Time flies while we are discussing. When I come out of the white space which Cissa has called our inner sanctuary. It is morning, K'nor is nowhere to be seen, surely, he went hunting or something. I go to the river and bath a last time before heading to Nargil. I will wait there for those who decided to kill us and try to collect information during the next two weeks. It reminds me that I haven't been to town for the last four years. And I don't have any money. Excafol told me he took all the money I had when I was in the order of knights, but there was nothing among their belongings when I buried them.
"I will find a way when I will be there."
After the bath, I dress up. My clothes are pretty dirty and bloody. They look more like rags than anything else. I fought all those people with them after all. Well, no can do, I go back to the house and look at the bodies of the assassins we have killed. I didn't clean any of them, so they are scattered everywhere. The odor of decomposed bodies has also started to fill the air. Maybe that's why K'nor went somewhere. It smells bad here. Though there is no gragora in sight, you would think they would come and feast on those corpses in a hurry when they smell such an odor.
I take the corpse of a guy whose head is missing and remove his clothes, the boots are a bit big, but they should be enough for me, he had a leather armor and leather gauntlets behind his black clothes, but they are also a bit bigger than me, I just take the leather armor. Or wait… I can take all these and sell them in Nargil. Selene always told me to take what is necessary as we never know what the future is made of.
"Ah, how proud you would be right now…"
***
I take all the equipment of the assassins that seem to be in a good state: this guy had his arms missing, and I have opened his stomach so I can only take the boots, this one got hit by the crescent bullet, the bottom half of his body is missing. No good… I have in total twenty-three leather armors, seventeen pairs of gauntlets, and thirty pairs of boots. For the weapons, I found only ten daggers that were not broken and seven one-hand swords. The captain that I defeated had a long and slim sword which seems to be a good one, but there are chips everywhere on it now. I don't think I can repair it by myself. The assassins also have bottles of poisons and antidotes, I will take them, but I should not sell them, it might be suspicious to sell those.
After putting everything I gathered in my bracelet, I whistle to call K'nor, he comes throttling five minutes later with another gragora in his mouth. Like I thought, he went hunting. I suppose gragoras didn't devour the corpses until now because he was chasing them.
I take some wood from the burned house and start a fire. Like usual, I cut the gragoras in parts and give K'nor his own. Then I season my own and roast. This meat is really good.
After eating, I gather all the corpses in one place near the house and burn them all together. The odor of burnt corpses filled the air, sour and heavy. My eyes sting a bit, I wonder why.
***
"Okay, let's go."
"Woof!"
K'nor and I start running. After ten minutes and some fifty kilometers or so, I stop. I just realize I don't know where is Nargil. It was the city where we stopped when we came to Titanium with Excafol, but it has been so long. Should I go to Vodun again and ask? It's not like people would know me there. Let's do that. I look at my compass and head north.
After another thirty minutes, I reach Vodun, and memories flash through my mind. What they did to Excafol and Selene, the way their bodies were mutilated… My heart stings, and my vision blurries a bit.
"Ah, fucking tears…" Let's forget about that for now and focus.
"You stay here. I will come back in a bit."
"Woof!" I leave and K'nor in the forest like the last time and go to the entrance of the town.
To reach the gate, I pass through a field, a man appears from among the plants and looks at me silently. My hood is on my head, so my face cannot be easily seen. He looks at me for a while, and I can hear his heartbeat increasing a bit. But he finally disappears again when I get out of the field.
At the gate, a guard stops me: "Who are you, and what do you want?"
"I am a traveler. I am trying to reach Nargil, but I am a bit lost. Could you help me?"
"Nargil? Where are you from? Are you an adventurer or a merchant?"
"I am just a traveler."
"There is no 'just traveler'. You are either a merchant, an adventurer, or an explorer. Show me your identification card." The guard points his spear at me. His heartbeat increases. I also hear another heartbeat on the watchtower at my right.
I slowly take my card and give it to him. "Here."
"Kevin Dragonroad. You are a free citizen. But you are not registered at the guild. Are you a pilgrim then? Did MEETIA ask you to repent?"
So, to be considered an adventurer or a merchant, I must go to a guild. That's good to know, I should do that soon.