Restless Heart

translated by A013

In this evening, a fancy horse drawn carriage slowly rode across a road in the Kete province. This carriage was made with first class materials, with a symbol carved on it, an iris wrapped around two crossing swords, a crown on top of the hilts. Two swords meant that this family once had a marshal served the king, and the crown meant they were blood related to the royal family.

There were ten knights in light armor surrounding the car. Although the armors are of good quality, the knights weren't high in spirits. Mard sat next to the carriage driver with a straw in his mouth. He looked at the sky then knocked on the carriage's window. "Master Duwei, should we find a place to rest? It's getting dark."

"Fine." As Duwei answered, a knight on horse rode towards the carriage from afar and said, "Supervisor, there's a town ahead, it seems like our only place to rest tonight."

"Master Duwei ordered, we should rest ahead tonight." Mard said.

There were only twenty knights that followed Duwei from the imperial city. A vice general could only afford to have twenty knights to accompany his eldest son to their family territory. How shabby it is. You have to know those nobility in the imperial city would bring a team of servants and guards to even a picnic.

Even these twenty knights were specially picked. Everyone knew Duwei lost the right to heir, so no one wanted to follow him and live life in a rural area. These twenty knights were either low in combat skills, or rejected by their comrades, or young and naive.

Ever since the group left the imperial city, everyone was feeling down except Duwei. He was the only one staying normal. He had not complained once. He just sat in the carriage and read books he brought. 

Jumu Town was the only town in a hundred miles. There were a few hundred families in this town, but only one tavern, the Jumu Tavern. And since it's the only tavern, their business was not bad. They had cheap alcohol, cheap roasts, cheap prostitutes... even people of the lower class needed entertainments too right?

When Duwei's carriage arrived at the tavern, he closed his book, and walked out. This group immediately caught the attention of everyone at the tavern.

Duwei came in at last. By the time he's inside, the knights already did their job and cleaned up a table. The people were examining Duwei. His attire and emblem denoted his nobility. 

"Oh a noble."

"Why would a noble come to our place."

"Owner, I think you should put away the chair he sat on, maybe you can sell it for a good price."

After a while of silence, everyone in the tavern started talking about the group.

Duwei calmly drank his alcohol. Even when people were gesticulating at him, he only frowned a little. 

At this moment, a group of three men and one girl came into the tavern. They had a weary face, and dressed in inexpensive attires. Obviously not locals. Foreigners just like Duwei.

The tavern went silent again. All the men had their eyes fixed on the girl. This girl was about eighteen or nineteen, has brown hair, and a beautiful face. She's wearing a leather armor emitting faint blue glow, with special patterns carved on it, a short skirt showing most of her leg, a dagger on her belt, a scimitar hanging from her waist, and carrying a bow and quiver behind her back. The quiver was filled with silver arrows. 

Duwei could recognize those arrows were made of pure silver. How extravagant!

The girl's companions, one was bulky with heavy armor and carrying a large shield. You could see that he's the strength type. Another was tall and slender, carried a longbow on his shoulders. He had long fingers and a metal ring. It was obvious that he was an archer. The last one was who Duwei paid the most attention to.

This was a man in gray robe with a common face. Common enough that most people would ignore him. But Duwei noticed him because of a silver leaf emblem on his chest. People in this rural area may not recognize it but Duwei and his knights recognized that emblem. One leaf denotes that he's a level one magician. Even though he's only level one, but he's a real magician that obtained certification from the magician's guild.