The flute rotated in the air, blocking a part of the sun’s image, then fell with a splash inside the river. It bobbed a couple of times then sank.

Richard could hear the rising air bubbles. But he didn’t have much hope.

After all, this was already the tenth time he tried to dispose of this flute. He hated it to the core. He leaned back and closed his eyes, wishing this time it will work.

After one minute had passed, he peaked, and there, next to him and all dried up, was the flute.

He let out a long sigh, then stored the flute inside his trousers’ pockets.

He stood up and began exploring his surroundings. He had slept for longer than he anticipated. He had to find a way back to the Holy City. He also wondered about the outcome of the war.

He strolled without direction, climbing up the valley and passing through a forest. It was unexpectedly an easy journey deprived of any troubles, though he still was cautious as he was defenceless, without any weapons and armour.

After walking for a while, he saw a faraway construct over the horizon, which looked like a human settlement.

His eyes gleamed and hurried his pace, now running. He ran for hours, on a seemingly never-ending journey. This took longer than he originally estimated, but it didn’t matter anymore.

He was now standing before the town’s only entrance.

The town’s architecture was different than anything else he saw in his life. Surrounding it, was a large circular metallic wall; well not exactly circular, rather a many-sided polygon. On each flat face, there was the sculpture of a face; depicting all kinds of people of different ages and appearances.

Richard walked towards the entrance, which was undefended without a gate, which made him wonder about the purpose of those walls in the first place.

At the entrance, two men stood there guarding it, though it was evident they weren’t taking their jobs too seriously, obviously slacking around. The young man was cleaning his bow and refining his arrows, while the old man was having a nice nap.

Richard decided to approach the young man.

The old man picked up his presence though, he opened his right eye for a quick inspection, then continued sleeping.

“Hi there. I’m Richard, a Paladin from the Holy Order, Diamond Wing branch, under direct command of his holiness Emperor Tyr II.”

The young man stared for a moment, then continued his job, clearly uninterested.

“Ar yer? As you can see my friend, I’m a tad busy. So how about you screw off and go annoy someone else? Hearing random gibberish is the last thing I wanna do right now.”

Richard blinked his eyes. He was about to reply, but he paused to think. Something about this place seemed off.

Then he felt danger.

He quickly jumped, barely dodging a golden arrow that descended from the sky with unbelievable speed. If it wasn’t for his fast reflexes and training he had experienced in his life, his head would be no different than a crushed watermelon.

Someone fell from the sky, hitting the ground with a bang.

She was a woman. She looked young, maybe 17 or 18, with long copper hair leaning to her right-hand side and over her shoulder. She wore a leather armour, had two bows attached on her back and a pocket full of arrows.

Richard stared at her. He figured she had jumped down from the metal wall, yet at the same time wondering how it was possible for a human to survive such a fall, and even more remain unscathed.

While lost pondering, the woman charged ahead and grabbed him by his neck. Richard had tried to dodge, but her speed was just ridiculous. Was this woman even human?

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

She stared at him, inspecting him close up, violating his personal space.

Richard felt awkward. He had his share of experiences with women in the past and surely he wasn’t the shy type. But definitely, it wasn’t normal to have a woman who had just tried to kill him to keep staring in his face, almost touching his nose.

“Interesting guy you are. You dodged my attack without using any magic… fabulous reflexes as well…”

She let him go, and Richard instantly retreated a few steps.

“Magic? Who are you? And why did you just try to kill me?!” Richard yelled.

She giggled. “I’m Eleonora, an archer and apprentice guardian of these walls.”

“Follow me inside hun. I will explain everything over a glass of booze.”

She turned around and began walking inside the town, slowly wiggling her ass as if she liked being the centre of attention.

Richard was undecided. This bitch had just tried to kill him. He would be a dead man if he was just any other ordinary man. He definitely didn’t trust her.

“Oh by the way, mind bringing me back that arrow for me? It’s one of my favourites.”

Richard felt disgusted. He knew she was doing this on purpose. He was aware that she knew that he was at her mercy until he stayed at this place.

He leaned forward to grab the arrow, but he struggled more than he thought to pull it out.

And the moment it came out, he could hear a faraway comment.

“Good boy.”

Richard’s pride as a man flared, pressing against the bow, bending it and almost snapping it. However, he managed to control his anger and continued after her.

As he was passing through the entrance, he could hear another soft comment that barely made it to his ears.

“Ar yeh. Another pussy sucker.”

Richard’s penetrating eyes scanned the young man who was still busy rubbing against his bow.

Even though no words were exchanged, Richard’s message was crystal clear; he and him had unfinished business.

Following these random exchanges, Richard and Eleonora walked around the town.

At first glance, everything seemed normal, though there were large amounts of scrolls scattered around on tables and stored on people, while there was evidently a lack of swords and metallic armours. It seemed the warriors of this town specialised only in archery.

Eleonora then invited Richard to sit on a table, leaving him alone for a moment until returning shortly after with two large glasses of beer. She offered him one beer.

“Back at the entrance, I’ve heard you say that you are a ‘paladin’. I’ve never heard of a Paladin Conclave before so I instantly attacked you; it’s normal procedure to eliminate troublemakers before they do what they know best; that is create troubles.”

 “Are you a lost traveller?”

Richard stared at her. “Yes. I was injured during a battle but somehow I’ve survived and ended up in this area. I just want to go back home and meet up with my friends.”

Eleonora smiled. “How sweet of you.”

But it was a fake smile.

She knew that this area didn’t experience any battle for years, and if there was really a nearby battle, she would have heard of it by now. This guy was one lying bastard, and her patience was running thin.

“Tell me dear, from which city do you hail?”

“The Imperial Holy City of Tyrel.”

Hearing this, she burst out laughing, accidentally splitting beer out of her mouth.

“Either a rock has hit your head, or either you are a terrible liar! There is only one capital city we humans have, and it’s the City of Astor. Now, what else are you going to invent? That you are my lost brother?”

Richard stared at her in shock as she laughed at him. At first, he had his doubts, but all of these events were confirming his odd belief of his. This wasn’t the place he was born.

He spoke softly. “Did the deep brought me to another world?”

“Who knows? I don’t read your fairy tales.” Eleonora said while resting her left cheek on her praying hands.

Richard panicked. He had to find a way to meet again with the deep and ask him to bring him back to his real world. But how and where?

Still, he had no time to lose. He quickly woke up and prepared to leave.

However, Eleonora reached out her hand, splitting the table and smashing him to the ground. Richard groaned in pain, as the falling beer splashed all over him.

“Nice try, running away now? As if!” Eleonora yelled as people began gathering to see what all this commotion was about.

Eleonora preparing to punch Richard to death, when a middle-aged man approached.

“Eleonora halt your attack, right now!”

When she heard this annoying voice, she frowned submissively.

“Why do you always have to butt in while I am having fun… father?!”

What followed was a crushing aura that made everyone present shiver in fear. Richard was the worst hit of them all, visibly struggling to breathe.

Yet nobody bothered to challenge the authority of this man. After all, they knew that this man was one of the highest ranking officials, the 3rd in command.

 “Can’t you see?! This young fellow haven’t even unlocked his mana yet, and you went all out on him?! Where is your pride?!”

“But father! He’s one fat liar!”

The man then approached Richard, while Eleonora quickly distanced herself. He extended his hand and helped Richard climbing back to his feet.

“I’ve experienced enough in my life to distinguish when a person is genuine or have ulterior intentions. I feel no ill intent when I look into your eyes.”

“I don’t usually take interest in some random brat, but something about you feels peculiar. Come, follow me. We can have a more relaxed chat inside the central palace.”

Richard nodded without saying anything, but not without first having a quick glance at the visible irritated Eleonora, as if he wanted to tell her, serves you right bitch.

She stared at them for a moment, then she tightened her fists, stomped her foot and walked away like a spoiled child.