Ryuma fell to his knees heavily panting as needed. He looked at his reflection in the river. Blood leaked down his face, some of it dripping into the water. Ryuma stuck his face in it, pulled it out, and started wiping the rest of his face. He tied his wet hair into a ponytail. If he was going to disguise himself, it should be with more than just the clothes he wore. He needed a facial makeover as well. At least if he changed his hair style people wouldn't have his former look in mind.
Though with how strong that demon was, the priest was the least of his worries down here.
If he didn't strengthen up soon, another demon like that again and it's more likely to cash out on his bounty before any priest does.
He shook his face of all the water. Along with all the blood, the hair dye that he had washed away with it showing white streaks in his hair. During the course of all these events, he forgot about his hair.
He tapped his ring and out came his black hair dye. He rubbed some more of it into his hair. Honestly, he wondered if it mattered now. If he were already a fugitive worth hundreds of thousands of gold teals, what difference would it make to wear his actual hair.
After thinking on it, there wasn't a single person he's ever met with streaks in his hair like his. If he did wear them out like that, he'd definitely stand out. Standing out was something he needed to avoid. It was smarter to just keep following his mom's advice.
His thoughts drifted back to his mom. Geneo was dead so he had nothing to worry about as far as he was concerned on that end, but how was his mom doing? There's no way she doesn't know his situation by now. He hasn't heard from her since the night of the attack on Rebble. Was she OK? Surely the edict wouldn't do anything to her because of him, right?
This unsettling feeling in his heart was unbearable. He didn't even know if his mom survived the attack of Aeragis. He was going to have to find her somehow and set this right. Hopefully, she's still safe and up there. They could do anything to her for his doing. They could even use her as a hostage. As long as he was down here, he was in the dark as to her status.
After fixing everything, he set off again, limping his way towards the village of Lue. According to the map at least that's where he was headed.
It became evening again and the day was slowly turning into nighttime. He made it to the village gates. Looking at it, the village he came to was bigger than the last one he was at. It was surrounded by a wooden barrier. The front gate was being guarded by two White Dragon priest wearing the black garb with white linings.
Ryuma swallowed a lump in his throat and walked forward. This was the test of whether his makeshift disguise worked. He was not familiar with neither of these priests. It wasn't abnormal, he hadn't met every White Dragon in the Skyland so these two were foreign to him. Still… He had a bounty placed out on him. All they needed was to recognize his face.
"Halt right there," One of the guards said. He stopped dead in his tracks. He turned towards him. The deafening silence as the gate guard seized him up was maddening. Did he recognize him or not?
"You been traveling out there; you haven't run into any demons, have you?" The man asked.
"Me? No way sir. I don't think I could survive an ordeal like that," Ryuma said. He smiled putting his hands up defensively.
"Really? You're one lucky traveler than. Those sounds from earlier sounded like spectral howl monkeys. Whoever they ran into is toast for sure," The other guard said. They laughed it off.
Ryuma blinked. "Shouldn't you send someone out there if it's that bad? I heard them myself and wondered why there was no reinforcements coming,"
The question was innocent enough, but he wanted to know why priest wasn't searching for him right about now. He thought he'd be found out midbattle.
"Are you kidding? Too many of us were called back to help with the repairs of topside. No way are we going out ourselves. You get caught out there, you're on your own. You better be grateful we're still down here defending you mongrels,"
"Hey!" Another guard grabbed him by the collar. "Who told you to answer this bottom dweller!?" The man threatened.
"My bad. I didn't think there was anything wrong with answering," The guy responded.
He shoved him causing him to fall. The man turned to Ryuma. "You better watch yourself questioning us like that kid. All you need to know is go out at your own risk. We're not your fucking heroes,"
"Oh, yes! Of course. Sorry sir. I got ahead of myself," Ryuma bowed. "I'm grateful for your service,"
He scurried on through the gates, desperately trying to hide the limp in his step. He still wasn't fully healed from his fight. He was going to have to find a secluded area to help heal himself.
His stomach rumbled… he was also going to have to find some food.
"GOD DAMNIT! I SWEAR TO GOD THAT SHITBAG GENEO IS STILL OUT THERE PLAYING WITH WOMAN AT A TIME LIKE THIS! Every time he's this late, I get shit for it!"
Ryuma hesitated when he heard that. He refused to look back in fear that his eavesdropping would catch their attention again. He decided to push forward.
So his killing of Geneo hasn't been exposed yet. Good… he didn't have a plan for more priest to deal with. Everything he did was concealed. Information down here must be hard to travel. It's possible that Aeragis wrecking the Skylands was the cause of it.
That dragon's actions were currently his saving grace. It'll be easier to operate if most of the priest are too busy to deal with him. At the same time though, it meant that once they were done with business up there, it'd only get harder from then on out.
Looking around, this village wasn't that better off than Hestia was. Sure there were more buildings, a few inns, and what little commerce to go around, but they were all as rundown and unkept as the huts that was Hestia.
There was nothing but slums here and no nobility district.
Whatever… it's not like he could do anything about it. Ryuma picked an area in some back alley and rested. The least he could do was to focus on healing his body. Who knew when he was going to be called to arms again.
He rested there long enough to get a night's sleep.
His body felt renewed. Save for the aches and pains from his fight with the spectral ape, most of his physical injuries have dissipated. The morning broke and Ryuma yawned. His stomach growled again. Not only was he starving yesterday, but he also didn't get any food last night. Perhaps he should go fishing again.
That should be his first mission. Procuring food. Ryuma paused… a strange thought had just occurred to him after the awkward silence.
Not only did he not have money, he didn't have any marketable skills down here to produce money. He began to sweat bullets. Was this how he was going to die down here? An inability to finance his own lifestyle.
{Think, Ryuma, think.} No matter how many times he went over in his head, he had no clue what he could do. He looked around to see what everyone else was doing, to get a better idea of what he could do himself.
He saw a man striking melted steel with a hammer. This was the first time he saw the art of smithing in real life. There was no need for such a thing in the Skylands as everybody created their own spirit weapons. The idea of owning actual weapons was never going to be a thing amongst them when spirit weapons were the only things effective against the demons.
Cool as it looked, he never learned how to smith.
He looked over and saw a man trying to grab people's attention. "Stop at Fantine's finest. We got the best in spirit dust, weaponry, and warding powder!"
The man was being ignored repeatedly. Nah… he couldn't see himself being a merchant. That took too much socializing, and he wasn't into that.
He then saw a tall, handsome man with long black hair, following another man that was smaller than him in both height and build. He carried two full sheaths on his side, a scar on his cheek, and an expression that was as empty as his own. Ryuma stared at the man as the two walked by.
As if sensing him, the man looked his direction and briefly stared right back at him. His eyes narrowed for a second causing Ryuma to look away. He wasn't trying to challenge anybody and didn't want to start anything. Glancing back, the man was no longer staring at him.
{Did he tag me?}
Ryuma had to wonder. He dismissed the idea. He couldn't have. He never met the man in his life. Plus, he wasn't a priest and didn't possess any spirit power.
He sighed. When you're a fugitive, paranoia sets in, and it felt like any and everybody that stared at him was a possible informant.
But at least he found something he could be doing. If Ass kicking was all he knew, than he should just stick to that. Become a mercenary.