As the campfire warmed Tolir, he stared at the skewer Alyn handed him. Soon after their arrival, the dark night of the woods forced them to set up camp in a hurry. His companion had been scandalized in the way he lived in the previous world and had taken matters into her own hands.
Under her instructions and with the help of her knowledge of survival, they had built a fire and chased away a rabbit that had had the misfortune to cross their path. Well installed, under the starlight, they fell asleep after a full day under the watchful eye of the goblins.
The next day, they set out again in the direction of the next town. This one, according to Alyn, had ten times more inhabitants than Lafine. The path that led them to their destination appeared to be well-maintained and regular. Alyn trotted ahead of the group to warn them to hide the goblins if they came across a traveler.
It seemed like a long way to Tolir because by noon they still couldn't see any sign of the city. As they ate their meal, Alyn asked Tolir if he could help them:
"Do goblins not eat?"
"I don't know... They've never complained about it and I've never caught them eating, so I've deduced that they don't... Which is convenient for me, I must say. I don't feel like lugging around the supplies needed for such a bunch!"
Alyn laughed at his conclusion as they finished their lunch. They set off again, following the road with the same organization. It was not until two hours later that the surrounding forest gave way to a rolling plain.
Tolir hesitated to continue with the goblins before ordering them to hide at the edge of the forest. He didn't want to be surprised in the current state, which would lead him to take regrettable measures... Especially since he preferred to devote a phase of observation of the city before launching the hostilities with the element of surprise in his favor.
Thus, he preferred to sacrifice half a day of travel in the worst case. Alone accompanied by Alyn, they continued their way. It was only at the end of the afternoon when the sun declined again that they saw the walls of the city. As they approached them, a nightmarish vision greeted them.
Just in front of the gate leading to the city, there were eight gibbets with decaying corpses hanging from them. The stench of the rotting bodies was also present. They hurried into the city to get rid of the sinister sight intended to impress the visitors.
At the end of the day, the place was gradually calming down with the shops closing their doors and the inhabitants returning to their homes. On the other hand, the taverns were beginning to get restless. Alyn asked:
"What are you going to do tonight?"
Tolir scratched his head:
"To tell the truth, I didn't think it would take me this long to come here... I was planning to sleep in the forest, again, but I guess we don't have a choice... On the other hand, I don't have any money, I doubt that the population here, is as generous as the one in Lafine to give us free lodging."
"It's true..." sighed Alyn. "I've got some money saved up, that'll do at least for tonight... Let's find an inn then."
Tolir nodded, a little ashamed to have to rely on the girl's savings. He felt like he was robbing her. After a quick tour of the neighborhood, they found an establishment that seemed suitable. Inside, the atmosphere was lacking with only a few solitary customers who dined quietly.
As Alyn paid the waiter, to her surprise, she asked him casually:
"It's pretty quiet here..."
"Tell me about that, my lady, since the outcasts were arrested, travelers are rare... Well, at least I don't have to deal with any fights..."
"You mean... the ones hanging at the entrance of the city?"
"Those very ones! Even though the new archpriest was merciful enough to spare most of them... As a result, beggars are swarming the streets..."
They did not insist on the innkeeper and sat down at a table where he served them a hot meal consisting of a hot soup and a piece of meat. The two of them talked about everything and anything, wanting to go to bed as soon as possible after their day of travel. As soon as they were done, they went up to the rather comfortable room where they spent the night.
The early morning sounds of the city woke them up early. They decided to take a tour of the place to study it in case of an assault. The city turned out to be small, with the only particularity of being surrounded by walls on all sides. Only two roads lead to it, one to the south towards the world of Lafine and one to the north towards the capital of this world, Taril.
The activity of the city, called Vold, was mainly woodworking and blacksmithing, thanks to the large forest that fed the blast furnaces. During their visit, they noticed, as the innkeeper had told them, the presence of many wretches who were hanging around asking for a penny or selling dubious trinkets.
At the bend in a narrow street, they overheard the arrest of a group of outcasts by a guard commanded by what appeared to be a priest, given his outfit, which was identical to Father Maurias':
"You are under arrest for blasphemy!"
"Are you kidding? We are not doing anything wrong! We only sell objects that we have made ourselves," protested an outcast in a weak voice.
"By presenting them as containing a spirit of the forest claiming to protect against the evil spell! But only the Cult is capable of such a promise! All the rest is only deception or worse, blasphemy! Take them away, their bodies will adorn the walls."
Then, feeling spied upon, the priest turned to see Alyn and Tolir watching the scene:
"Travelers? Where are you from and what are you doing here?"
"From Lafine, Father," Alyn replied. We have come to get closer.
"Lafine," he exhaled condescendingly, "hurry up and make your purchases and leave, we might mistake you for outcasts."
Without further ado, he left following the golem guards who were taking away the beggars under their cries of protest. Alyn turned to Tolir:
"What is going on here?"
"I don't know, but I have a feeling that the Cult is trying to clean up... I wonder if I had anything to do with it... Anyway, we've seen enough, let's go back, find our... companions."
The girl nodded, also uncomfortable in the stifling atmosphere of the city. Without lingering, they retreated towards the southern gate along the macabre gibbets and then continued towards the forest. They walked uninterrupted until mid-afternoon before finding the goblins. Tolir breathed a sigh of relief that they had been discovered in their absence.
Alyn, also reassured, asked him:
"Are we going to take this town?"
"Of course, the question is how... Those damn walls are going to give us a hard time, and we don't know how many golems are in the garrison... We're going to have to organize and reinforce ourselves. I'd say at the very least, we have at least a week's worth of preparation, if not more."
With that, they spent the rest of the afternoon organizing their next few days: while Alyn was scouring the forest for new goblins thanks to his far superior speed, the goblins would resume their mission of searching for aether orbs. As for Tolir, in addition to running from one orb to another, he would implement the strategy he was devising.
Thus, the following days were devoted to strengthening them, thanks to a few orbs, surprisingly far fewer than in Lafine's world, he was able to summon an aetheric core. After having hesitated for a long time about its rank, he chose the lowest of them, considering that in view of their limited resources for the moment, it was better to avoid superfluous expenses.
He placed the core deep in the forest, so as to avoid its discovery. Moreover, he found that the place lent itself well to his presence with a somewhat sinister atmosphere. Two days later, as he reached an orb, he saw a cave that he found ideal for the presence of an aetheric core. To his surprise, he discovered that he could summon a second one.
From the tests he conducted afterward, he realized that the cores had to be spaced a significant distance apart, which he soon realized because each trip between the two cores cost him half a day's travel. However, this discovery allowed him to collect a greater quantity of aether since each of them continued to accumulate it. In total, he estimated his daily aether gains to be around fifteen using both cores.
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