Chapter 170: Go Alone (Part 2)
Reimi's perspective
Alright, let's see: I wore armor, weapons included the new sword and the throwing knives and a coat, some money bags which contained different currencies and my identity cards. Said simply that I only dragged my body out here with these kinds of stuff, didn't carry a handbag or a backpack with me, maybe I didn't have a need to wear it at all.
I hope John and Shera would be happy today, I just had left the castle a few minutes ago and now was walking on the trail to get to Burav town with the purpose to head to Capital and then hang out alone there. At first, both of them refused to let me go because this time was cold and I would have to go alone on foot to the Capital - which was considered dangerous to them.
But at last, I successfully convinced them to let me go so John asked me if he would like to provide me with a horse but I refused, I also rejected wearing Advisor because I would like to be alone with myself these days. Well, the trail was surely dense with snow and this time was having snowfall, I was walking forward while my shoes were stepping into the snow, cold but so fun.
Well, I was walking while my feet were marked on the snow ground, my foot marks could be seen on the trail, this time was very cold, I would be honest, I should have worn a denser coat. My face had been covered by a hood, I was walking past the fields which were planted potatoes, some of these fields were still working during the snow.
After a few minutes of walking on the trail and past through the potato fields, I now got to Burav town, the place was quite empty of people because they were staying home to avoid the cold. Maybe I should walk more, this time was the Spring but the snow was still falling, the snowfall lasts longer this year, what a strange event to me, I would need to head to the border gate to get access to the Capital.
I walked past the buildings and then looked back and noticed that some brick buildings have been growing up more and more now, Veta's economy would sooner or later from normal to wealthy, what a good place to live. Hmmm, I was wondering how would the people in this region live under the statuses of the commoners, they were about the nobles in the name, what should I say?
Hmmm, I mean this place was about to be changed from Commoner Zone to Noble Zone though the citizens here were commoners who were not bestowed to become aristocrats by His Majesty. To imagine the lives of the commoners could be like our nobles, it made me feel a bit nervous because this would be the first time we and they live equally with each other.
Maybe I should think wider, these commoners worked hard so they could have enough money to dress, eat better and have better living conditions, that was obvious to me. Work hard and would be paid well according to what we made, huh? That economic style was good when we have to try hard, have responsibility for our lives and the society we live in to make our lives better, it's good.
I walked on the road until I saw the border gate, at the time I saw it, I walked faster and faster to head to that area fast. A few seconds later, I finally come to the border gate, in front of me were two Peacekeeper police, 2 below while 4 were standing on two watchtowers above me, a Peacekeeper later walked toward me.
"Lady, please give me your citizen card to let us verify before letting you go." - The Peacekeeper raised his hand to me
I slowly pulled out my citizen card from my pocket and then gave it to the Peacekeeper police, he was looking at the details on my citizen card to verify my status and my identity information. When I was standing to wait for him to return to me my citizen card, another policeman suddenly came close to me, he glanced at my body as if he was having some dirty purpose.
"Woahhhh, lady! You look so hot...want to hang out with me someday? Look at you, your beautifulness would make men fall in you, you know?" - I knew it, I must stay away from him
"Hey, why don't you keep your business aside and hang out with me, young lady? It would be a waste when a hot woman like you have no one to touch." - This man was reaching his hand to me so I was stepping back slowly, I would do my best to not draw my sword
"Hey, stop it, man! We are the Peacekeeper and the police, the one who keeps the peace and protect the people, not harass them." - The police who was checking my citizen card grabbed the man's hand, he seemed very angry
"Sorry for making you disturbed, young lady! Here is your card, please be careful when going alone, some of our guys are quite disrespectful." - The Peacekeeper returned to me my citizen card
"I would not mind anything, Sir Peacekeeper! Thanks for protecting me."
"It would be rough for you to come to the Capital on foot by passing the forest to Keris, please be careful."
"Nod!"
I later walked out of the border gate and headed to the next trail, I was in a snow forest, I would have to go less than an hour to the Capital, it would take a long walk for me. My feet slowly walked forward when I was looking at the road in front of me, the snowfall would stop sooner or later.
I kept walking on the snow ground while looking around the place, I was walking in a small forest, it would take me less than an hour to get to the Capital's border gate, the road was still long to me. I kept walking in the cold for about minutes, I could feel my feet and my clothes were cold due to contact too long with the cold though my body was still standing till.
But I kept walking as always without worrying, I got used to the situations like this one many times, this was nothing to me, the road to the Capital was still far to me, must keep going. I gradually increased my walking speed and then walked forward faster, I kept walking and rested and walking for a long time, now it would take me about 30 - 35 minutes left to head to the Capital.
I was about to come to the Capital now but I felt a bit thirsty so I stopped at a tree nearby and then pulled out my leather water bag - which was strapped to my belt to drink. Woaahh, the feeling of drinking hot water during the cold was very good, I drank for a bit more and then strapped the water bag on my belt.
Because the water inside the bag was hot so I could not let it contact with the cold outside for too long, my water would be cold so I could not waste my good drink, let's enjoy it later, I hope so. After drinking the water, I got out of the tree and headed forward, I kept walking for a few more minutes and then saw a figure of an object moving forward me, I wondered what was it.
I looked closer and realized it was a wide carriage, must be from some merchant because the trade between Veta, Stansa and the Capital was quite much, especially when it was linked with food import. This carriage must be from a merchant, but I didn't need a drive for hiring so I ignored the carriage and tried to walk through it, I would go alone to the Capital.
"Ohhh, young lady! Do you need a ride?" - While walking across the carriage, I heard a voice from the driver - whose voice seemed to be old
I turned to the carriage's door and saw an old man who wore a brown coat, a cloth hat, he slowly opened the door as if he was asking me to get inside his carriage, I felt nervous. Because I rarely contact men and this man suddenly asked me to get in his carriage for a free drive, should I trust him? I would try to speak with him to find out more.
"Get inside, young lady! It's bad for walking under the snow, the way to the Capital is less than an hour left...please let me give you a drive."
"Why, old man?"
"Ladies must be helped, my old parents taught me that since I was in my childhood, seeing a girl as my daughter's age walking on the snow makes me nervous, young lady."
"..." - I must do something
"Uhhhh...how much for the drive?" - I could use my weapons and my physical strength to harm this old man if he dares to harm me when I was sitting in his carriage
"Free drive, young lady! Helping the people in their hard times is no need for money, money is just a tool."
"Well, how can I use money when the people around me didn't have anyone alive?"
"What do you mean?" - Did he just hint to me that he was some sort of killer? No way, maybe he was saying to me something short about trading methods
"Say simply that I want to know many, even strangers because when I meet them again accidentally, both of us would have a business or at least trading with each other, still have money."
"I'm Mark, the owner of a restaurant and a clothing shop, my shops are located on Spera of the Capital city."
"So, just consider our first encounter is a kind of making a relationship with each other for our future business, please head inside, young lady."
"But I would like to pay you for my drive, Sir merchant! Please name your price." - I kept looking inside the carriage while looking around it, I didn't see any guards, this man didn't hire a bodyguard or something?
"Hmmmmm...how are about 30 Gels for a drive to the Capital, young lady?"
"Sounds great...please wait for me a bit."
I later headed inside the carriage and sat behind Mark, I kept peeking around and saw only me and him, he was driving a horse alone while the carriage behind was stuffed full of goods, such as food and clothes. Even if this carriage only has me and him, I would attack this merchant if he dares to harm me, sitting at this angle behind him would be perfect for me to draw my dagger - which was fit to fight in narrow areas.
"Where would you like to go, young lady? I would go to the Capital and then head to Spera to visit my restaurant." - Mark turned behind and looked at me
"The Capital, old man."
"But anyway, you didn't have a bodyguard, Sir merchant?" - My right hand was always faking to be loose but I was making my momentum posture to draw the dagger which was strapped in my right belt if things go worse
"I rarely go overseas but mostly make business in the homeland, the forest of each region didn't have dangerous monsters so I didn't have a need to hire a guard."
The carriage later rolled out of the trail, I was joining the journey to the Capital with this old merchant, I was very bewildered because I didn't know what should I do when I return to the Capital. I said I would hang out alone but playing with myself was not the way I was always doing, maybe I would head to some shop to buy clothes and eat some good meals in some restaurant.
Or I would simply visit the Palace to visit His Majesty and the Queen to ask them for the latest information about the relationship between our Warsaw and Attenta, I hope both countries would not go to war. I almost forgot about the Prime Minister, I would ask Her Highness to let me have a rest day tomorrow to bring Advisor to the Capital and then sneak to eavesdrop on the Prime Minister.
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I was thinking about visiting uncle Sallad, I just heard info that his young daughter was working in his weapons shop, maybe she wanted to succeed in his job when he retires, I would like to see him. Now I noticed that 8 months have gone since the last time I worked for the Adventurer's Guild, according to my social status, my Rank would remain but not be lowered after 6 months without doing a quest.
Maybe spending my time doing a quest in the Adventurer's Guild was also a good idea, I would like to spend my free time adventure a bit by doing this kind of job. Seemed like working as an adventurer may become a part-time job for me, I would like to try new things when I have my free time, it seemed to be very promising.
But now I must keep my eyes on this old man first, he seemed very suspicious when asking to make a free drive for me, I must look at his face closer to identify him. This was an old man, white, his face seemed to be fat, had a white pushed-back long haired and a goatee beard, his eyes were light blue.
I could see he was armed with a dagger which was stocked in a holster that was strapped from his back, merchants armed with small weapons like knives were normal but I could not down guard. The carriage kept running as usual, this man seemed to be a normal merchant, who was old and had experience in life, his carriage seemed to be normal but not his horse, it looked very shape and well.
This horse seemed to be a type of horse that was born in the Capital, this horse was very expensive, maybe this old merchant was not a normal man, he must be a rich noble. Both of us kept silent while riding our carriage, I didn't want to suspect but having a man who asked me if he could do something for help, I could not believe anyone who helps others without benefits.
At first, he didn't ask for driving me to the Capital for money but when I...maybe I should shut up and investigate more.
"You live in Keris, young lady?" - This man asked me when I was staring at him from behind, he kept driving his carriage as usual
"Yes."
"You seem not to talk much, don't suspect me that harshly, helping people is a duty that I think all of us must do, young lady."
"Uhhh...you are a guard or something? I could see a Warsaw crest on your armor, you are a Royal Knight or a Royal guard, lady?"
"Yeah, you could say so."
"I have an old friend who runs a weapons shop in the Capital, if you have a need to buy good weapons there then I would introduce him to you, lady."
"Anyway...have you gotten married, young lady?" - Why did this man talk too much? Or maybe I was too cautious
"No..."
"You must get married and have kids at your young age, young lady! Having kids at this age is a golden time, your children would be healthier than the children that were born late."
"..." - I could not forget John, should I stop being humble and express to Her Highness that I want to get married to John? But...
"Sigh..." - At least I would like to have kids to succeed in my Knight duty, Her Highness's children must have the guards for them
"Sigh..." - Alright, I would take all of my confidence to talk to Shera tonight, all I need are to give birth to the kids who would succeed in my job to protect her descendants
"Sigh..." - But, I could not force my children to live in the jobs that they didn't want to work, maybe I should rethink my selfish purpose
"Sigh..." - No, I must stop thinking, a servant must not against her owner
I would feel very guilty but my kids must do the duty that they didn't want to, their fates would be destinated since they were born.
"Seems like you have something hard for you to say out...sorry for asking you about having children, young lady."
Both of us later stopped saying and then Mark kept riding his carriage, the road was still full of snow, today was colder than the other days, I hope that the snowfall would end soon. Because this year was the oddest year when the snow kept falling even when the Winter season ended, as if it was a sign of something that I didn't know.
The carriage kept rolling on the snow trail, I was now checking my new sword, it looked so shiny with its silver material, I hope I could use this weapon soon, I love its sharpness. Wait a minute, I could see some figures forward on the snow road, old man Mark seemed to notice it as me too so he drove his carriage slower to identify things before us.
Strange, I hope there would be no bandits in the forest because the forest to the Capital was rarely reported to have bandits, it would be hard for me now. Taking them out was not easy if they use their large numbers, I could use the wide terrain around me to take down the bandits, hoping that no one of them could use magic, it would be dangerous.
"Oh my god!" - Mark yelled in a panic because we could now see the figures in front of us when his carriage had gone close to them
I could see they were grey wolves whose bodies were covered in blood, the figure which was lying on the snow ground seemed to be an animal, maybe a dead deer. These wolves have about 10, they were quite dangerous because their running speed could surpass the horses and our humans.
Well, could not fight against them if these wolves outnumbered us, I must act fast to take the momentum to wipe out these predators or they would kill me easily, must act fast. My feets automatically jumped down of the carriage while both of my hands were pulling out 6 throwing knives in my pouches, I could aim at their heads at this distance, the wolves were still standing.
"Harrghhhh! Yarrghhh!" - I roared while throwing knives at two wolves' heads, both of them lay on the ground at the time the knives crushed their heads
"Old man, you stay behind m-, ahhhhhhhhh!" - I yelled at Mark to tell him to hide behind his carriage but my face later got collided with something
I fell on the snow ground when the horse was running past me because of scared, I was fine, only my head was a bit hurt because of the collision but I was still fine. I immediately got up and saw the wolves were noticing the carriage, one of them was chasing the carriage, I must take this chance.
"Wind blade!" - I raised my palm toward the wolves
A few seconds later, 3 wolves' limbs got cut down by my wind magic while one wolf's head was chopped off, still 4 left, they were still alive and were charging at me. The one who seemed to be the leader of the wolf was the one that was charging at me, the closest one, I must do something or it would slaughter me.
"Rarrrggghhhhhh!" - I roared at the wolves while raising my palm out
A line of big fire came out of my palm and the wolves were hesitant on charging at me, they were all scared of fire, I must take this chance to wipe out all of them. Suddenly, when I was thinking about drawing my sword out, the wolf leader charged at me with a very aggressive action, it bit my left hand and was squeezing my hand tightly.
Both of us got pushed to the snow ground and I only have seconds to live because the other wolves were running toward me as their leader was doing, I must survive, cannot die. The wolf which was biting my hand was squeezing it while swinging its head around with trying to shred out my hand, I will kill you, you filthy animal!
"Rarrghhhhhhhhhh! Get off me!" - I pulled out my dagger and then stabbed the wolf's head
Blood spurted out from its head and the wolf kept trying to bite me so I stabbed its head 3 more times and the wolf lied on the snow ground and I immediately stood up to scare the other wolves. How lucky I was, the other wolves were very close to me, if I was late to kill their leader then they would have charged at me and then eaten my flesh, I could not die!
"Rarrghhhhhhhhhh!" - I roared at the other wolves and they seemed to be scared or something so they ran away, I was so lucky to survive
So lucky, the wolf which was dead got stabbed once again because I wanted to make sure that this wolf had finally died completely, I must remove it. Its bite was very hard so I used all of my right hand's muscles to pull the wolf's head out, after pulling it out, I used my foot to smash the wolf's head once again to make sure that it had died.
Ahhh, luckily that my forearm protectors were made of thick metal so my hand was still very fine, the healers could not heal my hand if it gets infected, I was so lucky. But my coat was having some blood now because of stabbing the dead wolf, blood covering my right hand and the dagger's blade, it would be hard for me to head to the border gate now.
Wait a minute, my left forearm protector's surface had a slight mark of the wolf's bite, maybe I should demand uncle Sallad to make me better stuff, what a bad weapon. Now was the most difficult part, I was left alone here, I would be held in custody at the time I head to the border gate and the Warsaw guards see my body was covered in blood.
I would be sent to a small room in the narrow wooden room to let the Warsaw guards interrogate me because of the reason I have blood on my clothes, ahhhhhhhhh. Well, the investigation system was quite complicated for me even when I showed them that I have a special relationship with Her Highness or even when I showed them my citizen card and my Warsaw crest.
Maybe I should bride money to the guards to make them release me soon but my weapons would be confiscated and I could only keep my money, my citizen card and my Warsaw crest. That means I would have to go alone back to Veta or head to the Palace to ask a powerful person like Her Highness, His Majesty or the Queen to order the guards to return to me my weapons.
Well, I have the way, I must carry a wolf's corpse to the border gate to prove proof that I killed the wolves to show the truth to the Warsaw guards. A wolf was heavy, still wondering how to lift one in my back while going, if I wore a backpack then I could solve my problem better, what should I do?
Wait a minute, I saw something which was running toward me from far away, I kept looking closer and then realized that was Mark's carriage. This old man didn't leave me at all, he ran back here to rescue me, maybe this man was trustworthy to me, I hope I could trust this old.
"Hahhhh! Hahhh! Are you alright, young lady? I thought you would die...it's good that you are still alive." - Mark stopped his carriage and then ran toward me while breathing constantly
"Yeah, I'm fine." - Well, now I must deal with my bloody weapon and my bloody clothes
I noticed that some of my throwing knives had fallen to the ground during the previous fight when I got collided with the horse, I crouched down to grab back my knives. After grabbing back my throwing knives, I stocked them in my pouches and then looked at Mark, he was examining the dead deer or something, what was wrong with him?
"Ohhh, it has been terribly smashed." - Mark crouched down while looking at the dead deer, its body was heavily bitten, its fleshes were ruined heavily because of the wolves' bites
"Those too, how can I sell these broken things to the Guild?" - Mark shook his head tiredly while looking at the dead wolves
Maybe he was intending to sell these dead animals to the Adventurer's Guild, we could sell these things to exchange for money, this old man seemed very sad when he could not sell these corpses at a high price. Maybe I should change my perspective on this old man once again, he seemed didn't care much about me when I saved him and he didn't ask me if I was fine or not.
"Young lady, are you hurt? I would drive you to the Capital and then lead you to the good healers in the city to heal your injuries." - Now he finally asked...
"No, old man! I'm fine, didn't have a scratch, don't worry." - I checked my weapons once again and then walked closer to Mark
"Thank you very much for saving me, young lady." - Mark bowed to me deeply and then returned to normal
"Anyway, may I ask you a favor, Miss?"
"Nod!" - What did he mean?
"I would like to hire you as my bodyguard with the pay of 1.000 Gels by escorting me from here to the Capital, what do you say?"
"Nod!" - My destination was the Capital, even if this man didn't willing to pay me then I would not complain, maybe he would use me because we could only meet only one time as strangers
"It's good when you accepted, Miss! Now please help me lift these things to my carriage, at least I could sell these things to the Guild."
Mark later slowly lifted a wolf's corpse to the carriage, I would help him too but must be on guard, maybe I was too cautious after living too long with John. But Mark could attack me from behind when I didn't notice, I would help him but must always be careful, I must be careful as much as possible.
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"That's it, see you again soon, Ms. Frieden." - Mark said goodbye to me and then drove his carriage away
We have finally gone to the Capital, I have been paid well as this old man promised, he left me a small fur paper note which led me to his clothing shop as an invitation. Well, he said that if I have a need on buying beautiful clothes or eating in a good restaurant, he could provide me with all by introducing to me his shops.
Maybe I would visit Mark's clothing shop someday, I was now standing on a sidewalk with less of people around me, this time was cold and was in noon so most of the people stay in their homes to rest. Anyway, I have finally bought my new clothes, a blue coat which had the denser furs, it was very warm, I bought it from Mark before we said goodbye.
Well, I also bought a brown backpack to store my bloody clothes, maybe I would return to Veta or the Palace to order the maids to clean my armor and my coat, they were quite bloody. As I could see, this area was near uncle Sallad's weapons shop, maybe I would go visit him after a long time no see, I would stop at his shop first.
Well, let's hope that my uncle Sallad would serve me free food, I was quite hungry and the outdoor shops have been closed on the streets, I must visit uncle Sallad fast, hehehe. My feets kept walking on the sidewalk until they touched a shop, I stopped at a shop and then looked at the wooden which was written above it "Stansa's weapons shop - no cheap, only expensive".
The shop's window showed me a small wooden board that was hung on the door that had the word "Closed", this shop was closed, maybe uncle Sallad was eating. Well, it's time for me to join, eating free food was always the best, uncle Sallad would never refuse to serve me food, paying no money to eat was the best of the best, hehehe.
I ignored the board and then opened the door and headed inside, in front of me now was a little girl, I mean a girl who seemed to be as same as my age or maybe younger than me a bit. She was white, had slight blonde ponytail hair, blue eyes, she wore a blue tunic while wearing a dirty white apron...uhhh, uncle Sallad had just recruited an employee for his shop or what?
"Uhhhh...papa! A customer comes, papa!" - Huh?
"Hmmph! Old man, please stop eating my meal!" - Uhhhh, I was very bewildered now, she called uncle Sallad her dad?
"Who the hell are you?" - I bewildered asked the girl, someone please explain this to me!