They walked throughout the day to only stop when the sun began going down the horizon. They took refuge on the side of the road in an area devoid of trees. They decided to camp here. Shen was putting up the tent while Atem invoked a fire through magic and Tempest went hunting for the meal.
As for the young priestess, she did nothing as she did not know what to do. She was quite flustered until Atem had her come with him to discuss magic.
Soon, they were joined by Shen who finished his task. The girl's tent was up. The trio had none and were going to sleep under the stars. As usual. After having been sealed, being outside even while asleep felt like a privilege.
Atem: ...So, you are already able to use some healing spells, miss Adeline?
Adeline: Ah, um, yes. I can use Minor Healing and Healing Pulse. I am still training.
Atem: That is already fantastic for your age, miss Adeline. I hope to witness such magic soon.
Adeline: Eh?!
Shen: Atem, to use healing magic, you need someone to be hurt you know.
Atem: Oh, right, my apologies. I guess it will be tough to witness it then.
They both laughed at that while the young girl remained clueless. They kept chatting until Tempest came back with a boar. He gave it to Shen to roast. Meanwhile, he talked to Atem:
Tempest: So, will she be useful?
Atem: Yes. As Master predicted, she doesn't shy from sharing all her knowledge. Her very sweet and naive young woman. We should be able to get what we want.
Tempest nodded and went to sit near the fire. They had their dinner and went to sleep to wake up early morning the next day.They restarted their journey.
They reached the next city, Parvallum, before night.
Meanwhile, in Raspburry
Guard ???: Sir Bryan! Sir Bryan! An emergency!
Guard Bryan: What is it?
Guard ???: They're all dead! Dead! Horribly slaughtered!
Guard Bryan: Wait, calm down, who died?
Guard ???: Those thugs from the establishment! They were slaughtered!
Guard Bryan: What?! Who did this?! Even thugs don't deserve to be murdered!
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Guard ???: The only ones who left yesterday as well were the strange trio with the lady priest, Sir.
Guard Bryan: ... Oh. Go bury their bodies. Not a word of this again. Dismissed.
Guard ???: Eh? Sir?
Adeline: So this is Parvallum! What an impressive wall!
The wall surrounding the city was particularly tall and made of stones but the very distinctive trait of it were the metal spikes protruding randomly from everywhere in the walls. It is difficult to believe that walls would be built with such a contraption as it enabled people to climb it with a bit of agility.
Atem: This design is very peculiar.
Shen: Yeah. It was probably not intended to wall against humans.Do you know something about this Adeline?
Adeline: Ah, yes! In fact, the wall was first built to resist against monsters during the old days of insecurities. Nowadays, it is more of an iconic and historical sight.
Shen: Hm? Why?
Adeline: Because there are no longer monsters outside of dungeons since the legendary heroes exterminated them all and banished the demon emperors.
Tempest: Oh? They are called legendary heroes now? Interesting.
Atem: Are they still around?
Adeline: Eheh, of course not, that's too silly! They lived hundreds of years ago!
Shen: ...Time passed and an era went by. That aside, this is a sight to behold. A reminder of our past.
Adeline: Yes! I find this sight very powerful. It reminds people of the hardships of the past and the bravery of our ancestors.
Tempest: Bravery eh?
The wolfman spit to the side before walking ahead towards the head. The other two sighed and followed him and the priestess who understood nothing went after them.
Guard ???: Identification papers!
Shen: Here you go.
Adeline: Ah, here is mine, Sir.
Guard ???: ... ... All good, welcome to Parvallum! Enjoy your stay!
Adeline: Thank you, Sir!
Once inside, they marvelled at the simple style of the houses compared to the wall. The houses were your average stone houses you could find in any other city or village. A straight distinction from the giant wall surrounding the city.
Adeline: So, should we go to reserve an inn for the night?
The trio looked at each other. Shen coughed and walked towards the girl before giving her two things.
Shen: This pouch should have enough money to cover any expenses you could have for the next two days and more and in this one, there is a stone. Infuse magic into it to send us a signal of distress and we will be there in seconds.
Adeline: W-What?
Atem: We need to go meet a few acquaintances of ours first, miss Adeline, if that is alright with you. We should be able to restart our journey two days later.
Adeline: Is-Is that so?
Tempest: Yeah, just enjoy yourself for two days.
Shen: Feel free to use up all the money. Consider it as a material apology for delaying the journey.
Adeline: Uh, alright, I guess?
Shen: Let us meet in the morning in two days at the opposite entrance.
After that, they left the little girl and went straight towards the red district. On the way, the wolf couldn't help but say:
Tempest: I swear one more day and i might have jumped her.
To which the other nodded with a sigh. Once they reached the establishment, they did the same as in the previous town and reserved everything for two days of intense work-out.
Adeline was left alone once again. She was used to it by now. Whatever people she traveled with, she always ended up being left alone after they reached a village. As if she was sick and they feared getting sick too, they ran from her as soon as they could.
Adeline: Dear God, is there something wrong with me? Why do people hurry to distance themselves from me?
Of course, she never received an answer. She sighed and walked towards the shopping district as she opened the pouch.
Adeline: Well, it seems like they do intend to continue travelling with me at least. No one would give this much just to wait for them otherwise.
There were ten silver coins in that pouch. More than a family of farmers earned in a year. And they gave it to her solely to have her wait two days.