"We're here," Bernard notified, calling one of his men after, "Inform the guards."
"This is the city?" Leo whispers, amazed by the tall gates that stood majestically in front of him. It wasn't anything he has seen before.
"This is Zealean, one of the proud cities of Altair," Bernard said, looking happily at the positive reaction of Leo. "We boast as the richest city, and of course, the safest. It's only just yesterday that a bunch of bandits has boldly performed a crime. I say they deserve what you did to them."
"I'm impressed... You said you guard these gates?"
"Yes, I do, Leo."
"That's indeed a nice job to have."
"Heh, you didn't need to tell me." Bernard proudly replied.
"That said, where are you taking me?"
"To my office. As I said, I manage things here, and it's my responsibility to accommodate you. Say, do you want to wait for your brother first, or do you want to go now?"
"My brother can take care of himself, let's get this over with."
"Great," Bernard said as he went ahead towards a guard that came out of the gate.
With Bernard gone for a while, Leo observes what's going on around him. He is currently being surrounded by a number of guards, all wearing fancy armor and all equipped with all kinds of weapons. The most common weapon he found were swords, second were spears, and lastly, daggers and bows. The ones he looted from the bandits cannot compare to what they have.
"Great, just great," Leo repeated the same words that Bernard said.
"Hey, you!" He suddenly calls one of Bernard's men, "Do you know what a cigarette is?" He asked.
"Cigarette? Of course, but if you're asking me if I have one. I'm sorry, sir."
"No, no... it's fine." Although unsatisfied, Leo still showed a smirk from the thought of being called a Sir. "Can you tell me where I can find one?" He added.
"They're common in taverns and inns."
"Tavern? Do you mean like a bar, a pub?"
"I... I'm sorry, Sir, I don't know what those are."
"Don't worry, I'm not surprised." Leo brushes off.
"Leo Chigurh!" Bernard calls for him, wanting him to follow. "I've informed my men. We can go inside now," he said.
***
"I would like to ask you again, you are sure you did not leave one of them alive?" Sitting on his table, Bernard asked.
"That's right," Sitting on his own chair, Leo replied, hiding his annoyance towards Bernard for asking the same question twice.
The two of them are currently inside a decently sized and well-lit room. The floor was covered in red carpet and the walls were decorated with various objects. Leo can find different armories, weaponry, and jewelry inside the room. But what caught his attention most was the banner placed in the middle of the room. Since the room was Bernard's office, he was thinking it might be somehow related to him and the family he was so proud of.
"Alright, that's about it. I've heard of your situation clearly. Lost adventurers; it's rare to find guys like you. But it definitely happens, you're still human after all," He said as he closes the book he was writing Leo's words on.
"Can I go now?"
"You don't want to wait for your brother?"
"Even if I left now, he'll eventually find me."
"I'm thinking it's your connection as brothers?" Bernard jests.
"No, more like... well, you can still call it like that, I guess." Leo hesitatingly answered.
"Well, I'm sorry, but I cannot let you leave until I receive reports of confirmation from my men."
"You mean those guys who went with my brother?"
"Correct."
"Mnn... I completely understand," Leo said, being reminded of the time he himself was needed to file a report.
"I hope they will not take too long. Who knows, they might encounter bandits on the way again." Bernard jokingly said once again, he has no intention of hiding his sense of humor. But Leo wouldn't really bother.
"Don't worry, they're safe."
"Well, I did train my men well. Your brother is on safe hands."
"That's not it at all. I trained my brother perfectly, your men are the ones who are in safe hands. They'll get back here for sure."
"Oh... You're fairly confident," Bernard mutters, taken aback from Leo's words. Then, reluctantly standing up, he took something from a shelf behind him.
"Well, how about we sip a drink?"
"Fine by me."
Accepting Bernard's offer, Leo was eventually handed a small chalice. He can see that the luxury of it and the wine he was given were on par with what he usually has stored for himself.
"Let's drink."
"Thank you, Bernard, I appreciate it," Leo replied, and after taking a scent on the wine, he gulped it down on one go. Just after that, men came knocking on the door.
"Sir, Bernard! We've come to report."
"Come in," With permission, guards entered the room, together with Luis who was glad to see his brother.
"Confirmation?"
"Yes, we've found 32 bodies: 23 bandits and 9 prisoners."
"Umu... I'll hear the rest of it later," Bernard nodded in satisfaction, and shifting his eyes on Leo once more, he said, "You can go now. But keep in mind I might ask for you once again."
"I don't mind."
"And take this with you." Saying so, he threw a pouch to Leo, who perfectly catches it mid-air.
"What's this for?"
"If we failed to capture those bandits, we planned on putting coins on the line for other people to catch them for us. Since we could've still captured them on our own, I cut a portion of it; I hope you wouldn't mind."
"Don't worry, I won't," Leo answers as he leaves.
"It was nice knowing you," Luis said after as he followed along with his brother.