That made the guard flinch while the others looked at him with a similar shocked expression. His smug face turned into a mix of acknowledgement and respect.
"Oh? What a hero like you is looking for in the barracks?"
"Payment." She took out the promissory note out of her jacket's pocket and shook it in front of herself. In truth she wanted to ask Rhys some questions but that wasn't a necessary detail to mention. "So, can you point me to the barracks?"
He turned around and pointed to a building with a pale blue wall. Its painting was somewhat faded which made it stand out not in a good way.
"There, just ask for the captain. He should be around."
She gave him a short nod and said.
"Thank you."
Without wasting any time, she pocketed the paper, walked past them and continued on. The trio behind her started to whisper amongst themselves.
"Is she really the one who killed that guy?"
An even younger guard questioned the one leading the group with an obvious nervous tone in his voice.
"With a rapier in a narrow alley in the slums? No way she could've done that much damage to him."
He replied while shaking his head. The other older guard looked over his shoulder at Priscilla's frame before commenting himself with a hushed voice.
"Maybe she's the real deal, you never know…"
The middle guard cocked his head back and shook it in disbelief.
"Yeah, right. A woman. Must I remind you how many women we have as guards in this town?"
The older guard motioned with open palm as he inquired.
"Have you never heard of Eleonora's exploits? The strongest Knight Queen?"
"Because she was the only queen they ever had. Who holds the title for strongest knight of the realm again?"
The youngest one nodded while muttering.
"Isn't that Leonard? One of the royal knights serving the current Queen of Arcadia?"
"That's him, alright."
They continued talking amongst themselves while walking towards the noble's district. Priscilla on the other hand was already by the barrack's gate. She caught a bit of their conversation and it left her a bit annoyed.
'Gender has nothing to do with might.' She looked at her own open right palm before closing it tightly into a fist. 'A blade's just as deadly in my hands as it is my commander's.'
She softened her grasp as she walked through the open metallic gate. The front of the building was mostly empty. Only two guards were posted right outside the main entrance with halberds at their side with the occasional distant metallic clink of metal from the back of the building which Priscilla surmised it was where the guards trained.
As she approached the building itself, the right-most guard walked forward and extended his open left palm—stopping the knight in her tracks.
"Halt. What business do you have here?"
"I'm here to collect a reward."
She once again showed the promissory note, which this time the guard actually grabbed from her hand to check it. He seemed old, a bit too old for being a town's guard but the ease of which he moved while wearing armor made her think he wasn't past his prime.
"I see." He folded the paper and handed it back to her. "You may enter, but I'll have to ask you to leave your weapon with me."
"My weapon?"
"I can't have you go in armed to see the captain. Barrack's rules."
"Oh… I see."
She turned to her side and started to unfasten the belt that kept the rapier in place. Her pulse quickened a bit as it reminded her of one particular spar she had with her commander.
'Being caught without a weapon… this always makes me uneasy…'
Trying to not show hesitation, she wrapped her rapier in its own belt and immediately handed it to the guard.
"Here."
"Thank you." He bowed slightly before stepping to the side. "You may go in. I'll keep your weapon safe until you come back. The captain should be in his office, it's the first door right in front of the entrance."
She nodded and after a curt 'thank you', headed inside. Inside, she noticed there were empty weapon racks on both sides of the entrance and many other guards walking around without armor but with swords sheathed by their hips.
'There are even more guards here…' Her eyes darted quickly enough to not be noticed as she headed towards the closed door in front of her. 'Did Rhys say he was having trouble with manpower just for show…?'
She kept that thought in the back of her mind as she knocked on the closed door twice. Not long after there was a faint reply from the other room.
"Come in."
She grabbed on the door knob and opened it. Inside was a simple office room. A large wooden desk, two chairs for guests and a mountain of paperwork. Rhys was sitting behind the stacked papers with the window behind him slightly ajar to cool down the otherwise sweltering room.
He was writing something on the paperwork before his eyes eventually glanced upwards towards her.
"Oh? Priscilla. Come for the reward, have you?"
"Yeah." She replied before closing the door behind her. "I have some questions too, if you don't mind answering them."
"About what?" He returned to doing his paperwork as he spoke to her. "If it isn't confidential matters about the city, I may be able to answer them."
"It's about my father."
At that moment, his hand stopped before his gaze met hers.
"What about him?"
"You spoke as if you knew him." She walked closer and pulled one of the chairs back before sitting down. "Were you two close?"
"We were good friends, if that's what you're asking."
"Then… you would know if he was planning to go into the dungeons, correct?"
He chuckled sourly.
"I'm a town's guard captain, not a guild leader—if I were to police every adventurer that wants to risk their lives in the dungeon-"
"Rhys, please, this is a matter of utmost importance. If my father is in danger, I must go to rescue him."
"Look, Priscilla, I know you are a royal knight, but I can't just make things happen just because you are his daughter." He put his fountain pen down and leaned backwards against his chair before clasping his hands together. "He spoke about going in the dungeon before, that much I can tell you, but we haven't spoken with each other after it."
"But did he tell you anything? Anything that might point me in the right direction?"
He tilted his head slightly down before shaking it slightly.
"All he said was that he was looking for 'the Tears'. I don't know what that meant but that is all he said."
Priscilla's eyes narrowed as she glanced down with a pensive expression.
"The Tears…" After a while she took a small breather and looked back at him. "Thank you, Rhys."
"I did nothing." He extended his right hand forward while pulling out a small sack of clinking coins from beneath his desk. "Here, this is the reward for the scum from the other day."
"Ah, right…" She pulled out the promissory note from her jacket and handed it to him. "Sorry for taking your time like this."
"No, no, it's alright."
As she exchanged the note for the sack of coins, Rhys grasp tightened slightly which prompted her to look at his eyes.
"Priscilla, I say this not as the captain of this city's guards, but as a friend of your father. Don't go around poking your nose into other people's businesses. The man you captured was dangerous but there are even more dangerous people than him in this city."
She nodded quietly.
"I'll keep that in mind." She slowly stood up and was about to leave before she turned her head around and asked. "And what happened to the Black Assassin?"
"He will be dealt with in the near future." He replied without looking at her and instead focused on writing on the paper left in front of him. "Most likely to be executed."
"I see…"
Satisfied with his answer, she made her way out of his office. Rhys on the other hand let out a quiet sigh before massaging the space between his eyes.
"So she isn't here for the city, but her father instead…?"
Outside the building, Priscilla had her weapon returned and while she was fastening her belt—a thought occurred in her mind.
'The Tears… Father mentioned it before to the Queen… something about it being a relic of the past.' After adjusting the sheath on the side of her hip, she made her way out of the barracks. Despite being close to the noble's district, there was nary a soul in sight. 'Why would he come here alone to retrieve it if it's supposed to be a powerful artifact…?'
The more answers she sought, the more questions started to arise. So much to the point she was left with a tingling headache. She took a deep breath and started to make her way back.
By now the streets were mostly occupied by stewards, housewives and maids looking to buy fresh ingredients in the central square.
Once she was there herself, she noticed a peculiar duo stand out from the rest of the people around them. A tall knight clad in full plate steel armor and a blonde haired woman wearing a kettle helmet, white gambeson, puffy brown trousers and leather straps wrapped around her feet to serve as makeshift shoes.
"Is that…?"
Priscilla squinted her eyes as the knight removed his helmet, revealing it to be Reinhardt—the man she met from the night before. The pair would then keep walking to the east district of the city while conversing amongst themselves.
"Hmm… he did mention something about not going after 'Father's' bounty." She looked at their backs before they vanished into another street. "Did he know all along…?"
She shook her head.
'Well… it doesn't matter, even if he did…' After one deep breath she prepared herself to go back. 'This city… why did my father come here…?'