I woke up back in reality as it started raining vigorously, I stood up, lifting my heavy fatigued body off the ground. I stared at the cloudy cold skies, cries of sorrow rang in my ears as I wandered aimlessly at the ruined town. Somehow I made my way to the eastern gate, walking past through it was a foresty area. I walked for hours and hours without a goal in mind. My mind was blank, I feel like I'm forgetting about something that was very important to me but I can't recall what it was.
"Tarus!"
"Your finally back!"
I could hear two feminine voices shouting in the distance, I collapsed on the floor, and the next thing I knew I was riding on someone's back. This person's hair was fragrant and smelled like the flowers [we]....flowers? we? I thought it was only me who picked the flowers back in my village...that'd be kind of unusual; for a boy alone to pick flowers all on his own. My head started to ache as I tried my best to remember why I even picked flowers that day. My thoughts were interrupted by the two people in front of me chatting.
"He's awake!"
"Shhh! Stay quiet Celene!"
"Tarus, how are you feeling?" ignoring the other person's command, she asked how I felt
"Who are you again? I'm really drowsy right now..."
"Oh, so you don't remember me..." her expression turned gloomy
"Sorry...my memories are a jumbled mess right now..."
"Take your time to remember, we'll just ask you later, for now, we need to get to the next town safely to get away from them."
"'Them'?"
"The intruders who attacked the town."
"Sorry I don't really remember much after fainting..."
"It's fine Tarus, don't push yourself so hard!" the once gloomy expression faded and her face was full of sunshine
"Thanks, I guess..."
"Can you walk now?"
"Yeah, thanks Nanako."
"Well, we should be headed for the Rayonaird which is the Capital and is this way."
"Once we reach the nearest town, we can rent a carriage with a horse so that we can get Rayonaird faster, there we can find out what to do next."
"Oh yeah Tarus, about the thing you said, your 'method' was it...how can you activate it?"
"I need to touch the border, that way we can go through to the other side."
"Well, I guess this is going to be more of a long journey."
"It's going to be a fun one!"
"Once we reach Rayonaird, the border is to the north of it, and traveling there by foot can take up to at least a few months..."
"I've never been to the capital."
"Oh, so you haven't gotten there at all yet Celene?"
"I've been stuck in that Manor and the farthest place I've been to is the town of Geltix...the town we're going to next is the town of Esthel."
"Interesting...how about you Nanako?"
"I've been a merchant my whole life, I scoured through the whole world in search of my sister so I know the routes like the back of my hand!"
"Impressive!" me and Celene were in awe
"You sure act more mature than your shy big sister..."
"N-not at all!"
"She has a sister?"
"Yeah, her name is Kasu and I met her on the other side."
"I can't wait to meet her!"
"You'll meet together soon and hopefully you guys will get along well."
"I'm sure we will!"
"I'll try my best..." Nanako pointed her two pointing fingers at each other...I found this cute somehow
We walked through the paved dirt road for a while until we reached the town of Esthel, going here was a smooth ride, no bandits or wild animals attacked us. It was already sundown as we saw the white town of Esthel, the walls were covered in white just like everything in this town. We passed through the gate easily thanks to Nanako's merchant status.
"Well, that was an easy entry unlike when I first got to the town of Geltix."
"It's all thanks to me!"
"Yeah yeah, whatever."
This is the first time I saw an upset face form on Celene's face. I chuckled a bit but she didn't seem to hear which is a good thing. The houses here in Esthel were nothing unlike the houses back in Geltix, the houses here look very magnificent like only wealthy people can afford to live in one of these houses. The different houses had their own unique designs, from the small details of the carvings to the outrageous doors of each house...this place sure could cost an arm or leg.
"Should we rest for now?"
"Yeah, I'm exhausted after walking all day."
"Let's find an Inn!"
Nanako asked around for a while and for some reason the person she talked to led us to an alleyway...things are getting suspicious.
"Hey, I thought this was the way to the Inn?"
"Little girl...you don't seem to be from here! BOYS! TIME TO ATTACK!"
"TIME TO ENJOY SOMETIME WITH HER!"
"LOOK AT THOSE VOLUMES!"
"Perverts! Tarus no need to worry, I'm used to these kinds of situations!"
A black crown with golden accents suddenly appeared on Nanako's head...I didn't expect her to have one.
"A crown...?"
"A CROWN USER?!"
"SHE'S FROM THE CROWN ASSOCIATION?!"
"RUN FOR IT FOOLS!"
"MOM SAVE ME!"
"YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE, DUMBASSES! CROWN FRAGMENT OF VINES: WRAP!"
Green spiky vines grew from the ground and immediately wrapped it selves to the four bandits that assaulted us. I and Celene were still in awe about Nanako being a crown user...and crown organization?
"I'M AGENT NANAKO FROM THE CROWN ORGANIZATION! I HEREBY DECLARE YOU UNDER ARREST FOR ASSAULT!"
She held out a silver emblem in the shape of a crown fragment. The bandits looked so surprised that they looked so white as if they've seen something horrifying, it was a scene to see and laugh at.
"Crown fragment of communication! Call!"
A blue crown fragment glowed a bit.
"Caiso! It's me Nanako! I'm here in the town for Esthel, you should be near right?"
"NANAKO!? What's the problem?"
"I caught some bandits, can I please leave them to you? They're near the southwestern entrance, I'll hang them up from a tree so that you can spot them easily! I have matters to attend to! Thanks!"
"NANAKO WAI-"
Before the rowdy voiced person could finish Nanako hung up. She then asked for some rope in the nearby general store and she then proceeded to hang the bandits one by one. After doing that she came back to us, she then let out a long sigh and started to stretch her body.
"What's with the surprised face?"
"Your also a crown user?!"
"Shhh! We'll make a scene here! Let's talk about it later in the Inn which should be a few feet north from here."
We followed her as she lead the way, after a few minutes we arrived at the Inn, it looked humble with the familiar wooden interior style, it even has a cafeteria on the first floor. We checked in and we headed up the rickety wooden stairs. We stayed in one room to save money and I got the couch to let the ladies stay on the bed.
"Tarus are you really sure your gonna be fine on the couch?"
"It's fine you guys take the beds."
"Ok then!"
"Nanako now let's talk about you being a crown user since I'm also one."
I revealed the pure black crown floating up on my head.
"Tarus, you...!"
"Why are you so surprised?! Calm down! Aren't we both crown users?"
"Your crown is unnatural as it's so corrupted...and your crown fragments, they're all natural?"
"All natural? What are you talking about?"