Chapter 22: New Companion
Before moving on, the mercenaries first started to cut off the two largest fangs from corpses of the wolves. They needed some sort of proof showing that their job had been completed and would be paid based on the number of teeth.
Throughout the trip back Ryan was continuously barraged with questions about where he was from and how he became so strong for his age. He tried to give as vague answers as possible, only saying that he was just a traveler that recently left isolation and had trained hard for most of his life. He did not really trust this group so much since half of them were occasionally glancing at the things he had.
Ryan also asked about them in return. It turns out that they were a recently formed mercenary group that chose to base their operations in Luria. When they accepted the job took, they thought it was easy money, but they significantly underestimated the dangers of it.
The sun had begun to set when the group was finally able to see Luria about a hundred yards out of the forest. It was a pretty big community for the location and had walls a couple of meters high to help with the town's defenses.
Ryan: "So that's Luria. It doesn't look half-bad for a town."
Mercenary Leader: "Yea. Most of us chose to stay here because this place's environment was pretty good."
Ryan: "Hum… This is a good place to settle down."
Mercenary Leader: "Yes it is..."
When the group approached the gates, they were stopped by the guards.
Gate Guard: "Halt! You must present your identification before you go any further."
While the mercenaries easily did this by flashing a tag that was collared to their necks, Ryan was confused about what he heard and did not know what to do. The guard caught on to this and pointed at him.
Gate Guard: "You there! Where's your identification?"
Ryan: "I don't have one. I recently left isolation so I didn't know that people had these things in the first place."
Things were different back in Hatari since they did not have this type of security in place. Theirs was payment based, meaning that anyone would be able to enter a city as long as they paid a toll. He couldn't have learned about this from the two games either.
Gate Guard: "Everyone that does not have anything to identify them must pay a fee and have someone to vouch for them."
The guard looked towards the mercenaries.
Mercenary Leader: "We'll vouch for him."
Ryan: "Thanks."
Mercenary Leader: "It's not a big deal since you saved our lives, but you should probably register with the mercenary house to receive your tag if you don't want to deal with this again."
Ryan smiled.
Ryan: "I'll do that first thing in the morning."
Seeing that everything was sorted out, the guard nodded.
Gate Guard: "Very well. Just remember that if he causes any trouble within the town, you all will be held responsible for his actions. Now that we're done with that, the fee would be 100 gold."
Ryan handed the man the amount required and the group walked through the large metal doors.
The mercenary leader went towards the Mercenary House to report that the task was accomplished. Even though their group was not the one that finished it, they still had to tell management that the monsters were now all exterminated.
The rest of the group went to the tavern after dropping the cleric off into his room and taking off their heavy armor. It was at that time Ryan also got a room for himself and dropped off his things after taking them from the two horses. The group was surprised he was easily able to hold so much stuff at once and quietly tsked.
Ryan: 'Seems like they're actually thinking of trying to steal some of my stuff. Even after I saved them, what horrible manners. They're better off being bandits with that attitude.'
The only one that wasn't leering was Makalov, who looked like he was more preoccupied with getting drunk, nevermind looking at his things. In fact, it sort of looked like the rest of the members were ignoring him.
Since the tavern was a combination of a diner and an inn, the bar was right downstairs from the rooms.
Knight Mercenary: "Hey old man! Get us some drinks over here!"
The owner of this place was a bald, muscular old man that didn't look like he talked all that much. He was behind a bar table when he heard the mercenary's order and he went to fill a couple of mugs with mead.
Ryan: "No alcohol for me please, water is fine."
The man nodded and proceeded while Makalov sat alone and they sat down at an empty table.
Once they were seated, Ryan was once again bombarded with questions pertaining to him, his equipment, and his skills. He just continued to give vague answers or not answer at all. Trying to change the subject, he asked them about Makalov.
Ryan: "Hey, why is he sitting by himself? Aren't you guys all together?"
Knight Mercenary: "Oh, him? He's not actually a part of our mercenary group. He just owes us a favor and is trying to make it up by working with us for a while."
Ryan: "What happened?"
Lance Mercenary: "It's actually a stupid story really. He lost most of his money gambling it away. Then our crappy leader found him, gave him most of our cash, and now we're stuck with dealing with his sorry behind."
Ryan didn't like the way they were talking about Makalov. Although Rayn had to admit that there was something wrong with that guy's priorities, he still was a good guy deep down and was reliable.
Ryan didn't really want to continue hanging out with these people because of their behavior so he quickly left his seat and approached the lonely man. The others seemed displeased by this.
While Makalov was drinking, he also looked a bit sad.
Makalov: 'Ahhh… How come I'm stuck drinking water? I need some liquor, not this boring stuff.'
Without him noticing, Ryan came right beside him.
Ryan: "Get this guy another drink, on me."
Makalov looked at Ryan in surprise for a moment before his eyes started glistening. He had his mouth open and looked like he was about to cry.
Seeing this confirmed it.
Ryan: 'Yup. There's something wrong with this guy's head.'
After he got his cup of mead, the man took one big gulp and started speaking in a weepy tone.
Makalov: "Thank you…" *sniff* "Thank you so much."
Ryan gave him a weird look.
Ryan: "Are you okay?"
Makalov: "I'm fine." *sniff* "I just really needed a drink."
Ryan: "What were you drinking before?"
He didn't reply but began to shed fake tears. Taking a whiff of Makalov's last cup, Ryan found out he was just drinking water and understood why he was sad.
Ryan: 'If I remember correctly, he really did like to drink a lot. I don't understand how Astrid could like a guy like him even after she saw him make a fool out of his drunken self. Well to be fair, she doesn't seem completely rational either.'
While Ryan was preoccupied with his own thoughts, Makalov just remembered something.
Makalov: "Oh! I forgot to say this a while back, but thanks for saving my life."
Ryan: "What? From the wolf? It was no big deal."
Makalov: "No really. Without you, I would've died right there."
Ryan: 'I sort of doubt it. With the way you go about your life, it's a wonder why you haven't died sooner.'
Ryan: "Anyways. Since you already know a bit about me, why don't you tell me a bit about yourself."
Makalov: "Me? There's not really much to talk about. I lived in Begnion my entire life, I have a sister, but we grew up in an orphanage so we don't really have parents, and she's currently training to become a pegasus knight for the Begnion royal army. She sometimes sends me some money from what she earns."
Ryan: "Well… Except for your sister, you really don't have much going for your life."
He scratched his head in embarrassment.
Makalov: "Oh! That reminds me. I think she'll be coming around this area in a few days."
Ryan: "Really?"
Makalov: "Yea. After the new Empress was crowned a few weeks ago, she has been visiting all the major cities in the Empire, so she should be arriving in Persis in a few days. My sister might be going with her as a guard."
Ryan was surprised hearing this news. Not about Marcia, but about how Sanaki was recently crowned and was currently about to arrive in Persis.
Ryan: "Wait. The Empress is visiting Persis in a few days?"
Makalov: "Yea. Why?"
Ryan: "Well, ...my destination in the first place was Persis so I was surprised that something big was going to happen. Looks like I'll have to leave tomorrow if I don't want to be late to the party."
Makalov looked a bit sad hearing that.
Makalov: "Lucky you. I wish I could join the fun too."
Ryan: "Well, why don't you come with me? The others said that you don't really have much of a reason to stay with them other than to pay off your debt. You'll also probably be able to see your sister again too."
Makalov: "But I still owe them."
Ryan: "Let me take care of that. They also owe me, remember? I'll ask them to let you loose in exchange for the wolves' bounty."
Makalov: "But..."
Ryan: "Don't worry about it, I don't really need the cash in the first place. I'm fine even if I don't receive the bounty."
Makalov: "Then… If you don't mind the company..."
Ryan: "Then it's decided. After I go and get an identification tag from the Mercenary House, we'll set off for Persis. I'll meet you at the southern gates in the afternoon."
Makalov: "Alright, I'll be there."
After confirming the meet-up time, Ryan just waited there with Malakov for the leader of the mercenary group to let him and the others know of what their plans.
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