Chapter 14: Spying Stranger

We were led out of the room to go and collect our items. We met the old man in the back room next to our items. "to think you'd be our patron of the day Shadow. I am quite grateful."

"I only bought what I liked," I say picking up the figurine. It resembled Nox and that made me miss him. It was months since I last saw him. I studied the figurine and found a few words in Davvri at the bottom. A smile formed on my lips as I read the words. I had struck gold. An uncontrollable chuckle escaped from my lips. Looking up I saw everyone staring at me, "what are you waiting for? Pick your things so that we can leave."

I turned to the old man, "your office. I need to pay."

Bartolowm led me to his office as my companions took their new found items. After handing me the bill I withdrew money from the vault and paid him. "the communicator you wished for Shadow," the old man said handing me a thin golden bracelet with a blue gem at the center. "call for me anytime you may require my assistance. You are always welcome to any of our auction houses." I smiled even though he wouldn't see it. "I'll see you around old man." I stood up before I remembered about him, "oh and if a man called Elliot Liene comes looking for me contact me immediately," with that I left the office and joined everyone outside the auction house.

"go back to the inn. I'll return later."

There was a participant that had caught my eye. They kept on staring at our balcony and when I bid on the figurine they didn't even try to hide it. It was like they wanted me to know they were watching. Lifting up the collar of my coat I walked away from them and drifted into an alley. Climbing up the wall swiftly, I walked on the rooftops searching for the man in the town.

I spotted them way to fast. It was as if they weren't trying to hide. From their stature alone I could tell that they were trained. But in this childish body of mine I was able to find them so easily? No, they let me find them and that scared me for a second. I followed them from a distance always sticking to the roof. It was easier to run away from a high advantage point. They walked all the way to the edge of the town and entered the forest. I paused thinking whether I should follow them or not. I wasn't strong enough to defeat them if they turned out to be an enemy. I decided to head back, I can't deal with them right now. 'I need to get stronger,' I thought feeling frustrated. I glanced up at the sky, the moon shining brightly and the stars twinkled around it. It was a clear calm sky with no clouds hiding the light it shone onto the world.

"did you give up following me little one?"

I jumped back from the voice crouching down as I drew my daggers. I glanced at the source of the voice and saw the person I was following clapping their hands. "such a pretty reaction," they smiled licking their lips. They were tall with long silver green hair. They were wearing a black shirt that revealed their stomach and a pair of black pants that hung low on their waist. I couldn't tell their gender from their appearance. Even from their voice it was hard to make out if they were a man or a woman.

"what do you want?" I asked as I began to channel more mana through my mana cycle.

"to catch a rat you need bait. And you little one have the honour of being the bait," they said excitedly. "not a chance!"

Releasing my poison mana, I let it cover us like a fog obstruction his vision. "nice work little one," they said laughing in the fog, "if you made this easy it wouldn't be fun."

'Crazy! They were crazy!' I thought running away. Who laughs in the midst of poison. Using silent steps, I moved as fast as I could without making a sound on the rooftops before landing in the streets. I needed to get away. As far away as possible. Getting rid of all the mana in my body I took off my jacket and put in my spatial ring. I grabbed a shawl from a stall together with a veil and dashed away not to get caught stealing. I took off the mask and wore the veil. I tied the shawl around my body and joined a random group of women in the streets and began laughing with them. I stopped using silent steps in order to seem like an ordinary person even more. I heard them on the roof and it took everything in me not to turn around and look at them.

"not bad little one, not bad," I heard them say as I moved even further and further away from them. Once I was sure I was safe I went back to the inn and got into my room. Chanthy was already asleep. I got into my bed and tried to control my breathing as I clutched my knees tightly. I had no idea who the person was and why they were chasing after me.

I made sure we left the next day as early as possible and headed towards the warp gate that would take us to Hortivia. I didn't want to spend another minute in the Garrows unless it was necessary. I didn't want to meet them again, even if it was by accident.

There was a short queue by the time we arrived at the warp gate. Dinole went and hired a carriage for the trip. "won't they provide one in Hortivia?" I asked him and he stared at me angrily. "as if those greedy scumbags would do that." I glanced at Jaram. He was prince only in name. Dinole climbed on top of the carriage taking ahold of the reigns. I climbed up and sat next to him.

"you should sit inside Elysia," he said trying to get me to get down.

"I'm a knight. Its my duty," I say even though I wasn't a knight yet. Staying up here was better than being cooped up inside the carriage. After paying a toll fee we passed through the warp gate and arrived in Sesuene, the capital city of Hortivia. I felt slightly nauseous after passing through the gate. Dinole patted my back, "it happens the first couple of times. You'll get used to it," he offered me a smile and began driving the carriage.

I was glad I chose to sit outside. The fresh air made me feel slightly better. The city of Sesuene was beautiful. The buildings were a glimmering white with colored roofs. As expected of a town close to the sea. Dinole explained that there was a type of stone called limestone. They used them in building houses and that's what made them look so white and glisten in the sun. Even commoners could afford to use limestone in building their houses since it was abundant in Sesuene. As we traveled through the city I saw stalls selling fruits I had only heard of in my previous life. The people on the streets wore light attires because of the strong sun. It looked like fabric was draped around their bodies. The women had beads hanging around their waists and metallic bangles on their arms. The men wore clothes that looked like tunics with pants underneath. Dinole called them shabii and what the women wore was saeri. The culture of Hortivia was a unique one. It didn't match any of the ones in Grabania or the Empire. Even though it was situated in between the two largest nations, it held out on its own. It made think that the current king was a very wise person who was able to retain his beliefs and culture even in the midst of these two nations on each side of her borders. Everything I saw was fascinating and new. A part of me wanted to thank the Librarian for forcing me to tag along with them but that would never happen.