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"What happened…"
"Stay behind me Erile." Fey said seriously
'Did he fall from the sky just now? Who is this person?'
'He killed all of the bandits in a single strike, but he doesn't give me bad vibes…'
The dust and sand slowly cleared, revealing what had truly happened.
A tall armored man holding a spear now stood where the group of bandits once remained.
Behind him was a large sword almost his size if not a tad bigger, cleaving into the rocky ground beneath.
Behind him on the ground was a rather long crack as if the sword had cleaved it…
Bellow him were many pieces of armor and other scattered items, they were the dropped items of the bandits, but no one paid attention to that…
Instead, they wanted to know the intent of this man, because all of the Mercenaries here knew one thing, and that this guy was business.
(Images, choose the best)
Before they could ask anything though, the man opened his mouth to ask:
"Who are you all? Are you all from the Mercenary Guild? Are you all Merchants? Or something unrelated altogether?"
Before they could reply though, he gave them a small nod and said:
"Pardon my rude entrance, it's just that recently, we've been having trouble with outsiders so we have to check their intentions before they even enter." Dale replied deeply
'A small lie, but at the same time not, I'm here mostly because of the Event notification…'
After Dale was done talking, the guards looked at each other, thinking about who should be the one to talk…
But against their expectations, one girl stepped forward.
It was Erile, walking forwards despite her guard's protests…
"It's a pleasure meeting you." She said eagerly
Dale raises an eyebrow,
"I feel the same... Albeit I have an inkling that you know me." He said jokingly
"Would you believe my words if I were to say yes?" She asked
"Huh?..."
'Was that actually the case?'
"It depends on what you say, my ears are open." Dale replied, slightly interested
'This is getting interesting, I thought this would be the long-awaited merchant convoy… Was I wrong?'
Erile smiled, albeit, it was hidden beneath her bandana.
"You are just like what he told me… Dale Houston."
"!"
Dale's expression soured, he had never shared his second name before…
For a moment, he became tense as this lady could know his real-world identity, and after what happened, he was on edge against any sort of matter that bears the slight connection with that.
So he grasped his spear, ready to attack.
Erile noticed that, but she didn't change…
No, she felt fear, her life was at stake, but she trusted the woman behind her, and the mission she was given.
"Who told you that? Who are you? State your business here."
"My identity isn't anything special, nor does it matter all the way here… As to who told me that…"
She pointed towards the Church.
"The one who presides over the place, above us all… God."
/Silence.../
"... Do you expect me to believe that."
"No, truths need to be confirmed, validated so they may hold any worth…" She said as she shook her head
"And I was told that you possess the means to do so… 'The Avatar Clad in Gold shall Validate my Honor and position as per the Holy decree'… That was what I was told." She said deeply
"... Fine, we'll see if your words hold any truth." Dale replied as he scratched his helmet
'Did she receive some sort of Revelation from Ju-Arkesios? He… She… I don't know what gender… Whatever.'
'Ju-Arkesios has been relatively silent ever since he cast his blessing onto the Village 2 weeks ago, but David said he's always watching, I have no doubts about the existence of this God…'
'If it is true that she came here as per his orders… What does that make her? A Saint? An Apostle of the highest order? She may be more important than me.'
'And what does that says about Ju-Arkesios intentions?...'
'Still, I can't take my eyes off her, she could be many things in a world of fantasy like this, as far as I know, her objective may very well be something else.'
'It's never bad to be too cautious in these situations.'
Dale looked at the side, towards the guards, and asked:
"What about them? Are they their guards?"
"Yes and no Southern Warrior, they are…" Erile said slowly
"They are Mercenaries employed by the Mercenary Guild to protect our Convey under the request of several parties…"
"One of them being the Merchants, another one being the Mercenary Guild themselves, and the last one being me."
"We all banded together to make this trip more accessible and the way smoother."
"Is that so?... May I ask for your identifi…"
"What arrogance is this?" Someone said rudely, interrupting Dale
From within the wagons, a tall skinny man appeared. He was wearing good clothes, although he was just like the others, wearing protective clothing against the sun.
He looked like a sketchy person, his mustache was thin, and his eyes were sharp.
"I thank you for your… Intervention in cleaning these bandits, however, that gives you no right to question us as in the first place, this bandit problem is your fault isn't it?" The man asked with a sly smile
Dale raised an eyebrow, he disliked this man the moment he saw him...
"You're right, me saving you from the bandits gives me no authority to ask you any questions…"
"So get out of our sight, our goods need to be delivered…"
He started to become upset...
"I did not finish." Dale said deeply and with a frown as he crossed his arms
This sent a small shiver down the merchant's back, but he quickly recomposed.
"Are you going to continue intervening?! What if the goods…"
"What of them? Do you have the balls to tell me they're going to spoil? The only thing spoiled here is your mind to think I would buy such an excuse from the get-go."
'Does he take me as stupid?...'
"Besides, I don't like your smug tone, thinking you're high and mighty because of what? Because you are a merchant from a more populated section of this damn continent?"
"Are you looking down on us because we are in the countryside? Thinking of scamming us like you did so many other times?"
'I researched a bit about the people that came here to trade before, and many of them ripped the villagers off... I have no intention of having that happen again.'
Dale raised his right hand and pointed towards the desert.
"Then I ask you to leave, and while you're at it, Die." He said slowly
"YOU!"
'He's mad, asking someone he just saw to die!'
"I am me indeed." Dale said as he turned around
"Also, you wanted someone of a higher authority to come here? Good for you that I'm an Elder of this place."
'I've raised my Reputation greatly this past 2 weeks, although I have yet to meet the requirement to raise my position again, it doesn't matter, as the position of each Elder and the Village Head were very close to each other.'
"You are…"
'Tsk, as expected of a countryside people, letting such a young people have a position of power, much less someone with no tact, I made a blunder here…'
'But he can't stop us anyway, no one can, they need us more than we do.'
'Still, even if I have to take on some loses, it is better than discussing for days and not sell…'
'He said something about Outsiders, hah, even if I can't sell to the Village, then I can sell to them. Let's see his expression when that happens.'
"Excuse me, young lad… I mean, Elder Dale, if you allow me to address you as such." Said a fat man, climbing down from one of the wagons slowly
"!"
The skinny merchant was immediately shocked, from all of the other merchants in this convoy, this was the one he expected the least to act…
This meant trouble! He had to…
"No worries sir, call me Dale if you will." He replied with a smile, although that wasn't possible to be seen due to his armor
'I will reply respect in kind... But disrespect?...'
"You asked for our identification, sorry for the confusion, here they are." The merchant said as he gave Dale a badge
"The Dragovir Services?" Dale asked
"You know of us? How surprising."
"Of curse I do, you've made trade with us so many times that… Well, welcome back."
'Not all merchants have bad manners, neither the same mentality, but we'll have to see what will this man's approach to us be.'
Following this merchant, one of the guards also gave Dale a badge, this one he recognized at sight, it was a badge from the mercenary Guild.
Dale nodded and said:
"I already expected this to happen."
'And my mission is now done.'
"Welcome to our humble Village once more for those that already came, and for those that are here for the first time, I extend my greetings, I am Dale, one of the Elders of Resko."
"I shall wait for you all inside, especially you, young miss… I shall hear your name then."
"I'll give you some advice, ignore the outsiders for now, we've had our share of trouble from them and we've also been keeping tabs on them, so be careful of what you came here to sell"
It was a warning and a piece of advice…
"If you want to learn more, you can come to ask us at any time."
/Split!/
Dale pulled Caladgold from the ground and raised it in the air before dropping it.
Surprising everyone in sight, the sword started levitating!
/FWOOSH!/
Dale placed his foot on the sword and like a skateboard, he soured to the skies like a bullet!
It was a magical scene most of them had never seen before.
Some had seen wizards fly in the more developed areas of the Empire, or magical tools that could do the same, but it was still impressive nonetheless.
"..."
'I knew it, the village has changed… Maybe he was the cause.' Thought the fat merchant
'Is it time? A place that was once great is now on the verge of rising again? My Grandfather's words were correct, that wasn't the last of Resko...'
'I took a gamble, and it seems this time it'll be paid off.'
He turned around, but he took a single glance at the skinny merchant.
"As for you... It looks like you choose the wrong person to make little of this time around, Fimbroy." He said as he walked back to his wagon
"..."
Fimbroy remained silent, his eyes becoming sharp…
"Let's go Fey." Erile said as she turned around, going back to her wagon
"Erile… Sigh. I'm right behind you." She said as she went after her
The others also started to get ready, but before they departed, Erile had the mercenaries clean the scattered pieces of armor on the ground.
It was a small favor she would give to Dale, at least in the hopes of making him think favorably of her since their first encounter wasn't quite pleasant.
As for the rest, there was nothing to do but march onwards, their objective was within sight!
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Notes