The night had gone by peacefully, and the sun was beginning to peek at rays of light over the horizon as Orion and Draco arrived at the main gate of the city, which was beginning to stir with life as people began to start the day's business. The city was always alive with movement as soon as the sun began to rise, people taking their jobs very seriously or training their combat skills. With children being rare for most people, people were able to focus a lot of time on improving aspects of their lives and becoming successful in their respective endeavors.
Orion had prepared for the journey by wearing a black skin-tight vest and his usual loose black pants lined with a golden waistband tucked into thin black boots lined with exotic fur, whilst still sporting his custom black and gold shirt.
Draco had only swapped out his white vest for a red one and was wearing his thick red cape fastened to his shoulders, which had a distinct tapestry of a dragon on the back. Orion took a brief look around, "That's odd, I had judged Indra for being an overachiever and thought for certain she would beat us."
A voice spoke from behind them. "I certainly did, but I went to take a look at the road while I was waiting."
Indra appeared after she finished speaking, wearing a fresh version of the same outfit as the day they met, this time carrying a long white polearm with a one-sided silver blade. Orion looked through the sandstone archway decorated with the kingdom's goldenseal at the top to see the long dirt road he had walked many times before, but this time the world beyond seemed so much wider. Looking back at each other, they simply nodded and began to walk at a steady pace out of the city.
Indra was looking around at the forest in the distance as they began to enter the vast farmland surrounding the kingdom. "So Orion, do you know where we are going exactly?"
She said as she was seemingly taking in the outside world for the first time. "Not exactly, he gave a fairly vague clue to be honest, but I think I know what mountain they could be talking about." He said, seemingly not worried about the lack of information they had.
The scholars of the kingdom were the most intelligent in the city, and it was surprising that it took them this long to decipher those tablets from before the current kingdom was established. Orion often would go to academia to either find out more about monsters or update their biology records and field guides if he found something new.
Draco chimed in while taking in the wide grasslands speckled with livestock, "What makes you say that? Have you been there?" Orion looked as unsure as he looked apathetic, "I stumbled upon a massive chamber on top of that mountain with many strange markings and architecture throughout it resembling an ancient portal, but it didn't have anything of value, so I didn't mess with it any further."
Draco and Indra had looks of disbelief on their faces as Draco responded, "That has to be it, you should have recognized it sooner."
Orion just looked into the distance stubbornly as he retorted, "Sure, that one ruin out of all of the ruins I have seen must be the one. The realm is vast, and there are smaller mountain ranges surrounded by villages I know neither of you have been to, and they aren't always happy to see people that are on royal business. I couldn't imagine living as an heir to a kingdom for one thousand years and having not seen my whole kingdom."
Draco looked surprised at Orion's faithless view, "But all of the villages are loyal to the king and therefore our mission." Orion just scoffed at the reply, "Yes, but most of them have different customs and less law to abide by, I'm surprised you haven't picked up on more of the details over your years." Draco had a stunned look on his face as if he thought every village was run exactly like the main kingdom.
The sun had climbed high into the sky to indicate late morning as their feet had brought them to the first village in the farmlands, where the majority of the food in the realm came from. "Olus Village," Orion stated. While this was in no way a comparison to the main city, there were still many wide, woven grass huts on either side of the road, bustling with people dressed in simple tan garments and straw hats working to provide food and clothing to the entire realm.
Olus village was a frequent stop for Orion on his way back to the kingdom, as anything that he didn't feel like carrying he would sell to the villagers for a discount. Then again he would do that for everyone outside of the capital city, showing a clear bias against the capital city merchants.
Among the villagers, some other travelers had stopped at the village for business or rest, whom Orion spotted in the streets. Draco turned to address them, "Unless you two need something, I assume we can go through this place towards the mountain?" Orion and Indra just nodded their heads as they were slowly trekking through the crowded street.
When they were just about at the end of town and beginning to pass blacksmith shops and the few taverns on the edge of town, a young boy dressed in sackcloth and dirt smeared across his face skidded up to Indra and excitedly asked, "You three are dressed like travelers as well! Are you with the man in white who was here a few days ago?"
Draco and Indra shared a confused look before Indra turned back to the boy, "I don't think we know this man in white, but why do you ask?"
He looked slightly disappointed that they did not know this 'man in white' but readily answered anyway, "Well, my father and I run that blacksmith shop around here, and a few days ago some thieves had slipped in and stolen all of our gold and weapons. By the time we had chased them to the edge of town, we were sure they had gotten away, but almost out of nowhere, a man dressed in white had appeared in front of them and knocked them out in a flash. He then returned what they stole and even doubled it with a snap of his fingers like a magic trick!"
Sounds like some sort of fairytale.
Indra and Draco looked just as confused as they were at the start, as Draco added, "Did anything happen after that?"
The look on his face saddened as he added, "No, I looked away, and he had vanished. I just wanted to see him again so I could give him a thank-you gift. I think you guys will have a better chance of seeing him than I, so if you find him could you give it to him for me?"
Indra couldn't shake the confused look off her face, but still answered sincerely, "Of course we can, but I have to let you know that we may never run into this mystery man, ok?" The boy nodded his head thankfully, "That's alright, I'm sure it will work out."
The boy then gave her a golden necklace with the symbol of a cross attached to the chain that looked quite expensive. Indra was shocked that he would trust her with such an expensive gift, but took it and secured it away from sight.
"This is a very expensive gift young man, but I like your choice as the cross is an old cultural symbol of sanctification. Your father must be teaching you some old history lessons indeed for you to give this man a gift worthy of the divine."
The boy lowered his head in thankful embarrassment at the praise. "Thank you, miss, I really just wanted to show appreciation for what he had done and give back a fraction of what he gave us." Indra then began to turn towards the road and waved at the boy as she said.
"Then we shall do our best to find him for you, and I am sure we will see you again. Wait, why don't you tell us your name?" He waved back as he said.
"It's Titus!"
I doubt we'll find this mystery man.
He thought as he looked towards the mountains, the wilderness beckoning him to keep moving.