The atmosphere was still stifling as the carriage rolled closer to their destination. Blanche clammed up whenever Alice tried prodding, saying that she’d ‘know when they got there.’

Of course she’d know when they got there, she wasn’t blind! Was it too much to be aware of the place beforehand, to scout out the lands and plan out the optimal course of action? Alice was determined to ensure that this time around, things went differently. Sure, she said that for the previous villages but she was dedicated this time!

Though, it hadn’t slipped past her attention that Blanche had appeared on the brink of being uncomfortable when she presented the question. This was the same dwarf who was cool as a cucumber when presented with the possibility of being skewered on numerous stakes by his own friend. The fact that he was intimidated was enough to raise an eyebrow or two.

Not to mention that they had to deal with Lily as well. The moment she’d returned from scavenging for food—holding a pair of rabbits in each hand, much to Alice’s chagrin—and ate, she’d returned to her regular place in the corner of the carriage. Alice knew that Blanche said there was nothing they could do to help her but at the same time, she was sure this wasn’t the way to go about doing things. Was introducing a traumatized child into an entirely different environment the best way to ease them in? And who knows what’ll happen to Lily in this new place? At her current condition, she doubted Lily could do much to defend herself against the fouler aspects of the world.

The carriage slowly came to a stop, jostling forward with the uneasy movement. Alice gripped the seat to prevent herself from falling to the floor again, pushing Lily back with her spare hand. Once the carriage stabilized, Alice tried peeking through the window and saw Blanche drop to the ground and begin making his way towards them. Quickly, she sat back down and adopted a composed aura as Blanche struggled with the door.

Finally, he slammed it open and stomped in. Taking them into account, he nodded as if they’d fulfilled whatever inane criteria he had. “We’re about to head in. Remember, I'm going to go and get restock supplies. The horses need food and actual rest for once, so we’re going to rent a stable. While I go about doing this, you’re in charge of Lily. Don’t do anything crazy.”

Alice ballooned up at the implied accusation. “What’s that supposed to mean?! It’s not like I do anything crazy, crazy things just happen to me!”

Blanche clicked his tongue. “If attacking a noble in broad daylight wasn’t ‘crazy,’ I dread to think what your definition of the word is.”

Alice opened her mouth before shutting it close. That….she didn’t have any counter arguments against that.

He sighed and rubbed his forehead. “All I’m saying is, be careful. Especially here. You might get pissed off really easily but I’m going to need you to suck it up and deal with it. Remember, you’re not just speaking for yourself; any reputation you craft for yourself will be associated with Lily as well. Considering how protective you are over the girl, you’d do well to mind your tongue.”

She narrowed her eyes. This village was starting to sound more and more unpleasant the longer this conversation dragged on. She didn’t view herself as an unreasonable person, and Blanche understood that as well. So for him to caution her against doing anything drastic…that spoke volumes about what kind of place they were heading into. She gasped as it hit her.

“Wait, are you saddling me with Lily specifically so I can’t do anything crazy?!” Alice demanded to know. Blanche smiled, a grim smirk that didn’t reach his eyes before turning and closing the door. A few seconds later, she heard the whip crack and the carriage set off again. Well, that answered that question. Reasonably grumpy at how well she’d been played, Alice crossed her arms and slumped against the couch.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

They traveled in silence for a couple more minutes before sounds began sinking through the door and window. Alice pressed herself against the window and gazed out, surveying the land. Her eyes grew wide as she greedily took in the village.

Similar to her own village, this one also possessed a wall. However, this was constructed purely out of granite slabs and was significantly stouter than her own. She was certain this required much more money to build though; the finer details on this wall blew her wall out of the waters, and it wasn’t even close. Battlements were mounted on the wall every few meters, with a flag rippling in the wind on top. A sizable gate obscured their way, which slowly creaked open. Alice watched in awe as the thick chains slowly moved, lowering what must have been over a ton of pure shone.

They passed through the instant the drawbridge was down, bumping over the tiny grooves and imperfections jutting from the gate. Alice fought the instinct to duck under the window as one of the guards posted there glanced at her. Instead, she simply nodded and tried to act like how a noble would. She definitely wasn’t someone who stole a carriage, nope!

They didn’t get far before they were stalled by the rampant rush of people clambering to get even an inch ahead. Blanche promptly kicked Alice and Lily out of the carriage, hollering at her to remember what he said before driving the carriage away. The trail of events took place so quickly that by the time Alice gathered her consciousness, Blanche was long gone. She glowered at the thick cloud of dust the wheels and horse hoofs were kicking up, wanting to chase after him and beat some sense into that dwarf. Instead, she swallowed her irritation, clenched Lily’s hand tightly, and thought about her next move.

The first thing they needed to do was get out of the way. Countless people were bustling around, not looking where they were walking in their haste to get to where they needed to be. The duo were roughly jostled back and forth, bouncing from people to people like a ball between a pack of rowdy kids. Alice closed her mouth when she felt her lunch from yesterday coming back up.

A particularly ignorant person walked by and knocked into them. Alice’s grip on Lily loosened until she was holding onto the tips of her fingers alone. Panic rushed through her at the thought of losing her and she immediately wrapped her hand around Lily’s, holding on so tightly that she was a bit concerned that the elf’s hand was going to go numb.

“Come on!” Alice had to shout to be audible over the clamor of people. She pulled the limp girl behind her and fought her way through the crowd, squeezing onto the ground. They found a relatively sheltered place to the side and waited there. Alice panted, hands on her knees as she greedily took in air. She really needed to get in better shape if that was all it took to get her out of breath.

While she waited for her heartbeat to fall to a normal range, Alice decided to study the swarm of people rushing by. There was nothing she could do to survive if she didn’t know the layouts of the village, after all.

Right off the bat, there were far more people here than there were in any of the villages she’d been to before. At least triple the size of the nomads and over double the dwarves. Even her own village, which stood fairly high on the totem pole in regards to population count paled in comparison to this. Something else to take into consideration was the lack of species diversity. She’d been staring into the crowd for a while now and she had yet to find anybody who wasn’t human. It was a bit strange, considering how there seemed to be a larger disposition of wealth than the other villages—-

Alice paused and rewinded. There were a lot more expensive items in circulation here than was normal. With a more scrutinizing gaze, she delved back into studying the crowd; only this time, she was specifically searching for signs of wealth.

Now that she knew what she was looking for, it came to her easily. Everywhere she looked, she saw bespectacled glasses and heavy rings and extravagant jewelry that seemed like just dead weight. It wasn’t only the accessories either; the clothing was of a much finer fabric and quality than what was the norm in the other villages. It reminded her of Charlotte’s new Academy uniform above everything else.

The uniform that had been provided for her by the Church for the purpose of nobility.

The truth dawned on her and with a sickening stomach, it became all too clear why Blanche had warned her to be careful.

This was a town for nobles.