Swordsmaster Fox-girl

The City was a nightmare to traverse. Twists and turns, samey looking buildings, and a general lack of light. The only silver lining was the massive Clocktower that served as a reference.

Her progression was slow, but it was still progression. Finally, after an hour, Freya and her arrived at the foot of the Clocktower.

However, it was surrounded by iron fences that looked easy to hop through. But the cube glowed red whenever Esther tried to jump over or destroy the fences, so she had to find another way in.

Freya, who stood in front of the gate for a minute straight, muttered, “It’s closed by a device.”

No shit. Just as Esther was about to leave to find another way in, a small and shivering voice came from the other side. 

“W-Who goes there?”

“Are you the Priest?”

“W-What? How do you know that? Where’s Erik!?”

“He’s dea—”

Before Freya could finish that stupid sentence, Esther covered her mouth and answered instead. 

“He’s busy getting rid of the rats. He said he received a clue for where the source is.”

“I-Is that so? My Erik…. He didn’t come for me….”

Before Esther could think that she’d just said that wrong thing, the Priest continued with the questioning. Though, in a much sadder voice than before.

“A-And who are you?”

“We’re foreigners entrusted by Erik and your father.” That was the only way she could explain her weird clothes. “I have no time to explain, but we must get you to safety.”

“...Promise you won’t hurt me?”

“Promise.”

After a clicking sound, the gates slowly creaked open. The loud sound would surely attract the attention of the rats, so Esther preemptively created a sturdy Ice wall around them. She also put on her ring just in case the Priest would freak out.

And she was right. Rats soon crowded the wall and bashed their bodies against it. But with Freya’s thorny vines also covering the Ice walls, they were just hastening their death.

After what felt like an eternity, the door finally opened, giving Esther a full view of the Priest.

She dressed like how one would expect a Priest would. Or, well, how a nun would. The only thing strange about her was her face, which was a rat’s.

It didn’t look like a rat’s. It was a rat’s.

Esther nearly choked on her saliva in surprise. Erik, Erik, I don’t know who you are, but you’re fucking kinky. 

Only Freya remained respectful. She held out her hand and smiled. “Nice to meet you. I’m Freya!”

The Priest looked at Freya’s hand blankly, clearly surprised. “Y-You’re not scared of me?”

“Well, I guess I can say we’re the same.” Saying that, she removed her ring, revealing her tree branch horns. “Fox Spirit, you too!”

Esther shrugged and also removed her ring. “Esther.”

The Priest looked at Esther’s face in horror and clasped her hands in prayer. “A-An abomination. Neither human nor beast. W-Who did such a horrible thing to you?”

A what? “Hey! Have you looked in a mirr—”

This time, it was Freya who covered Esther’s mouth. She then turned back to the Priest with a polite smile. “Either way, she’s beautiful in my eyes.”

To hide her red face, Esther snapped around and announced, “I’m going to watch the beasts. You guys talk it out.”

Freya giggled. “Well, Mrs. Priest, what’s your name?”

“I’m Felicia.”

She nodded. “So do you know any safe places?”

Felicia narrowed her eyes. “Wouldn’t you know? I thought father sent you?”

Before she could get more suspicious, Esther intervened. “We’re just making sure our information is aligned. Traversing this city is dangerous. And if we’re somehow split up, we can at least try to make it to the safe place by ourselves.”

That made no sense, but it was enough to convince Felicia. “O-Okay. I won’t question how you do your job. T-The only safe place I know of is the sewers. T-There’s a route there that smugglers used to transfer goods out of the city.”

“...And where exactly is the entrance to the sewers?” Realizing Felicia’s stare, Esther played it cool and shrugged. “What? I’m just testing your knowledge. You know, in case you got lost.”

“Fine…. It’s on the other side of the city.”

Suddenly, Esther had a bad premonition. As such, she hissed through her teeth in frustration. “Near the stagecoach station?”

“O-Oh, so you do know where it is!”

At the very start, where Erik's corpse lay.

…

Fortunately, she had just the right excuse to get rid of the corpse right before they got there.

“I’ll go ahead to scout. You stay here with Freya.”

Not even waiting for Felicia to agree, Esther rushed the corner and stood before the corpse. “Ah, how do I do it?”

Of course, with Flames!

However….

[Important asset. Please do not try to destroy]

The cube glowed red. And with that, came despair. 

She couldn’t move it. Couldn’t burn it. And the supposed entrance to the sewer was here. Worse, she heard chattering quickly approaching her place. It seemed that Freya didn’t catch on to what Esther was planning.

In a fit of panic, Esther conjured Flames around the corpse to keep it hidden. Dammit! I should’ve used Ice! 

But the two idiots have arrived, and it took all her attention to keep the Flames from going out. Trying to make Ice walls now was impossible for her.

“Eh, why is there a fire?”

“To keep it warm and bright,” Esther said with beads of sweat running down her forehead. “We—”

“Ahhh! I know! We should rest! I’m sure you’re tired from all the walking, right, Felicia?”

Esther gave Freya a strained smile. “Freya, she’s not tired. We should go now.”

“As a matter of fact, my feet are a bit weary.” Felicia sat down on a nearby box and breathed evenly.

“Haha.” Still keeping that strained smile, Esther leaned her back against a wall. “Then make it quick. The sooner we get to the sewers, the better.”

Fifteen minutes had passed, and finally, Felicia was ready to go again. However….

“Can you get rid of that fire? I’m sure you know, but the entrance to the sewer is just beyond it, hidden behind an illusory wall.”

Esther couldn’t take it anymore. She approached Felicia in large strides and knocked her out with one swift strike to the back of her neck.

She then knocked on Freya’s head hard.

“You fucking idiot!”