I Only Summon Villainesses

Immediately, Cressida and I scurried around, scanning for anyone that might have looked suspicious.

There was no one for us to find. No way to judge who it could have been. Everyone was moving with purposeful strides, every face belonging to someone with somewhere to be.

It could have been the lady in the vibrant yellow dress, lifting a portion of her skirt as she smiled coolly at nothing in particular. It could have been the man hurling commands at some dogs whose teeth looked worse for wear, and who knew what those things had gone and bitten. It could have been the hooligan-looking young man with a hat and rumpled shirt who was leaning against a wall like the world owed him something.

It could have been anyone. And realizing that meant I couldn’t approach a single soul without having a clear suspicion, and I wasn’t even suspecting anyone.

We traced our way back to where the carriage had dropped us, but found no one there. The man was gone.

There was more chance that the pouch of money had been stolen from me than that I had simply forgotten it in that carriage. I rarely forgot things, you see.

Cressida and I sat down at the basin of the fountain in the center of the street where the carriage had dropped us.

I sat there replaying every motion that had led to this point, turning the sequence over and over in my head.

There was nothing… nothing at all I could attribute this to.

’I fucked up. Fucked up badly.’

I sighed and looked up at the vast blue sky.

“Cade, don’t beat yourself up, there was no way you could have known. Instead, why don’t we think of the way forward?”

I exhaled slowly.

“That money was five thousand gold crowns. Five thousand. It’s not easy to forget something like that. I had earned that particular sum after fighting sumo with the guardian of the Mud Worm gate…”

I turned to her.

“Do you know what it feels like fighting sumo with a worm twice your size in mud that is persistently trying to have you sunk?”

Cressida chuckled shyly, almost tucking her head into her shoulders.

“I don’t even know what a sumo is… hehe… sorry.”

I stared at her for a few moments. Then I exhaled again and turned away.

“What are you apologizing for? It’s not like this is even your fault. I mean… you even tried to warn me.”

Cressida looked down, the light draining from her expression.

“Maybe I should have done so earlier, like you said.”

“It doesn’t matter thinking about that.”

I was silent for a moment, gathering my thoughts before I spoke again.

“The alternative would be going back home to take money, but the problem is there is no money to go anywhere… we are stuck in this city with no hopes of getting any.”

I fell silent as my own tone rode down a slippery slope toward despair.

Then again, a thought struck me.

“Cress…”

“Hmmuu?”

I wasn’t looking at her, but the moment I heard that sound, I had to turn around. And then I saw her munching on a long bread baked with fish in its belly, the whole thing encased in a brown paper bag that was already half crumpled from handling.

I just stared.

’She really…’

Cressida’s expression turned sour immediately and she spoke with a sorry tone.

“I just found this extra in my bag… I didn’t know what to do with it…”

’Her level of insensitivity really is alarming!’

I shook my head and drove that thought out. She wasn’t the architect of my bad luck today.

“Forget it… we are mercenaries for hire, aren’t we?”

She nodded, at the same time hesitating to take another bite from the bread.

“Why don’t we just do what mercenaries do? Earn some money and maybe go home?”

“What about your armor?”

I thought about it, regret carving itself into my expression.

’They had me this time. Next time, I shall come prepared.’

“I think I’ll just have to postpone it again… I have rotten luck, and something is telling me not to depend on it. Especially at a time like this.”

She nodded after me and then sprang up, temporarily tucking her bread away inside her bag.

“Alright then, Cade. Follow me. I shall take you to the guild.”

I stood after her.

“Goodness, thank you. Everything is looking up again.”

She turned right and headed down the street while I followed beside her, muttering.

“You’re sure you don’t want to finish that, anyways?”

She shook her head with vigor. “No… we have to focus on more important stuff than food.”

After about three turns, we finally approached a building carved from pristine white stone and earthy brown wood. The kind of building that made you feel underdressed just by standing near it.

We entered, and the atmosphere hit me before I had even taken two steps. A buzzing lounge, alive with conversation and movement, and fragrances so varied they fought each other for space in my nose. Some were sweet as flowers. Some choked like Arabian incense left to burn too long. Others were cool and soothing, the kind of scent you’d expect near a lake surrounded by beautiful women in white dresses.

’What sort of establishment is this?’

But it wasn’t just the scents. The people wearing them were no less astonishing. I had walked into lounges before, plenty of them, but this place was wider than any I had ever set foot in. And there was no visible counter in sight. Instead, a towering pillar stood at the center, and it took me a moment to realize it wasn’t a pillar at all, but a lift system.

Then the lift doors opened. Three ladies stepped out, dressed in black and white maid gowns that barely reached their mid-thighs. If they bent even slightly, I would certainly be seeing things I had no business seeing.

’What in the…’

They carried trays of food, walking down to serve certain tables with practiced ease. There was even a man who slapped the ass of one and the only response he received was a calm:

“Lord Soren, that’s another one on your tab… your tab is getting full, Lord Soren.”

My mouth fell open as my eyes were frozen.

And now… I was seriously considering if I really wanted to go back home.