Nieren continued to follow the Dark Elf's trail until she reached the red-lighted district of the city. The area had many bars and establishments that offered entertainment for their clients. There were also many performers walking around doing tricks for patrons.
When she followed the trail all the way until she arrived at Bella's Place.
'Huh? She went into a female brothel? Do dark elves bed the same team? Doesn't she like men? But she looked so cute with that Quin guy... Wait, why do I care!?' Nieren shook her head, then stopped in front of the entrance door and cracked it open to see Rya standing in the reception area. 'She's here!' Nieren said as she slowly closed the door.
'Okay, she's hanging in there, and I will wait for her to come out. Now, where is the best place to hide and observe her from?' Nieren thought as she walked around the dirty streets of the Red Light district. It didn't take long to find a few sturdy crates to hide beside.
As the sun set, Nieren vigilantly watched the building and occasionally grimaced when hearing some of the god-awful sexual encounters that were going on inside the building.
'Just phase them out, Nieren. You are here to see if she's coming up with an evil plot, and I'll stop it! I wonder if I would become a legend? Hehe. That would be great!' Nieren thought to herself as she leaned back against the brick wall next to the crates from across the street.
***
As Nieren stood there hiding by her cloak, darkness fell over the city, but Nieren wasn't worried about that. She knew Rya must be up to no good, and she was going to stop her when her schemes came to light. But that's when she noticed four cloaked figures sneaking around the back of the building. She thought they were in cahoots with Rya.
'Who are these guys? Must be more dark elves coming to join up with Rya. You're not getting away with whatever you're doing!' Nieren said to herself as she carefully moved towards the back alley.
As she was going around to the back of the building, she noticed a spell of silence was cast surrounding the area.
'What is this? A magical artifact?' Nieren thought to herself as she approached the group.
That's when the four figures went through the back door.
'What the hell is going on?" Nieren cast her cloaking and hid in the alley, waiting to see who would be coming out. The artifact seemed to only work for 10 minutes as Nieren was still hiding in the shadows of the dark alleyway. And what seemed like another 10 minutes had passed when her ears picked up a quick battle happening inside the brothel.
'A-Are they killing someone? What the hell are they doing?' Nieren said to herself as she waited to see who came out.
***
The door opened up as a man in a hood was looking around the alley to see if the coast was clear.
'Huh? Is that guy a human? So, he's a spy for her?' Nieren thought to herself as she saw the hooded figure going back into the brothel.
"Are we clear to move out!" He said as he grabbed the arm of a woman.
'W-Wait, that's the dark elf? Why are there tears in her ey—' Nieren's thoughts stopped when she saw the slave collar around Rya's neck. 'W-WHAT!? She got collared! What do I do! Do I help her? Help her escape?' Nieren thought to herself while subconsciously rubbing her neck as she stood there trying to make heads or tails of what was going on until she saw the last figure coming out of the brothel.
The hair on the back of her neck stood on end, 'T-The Kings Slayer! The Black Roses enslaved her. Oh, GODS!' Nieren was scared stiff when she saw Jeremiah. She's heard of the stories of the Kings Slayer claiming the lives of nine Royals in his time with the Black Roses. She's seen him in action before, during the war with the wood elves, when he killed the Elven King, causing the wood elves' tribes to separate and run. Since then, the wood elves standing in the world have fallen on the continent.
The Wood Elven King was her uncle. She was there to witness his death that day of the collapse of her kingdom and knew that many of her people became enslaved by the human Kingdom of Marn, which was the one to hire the Black Roses. She and her friends fled to the neighboring human kingdom of Fiafyr because they knew that slavery wasn't allowed in their territory, and there was a dwarven city with a dwarven Lord that they thought they could seek refuge.
They knew it would be a hard journey, but somehow Nieren and her mother were the only ones who made it to the city of Ironside 30 years ago. She may not have been living her old noble life anymore, but she was living in peace as best as she and her mother could.
Nieren didn't know why the Kings Slayer was here, but it can't be a good thing.
With the memories of her uncle's death, she didn't move nor took a breath as the four figures walked down the alleyway, away from her.
She hid in her cloaked state for a few minutes even after the Kings Slayer was out of sight. After a while, the cloaking spell wore off as she was crouched there in the shadows. Releasing her clenched fists that were making her palms hurt after her fingernails started digging into her skin for gods knows how long.
After calming herself down, she realized that Rya was captured, and the Kings Slayer wasn't there anymore. 'What should I do?'
Nieren couldn't just leave her to the same fate as her people. She needed to find a way to free herself. "She may be a dark elf, but she's an elf nonetheless." She said to herself out loud as she finally came out of the shadows.
'I-I can't just leave her to the Black Roses. But I can't take on the Kings Slayer by myself. I must find her friends!' Nieren thought to herself as she came up with a plan.
"The wolfkin! If I find her, she'll get that Quin guy. Then I can break her out." She said to herself as she ran to the street.
Nieren was going around the city trying to find the wolfkin because there's no other breast-kin in the city, so she thought it would be easier for her to find.
'That Wolfkin took that guy to the restaurant district. Please be there!' She thought to herself as she jogged down the crowded streets where taverns were.
'Gods and Spirits, why is it so busy!' she thought to herself as she slowed down.
As she looked around, all over the place. 'If I won a lot of gold, where would I go? I'd probably head to Bao'Hai to spend it?' Nieren thought to herself while weaving through the crowds of people with ease.
She saw a sign for The Bao'Hai, the best restaurant in the city.
"This is her place!" She thought to herself as she rushed towards the door.
She pushed the heavy wooden doors open and walked in.
"Hello?" She called out, hoping to see the wolfkin.
"Great! Now an elf wants to dine here. Bao'Hai must be falling on hard times," a condescending voice remarked from behind Nieren.
She turned swiftly, her emerald eyes narrowing as she faced a human male clad in opulent attire—rich silks and adorned with decorative brooches that glinted in the warm light of the tavern. His expression was one of disdain, lips curled into a sneer as he looked down at her.
"Tsk! We have serviced your kind before... Nothing but trouble... Just like that mutt who came in here and made a mess of the VIP room. If she weren't with that young, rich guy, she would have been kicked out hours ago. But you're not allowed. Get out." His voice boomed with authority as he leaned closer, invading her personal space.
Nieren's thoughts raced, her mind whirring like a well-oiled machine. 'She's here, and that guy too. I think his name is Percy? Does he think that Percy—the human—is really rich? The gold was the wolf's...'
"I said get out!" Horace, the insufferably smug man, yelled again, the spittle flying as he leaned even further into her space.
"I'm with that rich guy. You know, he looks like a ranger?" Nieren retorted, a smirk playing at the corner of her lips. The confidence in her voice took shape, emboldening her stance despite the brewing antagonism.
"You stupid elf! If you want to eat here then—" Horace was cut off mid-sentence by a booming voice from behind him, and a dwarf in equally fancy attire strode into view, his face flushed with indignation.
"Horace! What in the name of all that's sacred are you doing, berating a customer!" he exclaimed, his fists clenched at his sides, eyes blazing with authority.
"But she's an elf! She shouldn't even be allowed in here! This is a human and dwarf establishment!" Horace protested, his voice faltering slightly, but his tone coated with stubbornness.
"Enough!" The dwarf's voice echoed through the tavern, commanding instant silence. "We are a GOLD establishment. And if she is with Mr. Percival, then she is more than welcome. Hell, if Mr. Percival wanted to bring in an ogre, he'd be welcome as long as he's got the gold to spend. SO SHUT IT! AND GET USED TO THE NEW BUSINESS MODEL!" The dwarf's ire sent Horace straightening up, the defiance draining from his posture.
Nieren observed with a mixture of surprise and satisfaction, 'Wow! It's like he was never rude to me.'
"Madam, can you show us some proof that you're with the young gentleman? Or else we'll have to ask you to leave," the dwarf said, his tone now professional but tinged with curiosity as he scrutinized her closely, awaiting her response.
Panic briefly flickered within Nieren like a candle threatened by a gust of wind, but then clarity struck. She remembered the bag of gold she had won earlier that day, its weight still fresh in her mind.
"Here you go. This is Mr. Percival's gold," she declared confidently, placing the bag upon the polished counter with a gentle thud that seemed to resonate throughout the room.
The manager took the bag, his fingers deftly untying the strings and delving inside to count the contents. After a moment of silence, his brows shot up in astonishment. "Huh... One thousand gold!"
Horace froze, beads of sweat forming along his brow, his eyes wide with disbelief. "One thousand gold?!" His voice pitched higher, echoing his shock.
"Yes! And there are still two more bags of gold!" Nieren responded, her smile wide and triumphant, relishing the power of her newfound status.
The manager and Horace exchanged furtive glances, an unspoken realization passing between them.
"Uh, um. My name's Padera. I'm the owner and manager here. Please allow me to show you to Mr. Percival's room," Padera stammered nervously, his previous bravado crumbling in the face of considerable wealth and influence.
'He seems nervous. Well, they served them right for yelling at me,' Nieren thought to herself while grabbing her bag of gold.
***
Padera led Nieren through the main area of the restaurant, where everyone was staring at Nieren.
They arrived at the end of the hall, where they turned the corner to see a large door.
"This is the VIP room. For now, enjoy a free meal, and then we'll talk about payment later, madam," Padera said nervously.
"Thank you very much! But I came here for business. SO, I'll take some duck to go, please." Nieren said as she began walking down to the door.
As she walked away, Padera looked at the bags of gold. He has never seen such a high amount of gold! 'Horace needs to stop yelling at customers with sacks of gold, dammit,' Padera thought to himself.