Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Lululalia, a city based in a canal and part of a greater kingdom which was and is ruled by a family of aristocrats living up the glacial mountains. Flowing down from the base of those very glaciers like a blessing of the royal family itself, was a spring that ran through the canal on both sides of which rested the city up until the rocky bay.

Inhabited by beastmen, demihumans, and a wealthy minority of the sharpest human minds in the kingdom, the city ran like clockwork and generated revenue for the aristocracy every second be it the brightest of days or the darkest of nights. From farming rice through the hands of the demis and the beasts to using the boats and the trolleys to carry tourists up the hills, everything in the city of moss, stone and bakeries, was designed to turn its resources into profit.

But before Raven could leave with his party to explore the beauty of the city, there was one thing that had to be done–as he'd learned from experience not to leave the ship behind with nobody to defend it against pirates and plunderers.

"I'll stay," volunteering herself, Reina stood beside Raven at the dock. The crashing of tall waves continued to rock the ship in the background, leading their leader to believe that the best person to handle a ship was indeed her–the ex-pirate.

"Sera and Riyanzah will stay with you too then," touching the monster holding jewel, Raven let the two out instantly. However, having already heard what he had planned for them, they crowded in front of him with visible dissent.

Grabbing his hands, the two looked into his eyes before complaining.

"No way I'm staying behind with a crude sailor!"

"Yeah, no way! She's only a human–that's gross on its own!"

Still clinging to their supremacist ways, neither of the sisters was too happy with the predicament. But given the nature of their abilities, Raven suspected them to be the ideal fit for support on the ocean.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Look…" Pulling his hands out of their grip with the use of partial fairy form that simply phased through their hands, Raven grabbed them by the shoulders and turned them around to the understandably offended blacksmith. "We're only gonna be here for a while and Reina will need your help to manage such a large ship. I doubt anyone could do a better job of keeping an eye for intruders on the vessel than two spectral djinns that can easily face through walls, attacks, and whatever the enemy throws at them, wouldn't you agree?"

"But–"

"How about I'll owe you two a massage if you do as I say?" As soon as Seraphim opened her mouth, Raven fell back on his backup plan.

The Djinns' eyes lit up at the opportunity of being served instead of servicing someone else? That would be a first for the two since Jahandeer only ever cared about himself. Enjoy more content from empire

"Alright! But as long as you promise you'll keep your word!" Riyanzah asserted as she turned around to face Raven with a smile.

"Yeah! We've heard that you never fulfilled the promise of that spider lady in that gem so we'll hold you to the promise no matter what!" Already Raven could hear Arche growling from the jewel at Seraphim's remark.

But Arche wasn't the only one dying to pop out of the jewel or butt into the conversation, as Choux too appeared to want an out and Mercedes the strange merchant was angrily eyeing him for wasting so much of her time.

"Fine, I promise I'll do it this time!" Promising it to the sisters, Raven turned his gaze down to the jewel and whispered. "And you too, Arche I have a potion for you we can use at the inn."

Keeping his hand on top of the jewel as he looked back up, Raven let out Choux too since the little fox had been trying to get out of that cage for a while. Instantly upon being free, she looked around a bit dazed and then as soon as her eyes spotted Moxy, she moved to another demi-fox just like her.

While it all happened, there was one more person who'd been left mostly unnoticed by everyone but Erika. The spirit girl from the lighthouse that had been following Reina around seemed hesitant to stay on the waters with her and with her eyes looking in between the ex-pirate and the priestess, she was obviously stuck with a dilemma.

"You wanna come to the city?" Asked Erika, getting a few confused looks from Mel and Aria. Liliyana could see the spirit with no effort and all Amedith had to do was focus holy magic on his eyes to spot the spirit Erika was talking to.

Although hesitant at first, the spirit girl flew next to Erika with a subtle nod. Finally, with everyone accounted for, the party turned to the merchant and with a sigh, she washed her brunt expression and smiled. Spinning the glass sceptre in one hand and gesturing everyone to follow her with the other, she led the group through a gathered crowd that cautiously subsided as she and the others passed.

Consisting mostly of demi-humans and beastmen–some of whom appeared too close to Dune Boartooth, Moxy was equally confused as she was cautious and kept the other fox-girl close as they passed through the crowd. As for the spirit, she kept close to Erika as well, not because she was scared but rather not wanting to scare anyone else if they somehow saw her.

"Alrighty then, get into the boat! We're gonna take a tour through the canals," stopping in front of the very first bridge that connected the left side of two to the right, Mercedes leaned up against it and glanced up at the tall route through which the water dividing the city in half came down. Hiding in foggy clouds was the party's eventual destination, the same place where the royals lived and beyond which lays the rest of the continent.

'This is gonna be one long climb…' Following the merchant's gaze, Raven knew that this place had a lot more to offer than he'd first expected. But for now, it was time to get to the inn and rest their worrisome heads, especially with the information from Athenia still occupying their heads.

"Let's go," said Raven and everyone began boarding the canoes in front of them.