"Tch. Children, do you bring monster hordes to other towns you visit?"
Numerous guards approached us warily. They're not exactly hostile but their weapons aren't sheathed either. They did see us slaughter an entire spider swarm. What a pain in the ass. It's late at night and I want to clean this crap off me.
"We're sorry! We had no choice but to come here for help..."
"Do you have any idea how much ammunition you made us waste?"
"We're very sorry!"
"Who are you two? What are you doing here?"
Sophie looks at me and I raise my hands and sigh exasperatedly. 'Say what you want. I don't have any Willpower left to speak', I was effectively telling her.
"T-this is Claud and I'm Sophie. We are going on a trip around the continent."
"I assume something happened to the train; it's been late for a few weeks."
"The train derailed near Eindall."
"How very convenient. Two child soldiers travelling together on a holiday to the enemy's side of the continent at the same time the train derails... What's with the surprised look? Did you think since you weren't donning your uniform, I wouldn't be able to tell?"
"That's... We aren't here to cause trouble, Mr..."
Don't look at me. I have no idea what to say either.
"... Call a priest to use Lie Detect on them. Tell them to bring a status orb too."
Good decision by the head honcho. If they attacked, I guarantee none of these guards here would've made it out alive. All my stats except Vitality have crossed the 40-point mark.
----------------------------------------
[Name: Sophie Auguste
Age: 13
Title: None
Personality: Justice, Kind
Class: Priest
Stats
Strength: 22 +1
Vitality: 16.5
Dexterity: 22
Intelligence: 30 +1
Luck: 35
Karma: 800
Willpower: 6/22]
[Name: Claud Branford
Age: 13
Title: Little Tyrant of Branford
Personality: Foul mouthed (Legendary), Empathy, Entitled, Calculative, Selfish, Sadistic (Super Rare)
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Class: Inquisitor
Stats: (Hidden)
Karma: -2231
Willpower: 1/44]
I hid my stats; I don't want Sophie to see them. Having them be exactly double of hers is super suspicious.
"Girl, you can enter. As for the boy, you stay put."
"Why?! Claud hasn't done anything wrong!"
"To have this much negative karma and multiple evil personality traits is abnormal. It's not too different from a criminal's status. A legendary trait. Hmph. Never thought I'd see one. Let alone one for being foul-mouthed. How did you live your life up to this point?"
Mouthing off when you don't know a thing, this old man...
----------------------------------------
'I can't help talking like this'.
'I've been speaking like this my whole life, so it just comes out naturally.'
'Everyone talks like this, why can't I?'
Shitty excuses. Nobody wants to hang out with people who only curse, acting the role of hooligans. I hate these kinds of people, the older boys in the orphanage always behave in this manner. This is why they can't get adopted.
Expecting others to accept your horrible behavior because you 'didn't mean it'. Only dumbasses do that. If you have horrible thoughts, at least exert the minimum amount of effort to keep them on the inside. It demonstrates to others that you don't care about their feelings. Why would you purposely ruin your social image? There are consequences for anything and everything.
The idiots would always respond in this way.
'Why would I care about how others look at me?'
Idiots. The only reason you're being protected right now is because of how people look at you. Your status as a minor. Once you're an adult, people won't have any reason to help you.
'Did you not have anybody to educate you?'
Keith and the rest could have been adopted if these idiots didn't give a first bad impression to the visitors...
----------------------------------------
"Father Longfield, do it."
The orb glowed a brilliant white.
"Do you intend to cause any harm to the people or the city?"
"... Why would I go out of my way to step on you insects? It'd only dirty my shoes."
Why would I hurt anyone? It wouldn't benefit me.
"I sense no falsehood in his words."
"By the way, do you know when the train be repaired? The town's suffering from a lack of supplies. The guild's been overworked by requests."
"The train is going to be halted for a few years at least. A Blostmfell took root near when the train derailed..."
"A Blostmfell?! Damn. What has happened to the world recently... The sky's blackened even during the day. The end of times must be upon us. Alright, both of you may pass. And watch your tongue, boy. Other guards might not be as understanding."
His words made me seethe. Every single day, I've been careful with my wording. I don't need reminders from a random. Irritating...
Finally, we've passed through the gates.
Karreira, fortress town. Everything here is overwhelmingly tall... Pictures don't do it justice. The train station here is fortified extremely well with numerous guard towers and walls dividing the city into sectors. Is it because it lies on the border? Monsters here are a little more dangerous but mindless, whereas humanoid monsters like goblins and ogres lived in the East.
Everywhere we went was quiet. The doors were locked, and windows shut. This is odd. I expected some level of activity, even at night.
They made this fortress town a maze in case of war, attackers wouldn't be able to easily navigate it.
Warehouses, closed shops, alleys, walls and locked residential areas.
The streets are lit by lamps but there's no one up and about. Odd.
"Claud... I can't find an inn."
There are no landmarks we can use because everything towered into the sky. Where are we?
"Over there! Hey wait! Can we ask you for directions?"
A person walked down a flight of stairs ignoring Sophie.
We followed after them only to be met with... a brick wall? The stairs went down to nothing. Is it magic? A contraption?
"Claud... is this that?"
What? A magic device I don't know about. A teleportation circle?
"You know..."
I don't know. Speak clearly.
"A... ghost..."
Oh. That's what she meant.
Oh no.
Why did you say the g word, Sophie?
I finally got rid of that irrational fear many years ago through rigorous conditioning...
However, being recently reincarnated, naturally I believe in the afterlife and God to a degree. Gods must exist in some capacity, to have these unexplainable events occurring. That's why it's perfectly fine to be quaking in your boots right now, Sophie... Any reasonable person, including me, could be led to the logical conclusion that ghosts can exist as well.
"C-Claud..."
With the light from the streetlamps shining, obscuring its facial features, a hooded figure stood at the top of the stairs facing us. The wind blew lifting its robe off the ground slightly. Stood was the wrong word, it didn't have feet.
Sophie and I gripped onto each other instinctively.