"What better way to get a new guild member to learn the ins and outs of Amora than a little patrol," Quinn announced.
"I thought we were going to check out the new house," Ranko commented with a slight pout.
Quinn let out a soft chuckle as he saw the expression on the face of his partner. She looked too cute when she acted like a little child who was told they couldn't have a chocolate. It was another part of Ranko that Quinn loved about her. Yet, he didn't know if he loved her like a favorite little sister or someone he wanted to spend his entire life with. Either way, Quinn wanted to do everything he could to protect Ranko from the darker side of the game that appeared in the so called undesirable towns.
"Patrol first and then we'll tour the new house," Quinn said as he placed a gloved hand under Ranko's chin to direct her attention at him.
Amora was the first major city in Coloma to be cleared in the early days of the game. In the first months, players were so desperate to get out of the game that seventy percent of the remaining players did all they could to go as far as possible as quickly as possible. Once they had cleared the twenty-fifth boss and cleared the city of monsters, things began to change in Coloma. Players began to decide that life in Coloma was not that bad and they were in no hurry to return to the Other Side. Players began forging a new life for themselves and more user run shops appeared in towns between the starting point and Amora. In time, the numbers at the front lines began to slowly decrease over the remainder of the first year.
Two other events had also taken place with the opening of Amora. First, was the ability to travel through the skies with the opening of the NPC run airship station. While teleportation gates and crystals were the fastest mode of travel the airships made for a very pleasant mode of travel. Second, was the founding of the Amora Guard made up of the largest non guild party on the front lines. People settling in Amora called for a guild to make its headquarters within their boundaries to bring the stability and security the larger towns with guilds had. And so, the party headed by Kieran, Marcello, Shouta, Cadoc, and Anton became an official guild and the pseudo police force in Amora.
With the lack of GM and admin interaction in Steam Swords, several guilds in Coloma took it upon themselves to ensure more towns and cities did not fall pray to the darker side of the game. That was the role Kieran wanted The Guard to have in Amora. And it was because of this role, that Ranko and Quinn were told to have Akane join them on their patrol of the city.
"So what are we exactly looking for," Akane wondered as she saw Ranko and Quinn each attach elaborate looking pocket watches with the same stone and etched design on the cover to their clothing.
"Crime mostly. The scum of the world. The ones who push the boundaries of the moral and ethics codes and the ones who've long since abandoned them," Ranko explained, "Plus, we also deal with the cheats, scammers, alley people, freeloaders, and griefers. On top of that, we're usually asked to settle disputes of kill stealing and monster luring in the hunting areas outside the city."
Akane sighed as she thought about the responsibilities she now had as a member of the guild. The players of the city had come to rely on the stability the guild ensured. It was evident that they were well respected in Amora given how people reacted to seeing Ranko and Quinn out in the streets together. From what Akane could tell the pocket watch served the same identifying purpose as a policeman's badge.
As the trio made their way through the streets of the city, Akane noticed something that was a common site in the busier shopping districts of Tokyo, street venders. However, unlike the men selling taiyaki, nikuman, yakitori, and kaki peanuts these men were running gambling games. They were acting just like the corner con man tricking people out of a few Yen to play their games.
Games of chance were not banned in Coloma as Steam Swords allowed for dice rolls and random numbers to be generated by the system. It was what people did with them that made them legitimate or not. Most people used random numbers and dice rolls as a way to pick positions, settle disagreements, and distribute prizes for charity funded raffles. They were innocent harmless tools for fun. Yet, there were some who cheated at the games they ran in order to ensure the player never won or always won the first time to get them hooked and bet more Guineas. Those were the types the guild dealt with the most while patrolling the city.
"You see that guy over there? Ten to one says he's scamming every innocent person looking to win a few Guneas," Quinn pointed out to Akane drawing her attention to a specific game going on.
Akane looked towards the indicated con artist and scammer watching the man at work. Not too far from the table standing under a corner oil lit street lamp was Ranko waiting for the exact moment to bust the guy for running a crooked street game.
"Oooh look he's found a mark," Quinn commented as the con artist caught the attention of a woman who appeared to be a cure all crafter or a seamstress.
"How does this game work," the woman asked the con man.
"Since it's your first time playing we'll go the basic route. You pay me ten Guinea for one pull of the numbers and if you get one of my three lucky numbers you'll get your money back. Easy as that," the man told her with a smarmy smirk.
The woman pulled out her small pouch purse and took ten Guinea coins from it placing them down on the crudely made wood table. The woman then accessed a random set of numbers the man told her to draw from and produced a slip of paper. When she showed the number to the man his face lit up in an over exaggerated look of joy the woman became excited.
"Oh my gosh you must have beginner's luck madam because you just pulled one of the lucky numbers and won back your Guineas," he said with fake excitement.
"Now here's where Ranko there will have reason to bust the man for scamming," Quinn explained to Akane, "He's telling her that if she puts down more Guineas he'll give her a lot more if she wins again. Thing is, no matter what she picks this time she won't win. He has enough numbers to ensure she won't get the same one twice and this time there is no winning number."
"That's awful," Akane commented having not seen this type of scam before.
"So if I put down fifty Guinea this time and pull the lucky number I'll win five hundred," the woman asked getting a nod in reply.
With an innocent smile the woman placed her coins on the table and drew her number. She then showed it to the man who had already added her Guinea to his box. The number pull was not needed but it was still done to make the game appear legit.
"Is this a lucky number," she wanted to know.
"Aww, I'm afraid not," he replied with fake concern, "But if you give me another fifty Guinea I'll go double or nothing and you'll get the chance to win a thousand Guinea."
"I really shouldn't. I need my Guineas for supplies," The woman replied.
"Come on, what harm could it do," the con man asked as he felt something sharp and pointed being pressed against his back causing him to squeak out the last word he spoke.
The moment the con man tried to bilk the woman out of her remaining coins Ranko went into action swiftly and silently drawing out her rapier placing its tip against the man's back. The look upon her face had gone from pouty and sweet to hard edged and very serious. It was a look Akane had witnessed only a handful of times since Ranma had come into her life.
"What harm could it do? A lot for this poor woman. I bet you don't even have lucky numbers and told her whatever she wanted to hear so she'd be willing to bet more coins on your scam," Ranko said in a hard commanding tone, "Now here's what you're going to do. You're going to give her back her fifty Guinea. Then, you're going to hand over your coin box to me. Then, you're going to break down your crooked game and leave Amora. Refusal to do so will have you thrown into the lockup at guild headquarters."
Akane and Quinn watched as the man slowly turned around to face Ranko. At first, it looked like he was going to reach for a knife and try to fight her. One look at her, however, and he recognized who he was dealing with, a Vice Captain of the renowned Amora Guard. The con man quickly and shakily gave the woman back her fifty Guinea before slowly handing over his coin box. He did not want to get on the wrong side of Ranko's sword and the moment the box left his hands the man quickly placed the table back in his inventory before fleeing the scene.
"Oh thank you. I would have been lost without my coins for the supplies I need," the woman said fawning over Ranko.
Ranko smiled briefly before her expression turned serious for a moment as she addressed the victim of the con, "It's part of the job ma'am. You should be more careful though and stay away from the street games. Not all of them are going to be legitimate games."
Akane saw the box of coins wondering what they were going to do with it. The Guineas were gained from scamming people on the streets. With no list of people the money originally belonged to, finding the owners was a lost cause. If the guild kept the coins that would make them no better than the scammer by Akane's reasoning.
"So what do you do with the Guinea that guy scammed from people," Akane asked her new partners.
"We'll turn it over to the guild. In situations like this one they find a good charity to give all the coins to," Ranko explained.
Satisfied the situation was properly handled Quinn pointed something, or rather someone, out to Akane. There were legitimately run street games in Amora and Akane was about to meet the most honest of the bunch.
"Not all people who run street games are out to scam people Akane. I want you to remember that. People like Samuel here actually run some of the best games in the city with clearcut rules and prizes. Plus, they stay on the up and up by being members of the Chamber of Commerce, a local guild for people who run crafting shops and games," Quinn explained.
Samuel was a slightly portly looking gentleman in a dark gray suit with a blue vest and lightly mussed up hair. He was the type of player that played MMORPGs not to be a warrior and fight the bosses but to be the support player. If a game had magic with classes Samuel was the one doing the healing in the party as the mage. In games without classes he did whatever it took to progress any non confrontation skills the game had to offer. And so, in Steam Swords the man behind Samuel, a pharmacy student in Aukland, became a cure all crafter and a games runner running both from the same little street stall.
"Ah Quinn, what can I do for you and your lovely companions today," Samuel greeted with a cheerful smile.
"They're helping me get to know the city better," Akane commented returning the smile of the man who looked to be a few years older than Kasumi.
Samuel had a pretty good idea why Quinn and Ranko had come to his little street corner stand. They were there most likely for information. However, being the salesman he was Samuel couldn't resist at least trying to get the trio to purchase something or help out a worthy cause. "So, you looking to buy a cure all, perhaps have a little fun and a chance at some Guinea with a quickie dice game, or maybe you're feeling generous and would like to donate for a chance at the Chamber's Charity fifty fifty number draw raffle."
Quinn let out a small chuckle at Samuel's eagerness to make an honest sale before politely turning him down and getting to the business at hand, "Not today I'm afraid. We've come here for your other specialty. We're here for some information. Have you heard of anything suspicious and out of the ordinary happening around Amora?"
Samuel thought for a moment before his expression went dark and sad. Ranko and Quinn knew what the street vendor was about to tell them would not be the kind of news they wanted to hear. For someone like Samuel to go silent and gain a look of sadness on his face the news had to be connected to the darker side of Steam Swords. That made things very serious.
"Travelers coming from the Airship Port have been talking about a gang of men hanging around the alleyways looking for unsuspecting women. They say at night mostly, and sometimes even during the day, you can hear the screams of female players who haven't trained their combat skills that well coming from the alleys. Quinn, we're talking honest to goodness..." Samuel told them but never finished as he was cut off abruptly by the younger swordsman who was now holding a trembling Ranko in his arms.
"Rapists," Quinn spat out in a very harsh and angry tone of voice.
See other episodes by Chibihalo
(Posted Thu, 20 Sep 2012 11:29)
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