The next morning had come, and the duo set out again after a much needed day of rest. Upon stepping outside, Nirou was able to get a much better view of the town than when it was scarcely illuminated before. Yesterday's rain had caused some minor flooding, with standing water practically anywhere you looked. The stone buildings escaped by being built on a raised foundation, while the more common wooden buildings were built slightly off the ground on stilts to keep away from the water. In the distance, swathes of rice fields could be seen inundated with the rain.

As he stepped through the mud, Nirou glanced at his shoes. He was lucky that he had been wearing them when he was summoned, but they had been taking a lot of abuse. His clothes weren't that much better off, either. Luckily they were only two days from the capital, and Laska said new outfits were in the budget. He'd certainly be better off for it anyway, since his unique clothing had made most people they had passed particularly wary of him. He hadn't even managed to have a conversation with anyone but Laska, since everyone else avoided or ignored him.

The two of them passed through the bulk of town on their way out, and Nirou began to hear something concerning. Some heavily labored breathing, sure to be from someone in pain. It was faint enough for him to only pick it up with his newly improved hearing. But even if he hadn't heard, he would have taken sight of the source soon enough. He and Laska reached the center of town, a large open space around a raised stone dais with two armed guards stationed to either side. On top of the dais was a brutal sight. A man suspended from stakes put through his hands and feet, facing skyward. There was no doubt about it, this was meant to be a slow and painful method of public execution. Nirou and even Laska winced upon seeing it.

The man seemed to have long since given up any resistance, his rough breathing being the only sign of life left in him. Nirou had seen men killed for the first time just two days earlier, but that had been quick. He had never seen anyone strung up in agony like this. It was significantly tougher to watch.

"The poor soul. Yesterday's rain just kept him alive to suffer a bit longer." Laksa clasped her hands together and seemed to pray for the man.

"This kind of came out of nowhere. I didn't expect this country to have punishments like this." Nirou says nervously. He notices a sign hanging from the dais, but he doesn't know enough to read it himself. "Laska, what does that sign say? Does it say why he's up there?"

"For sharing forbidden knowledge with a member of a lower caste in defiance of the King's will." the girl reads the text off the sign. "This man has been sentenced to death."

"The forbidden knowledge in this case is surely the ritual of tribute." Laska goes on. "Some countries like this one will keep the knowledge as secret as they can with an iron fist in order to maintain the balance of power. We have to be careful while we're here. We will be subject to this law as well if we let slip that knowledge."

Suddenly Nirou was extremely uncomfortable. Getting strung up by a tyrant was not anywhere on his list of things he'd like to do. Why would they even go to such a place?

"Isn't this the country we're supposed to be getting help from?" Nirou asked quietly, but tensely. "How are we going to convince someone who would do this to stick his nose out for us? I really hope you know what you're doing, coming here."

"We will be fine if we just avoid any association with the King at all." Laska insists. "He's self-centered enough that we should be able to work around him entirely. My father's old friend has plenty of influence enough to make our goal feasible."

The reassurance didn't do all that much for Nirou's nerves, but he had no choice but to take it at face value. He had no means to offer an alternative. Despite his better judgement, he took one last good look at the man on the raised platform. His impaled hands and feet had stopped bleeding some time ago, he was just waiting for dehydration at this point. Nirou wanted to try and help him, but knew just how bad of an idea that would be. All he could do was clench his fist and curse the unfairness of it all. Laska seemed to notice his reaction.

"I know, it is terribly unjust." she whispers, quietly enough that only Nirou can hear. "I've half a mind to intervene myself, but we can't make an enemy of the King while we walk about his lands. Not as just the two of us. It's regrettable, but we must look the other way. Come, let's not dally any longer. It will only give us more rage with nowhere to put it."

Listening to her advice, Nirou followed Laska out of the town square and through the rest of town until they hit the unassuming road through the wilderness once again. After cooling his head while walking for a time, Nirou's discomfort had mostly subsided. As terrible a thing as it was, there's nothing he could have done. He wondered; Had he become an actual doctor, would he feel worse about not helping the man? As is, he already felt foolish for entertaining the thought of using his ability to help people and then passing up the first chance he got.

After a good bit of time spent walking, Nirou noticed that something was different. He was keeping up with Laska much easier now. Their few days of travel before had been him desperately stumbling along behind her and trying not to be left behind, but now they were roughly even. He dismissed the thought that his stamina had improved immediately, and honed in on the actual cause. He was now wearing Laska's amulet, whereas she had it on before. It must have bridged the gap between his endurance and hers. They were actually making better time now that he wasn't holding the two of them back.

They passed another town in the afternoon, but didn't stop. Laska had them just keep on walking.

"We won't be able to afford all we want in the capital if we waste any more money." she explained. "We spent too much on yesterday."

So once again, camping out was the order of the day. As night fell, the duo found another nook to make their own until morning. The jungle was getting less and less dense as they went on, thinned out by the increasing signs of civilization. Being that they were marginally less in the wilds, they should be able to feel somewhat safer.

That wasn't necessarily the case for Nirou, though. As he stayed up for his shift of watch, his enhanced hearing clued him in on the movement happening in the darkness. There were creatures all over, and they no doubt had been there in the nights before. He just hadn't known the extent until now. There was no sound alarming enough to have been a large predator lurking anywhere, but one could show up at any time. They had just gotten lucky before, surely.

When his turn to sleep came around, Nirou was too stressed to get any decent rest. The rustling of the jungle foliage would wear on his mind. There was no functional difference between having his eyes closed or open in this darkness.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

The morning came, and Nirou was more tired than when they had stopped. But it was just one more day. He could power through.

After one more day and night of the same difficulty, the duo was firmly out of the countryside. The jungle had almost entirely given way to houses and rice farms lining the road, irrigated with channels dug from some nearby water source. Soon enough even the farms stopped in favor of yet more buildings. This was likely the equivalent of Rajandra's suburbs, before they got to the distinctly urban area of the capital.

The distinction was made abundantly clear by the large wall and gate the two of them arrived at marking entrance into the city proper. More guards were posted there, at attention with their spears held to the side. Nirou noticed them eyeing him and his otherworldy clothes, but they stayed silent and didn't make any moves.

Once past the gate, they crossed an impressive stone bridge over a sizable river to enter the city itself. For buildings made of wood and stone, Nirou considered the whole thing pretty amazing. Even here, the three-story wooden houses were elevated to flood-proof them. In the distance, one building could be seen that dwarfed all others, a monolithic stone palace.

"This is Rajandra, capital of Anjdrahm." Laksa says, properly introducing the city for Nirou's sake. "Also called the Southern Kingdom, it's currently at the height of its power, wealth and influence. Not due much to the current King though, his father was the one that really allowed for this prosperity."

Following the river along, there were boats everywhere ferrying people and goods. Eventually the duo arrived at a huge open space set up next to the river where hundreds of straw mats had been laid out. An open market, there were peddlers of all kinds as far as the eye could see.

"This market attracts traders from across the whole of the kingdom, and many from all over the rest of the continent. We'll find a local that can sell us some clothes, hopefully we'll stand out a bit less with proper outfits."

After searching through the bustling crowd weaving through the makeshift stalls, Laska settled on one. A older woman has her mat stacked with clothes, of all sorts of sizes. Nirou guessed that she picked this one because she might have something that fit him.

"Excuse me ma'am, do you have anything large enough for my companion here?" Laska asks the woman, awkwardly trying to talk over the din of the markets without yelling.

"Need something big, do ya?" The lady eyes Nirou up and down a bit. "Just a bit, I think I've got just the thing."

As the woman goes digging through her stack of clothes, Nirou notices Laska looking a bit confused at something. He taps her on the shoulder and tilts his head inquisitively to ask what was up.

"Oh, it's nothing. Everything seems to be working out just fine, don't worry." Laska whispered, trying to keep it so only Nirou could hear. "I couldn't catch everything she said due to her accent, but she seems to understand me. She must have come from very far out in the country, to be speaking that way."

This time it was Nirou's turn to look confused. "What accent? She sounded pretty normal to me."

"I see. It must be yet another quirk of your translation." the girl muses. "While it would be nice to always understand, it could undermine some potential insight in certain cases..."

"Alright girl, I found some giant clothes for your giant there." the clothes seller came back up from her pile dragging out a humongous cloth. "And here's the only sash I've got long enough to fit around him to go with it."

It seemed to be some kind of robe-like thing that gets wrapped up over the shoulder going by what Nirou had seen people wearing around the city. Not that he had any idea how to put it on.

"What about pants?" Nirou suddenly asked, startling the woman slightly. "The pants people wear around here look pretty baggy, I could probably fit in a pair."

"Well of course boy, I wasn't going to forget. A little patience, perhaps?" she laughed, not serious about the whole thing. Taking a much shorter time this go around, she pulled out some large trousers that Nirou could fit in.

Laska then got together a set of clothes for herself, and handed over a large handful of copper coins to the shopkeeper.

"That's a lot of material you're buying, biggest sale I've made all week." the woman chuckles a bit yet again. "Come on back any time young man, I'll make sure to keep something in stock big enough. The ladies back in the village would love to be able to live off of selling huge pieces like that."

Next the duo found a man set up selling footwear on his mat. For the most part it was just woven sandals, though he did have some boots available. Nothing that would fit Nirou though, so it was sandals for him. The man had to adjust his largest available pair a bit, but in the end it worked out and Laska was able to pay. She bought her own pair as well, and the two of them moved on carrying their new purchases.

"We've been out in the wilderness far too long." Laska states, as she leads Nirou through the streets. "We're both filthy by this point, and that's no state to wear a new set of clothes in. We're going to the bathhouse first."

Nirou was led to a large stone building with a bunch of aqueducts leading to it. The whole thing looked a bit out of place compared to its surroundings. He brought it up to Laska, but she was able to explain.

"This design is lifted almost exactly from a bathhouse in Dragunasia." she said. "My father was the one who sold blueprints and the concept to a businessman here in the city. Since then, it's been quite popular with tourists and locals alike."

Once inside, the two of them split up to their own individual baths. After paying, Nirou was given a dull red rock and a bunch of leaves banded together. He stood looking stupid for a moment, before being told that the rock was for heating up the water and the leaves were for scrubbing himself.

He came to the stone pool that was just barely big enough to fit him, and opened a valve to fill it with water. As he got undressed, he placed the rock in the water. In just a few moments, he could see steam start to rise. What kind of rock was this, even? He took some of the leaves and started scrubbing himself. They were decent at taking the dirt off, but they also released a nice smell as he did. Sitting in the water once he felt clean enough, he could feel his fatigue slipping away. Who knew just how much he would miss a bath?

Eventually he decided enough time had passed, and Nirou got out. He attempted to put on his new outfit, but the robe part was a test of patience. Eventually he made it work by tying it off to the sash. He'd have to get Laska to help him later. He took the rock back to the counter, where the clerk took it and told him to come again.

"You took your time, didn't you?" Laska asked once Nirou came out of the bathhouse. She had been waiting in her new outfit, a robe-like one that went over the shoulder similar to his, but thinner and extending all the way past her knees. Whereas his was a dull green, hers was also a much nicer orange. Nirou briefly considered complimenting her, but disregarded it immediately. He figured it would just make things weird, she probably didn't even want to hear it.

The two of them threw their old clothes into the cloth sack from before, which was now empty of provisions. They hadn't yet decided if they were just going to get rid of them somehow. Laska had no issues throwing out a dirty old dress, but she'd rather get some coin for the materials. In Nirou's case, he was just a bit hesitant about losing what was technically his only physical link to his old world. All he had when he was summoned were the clothes on his back. Well, he could just decide later.

Laska led Nirou once again, this time to another inn. This one was even more fancy than the one from before. Their room had even nicer and comfier beds, and the meal they ate for dinner was exquisite. Some kind of sautéed shrimp and vegetable dish with rice. It would have been nothing too special back in his own world, but here Nirou felt like he was fine dining. Laska had clearly splurged, since she admitted that this all had cost them nearly every bit of money they had.

"It's fine, we won't need money for lodging or food from tomorrow on." the girl insists. "Just try to get as best a rest as you can. We wake before dawn tomorrow. We have exactly one chance, so no sleeping in."

Nirou wanted to complain, since this would be a much needed night of good sleep after two nights of almost none. But he knew better. He wasn't about to screw everything up now. He relented to just enjoying what sleep he could and turned in for the night.