Chapter 235: She Arrives in Boughton
"Why would your mother send me a novel?" A puzzled Robin asked Christian.
"Dunno. But it's probably some romantic epic or book of poetry." Christian shrugged before choking on his own breath at what he read next in his letter.
"What!?" He exclaimed after he stopped coughing. "She managed to match Ole' Skinflint himself!?" He said incredulously. Everyone knew that Ole Skinflint was an old man with a bad temper who was well known for penny pinching. But, more importantly, what sort of woman would even be a good match for him? Christian couldn't imagine it at all.
Robin nodded in admiration. Emmeline was indeed a formidable boss on the battlefield of bachelors. Not even old men were safe.
Robin felt she was smart to have left when she did.
"That's my sister for ya~!" Albert chuckled. "It's terrifying, really. If she hadn't gotten married, then she'd have made sure there were no eligible bachelors left to ask for her hand in marriage, I am certain."
Robin, feeling a bit apprehensive, put the book in her magic bag. The longer it stayed in her hands, the more it felt like Emmeline was right there behind her with a predatorial smile that said 'You're next.'
"Ahem! So we've had our chat, and you've given me the package. How can I help you?" She asked.
"Ah, of course. By any chance, are you headed to Boughton?" Albert asked.
"That's the idea." Christian nodded.
"In that case, I'd just like for you to keep an eye out in the pass for anything odd. There's been merchant carriages as have gone missing in the past few months. If you find anything, do let me know." Albert requested.
"Missing, huh..." Robin noted. "All right, we got it. Are we free to enter the pass now?"
"By all means, go ahead!" Albert grinned. "I'd like a spar with you once your business is done, though, as a request."
"We'll see." Robin hummed ambiguously on her way out. She couldn't make any promises for the time being. Moreover, she still had a spar that she had promised Christian.
----
"So what was that about?" Jasmine asked Robin.
"Your Aunt somehow figured out we're going to be here, and sent a letter." Robin replied. "She also sent the latest novel for some reason..."
"Novel? Can I have a look?" Jasmine asked, curious. Robin retrieved it and handed it over. "Feel free." She shrugged.
When the book was passed over, Chelsea noticed the familiar cover. The corners of her mouth slowly rose, despite her attempt to look straight-faced. But no one noticed except for stoic Liam. That small book... Chelsea was looking forward to when Robin finally got around to reading it.
As Robin didn't want to stop inside the pass unless necessary, Ponzu simply passed out some ready made food for dinner when they stopped to give the horses a water break.
Gerard suddenly glanced up from his food, looking a bit conflicted. He continued eating, but he leaned back against the stone he was sitting in front of, closer to Robin.
"Elise says that we're being watched." He muttered behind his food. Robin blinked, then realized what was going on. She acted as if she hadn't heard.
"Any idea what it is? Why didn't she tell me earlier?" She asked behind a water flask.
"Just found out now. She's too sleepy to fly over now. It seems to be a group of people." Gerard replied covertly.
"Okay, got it." Robin acknowledged. Currently, within the pass, they were blocked in on two sides by high walls of rock and dirt. Odds were, if anyone had any nefarious intentions, they would block off both exits with a rock slide, and bombard their prey from above.
Or, they could simply try and ambush them while they were asleep. Robin blinked as she had a good idea.
"I've changed my mind. We camp here tonight." Robin announced to the group.
"What? Really?" Jasmine looked up at Robin, in surprise. Robin grinned. "We've travelled quite a distance. And it's getting dark. Best not to risk the horses mis-stepping somewhere."
"But weren't you in a hurry?" Keith asked, catching onto Robin's subtle hints.
"Of course I am!" Robin admitted. "But, like my mother always said, 'Whenever you're in a hurry...'"
"What?" Christian asked.
"...Slow down~" Robin winked at him. "It's more likely that you'll make a mistake if you rush. So slowing down can actually help speed up the process by not creating an accident that takes up even more time to recover from."
"I see!" Christian finally understood Robin's hidden message. In other words, they were being watched. And Robin was putting on a show.
Keith exchanged glances with the soldiers and nodded. So, they made a campfire, and set up the tents. However, the night passed uneventfully. In the morning, Elise informed them that the group of watchers had left in the middle of the night.
"Do you think they were bandits?" Christian asked.
"Not likely." Robin replied, with dark circles under her eyes. She had stayed up the whole night in case of an ambush. She pondered who it could have been. A fleeting thought brushed through her mind and she blinked.
"Pay it no mind. If they really were bandits, then they'd have made a move by now."
"But, if they weren't going to rob us, then why were they watching us?" Gerard asked.
Robin smiled bemusedly. "Perhaps they were just observing the newcomers."
----
That morning, they made good time until they suddenly came upon the shattered remains of a carriage nearby, that had been smashed by a boulder. A few steps away, several men lay on the ground. Keith hopped out to check on them.
"Dead. They were pierced by arrows, though, it seems like they had just enough time to retrieve them." He announced.
"D-do you reckon this was done by those watchers yesterday?" Gerard asked, feeling shaken. Robin pursed her lips, but didn't mention her thoughts. She hopped out of the carriage.
"Any survivors?" Robin asked. She kept her distance from the corpses, staring at the entire scene as a whole. A small pile of cut ropes nearby drew her attention. They seemed to be segmented into strips about nine inches long. That sort of length was not long enough to do much more than tie a simple pretzel knot. Robin contemplated for a moment, before she heard Keith's answer.
"There's horse tracks running back to Boughton, so either the horses got away, or..." Keith shrugged.
"Or there's someone who survived the attack." Robin finished. "Check to see if there's any way that we can identify the dead. Any special markings or facial features."
After gathering as much information as they could, they continued on their way. Although the tension had risen, the remainder of their journey was uneventful. The group arrived in Boughton that afternoon.
Understandably, their possessions and purpose were checked at the guard house where they reported the scene they had found. It seemed the person who had been attacked was a local bigwig merchant in Boughton. So any new faces were suspicious. When they gave Captain Albert as a witness to prove their identities, they were allowed entrance soon afterwards.
"Sorry about that. You can never be too careful lately." The guard apologized.
"Not a problem." Robin waved it away. "I understand that it's probably not the best time to be here. But orders are orders wherever you go."
"Heheh, ain't that the truth." The guard chuckled.
Free to explore the town, they could finally witness Boughton's rustic charms. The houses weren't made of straight-hewn planks, but of logs. Decorated with simple carvings, animal horns or antlers, and black iron fittings: Boughton looked more like a hunters post than a proper town. The road wasn't paved, but was just well packed reddish dirt. The people walking about were rugged, or cloaked. There were children, here and there, but they kept within the house doorways, looking out at the passing folks.
Robin blinked. Back in Peg Leg city, there was a large variety of different races. However, here, it seemed that there were a lot more of the crafters races here. She noticed a lot more dwarves, elves and the larger sort of humans here.
Seriously, one of the men she passed by was seven feet high, squinty-eyed and broad shouldered. He hunched over slightly as he carried a giant double-headed axe. The scars on his arms and equipment spoke volumes for how many battles he had probably seen.
"Oh. A hill giant's descendant." Christian noted. "Probably the third generation down from the looks of it."
"Hmm..." Robin hummed in response. "Well, we're here. But I just realized that we might have a problem."
"What?" Keith asked.
Robin pursed her lips. "We don't know the name of the gnome we are going to contact here. So how are we going to find them?"
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