‘Follow the main street till you see the last branching road before the City Wall. It’s rather old and has weeds growing out of the cracks in the stones. Old Thai isn’t one for the noisy city. Turn off that street and at its end, you’ll find the workshop you’re looking for,’ Alaric recited the instructions in his mind as he kept walking, cringing every time he had to remind himself of the reason Old Thai set up shop this far out. He kept his eyes forward and his hood up. The City Wall was still far so there was some walking to do.

To help him with his search, Sariah had asked around the Guild for him and gotten him directions. As expected, Guild Master Schiller wasn’t interested in talking to him any more than he had to.

Fortunately for Alaric, he wasn’t in the mood to prove himself to the man. He did hope, however, that the bias the man had suddenly developed towards him wouldn’t affect what quests he could and could not take.

“Alistair?” a voice interrupted the boy’s train of thought.

Alaric turned towards the source and saw a red-haired woman holding a bag of groceries. It was Scarlett.

She looked out of place in ordinary clothes and a grocery bag and yet, she looked more beautiful that way.

Her hair was let loose and fell halfway down her back while her flame-coloured eyes made it even harder to ignore her stare.

His eyes beamed, “Scarlett! How are you doing?”

“I’m good. Where to?” she asked.

“Oh… I’m looking for an alchemist called Thai. You?” he returned.

“Going home… Want me to walk you to Thai’s shop?” the woman asked.

“You know where it is?” he beamed, discarding all instructions he’d been given earlier.

The woman chuckled, “Yes, I know where it is. Follow me.” With that, the pair started walking together.

The town of Melbourne was more populated than the Five Hills but not enough to overwhelm Alaric. There was a lot he liked staring at though. The norms here were different from the norms in the Five Hills so naturally, he was curious to know how everything worked.

Unlike the Five Hills which survived on some light hunting, forestry, farming and Aether Crystal—the last of which had only become a source of income recently—Melbourne thrived on trade.

Seriously, Alaric was surprised at how many things he could buy in the city of Melbourne. He understood nothing of how its location made it so conducive for trade but he was enjoying the scope of things he could buy.

“Out of my way, woman,” a gruff voice from a distance away caught Alaric and Scarlet’s attention.

A group of men in dressed in full armour and vermillion capes was standing before a woman who’d dropped her groceries.

Panic was written all over her face as she tried to pick up her spilt items. The men, however, weren’t bothered in the slightest. They pushed her to the side and stepped all over whichever groceries were in their way—some even going out of their way to squash what wasn’t even remotely close to them—and continued on their way.

“You think she’ll be able to buy more of those?” one of the men asked with an amused expression.

“Oh no… Didn’t you see how rotten those things were? She’s a peasant. She probably borrowed someone else’s money just to buy those and now she’s likely to starve just because the Emperor’s Men stepped all over her food,” another laughed out loud.

“It’s sad. She’ll blame us for her poverty and laziness,” another sighed, “Must be hard being poor.”

“That’s harsh, Yusa. What did she ever do to you?” another laughed at his comrade for the harsh comment.

‘They’re aware of what they’re doing?’ Alaric wondered.

[ Of course they are ] Alia replied with a shrug.

“Hey, woman! Be grateful. You spoke to one of the Emperor’s soldiers today. Not many manage to keep their heads after accomplishing such a feat,” the gruff one that Alaric had heard at first spoke up, rousing snickers from his comrades.

Alaric watched the scene with a frozen expression. He hadn’t witnessed much cruelty in his life so this was new to him. He’d heard of it… but to hear and to see were two different things.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Looking around, he noticed how everyone minded their own business as the men continued on their way, laughing amongst themselves while giving the people around them death glares.

As the soldiers came by Alaric and Scarlett, the pair stood to the side to let them pass. Alaric was still looking back at the woman struggling to salvage the situation of her ruined groceries, doing his best not to look at the soldiers.

Much to his dismay, they came to a stop right next to him and Scarlett. The man with a gruff voice was large with a red beard and light scars all over his face. He dressed in rather intimidating plated armour—much like his comrades— but his was fitted to accommodate his rotund body, going soft his rounded belly. It seemed his strength was more in his arms than the rest of his body but Alaric wasn’t judging.

“Hey… boy, lose the hood and look me in the eye,” the man commanded.

Alaric noticed evil smirks coming from his comrades as he spoke and wondered if there was anything wrong with staring into the big man’s eyes, “I’d rather not.”

There was silence for a moment before the man spoke up again. This time, his voice was laced with a deadly tone, “We’re here on official business, lad. We’re looking for a boy… a hero, really. He’s powerful, too. The kind of person that makes your skin go cold just by walking past him.

Someone at the Tower of Seekers said he was living here… in Melbourne. Now, I might not be the best in the law but your refusal to look into my eyes can be interpreted as an obstruction of the Emperor’s Soldiers’ work. I can think of three offences to write up from that while I haul you off to the dungeons.”

Alaric furrowed his eyebrows, “Curious, isn’t it? That you need me to look you in the eye.”

“Do what I say, boy and no harm will come to you or your lady friend,” the man growled, probably angry now that Alaric hadn’t yet reacted to his allegations.

Alaric knew for a fact that no one in the Tower of Seekers would reveal his location—partly because he believed in the Tower’s ability to withhold information and also because no one knew of his whereabouts but Garin.

This man was bluffing.

Alaric reached for his grey hood and let it fall from his face, then turned to face the man. The moment they locked eyes, however, he could tell there was magic at play here. Strange waves invaded his eyes and went straight for his brain.

‘By the power of Delphi, the Constellation of Revelations, I cast: Obscure,’ Alaric’s mind muttered a spell in the Old Tongue.

Casting a spell with one’s mind was a lot harder than saying it out loud. Each thought needed to be clear and laced with the will of the caster.

Alaric resisted to urge to grit his teeth and grunt as aether started burning to fuel the spell he’d just cast. Fortunately for him, this specific spell was also capable of hiding signs of its casting.

[ Nicely done! You almost got each intonation of the Old Tongue right ] Alia nodded with pride.

Alaric, however, was doing his best to keep the strain from showing. The spell was eating up more aether than he’d assumed. Was this all a result of his shoddy pronunciations of the Ancient Tongue or was it a result of him using his mind to cast a spell? Whatever it was, it was insane.

He felt like he could hurl any moment but outwardly, he looked perfectly composed. If anything, he looked just about ready to punch this man right in the beard and make him pay every last silver he’d cost the woman whose groceries they’d ruined.

Alas, he would not do this. It simply wasn’t worth it to get on the bad side of the Emperor’s Soldiers. He tilted his head and furrowed his eyebrows, “Are you done? Your presence scares the locals.”

The man furrowed his eyebrows for a bit before replying, “They should be scared. We’re here to protect them from a potential criminal.”

Alaric sighed but kept his thoughts to himself, “The same boy you called a hero?”

“Yes… the very one. What hero hides their face? You find this boy, you tell us. He should be a head shorter than you and just shy of sixteen years old,” the man explained with a serious expression.

Alaric wanted to deny this man’s words so badly. To tell him he wasn’t interested in helping with this manhunt. After all, from their description, it almost sounded like they were looking for him. But he wouldn’t do this, now would he?

He sighed, “I’ll keep my eyes peeled.”

The man nodded, satisfied with Alaric’s response before he walked away. The other soldiers continued eyeing the boy with suspicion. Only when they were a good distance away did the girl beside him chuckle, “Your Temper Rank makes you an attraction. You should consider concealing it.”

The thought struck Arthur like a mallet strikes a nail, right on the head. “That’s possible?”

“Oh yeah… Just ask your guardian. They should be able to help. Shall we go find Thai?” Scarlett asked.

“A minute, please,” Alaric responded with a slight bow, then rushed over to the woman who was gathering her groceries or whatever was left of them.

By now, she was all done, with only one tomato left on the ground which Alaric picked. Clandestinely, he slipped four silver coins under the vegetable as he handed it over to the woman, “Here.”

The woman stared at him and received the vegetable solemnly, only to feel the cold touch of silver. Before she could react, however, Alaric said, “You can pay me back with information. I’m looking for an alchemist called Thai. But really, I’m looking for an alchemist I can trust. I don’t think I can get that kind of thing from Thai, though.”

The woman looked up, a smile bringing a network of wrinkles onto her face, “You’re a bright young man, aren’t you?”

“I try,” Alaric returned her smile with a bright one of his own.

“How old are you, lad?”

“Too young to say.”

“Then you’ll be interested in Thai’s apprentice, Troy. He’s a good lad… but lately, I’ve heard he’s looking into giving up the practice. I’m not sure about trust but he’s young… and it’s easier to earn the trust of a young man than that of old crows like us,” the woman explained.

“Thank you very much… I owe you one. " He let go of the vegetable, bid her farewell, and returned to Scarlett. “We can go now.”

Scarlett didn’t ask much as they left, noting the boy’s behaviour and leaving it at that.

As the woman stared at the coins in her hand—an amount far higher than what she’d used to buy her groceries—, she came to realise something.

Information was valuable but only a few knew of its true value. And this boy had just bought himself so much time through a small conversation.

‘Skills like that would make a great Seeker.’