Akilla

"Ouch" Akilla woke up when the train he was riding had stopped the cart belonged to the merchant who had delivered his goods to the Naraka Zamrud and instead of returning empty they preferred to take along and the wira’s who were too tired to walk back to the city from the frontire village.

"Huft, fortunately, we don't have to go home on foot, right?" Tiamasa who was sitting leaning back on the cart said.

"Yes, but they still have time to ask for our fees, tsk our salary is getting less and less," they asked for the right fees of course but Jora didn't seem to mind and even managed to give them a suitable price.

"Well called merchants for some reasons," Tiamasa pointed the kirba at Akilla's face, "profit is number one," Akilla got up and drank the water he gave.

Akilla looked to the side where Guemwyn was still fast asleep with Tiamasa offering his thighs as a cushion so that their unconscious friend could sleep more comfortably, it was proven that this child was sleeping, even a few rock bumps made the cart vibrate again but he still snored happily without getting up.

"You spoil her too much, is it because you just found out that she's a girl?" Akilla said in a hoarse voice.

"It's been a tiring day, after all, I think he deserves to rest after saving us earlier." Tiamasa who was semi-conscious replied, "Besides if you want you can also sleep on my thigh if you want," he continued while patting his empty left thigh.

"No thanks, I'm comfortable leaning my head on this hardwood cart," he answered sarcastically.

He and Tiamasa went back to silence both not knowing what topic to talk about. Akilla's mind itself drifted trying to make a logic about what happened in the Naraka Zamrud.

“That's true, but I didn't think that this noisy girl would be a ghuast 'tamer'.” Tiamasa try to prolonged conversation.

"Ah yes, now I remember that term" Akilla remembered reading about it in her family's private library.

"From what I heard as people living around the empire have heard of that where the people in the northern region especially the green hair have the blood of the green dwarf-like human who used to be worshiped there" Tiamasa raved at length.

“They ask for things from health to wealth to strange powers like controlling beasts.” Akilla listened to her friend's explanation carefully then answered.

“A person with such talent is extremely rare in the empire's territory,”

"It's possible that Guemwyn accidentally found a ghuast egg which he thought was a stone in the forest and tied it up as a club because he thought it looked good," Akilla glanced at the mace right next to Guemwyn, "but the egg hatched and now the ghuast is listening to his orders."

“Huh what a lucky girl,” Tiamasa said as he brushed the dry mud from Guemwyn's hair.

"Lucky? I think it's more like fate." Akilla said and just at that moment, his eyes caught the shadow of the city walls of Taraw.

"Looks like we've arrived," Tiamasa said and for some reason Akilla felt a sad tone in the sentence he said.

The wagons walked to the front of the Gilda Wira court and they got off the carts one by one the conditions became more and more crowded when a group of people dressed in simple but clean looks came.

"Who are they?" Guemwyn said while rubbing his eyes.

“The clergy of the temple, including their medics.” Soon they were dealing with the injured wiras starting from the worst to the lightly injured.

Those who were seriously injured until their hands were missing received the most intensive care, he saw when the healer tried to cover the wound with papyrus ash also to remove the infection with a moldy bread covering it tightly with also spooky a little alcohol on the wound.

Akilla was not seriously injured so the healer just burned the papyrus and sprinkled the ashes on the wound to stop the bleeding.

"Okay, next" the healer said after covering the wound with a clean cloth.

From afar Akilla saw the head of the hero guild talking to Jora, right behind them was the ghuast's corpse. He noticed that the leader's face was a little angry while his hands were pointing at the burnt part of the ghuast, but after listening to Jora's words he sighed and smiled, satisfied with getting his prey.

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-EoG-

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After entering the Wira Buana Guild, everyone gathered in the hall which looked more spacious, Akilla realized that all the ornaments that were previously there had been placed on the edge of the room and covered by cloth.

On the balcony of the second floor, Gila Wira's head and other senior officials gathered to give speeches thanking the new kids for the hard work and other boring things.

“Sigh… we're going to hear another long boring speech right?” complained Guemwyn when they were all again ordered to line up in the hall”.

Some people were still a little surprised when they heard that Guemwyn was a woman and wondered what Gilda Wira would do to accept her citizenship application or not.

Some accused her of falsifying his biographical records. But the woman who recorded Guemwyn's biodata said that there was no gender column there. Then he winked at Guemwyn from afar and was greeted with a thumbs up by him.

“—after all do you realize how lucky we are to have a ghuast tamer?” A person who Akilla knows is a Lugal said, "Whether it's a boy or a girl of course it's a good thing to have someone like that as a wira".

Akilla snorted he realized that people's support was a good thing but he could see the greed in the landlord's eyes, the stronger the wiras guild then the more land the emperor would claim.

"Indirectly the land is under his supervision," Akilla said his head to Tiamasa and Guemwyn.

"Wait, how can you hear them." Tiamasa looked surprised.

"They're on the second floor," Guemwyn chimed in.

"Oh, that... I'm just guessing, huh-" Akilla answered simply and continued to eavesdrop on the conversation above.

The chief cleric refuted the opinion of the local lugal, "A charmer ie a human who has an attachment to ghuast is a very rare person," stating his reasoning, "but he would be too dangerous to be released into society."

"Ah, so thats the problem?" The guild head raised his voice, "Oi Jor- I mean Mr. Jora the number one hero please come here."

Akilla could see the veins of annoyance in her head as Jora crossed the line of wiras and climbed the stairs to the top. The two of them spoke and the new wiras and staff from the temple both stared in wonder as the number one hero discussed with the hero guild head.

Their discussion involved a bit of argumentation and shouting at each other before Jora nodded in agreement after the guild head whispered something to him. Akilla felt that collusion was happening right in front of her eyes. Only the staff of the hero guild said to be aware of their leader's actions.

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"Uhum-so putting Guemwyn's gender aside, he will also be accepted as one of the wiras, as part of our family," the fat guild head said, "and get the citizenship he needs of course."

He also came down from the pulpit and asked the priest to speak.

"Bring in the regalia." He ordered and from the door of the adjoining room came another clergyman walking upright carrying a box covered in a luxurious purple cloth.

He placed it on the table in the middle of the room just in the light of the twilight sun that passed through the window. Then the cloth was lifted which turned out to be a purple robe symbolizing the Maghary sun.

The box underneath was visible and it was the most beautiful box Akilla had ever seen. Finely carved and plated with gold and gems, even the jewels in his former residence could hardly match the brilliance of those gems.

"In this city, there is a piece of sacred cloth given to him by the emperor," and he pointed to the robe still neatly folded in his subordinate's hand, "and that robe is the cloth that always covers the statue of the goddess in our temple."

"Please one by one the wiras to touch the top of this box", the cleric pointed at the red gem as the center of the engraving of the shimmering golden sun.

To shorten the time, ten wiras circled the box and the jewel was now covered by their respective right hands. Then they followed what the clerics said, vowing to live on sunlit earth.

"I swear I will always obey the emperor for the sake of achieving a prosperous country that is illuminated by the sun, this land I will protect from all evil creatures that creep on it"

Akilla also followed all the words of the priest he swore on his behalf he would obey all the orders of the Emperor and cursed his soul if he failed to do so with his right hand holding a washing torch and his left hand holding a box containing a relief from the Emperor.

“I Guemwyn swear allegiance to the Maghary Emperor! Whatever I will do is to help the Emperor bring prosperity and justice to the lives of his people,-”

“-if I fail or violate then I will be cursed with the plague until my whole body will be devoured by the embers of the fire! I swear by the sunlight that illuminates the earth! I swear by bronze and fire!”

Turns out when Guemwyn finished saying the bold oath immediately cheered the other wiras. Guemwyn's name was now well-known in the city, where gossip about a girl who could control fire was widespread.

He looked at Guemwyn who returned to the line with confident steps, he would look dashing if his clothes and hair weren't dirty with dry mud.

Then when Tiamasa's name was called he stepped forward but stopped in the middle of the road, "I still feel unworthy that I am still too weak to be a hero."

“B-but why?” Guemwyn asked.

"Because I don't have the talent to fight as fast as Akilla or a magic wand like you Guem, you saw it, that I almost died this afternoon."

"So what are you going to do?" Akilla voiced his inner tought.

“I will train, in a few years I will come back as an even better Tiamasa.”

“Then be careful, when you return you will probably be working as my subordinate,” Guemwyn said arrogantly.

"Haha maybe you're not wrong, you should use that talent for good, huh!" He hugged his two friends slowly, 'It's rare for anyone to hug me' Akilla felt strange in her heart especially when she felt her shoulders wet when Guemwyn shed a few tears.

Tiamasa was not alone, when he turned around through the exit, many people couldn't have the heart to follow him out of the room.

In between taking the oath of allegiance to the Emperor, the clergy listened and wrote the names of the new wiras as citizens of the empire and thus were allowed to live in the empire's territory and obtained immunity from slavery.

Also advantages such as the right to own land and the right to have their children also be recognized as citizens of the Maghary Empire.

"Alright everyone, now its party time!" The scream was met with a similar roar of screams.

Then the party started livelily, some grilled chicken served with a shiny brown surface covered with delicious soy sauce. The pottery vessel spilled its contents into a bamboo glass, and an alcoholic liquid gushed out.

"Hey, this wine has been diluted with water huh?" someone protested, for some reason Akilla was sure that their boss had spoken. they drink it is a wine that has been diluted with water so that they don't get too drunk and also double the level Now they are having a party.

Akilla can see if Guemwyn is still little sad about their friend's absence there and he still upset about fee which Akilla thinks is a bit too low for their adventure which is too dangerous, they are still grateful and enjoy the party.

But Akilla was too busy stuffing her mouth with honey spread bread. Pieces of fresh fruit flanked by bread sprinkled with sesame now enter the esophagus quickly, slightly choking he immediately took a sip of the glass and felt the water sweet due to the raisins soaked in it.

“Um- Kila why we-yum don't drink wine-nyam,” Guemwyn said with his mouth full of bread. Before Akilla could answer, Guemwyn again scooped out some of the chicken and placed it between the slices of bread, dipped it in the spiced oil, and tucked it into his now slightly puffy cheeks.

"You've never heard of a ban on underage drinking?" “Eh, we have that rule-gulp.” Guemwyn choked.

"Sigh... you are now a citizen of this country," Akilla handed a glass of water to her friend, "at least study the existing norms and laws." He continued to speak while watching Guemwyn gulping down the water greedly.

“Hah… thanks you, but I still wish Tiamasa was here and shared this delicious meal with us,” Guemwyn said sadly and looked at the grilled chicken thigh he took from Akilla's plate.

“He's grown up man, have rights to choose his own path,” Akilla replied by stealing the chicken thigh from Guemwyn, “and if he were here too you would have taken his share as you did to me. “Hey, cmon share it! We're friends right?"

“What kind of friend steals his friend's rations huh!” And they fought. They kept partying all night long until some of the people sleeping on the table were drunk, but Akilla's resistance to poison kept him awake and upright.

Akilla glanced at her money bag to make sure it was still in its original place. He saw the salary he just got this afternoon, the sound of the clatter of gold coins in his money bag joined the sound of the drums being played.

He felt the coin and Akilla was sure that the copper content in it was more than gold. 'Looks enough for everyday life,' Akilla smiled with satisfaction, she could have stayed at a hotel but realized she also had to walk to the city for a few hours then decided to stand up.

"Because it's late, we're going home first!" He said goodbye to the hero there as he shouldered the sleeping Guemwyn, realizing that the girl was a bit prone to being left surrounded by a group of men who had alcohol in their veins.

'Wait, why am I starting to care about this girl?' He shook his head trying to get rid of that thought but as soon as he was greeted by the night sky outside the hero guild he spoke.

"Wait, where am I going?"

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-EoG-

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"So you don't have a place to stay then?" Jora asked with the smell of alcohol wafting from her mouth.

"That's right, so could you please find us a cheap hotel?" Akilla said.

"Pff-Ha, he said the hotel..." Jora who was half drunk laughed dryly, "Ha-ha-ha you guys just hold a little money and want to live well right?" He stopped laughing and then looked at him while still shaking his head.

"We have enough money if it's just for a night's stay!" Akilla sulked while handing him the money bag that had just been filled by his first salary as a wira.

"That's right, 'only' is enough to stay a few nights," Jora said seriously, "But are you sure when you will get your next job? Isn't that right?"

'Ugh... this moss head has a point' Akilla cursed in her heart but nodded in understanding.

“Hoam… boss! Can't we just sleep here?" The semi-conscious Guemwyn started to sweep the front surface of the hero guild with his hands then blew off the dust on the floor before laying his head there.

"Gilda Wira building is do not have bed for homelessman like that you know" Jora immediately pulled her up, Guemwyn just leaned on Jora's shoulder and fell back asleep.

"Oy, are you that sleepy?" Jora protested against her drooling shoulder then he handed Guemwyn to be carried by Akilla.

"Okay, come with me," Jora stood up while taking the wine bottle from the person sleeping beside her, "let me find a suitable rental house for new kids like you."

Jora lazily said that she knew a cheap boarding house and they walked still around the outskirts of town. Guemwyn walked with his eyes half-closed while Akilla kept an eye out for pickpockets who dared to pass by around them, the more alert he was as they walked around the rather shabby part of town.

"And here he is!"

The two-story building looked rather gloomy when only the moonlight shone on it. Brick walls exist on several sides but are dominated by wood. A simple house, even Akilla saw that the front door was slightly porous from the rain.

"The brick isn't even up to Maghary's imperial brick standards," he said as his fingers brushed against the surface of the wall.

“How did you know that!” Shouted Jora.

They entered and when the candle in the corner of the house was lit, the window and carved plants could be seen that would allow light to enter during the day. Passing a curtain of cloth they inspected the bedroom and the kitchen, which had a fire stove in good working order.

"The bathroom is outside the house, equipped with a well and a latrine," Akilla listened to her boss' explanation. 'Good enough for a temporary residence'.

Although Akilla was a little doubtful that the palm leaf roof would be able to withstand the heavy rain, she had no other choice but to rent it, 'it's still dry season anyway', he thought.

"Ok, okay I'll take this place," He reached into the money bag around his waist, then handed the coin into Jora's hand, "Guem... where's your share?"

When they looked into the bedroom they found Guemwyn sleeping on a bed on a bamboo mat which was the only one in the room. Akilla just nodded in understanding before he returned to take the coin. "I'll collect him in the morning"

"Okay, see you tomorrow morning new kid," Jora said goodbye to them. Akilla just waved while Guemwyn answered with loud snoring.

Akilla's hand now spreads a bamboo mat on the floor after shaking it many times, now he sleeps on her and says.

"Good evening Guemwyn." Before falling asleep in a dream

"Good evening Akila." Her answered so quietly