Chapter 282

Ikari City, one of the largest and the northernmost city of the Slane Theocracy, it's high walls blocked Zesshi's view of the horizon, and even though she had no doubt that she could smash the stone with ease, it was still impressive. She tilted her head back to look up and saw disciplined soldiers marching over the walls, and after joining the main road, the foot, wagon, and carriage traffic increased exponentially.

People of all stripes of wealth went through the same gate. It wasn't as large as the one Zesshi knew from Kami Miyako, but it was still a towering, imposing thing meant to project the Theocracy's power on any potential northern invader. The thick gate had bands of metal running over it in multiple places, so many crisscrossed up and down the front and back of the door that Zesshi briefly wondered, 'Why not just make the whole door out of metal and be done with it?'

The idle question meant nothing to her and she set it aside when Brain leaned toward her, "Hood up, cover your ears."

Zesshi and Layali quickly did as he said, with the fading light of the day, weary travelers hadn't noticed, but unwilling to chance it, the trio entered with their true natures two-thirds concealed.

"You there." A guard said and pointed toward Brain and his companions, the weapon wasn't held stiff in hand, if anything the burly steel clad guard seemed quite relaxed, though Layali tensed and moved to stand behind Brain, he answered with easy calm.

"Yeah, me?" Brain said and put his hand on his chest.

"Yeah, random check, come over here." The guard said, and Brain glanced down at Zesshi and then reaching back, he put his hand on Layali's head, he pinched the fabric of her hood and pulled it forward a little, then approached.

Brain approached, and his companions followed, crossing the half a dozen steps to where the guard stood, he motioned to a wooden door, "Just go through there and answer a few questions, no big deal." The guard yawned and covered his mouth with one hand, then without really paying any mind to the trio, went back to watching the crowd.

"City security is important." Brain said when he felt the pair looking questioningly at him, and to set the example, he reached for the handle and opened the door without hesitation, walking through it with the calm and easy swagger of somebody totally in control.

The inside was like any other security checkpoint Brain had ever seen, and he glanced back at the pair who remained cautious about this unfamiliar circumstance, "Relax… my love, this happens all the time when I travel, it's the sword, they're a little cautious, with good reason, because keeping cities safe means knowing why people are armed." He said and flashed a good natured, boyish smile at Zesshi who took a step back at his sudden moniker for her, almost throwing her hood back to say 'something' until she saw him wink.

She relaxed, and he approached the small wooden counter. An old man with a beard that came down out of view below the counter at which he sat, had a book open in the middle, and on the pages Brain could see columns for 'name', 'purpose', and 'status'.

The old man's fingers had visible calluses at the tips and the reason why was immediately obvious when quick as any swordsman, the thin and bony fingers snapped up a quill and ink from below the counter and set it on the desk. "I swear," the old man grumbled, his leathery face shaking with both age and annoyance, "they always do this right before I go home for the night…"

"Young men teasing the old is a story older than you are, old man." Brain said with a chuckle, and the old man wagged the feather quill towards Brain in return and said…

"Yeah, but when I did it at their age it was funny."

The old man might have been annoyed, but the youthful recollections of his own past seemed to set him at ease, "Alright. Anyway, name?"

"We're the Unglaus family. I'm Brain, this is my wife Sasha, and my daughter Layala." Brain answered, gesturing to them both, "They… don't get out much, they're a little shy, please forgive them."

The old man grunted, "And the reason you're here?"

"We're going to Arwintar for the tournament, I'm going to win and become the emperor and give my family the life they deserve." Brain said with the smug pride of a liar sure he wasn't going to be caught.

"Ohhh, former soldier, I'm guessin'?" The old man asked.

"Uh, yeah, yeah I used to be in the Theocracy army, I was a pretty good swordsman-" Brain began, and the old man laughed, cutting him off.

Flecks of spittle clung between the old lips as the old-timer's laugh went on, "You and every man with a sword that I've seen pass this way… you know how many folk are goin' up that way now? You got as much a chance of winnin' that thing as I do." The laughter and mirth faded away as the old man took down their information, his hand flying over the paper, the noise of quill scratching over ink stood out while the oldster went on. The remaining questions were brief and to the point, and when the old man was done, he waved his quill at Brain again and added…

"Want my advice, take your pension, go buy a nice farm and settle down somewhere, don't drag your family halfway across the damn world just to watch you die." His voice became kinder as he gave his advice, but Brain shook his head.

"I'm sorry, but I've got to try." Brain replied, and the old man's shoulders slumped.

"Can't say I didn't warn you, good luck." The old man said and set his quill and inkwell away beneath the counter, "Tell the guard outside I left, will you, don't want him tryin' to rope me in for another."

"Will do, old-timer." Brain said and headed for the exit.

When they made their way out of the gatehouse, left the guards behind, and were blended into the slowly dwindling crowd Zesshi asked point blank, "Wife? Daughter?"

Brain didn't look at her when he shrugged and replied, "What should I have said? I'm traveling with a runaway weapon and an escaped slave? It was just the easiest thing to do to get out of that situation."

His sarcasm was so thick that it made Zesshi briefly flinch more than any blow ever had. "Point taken." She answered, and at his right hand, Layali actually laughed.

"If you really want to see things here for a few days, I'll find some work. I have enough left to pay for a cheap inn for the night, and we have our own food, but I'd rather not spend our stay here in the streets. That is a lot different than camping for… reasons that won't come to me just now." Brain added, but neither Zesshi nor Layali were listening with more than half an ear.

For both, it was a new experience, and for both, very different reasons. 'All that time in Kami Miyako and it never occurred to me just how big a city really was… so many people…' She thought privately. It wasn't lost on her that people were going indoors and leaving places of business, meaning that it would be even more crowded tomorrow, and almost totally empty when night settled in completely. 'I only ever really left in the middle of the night or bundled away in a carriage with the curtains drawn. I had no idea what was out there…' In the past, Zesshi considered that just 'normal', but now?

'Another layer in their long deception, hiding me away so I wouldn't see the truth for myself.' Zesshi's thoughts were thick with betrayal as she recounted the line of people who worked with her who hid her away so she wouldn't see her own country. 'Did my mother really let them take me? Or did she have a choice? Was that a lie too?'

When she saw the first full blooded elf, a male, its ears cut to half their length and clad in a gray tunic, barefoot and walking the streets picking up discarded waste, then everything became open to question.