Port city of Thatcham

'We've nearly made it…'

There was a sense of relief spreading through my body and soul alike.

Theoretically speaking, the three of us have yet to enter the city. In fact, we were still a few minutes' worth of a slow walk away from its gates!

But that was true only for me and my younger brother.

Nay, being not only the lightest but also essentially the strongest in our group went on ahead to complete a simple mission.

I took a deep breath and raised my eyes.

Even from a distance, I could see her talking with the guards. She skipped past the queue of several carriages, somehow producing a small sack of something valuable out of nowhere as she approached, purchasing the guard's attention by merely shaking it around.

'We still have some time,' I thought, turning over my shoulder and looking at where we came from.

Our pursuers were still at it.

By some miracle, they managed to either push their horses past the logically allowed limits or somehow obtained fresh ones in the empty outskirts of the sparsely settled province of the young duchy.

But they were still far off into the distance. And I judged it would be at least an hour before they would catch up. Thankfully, by then…

I turned my head back and looked towards the gate.

This town offered a vastly different experience when compared to the imperial city.

Its tight, compacted frame failed to leave a lasting impression… But while the imperial architecture inspired awe with its magnitude, just by peeking through the gate, I could see that this relatively small town packed a lot more punch than the sprawling urban center.

Because contrary to the imperial city where most of the city consisted of empty space, the insides of the port town ahead were packed to the brim in every dimension.

"Hey…" the kid called out, using the fact that we could now freely talk to his advantage. "I… I'm sorry for the last time," he muttered, a sense of shame mixing with the fire of determination burning in his eyes.

I glanced at the kid for a short moment before releasing a small sigh and allowing my frame to relax a bit.

"It's okay," I shook my head.

My outburst at the relay station was… a piece of me that I didn't recognize. Just like I could now exploit the advantages offered by my host, its thoughts now also affected my actions.

And to be frank, I didn't really see the need to scold the kid that much.

"Even if you didn't earn your recognition yet, we went through some dark shit together," I finally forced myself to admit after overcoming a natural resistance of my host.

Just like before cursing, softening, and opening up, even if only a little, felt like going against the very nature of things.

"Hey…" the kid called out again. "Are we…" he hesitated for a second before swallowing his saliva and opening his mouth again, "are we going to make it?"

Hearing the question, I took a deep breath.

"That's what I'm running around like a maniac trying to make happen," I replied before sinking down a little into my saddle.

Despite this talk being relatively short, it was enough for our tired horses to crawl their way to the gates.

And my body knew better than to appear all high and mighty… and intimidating when facing the guards one was trying to practically bribe.

"Master…" Nay called out, moving out from behind a corner where she somehow put a massive smile on the guard's face.

"Your horse…?" I asked, jumping down from the saddle before quickly taking over all the luggage I had to now carry myself.

"Those lovely gentlemen offered to take care of the return process," Nay reported before stepping to the side and gesturing at the guard.

The reason behind the man's face dangled from his suddenly heavier belt, clearly weighed towards one side of his hip.

'The bribe had to be fat,' I noticed, my eyebrows getting closer a little. 'But where did she get the money from?'

The wealth of our group was massive. Yet, it was all contained within the marker I obtained at the Imperial Express branch. And as I kept all the coin the manager of that branch offered, I should also be the only one to have any money on hand!

"Your companion explained the situation already," the guard said, killing off the fake part of his smile caused by the coin, leaving only the sympathetic expression of someone who has dealt with this kind of situation many times in the past. "It's not the first time someone decides to escape noble's wrath to the frontier, so let's say you guys are more than welcome."

My eyebrows went up a bit.

'Could it be… the rare drop… of something actually working out nicely for once?'

Stunned by the possibility, I simply handed over the reins of my horse to the guard before beckoning the kid to do the same. And a mere moment later, I stepped through the outer doors of the inner gate.

For but a second, I allowed myself to leave all my problems behind the sturdy walls that surrounded the extremely dense city.

'That also explains how come this city looks like this,' I thought, recalling the recent words used by the guards.

The frontier. And the port town of Thatcham was the one city that coordinated all the settling efforts throughout the entire province.

'Now that I think about it, in the worst case scenario, we could try running to the north…' I took a moment to consider my options.

Then, I shook my head.

'No, no way. Taking a ship will buy us too much time and distance to give up on it."

I breathed out a deep sigh before shaking my head and putting myself back into alert mode.

There was still some time before our pursuers would reach the city and begin their search. And as more time would pass, their reinforcements were more than likely to follow.

In other words, this hour that I bought by bleeding money and rushing on the highway like a maniac was too precious to waste it by doing nothing!

"Nay, do you remember what I want you to do?" I asked, turning my head to look at the girl.

She was now wearing a simple coat that covered her easily recognizable outfit. And strangely enough, after our small clash from before, she somehow appeared a bit more… approachable?

"Yeah," the girl nodded her head before stepping forward, just a few paces away from diving into the thick crowd bustling around the city's narrow streets. "Don't forget to do your part," she added before reaching over her head and pulling her hood on.

"We meet in an hour, then," I replied before watching how the girl gracefully merged into the flow of the crowd with ease only an inborn talent could allow. "We need to get going too," I said as I turned my eyes to the kid behind me. "We still have a lot to do."