Oresus headed back in the direction of the slum when he noticed a large group of people entering a building that appeared to be a church.
He followed the group, a glint of curiosity in his eyes.
He quickly noticed that each and every person handed a few bronze coins to a man before entering the side door. The man was dressed in a religious robe, his bald head and green eyes gave a kind impression of his person.
Oresus copied the crowd, giving 4 bronze coins to the man, however, unlike the rest, he was stopped by the monk. His eyebrows rose into an expression of surprise.
[Are you a traveller? Please show your permit.]
Having no permit to show, Ocelio was forced to backtrack. After investigating a bit and watching other people outside the town queue up to enter the gates, he noticed they were being issued a permit based on how long they would stay.
So he sneaked out of town, took out the first ancient book from his clan treasury and started reading it.
He stood at the end of a thirty or so queue of people, waiting for the two guards at the entrance of the gates to proceed with the interrogation, followed by the search of their belongings and recording of their identity.
A lone man reading a book was a rarity anywhere except in the capital, so it was no wonder that people stared at him with curiosity.
Soon a man near the end of the queue came upon him, asking him if he would teach his children how to read.
The man wore a pair of dusty pants and a shirt that had two holes under the armpits. He carried with him a pickaxe and a bucket covered by a piece of fabric.
Oresus slightly raised his head, nonchalantly answering: [Not interested.]
After this refusal, people who also wanted to approach him no longer dared to do so. But their curiosity was still there as they watched him read with envy and admiration.
People came and went as time passed, soon there were more people behind than in front of him.
Just when he turned to the last page in his book, his head turned to the east, his eyes peering into the distance.
A convoy was approaching the town, and it was a large one.
Oresus became impatient, he gave 10 bronze coins to the 5 people in front of him so he could enter first.
[Reason for entering?]
The guards had seen everything that Oresus did, but they didn't seem to care. They asked in a monotonous manner like they did all morning.
[Tourism.]
The guards made a strange expression at his answer. Looking at him as if he was a fool.
Then one of the guards couldn't hold it and started laughing.
[Young man, you've travelled to the wrong region if you want to sightsee, apart from dusty mines, dangerous forests and fat women, there are nothing to see in this region.]
The guards standing above the wall snickered when they heard this.
However, Oresus remained expressionless all along. Only waiting for them to proceed.
[Alright, you'll get a week-long residency permit so you can sightsee as much as you want. That'll be 50 bronze coins, and if you lose the permit, you'll have to pay that amount again.]
50 bronze coins was enough to have 10 meals in a restaurant or stay 5 nights in a low-end inn. The guards were clearly ripping him off.
Oresus gave them all the bronze coins in his possession which thankfully was enough and entered the town with the piece of wood that was inscribed with his identification and served as a permit.
Right after he entered through the gates, he could hear murmurs behind him as the convoy stopped in front of the town walls.
His steps paused for a second. His pupils became purple, his iris turned into a crimson red.
With one step, he landed on the town's wall, watching the dust cloud change into a crowd of people and horse-driven carriages.
His eyes peered into the walls of the carriages, directly seeing the merchants and prisoners inside.
He examined the mercenaries, the life and elemental aura emanating from their bodies gave him a clear estimation of their strength.
All the bloodrainist were at the 1st branch of their bloodline. He couldn't tell which bloodline they had, but from their auras, all of them owned a common magical beast bloodline.
He seemed surprised to find a few elemental auras amongst them. Far fewer compared to the bloodrainist and their aura was also at the magicalist first rank: the junior.
He became nostalgic when he smelled the cool scent of water, felt the warmth from the fire, the reassuring presence of the earth, and sensed the cool touch of the wind elemental aura.
The diversity of magicalist and their elemental aura present made him recall the memory of when he was a child and claimed he would one day succeed his father and become the greatest wind mage ever.
His father laughed at his words, yet his eyes remained as cool as water. For, he knew that this dream would never be accomplished.
[Father, if only you knew, if only we had realised it sooner...]
His words ended into a faint whisper, when he suddenly noticed one feeble aura from one of the carriage. A rare aura of the nature element soothed his mood, like a mother taking her child into her embrace.
He smiled thankfully at the girl inside, only noticing her figure when the row of carriages stopped in front of the town's gates.
She was beautiful, as pretty as a girl could be. Her green hair fell neatly behind her, her clothes tightly hugged her body, her every movement showcased her natural elegance. However, when she spoke with her proud voice, it was only to insult the lady by her side or to complain about her treatment.
When his eyes fell into the other woman inside the carriage, his red eyes paused for a second. He had rarely seen a woman as attractive, she had brown hair tied into a ponytail, she wore a shirt under a brown leather jacket but it did little to hide her fully grown chest.
Two short swords were tied to a belt right above her tight short. She long white legs that extended to dark boots.
Rather than a maid to the elegant lady, she seemed more like a warrior so he wondered if she was the green-haired girl's bodyguard.
[Sir guard, here's the trader's permit, please let us in.]
After a few seconds, the guards made way for the convoy to enter the town, surprising Oresus.
He made a wry smile before walking away inside the town.
Now that he had a residency permit, the first thing he did was rent a room in an inn.
It was a different establishment than he had been previously, it was a tad bigger with a restaurant and bar separated, giving it a peaceful atmosphere.
He had paid twenty bronze coins a night, which was costly for renting a room, however, what he lacked wasn't money.
The first thing he did once he sat on the bed was to take out another book to read. He never had the opportunity to access the treasury chest since it belonged exclusively to his father, the clan master.
Only the clan master could access the treasury and take out items from it. Yet, ever since he was small, his father never mentioned the wooden chest existence.
A trace of pain appeared in his eyes as he opened the book.
Oresus was the sole biological son of the clan master. However, his father adopted another son a few years earlier. A young boy almost as talented as him...
[knock, knock.]
Soft knocking came from the door of his room. After spending a few hours reading, he had completely lost his sense of time.
[Hello, I bring the lunch meal.]
A woman with short red hair stood outside in the corridor. She wore the traditional maid outfit, with a yellow scarf tied to her waist.
In her hands, a hot meal emanated white smoke, the smell of which awakened his appetite.
[Thank you.]
Taking the tray from her hands, he hurriedly closed the door with his feet before digging in.
A salad, a plate of mashed potatoes with meat and a cup of sweet juice he was unfamiliar with.
Glancing at the window, he saw rain falling outside. He washed his hands in a bucket of water in his room before leaving with the empty tray.
Downstairs, a few people were eating in the restaurant inside the inn, some paid attention to the new face. However, most of them were busy talking about the merchant convoy that had arrived this morning.
After greeting the maid who had served him a few minutes earlier and giving her back the tray, he listened to the talks with a cup of the same fresh juice in his hand.
[Lord Cheyron is lucky this time. 6 prime women and 2 pretty boys, a dozen rafaleti horses and a hundred elven bows. He'll probably retire after this one, if he manages to sell that thorny treasure.]
A few men dressed in white wool clothes with strange feathered hats spoke in hushed tone.
They drew Oresus attention due to their excited faces, yet spoke in whispers. Adding to that, thanks to the books he had recently read, he recognized the insignia stitched into their hats. The insignia of the merchanary alliance.
[It's true. It would make anyone envious. Ever since he captured that elf, he never let anyone see her. Even the mercenaries guarding her are not allowed to look at her.]
[He wants to sell her in her best condition. That's why he decided to rest in the brothel during these two days, who know how many would lose their heads if they knew what they were guarding yet couldn't touch or see.]
They spoke with lust permeating their eyes. Spit flying into the empty table.
As Oresus listened to their discussion, he seemed to be interested in the story.
The merchant convoy fought near the elven forest, they captured horses and weapons from there. During the last night they camped there, the merchant head, Lord Cheyron mysteriously managed to obtain an elf girl. From there, they rushed to the capital in a hurry, only stopping in town when they had to rest or resupply the convoy.
Elves didn't exist in his previous world. He had read about them in some of the books of the apothecary, he however treated them as a myth for kids.
Many legends seemed to surround this strange race that did not leave the enormous forest they lived in.
Paying for his drink, he left the inn with a thoughtful expression.
Right when he reached the crowd walking in the street, he disappeared.
A few moments later, he reappeared in front of a richly decorated building in the east district.
The insignia of an elegant man with a hat throned above the establishment's doors.
A smirk of derision appeared on Oresus face but he still entered inside.