Chapter 4: The Right Decision
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The world flashed all around me, streaks of blue and white moving past my vision at inconceivable speeds. Below me, a forest of green greeted my eyes.
The howling of the wind continuously assaulted my ears, nothing but a torrent of chaotic sound filling my hearing.
The skin on my body felt cool and warm at the same time. The sun and the torrent of gales fighting to decide what temperature I would feel, leaving me with the dissonance of both heat and cold all over my body.
I gripped whatever was on my hands tighter, a handle of lightweight wood and metal giving me reassurance.
I looked forward, and I saw the horizon. Mountains rose up and down, a sweltering desert, a massive river of icy molten rock, and a titanic sea of sapphire colored water.
A blanket of colors painted the canvas of the world before me, showing me places so close I could almost touch them. A smile stretched across my face as I trembled with childish glee.
I opened my mouth to laugh; a scream of pain came in its place.
“AHHHHH!” A hoarse scream left my throat and my hands clutched at my head.
Pain.
An unbelievable pain suddenly flared up from my head.
My vision was a mess of light from the sun and distorted colors, every single detail driving another needle of pain into my brain.
Strong hands gripped my shoulders and pushed me down, stopping me from unconsciously lashing out at anything that came near. A hand forced my jaw open and stuffed something in my mouth.
A strong scent of medicine spread out along with an extremely bitter taste in my mouth as I was forced to chew. An invisible wave of cold swept through me, enveloping my entire body and cooling down the searing hot pain in my head.
My screams gradually lessened along with the pain, and before long I could see clearly again.
Around me were a gathering of wounded mercenaries, around three, including the bearded man from before who looked at me and said, “Should serve as a lesson, don’t overdraw your mana ever again. You’re lucky your head didn’t suffer any damage. Any more of that and you would’ve turned into a retard or vegetable,” He said, “Name’s Gwain by the way.”
His words entered one ear and left the other, the dull pain constantly thumping inside my head turned my expression into a constant grimace.
Now that the pain had lessened, I could make out the sound of the carriage I was in and the constant bumps in the road we travelled on.
“Where is this carriage headed?” I regretted the decision to speak almost immediately, wincing as another throb of pain shot up from the back of my head.
Gwain rubbed his stump, “Headed back to town, our group suffered a heavy blow this time, and our numbers dropped to six from the original fifteen the captain sent out,” A scowl covered his face, “The bandits were routed, but they’ll probably be back,” He said.
I didn’t know how to respond. I looked out the carriage’s windows and narrowed my eyes from the light of the sun.
From the corner of my vision, I could see the downcast faces of the mercenaries that survived the attack. The somber atmosphere completely enshrouded the carriage and the second one behind it.
The merchant at the front noticed me, he looked back and said, “Thanks for the help son,” He said, “Here, your head must be hurting.”
He handed me a bundle of leaves, shaped like half the shape of a feather each.
I put one in my mouth and experimentally nibbled lightly on it, the scent and taste of the plant dulling the pain at the back of my mind as I ignored the near-murderous glares the merchant received.
A sigh left my lips. That was too dangerous.
Too many near-death events happened today, or rather, yesterday. A whole day had passed apparently, and I was out for the whole time.
It probably wasn’t the time to think about money, but I just realized that I probably wouldn’t earn any. I didn’t have any proof for the bandits I may have killed, and the credit for most of the dead ones went to the mercenaries.
So in short, this entire trip was fruitless.
The thought made my headache even worse, so I erased it from my mind and let myself enter a daze as the carriage approached the town, the town I would have to leave at some point.
We entered the gates without hassle as the security was fairly lax, and with a short farewell, I parted with the mercenaries and arrived home. I gave a short greeting to my aunt who was tending to her two kids before heading upstairs where I collapsed on my bed.
My body felt like a sack of bricks. Heavy and difficult to move.
I surrendered to the heaviness of my eyelids and fell asleep, hoping with all my might that tomorrow wouldn’t contain any more of these life-threatening events.
A few hours passed and I woke up to find my stomach growling and my head still hurting. I stomach had been empty for days.
Rubbing my forehead, I walked out of my room and headed downstairs. The stairs creaked and I tried my best not to make too much noise as the sun hadn’t even fully risen yet. The stale bread we kept in the storage wasn’t enough for me, so I left the house to find somewhere to eat.
The sky began to show traces of blue, the sun starting to rise and signal the start of morning.
I found a nearby stall that was open for a full twenty four hours and bought myself a large stick of grilled meat with the meagre amount of money I had.
There goes another eight pieces of bronze. I ate without much energy, occasionally mixing in one of the leaves that dulled my headache with the bites I took from the grilled meat.
By the time I finished, people had begun to leave their houses and move about early in the morning, ready for another day of work.
Is this what living independently feels like?
I’m always short on money, and I’ve had more difficulties in the past few days than the amount I had my whole life. Was this really what I wanted?
I shook my head. Nah, I’m certain this will get better when I actually start travelling.
Nodding to myself and contemplating about what places I wanted to go to first, I walked to the mayor’s housing to ask Stine for any jobs that might suit me. My head hurt too much to browse the request board.
The building’s musty smell entered my nose and caused me to blink a few times. I swear, I’m never going to get used to this place’s smell. It was more than just musty, there was that something that made the scent even worse.
Yeah, something.
I looked at the tall ceiling and the spider webs that covered it, the creaky floor, and the nails that would randomly poke out to make some unlucky person’s day miserable.
Trying hard to not be that person, I approached the main office and heard voices talking. It sounded like there were three people in the room, the third voice familiar, but the owner’s name was glued behind the curtains inside the back of my mind.
The door to the room was pushed open by me and the voice’s owner was revealed to me. It was Gwain.
His face was instantly covered in pleasant surprise, “I was just lookin’ for you lad!” He said.
“Wha—“ Gwain approached me and shook my hand with his remaining one, successfully interrupting me.
“It’s good you spared me the trouble of findin’ you, eh?” He gave me a friendly pat on the shoulders and put his hand into the bag he carried on his side, visibly struggling with only having one arm.
I was a bit stunned, so I just looked at him curiously.
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He brought out a small pouch and handed it to me, “Six silver for the two bandits you took care of, and a little extra for the help,” He grinned at me.
I received the pouch and what he meant by ‘little extra’ was not a very small amount.
Did he… Did he seriously put that much money in here? Why is this pouch so heavy?
…If the rest is copper, it would be too cruel.
My mind crossed its fingers and my face twisted into a mix between a grimace and expectation. Gwain just looked at me with a grin as I opened the bag.
And holy Liteah did I not regret that decision.
A glittering sea of silver greeted me and I almost could’ve sworn that I saw a rainbow leave the bag as soon as I opened it. There has be at least twenty silver in this.
I looked up at the old mercenary and back at the pouch in my hands multiple times.
“Are you sure these aren’t your savings?” I said and got smacked on the back of the head.
“There’s no way in hell I’m that poor, boy. I’ll have you know that I’m the son of a noble. Even if I’ve been exiled by my pa, I still have a lot over at the bank,” He said, letting out a breath that seemed to match his age. “Mercenaries are wealthier than you think, who’d risk their lives for a meager amount? Don’t underestimate our value as a whole, don’t you know that…”
I was too shocked by the amount he gave me to listen to his rambling, and before he could continue on even more, Stine grunted and stopped him while the mayor continued to write peacefully in the background.
Did he even know that we were in the room?
“Stop your rambling old man, I have a lot of work to do so get out,” Stine said.
“I don’t want you talking to me about age, you’re probably thrice my mine anyways,” Gwain snorted at him, waving his hand dismissively to the side.
Stine opened his mouth to retort, but he was stopped by the sight of Gwain trying to clap his hands but realizing his mistake, he snapped his fingers instead. He headed for the door, “Now that this has been taken care of, I’ve got to meet up with the cap’n,” He said, “I hope we cross paths again, lad.”
He left the room and caused Stine to sigh, “Poor bastard,” He mumbled under his breath.
I snapped out of my shock, “Hey Stine,” I started, “What was that about your age—“
“Get out,” He turned around and pointed his thumb at the door.
The town was now buzzing with activity, the townspeople as lively as ever. Even if the people running the town are like that, they’re really doing a good job.
I was in a good mood after I received the money, so I decided to go to a bar and eat some good food instead. Even the dull ache in my head could stop me from enjoying myself today.
The bar I chose was well-known for its delicious food and fair prices. The establishment was two stories tall and the walls, a mix of wood and stone looked great. The place was really nice, actually. The walls outside were kept extremely clean and the surroundings were free of clutter.
I felt a bit of admiration to whoever tended to this place’s cleanliness, they were probably really dedicated to their job.
Stepping onto the steps that led up to the front door, I sighed happily. Finally, wooden floors that don’t creak. The door to the bar opened smoothly and I stepped inside, sitting on a table and telling a pretty waitress my order.
I looked around and to my surprise, I spotted Gwain and more than twenty mercenaries gathered around a spot, occupying more than six tables and drinking alcohol contentedly.
I stood up and walked towards them.
“Hello again,” I said, grinning at Gwain.
He looked at me in surprise for a moment, “Heavens boy! When I said I hoped we’d cross paths again, I didn’t mean this early.”
“Well, the world is a surprisingly small place. Ain’t that right Gwain?” I mercenary with short cropped red hair and leather armor said as he laughed uproariously.
“How’s your ex-wife doing? I heard you ran into her at our last stop, does she hit as hard as ever?” Another mercenary with blond hair and green eyes said, adding fuel to the fire and making the rest of the mercenaries laugh with him.
“Shut the hell up Kinney,” He shot a glare at the blond-haired mercenary, “I know your ma hits harder than my ex-wife when she finds out about all the brothels you keep going to,” He said.
Kinney grimaced, eliciting another round of laughter from the surrounding mercs.
Gwain looked back at me, “Well, since you’re here already, have a seat,” He offered me a chair on his table and I sat down, thanking the waitress who handed me my food.
We talked for along time and I got acquainted with the rest of the mercenaries who shared stories about the jobs they’d done and the stupid things they’ve managed to do.
The food was even better than I expected too. It certainly made my stay many times more enjoyable.
“So what are you planning to do now kid?” The red-haired mercenary, Albross, or Al, asked me, “You’re a mage in training right? When are you planning on entering an academy?”
“I’m not really planning on entering one. I plan on travelling around the world, actually.”
Hearing this, a few of the mercenaries grinned, “How about you join us on our way to the city?” Kinney said, “It’d be a good first stop, one I can definitely recommend. Speaking of recommendations, there’s this really nice brothel there that—“
His head suddenly jerked to the side, evading an empty tankard of ale that was thrown by one of the female mercenaries sitting on the table across ours.
“Nice try Sally, you’d have to throw better than that to hit a master archer like me thou—“ He spit out his wine as a tankard that seemingly came out of nowhere hit him on the side of the head.
He glared at the direction it came from but his face suddenly twisted into a forced smile.
The tankard was thrown by their captain, an elf with silvery-white hair who was beautiful beyond her years. I heard that she was a terrifying figure on the battlefield, but I couldn’t help but laugh at their exchange.
The captain, Susanna continued to drink more. For such a lithe body, you wouldn’t think that she’d eat and drink so much.
I stood up, it was getting a bit late and I really wanted to have a good, long, nap at home.
“Well, I’ll have to go now. Hey Al, is that offer still up?”
Al stood up and drank a huge gulp from his mug, “It’s up for grabs until we leave,” He said, “Which is in a week. You can find us over at the inn right next to here. No objections with him coming with us, right captain?”
Susanna grunted, and Al nodded.
“She approves,” He said before waving me off, “Go and wander off now, hey waitress! Bring another keg of ale to this table!” He said and laughed as he patted Gwain's shoulder who lay collapsed on the table from drinking too much ale.
I smiled and walked out of the inn, the noisy cheers and shouts of its inhabitants resounding behind me, resonating with my desire to live a carefree life.
Looks like I made the right decision after all.
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Author's Note:
Aaaand I'm back! Hello again everyone, expect another release this weekend before I go back to my usual schedule. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and if anyone can point me to a blog, link, or article that describes medieval hierarchy and governing systems well, I'd appreciate it a lot.
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