*Tadak, Tadak*,
The sound of the horses' hoof against that of the ground. Quite the therapeutic sound to listen to.
This was applicable ofcourse if I were to be sitting on the balcony of my house on a rainy day, sipping a cup of tea along with some biscuits listening to these sounds.
But when one is riding the horse, at full speed then it's game over.
The horses strode through tough muddy areas gradually reaching areas with a proper path; indicating the prescence of the life nearby. Our slums basically.
Instead of entering by the main gate we decided to enter through the eastern gate.
As we neared the area, the broken ark like structure gradually came into view. Unlike last time the guards were absent.
Paying no heed, I glanced at Jack and we both took the lead.
"Jack, weren't there two gatekeepers when we visited before?",
"Mm",
'It seems quite empty. Are they on a break?',
I got down the horse and headed towards the ark like structure. Unlike the last time I decided to enter in this part to look at how stuff was.
The grayish walls which are nearly dilapidated and the broken ark like gate which was nearly destroyed.
As I began walking closer, the grayish walls began to emit the smell of iron.
'Blood',
I quickly drew my scimitars which was quickly followed by Jack's throwing knife piercing the already dead gate.
Clung,
The sound of two metals causing reverberated when a figure slipped right in front of Jack.
'Shit',
Before I could move, Jack was sent back few steps and the figure approached me within an instant.
With how fast the figure moved, I couldn't counter her move so I parried her punch with my legs.
Kicking her incoming fist away, I headbutted to the figure's torso.
Although the impact seemed small, I paid no heed and began to slash my twin scimitars towards her.
Clang, cknag, clang,.....
My sword and the figures what looked like a knife kept clashing and I was definitely being overpowered.
Fed up, I slightly ducked down and somersaulted towards the legs kicking them.
The figure leaped into the air and landed behind my back.
It's foot was near my face when it stopped.
"Hoo, pretty good brat", a ruff voice echoed.
'Hah, I've missed her voice all right',
"Nara, you still haven't changed your beastly ways you know",
"Who are you calling beastly, brat. Looks like my absence made you insolent", she banged my head with that.
"Tch, barbaric", I said looking at her with an amused expression.
"Welcome back. You've gotten stronger Roy",
"I guess",
After discussing for a while we began moving into the eastern gate.
I've never visited this part before but even I could tell the place was nearly worn out.
The trees looked like they got sucked by groot. Completely devoid of any girth.
The fallen leaves were already spread all over the place, making it look like an abandoned graveyard.
The faint smell of blood and the eery looking houses which were either broken into two halves or was made out of a plain sheet.
The path in front of us was completely covered by dust and even the sun seemed less bright in this area.
'At this point living in a desert seems more dependable',
"What happened here Nara sis??", Nero asked.
"This area was completely destroyed. Well whatever was left of it anyway.",
"Was?? How long has it been?",
"It's been two months since the incident took place. We've evacuated all the inhabitants kf this place but the area is nearly irrecoverable."
"Nara, was it the ghoul? Seems unlikely that it would do something like this",
"No its not the ghoul. It's those townsfolk bastards. Tch, how come the ghoul doesn't attack anyone from their side. It's either that or this"
"....Wait what? The ghoul never attacked anyone from their side?? Nara what are you talking about."
"Yeah, you heard me right. Till now it never attacked anyone from their ranks or even the citizens.",
'Huh, now this is interesting. Let's go back a bit,
1. The ghoul appears out of nowhere resting near our slums.
2. The neandth illegally sell the black mithril weapons in our land.
3. The ghoul goes on a rampage.
4. It doesn't attack anyone from the town.
Hmm it's starting to link up. There has to be some or the other connection between the attacks and the need.'
"Nara, why are they going to such an extent for a waste barren land like this. What exactly happened here and what are you hiding??",
".
.
.
.",
Sigh,
"I don't exactly know the reason for why our area is being targeted but just know this Roy. This place is not just the slums like you believe and you or Sir Reynolds are not whom you are either."
Her words deeply hit my mind and slight clarity indulged me.
'So I was right. Everything related to the inn seemed way to suspicious. There being library, or the riches from our inn or how well built most of the guys from the central area. Nothing seemed right. It was definitely hard in here but it was not quite the slums you would normally expect.'
*gwaarrrr*,
"Eek....",
Nara let out a silent shriek and there was a huge 'Aah it's a cute animal', expression on her face.
"Hoo, so even you can make faces like this", I teased.
Paying no heed to me, she beckoned Fenrir to come towards her.
He who was curled around my neck like a muffler looked at her with a strange expression.
(BTW, Fe is as big as a grown cat rn. It's different from your typical wolf cubs)
He bit her finger and shortly returned back to sleep.
With a solemn expression, we began discussing various changes made and everything was different.
Gradually walking I asked, about the two new guards with funny names. Their current whereabouts and such.
She didn't seem to know what we were talking about but then revealed a shocking revelation to us.
"By all means listen to me. As of this moment, you've returned back to the main part of the slums. Don't trust any new faces or the old ones. There are a few whom you can trust but not everyone. Remember, there's a traitor among us. The one responsible for the genocide and also the current danger",
'Tchh, what an absolutely pathetic start this is. To think there really is a traitor',
Things were starting to get troublesome.