“I’ll speak first, why were you tailing me,” I questioned the boy and man who were seated cross legged in front of me.
“We just needed some money to live off of, so we just ambush stray citizens in the alleys,” the man said, his voice wavering.
“So it was to survive then,” I contemplated. If it for the sake of living, I think I could let them go free but what would I benefit from this? Revealing a portion of my power but not gaining anything would by a terrible mistake. “I have an offer for you.”
I pointed at the boy who then flinched, but corrected himself, clearly embarrassed. Why not tell this boy to enter that tournament that I was about to hold, it would be the perfect opportunity for this thief and for me too.
“There will be a tournament coming up which will determine who will be able to make it into the King’s personal guard,” I explained leisurely, pacing back and forth. “I want you to enter this competition in exchange for your lives. I think you’ll love the benefits that come with the position too.”
The boy stared at me absentmindedly, and a chuckle came out of his mouth a few moments later.
“You think I’m scared of you? Before I was just surprised, that’s all!” the boy laughed nervously. “And do you think I’ll really willingly go back and meet to the so called King of this kingdom!?”
The way he described the king was weird, but I didn’t have time to think about that since this matter was starting to get on my nerves. Initially, I had planned to keep the two of them alive but I was becoming impatient so I lashed out at the middle aged man. A decapitated head landed in between the boy’s legs and I could tell that he was on the verge of fainting from fright.
“Just listen boy,” I said, calmer and more tolerant than before.
“You’re the same age as me,” he silently muttered to himself.
“Just listen, the benefits you’ll receive are huge if you manage to win and even if you don’t, you’ll still have proved your strength and individuals will come flocking to you with requests,” I explained. “Give it a try, you clearly have the strength to do so.”
Maybe this was the first time his strength was acknowledged because for a second, a flash of happiness showed in his eyes before disappearing.
“Fine, I’ll give it a try but why are you asking me to do this?” he asked with caution. “What’s in it for you?”
“You’ll find out eventually,” I teased mysteriously. “You can go now, I still have matters to attend to so scram.”
Without a moment of hesitation, the boy scrambled away into the shadows of the alleys. As I started to walk towards the main pathways, I remembered that I didn’t even get the boy’s name! What a bummer, I didn’t even manage to get his name so how will I make sure that he actually registered! This might become a disastrous blunder, but I trust that he would participate. It’s not any day where you can turn your life around by winning a tournament, especially a tournament where all you had to do was swing your fists.
The alley led to a well maintained pathway, with the ground made of stone instead of dirt and lamp posts that lit up the area. Just like the Northern Kingdom, there were stalls set up everywhere and even buildings filled with stores for all kinds of things. Clothes, inns, restaurants, there was even a store that sold weapons. Unfortunately, I had forgotten to bring any money with me so I couldn’t afford to buy anything at all.
The goal now is to find someone with a high enough status to bribe. They’re mostly located towards the innermost part of the city so I guess I’ll head there. Since this was my vacation, I took my time leisurely walking towards the middle of Cliffin, trying some free samples here and there and looking at stores that I found interesting. With my face disguised, I didn’t have to be worried about people discovering who I really was but I still had to stay cautious. Back in the alley, I had found several worn down wanted posters with my face. How they got a photo of me, I don’t know but the bounty was definitely not a small sum. 10,000 Gold for a single person, if I remember correctly, 1 copper was equal to $1, one silver was equal to $100, and 1 gold was about equal to $1000. All of this was if the currency was exchanged for US dollars back on Earth. That means that I have a bounty of $10,000,000 on my head.
It was kind of exciting finding out how much you are worth, but the excitement passed and was replaced with distaste. If I hadn’t thought to disguise my face, I’d have people coming for me from all over just to get the bounty like those people from before. That would’ve been very tiring and my vacation would be basically ruined. My good mood was gone, so I decided to stop taking my time and just get to the rich part of the city as quickly as possible.
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
The more I walked, the more fancy and decorated the streets became. The lamps were more elegant and bright, the pathways more arranged with smooth stone, even the residents wandering around wore expensive clothing often embroidered with gold and other rare minerals. Back in the poorer parts of the city, I blended in but now I stuck out like a sore thumb. Mostly due to my clothing choices since my black trench coat contrasted everyone else’s sparkling gold and clean white outfits. Occasionally some passersby would glance at me, but I paid them no mind and continued my stroll towards the castle.
Eventually, I reached the castle’s gates which were less than half the size of the main gates surrounding the city. These gates though, were guarded by more powerful knights in golden armour instead of the plain silver armour the weaker ones wore. It seems like I wouldn’t be able to get through and since I’m not here to cause trouble, I may as well go searching for other nobles that aren’t as important as the royal family then.
The Southern Kingdom was run differently than the other three kingdoms. It had more of a democracy than a dictatorship since the position of King wasn’t only determined by bloodline. If one person received enough votes from the citizens, enough to dethrone the current King, then they’d become the new king. If no one wanted to become the King though, the position would continue to be handed down to the younger generations of the Royal Family.
On the way here, I had spotted many posters plastered everywhere where one could fit them. A man by the name of Josan Hertobelt was running for the position of king. He had a slim face with a full beard, curly hair and a stern expression. He even wore a white, silk tunic embroidered with jewels. The vibe I got from him was that he was stubborn and possibly arragonant, but for some reason I thought he’d be pretty easy to bribe if offered a suitable amount of money.
Perfect, when I walked close enough to a poster out of many hundreds in the area, I memorized the person’s face. Then, walking into a secluded area of the street, I enhanced my eyes with darkness energy while being extra careful for none of it to leak out. Instantly, the world turned pitch black but the people that were still walking along the street were highlighted in white. Sadly, I couldn’t find Josan this way since only the outlines of their bodies showed, not the details such as what their face would look like or the types of clothes they would be wearing.
“I guess you are still a beginner with wielding darkness energy,” Othidas sighed in my mind. “You sure have a lot to learn about what you can do when you have perfect control over that power.”
“What do you mean,” I asked curiously. “Are you saying that I can find Josan using darkness energy in a different way?”
“Precisely, but you’ll need that poster over there if you want to have any chance of finding him,” Othidas confided.
I finally understood what Othidas was hinting at, I could just narrow down the choices by focusing on one target instead of the whole vicinity. Immediately, I discreetly snatched a poster from off the wall and went back to where I had been standing before. This time, I memorized Josan’s face and imprinted it into my mind. Then, I searched again using my darkness enhanced vision but this time, for the face imprinted into my mind. Almost instantaneously, my vision zoomed in on a fit man in an alley about 50 meters away from the inner gates that led to the castle. Josan wasn’t alone though, he was with a girl with a head that for some reason, looked like it was connected to Josan’s.
“I wonder why their outlines are overlapping each other’s in a suspicious place like an alley,” I thought as my eyes returned to normal and I dashed towards their location.
“I think we’re about to walk into the middle of some private business Ryan,” Othidas smirked, and for some reason, I could feel that he was amused. He saw through the same things I saw so he had seen the scene as well, but it seems like he knew something I didn’t.
While quickly getting closer to the alley, I asked Othidas what was so funny.
“Oho, could it be that Ryan here is still a pure and innocent man?” Othidas teased. “You’re already a man yet you still haven’t even done ‘that’?”
“Done what?!” I asked flustered. I had this gut feeling that I was being made fun of, but I still didn’t know why.
“Nevermind, it’s hard to find youngsters as pure as you these days, so I won’t interfere,” Othidas grinned.
“How am I pure?” I demanded. “I’ve killed thousands yet you still call me ‘pure’?”
“Just,” Othidas didn’t continue, but I could still tell what he meant since our consiucouness had merged. Therefore, I knew what he was thinking and I instantly gagged.
“Josan and that girl are doing ‘that’?!” I murmured, my cheeks flushing red. “That can’t happen! It’s too unsanitary!”
Now, I was close enough to hear screams of someone that was struggling.
“Stop! Let go of me-”
The sound became muffled as I saw the body of a man pushed a girl looking to be about 17 up against the damp alley wall. My fears had been confirmed, they were indeed kissing! Something that I had never experienced in my past life, I had been forever alone and was destined to be a virgin forever! That was why, somehow my mind had remained pure and untainted until this very moment.
I had become so flustered that I had no time to think before my body moved by itself. The girl stood shakily, with her back leaning against the wall as I held Josan by his neck, a few feet off the ground.
“U-Unhand me this instance before I-” Josan struggled to speak as spit flew out of his mouth. I loosened my grip a bit before placing him back on the ground.
“Explain,” I said forcefully, the red on my face was beginning to disappear as my skin went back to the smooth pale colour. Luckily, my face was disguised as Chiyian’s so the changes that my face had underwent didn’t appear on the outside to others. Still, assaulting a girl like this was unforgivable, it damaged the pride of all men! “Talk quickly or I’ll end your life in the blink of an eye!”