Family Business 57 (Patreon)

Family Business

Chapter 57

-VB-

Ranna came from Noxus. She wasn’t a spy or a soldier. She just didn’t want to live like a servant for the soldiers and warriors, which was the only thing Noxus cared about. “Strength” was great and all, but not everyone was strong or capable of it.

So she used the new peace to sneak into Demacia. At the very least, no one was going to bother her if she just went about doing whatever odd jobs she usually did to get by ever since her mom died, her brother left to join the army, and her dad disappeared.

But what was she going to do about it?

Work, of course! She hated working but it was the only way that she was going to survive, so she worked!

… but in Noxus, nothing helped.

The situation was very different over here in Demacia. It wasn’t that there was more work or that people looked down at her for being a woman, being weaker, or whatever. No, she felt a sense of … complexity. It wasn’t just about strength. There was a distinct reverence for martial strength just like Noxus, but it wasn’t all-consuming. Boys went around with their wooden sword toys, girls … didn’t talk about marrying the biggest brawn. Huh. See, difference right there.

No, the biggest difference that she felt was in how the Demacian society functioned. She didn’t have to constantly be on the look out for the “biggest, baddest, and strongest.” No, she just had to avoid the nobles and their funny clothes and she would be free of trouble. Mostly.

On top of that, there was even a city deep within Demacia that didn’t care about who or what she was as long as she was a productive member of the city!

And coming up to the gates of Jorasmang City was …

She squeaked a little when she saw a vastayan.

‘I thought Demacians hated magic!’

“Ah, sorry,” the furry-eared man asked as his ears drooped. “Is it your first time seeing a vastayan?”

She shook her head, not wanting to show how nervous she was. Vastayans were supposed to be savages from Ionia who killed everyone with their magic! How- Why was there one in anti-magic Demacia?!

“Oh, then what’s with the reaction?” the guard asked. One of the other guards, a regular human like her, came over to check up on them.

“Soroya, you’re holding up the line.”

“Ah, sorry!” “Soroya” laughed nervously before turning back to her. “Alright, let’s get on with it. Do you have any identification on you?”

She shook her head again, now slowly becoming more confused than afraid. This vastaya was not trying to kill everyone. In fact, he just bowed his head to a human - a fat human - and tried to get on with a … job.

This was surreal to her. All her life, she’s heard about how vastayas of Ionia were dangerous, feral, and monstrous. They snuck out of the woods and slit the throats of soldiers guarding food for the city.

Here… they just looked like one of the non-human races working back in Noxus. They just were here as just another member of society.

Huh?

“Okay, then where are you from?”

She froze up a little. “I-I’m from Lockmirch.” Lockmirch was one of the border states between Noxus and Demacia.

“Lockmirch, I see,” he hummed as he … wrote.

Huh.

A vastaya knew how to write while she didn’t.

… Wasn’t she the barbarian right now?

That hurt.

“And occupation?”

“... Running away.”

“I… see. My condolences,” he muttered. “If you do not have a job or skill, then you can visit the Ducal Administration, which is at the center of the city. Ask the guard at the front that you want to learn something, and he’ll find someone to help you or help you himself. Good luck out there.”

And she was in. Just like that.

She stumbled forward, almost running but not quite.

When she passed the giant gatehouse, she found herself looking up at a city so unlike any other.

She remembered Noxus with its black stone walls, maze-like streets, disparate buildings, wide-open avenue, and whispers in the dark corners of the streets. This city, Jorasmang City, was also one of the wide-open avenues but its houses were tall, narrow, and windowed. The soldiers … she couldn’t see too many of them, which was not like Noxus at all.

Ranna looked around and saw more vastayans but also other “people.”

And then her eyes caught glimpse of something and she froze as she watched a little girl play with magic.

Her eyes widened.

‘Oh no,’ she thought.

In a magic-hating society like Demacia, the little girl was …

She looked around. It didn’t look like anyone else had noticed.

She quickly hurried over to the girl and gently pushed her along to an alley where no one would see them.

But then someone shouted behind her.

She winced and turned around. Her heart dropped when she realized that in her haste to get the girl away, she had completely missed a nobleman’s carriage coming through. The noble walked out…

She shivered when the obviously very rich noble glared at her.

“Where are you taking her?” he demanded.

“S-sorry?”

“Where were you trying to take the child?”

“I-” She didn’t know how to answer. If she said she was getting the girl out of the way, then it would look suspicious. Talking about the girl’s magic would get the girl disappeared. “I’m just getting this rascal out of the way,” she tried to smile but it came out way too nervous.

The nobleman scowled.

“Take her in.”

“Wait, milord-!” she panicked but it was too late.

She felt a bag come down over her head and then felt a sting to her neck. As she slumped forward into someone’s arms, Ranna wondered just how badly she might have fucked up by interfering in someone else’s business.

-VB-

A/N: a look into an outsider’s perspective, comparison, and journey. Ranna’s little misunderstanding will get resolved next chapter.