Eventually, the two arrived at Sacom four days after the night. Dehydration was one of their only problems that did not scare the guards. They were taken to the local lord's castle almost immediately after both of them fainted in front of the guards.
When Akki finally awakened, he found himself on a king-sized white bed with Roal next to him. Both were clean and wearing clean white smocks and trousers. The drab quilt was in front of their feet, the white bed had no canopy, and the rough walls were made of stone bricks while the floor was made of worn, weathered wood. The windows were just two rectangular holes in the wall with two stacks of fabric next to them. The horizontal sticks above the rectangles were there so the fabric could be hung as curtains.
Akki slowly sat up on the bed. He had one knee in his arms and propped his chin on it, giving himself a few more seconds to fully clear his mind. The deep snore of the cowboy made Akki's steps getting off the bed soft and careful, still causing sharp creaks that wouldn't wake the old man. Walking toward the wooden door across the room, Akki noticed his and Ranith's weapons next to the bed. Although it seemed like they were tossed there carelessly, the fact that he could tie his katanas back on his waist put a smile on Akki's visage. With the symbol of his identity back with him, Akki's seriousness was accompanied by leisure.
A lobby was directly outside the room. He could see two other doors in the space and a spiral staircase at the corner. Compared with the fanciness of Bagen's mansion-like castle, Sacom's were more traditional and probably more common in FASOTO. Roal must know if the latter part was true. Akki was a slow traveler, and he had yet to travel out of Noragen despite having arrived in FASOTO a few years already.
Akki walked toward the corner with nothing particular in mind. He was just hoping to encounter some sort of servant or whatever to tell him where his coat and skirt were. As he entered the staircase, A middle-aged maid scurried down and bumped into the ronin. Her metal plates and teapot tumbled to the first floor, and the lady slumped on the stone stairs. "Sorry. Are you okay?" Akki stooped slightly with one of his hands braced on his thigh and offered the other hand to the maid.
"It's alright. I should be more careful," she said with her left hand on the ronin's palm. She covered her blushy face with the other one, showing Akki the letter "I" on the back of her right hand.
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"So, if I may ask, where can I find the Lord of Sacom? I think I need to explain our visit," Helping the maid to stand up again, Akki asked as patiently and politely as he could. He was pleased enough to show extra respect toward people in castles. He did not want Roal to save him from fighting with a local lord again. Ranith did not mind it much, yet Akki was ashamed of his behavior, although he would not act any other way if anyone took his katanas away again.
The maid had her left hand hidden behind her back and her eyes avoiding Akki's sight, "He was just upstairs on the third floor. I can—" She spotted the tea sprayed on the stairs in the middle of her sentence, "Actually, I need to clean up this mess. He was in the first room at the left. I'd really like to accompany you, but my job. You know?"
"Thank you," Akki ended the conversation as fast as he could and hurried up the stairs. The third floor looked very similar to the second floor, where Akki slept. The walls were old, and the floor popped as much, if not more. Akki slowly pressed open the door to the lord with his left hand with a long creak sharper than tweets. He attempted to reach his right hand to his katana yet got stopped by himself.
"Please come in, young man," the old lord, who wore a tan, fitting chaperon, put his quill pen down and tilted his head up as he welcomed the ronin. He leaned back on his shabby wing chair. Downs were sticking out of rifts in the chair's leather.
The executive desk before the aged man had a greenish-white, ragged square flag hanging on its front, facing the door. The emblem on the flag was only formed by two stalks of wheat crossing each other. On the two flanks of the desk, three pairs of bookshelves were placed against the walls. Thin and thick scrolls of new and old documents were stored inside the shelves behind the glass showcases; many scrolls had yellowed in various degrees; a few were new.
On the desk, there was a stone board of the lighting rune in the left corner and an inkwell on the lord's right; rolled and unrolled scrolls were scattered on the desk.
"I," Akki knew that he had to do both the introduction and greeting part to appeal politely to the authority. Unfortunately, he stuttered when he opened his mouth since he had not decided whether to greet or introduce himself first, "I, I am Akki from Bokokka. I do not mean to interrupt your work."
The ord man tittered as he stroked his chest-leveled grey beard. He sat up straight and replied with an affable grin, "It's okay. I was not writing a letter to the god. Haha. You are acting too courteous. The fanciness of other nobles isn't very welcomed here."
"I'd lost my soul if I had to talk like that for any longer," Akki smiled out of relief. His mental defense was lowered when he saw his weapons. Now, the defense was almost nonexistent after hearing the lord's words.
"But you should knock first next time."
"Sorry about that," the ronin apologized as he closed the door behind him.