Chapter Text
Alter Valero, that’s me. A 23-year-old Liberi Iberian living the life! Well, I am currently hiding in the dumpster from the Laterano’s Pontifica Cohors. You may wonder how I got into this sticky situation? The answer is simple, really. I stole guns. A lot of em. Hopefully the pope doesn’t deploy the Apostolic knights to pursue me.
Disrupting my inner monologue is the sound of screeching tires as a suspicious white fang halted in front of the dumpster, after which I immediately got out of the disgusting dumpster and entered the van. Of course, that is my getaway vehicle driven by my best friend Aro.
“Aro! There you are! Now let’s get the fuck out of here! Come on!” I shout full of adrenaline, urging him to speed away.
“I’m trying here, Alt! You just had to steal more than we agreed!” Aro yelled back, with a frustrated tone. How dare he? It was I who procured him his white van!
“I can’t help It okay! The experimental guns were just to good to pass up! Besides, it’s not hurting anyone right?”
“We’re being chased!” Aro panicked as our van was rammed from the side. I took a look at the window and saw a Sankta reloading his rifle. I immediately took action and took the wheel from Aro.
“What are you doing?!-“ he tried to protest but I shut him up by ramming back the car that rammed us, and made it crash into a light pole.
“Aro! Can you shoot them?!”
“I don’t know how to use a gun!” He helplessly yelled. How useless of him, no matter, we’ll just have to leave the city and go to somewhere. How hard could that be?
5 hours later
“We made it. We are in bumfuck nowhere…” I said exasperatedly, “hm? Where are you going Aro?”
“I’m sorry Alt, but I can’t keep living like this…” Aro said rather pathetically, “I can’t keep living this life! We’re a wanted fugitive now, Alt. A WANTED fugitive.” He half yelled in frustration in front of my face, that’s rather close, isn’t it?
“Well, life has its ups and downs, Aro. This is simply one of the times where life is in its downs.” I casually said as I picked an apple from a tree. It looked rather rotten, though…
“YOU CRASHED THE VAN!! MY VAN!!” He suddenly yelled and pointed towards the totalled van that has become one with the river. That caught me off guard. Dropped my apple too, tch. “Do you even know exactly WHERE We ARE?!”
“Somewhere in Iberia?... I think…” I scratched my head. It’s true that I have no fucking idea where we are, but come on! Don’t be so aggressive and yelling all of a sudden! Really, in all my years of knowing Aro, I hadn’t seen him become this angry. Or disappointed.
“SOMEWHERE?!?! That’s it?! Somewhere in Iberia?!?!” Aro let out another burst of anger before taking a deep breath and calming down somewhat, “I’m leaving, Alt. You do whatever you want… But don’t drag me into this. I’m going home.” He turned to leave, but stopped halfway, “Also, do whatever you want with those stolen guns. I don’t want any of it.”
“Whaat? Weren’t you the one who enthusiastically agreed to this heist? Why not grab one gun for your spoils?” I asked him dumbfoundedly. This guy… What’s going on in his mind?
“Like I said, I don’t want it. Good luck Alt. And Goodbye”
I watched as Aro walks away further and further, until eventually his figure is merely a speck. I thought about it, suddenly, my best friend of 15 years left me alone after we stole a bunch of the Sankta’s beloved guns… Isn’t it better if we stay together to avoid imprisonment? Isn’t it better to stay on the run?
Whatever, I don’t get that guy anyways, even though we’ve known each other for 15 years.
I laid back on a rather comfortable looking rock I found earlier, it was near the river bed so it was close to our totalled van. I thought of the apple I previously picked, but I remembered that it was rotten already. How disappointing.
Now! What to do next… hmm…
I laid there deep in thought. Obviously, I can’t go back home to Iberia because Laterano would surely report us to… ugh... the inquisition. I can’t go to Laterano for obvious reasons. And… What’s closest from here? Let’s see… Victoria… or Rim Billiton.
Wait a minute. Even if I go to any of these places, what should I do for a living? Do what I normally do? A thief and a trickster…
What a great idea! I should go to Victoria… become a treasure hunter, earn fame, and earn money at the same time! Such an ingenious idea! Alter Valero you did It again you genius! I’ll become a Treasure hunter!
“Such a clever idea, Valero!” I told to myself full of satisfaction, “now, the question remains… How should I carry all these guns?” I muttered as I looked at the stash of weaponry in the back of the van.
Chernoborg, Ursus. 13:00 hours. 2 years later.
“So! How much do you think I’d get for this?” A familiar voice was heard. Of course, it was my voice! Yours truly, Alter Valero.
I am wearing a long black coat and long black pants. Also, I decided to top off my style with a black sleek outback hat. Look at you, you’ve come a long way if I do say so myself! Now, I admit that working as a bounty hunter is a little more tough than I first anticipated, but I have survived on this job for two years now! So that says something about me!
I am in a pawnshop in Chernoborg trying to sell an exquisite artefact I obtained a couple of nights ago. It’s a uniquely designed stone statue of what looks to be an Ursine person with wings and decorated with Real Rubies and Emeralds. I checked.
“This… Shouldn’t you hand this over to the government?” The pawn shop owner, an Ursine in his 60s asked as he examined the artefact. “I’m not sure if I can even buy this from you.” He admits.
“Really? Why would I hand this beauty over to the government? It’s not like they’re gonna pay me too, are they?” I chuckled as I took off my hat, “Plus, they are already making bank by selling overpriced oripathy treatment medicines” I shrugged.
“Yes, but… This is a genuine artefact… no offense to your previous items that you sold here.”
“I don’t mind. Got any tea?” I asked as I laid my hands on the counter.
“During these turbulent times? Sorry, I’ve run out of tea. In fact, I’ve run out of food as well.” The owner sadly sighed, “You know, I’m selling this place and moving out of here.” He looked at me.
“Moving out? Why?” I asked. First, I can’t sell the artefact to my usual pawn shop, and now the guy wants to move out! I can’t find any legal pawn shops I can trust around here!
“Ahh. You know.” The owner scratches behind his head, “Chernoborg isn’t stable these days. With all that Reunion seemingly growing a stronger presence here, the tension is very high, and I can be cut with a dull knife. You’re from Iberia, aren’t you? Is it nice there?”
“Ehh, it’s a nice place, though if you don’t mind the inquisition’s stuff then you should be fine.” I said dismissively as I waved my hand.
“Say, Valero, you must be wealthy, no?”
“…what makes you say that?” I replied carefully.
“Well, I don’t know what you do for a living, and it seems you’re not gonna tell me. But I can guess that it’s a high paying job, judging from your looks.” The owner said as he looked at me, “you’re wearing some expensive stuff. Not to mention you own not one, but two guns. Which is expensive in of it itself, not to mention maintenance costs and bullet costs.”
“Ahahah, I have my ways of procuring them…” I nervously laughed. I can’t tell him that I stole a bunch of Sankta guns and sold some of them, right?? Speaking of… two years later, I still had around 200.000 LMD in the bank. Those guns man, they sure sell for a lot of money in the black market!
“Anyways… since you can’t buy this artefact from me, I’ll take my leave.” I quickly said as I got up to leave the pawn shop. After exchanging goodbyes with the pawn shop owner, I stepped into the streets of Chernoborg. Well, empty streets of Chernoborg.
Now that I think about it, I hadn’t realized how desolate this place is. Heck, there’s rarely any pedestrian here! Something ominous is brewing… and I don’t like it!
Time to get the fuck outta here! I need to sell this Artefact too! But where?
“…”
That’s it, I’m going back to Victoria!
Just when I resolved to go back to Victoria, something exploded behind me. And when I looked back, I saw Reunion soldiers and protesters marching and causing chaos everywhere!
Oh come on! That was a nice car! Why wreck it? Oh, they’re committing arson now…
Now, being the heroic good guy, I bolted straight outta there.
Not my problem, let Ursus deal with it. I need to get out of Chernoborg as soon as possible.
I turned to a corner and went into an alleyway. Where I was spooked by Reunion forces.
“You! Surrender and bow down!” The leader of the bunch demanded. He was wearing the typical Reunion uniform.
Tch. Extremists.
In response, I pulled out my shotgun and pulled the trigger, immediately pulverizing the guy’s head into red mist.
“HE’S GOT A GUN!!” I heard one of the soldiers screamed. Rather than retreating like any normal sane people would do, the soldiers charged at me with their swords and shields.
I thrusted my bayonet into one soldier, before grabbing my pistol and shooting two others on the head.
Did I forget to mention my shotgun has a bayonet? For me who can’t use swords I naturally attached a bayonet to my shotgun, that way I can use it as a thrusting weapon, as well as a blunt weapon if needed.
Which is what I did. Pulling the bayonet off the now dead body of a Reunion soldier, I slammed the shotgun as hard as I could to the head of an unsuspecting Reunion swordsman. They thought I was about to reload, but I kept bludgeoning them while also shooting any stragglers with my pistol.
Keep them guessing your next move.
After shattering the teeth of a Reunion crossbowman, I finally had breathing room to reload and focus on escaping from here. Until I saw a Reunion caster and cursed my luck.
Arts. Magic, basically. I don’t understand how they are… well, casted. But what I do know is that they take sometime to be casted. With this information, after the caster casted his Arts attack, which I barely dodged, I closed the distance between me and them. After which I executed them with a bullet through his throat.
I staggered a bit after that and leaned on the wall. Breathing heavily after that rush of adrenaline.
Now, peeking out from the alleyway, I could see that there are a bunch, and I mean a boatload of Reunion forces. Are they planning to take over Chernoborg?! Well, it seems that they are also fighting against some third-party organisation.
… A third-party organisation that has helicopters!! I can use that to escape and get the fuck out from this hellscape. With this plan in mind, I moved towards a helicopter which I saw is landing.
Avoiding any living being, partly because I don’t want to waste bullets and partly because I am somewhat of a coward. I don’t like confrontations.
Closing in on the helicopter. Tch, as expected. It is surrounded by… Rhodes Island, huh? Have I heard them before? Right! They’re the pharmaceutical company! Wait, why do they own a military grade helicopter and well-equipped soldiers?!
As I thought about this, I heard a grand explosion happening nearby, followed by maniacal laughter. This alerted the guards guarding the helicopter, and a majority of them went to check that out. Leaving only three people to guard the helicopter.
Now, I’m no Sankta. But shotguns cannot be used as a sniper rifle, right? So that leaves my pistol as my only long-range weapon.
I aimed my pistol at one of the guards and shot. Only for it to shoot him in the abdomen. I swear I aimed for his head?!
This naturally alerted them and they took a defensive position whilst covering their injured teammate. Tch. They won’t attack. This leaves me no choice.
According to my superior observation, I can clearly see that I shot the marksman. Which leaves only the two swordsmen to defend against me. And I have a shotgun.
I ran towards them and tried to bludgeon one of the swordsmen, only to be blocked by his sword. Thrusting my bayonet only prompted them to back off, which plays perfectly for me, because then I can just aim my shotgun and pull the trigger. Which I did, and turned him into red mist.
The other swordsmen, shocked by his team mate’s obliteration was bludgeoned in the back of the head and stabbed in his back with the bayonet.
One dead, two injured. How ethical of me. Well, as long as they don’t die of blood loss. I’m sure they can figure out something.
Now, onto the helicopter. Not before kicking the marksman in the stomach when he tried to aim his crossbow to shoot me.
Now, let’s escape! I thought happily as I entered the pilot seat.
“…”
How do I operate a helicopter??
While I was observing the controls, a group of people, presumably from Rhodes Island came back and shouted things at me. Hard to listen since I found the button to start the rotor.
Oh shit, and now they’re aiming at me.
Ahh…. Ahh… screw this just take off already! I touched and pressed all the buttons and doohickies in frustration.
The helicopter lunged upwards suddenly which startled me.
No matter. I know how to steer a helicopter at least. Now! Onto Victoria!
Londonium, Victoria. 16:00 hours
“ahhahahaha! Yes! I sold it!!” This was me happily pumping my fists in the air as I walked out of the Victorian Royal Museum.
I sold the artefact for a whopping Four million LMD! I am set for the next 5 years! Thankfully, the museum agreed to listen to some madman in ragged clothing covered in blood talking about ancient Artefacts.
Victoria may at times be a place where commoners are treated like animals, but it is a place to make Money!! I’m not complaining.
With money in hand, I walked towards my parked helicopter. That’s right, I parked my helicopter in the streets. Rich people don’t obey laws.
Hold on. Why is my helicopter getting fined?! There’s no way I’m paying that!
… maybe I should just search for a hotel. On foot.
Yeah, let’s do that.