Philip (2)

“Captain Mark, I’m here to get water.” Angele smiled while shaking his water canteen.

“We don’t have much left. One knight just took another bucket of water. He said he was going to wash clothes,” Mark said in a helpless tone.

“Washing clothes? On a rainy day? He can just save some rain water in his bucket easily. Whatever, I need some jam and white bread. I’m a bit hungry,” Angele scrunched his eyebrows and said.

“Well, only black bread is left. The loaves of white bread were taken by the two knights,” Mark said with a bitter smile on his face.

“They took everything?” Angele was a bit surprised.

“Yep.” Mark nodded. Knowing about that, Angele felt slightly angry.

“I’ll take a look myself.” Angele opened the door and got into the carriage.

The carriage that had been full of supplies before now looked empty. The brown wooden barrels were only half-filled. Angele walked straight toward one of the water barrels. Empty. He opened the second one. Empty again. Angele continued checking. The third, fourth, and the fifth were all empty as well and only the last two water barrels were half-filled. Those barrels were supposed to easily last the whole caravan for about a week, but now, it’s nearly gone. Angele became infuriated.

Angele scooped some water into his water canteen and covered the water barrels with the lids after. He then opened the barrel that contained food such as bread, jam, and meat jerky. Black bread filled the barrel while not much meat jerky was left inside. Angele took a loaf of black bread and some meat jerky. He put the lid back after scrunching his eyebrows and headed back to the leading carriage right away.

The baron wasn’t back yet. Angele sat at the table alone and looked at the black bread in his hand. The size was about half an arm and had a hardness comparable to a piece of wood. It had two yellow scars on its surface. Contrary to its outer appearance, its inside was white. Angele grabbed the bread and took a bit. It was very hard that it even made sounds akin to cutting through a board. White bread crumbs fell off the ground. As Angele ate it, he felt quite unhappy. It was hard, had a dislikable texture and no taste. Angele’s mood worsened as every minute passed.

HUA!

Angele heard someone pouring out water at the back, so he opened the window to check. One of the knights in silver armor was returning to the count’s carriage with a silver plate in his hand. On the ground, Angele could see spilled soup and pieces of white bread that were only half-eaten. It seemed they only ate the softest part of the bread and threw the remains away. It was really a waste.

Angele alternately looked at the black bread in his hand and the white bread on the ground, his mind in turmoil about the things that should be done. Horrifyingly enough, his face had already contorted to that of a demon that embodied wrath. But then, he took a deep breath and closed the window. Angele quickly finished the black bread and ate all the meat jerky he had taken. He then drank some water quickly, and finally, he felt a bit better.

Angele calmed himself down and leaned his back on the wall. He decided not to think of the count too much and started checking his own condition instead.

‘Zero, check my body condition,’ Angele thought.

‘Checking… Angele Rio: Strength 2.9. Agility 4.1. Stamina 2.5. You have reached the limits set by your gene. Health condition: Good.’ Zero finished analyzing quickly.

‘I reached my limit…’ Angele thought while feeling disappointed. His attributes were nothing compared to the strong warriors in this world, but at least he could protect himself against random scrubs. He, however, had mixed feelings about his situation. He took the emerald ring tied upon his necklace. Its gem had already lost its hue and cracks were all over it. The words engraved on the ring were also broken by the cracks. Angele rubbed on the surface of the ring slowly.

“If I cannot increase my attributes anymore, this mysterious power will be my only chance to obtain power,” Angele said while carefully staring at the emerald.

He examined the ring over hundreds of times, but the only new thing he discovered was the sentence engraved on it, which meant ‘The Ramsoda College – Venis’.

“The Ramsoda College… Where is this place?” Angele asked in a faint voice

“This Venis might be the original owner of the ring, and he could actually be a real wizard,”

Angele fiddled with the ring for a while, but he didn’t discover anything else. He put it back to the necklace and hid it on his chest underneath his clothes. Though the energy in it had been completely consumed, this was still the one and only object that connected him to the world of wizards. Angele felt like he’d still obtain more clues from the ring, so he had it kept safe.

The carriages kept moving toward their destination, and then another two days had passed. The caravan members were in dire need of clean water, so people had begun filtering the water on the ground using gauzes.

The caravan stopped by a water puddle. At present, thick, heavy clouds blanketed the sky.

“Why are we stopping? Let’s keep moving. We’re already very close to the border. Also, the bandits are most likely still searching for us!” A knight in silver armor said with a disappointed face. He even put his arms in front of his chest.

Angele and the baron were standing at the back without a noise, but they were already completely enraged. The three took about three buckets of clean water from their supply carriage, which was the main reason why they were now lacking water. They didn’t want to drink the water in the water puddles, thinking that they could get poisoned if they were to do so.

“It won’t take long, so please wait a second,” the baron said in a light tone, his fury completely masked. The guards and the maids were busy scooping water into the wooden barrels from the water puddles. The water was dirty and the puddles were full of grass and mud. However, that was what they could only find. The water would become clean if filtered properly, anyway.

Count Philip got off the carriage while rubbing his eyes and looked at the people around the water puddles.

“Why are we not moving?” He walked toward them and spoke with a deep voice. One of the knights explained the reason, which resulted in the count scrunching his eyebrows.

“Really!” the count said. He glanced at the group and saw someone who made him a bit excited.

“Mr. Karl,” he yelled.

“Anything I can do for you? Count Philip?” the baron turned around and bowed.

“Well, I need a few maids to organize my carriage. Get those two into mine. That won’t be an issue to you, right?” Philip asked as he pointed at Maggie and Celia. The baron became unhappy when he looked over.

“Well, it would be an issue actually,” Angele said, hindering his father from trying to talk.

“Those two have their jobs. I’m afraid they won't be able to serve you well, Count Philip,” Angele smiled and said. He knew what Philip truly wanted. Obviously, he merely wanted to have fun with the two girls. However, Angele had already considered the two girls as his own lovers a long time ago. With these facts laid out, he should’ve already unleashed his fury, but he controlled his anger well.

“I remember you. You killed about ten mounted bandits using your bow that day. You’re good. I like warriors like you,” Philip said in a light tone after carefully looking at Angele.

“Thanks for your praise, Count Philip,” Angele bowed and said.

“It’s getting late, so just bring the two girls to me after. I’m tired so I’m returning to my carriage.” Philip started to walk back to his carriage with the two knights following him at his back.

Angele and the baron finally unmasked their rage on their faces. Angele placed his hand on the sheath, about to draw his sword, but the baron stopped him and shook his head.

“Don’t,” the baron said.

“I know, Father.” Angele put down the sheath after he calmed down for a bit. He tried to smile, only to look slightly funny.

“Let me handle this, I’ll talk to them. Think twice before you act, you know it’s not worth it,” the baron said with a light voice. Angele nodded and deeply breathed to calm his rage.

The baron continued talking with Angele for a while, after which, the former walked toward the count’s carriage. The baron knew his relationships between Maggie and Celia, so he’d be able to handle this matter well. Angele took a deep breath and licked his lips. He then turned over to look at the water puddles. Maggie and Celia were carefully scooping water into the wooden barrels. The wind was blowing all over, making their hair flying about in the wind. Their clothes looked tighter because of the wind, thus emphasizing their sexy figures. Angele calmed down and even felt a bit better after looking at them.

“It’s done,” the baron walked towards Angele and nodded.

“Thank you, Father,” Angele felt relieved.

“Don’t make Philip mad. The only thing we need from him is the relationship that he has with the high-class nobles in the Marua Harbor,” the baron said.

“Understood.” Angele nodded and took a glance on the count’s carriage.