Into the Mountains

Arthur then calmly leaves the scene as if nothing of importance even happened. He pays no attention to anyone there and just continues to walk away, towards whatever he has on his mind next. 

Lily, who was waiting outside watching the entire scene with both trepidation and curiosity, was surprised to see Arthur walking out unharmed and that none of the guards tried anything against him. It swelled her confidence in her decision to follow him and learn from him. This is the ideal master that she has sought. 

Someone at the peak. Undeterred by anyone and anything. Unfettered and free from this world and the chains that bind it. She could not help but smile at the idea that maybe she could reach that level as well. 

Seeing Arthur continue to walk away and, with his pace, begin to actually disappear from sight, she perks up and immediately takes off after him. And even though he is quick, she is able to catch his scent and catch up to him soon enough. 

"What happened?! Did you fight him?! Why did the guards not do anything?! Did you kill everyone inside?! How strong are you exactly?! When can I learn to be that strong?!" Lily immediately begins to fire off questions one after the other as soon as she caught up to Arthur, who purposely walked slightly slower to allow her to catch up. 

"Later." He answers simply. 

"Later what? Later, you will answer my questions, or later I will get stronger?" Her ears perk up as asks for clarification.

"Later." He replies back once more, refusing to clarify on the matter. 

"Mou! You are not fun to talk to." She says with a pout. 

"Then don't talk." He states. 

"Geh! This will be a troublesome task. But I swear that I will get you to love talking to me! Hehe, soon enough, I will be the one to give you the cold shoulder." She says while sticking her tongue out slightly as she scrunches up her face.

"That will never happen." Arthur lightly says back as he continues to walk. 

"By the way, where are we going now? Someone else to talk to? Or time to eat?" She says, then adds the last bit as her stomach growls slightly. 

"To the mountains." Arthur replies. 

"Eh, now?! What about stuff? Or food? Shouldn't we pack up before we head out into those dangerous mountains?" She blurts out in surprise. Internally, she is already wondering if she just made a mistake to follow this man. After all, who goes into those dangerous mountains without gear or resources? 

"Everything we will need is in the mountains." Arthur states and nods his head with a smile as if he just said something wise. 

"In the mountains? Are you serious?! Ah, I am gonna die. I just realized I have chosen death." Lily begins to smile crazily and spout delusional things as they walk through the city, heading for the main gate. 

"It will be fine. I will keep you alive, as I have questions for you to answer while we travel through the mountains. We will find a cave, and I will hunt a beast for our meal." Arthur says. as he stops for a moment and pats her shoulder lightly as if trying to console her. But his light pat dislocates her shoulder and causes her body to press downward, causing the ground to crack slightly. 

"GYAH?!" she yelps, feeling the sudden pain as she looks around, confused. 

"Oops, my bad. Sorry, here, let me fix that." Arthur gives an apologetic smile before he grabs her shoulder and relocates it in a single second. 

"OUCH!" she yelps once more as Arthur puts her shoulder back in place. And for the first time, she looks at him, completely terrified. After all, he barely even touched her, and it nearly completely broke her. 

And that is saying something since she is an S-ranked adventurer. Which is to say that she is not fragile at all. And considering she is beast-folk, making her even sturdier and stronger than humans of the same level. 

"A cave." After having moved past the pain and the terrifying thoughts occupying her mind, her thoughts then move to the idea of staying in a cave. And she nearly cried. 

"Aren't you forest folk supposed to be used to staying in caves?" Arthur asks upon hearing her utterance and despair at having to stay in a cave.

"Well, that is kind of rude and racist. What kind of savages do you think we are? We still build homes and houses, you know." She states back a little furiously but still quite tame as she is afraid to make him angry. 

"Oh, I did not know that. Well, either way, we are staying in a cave. Many caves, in fact, after all, it will be a long journey." Arthur states matter of factly but takes none of it to heart as he continues to walk. And they soon make it to the main gate and prepare to head on out. 

"Lily's face blanched at the thought and began to mutter in an incoherent and nervous utterance. "Caves. Many caves. It is all to get stronger. Stronger. Stronger. Stronger." 

Arthur, though hearing everything she is muttering under her breath, decides to ignore it and believes that it will all work out in the end. And if not, well, he can just kill everything that is in the way. 

He repeatedly nods at that thought, as if agreeing with his thoughts that there is nothing to worry about as everything is easy for him to get rid of, if necessary. But he is, in fact, looking forward to learning more about the magic of this world. 

From his time on Earth, he had obviously known about magic from video games and stories but never experienced it for himself. And like everyone who has been exposed to it, he wishes to learn magic and perform cool feats, as shown in the stories. For a while, he had actually forgotten that he was in another world and that magic might exist here. 

Even when he faced a God, he did not think of magic or its existence. But now that the possibility is right before him, he plans on taking that chance. Even if it is extra baggage in the form of this woman named Lily. 

Soon enough, the both of them have passed the city gates and slowly start making their way around the city walls until they have a straight path towards the mountains ahead. 

And what large mountains they are. Many of the peaks reaching deep into the clouds, the tops unseen. Yet they look beautiful and, at the same time, dangerous.