While she didn't recognize any specific individual of the group staring at her, she got the feeling it was anything but friendly.
Inside the guild she decided to put that on a hold and with a long, deep breath, she prepared herself for her upcoming challenge.
Bounty hunting.
"Lucina." Priscilla spoke as she got closer to the receptionist—who was finishing putting some documents away. "May I have a look at the bounties?"
"Huh? Miss Priscilla, already?"
"The early bird catches the bookworm, or should I say criminal?" She gazed around the board behind the receptionist but there was nothing in regards to bounties, only normal quests pertaining to collecting dungeon materials or escorting jobs. "You don't put them publicly, do you?"
"Well… bounty hunting isn't exactly the focus of an adventurer's guild, you know."
"I figured, but it still seems off to not have a board with only the bounties."
"You can chalk it up to politics." She explained as she reached for another stack of papers—much thinner this time, under the counter. "The innkeepers and merchants rather not have bounty boards available to the public to see, it creates—as per their words, 'unwanted tension'."
"Tension or not, I'd be more relieved to actually know who is dangerous enough to have a bounty put on their heads."
"You and I both, but unfortunately the guild must follow rules or risk not getting funded." She put the thin stack of paper on top of the counter before fanning them out slightly. "Here, these are the bounties. They haven't been organized to danger levels but I must warn you, some individuals here are not to be taken lightly. They will kill you if you go after them."
Priscilla leaned over and started to shuffle through the papers while quietly whispering to herself.
"This blade of mine is already used to blood." As her eyes went through the papers, one stood out from the rest the moment she read the word kidnapping alongside the sketch of a middle-aged man. "Could you explain this one?"
She pulled it out of the middle of the papers and presented it to the receptionist, whose face turned sour upon seeing it.
"Ah… this…" She frowned with her lips curling ever so slightly inward. "A widow posted it. She was married to an adventurer who died in the dungeon and had her daughter taken from her. The city guard never found the culprit and…"
She stopped mid-sentence which made Priscilla to gaze up from the papers. There was a wistful silence and somewhat sad expression on Lucina's face.
"And…?"
"Ah, sorry." She blinked a few times before resuming the story. "The widow died a couple of years back. She even left the reward for the bounty but no one ever picked it up. Maybe everyone thought with her gone, so too would be the reward, but it's still here…"
Lucina placed the paper back near Priscilla and her eyes trailed to the reward.
"A silver coin, huh?"
"To be frank, I'm not even sure if the man in question is still alive. It has been almost a decade or so–"
She was stopped mid-sentence as Priscilla slid the same paper forward on the counter.
"I'll take this."
Visibly shocked, the receptionist tried to dissuade her by raising both hands and offering a slightly friendly if not nervous smile.
"Miss Priscilla, it has been years since this bounty was made–"
"If it is still here then someone believes there is a chance this scumbag is out there somewhere." Her left hand reached for the hilt of her rapier and each finger closely tightened its grip around it. "Do I have a deadline?"
"N-no, not really. But we'll need a way to verify his identity somehow, so–"
"No mangling his face or burning him to a crisp, got it."
Just as quickly as she came, Priscilla pocketed the bounty paper—turned around and headed straight towards the door with a fiery determination in her eyes. A lingering thought remained in her mind as she walked outside—why was a criminal like that still on the loose? While the blood running through the child's veins did, unfortunately, dictate whether or not they were worth saving—a crime was still a crime in her eyes. To leave a scum like that go unpunished just didn't sit well with her.
One advantage she held above the over-the-counter adventurer was her experience hunting for criminals. As a squire, she was the only one to actively pursue assailants and instigators back in the capital during the civil war which earned her rightful place amongst the Knights Trio.
Her left thumb rubbed the round pommel of her rapier as she took the crumpled bounty paper out of her pocket.
The drawing was a bit faded but she could still make out the man's appearance. Grizzly short hair, dark brown eyes and presumably a vertical scar alongside his neck.
"Not much to go on, but it'll do." She folded the paper and turned her head to the blacksmith shop. "I bet if anyone would tell me something, it would be Geralt."
Took one wide scan around the immediate vicinity but nothing caught her eye as she moved towards the shop.
"Geralt." She called out as she opened the door—a familiar scent of burning coals hit her nostrils. "Are you there?"
"Aye–" His voice echoed from the room at the back as the last sounds of metallic hammering reverberated all the way to the entrance. "Watcha want lass?"
"I'm looking for someone—so I was hoping you'd have some information."
She glanced around the shop and took the liberty to walk to the room at the back since there were no other customers. There, she found Geralt finishing the last touches on an axe's blade before he put the hammer aside and took one side glance with a raised eyebrow.
"Ye know, ol' Geralt 'ere is a blacksmith not a tavern keeper, aye? Why aren'tcha asking one of 'em ale sellers 'stead?"
Priscilla shrugged her shoulders and shook her head slightly.
"You know I'm a newcomer in this city, I'm sure I'll get side stares and not-so-accurate information."
With an agreeable nod, he answered.
"Aye, s'pose that's true." He patted his hands against the dirty, grimy apron he wore before approaching her. "Well, lemme see it—who are ye lookin' fer?"
"This man." She took the bounty paper from her pocket and unfolded it to present it to him. "He looked like this about ten years ago, I wanted to check if you knew anything."
"Ten 'ole years eh?" He grabbed the paper and took a good look while muttering. "What do ye think ol' Geralt is? A scribe?"
"Any information you know will help."
"Hmm… lemme see 'ere…" He scratched under his chin while making strange faces as he inspected the sketch. "Ah, this bloke. If me memory serves right… he lived near 'em nobles up in the north district."
"Nobles?"
"Aye." He handed the paper back to her before crossing both arms. "Folks knew him by the name o' 'Father', some religious prick, that one. Ran the church fer some time, but vanished after sum things happened to one o' 'em believers."
"Hmm…" Priscilla nodded slowly as she folded the paper and pocketed it. "Thank you, Geralt."
"Aye. Don't get yerself in trouble."
She nodded before leaving the shop.
Outside, her eyes traced to the settling sun just above the walls in the far horizon.
'Less than an hour left until sundown… I need to hurry…'
With hurried steps, she made her way back through the central square towards the north district. Her fast pace earned her an equally quick shock from the disparity between the noble's lavish residential district and the rest of the city.
Each house, or rather, mansion—had either stone walls or metal fences dividing each plot of land. Lush gardens and fancy stone paths were the norm with the occasional fountains, statues or vibrant colorful flowers filling their ample garden space.
However, just as each homestead was made to exuberate their wealth, so was the security detail. Each few meters or so, a townsguard would be standing watch with their halberds tall at their side. But that bothered her.
'Didn't Rhys say the town was short on guards…?'
She could feel their glares on the back of her neck as she passed by each of them. An adventurer seemed like a rare sight in those parts of the city—even more so considering the quality of her gear.
"Hey, you there." One of the guards approached her with both hands on the shaft of his halberd as if he was ready to use it if necessary. He seemed more amicable than the guards at the city gates but he seemed equally as tense as a recruit despite being a middle aged man. "What brings you here?"
"I'm searching for someone." She pulled out the bounty paper and showed it to the guard. "Here."
He raised an eyebrow to her before taking the paper out of her hand. Since the mention of bounty hunting was unusual—he quickly took three steps back to maintain his distance. Ironically, Priscilla quickly eyed the gap between her and the guard—noticing she could still hit him even at that range with her rapier.
"Let me see…" He stared at the information written on the paper and frowned his brows. "Are you really pursuing this? This is ten years old."
"Yeah. Do you have any information regarding this?"
He stepped close to hand back the bounty but quickly stepped back.
"Nngh…" He gently lifted the side of his kettle helmet before scratching his hairline. "I'm not even sure if that fool is still alive, but he isn't here if he is."
"Ah?" She quickly pocketed the paper as she continued her inquiry. "Do you know him?"
"Not personally. Just heard of him back then he was a priest for the church."
""So… where would he be?"
"Definitely not here." He motioned his head towards the mansions. "Folks here dislike religion."
"Hm… I see." She offered a small polite bow. "Thank you."
"It's nothing." He adjusted his white gambeson that seemed to be a bit tight around the neck. "Listen, if you want to play bounty hunter for the guild—that's fine. Just don't come to this place looking for trouble."
Her eyes narrowed ever so slightly as her left hand tightened its grip around the scabbard of her rapier.
'I need to remember this isn't Arcadia… I shouldn't go around poking my nose into another kingdom's matters…'
She sighed quietly before relaxing her hand.
"Understood. I'll take my inquiries elsewhere."
"That would be appreciated."
She turned around and noticed a few of the other guards were closer than where they were originally standing. Her eyes darted between the two that were flanking her before she eventually walked past them back towards the center of the city.
Through yet another short walk, she was back in the central square. The streets were lit up with incandescent lamplight giving an orange tint to the otherwise low blue hue coming from the rising moon in the horizon.
By now, many adventurers and workers were getting out of the dungeon to either get a drink in a tavern or, for those less fortunate, get a cheap stiffer drink from the street merchants which were fast to change their goods from accessories or other utilities to food and other recreational items such as beer, curated meat, clay pipes meant for smoking and dried tobacco leaves.
Priscilla found a quiet corner in the square—crossed her arms and hung her head low for a bit before taking a deep breath and glance up at the night sky.
"Tsk. Maybe I should look in the slums… but then I'd leave Rionara alone in the inn…"
Her eyes traced to the sudden large crowd of people heading to one tavern right across the guild. The place's name was signed in a large wooden plate above the entrance that read: 'Explosive Delight'.
'What a tacky name.' She thought before bringing her right hand close to her chin and mouth. She loosely held both sides of her jaw while considering what to do next. 'Then again, if anyone is willing to gossip, it would be the tavern keepers or adventurers…'