Citing the need to buy something and meet a person from the Guild, I excused myself from the house. My knowledge of the city shops was limited to those I had visited, but thankfully, finding Arxibiela's shop was no challenge. Indeed, it would have been a miracle to miss what turned out as the only cloth shop near the gates.

The shop was called [Xiela's Fabrics], and it occupied one of the similar two-storied, white plastered, tiled roofs houses that went all over the right side of the main street. The only thing that slightly surprised me, at least from the street side, was that the door was not one of the brown wood ones that nearly every house, even ours, had but a metallic, probably even steel, one. Oh well, and that the door was actually closed, even though the sun was yet to set down entirely.

***

"Can I help you?" A young female voice asked from the other side, just a second after I knocked.

"I would like to meet with Arxibiela if I may." No need to hide the reason. I mean, it's nothing strange to go and check on the patron of the girls, at least I think so.

"Who are you?" The same voice asked as I heard a faint metallic sound coming from the door.

"I'm called Lindar, and I am Kierra's and Angelique's guardian, or something like that." Even though my conversation partner should not be able to see me, I shrugged.

"Oh!"

Hearing the exclamation, I could not help but think if my arrival and reasons were so unexpected? But before I could ask or say anything, the door opened without any sound, and a stunning woman appeared in the doorway.

"Sorry for the questions. I was expecting someone else to come and needed to confirm if it was that person. Welcome, welcome. Are you here to check on their workplace? Or to meet me?" The woman spoke up quickly while moving slightly to the side and inviting me in.

"I'm sorry for the intrusion, and about my visit, it is for both reasons." I started explaining while accepting the invitation to come in. Passing by Arxibiela, I noticed a faint aroma of herbs, nearly the same I had caught from Churg's herb master, Dorina. {Hmm? Was I mistaken about the herbs smell back then, and this is a kind of local perfume, or does Arxibiela dabbles with potions?}

To confirm my thoughts, I took a quick look around the main storeroom and, avoiding showing any surprise because of the details I noted, glanced at Arxibiela, activating the full view of the [Status Screen]. And damn, now what?!

-------

Here, I will pause in my [Record] of that moment to entirely describe both the owner and the store, as at that point, when I looked around, I already felt that something was off.

But even now, when I have learned what I did, I am still unsure what role she or this place will play in my and the girls' lives.

From the outside, the only thing that slightly surprised me was the iron or steel entrance door. But inside, as my gaze fell on the window frames, the shutters, and even the floor, I saw it was all metallic, reinforced even. Well, the floor was of stone plates with iron lines in between, but that isn't important. What is, what kind of cloth shop would require such defenses?

Oh, and cloth there was. A few tables and shelves were placed around the 50 or so sq meter room, with rolls, bundles, and pieces of textiles on or in them. Still, it was hard to believe that fabric was the main business of this place.

The first thing that came to mind when looking at Arxibiela was the word stunning. And how could it not, if the damned woman was nothing less than a pinnacle of beauty?!

She was the owner of a sculpted figure with pronounced curves, only augmented by her elegant, even if somewhat skimpy one-piece, open shoulders, short dress. Somehow though, not only did it look sexy and attractive but also dangerous, as if I looked at a fighter, not just a pretty woman.

A pair of arched eyebrows looked down on sweeping eyelashes that half-hid a set of breathtaking, deep-black eyes. And for some reason, my first thought after seeing that eyes was the well-known quote from Nietzche, [If you gaze into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you].

Puffy lips, reddened with some make-up, curved into a light, welcoming smile, revealed two lines of perfectly white teeth. But again, for some reason, I almost immediately thought of beast fangs and not something more pleasant.

Her image was complemented by a long cascade of hair, of a nearly-olive tone that I had never seen before. And while her stats did not hint at her not being a human, I can not be sure that such color can be a natural one. Although maybe she just dyed it?

But the main shock came not from her looks or my sensations, but from her stats, not to mention her affiliation!

NAME (AS SEEN BY ME) LEVEL (IF APPLIES) (ONLY ABOVE AVERAGE) Fang, The Royal Hounds, Kingdom of Neverc. - Speech 18 Manners 14 Education 17 Persuasion 21 Deceit 22 Negotiation 17 Economics 15 Mapping 13 Danger-Sense 24 Subterfuge (Lockpicking, Traps, etc.) 19 Poisons & Antidotes 22 Command 15 Planning 19 Critical Thinking 20 Poisons Knowledge (Perk) -

-------

"We stock rare and expensive materials while the second floor serves as the warehouse. Thus, the protection is, well, necessary." Noticing my surprise, as I did not even try to disguise it, Arxibiela explained right away, not stopping smiling.

*Click*

And then, as the door closed, the atmosphere in the room changed. Or maybe it was the olive-haired woman's airs that changed. I am unsure about it, but the fact remains, there was no sign from the previous 'storekeeper' in front of me.

"I appreciate the politeness of not asking anything or not trying to use spells to find out more." Even her manner slightly changed, from the welcoming and smiling one to a more polite but commanding one.

"No problem, but what is actually going here?" I had to maintain the secret of the [Status Screen] hidden, so I asked a dumb but logical question about the situation.

"No need to be so guarded. There's nothing bad going here, I assure you. And the girls, well, they will not be involved in anything if they do not want to." Arxibiela shrugged and then motioned for me to follow as she walked towards the right side of the room, where a wooden, the only not metallic, door was present.

Behind that door, a cabinet-like reception room was present, with a couple of sofas, tables, chairs, and a work desk at the far end, all illuminated by a [Glow Orb] (permanent Light spell, if I am not mistaken). It even looked cozy, if not the lack of windows.

"Sit, sit, there are a few things to discuss. I frankly expected you to visit earlier, but your damsel in distress seems to have forgotten to tell you about coming." She pointed towards one of the sofas and dropped herself on the other.

"Huh, damsel? You expected me? What the..?" I complied and sat, half-dumbly asking what she meant.

"A gold-haired fair warrior, now noblewoman? Ring any bells?"

"Gris?!" I probably overacted that shout, but it felt right to show some emotions. Gris did tell me about the [Hounds], but from the manner in which she did, I had supposed she disliked them. But, I may have been wrong or misled again.

"Yes, her, no need to shout." And the damned woman even raised a finger to admonish me!

***

The talk with Arxibiela took a decent amount of time, as when I left the store, it was late at night. We touched on several topics, but in short, the two main things discussed were Chubu's slavers and the girls' work.

For the former, it seemed that Gris did tell her about me and what I had learned. And it was agreed for me to come and explain better. The failed assassination, which actually Arxibiela was presently investigating, distracted Gris from organizing the meeting, but in the end, it worked out with me coming by myself.

As for the girls, Arxibiela did require someone to keep the shop running, at least in name, and when Kierra approached, she took her in. The [Hound] did know that the girls were related to me, but she had no bad intentions, as she swore to me, by getting either of them.

The store operations were mostly faked, with the cloth leaving the city towards 'clients' and then returning as bought materials. Still, a couple of random people would happen to knock each week, so Arxibiela decided to have someone at the counter.

Angelique's work was more of a spur-of-the-moment thing, as the [Hound] said herself, "The young darling willingness to cover the writing for the orders, even though she believes them true, was just so perfect. No one of mine wanted to spend hours over hours with that stuff."

The defensive measures were mostly for show, as from what I learned, it turned out that the [Hounds] did not gather in the building itself. As for where, well, I was told, literally, "It's a secret location, and you will only find it if you tail a lonely girl like me in the darkness of the night."

And as I am still alive, using [Record] to establish these strange events for future reference, I definitively did not do such a thing. Hell, I did not even think of something like that!

In any case, the visit turned out to be pretty informative. And more importantly, I am now sure that the girls will remain safe, no matter what happens, even if I am not around.

I also learned that Gris was forced to leave Megvuroz almost right after the assasination, and that she simply had no chance to swing by and say goodbye. The reasons had been veiled by Xiela (Arxibiela did not enjoy being called by her full name). But I kinda understood it was something related to the noble title inheritance. And that there was a one-time opportunity to be escorted by a few trusted guards of Xiela's.

***

{I missed dinner and did not talk with the girls. Damn. Thankfully, we will not leave at first dawn, so I will have some time to apologize and explain in the morning.} With such thoughts, and finishing recording up to the present time, today, my last day in Megvuroz, for this month at least, concluded.