Arriving to the East side of the city, which was unsurprisingly not busy, Connor couldn't help but feel ill at ease. What was surprising was the fact that there was no one whatsoever. The past few days there had always been a few people milling about despite how few stores were actually open.
The storefronts were narrow, allowing for many stores to exist next to one another while simultaneously allowing the people to make it to the next rather easily. The store would reach far back for the room that would be needed for the store to operate as intended.
Walking down the main street of the commercial district where the road was wide enough to allow multilane traffic for the carriages, not a soul was to be seen. How weird, never seen a city this quiet before. This was cause for concern, as the city seemed to be split over the peace agreement. It would be terrible if the citizens had actually gotten into a fight so severe that an entire district shut down.
Maybe that fight I sent Geo to investigate was more severe than I thought.
Some of the city folk had been celebrating just the other day, whereas others had been protesting about how unfair it was. The East had been able to attack the West indiscriminately, and with such a large numerical advantage over the West, there was never much they could do to fight back except to defend what they had.
The protesters had become more violent the closer the day came to finally being at peace, wanting 'justice' and for blood from the East, although that would accomplish little in ending this never-ending war.
Connor had wanted, for a while at least, to take the fight well into the Easts borders. Maturing he realized how pointless that endeavor would be, why risk more lives just to take more lives and stoke the fires of war?
There really was no point in doing any of that. So naturally, Connor had been doing what he could to calm the spirits of his home country of Nimbu, to hopefully quell their thirst for war. It worked to a degree, but many families, such as his own, had lost friends and family to the seemingly random attacks from the East. It made sense that many wanted revenge, but Connor wanted to see past that and bring peace much like his parents.
This being said, Connor himself had been to the battlefield more than once and had slain his fair share of enemies. It was not easy to stomach, knowing the pain he would be causing others already aware of the pain himself, but he refused to let his people die. Better for others to die than for those he'd sworn to protect.
Walking down the rather large street, Connor noticed out of the corner of his eye that one of the doors to a store was skewed open, as if someone had forced their way in. Looking up at the sign, he realized this store sold armor and weapons. It was rather famous for how reliable their equipment was.
Walking into the store he stopped and looked around. Nothing looked out of the ordinary, except for the skewed door. There were rows of swords, throwing knives, and daggers that ran all the way to the back of the store. The walls were lined with larger weapons, such as spears, halberds, and battle axes. The most valuable weapons were still above the counter at the back of the store, and the armors on display were still intact and in their complete sets.
He motioned for the guards to start looking around the store for anything that seemed out of place, while Connor himself headed straight to the door near the counter. Right before reaching it, he noticed this door was also slightly open. Placing his dominant hand on his dagger, Connor nudged the door open, as quietly as possible. This door led upstairs, evidently to where the owner and his family would sleep.
Did someone break in, kill the family, just to leave and not take anything? Connor turned around to glance at the guards, who were slowly making their way to the back of the store. Either they are being thorough or they don't want to go up. Understandable. After making sure neither were in danger, he headed towards the stairs.
Connor started making his way up the steps, and on the third step it let out a high-pitched squeak. Stopping Connor listened for any commotion from upstairs and, after waiting and hearing nothing, continued up.
Reaching the top floor, he looked around and saw two separate rooms. Knocking quietly, he opened the door to where an unmade bed was left sitting. Noticing wooden toys left around on the floor Connor imagined this was their children's room. The toys mainly consisted of colored blocks but also took note of the tops and wooden dolls that were also strewn out on the floor.
Turning around and facing the other door, which was still closed Connor took a couple steps forward. Just before opening it he heard a cough behind him.
Drawing his dagger Connor spun around, raising it near his head ready to defend against any attack coming for his body. The dagger itself was a parrying dagger, with crossguards that could snag and redirect other blades, and longer by a decent margin compared to that of other daggers.
Connor appreciated this dagger because of its flexibility. It was meant to be an offhand weapon, but in certain situations it made a great primary.
This specific parrying dagger had knuckle guards, not that it was a requirement, but these too had their uses.
There stood an older looking man, with a bald head and thick burley arms. The way the muscles made the man's shirt stretch made it evident that Connor wouldn't be winning an arm-wrestling match against this man. Not only were his muscles huge, so was his height, the man had to have been around his father's height, 6'2 (188 centimeters). He really was quite intimidating.
I hate how short I am. By no means was Connor short; it was just that those he got close to or had to confront were often taller than he was.
The man raised an eyebrow, looking at Connor's weapon and back at him. The man was obviously gauging how good of a fighter Connor was. The man grunted and uncrossed his arms.
"Is it commonplace for a knight to walk into people's homes unannounced?"
Letting his guard down, Connor answered in the most innocent voice he could muster.
"Of course not sir, I would hate to ever infringe on one's privacy - especially on a day like this one, but you see I couldn't help but notice that the lock to this fine establishment was broken. And knowing how things have been around these parts I simply could not ignore this strange occurrence, so I took it upon myself, the Good Samaritan that I am, to investigate and ensure the safety of your family."
The man smiled and answered heartily, "I see! Wel,l rest easy, because as you see, everything is in order. Someone last night tried to bust open my locks, but he ran once he saw I was still down there. I actually just got back from seeing a locksmith about getting my doors fixed."
Connor smiled back. "Ah I see, then I assume you let my guards downstairs know of the situation?"
The man nodded, the smile still on his face. "That I did, how else would I have known that you were up here?"
Connor returned his nod. "I see I was worried over nothing. I appreciate you getting my attention before I stumbled into something I shouldn't have. I will be heading down then and finish my rounds."
The burly man stepped aside, motioning with his hands towards the stairs. As Connor stepped past him, Connor swung his dagger aiming for the man's throat, to which he evaded with surprising agility.
Connor gritted his teeth; he had hoped that he could finish the man with one move. That plan was a wash. "Was my acting that bad? I thought you had let your guard down." Connor turned and faced the burly man, who was no longer as burly as he had appeared moments ago.
"On the contrary lad." The once burly man, who was now rather slender and a little shorter, looked up and gave him a toothy grin. "You would have gotten me if you didn't hesitate. What gave me away?" The stranger looked rather amused.
"Well, for starters, you were not nearly as sneaky as you thought, I saw you as you entered the shop and left the door slightly open."
"I wanted you to see me break in." The stranger narrowed his eyes slightly.
"No doubt, I assume that's why you also would have let me survive am I correct?" Before the man could respond, Connor continued. "Despite you also being quite large a moment ago, you seemed quite small in the street, child sized if I would say. Not to mention wearing a black cloak and barely giving me enough time to see you? Looked like I was meant to see you." The last sentence was obviously sarcastic to the man trying to save face.
The smile on the stranger's face dimmed a little.
"The second thing was that the door leading to the upstairs was already opened. I even checked with the guards downstairs to see if you could be hiding in the store, but all evidence pointed to you running up here."
The man opened his mouth to say something, but Connor held a finger to his lips. "The third thing is that you made no noise whatsoever when the stairs squealed on my way up. You should have done at least that much for me to believe you."
Connor was leaning against the wall now, just as the stranger was standing straight up, obviously getting ready to attack. "The fourth giveaway, the dead giveaway really, was that you called me a knight." He paused for a moment, "that, and the fact that my family knows the owner of this store - and you're not her."
The man's eyes widened in shock, either because he tried to impersonate a woman with such a burly body or because he used an honorific only known in the East. "You should know honorifics like that only exist in the East."
The man's smile fully left his face at this point, distraught at the fact he failed so badly at trying to trick an opponent into letting their guard down. Or at least that's what Connor believed.
"Hey, it really is a good thing you survived, because now I get to fight you and ask you some very needed questions."
The smile quickly returned to the stranger; this time, it was full of malice and obvious hate. "I guess it's a good thing help won't be arriving. Sorry, but I couldn't help but forget whose home this was with how many people I got to eat last night."
Anger swirled in Connor's chest, ready to be released in battle. He had to calm himself down and not fall for the assassin's obvious taunt.
Calming down a little, Connor stared him in the eyes. "So, a mere squire managed to ruin an entire district? You won't be a challenge, but I would like to know where your knight is. If I'm lucky, maybe I'll take out my first heir."
They studied one another for a moment, then the assassin still baring his teeth like a savage mutt, muttered "stupid beasts of the West, never knowing when they're defeated."
There was a crashing sound from the unchecked room, followed by a clashing of steel below, and they both realized that a fight had broken out beneath them. Connor knew nothing of the enemy, but if a squire was here, then it could not be good for his knights.
More pressure fell on his shoulders and Conner felt like he was slumping where he stood. If the East was making an attack from the inside, then it really is not good for my parents. After thinking for a moment, Connor asked "Are you acting on your own?"
The assassin chuckled to himself. "Why don't you beat me and find out?"
Both of them getting in position for a fight, Connor sighed. Raising his dagger, Connor looked his opponent in the eye and regretted not being able to use his sword. That was simply because he would not be able to maneuver the sword as he would like in the hallway, and the man raised his fists, indifferent to the blade.
I hope my siblings are not getting in as much trouble as I am.