"Cheers! To a great day!" Grinned Aster, as he held up a mug of beer.
"Tone it down, you're way too amped up, it's exhausting," Sighed Tacitus in response, as he took a swig of beer.
"Why do have to be such a wet blanket all the time, man? I just accomplished something really cool, you could at least celebrate with me," Huffed Aster indignantly.
The two of them were drinking at a bar, upon Aster's suggestion. A few days ago, he'd submitted a proposal to the Knights' headquarters, specifically, a proposal to redesign the uniforms, along with a number of design options he had in mind.
And earlier today, he'd gotten a response, approving his request. He was pretty thrilled about that, and decided it was worth celebrating. So after they wrapped up their duties for the day, he dragged Tacitus to a bar to celebrate.
"Fine, I'll stick around for a couple of drinks, but then I'm going home. It'll be a pain to wake up early if I get too drunk," Replied Tacitus dryly.
"I mean, it's not like we have any shifts in the morning, so-..."
"Doesn't matter...if I wake up hungover, I won't feel like doing anything for the entire day."
"...you never feel like doing anything anyway, I don't see the difference," Responded Aster with a wry smile, before taking a deep gulp from his mug.
"Fair. And fine, I guess I'll stop complaining...congrats, man, way to go," Remarked Tacitus, as he took a sip from his mug and let out a sigh.
"A little more enthusiasm would've been nice, but I'll take it. Now, then, let's clear our minds of all thoughts and just get wasted, we'll-...," Began Aster with a grin, before trailing off as a pair of footsteps echoed out behind him.
He glanced back, to see a man approaching their booth, a serious look on his face.
"Hm? Can we help you?" Inquired Tacitus warily.
"Yeah...," Responded the man, glancing around before lowering his voice and adding, "I'm a member of the Inquisition Squad, we've got a problem...three suspicious individuals have entered the city."
"Suspicious how? And where are they right now?" Aster asked him with a grimace.
"Well, that haven't exactly done anything too suspicious yet, they're just walking around...but they're wearing hooded cloaks, hiding their faces and acting shifty."
"Come on, man, can't you guys handle this?" Sighed Tacitus wearily.
"Hm...it could be nothing, but we should go check it out anyway. While the Inquisitors are the ones on duty at night, they mainly handle petty criminals, we're responsible for dealing with any serious threats that arise...I have a bad feeling about this, so I say we go have a look," Replied Aster reluctantly, as he stood up and set down some money to cover their bill.
"Damn it...do we have to?" Groaned Tacitus as he stood up, his shoulders slumped.
"Yeah, we shouldn't be negligent...we're supposed to better than the corrupt Knights who came before us, after all, so we can't neglect our duties."
"Well, when you put it that way..."
The pair then headed out of the bar, following after the Inquisitor as he led the way, making their way through the streets.
"Where are they right now?" Inquired the Inquisitor, as he took out a walkie-talkie and spoke into it.
"They're currently passing through the south residential district. They stopped in front of the Knight outpost earlier, it seemed like they were looking for someone," Came the response through the device.
"Alright, I'm headed that way with Captain Aster and First-Class Knight Tacitus, inform me right away if they change course," Replied the Inquisitor, before glancing back at the pair and adding, "By the way, if you don't mind me asking, how much have the two of you had to drink?"
"No need to worry about that, we'd only just gotten started when you showed up. I barely had half a mug of beer, and Tacitus is a pretty slow drinker, so he had even less. Plus, the two of us can really hold our liquor, so we're just slightly buzzed, it should wear off before too long," Responded Aster with a thumbs up.
"Actually, I feel perfectly sober," Chimed in Tacitus with a shrug.
"Hm...just in case, take this. It's an Antidote Spell, it'll clear up the effects of the alcohol," Said the Inquisitor, as he handed them a Spell Card.
"Yeah, better safe than sorry, I guess," Nodded Aster, as he took it and activated it, before handing it to Tacitus as he sobered up.
They then continued heading towards where the suspiciously cloaked individuals were, the Inquisitor getting periodic updates from the other Inquisitors who were tailing them.
As they made their way through the streets of the city, it wasn't long before the reached the area that the suspicious individuals were currently in, right as loud crashes echoed out a short distance away.
"Let's go!" Exclaimed Aster, taking his twin blades out of his Storage Ring and rushing forward in the direction the crashes came from.
Tacitus was quick to follow suit, bringing out his sword before hurrying after Aster. Another crash then rang out, from a nearby alley, before the pair shot towards it, coming to a swift stop by the entrance to the alleyway to get a grasp of the situation.
"Okay, so we did make the right call in coming here," Remarked Tacitus, grimacing at the sight before them.
A trio of hooded figures were attacking a Knight, Nile Voner, who was fending them off with his twin axes.
"Come on, let's jump in there and even the odds," Stated Aster with a dark look in his eyes, before he shot into the alley to back up his subordinate.
Meanwhile, in Amber Village...
"Hey, have you noticed?" Muttered Lexia quietly.
"Yeah, sure have...we're being followed," Nodded Colt in response.
The two of them had just finished having their dinner and were heading back to their respective homes, ready to call it a night. Until a short moment ago, when they realized that someone was tailing them.
"Tch, wish I had Raven's senses...I can't tell how many of them there are. Seems like just a few of them, though," Replied Lexia with a grimace.
"I think there's three, maybe four, of them, if I'm not mistaken. Let's head to a more isolated spot, it's hard to single them out with so many people around," Responded Colt, before the two of them changed course as Lexia gave him a subtle nod.
And sure enough, their pursuers followed after them, as the pair led them away from the crowd, heading closer to the border of the village.
"They're picking up the pace...looks like they're gearing up to make their move," Noted Lexia, as the echo of the footsteps behind them grew quicker and louder.
"Guess they were waiting for us to get away from the crowd too. Which can only mean one thing, they intend to attack us. Think they're a threat?" Inquired Colt, as he glanced back slightly, but it was too dark to get a clear look.
"Who knows? We'll find out soon enough...," Muttered Lexia, before putting up her guard as three figures suddenly shot towards the pair and surrounded them.
"We've got you cornered and outnumbered, you Commoner scum!"
"If you have any last words, now's the time...you should be honored that we're allowing you to speak at all in our presence."
"Okay, so you're obviously Nobles," Remarked Colt in bemusement.
"Heh...hehehehe!" Chuckled Lexia with an excited, malevolent gleam in her eyes, before adding as a wide, sadistic smirk spread out across her lips, "Well, now, what a pleasant surprise this is...it's been way too long, and now, finally, I get to tear apart and kill some pieces of shit again. Try not to die too quickly, assholes...I wanna fucking savor this!"