8. The western citadel (2)

It didn't take up to two days of travel, and they finally got to their destination. The path was dangerous, and they had to make various stops, but they finally arrived at the western citadel.

The prince and his two companions rode into the small city and then they went forwards.

This citadel was owned by a small race called Letchers. They live isolated from the rest of the world, and they also have inns for travelers to stay in with a lot of other services.

Beside the entrance of the city was a stable, and they went and kept their horses there, of course, for a fee.

Julius observed the long and sharp-pointed ears of the man in the stable. He had purple skin, and his teeth were all pointed downwards like a saw, which was strange.

'This is my first time seeing another race.' Julius smiled, and then he followed behind his knight to stay at a particular inn.

The place was a three-story building that had a lot of noise going on in the lowest floors. They entered into it and went to the one in charge.

It was like a bar. Most of the people there were carrying weapons, and the others were all on their own at separate tables, and they all stared at the new guy that just stepped in.

Julius gave all of them a look and then looked towards the owner of the inn.

"I'd like to book a room," he said and put down two gold coins, and the man's eyes widened.

"R-right away, sir. Would you like anything while I fetch a key?" the man asked, and Julius simply shook his head.

"That kid seems rich. But could he be from a royal family? I haven't heard of him before," one of the guys at the edge said, and the others agreed with him.

What made them come down to this conclusion was the fact that Ray had the royal family's emblem behind his coat, and Julius sighed when he heard this.

Ray seemed to be nonchalant to all their remarks, and a bulky man stood up and approached them.

He had his hair tied up in a bun and a full beard. The most stunning thing about him was the axe emblem on his armor, signifying his identity.

'Ah, a one-axe Gladiator,' Julius couldn't help but eye the man head to toe. He had impressive equipment, and Julius couldn't tell how much value they had, but the others seemed to respect him.

He walked towards Ray and put a hand on his shoulder.

"So, are you guys from the royal family? Why don't you come have a drink with us?" he said to Ray, and before he could say anything, Julius intervened.

"No, but thank you for your kindness. We only need rest for now," he said and looked away.

"Who's the kid? I hope you don't mind if I teach him a lesson," the man said and looked at Julius, and Ray sighed.

Julius could see that the man was offended by his words. He shook his head, still with a calm gaze, and looked at the man.

"He's my responsibility. I'm also a five-axe Gladiator and now the prince's guard," Ray said, and the man raised a brow. But then a menacing aura spread all around, and the man in front of them stood straight as he recognized his superior.

"I was only curious, mister. I'll be going now," the man said and moved to leave, but he stopped when he felt an even heavier aura on him, and he looked back to see Ray with an angry expression.

Understanding the situation, he looked at the prince.

"Ah, I'm sorry, Your Highness," he said, and only then was the pressure released.

Alexa only chuckled as she witnessed the situation, and then she looked at Ray.

"You didn't have to scare him like that," she said and looked at the man leaving the bar and heading up to a room probably.

"He should know his place. Not knowing can land him in trouble in the future," Ray said with a cold gaze, and then Alexa sighed and shook her head at the guy who ran away.

Julius was only calm about the entire situation, and he was thinking about how he should deal with something.

The people in the bar were chuckling as they talked about the gladiator that just left.

"Haha, that guy was acting all high and mighty. Who knew that a former two-axe Gladiator would show up and put him in his place, truly a humiliation for him," a man said and chuckled.

The other people also discussed this matter, while some just found the entire situation amusing.

Just now Julius could see that the man before was affected by some kind of pressure, and he wondered what that was.

'Did he use magic to pressure that man?' Julius couldn't help but wonder as the scene flashed in his head again.

Soon the barman came out with a key with a few letters attached to it.

"The room is on the top floor. Thank you for purchasing our services," the man said and handed them a key, and they all departed for the highest floor.

Meanwhile, the gladiator who was just humiliated went into his room and then groaned loudly and lay on his bed.

"Fuck! That was the manaless prince. How dare he talk to me like that? If not for that guard of his, I would have taught him a lesson," the guy said. Then he heard footsteps behind his door, and people passed him.

"The valley of forgotten dreams isn't too far from here. We'll leave tomorrow."

The man cleaned his ears as he thought he had heard something else. Did they just say the valley of forgotten dreams?

That was a place that has been avoided by people for the last century. So many people had gone into the valley but never came out.

All their dreams and hopes of finding something were crushed as they probably died inside.