It must have been two days since they left the armored city of Ylesse, taking the main roads and crossing several villages and forest areas, before Ewan and Pavas finally reached the slopes of Mount Larshen.
However, they were still far from reaching their destination: if Wynblow had had any brains, she would have taken shelter in the heights; and Fusain was far too tired to carry his two passengers and their belongings for several more hours. Ewan had decided to stop for a couple of hours in the village of Barbados, known for its high quality red wine that could be found on every table in the empire.
The streets, entirely paved with dark and light tiles forming a giant chessboard pattern on the ground, could have convinced anyone that the place was not a simple country village, but one of the main alcohol production and trading posts of the empire. There was no need to detail the smooth black slate roofs, or the facades of large mansions centered with columns and decorative elements carved in snow-white stone. The first step taken on the huge mosaics already made you feel insignificant and out of place, without anyone having even told you so in person.
However, even if travelers' boots and horses' hooves full of mud left unsightly trails behind them, it was never for very long, considering the cleaning carts that regularly passed through the streets dragging thick bangs of fabric and leather on the ground to erase any stain.
In the distance, towards the center of the place that had turned into a large city, Ewan saw a huge building, as big as some of the buildings in Ylesse, and all the more impressive in the middle of houses and shops not more than one or two stories high. It must have been the town hall, judging by the flags of the empire that hung from the roof, which was bristling with flagpoles and lightning mana stones. The latter, raised on metal poles, were especially expensive, but all the more effective in deflecting storms and their devastation.
As the young hunter and the little girl walked through the streets, they began to observe the surroundings: red and pink camellias as tall as trees adorned the buildings and streets with all the elegance that the gardeners had allowed them to communicate despite a drastic trimming that did not allow for any extravagance. No grass grew between the flagstones covering the ground, proof of the city's determination to control everything in order to appear perfect, and even the walls denied their surface to ivy and other vegetation.
At each intersection, a small pole adorned with several zinc signs reflected the sunlight and indicated the direction of important neighborhoods, stores, and administrative buildings. Ewan swung Fusain to the right, and the horse headed for what must have been the hotel and inn district, judging by the signs and nameplates of the buildings boasting of being the best destination for a night's rest or a romantic weekend. The young man did not fail to wince at this last detail. People from wealthy families were the type to go spend a few days in a city on the other side of the continent, just because they could afford it. But let a monster or bandits appear, and there would be no one in sight. Ewan wondered if it wasn't possible to measure a person's degree of cowardice by their wealth, because the more possessions a person had, the more desperately they seemed to cling to them by fleeing first. Perhaps having money made one grow wings?
Finally stopping in front of an establishment that he knew he could afford, Ewan helped Pavas off the horse, and after booking a room with the owner, finished unloading the various packs that the big, sturdy horse had had to carry all this time.
Having removed the saddle from the animal's back, the young hunter gently patted it, while Pavas gave the animal a handful of fodder.
His mount finally comfortable, Ewan left followed by the little girl in the direction of the Association hall of the city, in order to settle the few administrative details that he had not had time to address in his hasty departure from Ylesse.
The Association was an organization present everywhere in the human empire, and which, thanks to its network, allowed a continuous exchange of information between the different cities and villages. You could find job offers from all over the continent, but also the list of criminals with a bounty on their heads, as well as requests for the extermination of monsters.
The various counters present in the premises of each branch of the Association also made it possible to make requests for the creation or copying of official documents, but also to send mail, or to get information on the city of attachment. It was therefore the essential place to base one's operations, when the military barracks remained closed to the public.
'Or that you didn't know an insufferable blond guy who would house you for free, when he wasn't trying to use you,' thought Ewan.
However, when it came to administrative documents, it was much better to go to the Association than to the military. The people at the counters always had an answer for everything, which was not guaranteed with soldiers trained to fight and not to fill out forms.
Patiently, Ewan and Pavas waited their turn in the large waiting room of the Association's lobby; sitting on a large stone bench covered with a thin dark red cushion.
The young man had been wandering the countryside and mountainous areas for a while on his jobs, and he suddenly missed the all-wooden buildings, as the uncomfortable seat made his buttocks ache. Even Pavas was fidgeting around next to him, changing positions and regularly swinging her legs to get the blood flowing through her body.
"Is everything okay, Pavas?" he asked the little girl.
"It's not comfortable," she replied in a small voice, wincing.
Ewan smiled awkwardly. He couldn't really answer anything in the face of what was the pure truth.
He had never set foot in Barbados, but one thing was certain: like that bench you hoped you wouldn't have to sit on for too long, the city was as beautiful as it was unsuitable for human needs.
"We won't be here long," he tried to reassure her. "But if you want to stay with me, we need to make you a nameplate."
"A nameplate?" She repeated.
He nodded, giving a slight smile.
"I have to register as being responsible for you," he explained. "Once you have a plate, things like what happened earlier won't happen again."
Even though the little girl hadn't mentioned it, she must have still been shocked by her kidnapping and confinement by the auction house. She hadn't said anything about it, and Ewan hadn't asked, all too aware that she had only just opened up to him by deciding to talk to him, and that the slightest indiscreet question could make her shut down.
"Even without a plate, I'm not afraid," she said, digging into one of her pants pockets.
She pulled out the spiral shell, which Ewan recognized as the one he'd given her, and showed it to him as she held out her hand to him.
"If people try to hurt me, all I have to do is scream, and you'll come, right?" She asked, her eyes fixed on him.
Ewan smirked, and then placed his bandaged hand over Pavas', enclosing the shell between their two palms.
"Of course," he replied, returning her gaze.
Reassured by this frank statement, the little girl put the shell away, and soon after, a hostess came to call them to direct them to one of the now free counters.
Taking a seat in front of a middle-aged woman, Ewan introduced himself and Pavas and made his request.
"Um, so you want to register as a parental representative for this girl, but you don't have any delegation documents from her parents, because they are deceased, right?" summarized the Association employee.
"Their death is too recent for there to have been any documentation, and given the situation, I'm not sure I'll have any papers for quite some time," Ewan apologized, nodding his head.
"I see... I can eventually register you as a guardian, and after a period of a month, if there is still no document, we can register you as parents," she explained. "Can I see your plate?"
Opening the collar of his jacket to reveal his neck, Ewan rummaged in the reverse of his tunic, and after a few seconds held up the silver nameplate he wore as a necklace.
"Ewan Jesabell. Occupation: monster hunter?" She read aloud, dumbfounded.
"What? Is my occupation going to be a problem?" He asked, anxious.
"No, not really... Just, I was wondering if you came here because of the Behemoth that is rampaging around..." She declared, intrigued.
"A Behemoth?" Ewan repeated, concerned.
He didn't like these nasty beasts that were not only imposing but also violent, and that usually required an operation combining several hunters to be able to take them down. Mixing with other hunters was not the young man's favorite thing to do, because unless he had already met his teammates in the past, it was difficult to form an opinion of each other's skills. He therefore carefully avoided joint requests, preferring those he could carry out alone, without having to watch his back or those of others.
The employee then pointed to the huge bulletin board hanging on one of the walls of the hall, on which were attached a multitude of posters, separated into several categories according to their difficulty and type. A Behemoth must have represented a rank 10 to 20 on average, and Ewan immediately spotted the poster adorned with a large red wax seal at the bottom; a sign that it was a request endorsed by the city itself.
"I'll take the plate creation form to our alchemist, and then I'll be right back," the employee excused herself as she stood up; leaving Ewan and Pavas alone at the counter.
Looking around the rest of the hall, the young man saw a small group of armed men gathered around one of the available tables, and wondered if they were part of the strike force called in by the city. He could see a hunter wielding a spear, and another wearing several pendants of various shapes around his neck.
A spearman and a tamer, eh?
Pretty neat, for a creature that was little affected by magic, and that only brute force could subdue. In that sense, the Behemoths were almost similar to the Salamanders, and Ewan couldn't help but think of Wynblow, and how he could get him across the land to the north without being spotted. Were they going to have to travel at night again, and use roundabout ways? If they went on like this, Ewan would soon run out of money, with no work to do. Did he have to make as many requests here as possible to put aside some funds? He was not alone anymore, after all...
His gaze then shifted to Pavas, who was curiously observing the large hall of the building, and it was at this moment that the employee returned, a sheaf of papers in her hand.
"I asked to look at the census lists, and I think I found it," she said, handing the young man an ID record.
He grabbed the document and looked at it, detailing the personal information of the person in question. The first name was the same, and even if he and Pavas didn't know her last name, the physical description of the little girl seemed to match. Only one detail bothered the young man.
"Born in the year 388?" He read aloud, raising an eyebrow.
He then turned to Pavas, and frowning, asked him:
"Pavas, how old are you?"
"14, why?" She replied innocently.
Ewan's eyes widened in surprise.
"You're so small, I thought you were 7 or 8 at the most!" He wondered aloud.
The girl shook nervously in her seat, and the employee couldn't help but smile.
"At any rate, her age seems to match," she observed with a delighted look as she gathered the papers she had laid on her desk. "I'll forward this information to the enchantment department immediately, so they can add it to her plate."
She apologized again, and Ewan couldn't help but continue to stare at Pavas. So far, the girl hadn't been very talkative, and even when she had finally decided to speak, he hadn't thought for a second to ask her that question; convinced that she was much younger than she was.
'She's so small...' He thought with a hint of regret.
She was much smaller than other children her age, and he hoped she would grow up a bit more and give up this puny appearance that was not in accordance with her real age. However, this made him feel a little better. He already felt more comfortable taking care of a child older than what he'd initially thought; and hopefully the girl wouldn't need to stay with him for too long.
He also hoped that the Association employee wouldn't charge him a penalty, since plates were mandatory after age 12, and Pavas was actually 14. He shuddered at the thought alone. The administration could really rip you off...