47 Overnight

Galahad's anger was starting to leak out and a red flare went up across his face. The guard thought Galahad was getting red from being upset. The man had no idea he was trying to not explode into literal red fire. Galahad's selectively suppressed emotions couldn't stop the rage bubbling inside him.

'I swear to the gods, if this man starts trying to take my shit; I'm gonna make him wish he could eat fucking mana orbs.' Galahad was fuming and was thinking about shoving the apple-sized Succubus orb into the man's teeth.

The thought seemed rather exaggerated until Galahad realized his body started reaching into his pocket for it. He had to consciously check himself before actually committing the assault.

James stood up from his seat was about to start yelling at the guard as town security is not allowed any form of interference with businesses until someone beat him right to the punch.

"Just where in your job duties does it say you are allowed to use your authority to withhold someone's possessions, Captain Hadrell?" The tone was calm yet menacing at the guard.

The mustached man turned and saw a large woman walking over in armor and boots that was identical to his own. The only difference was her gear was three sizes larger and one of her shoulder guards had three parallel lines across it, while his only had one. Galahad thought he had witnessed someone from the race of giants entering the conflict.

The woman before them was towering over every person present, including Galahad. She stood to be a full head taller than him and her shoulders were a little more broader. Despite her massive appearance, she still had a feminine stature and structure. She looked to be very lean with defined arms with long brown hair that fell to her hips in a long braid.

"Vallori!" James exclaimed happily. Vallori the clearly higher rank guard looked to see the scholar with a smile that one would make you think she just encountered a tiny animal.

Galahad whipped his eyes to James with a look of genuine surprise on his face, he clearly was giving the his associate a look that was asking, 'How the hell does the pale book worm know a warrior from the giant clan?'

"Hello little one. You're surprisingly excited despite being outside of a library." She even sounded like a gentle giantess to Galahad.

Vallori's expression of light and cheery dropped when she looked over at Galahad with questionable gaze in her eye. She saw the bandages on his arm as a story to be told and his face was something to somewhat admire. She seemed to analyze him with an eyebrow raised.

Galahad wanted to veer away as he thought her intense staring was from James's strange behavior. He started to think the ratio of Blenta berries may not have been as accurate as he anticipated. It seemed James was far to eager than normal that even she noticed at first glance.

She said nothing to him, leaving Galahad still misinterpreting the stare and now concerned for his well-being. Even if his powers managed to tell him her level now, he already knew that she was definitely the strongest person he'd ever encountered possibly reaching into level seventy. She practically radiated strength and power, something Galahad wondered if he could achieve after getting himself enough power in the dungeons.

"So, Uncle Geran sent you to deliver the supplies to pay off the loan? Bit of a cheapskate if you ask me. Anyway, I'll help you get that settled then, I'm almost done for the day."

'Uncle? So they're cousins. I don't wanna know how the family tree grew these two branches so far in different directions.' Galahad thought as he felt the rage cool off, until Hadrell started speaking again.

"Madam, we cannot allow such commodities, especially when war is imminent." It seemed the Hadrell the idiot was not willing to give up his prize so easily. He stood his ground despite the words of his superior officer already letting them through.

"Oh please," She waved off his defense like he sore about losing a bet. "This is the third scare in the last decade. Unless the rumors are confirmed by a royal decree to make inspections, we are not allowed to search carriages and baggage."

She practically shouted the last part to make sure the line behind Galahad and most seem to hear her, watching the whole ordeal go down.

Hadrell made an ugly snarl at Vallori. Now his chance to skim goods off of the incoming carts was ruined. He couldn't check the carts now because of her words, and she was well aware of what she had just done. The look in her eye told Galahad the whole connection between the two guards.

If not for Vallori, a lot more people would have been taken advantage of by the guards at the entrance. Now the plan was ruined as everyone in line knows the rumor of war is not serious.

"Don't think you can keep acting this way after you've abandoned your position here. Then the Countess will truly have what she wants once your goody two-shoes ass disappears." He turned back around and motioned the next cart to exit.

Night began falling and the temperature dropped when the sun disappeared. After they checked-in the carriage in the pavilions and the horses to the caretaker, the three of them started walking towards the residential areas. No one, but Galahad was shocked by Vallori's size; the citizens were accustom to her, despite being an immense human with immense strength.

James was also unfazed and talked nonstop with his cousin, going over the details for the new story Vallori wanted help writing. They talked about the symbolism of some magic ring a few other literary devices Galahad couldn't keep hearing about, he didn't care. He was ready to go find a bed and sleep like he was drugged unconscious again.

*****

Galahad parted ways with Jame and his scary cousin Vallori to find a cheap place to stay. They offered to let him use Vallori's couch, but he declined. He wanted to finally take a look at everything he grabbed from the bandit camp after sleeping.

It seemed James was very excited about the arrival to Bluewalk and the novel, he didn't even notice how bulky Galahad's gear bag had become. He walked away with his towering cousin without giving it a second thought of Galahad carrying two individual bags.

Most of the villas were abandoned property, so a rental system was put together for a lot of the nearby buildings. It only took him a few minutes to find a place too rent, but it was still too far away from the entrance for him to not experience the highlights of the rotting town.

Along his walk with both of his bags in hand, he watched multiple rats dart across the street and nearly stepped in a mound of mysteriously green grime. The place hadn't had a sanitation department or regular set of watchmen to keep the area clean in a long time. The new Countess of Bluewalk had embezzled as much money as possible from the town to purchase a nice little house in the inner limits of Diagon.

'I wonder if she realizes she could have embezzled more money from a more functional town in the long run. Oh well, patience is a virtue rarely found in those seeking to take.' Galahad thought without realizing the irony of just the night before. He rashly snuck into a bandit camp to obtain such a meaningless amount of orbs.

He was happy to finally find a nearby section of villas being run by a little old man and his wife. They had a little sign outside their main home that said: 'Villas for overnight renting.'

Inside the house was a living room transformed into a makeshift desk and waiting room. Three children were playing amongst themselves in the corner while their mother was sitting at the little desk with a book in hand, clearly bored out of her mind. Her expression seemed to perk up at the sound of Galahad entering through the door.

After a quick rundown of rules while staying and payment options, she pulled out a market Karmic tablet identical to the one Sora and Derrock used at the shop. Galahad pulled out his Karmic Plate as well.

"That'll be forty credits." She stated, happy to have some customers come to stay for once. In Galahad's mind, he saw his credit balance pop up.

[ Balance: 1,482c ]

[ Savings: 34,243c ]

Then a little red subtraction came through. [ -40c ]

The little pop up flashed [ Balance: 1,442c ] three times before disappearing.

'I'm gonna need to sell the extra gear I stole from the bandits to a decent shop in Diagon as soon as I get there. At least the gear that doesn't feel very useful anyway.'

After Galahad waved his Karmic Plate across the woman's tablet to make the transfer. A quick exchange of words was made and one of the little girls got up from the corner to escorted him to an available buildings nearby.

Each villa was identical with a square perimeter and white pyramid angled roofs. The first floor was a combined kitchen and living room and the second floor was only a bathroom and bedroom. It may have seem to dusty and rather rundown, but at this point, Galahad felt like he was about to enter paradise.

The little child ran off while Galahad went to the second story of the villa and used the hot and pressurized shower until the grime and dirt from travelling was completely erased from his body.

He passed out as soon as his head hit the pillow, the exhaustion knocking him out almost as quickly as Black mana orb did not too ago.

*****

Galahad dreamt of something he hadn't thought about in a long time. It wasn't anything strange or abstract like his last few dreams, it was simply a painful memory instead.

He opened his eyes in his dream to look around and immediately realized he wasn't six-feet tall anymore, now he was only four-and-a-half feet tall and holding onto a much taller person's hand as he walked.

He was once again in the walking through the streets of the little town of Bluewalk, it had become ten years younger during his flashback dream. He was in a period of time when everyone was just starting to feel the downfall of losing its previous Count. Galahad remembered seeing all the people around him, most were packing up and leaving before the brand new Countess declared ridiculous rulings that might force them to stay.

'Of all the things to remember in a dream, this is gonna be this one that hurts.' He thought as he looked up at the woman whose hand he was holding.

At the time of the flashback; Galahad was about nine, and the hand he held onto belonged to woman about his present day age. The woman had a similar angular face as Sora, but she had the eyes and rather toothy grin that reminded him of his father. He almost felt sad seeing that smiling face.

It was a face he hadn't seen in over ten years. It was his older sister Key.

Key was the one who disappeared in the Teramore dungeon with her team and without a trace so long ago.

The two of them were walking around the town during midsummer, the heat was hitting their backs and very few clouds were in the blue sky. The scene felt so strange to live through, Galahad hadn't felt like this in such a time; he never realized how much he should have enjoyed this scene before he lost it all before.

As they walked by, a middle aged man who ran one of the fruit stands was tossing out some of the older fruits that wouldn't survive the journey of leaving Bluewalk. He was about to toss them to the dirt as a fertilizer until he saw Galahad and Keyna.

He motioned them over and handed each of them a ripe, pink fruit. Key was about to ask the price, but the man shook his head and plopped the oval shaped fruits in their hands. He smiled and returned to packing up his stand.

Galahad dug into the fruit with his teeth to find it had nice balance of citrus and sweetness any little kid would love. After a few bites, managed to devour the whole thing down to the stem and seed. Meanwhile Key was only halfway through hers.

Time was meaningless in a moment of bliss, eternity could come forth and Galahad would always remember the happiness he felt in that day. Reliving that memory seemed to rekindle a lot of his painful yet happy feelings, the kind he thought would always last as a child.

But happiness is never everlasting, time makes everything change.

The Key in his dream let go of his hand and was kneeling beside him. She grabbed him by the shoulders and the scenery seemed to subtly change. The warm blue sky shifted to a light grey and the streets blurred around them.

The memory suddenly became very cold and quiet. Key was mouthing words he couldn't hear. She kept repeating something that was garbled and bubbling. He could only stare at her with confusion sprawled across his face.

She pulled his younger body into a tight embrace, like he was a life line. She whispered something he could almost make out, and just when he was to understand, her voice rang loudly in his ear.

"THUD! THUD! THUD!"

'Wait? What?'

"THUD! THUD! THUD!" The same three loud banging noises came out of her mouth once again.

Suddenly he was reeled out of his dream state and woke back up in the bed of a Bluewalk villa. Someone was wrapping a wooden cane against the door. The sun was partially flooding in through the window, indicating that the morning had just began on the cold winter's day.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

'Good gods, can't I ever get a cycle sleep that isn't interrupted.' Galahad thought as he pulled himself out of bed.