In a small town near the empire’s capital, a man carrying a child arrived with an exhausted expression. His unkempt hair was ssier than usual, and the deep breathing between his every step signified how tired he really was, while the little child behind his back was asleep and snoring in comfort.
"Finally... almost there," Kizeler said as he wiped the sweat on his forehead.
He was traveling nonstop for almost half a day, and the fatigue from walking while carrying sothing behind contributed greatly to his exhaustion. He was busy searching for a place to take a rest when he felt a sudden movent in his back.
"Big brother," a sweet little voice uttered.
"You’re awake," Kizeler replied.
Then a sound of gnawing in the stomach sounded, making Kizeler smile despite his tired state.
"You’re hungry; I guess we should take so als first," he stated, and his eyes started to roam around the town.
Upon spotting a tavern with an open signboard, he raised the little kid from his back up to sitting on his shoulder. Then he went towards the place without further ado. However, as soon as the distance dwindled, Kizeler’s brows furrowed, and he ca to a halt.
"Big brother? Are you alright?" Leon, the child, asked.
But Kizeler didn’t answer; instead, he shook his head and resud his steps. Before pushing the door of the tavern open, he placed his hand on his sword’s hilt and exhaled a deep breath.
The screeching sound of the door opening caught people’s attention inside the place. They all looked at Kizeler with curious gazes; it took them a few seconds to assess him, which made the noisy tavern silent for a little while. However, upon seeing the child sitting on Kizeler’s shoulders and how simple he was, the noise returned as laughter and stories of the drunk continued.
All of the rcenaries and ordinary people ignored Kizeler’s arrival; the erald pendant hanging on his chest was not enough to pay attention to him, but that was not the case regarding the people sitting at the furthest table away from the bar counter. Both of them were covered in a beige-colored hood.
Kizeler headed to one of the empty seats and ordered a al for him and Leon. Then, once in a while, he was glancing at the two hooded people. They were not eating; they were only drinking a bottle of wine. Based on their porcelain-colored skin and their small figures, the two people were won, and this made the other rcenaries check them out.
With the influence of alcohol, a person with a ruby stone embedded on a naplate hanging from his neck approached the two won’s table. He had a large build, and a greatsword was strapped behind his back.
"Hey, ladies! Would you like to accompany you? Drinking all by yourselves is usually not encouraged in this tavern, am I right, my friends?" The man exclaid as he slamd his mug of ale on the two won’s table. There was a hiccup between his every word.
The already rowdy place beca noisier as the crowd cheered for the man.
"You really are the best, Xynelle!" Shouted a person, showing his support for the rcenary.
"Cut us so slack! You want to accompany them in bed, not at that table!" Another one yelled, making the whole place burst into laughter.
However, despite the current situation, the two won ignored the man and the crowd. They drank their wine in silence, not even giving a second glance at the Ruby-class rcenary.
"Xynelle! You’re getting ignored, my friend!" Teased a man who was sitting on the bar counter, causing the tavern’s uproar.
Beside him was another man, eating and not paying attention to what was happening around him.
This caused Xynelle’s already reddened face to turn grim. He was known for his good looks and masculinity, which most of the won loved; however, the two ladies in front of her were not even taking off their hoods as a sign of respect for him.
"Why are you not showing your faces? Don’t tell those skins of yours are just a show-off, and your face doesn’t match your figure," Xynelle stated.
But the two won still didn’t bother to respond to his continuous mockery. Filled with palpable bitterness, the man extended both of his hands to grab the piece of clothing covering the two won’s heads.
However, in that instance, he was sent flying backward as one of the won stood up and gave him a swift kick on the chest.
This action of hers made the hood fall on her back, revealing her beautiful appearance. Her straight blue hair, which were the sa color as her eyes, caught the crowd’s attention. A sudden silence enveloped the place. The people were stunned by the woman’s beauty, and their curiosity regarding the other one grew even bigger.
"Mistress, I think it’s ti to leave," Aichelle articulated, but the still-hooded woman was not paying attention to her and just continuing to take a sip of wine from her glass.
For Aichelle, it was not a very good idea to garner attention, especially when their current location was almost near the empire’s heart. This would give them a hard ti infiltrating the place.
"Hey Lady! No one is leaving without my approval!" Xynelle exclaid as soon as he stood up.
He cracked his neck sideways and slowly walked back to the woman’s position.
"Do you think you can ss with and then leave anyti you want? Dream on!" He snorted in Aichelle’s face.
His words triggered the vampire’s adrenaline, and she was about to make him kiss the floor when soone from the bar counter interrupted by tossing a piece of gold coin between them.
"Chill it out, young lady," the sa man who teased Xynelle earlier said.
Then he diverted his gaze from her, looked at the Ruby-class rcenary, and opened his mouth once more.
"I’d stop this instance if I were you," he added while pointing at the man beside him with his eyes.
Upon seeing his action, Xynelle gulped and stepped away. He returned to his seat without saying anything. Beads of sweat ford on his forehead, and he didn’t dare to look anywhere aside from his table.
Afterward, the silence vanished as the crowd’s chatter started once again, but none of them said a single thing or gave a comnt regarding the recent incident.
This made Aichelle wary of the person who tossed the gold coin.
’For him to make it pierce with just a casual flick, he’s a threat,’ she concluded while staring at the piece of gold struck on the concrete floor.
anwhile, Kizeler watched all of this from the sidelines; he really expected that a fight would occur. He took a quick look at Aichelle before looking at the woman, who was still wearing a hood.
’If that’s the vampire maid from the festival, then that person must be the white-haired vampire, but her sll... is way different than before,’ he thought and gulped.
Lost in his thoughts, he forgot that he was still staring at her, and the next few seconds, the woman moved her head and glanced at him. Upon noticing her looking at him, he moved his eyes away and looked at the little kid eating while sitting in comfort by his side.
’It’s not her,’ he said inside his mind.
It was just a fraction of a second, but Kizeler managed to see the woman’s eye, a cyan-blue color with a red circle in the middle of its iris. It was indeed different from the vampire she t in the Kingdom of Weapons.
. . . . .
At the sa ti, inside the imperial palace, the princess was busy dilly-dallying in one corner of her room when a sudden knock on the door sounded.
"It’s open; please co in," she said with a voice so lighthearted.
"Princess, a letter has arrived from the Celestial Seer," a butler inford her as soon as he stepped inside the room.
"From Ave? Sending a letter? That’s not like her; are you sure it’s from her?" Uoiea’s brows furrowed as she replied.
"Yes, princess, I already confird the authenticity of the letter; it’s indeed co from the seer," the butler answered.
Then, upon hearing him, Uoiea didn’t waste another second; she stood up from her seat and walked towards the butler to take the letter. Without further ado, she opened it and gestured for the butler to leave.
Then, the curious expression on her face turned grim while reading the contents of the letter.
"What does she an by this?" She asked herself, trying to figure out why the Celestial Seer wrote such a ssage.
Afterward, she placed the letter on the table beside her bed and picked up so clothes from her closet. Then she began to change, and she went downstairs in a hurry.
As she turned left through the hallway to find her father, she bumped into a servant, making her stumble into the nearby wall.
"Princess! My deep apologies," the maid asked for forgiveness.
"I’m alright, you may continue with your task," Uoiea replied, and as soon as the maid left, she examined the wall where she bumped, and a line forming a rectangle appeared on it.
"What is this?" She uttered in silence.
Curiosity got into her, so she gave it a little push, and as soon as it was pushed back, a path with a staircase unfolded right before her eyes.
. . . . .
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