"Let's go in this direction." Ros said, pointing to a place in the distance.
Zaragoza's buildings were built with a cream colored limestone, which looked very mesmerizing even under the night sky. The streets were full of people and clattering carriages.
There were lamps hung over the street every ten meters or so which helped light up the streets.
Lara was taken aback by the unique buildings of Zaragoza, she clearly wanted to explore more than just stroll the streets.
Alex didn't feel the same way.
He'd already seen buildings like this before and even more developed.
"Where are we heading?" Alex asked as his head was turned around, observing the people rather than the buildings.
"You'll see. It's my favorite place in this city." Ros replied calmly.
'We can't spend too long here… It's been two weeks since we left Alos.' Alex worriedly thought.
The people wore different types of clothes than the people in Alos. While seeing many of them also wear capes, there were many that wore suits and hats.
There were also some wearing normal clothes, just enough to get them through the day.
Several minutes passed as each person in the party was thinking about something different, until they finally reached the place Ros was talking about.
It was a bridge over a river that ran through the entire city.
"This is the Pont Neuf Bridge which is built over the River Seine. It is my favorite spot in Zaragoza."
Alex raised a brow as he heard the name of the river. It sounded like a French name to him, which only deepened his unease and the mystery of this world.
A cold breeze bit at the party, blowing their hair. While it was also refreshing, Alex found it to be somewhat annoying.
'I guess it would be better if I don't think more about it.' He thought as he pushed off the thoughts of it being related to Earth, at least for now.
He thought as he had his arm over his face to block the wind from blowing at his hair any further.
Lara was the first to go on the decorated concrete bridge, as she stood next to the end of the bridge staring at the flowing river.
Alex and Ros slowly followed Lara, letting the cold wind bite at them.
The sounds of people passing by, the flowing river and even the horse-drawn carriages loudly moving on the bridge, it was truly a moment of peace for the party.
After all this time of enduring and pain, they finally had a moment to just take a deep breath and relax.
Then, a group of two spoke from behind Alex as he heard them, just barely,
"Why won't they just execute her?" One of the men asked sternly.
Alex turned his head around slightly as he wondered:
'Execute? Who are they talking about?'
The other man spoke as he chuckled, as if answering Alex, "Well, it is the Princess. Can't be that easy."
Alex's eyes widened, hearing of this for the first time. He turned his entire body around looking away from the river.
He was about to stop and question the two men, as he stretched his arm to grab hold of one of the men's shoulders, before Ros stepped up and gripped Alex's arm tightly.
Lara was barely paying any attention to the small commotion, as her eyes were locked on the river, lost in her own thoughts.
Ros knew about the situation in Epilune, but he kept it hidden from Alex. He thought it was best to not speak or even mention it.
Alex instantly realized why Ros stopped him.
"You knew?" Alex asked him, his brows furrowed.
Ros hesitated as his grip loosened, "It was for your sake."
"My sake? You should've told me—days ago, even."
Alex didn't know the exact reason why the two men spoke about the Princess in that way, but if they mentioned execution and more on a Princess, it made Alex worry more than he already was worrying.
"I'll explain." Ros calmly replied.
Ros stood next to Alex as he turned his body around to the river once again. Alex waited for an explanation as he fought to keep his composure.
Ros crossed both arms on the edge of the bridge, as he began to talk, "These rumors on the Princess have been escalating recently. I've only heard about it recently from the old man, when we were camping near a village. But I know what they say about her isn't true."
Alex raised a brow, "What do you mean?" he asked.
"I've seen her in person before. I am in no means a Blank that could see through people, but I had one look at her and I knew she was a good-hearted woman. It didn't need a genius to know that."
He wasn't lying. Ros always was able to tell how a person was just based on how they look. Whether it was a person of high status or low, he always guessed right.
It was pure intuition.
Alex stepped closer to Ros who had been observing the river the entire time.
"Why hide it from me then? I thought we'd agreed to not hide anything from each other." Alex pressed.
Ros faced Alex, a frown on his face as he spoke regretfully, "I.. I was also unsure. But I thought it was the best decision."
Ros turned his face looking back on the river once more, "You already had enough to worry about. It would've only made things worse."
Alex looked at Ros silently. He wasn't sure how to feel, but it was obvious to him Ros only did it because he cared for him. And that made Alex want to forgive him.
He inhaled and exhaled, then he stood next to Ros and shifted his gaze to the river.
"I understand. Thank you, Ros."
Ros chuckled, "I should be thanking you."
'We have about another week before we reach Epilune. Lara's probably run out of patience.' Alex thought as he smiled.
'Wait..' Alex moved his head left and right, before he finally realized something that he wasn't aware of due to his little argument with Ros.
"So.. Where's Lara?" asked Alex.
"She was just here one minute ago." Ros replied holding an unamused face, like he expected this to happen sooner or later.
***
"Just use the Wind Compass. We won't find her at this rate." Alex suggested.
They left the bridge over the river and started looking back in the direction they came from, assuming Lara went that way.
Ros nodded as he pulled out a circle shaped metal object from his pockets. He blew at the Compass in his hand before he turned his head up.
He narrowed his eyes slightly, "She crossed the bridge.. Follow me."
Alex didn't even bother to respond.
They hurriedly walked up to the bridge, passing between the crowds of people till they reached the other side of the city.
The Wind Compass helps locate or guide people. It is somewhat of a rare and expensive artifact which Ros and his party managed to get.
It leaves a faint trail of wind helping the person using it to locate whatever they'd need.
It had its disadvantages like not being able to locate stuff far in the distance or sometimes the path could lead to different places, but all in all it was an important artifact.
Minutes passed as the two kept walking until they finally reached the place guided to them by the Compass.
They stood outside a tavern. The building was also made out of limestone, so even for a tavern it was still appealing.
'What is she even thinking, going to a tavern at a time like this!'
Ros sighed as he stepped up to open the door, when he opened it the building inside was decorated very neatly and in a fancy way.
It was made out of fancy wood, there were many small tables with around three chairs next to each one.
There weren't many people, which surprised Ros and Alex a bit knowing how taverns are usually crowded at night.
Shifting their gaze from one table to another, they finally spotted Lara.
She was sitting alone as she had her head locked on the wooden table.
Next to her was an empty glass cup, there were tinges of orange in the cup. Knowing Lara, they both assumed she was drinking orange juice.
She looked wasted, even though all she did was drink juice.
"Should we just leave her?" Alex asked sarcastically.
Ros smiled before he came up to Lara and shook her slightly, waking her up.