When the woman finally agreed to his offer, she asked him to come down when he was ready.
"Young master, I will need to prepare a few items for the journey, meet me in a few hours at the back of the inn, where the stables are. Once you arrive, you shall set off."
"Ok." Chris nodded his head.
Chris quickly dressed up and went out of the inn to get a feel of the place. He walked through the streets and mingled with the people of Prytis.
The inn keeper watched him leave, a mixed feeling throbbed at the bottom of her heart.
◇◇◇
It turned out that Chris arrived in a village on the southern end of the continent, he had bought a few maps from a street vendor and had managed to figure out his location.
He had bought the local map of Petris, and the continental map of Péta, as well as the global map of Prytis. So he had an accurate grasp of his location.
He sat in a stall as the vendors marketed there goods.
"Get your fresh fruits! Your fresh fruits here, they taste just like honey, 1 gold each."
"Get your succulent fruits here! 10 gold each, get your fresh fruits!"
"Rejuvenating pear fruit, one bite, and you'll look 10 years younger, 100 gold each!"
'Were these people mad? Why in the world would they rob people this recklessly?'
'Where was the Chief in charge of the village?' Chris clenched his fist. He was reminded of the soaring prices that occurred after the split, and how he could barely afford to eat.
He was eventually shipped of to Point Nemo, as a worker in the City of Hero's, Percifernia. His father who had abandoned him, met the same fate, yet he hadn't even bothered to reach out to Chris.
Sigh.
That was Chris's opinion. To him it looked nothing more than daylight robbery. Most of the prices were outrageous.
"Get you Brick more hand weapon! It's as sturdy as can be, made from mount Rayi, it doesn't break easily! It can block a hit from an immortal warlord and above. It comes in the form of a sword and a fan, 3000 gold!"
"Han Val has the best alcohol in the entire Petris, try our roasted wild menu, and feel the crispy taste of nature bursting at you. We even have sweet flavours for the ladies. Swoon your loved one with our Magnificent Bung recipe. It's a fantastic love combo, undeniably certain to knock anyone into your arms. 5000 gold!"
In the sellers arms, was a gourde that was a quarter of the size of his water bottle, 'for 5000 gold!'
'What was this ridiculousness,' he was witnessing the sights yet it made no sense. Chris wanted to walk up to the seller and give him a piece of his mind, but he didn't want to create a commotion. It wouldn't favour him especially as an imposter who didn't have an identity.
Chris hoped that that was just a free sample, or else he would begin to question the dignity of human life. That was fresh coming from someone who was currently a demon.
Yet that didn't stop reality from bugging him. 'Why were things more affordable in the store back at the dungeon than on a planet with more resources?
"I guess no world line is free from the terrors of inflation. The real evil after the survival of the populace. Tsk." Chris decided to ignore them, and to mind his own business.
He proceeded through the market street until he found a group of people gathered around a written poster.
"In 3 days, gather at the Chief's manor for an open selection, in order to hunt down the monsters that threatened to devour our land. Come one, come all from both far and wide."
"Do you think they will be able to hunt it?" A passers-by commented.
"I heard it's very dangerous?" Another replied.
"Don't worry, all the prominent soldiers, warlords and immortals, will be joining in, so the success rate is quite high. I heard that if you join, you will get a down payment of 10,000 gold." An informed official, one of the few elders on the princess's side, disguised himself as a commoner, and let out information needed to attract a few experts, and at the same time swaying the public's opinion.
"As expected of the village chief, he wouldn't be the chief for nothing."
'Scoff. As if.' The Elder couldn't bear it.
"I should get my young lad to try his luck too." A mother commented.
"Yes, mine too. It wouldn't hurt to try, since it's relatively safe."
"Our Village Chief is great. His wealth is as immense as the stars."
The Elder couldn't bear it, he openly picked his ears like he had heard something unpleasant.
'Damn it, I only have 3 days to work with.' The content of the mission had said to stop the disaster that was to happen upon this world. It hadn't stipulated if Chris was to handle said disaster with a team of people or on his own.
Chris intended to handle the disaster alone, in other to gauge how strong he had become, he needed a measure. He wouldn't be able to do that if he went with other people, he would be too busy watching his back from greedy men ready to backstab him at any moment to care about anything else.
The Elder spotted Chris walking away. The young man looked ordinary except for his sturdy build, yet his instincts told him to rush for ward and grab the young man, and to do anything to make sure he wouldn't leave. If he left things would not be the same. It was just a hunch.
'Hmm, if it's faith we shall meet again.' no need to make a scene.
At the end of the street, Chris was about to pass by, when he caught sight of a strange man by the end of the alley, he stopped. He had seen a weird sign held by a man, who seemed to be dozing off.
It read.
"Ask anything for 5 gold!"
◇◇◇
"Hah," a well-dressed, beautiful young girl stood in the middle of an exquisite library. She had scrolls and scrolls, upon books of encryptions and descriptions all around her, she was Naium the daughter of the not so prominent Village Chief.
"If only I could find a way."
"What are you doing her by this time of the night?"
Naium shook in fright. She hadn't expected her father to sneak up behind her unannounced.
"I'm sure I informed the head servant to send you to your room, this room isn't for girls like you to be in."
"Father, can you get that archaic ideology out of your mind?" she scoffed.
"I'm your only heir, you don't even have a male. The world is about to be destroyed because of those darn magicians and all you can do is eat and drink while sleeping around with your wives and concubines?"
"While your people are suffering, more than half of them are living in poverty and cannot afford to feed themselves. Let alone get adequate pay for their work? They are being bullied by the officers you assigned in power." Naium was basically standing toe to toe with her father. She bucked out her chest in an attempt to appear brave and domineering.
"So what? They are just dead weight. You don't need to worry about them, they should be grateful to even live on my land."
"That's because I asked you to let them stay as a gift for my 6th birthday."
"Yet you don't seem to appreciate that."
"Don't give me that, the land is not yours, it belongs to the people you oppress. You are the ruler who should serve and take care of them, that is why you were appointed."
"What Ludicrosity is that? I only serve myself, the people have nothing to do with this."
"Haa... nothing will change even if we talk about the past. She wasn't getting through to her father."
"You should be dolling yourself up for your wedding ceremony a month from now." He was clearly planning to sell her off.
"I will not!" She bellowed defiantly.
"Shut your mouth, you will do as I say."
"I refuse, that bastard cares nothing about the people, and is an avid supporter of the magicians. He will drive us to ruin, I'd rather die than marry a rat like him."
"Will your eyes only be clearer after we are destroyed? Do you need some soap before you see?" Naium couldn't take it anymore.
"How dare you say that to your father?" he slammed his hands even harder on the table.
Naium was scared, but she didn't back down.
"If I Don't tell you this as your daughter, who will?"
"No one because my word is law and it shall remain that way." Her father's eye were bloodshot at this point, but she kept going. She knew he was restraining himself because of her mother. So he wouldn't hit her just yet.
"You keep sending all our wealth to a foreign land, and leaving us impoverished."
"It's for our future and protection. We can't trust the gods."
"What protection? He's the master of the magic tower, his the one who put us all in this mess, along with your support, what protection?"
"As for wealth, we are the richest family in the whole of Petris, so why on earth would you want to hoard all that money?"
"And as for the gods, I know your hurt. We both are but the life and order of death is not something to be messed with, neither is it something we can comprehend. It is simply the natural order of human nature."
"Kwi-choneg."
"Yes, Master."
"Send the young lady to her room."
"Yes Sir."
"Lady, please follow me."
"Hmp." She didn't bother talking, if she continued, she would get dragged out. She would rather walk out on her own to save her last bit of dignity.
She hid what she had found in her hands and followed kwi-choneg out the room. She hadn't got what she was searching for, but at least she had found something.
'Better to lose the fight, than to lose the war.'
"Bien mu. Do you think I'm doing the right thing?"
"Who would dare to question my Lord."
"Hmp, call the assembly, I would like to speak to the elders."
"Yes, my Lord."
"And cut the young misses allowance, if there is anything she is particularly fond of, have it destroyed."
"Yes, my Lord."
Biu Weis, Naium father stormed out the door enraged.
A sinister smile spread across the dark clone's lips then he disappeared.
◇◇◇
"Young miss, your father has ordered for your allowance to be cut."
"Bien mu. Leave my side."
"Don't be so hard on me, Young miss."
"He also asked me to destroy anything of great value to you." Bien Mu was currently at the young misses side, causing trouble as usual and fouling her temper.
He enjoyed it so, it was weirdly addictive.
"…" Naium didn't bother with a reply, she knew lashing out would only increase his perverted nature.
"But we all know if I do that the lord will be enraged, since he also values your mother's shrine, though not that it means much to me."
"Bien mu! I shall take your words to my father."
"Please do, he wouldn't even believe you."
She clenched her teeth.
This bastard.
"Ha-ha, ha-ha, ha-ha, ha-ha, I shall take my leave now, young miss. Remember, to escape from this place, all you have to do is elope with me and become my lover."
He whisked himself away in a cloud of dark smoke.
"That darn bastard, one day I'll get my revenge."
Bien mu was one of the henchmen that the magic tower had given her father. Her father seemed to do everything he asked him to do, and yet, he wasn't under a spell and showed no signs of being manipulated, so she had no evidence to call him out. Instead, it looked like he was her father's most loyal subordinate, but she knew better. "Just what could it be?" What could they have on her father to make him act so weird.
Her father wasn't a good man, but he wasn't evil either, he had never neglected the people like this before. In fact when her mother was alive her father cared far too much about the people. It seemed he was currently obsessed with doing whatever it took to drive them to their death.
After her mother had died, her father had remarried again and again in an attempt to have a male child, but he never once succeeded. After that, the children of all his wives began dying one after the other. That was around the time her father had lost his faith in the helpers, and began to seek the tower master of the magic tower.
That was the real beginning of the whole issue, "what had they done to him?"
Bien mu, on the other hand, lusted after her day and night and wished to bed her, there had been a few close calls where he had almost had his way with her, but she had always managed to escape. She gritted her teeth as she remembered the times he had harassed her. He would grab her at inappropriate places and feel himself on her whenever she was alone, he even hit her ever now and then. She was incensed. She had even caught him peeping at her multiple times while she was bathing. He had even gone as far as drugging her on several occasions. It was her head maid who always saved her. Weirdly enough Bien Mu was scared of her head maid and not her, she would always hide himself or behave when ever he saw her, so she learnt to always be in her company. Not to mention that whenever she combined to her father, he wouldn't listen to her.
He would tell her to grow up, that she was a baby and needed to grow up. "Such things are normal between adults of such ages, you need to get used to it. How would you handle such things if you get married?"
"Hmm"
It was hers and hers alone to decide how to handle such things, and with whom she would handle such things with. Even if she didn't marry, she would never allow her honour to be sullied by the likes of Bien mu. If anything it was all part of her fathers plan to throw her out after being caught in bed with Bien Mu, and she wasn't having any of it.
She was the sole heir whose duty was to protect the people, and she would never let them be preyed on. "No one is allowed to bully my people, not even father."
She had borrowed her father's name to gather skilled hunters. If she had used hers, they might not have taken her seriously.
With an elaborate reward, she would lure them in. She planned to meet them tomorrow to select those that would hunt down the disaster together with her, in the guise that her father had left her in charge of the operation.
She held the rock she had found in the ancient description in her hands, she had tried to activate it with her energy, but nothing happened. She would hold on to it and hope for the best.