When our turn came we came face to face with the guards that were stationed at the gate.
They were all armed to the teeth. They were holding a spear in their hand, a sword in their hip and wore a full set of metal armour except for a helmet. They were definitely not just powerless civilians that wore armour and held a spear to look intimidating, but real trained soldiers that would cut you down in an instant if you decided to do anything funny.
“The next five persons in line proceed forward to the nr1 gate entry station.”
The guards directed the next five in line to some kind of entry booth to get checked out if we were able to get into the city or not. We were seated down separately face to face with a person I presumed was supposed to check us.
Munnji was two meters to my left face to face with a person also, while the merchant was two meters to my right.
I was sat down in a wooden chair and berated with different question.
“Name?
Age
Gender
Place of birth
Reason for coming...”
After 5 minutes of questioning they asked us if were carrying any type of weapons with me and I showed him two daggers made from the tooth of an animal I hunted in the forest. Munnji did the same.
“From what you said you are a hunter in one of the remote villages of the empire and you have come here to look for a better job and possibly become a permanent resident of the city, is that right?”
“Yes that is correct.”
“But you don't have any type of identification with you?”
“Yes that is correct.”
After that question he stated writing something in a piece of paper in front of him with a big black feather pen.
“Sorry to inform you but without a proper identification you can’t enter the city. You have to first go to your village elder and have him write a letter of recommendation, stamp it with his official seal and then you may enter the city temporarily for ten days, in which during your ten days you can apply for an identification plate.”
My face became sour; I didn't take into account the bureaucracies that would ensue from our lack of identification.
It was a big problem.
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We didn't belong to any village so we couldn’t get any recommendation from the village elder and if we tried to falsify it and were found out we would most certainly be killed under the suspicion of being spies from the Eternal Light Empire.
As I was wracking my brains to find out a solution a voice came from my right.
“It’s okay, these two are with me.”
It was the merchant. He was holding in front of him a metal plate similar to the one that he gave me and handed it to the one who was registering me and then passed to the one who was registering Munnji.
As soon as the two personnel that were processing us saw the metal plate the stood up abruptly and then did a deep bow towards the merchant.
“Sorry for our rudeness.”
“We didn't recognise your eminence, please forgive us.”
They were sweating bullets while they bowed deeply not daring to see him in the eye.
“Ho, ho ,it’s not your fault. I was just trying to be under the radar for a while and try the life of common folk for some time, so can you keep this a secret?”
“Yes, certainly your eminence.”
After that, the two overseeing our registration moved quickly to complete our temporary pass and handed it over to us, before reminding us again about registering for an official identification at city hall within ten days.
....
We entered the city without any other delay thanks to the merchant.
“Thank you Mr Faley, you saved us the trouble of going back to get the necessary recommendation from our village elder.”
“No problem, I just gave a little helping hand to two acquaintances, he he.”
“Either way we owe you a favour now; don't hesitate to contact us if we can be of any assistance.”
“I won’t.”
He said with a small smile.
“I hope you two gentlemen can excuse now, as I have other business to attend to.
Hope we can meet each other again soon.”
After that, he left.
....
“That man is very suspicious; I don't like him at all.”
Said Munnji.
“You are right Munnji, that man just now is not an ordinary merchant.
The way he behaved and conducted himself was definitely not ordinary. The way he sized me up before we entered, he was definitely looking at my vital points on purpose trying to evaluate my awareness.
He also purposely didn’t ask you directly for your name but asked me instead. He was trying to measure our pulse.”
“I agree. He was also looking at the knifes when you pulled them out for inspection. There were also the two other humans that entered the city at the same time as us.
They are definitely able fighters, most possibly the hidden bodyguards of the merchant.”
“Yea, there is definitely something fishy going on. He was trying very hard to earn our trust even if he meet us five minutes ago.”
I smiled widely.
“This is becoming interesting.”
.....
“Interesting.”
Muttered the merchant as he was walking slowly with the other two strangers that entered the city at the same time as him.
“Those two before, the human and the beast folk were very interesting.
They seemed very strong, with a certain aura around them that tells me that they have danced at the edge of the blade many times and survived.”
The female to his left asked.
“Are you sure? I didn't sense any elemental energy emitting from them looking only like some decent hunters.”
The merchant didn't answer, but only smiled.
“There may have not been any elemental energy emitting from their bodies, but that doesn’t mean that they don't have any cultivation at all. During my time in the military I have encountered opponents that were able to hide their cultivation intentionally in order to make us underestimate them and then attack us when we let our guard down”
The answer came from a rough male that was on the merchant’s right.
“You are right, they are definitely not regular hunters, but I’m not sure how strong they really are.”
The female spoke again.
“Shall I put a tail to follow them?”
“No.We are trying to gain their trust so they can help us in the turmoil that is coming soon. Putting a tail on them is just wasting my efforts until now.”