Post by Shinku on Nov 22, 2016 17:19:00 GMT -5
It wasn't hygienic. It wasn't hygienic at all! Sewers were not made as a passage for people and Dan shivered at the thought of what sorts of maladies they might catch down here. At least the should be somehow fine if they avoided touching anything, thoroughly cleaned their hands and clothes afterwards in any case, and didn't get bitten by the rats and other vermin.
The effeminate man kept his eyes on the ground in front of him and his ears perked up, listening for anything that would hint that they were not alone down in these stinking canals. Stepping into something yucky was the last thing he wanted, but there was another reason the young Bounty Hunter was keeping his head down. With Gituku and his light walking in front of them, looking straight forward was more blinding than helpful, so keeping his eyes down to the ground where the flame of the torch was only a soft and warm orange shadow, he felt as if he was a lot more sure footed.
Here and there Dan threw a glance at Miss Lila, to see if she was still all right. Her face was hard to read, but the short gentleman couldn't imagine that a Lady like her wasn't suffering from the poor condition of their surroundings.
Going by touch rather than looking into his pitch black bag, Dan felt his way through his stuff and pulled out a jar from it. Once he had opened the lid, the herbal odor which came out of the plastic jar was strong enough to be smelled over the stench of the sewer. The young Delion knew his ointments well enough to recognize the cough remedy with his nose alone, so he knew that he had picked the right one. No one of them was sick, but he didn't intend to use it in its intended way.
Putting two fingers into the jar, he scooped up a good amount of it and smeared it under his nose, replacing one penetrating smell with another, but at least it was one he was used to and which he liked.
Dan held the jar up to Miss Lila, offering her the ointment if she wanted it.
The way from then on was a bit more bearable in his opinion though.
Despite the uncleanliness of the sewer, the place was strangely solemn. It was as if they were miles away from all other living humans, even though those humans were sleeping somewhere right over their heads. But while his mind was aware of all that, his soul still felt the silence - as if they were walking in a sacred place somewhere between life and death.
Or maybe he was just overthinking things... It was just a sewer after all. No need to go all mystic about it.
The spell broke when Mr. Booty began to talk and the annoying yellow voice of the shady man proclaimed their arrival.
Frowning, Dan studied the stain on the ground that spoke of the great waste of food that was done here - a crime almost as serious as murder in Dan's book. Not like the Noble needed any more bad points to make Mr. Delion adverse of him. Attacking innocent Ladies in the night was more than enough.
"Don't worry. I'm sure your girlfriend will be fine." the oily voice of Mr. Gituku sounded to his right, but Dan hardly heard him. The young Bounty Hunter was doing his best to ignore the shady man. Instead he had his eyes rivet on the trapdoor, waiting for Miss Lila to throw them down the rope.
Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity, the trapdoor opened again and Miss Lila helped them up. The torch in his hand made climbing slightly more difficult, but it didn't turn into a problem for the experienced climber. It was perhaps a skill that people wouldn't expect of the domestic soul, but it always came in handy sooner or later.
Barely up, Dan couldn't help but to notice the person lying on the ground. Frowning he threw a short glance at Gikuto, but there was no way the man had anything to do with this or else Dan would have heard the sounds of fighting. The time had been too short in any case.
There was no one here but them so the herbal medico took some time to inspect the guardsman. The first thing he did, was to check for a pulse as he kneeled next to what immediately turned out to be a dead body.
The cause of death was easily recognizable as choking and the body was still warm, so the man wasn't dead for long either.
Feeling a little dizzy, the young man looked up and at his companion, whose face was still showing the same expression from before.
Could it be that she had killed the man in cold blood? But that wouldn't be like Miss Lila at all... Defending yourself was one thing, but to go as far as to take a life...
No.. it couldn't be...
The fingers had left marks on the pale skin of the poor soul that was lying lifeless on the ground now. Whoever had done this had used only one hand. Which in a way was worrisome, but also relieving.
There was just no way that a gracile woman like Miss Lila would be able to muster enough strength to strangle a grown man - especially since she was still wounded.
And those - completely forgetting about her strange mechanic arm - Dan scratched her from the list of suspects and started to worry about who else was here tonight and what that mysterious person's goals were.
They needed answers and a confession from the Noble who lived here. If that other person was trying to kill him, their situation would become even worse, so they had to hurry.
And maybe there would be more City Guards here as well. Their dead comrade did show that they took the threat to the Noble's life quite serious.
Having finished his examination of the body, Dan extinguished the torch - it was too conspicuous to use inside the house - and with a nod to his accomplices he took the lead.
Carefully he pulled the kitchen door ajar and listened for footsteps before opening it fully and entering the corridor.
It was dark and darker. The rectangular dark shapes which graced the wall in regular intervals were likely portraits, the short man guessed, though it was way too dark to see what was on the pictures.
Not knowing the house at all, Dan just chose a direction at random and headed forward with soft but purposeful strides. It didn't took long to reach a door and rather than going farther down the hallway, the Bounty Hunter took a moment to glance inside.
It was a inelegantly furnished saloon, that showed off with vulgar riches rather than good taste and the only good thing was that the room was only illuminated by the faint lights shining through the windows or its garnish colours might have been the icing on the much too sweet cake.
There was another door at the other side of the room, but Dan hesitated to take it. They needed to go upwards, not cross the mansion and the hallway going from the kitchen was much more likely to lead to the stairs... after all, Nobles liked to take their breakfast in bed, didn't they?
There had been no lift for the food, so the servants had to carry it up, which meant that the stairs had to be here somewhere...
A shiver ran down his spine and the young Delion turned around to find Mr. Booty at his back. A very uncomfortable thing he found, but maybe the man could at least help with some of his uncanny source of information.
"Any idea where the stairs might be?"
