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[sup][@Jollan][@Sho Minazuki][/sup]
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Truth be told, Annika was feeling way better wearing her usual attire. No unnecessary frills or excess clothing, it wasn't hot nor she felt unprotected from the climate. It allowed her to move herself perfectly well... To say that she liked those style of clothes was an understatement. They were almost a second skin to her.

[color=6ecff6]"It feels... Much better like this..."[/color] Annika muttered as they got inside the bar. 

Garsin indeed had a point when he said that power struggles did affect both small people and strong people alike... But they had fundamentally different views of what was happening. But still... she was secretly hoping that she was wrong... She most definitely didn't want to wear that annoying dress full of frills and go to the palace...

When Garsin patted her on the shoulder while saying for them to get something to drink first, Annika simply nodded as she followed him. While she wasn't really that good with alcohol, she apparently had completely misunderstood Garsin's intentions. The way she thought was that if they simply stood around doing nothing, it would be really suspicious, instead, ordering something to drink would help them to pass like normal customers.

The simple thought that maybe Garsin simply wanted to drink something didn't even pass through her head.

To anyone who looked at Annika, it was incredibly clear that she didn't drink at all. From the way she was holding the tankard, with both of her hands almost as if it was something dangerous and the way her face contorted discreetly after taking a sip despite it being a sweet and weak ale were dead giveaways... Albeit it was indeed adorable to see her like that.

As the bar began filling up with patrons coming for lunch, so it became higher the number of rumors and stories they heard from other patrons talking with each other. Just like Annika had previously said though, most of them weren't related to their mission at all. Although... the same name was heard by Annika in a frequency that made it unable to at least not pay a small attention about those. Swords of Valor... Judging by the tales she heard (which ranged from obvious exaggerations and fairy tales to rumors that could as well be true) it seemed that the normal people had quite the mixed opinion about them. At least for now, it was improbable that they had any anything to do with their mission, still, Annika would keep her ear open to any strange comments about those.

Unlike the other patrons though, their 'primary' target, the strange man wearing a military garb, indeed seemed to be waiting for someone... The one he was meeting with though was quite a surprise for both Annika and Garsin alike... It was none other than a member of the Raelinian Praetorian Guard, who worked directly for the king.

Unfortunately for them, due to the noise inside the bar, they weren't able to eavesdrop on the conversation the royal guard and the old man wearing a military garb were having other than a sudden outburst of rage coming from the old man, mentioning something about patriotism before the royal guard walked away.

They were both obviously relevant characters that could give Annika and Garsin precious information, but the question was: how would they even approach them, how would they make them speak and who it was worth to chase after?

Turning to Garsin, the confusion was clear on her face as she looked at him.

[color=6ecff6]"The old man should have more information... But the other one is a Praetorian Guard and not a retired veteran like the old man is... maybe..."[/color] Annika discreetly said to Garsin, her voice getting a bit lower on the last word.

[color=6ecff6]"How are we going to approach them or even convince them to talk?"[/color] she asked, with a slight sense of urgency in her tone as she watched the Praetorian Guard walking away.

It was clear that Annika was really annoyed by the complete lack of information they had at the moment. They didn't even know who their target was, despite being snipers. Were those who offered them that job unaware of a sniper's [I]modus operandi[/I]?