"So. You all said you were gonna do what to her again?"
The one who's their leader walks toward me, he's staring down at me, his long beard touching my head.
But I'm calm.
"Look at this little brat." He scoffs "You wanna act tough?"
I'm still calm.
With a sneer, he turns to face the other four guys who are laughing their asses out and pointing at me, calling me a squirt.
I hold my breath steady.
He turns to face me again, this time he crouches to meet his eyes with mine.
"Hey, kid."
I scrunch my nose. His breath stinks, like garbage.
"Do you think you're a hero?"
I'm still breathing steadily, but it seems my fists are clenching involuntarily, I wonder why.
He's resting his sword on his shoulder.
Calm. Chill. Steady. Cool.
I take another look at all of them.
They have no rings around them. Manaless pieces of–
"Get off my face." I tell him calmly.
"He sounds so cute!"
One of the clowns at the back shouts as he bursts into laughter.
The most annoying thing about it is that he's right, I sound cute. But I'm swallowing it down.
"Or else what?"
The boss says as he brings his stinking breath closer to my nose.
I sigh.
"I've had enough of this."
Slam!
With adequate strength, I slam my fist under the jaw of the fool, causing him to fall back.
The back of his head hit the ground as he quivered slightly in pain. He grips his sword with his right hand and slowly stands up.
"Boy's got a good punch to him I'll give him that."
He spits out blood and some of his fallen teeth.
"That isn't the strength of a kid boss, that's unnatural."
I hate being provoked. I planned to settle this 'reasonably'. But these ruffians have forced me to take action. And I won't hold back now. I wonder... should I just torch them with flames and be done with them or just knock them out and leave? Hmmm.
I'm still standing where I was, keeping my calm visage.
I look at their boss.
He's humiliated, I can see the anger mixed with embarrassment in his eyes.
"Change of plan boys, I'll kill the kid while you guys ransack their wagon and take the girl."
He ordered them calmly, pointing his hands toward the direction of Jennette and our wagon.
My bag is in that wagon.
Although there's no money there, there are still important things like– my artifact, I can't let it get stolen by those things.
With the wind bending around my feet, I leap toward him immediately. I grab his head tightly, my grip almost crushing his skull. I collide my right knee with his jaw.
Crack!
"Umph."
He grunts.
But I don't let him fall as my grip is still locked on his skull.
His lips are bloodied and the blood is dripping out of his mouth but I don't relent. I ram his head into the ground.
His forehead digs into the soil.
He collapses there, unable to move.
His sword is by his side, he didn't even get to use it.
"You're lucky I've not yet warmed up to the idea of killing people."
I mutter, the blood of the boss of the bandits on my knuckles, still dripping.
I turn to the direction where Jennette is standing, preparing to run toward her and defend her or shoot some fireballs or something at the fools that want to rob us.
But she's standing there, smiling at me.
"You're so strong!"
She shouts.
She has that bright, cheerful smile on her face again. But the smile is awfully chilling because she's calmly standing over the limp body of an unconscious man and the other two are... They're on the ground... Unconscious.
I forgot... she's not a damsel in distress, she's a second circle mage.
I laugh at myself and I walk to go to meet her.
"Are those the bandits you talked about?"
"Yeah, but that's not how they usually act, they first of all ask 'politely' for your money and if you don't give them money, then violence follows. But these guys just went straight to the violence and assumed that we had tons of cash in our wagon."
I'm not surprised, they do look stupid.
"They said we smell like money."
She scoffs.
"Must be you, maybe you give off the 'young master of a rich aristocratic family' scent."
She says in a sarcastic tone.
"Haha. Very funny."
I walk toward the wagon and enter it.
"Let's get out of here already."
"Are you with the book? The one with the breathing technique?"
I nod.
"It's in my robe."
She jumps on the horse.
"To Ludia."
"Finally."
******
The rest of the journey was smooth, with no bandits, no sudden monster attacks, just a straight road, some pee breaks and food breaks in taverns on the road. Looks like Alexander informed Jennette of my leave early because she came prepared. She even brought money, something that I never thought of.
Now ... After two days of traveling and learning the breathing technique she gave me... We have arrived at Ludia.
"Wonderful."
I exclaim as I view the city gates.
"Wonderful indeed."
Jennette's voice is low, uncheerful and mixed with a hint of... Bitterness.
Her grip on the reins tightens.
Perhaps seeing the city gates evoked some sort of the memories of her past.
Maybe this city holds as many memories for her as it does expectations for me.
But I decide not to pry or even comfort her. I'm too busy viewing the gate.
The smell of leather, dust and... Spice? Is in the air.
The massive stone gate is right in front of my field of vision, and I can see solid walls that loom high.
The walls are rimmed with guard towers and I can see various guards holding onto their spears.
Clang!
The gate is opening slowly and mechanically and our creaking wagon is walking toward it.
I see various people entering the City with us. Bald men dressed like monks on wagons like ours, carriages of noblemen, wagons stacked with food and a lot more.
"Are you a diviner? A merchant, mercenary or a wandering mage?"
One of the guards at the gate asks Jennette.
She smiles and parts her lips, about to say something, but I push my head out of the wagon.
"She's a merchant, she came to this city to start a business. And me– I'm a mercenary."
My tiny, childlike voice rings out.
The guard, dressed with armor and an armored mask on his head that only reveals his eyes is examining me with narrowed eyes.
Jennette turns her head to look at me in surprise, her reaction showing 'We never discussed this.'
Actually, it was all part of my plan, I planned to start a business here in Ludia. Run it by day and take mercenary commissions by night. But now that Jennette's in the mixture, it's gonna be easier for me.
Wealth is a necessary key that unlocks the door to my next plan.
After examining me with what I assume is a glare, the guard said:
"You may go in."
Jennette nods her head and rides the wagon past the gates of the city and inside the city.
I'm sitting in the wagon, feeling the occasional bumps as usual, but something is weird.
Those guards at the guard towers and even the guard that came to meet us. I can see the mana around them lingering not from their chest like normal mages, but from their foreheads. And the two mana rings around them are all pure and elementless.
I'm trying to figure out what this means. I've never seen a person with pure, elementless mana rings revolve around them before. And not one but two. That means they should be second-circle mages. But they have no affinities and are trained with weapons.
Is this a thing that is unique with... People that don't use magic but master mana? A new and different system of mana users? Or warriors that mastered mana in a different way?
"You're deep in thought again. Raise your head and come take a look at the city, breathe the air too. We're in the city of beginnings now."
She's right.
I raise my head, halting my thoughts and I walk toward Jennette, eager to take a look at the city.
And my eyes widen with surprise as I take in the sight.
"So this is Ludia."