บท 30: Chapter 29
The village of Sondano was a rather quaint place. With a population in the low thousands, one could really notice the difference between here and Drecos, the capital of the Leganon Kingdom.
People here worked more menial jobs and there was no such thing as getting lost in the maze of a city. A few shops graced the streets, which were not paved, the rest being homes or warehouses. With the forest and hills not too far, many industrial type jobs could be found here and their goods would be sent to the capital.
The room at the inn had not cost a lot, Halam even having paid for everyone, but the beds were comfy. The tired adventurers slept until well past noon and were awoken rather abruptly by an upset owner wanting them to vacate the rooms so they could be cleaned for the following night.
What didn't help Wilfred sleep however was the letter he had found on the bandit, Blackjack. In it were orders directing him to take his best men and head to Leganon to apprehend a young mage. Another operative would contact him and help him with his objective once he was in the city.
It was rather easy to guess who was the target. This left Wilfred with a hard choice to take; Did he want to try and confront the man giving orders to Blackjack or lay low for a while? While he was not one to shy away from a confrontation, the fact remained that they had barely overcome Blackjack and his leader would surely be stronger. Which was also not helped by there being operatives in action around the capital, most likely some of the spies he had noticed.
(I'll head home first and then decide. Worst case scenario, I can disappear for a bit but I'll see what Primus and Baron Lanart have to say about this.)
One positive thing about this whole ordeal was that the adventurers owed him a favor, not even counting the money he would make from the guild reward and the extra skill he got. He would be sure to cash that favor in one day when he would need it most.
They did not dawdle around much longer than necessary and were soon on the road again. This time though, the adventurers grabbed a ride with a merchant heading to Drecos. Since they did not need to go off in the woods or use some other path this time, they decided to save some walking this way. The merchant was more than happy to have them on board as it lowered his odds of getting robbed if he was with powerful adventurers plus he did not have to pay them this way since their payment was the ride.
The merchant brought ores from the mines north of Sondano to refine them in the city. With two assistants, the merchant's trading mission drove three carts. Even though they would be saving time by riding, it would be very late at night when they would finally reach the city as opposed to mid afternoon the next day if they had walked instead. Seated with the merchant, Wilfred was quite bored as he watched the surroundings and started chatting with the woman. She was in her sixties, hair going grey and a bit on the heavier side of the scale but not to say she was fat.
Her father had died in the demon war fighting Beastfolk over 32 years ago and she had remained with a grudge since then. She kept on trading and hired a few assistants to help her out along the way but never went to trade with Louradariz, Kingdom of the Beastfolk, due to resentment over her husband's death. As a trader she went a bit everywhere else, having no place to really call home as she always had to be on the move and bring merchandise from one place to the other. Wilfred could relate to that, it was hard on morale when you had nowhere to put your roots. She talked to him about which towns were famous for producing certain things, conflicts happening in other kingdoms.
Time flew by rapidly enough and Wilfred got plenty of useful information regarding the area outside of the capital. People tended to be more open and forthcoming to a kid that was asking questions rather than a grown man.
Reaching the city gates late at night, Wilfred would have estimated 11PM, it was hard to guess without being familiar with this planet's rotational cycle, they parted ways with the traders and headed on their own inside while the trade waited to be inspected. Before they split up in the city, Halam talked to Wilfred.
"So, we're going to go rest a bit and head over to the guild tomorrow to collect our reward. We'll meet you there alright?"
"Yeah that's fine. I've a few things I need to do tonight anyhow."
"Thanks again Wilfred, couldn't have done it without you."
They waved goodbye and went their own ways. Although it was late, Wilfred was pretty sure he could still catch Primus at his desk at this time.
(So first thing; talk to Primus and see what he thinks about this whole situation and if he can help me. If that doesn't work out I can go see the Baron but not sure how far I can trust him though. I can maybe count on the adventurers for their help if I choose to confront the one behind Blackjack but they need to recover first. Perhaps going off the grid for a bit would be better. I can train undisturbed that way and not have to look behind my back all the time.)
The streets were mostly deserted at this time and Wilfred promptly made his way over to the academy grounds. The guards gave him a curious look as he walked in but did not detain him, they were getting using to his unusual visits by now.
Having left the city for a few days also helped throw off the spies from his trail. They knew where he lived however and he'd have to be extra careful when leaving or entering his home.
As expected, Primus was still in his office but sleeping on his desk while sitting. The man was such a workaholic that if Wilfred didn't know any better he would think he might be someone who was reincarnated from Japan.
He stepped in and gently shook Primus awake, startling the old man.
"Wha, who!? Oh, it's just you Wilfred. What are you doing here this late?"
Wilfred handed him Blackjack's letter and explained the situation.
"So long story short; I wanted to make some extra money while not using my ability to sell artifact items since that seemed to draw too much attention. Instead I teamed up with some adventurers and we dealt with bandits. But now the people that stole the two guns after the tournament have been looking for me and I'm starting to think I should disappear for some time until I'm strong enough to deal with whoever's in charge of this Society of the Video Game."
Wilfred continued and told him about everything including the baron's offer and the spies that he spotted. Primus took it all in with a serious expression and mulled it over.
"...I see. I wish I could protect you properly but the academy isn't what it used to be. The council is mostly made up of selfish nobles these days and they would not hesitate to sell you out for their own gains. "
(Dang, so much for the academy then.)
"I know a little about the society you speak of. J'aymezh used to be a hero that was summoned to this world in a time of need. I also took part of that battle years ago and he is indeed quite strong. Something happened when the heroes realized they could not go back home though. I wasn't there but heard of it and he was not the same after the incident."
(So I suppose I'm not the first here. But they were summoned, not reincarnated.)
"Heroes from another world huh? Is there any other except him? "
Primus thought about Wilfred's question for some time but shook his head negatively.
"As far as I know, no. There were five heroes summoned and then they had a falling out. "
"Alright, thanks for the information. I suppose it's not a good idea to confront him right now. I'm going to be gone for some time then, how will that affect my standing with the academy? "
"Well, that's one thing I can help you with. There are circumstances where a foreign mage would come to seek residence in Leganon. In those cases, they are allowed to partake in the last year's exam but the mandatory service is still required. Therefore, I am fairly confident I could manage to let this fly with the council. "
(Hmmm, that's better than nothing. So I could disappear for a few years and be back to serve in the Mage Corps. People most likely having forgotten about me by then.)
His mind set on the course of action, Wilfred thanked Primus for his advice and headed out. There was a lot to prepare tonight as well as trying to remember his SERE training.
The military unit he served in often operated abroad and capture was not an option. Survival, evasion, resistance and escape training was given to all units who operated overseas with emphasis on interrogation resistance training for senior officers.
Even though he did not intend to spend all of his time in the wild, it would be needed to some degree. The less contact with other people and the better his chances of passing under the radar.
(Even if the baron wanted to help, I'd still be a target so this is better. First off, get home without being spotted. Then, get my share of the reward from the adventurer guild first thing in the morning. Buy a few things, I think I'll even splurge on a dimensional storage item.)
Keeping to the alleys, Wilfred made his way home and snuck in through the back. It was very late by then and Wilfred moved silently to not wake up anyone. The floorboards creaked under his foot but everyone was sound asleep. Getting into his room, he opened the window to let out his drone, intending to see if there was anyone watching the front of the house.
To his delight, all seemed very quiet and he could not spot anyone except a few drunkard walking back one. He watched long enough to be sure they didn't stick around and then went to bed.
He did not sleep long as much was on his mind. He would have to tell his family that he'd be hiding for some time. He also couldn't tell anyone where he might go since they could divulge the information under duress.
Getting up early at dawn, he began preparing his most important belongings for a long trip. He dreaded going downstairs that morning because he knew he would get an earful from his parents. It took some time but he felt more at ease thinking of them like parents now. Perhaps not biological ones but like in laws.
Steeling himself, Wilfred headed downstairs after hearing some noise in the kitchen. The first person he saw was his mother, preparing some food.
"Oh, good morning Wil. Have the time to be joining us for breakfast today?"
"Yeah. Very briefly though."
His sister and father would be prepping the shop for the day before coming for breakfast in order to make sure everything would be ready.
(I'll wait for everyone to be here before I make the announcement.)
His mother prepared some kind of casserole, an assortment of leftovers from the previous day prepared for today. It smelled good and Wilfred closed his eyes, soaking in the scent. He rather missed his mother's cooking when he was at the academy. He made due with the regular fare served there, prepared for hundreds of students it lacked the touch of a caring parent.
The door opened and his father, Henry as well as his sister entered the kitchen. They were already sweating, having given a quick burst of energy to clean and prepare the shop for the morning shoppers.
There was a good amount of window shoppers that came by most of the time. They would look at the wares and try to negotiate the prices since Henry's shop was not quite famous. The quality of his work was good and quite often they did get a price reduction simply because a sale was better than no sale and he could not be too picky.
"Hey look who joins us today! "
Henry walked behind him and put his hands on Wilfred shoulders and squeezed then ruffled his hair.
Wilfred waited till everyone was seated and was done eating before breaking out the news.
"Thanks for the great breakfast mom. So I Uhh, have some news. This is a bit hard to explain so I'll start from the beginning… "
He then went and told his family all about what went on at the academy during the last year, the friends he made and how everything escalated up to the point where he now needed to go hide for some time. The hardest part was telling them he could not tell them where and how long he would be gone.
Wilfred's mother cried and hugged him tightly but ultimately they understood it was his choice and that he was capable enough to be on his own. They were naturally worried but knew they could not help him against a strong fighter or corrupt nobles. Henry knelt down in front of Wilfred and looked him in the eyes.
"Well, we'll always be here for you son though, don't you forget it. If there's anything, you can come to us. "
"Thanks. I'll also try to make sure they don't come after you to get to me, I have an idea. I… Love you guys. "
They embraced in a large hug as a family, breaking apart when they heard many set of hooves in front of the house. Looking out the window, Wilfred saw a dozen armed knights and one large carriage, rather fancy looking.
A knock came at the door, loud and clear a voice boomed out.
"In the name of the royal family, open!
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