79 An Inconspicuous Employee (1/2)
”Thank you very much for being this patient, the Mayor will receive you in a short period.” A good looking woman wearing the same outfit as the rest of the employees was currently bowing in front of many wealthy men. She just a normal receptionist on the surface, mainly dealing with the numerous merchants and nobles that had some appointments in this place. Seeing the beautiful woman giving them some delicate beverages and adopt a submissive attitude, the men only slightly smiled and enjoyed the scenery.
Her outfit was not necessarily provocative or even depraved, but it absolutely shaped her forms beautifully. At the same time, it was of a more solemn tone, mainly with black, white and grey colors. All the clothes were of very high quality, to not be belittled by others. The entire group was deeper inside the City Hall than most visitors, due to their more prominent status. After staying with the men and distracting them for a few minutes, another woman arrived to say that the mayor was finally free.
Sighing a bit after seeing that the group finally left, the first employee enjoyed a short break. Trying to remember the next appointment, she will have to deal with a nasty noble that was far more lecherous than those traders. Silently adjusting in front of the mirror her uniform, to appear far less attractive, she patiently waited for him to arrive.
Unlike the other human nations in this part of the world, the Republic of Avenio wasn't ruled by one man or woman. Instead, it was a council of the five most influent families. At the birth of this republic, four of those families were nobles and only one was from the commoner. But a thousand ofyears later, the situation was reversed and only two noble families were still part of the original group.
Because of this, each city was governed by a similar council, with one man elected as the mayor. The latter was in full control of the future of the city, where to develop and what objectives were chosen. The council only had to give its trust every year, and that event will happen in just ten days. So during this small period, the mayor needed to please a lot of people or at least, prevent them from supporting his opponents.
Fortunately, it had already been seven years since the last change, meaning that unless he made a critical mistake, he will not have to make a lot of concessions. Stability and peace were far more important than just a very small loss. Not thinking about all those things and only focusing on appearing as ugly as she could, the employee heard the door being opened.
Putting her very best smile on her face, she seemed to not notice the lustful stare that the old man was sending toward her body. She spent the next twenty minutes dodging his attempt at groping her body, never frowning or even complaining. When the old noble finally left, she asked for a short break that was accorded. Not a single women wanted to deal with that kind of man, especially since strange rumors were spread about some peculiar disappearances in the surroundings of his manor. Some beautiful young girl, never seen again after that.
The rest of the day kept alternating between waiting and entertaining the guests. She was a little bit exhausted, but she never showed it. Because of this attitude, she climbed the ranks far more quickly than most, even if it was mainly due to her appearance. Leaving the City Hall, she spent a few minutes buying food for the next day When she arrived at her place, she quickly undressed and dug under the comfy sheets she bought a year ago.
Staying in this position for a while, she reluctantly began to prepare some food for herself. She was by herself, not even having a small pet. For her, it was a waste of both time and money, something she would never do. Because she was employed by the city, she had the opportunity of living in a special room.
Like many other people, she was currently staying in a very vast building, similar to a dormitory of an academy. Of course, the rooms were more spacious, but the rent was far lower than most houses of Archet. In addition, it was located barely dozens of meters away from the garrison, making it one of the safest location of the entire town. This opportunity was only reserved for those that were working directly for Archet, one of the most visible benefits.
Until it was in the middle of the night, the room was awfully calm and silent. But a little bit after that time, a shadow opened the door and closed it, while scanning the surroundings. Being extremely careful, the silhouette in the dark patiently waited far away from a certain intersection. After even more than five minutes, the shadow was still waiting, albeit, feeling a bit exasperated. Suddenly, the patrol appeared and bypassed her location, without noticing anything strange.
This obstacle removed, the shadow rushed toward a remote courtyard, filled with a lot of garbage and wreckages. Moving a small pile of those, she uncovered the hole where a ladder plunged in the dark. Before using it, however, she grabbed a small wood stick nearby, covered in a viscous substance on one of its end.
The silhouette walked without hesitation with the dim light provided by her improvised torch. Unknown to all of her colleagues, she was capable of casting the most basic 1st Circle magic, like [Fire]. Finding her way inside the maze that was the sewers, she arrived in front of a corridor without any special features. Looking left and right one last time, she began to search the entire wall, trying to find the opening.
But to her stupor, she instead found the hidden door slightly opened, something very unusual. Normally, every member will have closed perfectly the door after entering, even if the chance that a patrol managed to see an irregularity in the wall was thin. Even they sometimes have a hard time finding it, especially in the dark like that. Pondering a bit about that abnormal situation, the beautiful employee put her ear on the stone door.