The last surviving mercenary blurted out the name of his employer readily, believing it would at least save him from death. Yet, Eliot didn’t flinch, nor did he stop for even a second. Liza asked him to finish them off, so he did.
“Richard again? Later I’ll have to make him pay,” said Fang Chu in an annoyed tone.
“Is he that noble that wanted to kill me? Was he waiting all this time until we left the city to strike back at us?” pondered Ben.
“Don’t worry Neb, they were after me. It would not be the first time he wanted to take me by force. You guys dealt with it very well. I’m glad I hired you.”
It took Ben a few seconds to notice she was talking to him. This “Neb” thing was looking like a bad idea the more time went on.
“Huh, yeah,” said Ben embarrassed. “They weren’t counting with how easy Boro can frighten horses and other animals. That made things simple.”
“I’m sure if they were on foot the result would be the same. It would be three against five, but you all look more experienced and imposing than them,” said Fang Chu probingly.
Ben found himself in an awkward situation. He believed Eliot could win that fight singlehandedly, but that was different than “you all look more experienced and imposing”. That statement included him in the fighting force and that would be a lie. He didn’t want to lie to Fang Chu.
“Hum, to be truthful, Liza and Eliot could probably win easily in an open battle against those thugs. I on the other hand wouldn’t be able to contribute much, I’m not really a fighter,” said Ben with his head down.
[It would be surprising if you were a fighter with that amount of mana in your body. Color me impressed, an honest response from the get-go. Admitting your weakness instead of hiding it or playing it up to impress me. We’re off to a good start,] thought Fang Chu.
“Oh, really? I thought every adventurer needed to know how to fight. Isn’t that true?” asked Fang Chu with feigned interest.
“I don’t know about other groups, but that’s how it is for us. I’m responsible for cooking, cleaning and out of the box thinking.”
[So, you’re basically a servant? That could be a good leverage… but what does a box have to do with anything?]
“Out of the box thinking? What’s that?”
“Huh, it means sometimes I come up with some wacky ideas and different ways for us to do things. Don’t worry though, we can definitely accomplish your mission! Eliot is super strong and is worth at least three people by himself!”
“Yeah, I’m super strong! I’m worth ten normal fighters! No, twenty! No, no, infinite normal fighters!”
“Hahaha, I wasn’t worried. Liza has a good record in the guild and you guys have your own registered monster. I’m sure you can handle yourselves. Plus, it’s not proper for me to inquire or complain about the inner workings of your group. If you’re capable enough to finish the job, everything else is fine.”
[Wow, noble and reasonable… and beautiful,] thought Ben as he gazed at Fang Chu.
“What? Is there something on my face?” she asked with a smile.
“Huh? Oh, no, pardon my rudeness! Eliot, help me drag the corpses out of the road and search them for anything useful.”
Ben dragged the corpses by their feet and searched them from the waist down, making sure his head didn’t veer to the side. He was more resistant to gore, but crushed skulls were still a bit too much.
[Hum? He’s scared to look at their heads? How old is he? A normal teenager would already be used to this level of gore. Did he grow sheltered in a place devoid of mana for most of his life? Does a place like that even exist?]
Stolen story; please report.
They collected the weapons and the coin pouches from the corpses and waited for Liza’s and Boro’s return. Almost an hour later, Liza and Boro came back bringing with them five exhausted horses by their reins.
“Hello everyone, look at what we got! For today they’ll need to rest, but tomorrow we can go ahead on horseback!”
“Poor Richard, he sent his men after us but only ended up helping us instead,” mocked Fang Chu.
Hearing that name, Liza’s radiant smile fell and she paled instantly. She began to franticly examine the horse’s backside yet again for any marks.
“That noble? It couldn’t be! I checked! The horses aren’t branded with the insignia of any noble house!”
Seeing Liza’s nervousness, Fang Chu couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Don’t worry about it, they shouldn’t be branded. If I’m not mistaken, he sent these men after me. I’m also from a noble house, so he can’t afford to have anything that can trace back to him on them, including the horses.”
“Really? Phew, that’s good… wait, how did you know it was him that sent them?”
“One of them sold Richard out in an attempt to save his own life. Eliot didn’t seem much interested though,” Fang Chu replied with a snicker.
“Damn, what a bastard! Well done Eliot, no point sparing them!”
They walked for the remaining of the day, letting the horses recover. When the morning of the second day arrived, they saddled up. The rest of the journey would be on horseback. Everyone got their own mount, while the remaining animal was responsible for carrying their combined gear.
Ben had never ridden a horse before (unless you count riding a pony once when he was in fifth grade), so he ended up needing Liza’s help. The half-elf had to ride carrying the reins of both the cargo horse and Ben’s horse, making for a comic sight.
The rest of the journey was relatively tranquil. They trotted the whole morning, stopping for a moment to eat lunch and let the horses rest. They would then continue riding for the afternoon, making short stops whenever they felt it was needed. When it began to grow dark, they would set up camp for the night.
At first, Ben was rather nervous and awkward, both around Fang Chu and riding a horse, but after three days he started to get used to it. He could look Fang Chu in the eye and answer normally and Liza no longer needed to hold the reins for him. He was finally back to his normal self and not behaving like a shy teenager, something Fang Chu was regretful about.
Eliot (and Boro) also got used to riding alone, though they had to hear a good amount of scolding first. They would always ride ahead and at top speed, creating troubles for everyone.
The only disturbance they had in those last days of travel was when they happened upon an orc attack on a group of traveling merchants. They naturally helped out and received some coin, fodder and other things needed for their new horses as reward.
They made it to the town of Tolus on the seventh day of travel. Tolus was a medium sized town surrounded by an earthen rampart. Their main destination, Tumma forest, was a two-day journey north of Tolus, making the town a perfect spot for them to have as a base.
They paid for a night’s stay at the inn and a full month of boarding for five horses at the stable. They weren’t planning on staying there for this long, but it was normal to pay for an extended period upfront. If you returned earlier, 80% of the cost for the remaining days would be returned to you. If you were late for more than two weeks however, the stable gained legal ownership of your horses.
Because of this system, everyone preferred paying for much more time than they needed and then retrieve 80% of the money that was left when they returned. It was much better than being delayed for whatever reason and losing their horses forever.
“Fang Chu, you can go and rest in your room, I’m sure you should be tired from the journey. Eliot and Neb will be on the room next to you. If you need anything, just give them a shout.”
“All right, sorry for all the trouble. I’ll be retiring for now then.”
They watched Fang Chu enter her room and went to check their own accommodations. After setting Eliot and Boro down with some food, Liza and Ben walked to the front of the inn to talk more privately.
“So, did you notice anything strange about her?” asked Liza.
“Not really. The only thing I’d point out is that she doesn’t look like a noble. Sure, she has all the grace and pomp, but she’s tough. While I was complaining from the pain from horse riding, she didn’t let out a single groan.”
“I noticed. She could have received knight training, though that is rare for female descendants. The other thing that’s bothering me is that I can’t remember any noble house named Chu, no matter how hard I try.”
“The other two guys back in Kalafrana acknowledged her as nobility though.”
“Yeah, but it’s weird! Why would she hire adventurers? Why not use her own guards? Why walk instead of using a carriage? There’re too many strange points to this. Anyway, house Esin and Melis are names I know and they’re harder to fool than we are. I’m probably thinking too much into this.”
“We keep going then?”
“We keep going. Carefully. I’ll go to the guild and ask for the tasks we already had an eye on, but only the ones we can do at the same time we escort her inside the forest.”
“Ok.”
“You should go rest in the room with Eliot. The way you’re walking with your legs apart right now… it’s just too funny,” said Liza with a smirk.
“I’m not used to horse riding! That’s why I’m walking like this! It’s normal!” said Ben in a more defensive manner than he would like.
“I know, but it’s still hilarious! It looks like you shat yourself, hahahaha.”