5 Off to Citadel (Part One)

Charm's POV

"YAH!"

I dashed towards a poor-looking dummy which I made out of hay that was stored at the back of the temple. This place used to have horses, but then they died one by one the moment Deity Morrel, and the rest of the supreme deities, vanished into existence from this mortal world.

Or perhaps Baal secretly ate all of them? Just kiddin' Baal!

In my right hand is a dagger that's four inches small and somewhat unassuming with its plain, wooden handle, but is also sharp that even the most gentle of touches to flesh would result in a free bleeding cut .

The moment I went near to this dummy, I made a slash going to my right, seemingly dancing on thin air as I swing my arms to it.

It suddenly occurred to me that I should do some little self defense training in case I need to conceal my magic and there's no other way for me to fight back but with this.

I already decided by the way to go to Citadel and look for Lance to help cure his mother. I can't sleep even a wink just knowing that someone is suffering because of my ignorance

And by going there means concealing my identity as well.

"Are you sure you'll be doing this?"

I think this is the 10th time that Baal asked this very same question just a minute ago as he watches me do the self defense training.

"Yup." I answered for the 10th time as well.

I stopped as soon as I saw the dummy I created which was now heavily tormented to tiny, little pieces because of what I've done to this poor thing.

"Then I shall not stop you doing the thing that you must accomplish." I heard Baal said with a worried tone.

"PYU PYU!"

My gaze was redirected to my epic-no, not so epic fail doll that I created. If I remember it correctly, I named this doll Trash. And I think Trash is asking to take him with me to Citadel.

"There is no way I will bring you to Citadel." I said to the doll.

It's kinda weird that I can somehow understand what Trash wants to convey even though he can't really tell it to me in straight English.

"Pyuuuu." I noticed the doll's ears went downwards, looking sad upon hearing that I will not take him with me to Citadel.

"Maybe next time, okay? We'll go on to an adventure." I said to cheer the doll up.

It somehow became effective since his ears went up again and started jumping back and forth in joy.

I started to pack my things inside my sling bag before I finally zipped it up.

Then, with a heavy sigh, I took one last glance at the worried talking tiger who is also looking at me right now.

I quickly turned my back and took a few steps outside this temple before I completely changed my mind and suddenly backed out.

***

I know the way towards Citadel since I remembered going there myself when I was with Gran-gran way back to those days that nobody has found out yet about my true identity. I unconsciously let out a sigh. Oh how I miss Gran-gran right now!

Going back to what I am doing right now, after I went towards the entrance and exit point of Misty Forest, another set of trees greeted me which later on I noticed are a set of Apple Trees. The temperature here is cold, just perfect to grow some apples.

So that only means I am currently in the Apple Forest owned by the Gilead Empire. That also means I am almost near to Citadel's entrance!

I was just about to take a step forward to look for a route towards Citadel's entrance when I saw something a few trees away from me.

There are these three familiar beings that I've met somewhere in the forest that are now standing in front of a merchant of fruits and vegetables.

If I am not mistaken, these are those three suspicious ninja-like mortals that I have encountered inside Misty Cave! And now, it looks like they have already found their newest prey for today.

"You really wouldn't pay for the toll fee huh?" said by the ninja-like mortal standing on the right.

I knew I was right! Even their voices sound the same with those that I have encountered in Misty Cave!

"There's really no toll fee when crossing this part so I know you just made it all up!" I heard the merchant said, who's actually a girl. Well, with her short brown boy-cut hair, you wouldn't know right away that she's a girl except if you finally heard her speak.

"Well, let me tell you... as long as we are here, there will always be a toll fee from now on!" said by the leader of these goons.

I didn't even know if I should interfere with them or not since those guys actually knew about my identity probably, so that makes me hold back from helping this poor merchant. But when I noticed one of them holding the tip of the dagger to taunt the merchant, that's when I decided to finally enter the scene.

"Hey, you jerks! What do you think you're doing to this poor merchant?!" I shouted for them to hear me loud and clear as I take a few steps forward.

The moment they heard my voice and felt my presence, I saw them winced for a second and immediately took a few step backwards away from me.

"Oh no, the witch!" The goon on the left shouted, his index finger trembling as he pointed at me.

To make things here a bit, well... fun, I decided to ignite a flame just above my index finger and smirked at them.

"RUN FOR YOUR LIVEEESSSSSS!" The leader shouted at the top of his lungs, instantly fleeing from our presence and leaving his comrades behind.

"Wait for us boss!" his comrade shouted at their leader while also running away with him.

When they are now out of our sight, I quickly blow the flame that's floating above my finger, as if I am blowing a flame from a candle.

I threw a glance at the merchant, who... for a few seconds back there... I have forgotten her presence.

I was kinda startled when I heard her laugh all of a sudden. O...kay?

I remained silent as I watched her laughing to her heart's content while holding her tummy with her right hand and just continued laughing.

Few moments passed, when she started to be aware of my silence, that's when she finally stopped laughing and cleared her voice first before giving her statement.

"Wow! That was awesome! The dumbfounded look on those jerks' faces is just priceless, I can't help but to laugh at the sight of it! Serves them right for forcing people to give them money if they don't find something valuable to sell."

Woah. She seems happy that I beat up those guys for her. That's good, I guess.

Hmmm... I wonder if after I showed my powers to her, did she became afraid of me as well just like those jerks earlier?

"You know those guys?" I asked out of curiosity.

"Not much. What I only know is those goons are part of the Black Assassin League , you know the group known to be illegal traders from the Black Market." the merchant answered. Then she suddenly turned to look at me,

"You're a witch, right?" she asked all of a sudden, out of curiosity I guess. I didn't answer her directly but I gave her a quick nod as my response.

"Ohhh... Do you know that I have heard so many old tales about the good deeds witches did for us mortals in the past? And I never expected to see a witch in person, standing in front of me right now! I thought you're extinct or something. since the last time I heard a witch being captured, it was five years ago" she said in awe.

"Actually, we preferred to be called Deities, not witches." I politely corrected her.

I was shocked by her reaction, like she's some sort of a fan or what. I guess I should take that reaction as an answer to my question earlier if she's afraid to see me right now after knowing who I truly am.

Clearly she's not.

But what did she just say? On that part when she thought deities are extinct? What does she mean by that?

"I'm Jade, by the way. And you are?" the merchant decided to introduce herself to me while extending her right hand for me to shake and smiling sincerely at me.

Oh, she was the second mortal who smiled at me like that.

"Charm." I quickly responded while shaking hands with this merchant.

Well I admit that my socializing skills are not that impressive. That's quite understandable, for a girl like me who spent five years of her life living alone in the temple with a grumpy talking tiger that doesn't even talk to her in the first place.

"So Charm, I guess you're on your way towards Citadel, right? Are you aware that they've got these so-called magic detectors?"The corner of Jade's almond-round jet black eyes crinkled as she looked at me.

I blankly looked at her, with no idea about what she just mentioned a while ago.

"What's a... uh... magic detector?" I asked, completely confused.

"Well, a magic detector is a device designed to... let's say... capture witches, or deities, like you? As the name implies, it can actually detect magic out of a person's body. And if they'll know you're a witch, I'm sure you'll go straight to the dungeon."

My eyes slightly widened the moment I heard her well-said explanation. Thank goodness I haven't even made it yet to Citadel's entrance!

"But no worries, since you helped me earlier, I will help you as well! I am also on my way to Citadel to deliver these goods to their market, so I can help you get in without anyone knowing you're a witch. Since I'm already a well-known merchant in Citadel, I don't undergo inspection anymore."

"And I also have a large white cloth that I use to cover my goods at the back so you can use that as well to hide from the Citadel soldiers. Or if you can cast an invisibility spell, then that's better!" she again explained to me in full details about what we should do later on the entrance.

"I know how to cast an invisibility spell." I said.

"Perfect! Then that should do it! Then let's go! I don't want to be late for the delivery." she happily said while clapping her hands once.

As soon as I climbed up her wagon, she immediately took the white cloth she mentioned and used it to cover both me and her goods behind it. When she made sure that the cloth was in its right place, she quickly climbed back to her horse and the next thing I knew, the wagon started to move towards Citadel's entrance. I cast an invisibility spell just to make sure that no one could actually detect my presence.

I can already see in my peripheral vision the sad look on Lance's face as he holds the Soul Stone in one hand while wondering why can't he still cure her mother even if he already has the stone with him.

The more I think about it, the more I also felt sad for him. And that's exactly the reason as to why I decided to embark on this ridiculous journey to go to a dangerous place for me such as Citadel.

Well, just you wait Lance... help is on the way now.