Alescia: The unyielding desert

The next day you wake up all satisfied. You have morning sex with Elena (and some more cropping!), then you prep yourself up for the day, and you embark for a town standing in the distance before you.

What a dump! you think to yourself, as you look over the buildings made of stone and the people in ragged clothes walking between them. You keep going until you reach the town centre. In there, you can see countless kiosks, with all sorts of merchandise placed on their surfaces. The men and women selling them say their stuff is the work of wonders compared to what their competitors have to offer. Just like they were doing it at home. The very place you escaped from.

For some time, you just stand there. Then you finally gather some courage and go to one of the kiosks.

"What can I give you, ladies?" the merchant asks with a welcoming smile.

"We are looking for work," you answer.

"The outlaw kind," Elena interjects.

The man laughs.

"There is a **** Registry north of town. If you sign a contract, you can expect to be trained well and sold to a lawful owner. That beats being captured by the outlaws. Nobody knows what they are doing with their slaves."

"Thanks, but we don't want to be slaves," you answer.

"That might not depend entirely on you, ladies," the man says.

—— SKILL CHECK PASSED: SUPERIOR AWARENESS ——

The moment you hear his words, you turn around, fast enough that the men behind you are unable to place cuffs and mittens on you. Due to their closeness this seems more of a close quarters fight. But why the hell should this be a close quarters fight when you have your weapons with you?

—— SKILL CHECK PASSED: GUNSLINGER ——

Thanks to time spent in the shooting range, you are able to take down all four of them before they could even have a chance of grabbing their own weapons. After that, you turn around again. By this time the merchant has a gun in his hand. True. But in parallel the both of you hold a gun to his chest also.

"Alright, ladies, you won," he says, and he lifts his weapon above him.

"Toss it," you order.

Scared, the man flungs the rusty gun in front of you in the sand. Elena grabs it and keeps it in her hand. You keep your gun on target.

"As I said: I'm looking for work," you tell him. Elena gives you a sharp look for doing that. But you already came this far. So why the hell you wouldn't ask him?

"There is a city ten miles to the west. You can't miss it. You will find plenty of work there."

"Thank you," you answer. You put your guns back to their holsters, and you get going without saying a single other word. Just imagine what would have happened if they are successful!