6 Off to Citadel (Part Two)

Charm's POV

"So... are you really not afraid of me?"

There was a few minutes of silence before I decided to break it with this same question that's been bothering me since I met this merchant named Jade. We are still currently making our way towards Citadel's main entrance.

"I am not afraid of you or any one of your kind. In fact, I am your follower." she answered a little bit louder for me to hear here at the back of her wagon while she drives her horse.

Before I could even ask for the reason, she already answered it for me..

"Way back when I was a kid, my parents would tell me good old tales about the good deeds that you did for mortals like us when they are still alive. Many decades passed, Deities are well-known with their willing attitude towards helping mortals in the past. They said that whatever a mortal wishes, as long as it came from a pure heart, it will be granted by a deity. "

"But then, because of the selfishness of our ancestors, they started this so-called war between mortals and deities... and out of this war, Witch Hunt blossomed under the rule of the Gilead Empire led by a tyrant king named King Tiberius."

"Under this empire are three countries: first is Gilead itself where we are residing right now and where the heart of the empire is. In this country is also where the largest of gold and diamonds exists; Second is Corovia, where our primary source of oil and diesel can be found; Last but not the least is Sodor, a country that is well known for its richness in the field of agriculture."

Wow, she didn't answer my inquiry, she literally just summarized a history book for me.

I'll say I was quite amazed because I just learned all of these things that she is telling me right now. Since I chose to hide in that temple for five long years, that also isolates me from what's currently happening outside the forest.

"Do you also know what was the root cause of this war between your people and my people and with this Witch Hunt system?" I asked my bookworm friend.

"Seriously, you don't know anything about the history of your people?" she asked in disbelief.

Uh, I'm so sorry for having such limited knowledge about the history of my people. It's actually my fault. I focused more on improving my magic skills rather than reading some history books for me to be knowledgeable enough.

"I don't have any idea, sorry. The Witch Hunt already existed when I was born so I am really curious right now as to how it all started." I admitted.

Well, maybe if I get back home in the temple, I will start to do my research about the past.

"Oops, as much as I would love to continue our discussion, we are now approaching Citadel's main entrance. Maybe next time, if ever we'll meet again." I heard her say.

I was kinda alarmed upon hearing that so I decided to become silent for a while and even made my invisibility spell stronger than before just to take some precaution. This kind of spell can drain a lot of my magic energy as time passes by but somehow I can manage until we reach inside the capital city.

From where I am right now, I can hear the transaction going on between Jade the merchant and one of the guards of Citadel's main gates. While still in invisibility mode,I managed to observe them and immediately noticed that metal device hanging around the guard's waist and is now emitting a white light.

That must be the magic detector that Jade mentioned earlier.

So after a few minutes of chitchat with the guard, they finally opened the gates and let us in. That's when I felt the wagon moving again, probably Jade made her horse run this thing towards the city.

I heaved out a sigh of relief as we are now approaching the capital city of Gilead.

***

I was able to tell Jade that I am actually here to pay a visit to Lance's mother which she later addressed as "Queen Esther" and dropped me off to where she is residing.

To my surprise, within a few meters away to the north, I saw the castle standing and had a bailey with a perimeter of fifty meters on all sides enclosed by towers thrice the size as mills; the parapets along the walls seemingly went on for infinitude and were stocked with medieval armament in preparation of a siege - unlike it was needed - and the entirety of the castle was girdled with wooden fencing and once more with a moat in equal area of a lake.

So is this where Lance lives?

"Are you sure you'll still pay a visit to the queen? You know it is unsafe for you to go towards the camp of your enemy, didn't you?"

"I'm fine. Lance is my friend, I'm sure he knows me." I assured her.

At this point, the invisibility spell was already gone from me, making me visible to Jade's sight as she watched me climb down on her wagon.

"Okay, if you say so. My mind will be at ease since you mentioned you're friends with the prince. Just walk straight on this road and you'll reach the castle gates in no time." she instructed while pointing to where I should go through.

"Thank you so much for all your help today."I thanked the merchant with all of my heart. She rewarded me with her smile.

"You're very much welcome. I gotta go and deliver these goods now. Take care of yourself, okay? And I hope we'll meet again someday."

These are her final words to me before she bid me farewell. I only nodded my head as my response and as soon as I did so, she then turned her back on me and started to ride away. I just stood here and watched her wagon until she became out of my sight.

Feeling a little bit anxious, I turned now to the direction where she instructed me to go..

While reciting her instructions in my head, I started to take a few steps towards my destination. She just instructed me to go straight to this direction and I should reach the castle gates in no time.

Okay, I can do this!

While walking, I also can't help but to notice my surroundings. Except for me, there are several people walking down this exact same path that I am currently taking.

I can also see several children chasing each other on the streets, and some musicians sitting on a corner and are playing whatever instruments they have right now making a perfect harmony which is really good to the ears.

Along with the band playing, there are some people dancing in the streets to accompany the music.

I unconsciously smiled as I watched this scenario in front of me, that I only got to witness just now. It was like forever since I went out here for a walk, and I never knew that I would miss this kind of noise.

It's so... different... from the deafening silence that I was used to dealing with ever since I decided to lock myself inside that temple out of fear.

"Charm?!"

My series of thoughts was then cut off by a familiar voice who's suddenly calling out my name right now.

When I turned to the direction where I think I heard that voice, I suddenly find myself being being face-to-face with that ash grey-haired guy's smiling face.

His name is Johanne if I'm not mistaken, the one Lance introduced to me the other day at the Misty Forest as one of his childhood friends.

"Charm! It's really you! You're looking for Lance, am I right?" Johanne asked, raising his eyebrows up and down at the same time.

"Yes, you're right. So can you perhaps lead me towards him? There's something important that I need to say." I pleaded with him.

His smile got even wider, if that's possible.

"Sure! No problem! I was just also about to go to the palace for our grand council meeting, you know... counselor duties. Perhaps I should drop you off to your boyfriend before I attend the said meeting."

Ohhh... Johanne right here is also an important person in mortals' society huh? That's quite amazing, I came to know such important people in the forest.

"Thank you, and he is not my boyfriend." I thanked him and corrected him at the same time.

He just laughed at what I said about the not-my-boyfriend part. And with that, we then walked side by side towards the palace.