"That does sound troublesome," Alustur said.
We met up with Kayla and Arnet on our way to the guild.
"Are you a trouble magnet or something?" Kayla asked. "The more I know about you, the more I think… were you born under the eclipse or something? Got cursed?"
"He was born on an auspicious day," Alustur said. "And then promptly abandoned."
"Abandoned?" Kayla said. "And then you picked him up?"
"No, Lindell Arnius did," I said. "My mom."
"Ri-right," Kayla said. "Anyway, this lady sounds dangerous and we should leave as fast as possible!"
"I agree," Alustur said. "However, this may not be that bad. Countess Andecker is known as a strict Askavan follower but not necessarily someone who moves by the will of the church. So, perhaps you could form an alliance under the right circumstances."
"I doubt it," I said. "Didn't seem like the type."
"Could she, in the midst of so many?"
"Fair point but," I didn't bother. "Let's just prepare and leave for now."
***
The other side of the city was indeed more crowded. The roads were wider yet more congested. The stores were more luxurious yet more crowded, and although I saw few people walking about, even they looked like the rich corporate type. I suppose these kinds of people were everywhere.
"What actually happens here?" I said.
"A lot," Alustur said. "But mostly diplomatic things. Like who gets what city, for how long; who has the right to establish a new store in what part of the city and so on."
"Doesn't that happen everywhere?"
"Sadly no. Although most would disagree, Ayun's working capital is Disparisa. As well as the business capital. Almost all of the major decisions within the country take place here. The emperor meanwhile controls the external affairs," Alustur said. He was knowledgeable about this place. Come to think of it, I met the man within the Southern continent, so perhaps he'd lived here for a long while.
"Sounds like a problem," I said.
"Perhaps, or perhaps not. We're not here to judge."
"Yes."
We kept walking and eventually reached the end of the city. We'd been walking for at least two hours since we got off our expensive ass carriage that carried us through a significant portion of the city for an exorbitant price of 1 gold!
How the hell were people surviving here!
"Woah, that highway and that train," I paused. "Why don't we just go over the tracks, or use the highway?"
"They might mistake us for bandits."
"Oh you mean, they want to monopolize the roads so we pay extra for the train or the other rides?"
He didn't say.
But I had a feeling. My suspicious side was tickling!
"So, there's no choice but to take the mountain path?" I spoke out loud.
Some people heard me. And they quickly came over to us to offer some discounts on carriages. If there already were carriages, why didn't Alustur say anything about them before?
They were hella expensive that's why.
Even with discounts they weren't cheaper than the train which had far too many benefits. Actually, now that I thought about it, the reason the train only operated once every two weeks was probably to help these carriage drivers rather than anything else.
Rolling my eyes, we ignored them and kept walking away from the city. We did use the road for about ten minutes before going down some dirt road with an incline. Soon we'd be traveling into the mountains.
"Some reminders, this place is full of danger. That includes both Fiends and bandits. Not to mention the terrain itself. It may get absurdly hot, and it might also get absurdly cold. So be mentally prepared for it."
"Basically, like dealing with a desert," I said.
"It's worse," Alustur said.
Sure.
So, we remained cautious and before long, found ourselves in the midst of some canyon like place. I'd seen silhouettes of mountains from the distance but I didn't realize how frigging massive they were. There were at least tens of kilometers of mountainous terrain ahead of us and I had no idea how we were going to cross all that crap. In a week no less.
"I wish I could fly," I said.
"You can manipulate air well enough, right?" Kayla said. "So, shouldn't you?"
"I probably could but I'd burn out a couple of gems. It'd make more sense to sell them and use the train instead."
Yet, Kayla seemed interested. I wasn't sure though. Gems aside, I couldn't think of a practical way to balance that kind of flight.
Maybe if I could manipulate gravity, I could have done something but I'd tried manipulating my weight before and that led me nowhere. The best I could do was make small pebbles lighter.
"Oh yeah," I started. "Are you two from the forbidden continent, or-"
"We're halfbreeds," Kayla said. "I thought you knew?"
"Well, I can tell from your appearance that you are part fish, but-"
"Merpeople, at least say Merpeople, geez," Kayla grumbled. "You have no filter, kid."
They actually looked fairly human for what they were. However, some parts, for example their necks had small slits. Most people would have thought those were scars but I knew those were gills.
"I do have filters but sometimes I'm a bit of an asshole," I said proudly. Mostly anticipating laughs. But all I got were dull stares.
Oh well.
"So, what?" Kayla said.
"I was wondering what you know about magic."
"Not much. It's rare, not that important. And you can live all your life without it."
Not very helpful.
I gave Arnet a glance and he didn't even meet my glance.
"Careful," Alustur pulled me to the side. I'd gotten a bit too close to the edge of the path. We were only about ten or so meters above ground but even a fall this slow was certainly going to hurt.
"Why are we climbing up when there are so many mountains? Are we going to climb up and down or jump from one to the other and-"
"There are some bridges above; some tunnels as well," Alustur said. "They're not very safe but it's better than loitering around the base of the mountains. There are strong fiends down here, as well as bandits."
"Since most people don't take this path, and the few who do are probably poor, wouldn't it make more sense if the bandits were elsewhere rather than here?"
"It would," Alustur said. "But few people who have the courage to go here, are either foolhardy or they carry precious things that they cannot trust the authority with; even illegal things. Usually the latter."
"Ah, and said things fetch a good price."
"Exactly," someone said.
The voice was odd. A guy was up ahead, leaning against the mountain, staring prettily at us with a smile. Alustur didn't bother unsheathing his sword. I suppose the man wasn't a danger, yet. "Who are you?"
"Names Maclahan. Rogue adventurer." Poking skeletal face. Kind of weird.
"And?"
"And, I'm looking for a party to get out of here."
"Shady as hell," I whispered.
Kayla giggled.
"Keep looking," Alustur said, and we passed him.
But the man hung about.
"Don't be so cold. I'm good with the sword."
"I'm better," Alustur said. "Get lost or you'll end up losing other things."
"Okay, okay," the man smiled, lifting his arms up as a surrender and walked back. Although he wasn't looking, he could walk around just fine. Rather casual too.
A bit too laid back. "There might be an ambush ahead," I said.
"Likely," Alustur said. "But it's not much of an ambush if we know it's coming," he said. "Don't worry about it."
So yeah, I didn't worry about it.