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Long Road, Fragments of the Past (3)
As the innkeeper squinted his eyes and examined the crowd, Brendel himself couldnât help but turn around and glance at the person who had quietly followed along their team this entire time. Until now, she had not spoken one single sentence with him and just kept following along silently.
But in deference to Her Royal Highness, he couldnât just ask the woman anything.
When everyone walked into the inn, the bald innkeeper finally seemed to react and confirm that this crowd of people wasnât here to collect debts. He blanked for a second before asking, âDo you all require rooms?â
âUnless you have other services aside from rooms? Isnât this an inn?â Before Brendel could respond, Filas asked in confusion.
âAhh, no. Of course⊠no, welcome!â The bald innkeeper jumped up as if someone held his feet over an open flame. âYou need rooms? My inn has many available rooms and I guarantee your satisfaction.â
âNot just rooms.â Brendel finally said. âWe also need food. We just arrived from Kurkel and weâre cold and hungry. Do you understand?â
âYeah, the grounds of this godforsaken place are so cold and hard, not even tents and sleeping bags helped! I can finally get a good nightâs sleep tonight and eat something decent ââ Filas interrupted excitedly, âI want roast deer meat, preferably roasted with charcoal from the Alfafa Wilderness and so rich you could see the oil dripping from it. Combine that with spices â best use spices shipped from the Luka Sea, if thatâs not possible then I can also accept salt and vanilla from Sanorso â then give me a pot of honey, butter cake, and baked herrings. A cup of black tea straight from Lusitarâs Golden House would be appreciated. Also ââ
The Kirrllutzian knight was just getting in the swing of things, as if he could already taste the meal, but Brendel hurriedly interrupted him before Filas could demand anything even more outrageous. He said to the wide-eyed bald innkeeper, âListen to him and get us roast deer meat â if you donât have it, there should be some in season at the Trout Pool. You can go buy some there. Head out from here, and turn left twice. Then walk all the way to the end of the street. Iâm sure youâve heard of the place.â
âAs for the other things, pretend you didnât hear anything. But you can buy some of the aquatic products from Lake Vallendaren â such as mackerel or salmon, which are both in season. Then you can make us some passable dishes. Weâll pay you double the money for them and, if you can get your hands on honey, Iâll give you an extra reward.â
âIn addition, the ladies could do with some fruit wine to warm them up.â Brendel looked at the little prince. âAnd a cup of goatâs milk. I donât care what you do, but donât play tricks with me. I know the rules here better than you, understand?â
The bald headed innkeeper jerked slightly and realized that he was up against someone very experienced and also more familiar with the town than he was. He couldnât resist giving Brendel an extra glance. Brendelâs northern nobleman outfit gave him slight pause. By all means, someone who could say things like that shouldnât be a nobleman, but rather someone who spent many years on the road, like a mercenary or an adventure seeker.
But the bald innkeeper didnât dare make a fuss and hurriedly made his goodbyes before instructing the waiters to carry out Brandelâs orders.
Only then did Brendel turn around to find everyone watching him in astonishment. Medissa, Ciel, Freya, Scarlett, and even the newly joined Pahimila knew, to some extent, that this Leader was very knowledgeable. In addition, Brendel was a master swordsman and also knew some of the secrets of magecraft and elemental magic. He even understood some of the secrets of the witches. From astronomy to geography and even rumors among the noblemen, Brendel seemed to know it all.
In private, Brendel also seemed to be an alchemist, a blacksmith, and an academic. Despite all this, they never imagined that the Leader would have this side to him.
This was not something you could explain away using just by them being knowledgeable â
At least in the eyes of the others, this count acted like a mercenary or adventure-seeker with all the experience in the world. Scarlett felt this the most. In the past, she had only felt something similar from mercenaries who had traveled throughout all of Aouine or even to Kirrlutz.
She couldnât help but pause and stare in confusion at her Leader. But this caused the little prince, who was hanging his head in defeat, to walk into the case on her back containing the Azure Lance. He let out a grunt.
Haruzâs grunt of pain seemed to break the silence.
Brendel coughed once and seemed to realize that he had behaved a bit exaggeratedly. He couldnât help but glare at Filas. If it hadnât been because of this impulsive guy, he wouldnât have subconsciously shown a side of him from his previous time in the game.
But he sighed quietly inside. It wasnât all the manâs fault. He couldnât resist looking at the scenery outside the window; this place was just too familiar to him.
âYou all know that in my early years, I spent some time seeking enlightenment away from home.â He smiled awkwardly and explained, âduring those years, I crossed paths with adventure-seekers and mercenaries. I even traveled on the seas ââ
âSo thatâs it.â Filas came to a realization. âCount Trentheim, you looked a bit like Lady Veronica just now. According to what I know, the leader of the battalion had a similar experience as you did in her younger years. I heard she even joined a mercenary group by herself.â
This Kirrlutzian knight seemed to easily believe Brendelâs explanation. But that didnât mean everyone else was this easy to fool. When Brendel detected various levels of doubt in the other peopleâs eyes, he understood. Not everyone would believe his explanation.
First, there was an obvious point of suspicion: he was too young.
But right now wasnât the time to discuss this, so Brendel could only force himself to ask everyone to sit down. Luckily, with the exception of Laurenna, Scarlett, Medissa, and Freya all trusted him blindly. They didnât want to press when they realized Brendel wasnât going to tell them more. Each of them fell into their seats.
Just when Brendel thought he had successfully cleared this hurdle, a cold voice interrupted. âBrendel, you said you traveled the seas?â
Brendel sat up straighter, looked up, and saw the female knight seated beside the little prince Haruz.
She seemed to belong to a race from the north. The bridge of her nose was taller and straighter, like those of Highlander blood. Her lips were slightly thick but that didnât destroy her delicate beauty. Instead, it added a slight trace of sexiness to her.
This sexiness, however, did not turn her into a vixen. In contrast, she looked at him calmly with those purple-tinted eyes, as if she were a she-wolf looking at her prey.
She had one hand on her sword and used the other to tuck away the black hair across her forehead.
Brendel stared at her. This woman was the only self-invited guest to their party. At first, he thought she was someone the princess sent because the princess was worried about the little prince. But he had cautiously asked Haruz to do some of the more dangerous guard duties, and she had never seemed to stop him.
Just this alone made him suspicious. Beside, according to the princessâ personality, since she had already demonstrated complete trust in him, it didnât seem like her to do something extra as a precaution.
In fact, after prodding at her for the last several days, Brendel could almost be certain that this female knight seemed to be here for him.
But for the moment, he had a hard time figuring out what her goal was.
So when Maynild opened her mouth, Brendel could almost hear the thump of his heart.
âHere it comes!â he cried out in his heart.
Then he hesitated and answered, âWhat about it?â
âI just want to know which port you left from.â Maynild answered quietly. Her tone of voice became gentle again. This caused Brendel to pause, because he didnât hear any antagonism in her voice.
Instead, because of that familiar face, he even felt a sense of warmness.
âIs there a meaning to the question?â
âNo,â the female knight shook her head. âIâm just curious all of a sudden. Brendel, could you answer me?â
Brendel suddenly felt awkward. He didnât know why Maynilkd didnât call him Mr. Brendel like the princess did and instead used his personal name. This move shortened the gap between them and caused him to feel like he was under someoneâs watchful gaze.
But he looked at her serious expression and didnât know how to refuse it â could he refuse the female upperclassman? In his heart, Brendel shook his head immediately. Clearly not. In this moment, he suddenly realized the root to his anxiousness. Right then, Maynild was too like the impression he carried in his heart.
âI used to study on the Karsuk Plateau under a Black Tower Mage. I was even an apprentice. Then I left for the sea with someone from whatâs known today as Sebons, passed through Sanorso and some places further eastâŠâ
He hesitated and carefully crafted his story. Luckily, he was experienced so that even though these were lies, he didnât think theyâd cause problems. Besides, in another line of history, he had been to all of these places. If she asked, he was confident he could handle himself.
He didnât think the female knight merely glanced at him, as if wondering something about him but also a little bit regretfully. She let out a sigh and said, âIs that so? I thought you had been to the Shining Seas. If you leave from Port Gris by boat, itâll only take you a couple of days before you can see the light of the Kalanga mountain ranges shining on the sparkling seasâŠâ
âSuch a scene must be very beautiful, right?.â
When Brendel heard that sentence, his heart thumped and then froze in one place.
At that moment, he couldnât hear anything else. The only thing that echoed in his mind was that one sentence: If you leave from Port Gris by boat, itâll only take you a couple of days before you can see the light of the Kalanga mountain ranges shining on the sparkling seasâŠ
Such a scene must be very beautiful, right?
Yes, beautiful, majestic, and breathtaking.
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