We ride through the town of Romuvova at a slow pace, as the guard had asked, to make sure we didn’t scare off the citizens. Even though the town is relatively close to the nation’s capital of Ribaquen, it’s a very different sight to behold. The main street is mostly empty, the stores and pubs seem to be destitute and mostly abandoned as well. When we reach the small market square, that difference becomes even more obvious. While it still should be full of people at this time of day, there’s just two stalls open.
“This is a rather depressing town, isn’t it.” Max comments as she looks around. “Do you think it’s because of the goblins?”
“I don’t think the goblin invasion passed through here.” I reply. “There’s not enough destruction for that.”
“That’s a bit dark, Ami.” Carol comments.
“I mean, yes, but it’s true though. We managed to barely stop it back at the capital and even then it already caused quite the mess, this town would have had no chance. So I’m thinking that horde just outright ignored this town and went straight for the capital instead.”
“The pink-haired lady is right.” The market stall owner who we were just passing speaks up. Looks like he sells mostly fruits and vegetables, but it’s also apparent that he hadn’t really sold much today.
I halt my direwolf, Sam and the rest follow my lead.
Seeing that he has our attention, the man continues his story. It doesn’t seem like he’s very afraid of our mounts. “When the attack on Ribaquen happened we were all quite surprised. None of the neighboring towns had had any sightings of large groups passing by so they must have gone through the woods deliberately to launch a surprise attack on the capital. Thank the Gods that the attack failed.”
“And may we ask why this town is so… empty?” Sam gets off her wolf for a second.
The man nods. “While the attack didn’t hit us, many were starting to get scared that a similar attack could go for us instead next time. And while the capital was directly hit, because of the amount of adventurers there, it seemed like the safer place to be. When more reports of bandits and goblins started to pop up around here, the decision for many was quickly made. People who had family in Ribaquen moved in with them, people without family moved there and got housed in group-housing by the government. The town quickly emptied. And where the people go, the merchants must follow.”
“And you are one of the only ones left?” Max asks.
“I am.” He nods. “As long as there is anyone left to feed in this town I will try to provide for them. But I would very much like to see life return to this place. As someone who has lived here for most of his long life, it saddens me to see it this empty.”
Max continues. “My apologies if this comes across as rude. But don’t you feel scared?”
“I’ve lived a long and fulfilling life. And it might be hard to believe but I used to be some kind of an adventurer as well back in the day. Goblins and bandits don’t really scare me, especially not when it comes to defending my home.” The man reaches below his stall, seemingly unhooks something and then pulls out a big two-handed sword. “I might be a bit more scrawny than I used to, but I still know how to manage myself with a sword.”
“That’s impressive. I definitely admire your courage.” Max smiles.
“Thank you, young lady. I respect you adventurers as well.”
Sam in the meantime is browsing the man’s goods. “We just stocked up on food, but I think some fruits might be nice to snack on for the time being.” She then picks out a couple of fruits that look similar to what we would know as apples and then offers the man some money.
“Please, you can have it for free.” The merchant gently pushed away Sam’s hand.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
“No, I insist. See it as our way of helping the town.” Sam pushes back.
“Then I’ll accept. Although it looks like you ladies are on your way to help this town a lot more than by buying some fruit from a fruit merchant.”
Sam smiles and turns back to hand each of us a piece of fruit. “We definitely will try.” She then hops onto her wolf and takes a big bite out of the rather sweet tasting piece of fruit.
“We should probably get going now.” I smile at the vendor. “Please take care of yourself.”
“The same goes for you, adventurers.” The man smiles back and waves us off.
We eat up our fruity snack while we ride the wolves out of the other side of the town. When we are outside of the town walls and our fruits are safely stored inside our tummies, we can finally pick up the pace again.
Our wolves don’t really look any less energetic than from the moment we picked them up at the stables. If anything they are enjoying this fast pace a lot more.
As we will have to ride for quite a while before we reach the next landmark, being the Leizen river, I take a quick look at my ‘emotional pocket watch’. It seems to be in a rather neutral smiley face position at the moment, which does kind of feel appropriate as I’m having a good time. I do wonder though, what will happen if we get into combat?
I quickly put the watch away on the inside of my jacket. When I look to my left I see that Sam had been staring at me. She’s now looking at me with a bright smile.
“So, what time is it?”
“Sunny with a chance of candyfloss clouds.”
Sam chuckles at my weak attempt at a joke. “Are you worried?”
“I would be lying if I said I was totally at ease.” I reply.
“At least it will be less of an issue when you transform in this world.” Sam nods. “It probably would be for the best for your angry side to come out, that way we can see how much you will be in control of that.”
“I suppose so. I don’t really like that side of me though.”
“I understand that. But for what it’s worth, even when you had difficulties controlling that form early on, you never even made the slightest move against us. I don’t even think you’ve hurt anyone who was innocent.”
“Hmm.” I look down at my wolf and close my eyes for a bit to think back on the situations where I have transformed into my dark form. The first time back on Earth when we got confronted by my father. The second time back at the village of Parma. And then the Third time back at the siege of Hofudstadr, more precisely my raid in Bolasf. People who were innocent never really got hurt because of what I did. Even though thinking back on it, kind of fills my heart back with rage, that rage was always directed purely at those who had wronged others. “I think you are right.” I open my eyes back up again and look at my girlfriend with a soft smile.
“So if you are worried about hurting us, I don’t think you should be.” Sam reaffirms. “Especially not now you have more control over it.”
“Thanks Sam.”
“No problem at all, babe.” She gives me a wink. “Comforting my girlfriend is one of my prime directives after all.”
“Hehe.”
It’s some time past noon when we arrive at the river crossing and the intersection towards Getinium. At least that’s what the sign says but it does coincide with what Crystal had told us.
“Okay, so now we head North towards the bandit camp?” Max asks, petting her wolf for a job well done so far.
“Yeah, I think so.” Sam then starts scratching her cheek. “Hmmm.”
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“Crystal said ‘somewhere up North from Getinium’. But I’m debating on which side of the river to start our search.” She looks around her for a couple of seconds before squinting in the direction of the road that crosses the bridge. “Okay… I’m pretty sure we need to search on this side of the river.”
“Why are you saying that?” Carol puts her hand above her eyes and peers in the direction that Sam was looking in.
“You will not be able to see that, but there’s a road sign over there that points North as well.”
“Wow, you have really good eyesight, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I do.” Sam chuckles. “Anyway, I doubt the bandits will have made up a camp close to roads as they don’t want to be easily found. Assuming that that road doesn’t immediately curve away to the east, I think it’s a relatively safe bet to search on this side of the river first.”
“I think you mean the relatively unsafe bet as we are looking for aggressive bandits after all.” Max raises her finger matter of factly.
My girlfriend rolls her eyes. “Yes Max, that’d be right.”
Max laughs and gives Sam a grinny thumbs up.
I still love the chemistry between my girlfriend and Max, it’s just great.