The Capital City Guard

Following Lucille’s guidance, the four of us headed towards the City Guard’s barracks and prison in the upper quarter’s square, just atop the staircase to the upper quarter. After passing up the stairs into the upper quarter, we started getting some stares. Guards had their hands on their blades, but didn’t make any moves to stop us. At the guard barracks, we were stopped from entering by a guard.

“What’s yer business?” said the guard, gripping his sword.

“We’re adventurers. Got a bandit chief to turn over to the guard,” I said, gesturing to the bandit boss.

“Well I’ll be damned. Come on in. Wait in the lobby, I’ll go bring the captain. She’s gonna wanna see this,” he said, excitedly entering the guard barrack. We followed in after him.

Inside the barrack was a counter for citizen complaints handled by an employee in uniform, but not in armor like the guards. The sentry from outside quickly went behind the counter, heading through a door in the back. The secretary waved politely before looking back down at her paperwork. After a few minutes, the sentry returned, and a woman in the guard armor, but without a helmet, and wearing a distinct purple cape followed behind him.

“These are the people,” said the sentry, moving aside to stand beside his captain.

“I’m Mia, captain of the city guard. I take it you’re the ones who took care of the East road bandits for us,” the captain said. She was a wolfgirl with bright blue hair and golden brown eyes. Though it was hard to tell with the armor on, the size of the breastplate likely meant she had quite the set on her.

“Yes, ma’am,” I said, unsure of how to address her. I pushed the bandit leader forwards.

“Please, call me Mia. I didn’t get where I am by requesting formalities,” she said, sizing up the bandit. “And how about the other guy? He for us too?”

“Sadly, no,” said Sofia. “He’s a mage, former university student. They have jurisdiction for him.”

“Figures,” Mia muttered. “Phillips, take him to a cell. He looks strong, so make sure you choose a heavy weight.”

“Yes, Captain Mia!” the sentry saluted before grabbing hold of the bandit’s bindings and leading him down the hallway out of sight.

“Amanda, could you go get the bounty for the East road bandits,” Mia asked. The secretary smiled and nodded, heading off to another room behind the counter.

“Hold on, bounty?” asked Lucille.

“Of course,” she said, tilting her head quizzically. “I had figured that’s what you all were after, bringing the boss in alive like that.”

“To be honest, we didn’t even know there was a bounty,” I said, scratching the back of my head.

“We just kinda ran into them by accident,” said Alice.

“Well, all’s well that ends well, right?” she said, smiling. Her ears were twitching with excitement. “You’ve all done a great service for us. Those bandits have killed a few of my own men as well. Their families will rest easy tonight.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” said Lucille.

“When you get the chance, you should come on down to the Guild’s bar. I’d be happy to buy you all a round once I’m off duty. It’s the least I could do,” Mia said.

“I think we’ll probably take you up on that offer,” I said, shaking her hand. The secretary returned from the back room with a bag of gold pieces, handing it over the counter to the captain, giving us a small wave before sitting down to her work once more.

“Here’s the bounty. 100 gold for the boss, plus a 50 gold bonus for bringing him in alive,” she said, handing me the sack of coins. I gave her a strange look. “The people like a public execution. Gives their victims a sense of closure.”

“I can see that,” Sofia said somberly. “If someone had killed my loved one, I’d certainly want to see the killer’s punishment myself. Ensure justice had been dealt.”

“We’d best get going,” said Alice, changing the subject. “We still need to take care of this one.”

“I see. Thank you all once again. Stay safe out there on your adventures,” Mia said, waving us goodbye as we left the guard barrack.

“Sofia, do you know the way to the university?” I asked, tightening my hold on Excellus’s rope leash.

“Yeah, just follow me,” she said. There was almost a sense of dread in her voice, barely noticeable. Regardless, we followed our resident mage to the Arcane University, on the other end of the upper quarter from the noble’s ward.