chapter 68: little Henry
Three days passed quickly.
Yuujiro had been on a train for three whole days and had stopped in a town to rest, since he had been sleeping on the train uncomfortably and all day sitting in the same place doing nothing more than looking at the scenery around the city. window with a bored look on his face.
Adding that he had been putting up with the annoying cry of a child next to him.
.....
The cold and freezing night had come bringing darkness across the skies. The full moon could be seen as it glowed like a precious diamond that made her sight beautiful to witness.
The town was small and humble with just over 2.000 inhabitants living there.
Although there were few inhabitants, it was not a reason for the streets to be empty and without signs of people as would be expected from a small town like this in a place far from the big cities. In the streets of the town you could see all kinds of people who sold their products, food stalls and clothing stores, magic stores and much more. In addition, you could see many people like the one who were only passing through the town.
Yuujiro was walking through the streets eating some meat that he had bought on the outskirts of town, looking at the different types of shops that were in front of him, avoiding vendors who tried to sell their products with a disinterested look on his face. To make them knowing he wasn't interested in the slightest as he strode forward.
"Sir, sir, you seem like a strong man who keeps your body in good shape, here I have the latest on the market to offer you. A magical artifact recently developed by magicians famous for increasing your physical as well as magical strength, in just two days of use you will have incredible power that will be able to become a renowned magician in no time."
A short, slim merchant with a sly look on his face and a grin from ear to ear approached Yuujiro trying to sell him a small device in his hands. The man had his eyes like a fox and raised his head up trying to see the Yuujiro's face since he was tall and far exceeded his height.
Yuujiro kept walking peacefully without bothering to see who the person was who was speaking to him since when he had just entered the town he had already been approached by many merchants like the one who showed him his things and with nice words tried to sell his products.
The little merchant, seeing how the big man did not even look at him, did not bother a bit, because he was already used to it, to be ignored by his customers.
But then and after a few nice words and insisting, everyone ended up buying what he offered, so he just needed a lot of patience and in the end everything went as he wanted. When he was going to speak again, he saw how yuujiro turned to see him and began to speak to him.
"I'm not interested in your things, what I want is information, think fast ." Yuujiro spoke in a deep and serious voice and tossed a coin to the merchant. The little man had been frightened by the tone the big man used when addressing him, but soon his face lit up when he saw the coin he tossed at him, he caught it with his hand and his face immediately turned serious.
The little merchant stopped dead and began to look at the man in front of him from head to toe carefully, after seeing him for a few seconds he took a step back and the eyes that he always kept closed now had them wide open and surprised for some reason.
'This man is not normal, his eyes are scary and his presence alone is intimidating. As I did not realize before, he must be a serious and very strong person, perhaps a famous magician who is on a mission and does not know these places'
'His relaxed attitude when doing this type of exchange shows that he already has experience in this. But, as he knew I was doing this, someone told him and told him about me.'
The merchant was not an ordinary person, he was a guy who sold information to people. His name is Henry, and his nickname is ..... Henry.
'Hmm..... he knows what he's doing and he already knows me, but what kind of information does he want from me ..... I don't feel his magic power, that means that there are two options for that, or he's an ordinary person or .. .he is very strong and his power surpasses the other magicians that I have met so that he does not manage to feel his power'
Seeing Yuujiro's serious expression, Henry speculated that the information he was looking for should be something serious and very important, but first he had to see something, and that was how much Yuujiro had given him since he was still with his palm closed without seeing the coin that he had given her. But seeing the red-haired man's face it should be at least a gold coin or something.
Slowly he opened his hand and saw the coin he had been given just to be in for a big surprise. Because the coin was neither gold nor silver. In fact, it was not even a coin, it was just a lid of a bottle all rusty and bent, it was just garbage.
He was left with a blank face looking at the garbage in his hand, you could see that the lid had traces of shit that stained his entire hand when he caught it. He looked up at Yuujiro and saw that he was still looking at him with a serious look on his face. Yuujiro looked at him with dangerous eyes and for that reason the little merchant did not dare to say anything.
"What's up, you will tell me what I want to know. Let me tell you that I know who you are and what you did."
When Yuujiro told him that, he became nervous when the sweat formed on his forehead, he did not know what kind of information he had about him, but seeing the way he looked at him, he could deduce that it could not be a good thing and that now I was blackmailing him.
Yuujiro put his arm around his neck and started talking to him. "I know what you did Henry."
'My name, as he knows my name, if I always use a false one, who will this man be, the good thing is that he only wants information and nothing else. As long as I give him what he needs, he will leave me alone.' Henry was sweaty and nervous as he walked with Yuujiro at his side who had him by the neck.
Well, the truth is that the little man did not look anything like Henry that he knew, they were totally different, now how he knew his name, that will be for another time but Yuujiro had already seen the man elsewhere.
"A few minutes ago I saw what you did. When that lady who was with her son dropped some coins on the floor, one of them rolled towards your feet when you stepped on it and hid it. The woman did not notice that and just kept going, after a few seconds when it disappeared from your sight you lifted that woman's coin and you keep it for yourself.
'This guy is an idiot, I really plan to blackmail myself with it, at first I thought he had information about me that could put my life in danger but apparently I was wrong. Oh, how I would like to hit him but he's bigger than me and more intimidating'
"Now if you don't want this to be known, you better tell me what I want, you seem like a guy who has been here for a long time, so you must have some useful information for me. Also, you look like a man I knew long ago."
"He was a pirate, I try to do something with the people who accompanied me and I ended up killing him along with all his crew, then they were food for the fish."
Henry who heard that turned paler and obediently followed Yuujiro.
...
Yuujiro and Henry were sitting in a small bar where you could see many people drinking and talking to each other, men and women sharing drinks sitting at the small wooden tables.
The table where the two of them were sitting was in a small corner away from all the hustle and bustle at the time.
The workers of the bar had soon filled the table with food, and Yuujiro, without waiting any longer, began to eat since he was hungry, he had not been able to eat well on the train and he had not eaten all day other than the small skewer that had been eaten.
Watching as a Yuujiro began to eat, Henry began to talk about the different rumors he had heard as well as the information he had obtained.
"A few days ago the information came that the Verik kingdom, the one that is passing the blue dragon mountains, was recruiting magicians to carry out a war or invasión."
"A war, what is the reason." Yuujiro asked while still eating.
"They say they are going to attack heaven, I know that sounds ridiculous, but from what I have heard they say that they are going to attack beings who are guilty of leaving the kingdom in that state."
"Ah, in case you don't know, the Verik kingdom is now going through some difficult times, the lands are dry and there is no water, well there is, but it is difficult to get, in addition to being very poor. People are dying every day, there are diseases, plagues, murders, among many other things."
"A few days ago the king asked for all possible help, he is hiring guild magicians and people who are willing to help him, he is offering a reward to all those who help at the end of the invasión."
"In how many days will all this happen."
"The king said they would do it in two weeks and since 3 days have passed, there are still 11 days left."
"A war is going to happen in 11 days ..... that's interesting, I hope I can get there in time to be there." Yuujiro muttered under his breath.
Watching as Yuujiro was thinking about something, he left him alone for a few moments and then looking around him seeing that no one paid any attention to them, he moved closer to Yuujiro and whispered to him. "I have also heard that there is a murderer who is killing all the people in the nearby towns, in fact the people are scared and many have already left the town in the last days."
"They say that in nearby towns people have been found dead overnight, all dead from cuts made to their body like a sharp object. Some cut in half, others were missing their heads or in many more horrible ways that I don't even want to tell you."
"You tell me that he's a murderer, he's close, but ... everyone here seems happy and not scared." Yuujiro answered since he was seeing the people who were in the bar very happy and without being even alarmed by the rumor of the supposed murderer that was around.
"Yes. There are some people who believe that they are only rumors or that all this is false, I also at first believed that they were only rumors, but a day ago a good friend of mine came and told me that he had passed through one of those towns, there I confirm that what they said in the rumors was all true and that people were being killed in a very cruel and ruthless way."
Hmm ..... Yuujiro stood thinking for a few moments while Henry occasionally looked around attentively at the people next to them.
"So that's it, there is nothing else." Yuujiro asked.
"No, well yes. But they are only small things and nothing else."
"It doesn't matter, tell me everything that has happened in the last days, I also want to know everything you told me about the war that is going to happen in a few days."
....
Lying on the bed, Yuujiro was thinking about the information he had obtained from the good friend Henry, in fact the information had been very useful to him since he informed him of very important things of which he had no idea.
There were three things he was most interested in.
First it was the war that the Verik empire was about to wage that without a doubt I have to be present.
Second, the mysterious assassin who has been killing people in all the towns near this one, most likely this town will also be attacked at some point. Who knows, maybe tonight or tomorrow, since the previous town was only a few kilometers from it.
Third, another rumor of another war and invasion on the part of the Alvarez empire to Ishgar, if I remember, the Alvarez empire had tried to invade Ishgar in the year X781, now we are in that year, Hmm when will it be, I also want to be there.