There were three of them, just standing in the street, I know I said ambush but I'm sure you've caught on I use a lot of words inappropriately. The only unifying characteristic was dirty, the leader standing in the middle naturally (just once I wasnt to see the leader on the left or right of a three man formation, just for a change) spoke for the group, I couldn't make out most of his face due to him wearing a hooded outfit and that his teeth were so blackened I felt a slight revulsion everytime he opened his mouth. My hand naturally fell on my revolver on my left hip, I hadn't tried quickdrawing, but I felt I was about to test the ability.
"Easy there Lorentino, would hate for you to have a mistake out here in the open." His voice was like garbage, which doesn't describe a voice, but use your imagination.
"The only mistake you made here was approaching me in the first place." I wanted to just shoot them all on principal. Even though Ronerawth had become more civilized, they still weren't that civilized, and shooting dirty people in the street was a past time of a lot of the nobility.
"I'd heard you were having issues, I had no idea things had gotten to the point of using a weapon of the mundanes." Magic users, even dirty filthy ones always regard those who are without magic as a mundane, someone incapable of great things, even if the magic user themself could barely light a candle with their ability. Though his words told me more than he probably intended, I'd only failed to kill the jerks who were threatening me the previous evening, for him to be aware I was without magic this fast and get to a town where I was at was a lot more than coincidence. Either it was well known I'd had no magic for fifty years and I didn't know it, OR this was a more recent affliction that I was just now becoming aware of. Which might have left the blind group off the hook, though I wasn't entirely sure of that at the time.
"I like to mix things up," My hand hit the hammer back on the pistol, my patience for the coversation was nearing an end. They weren't armed it didn't appear, so they were either magic users or idiots, probably fifty fifty on that.
"Easy there, this is a social call, I just wanted you to know that I know all about..." The bullet hit him in the chest, recoil was a bit more than I'd expected, it had been a period of time since I'd fired a pistol my left wrist stung from the impact. His associates looked shocked for a brief moment and then moved to attack, I emptied the revolver in response, if they had been magic users they sure sucked at it.
"You're making a..." The leader was talking again I had reloaded a round into the cylinder cycled it and put it through his forehead coating the cobble stone behind his head in a black ooze. Bystanders looked on to see what the shooting was about, and I could hear horses coming in the distance, I reloaded my pistol and holstered it. I had to give the weapon credit, it was entirely satifsying to just shoot someone, especially someone who just couldn't stop talking. The first townguard who arrived hopped off his horse and had his weapon drawn I stuck my hands up in the air.
"What in the five fires happened here citizen?" The guard had a long bushy mustache and a commanding voice. His uniform was the normal Ronerawth purple affair, leather coat and pants, I figured some tannery was making bank on all the outfits for Ronerawth's government.
"Dirty vagrants tried to rob me," It was as good an excuse as any.
"Really?"
"Yes of course sir." I had reached into my pocket and fished out a couple gold coins, he looked at them, looked at the bodies and then harumphed and took them from my hand.
"Damn shame they ruined your day sir, I'll make sure they are cleaned up." The guard looked at me with a nod and moved toward the crowd forming to tell them to go bother someone else. If there was one constant in Ronerawth it was money talks the loudest, and I had plenty of speaking to do when I got in trouble. Still I was mildly peturbed, dirty was probably not going to be the only person coming for me now that I was magicless. I guess I get a mistaken hope that as time passes my enemy list would get smaller due to them dying off, but apparently they pass their damn grudges on to their kids or something! I swear I still have this come up from time to time, all the more reason to support my purge the entire world of all life theory. As if I needed more of that!
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