They arrived at the back gate of the Kingdom of Xander, where only a few guards were stationed.
Because of the great alliance in the northern part of the country—where all the kingdoms had joined together—the borders were mostly unguarded.
They rode through the gates without being questioned, soon arriving at the first town in sight.
"How long do you think it'll take us to get to Ashura?" Jackson asked.
"Well," Sasaki replied, glancing at the town ahead, "that's a question for a minute later. Aren't you guys hungry?"
"Of course we are!" Jackson complained. "But how do you intend to buy food when you rejected the money from the Special Darkside Knight?"
"Oh, now I understand why Jackson was asking how long it'll take before we reach Ashura," Alfie said with a sigh. "Because we need to get there fast before we die of starvation."
"Tch," Sasaki clicked his tongue. "My pride is worth more than a few gold coins. We can get a job here for now and survive for tonight."
"Huh? A job?" Jackson frowned. "Who the hell is going to hire people for just a single day or i should say a single night?"
They walked their horses slowly through the town streets, the sound of hooves mixing with the chatter around them.
"We won't know until we try," Alfie said. "Come on, Jack. I can't die of starvation—that's not how Alfie goes out."
Sasaki nodded quietly in response.
At that moment, he suddenly felt it—a gaze from the open farmland beside the road. A man in a black cape stood there, his face hidden beneath his hood. But when Sasaki turned to look directly… no one was there.
"You're acting weird again, Mr. Reaper," Alfie said. "What's the problem? What are you always staring at?"
"It's nothing," Sasaki replied. "Just my curiosity getting the best of me."
He pointed ahead. "Let's check for work here. There's a sign that says they need workers."
He jumped down from his horse in front of a bread bakery, and Alfie and Jackson followed, dismounting beside him.
"Uh, Mr. Sasaki," Jackson said, "do you mind keeping our horses in the storage ring?"
"Huh, that might be a little difficult for me," Sasaki replied. "I'm not really used to this storage ring thing. I only used it once back then to keep a few small items. The one I had didn't have much space, so I only stored my little money in it. Keeping something alive inside? Never tried that before."
Jackson and Alfie both exhaled in disappointment.
"Hey, what's with that reaction? It's not that easy, you morons," Sasaki said.
"Whatever… at least you can keep money and take it out when needed," Jackson said. "That's what matters. We can leave our horses here—I'm sure no one will steal them."
"Don't trust an unknown place just because it looks peaceful," Alfie warned. "There are lots of horse thieves hiding in the shadows."
"How do you know that?" Jackson asked.
"Don't forget, I lived in the back part of Guhan. A lot of things went down back then," Alfie replied.
"Okay now, fellas, could you please step aside from the entrance?" a voice interrupted.
The bakery gate guard stood before them, wearing the company's brown uniform—button-down long sleeves, combat trousers, black military boots, and a Renshi pistol at his side.
Sasaki, Alfie, and Jackson stepped aside from the front of the large wooden door.
"What do we do now, Mr. Reaper?" Alfie asked quietly.
"Follow my lead," Sasaki replied, walking toward the guard.
"Yeah… just as I thought," Jackson and Alfie said together, following behind after tying their horses to the nearby stable.
"Hey there, mister," Sasaki called out. "You mind giving us a minute of your time?"
The guard scanned them from head to toe. From their appearance and weapons, he assumed they were from a wealthy family.
"Of course. What can I help you with?" he asked politely.
"Well, you see… we're a little stranded," Sasaki said, scratching his head. "We need something to get going. So we found ourselves here in your bakery and decided to give it a try."
"What do you mean by 'something to get going'?" the guard asked, confused.
"Come on, you know what I'm talking about," Sasaki said, pointing to the application board beside the door with a little smirk.
No way… the guard thought. Maybe this is one of the business partners' tricks. I won't… I won't fall for it! I see what you're doing—you're trying to check out every aspect of the company. I'm sure you're from the rival bakery in the next town! I won't be fooled!
He cleared his throat. "Well, mister, I guess you'll have to come with me to the manager."
"Hey, that was easy," Jackson thought to himself.
"I wish I could find a blacksmith shop instead," Alfie whispered.
The three of them followed the guard inside the bakery company. The place was huge and well-organized—workers moved with focus, no one talking or slacking off.
The guard led them to the manager's office, on the left side of the building, where two other guards stood on duty. They exchanged greetings before letting the group enter.
"Hey, Mr. Reaper," Alfie whispered as they walked. "Have you ever been to a job interview before?"
"Of course not," Sasaki whispered back. "All I've ever done till now is fight, fight, fight—and fight."
"Come in some other time. I'm busy," the manager said from behind his desk, his chair facing away from them.
Not good, Sasaki thought grimly.
"I think you might be interested in this one, sir," the guard said, walking closer to the manager and bending to whisper something into his ear.
"Hey, what's he whispering about?" Alfie muttered. "Just tell him we need a job already."
"Shut up, Alfie! Don't blow this for us!" Jackson hissed. "Maybe it's their code—they don't share personal talk in public.