The Saintess and the Villainess

Chapter 41

Across town, Eva had spent the afternoon drinking and chatting with Ulrich and the other members of the resistance at the Rusty Trumpet. The atmosphere in the pub was generally light and jovial throughout the evening, with the air full of laughter and song. Although Eva generally listened more than she spoke.

Anne would like it here, thought Eva, smiling to herself. Such a shame that it would be far too unacceptably dangerous to actually bring here here.

As the night went on the regular customers began to filter out until only Ulrich and a few of the more hardcore resistance members were left there with Eva.

"You know, my family was originally from the Kingdom of Ladore," said Bernard, staring into his tanker.

Another member of the resistance, a tough-looking woman named Nell, rolled her eyes. "Here he goes again."

"Hey, no," said Bernard. "I'm telling you, you should've heard how my parents talked about Princess Zephrine. Everyone in Ladore loved her. She was kind and—"

"—and she was a parasite living off the hard work of the people," insisted Nell.

"Okay, yes, but still my point was even a good person—"

Nell Scoffed.

"—even a good person in a royal role can't truly do anything to change the inherent injustice of the system," said Bernard. "And what happened to Zephrine also proves that the aristocratic system doesn't truly benefit all of the nobles either, unless they're at the very top of the chain."

"Oh yeah," said Nell. "Zephrine certainly never benefited from being an aristocrat."

"She was traded as a bargaining chip to try to prevent a war and then murdered to manufacture and excuse to start that war anyway," said Bernard. "None of you 'citizens of the empire' ever want to talk about it, but there's no way she was plotting against the empire because there was never any way Ladore was ever going to win that war!"

"Okay but however she died, it's not like the Empress ever had to sleep out in the cold while she was alive," said Nell. "Or worry about where her next meal was coming from."

"But still—"

Eva was sipping her beer and listening to the argument. She personally didn't really think about politics in these terms, but she found it useful to know how others thought and how they expressed those thoughts. This hadn't been such a wasted day after all. It had even been somewhat... pleasant.

Suddenly, Ulrich got up from his seat, stretching and yawning dramatically. "Well, I think it's about time I called it a night." He tossed a bag of coins on the table. "That should cover everyone's tab, eh, Bernard?"

"Oh no, Mr. Vend, I couldn't take your money," said Bernard. "We're comrades now after all!"

"Take it," insisted Ulrich. "Trust me, I'm not short on funds. And you still have a pub to run. You can't be giving away all your drink for free."

Bernard and Nell exchanged glances. It was a big pouch full of a lot of money. "How was it that you said you made a living again, Mr. Vend?" asked Bernard.

"Oh, I didn't say. I wouldn't want to ruin the mystery," said Ulrich. He winked and then turned to go.

Eva got up to follow him, but Bernard stopped her.

"Wait, Sister, you never said why you came by today," said Bernard. "Do you have any instructions for us? It's just—" he lowered his voice. "—some of the members are starting to get a little impatient, you know? When are we going to do something?"