Oliver looked around, and tried to find an excuse to answer the guard's question.
"Ah! I want to give this sword to the blacksmith here," Oliver lied to the guards.
"Hey, where did you get this sword?" asked the guard as he stared at the shining blue sword.
"I–I found this on my way here and was in the dungeon." Oliver tried not to get nervous when asked by them.
Suddenly another guard whispered something to the guard in front of him.
"After I punch him, you must run!" Shiro whispered in Oliver's ear.
"What do you mean? What do you want to do?" Oliver asked slowly so as not to be suspicious.
"Just do it!" Shiro shouted.
The other guard immediately left, and returned to interrogate Oliver.
"For your information, son! We've been looking for that sword for a long time, we have to take your sword to the palace first before you can use it!" shouted the guard.
"But, I found this sword!" Oliver seemed not to accept the guard's unilateral decision.
"It's up to you! After all, if you find such a valuable asset, it means that the sword belongs to the kingdom," protested the guard.
However, Shiro and Azriel didn't believe the guard. He must have wanted to take it and sell it.
Hiyakh!
Shiro jumped at the guard man's face and clawed at his face.
"Ow! What is this! Damn cat! How dare you scratch my face!" The guard snapped as he tried to release Shiro.
Until Shiro told them to run away from the gate, and after the guard fell, Shiro jumped back into Oliver's bag.
Oliver ran as hard as he could to avoid the other guards. Followed by Shiro who ran fast and jumped into Oliver's backpack which was already wide open.
"You're great at escaping," said Azriel and he still sleepy.
"Are you kidding me?" Shiro said.
Oliver went into downtown Arkansas and saw a small alley. In order to avoid the pursuit of the guards, he entered the small alley.
After feeling safe, he took a deep breath and calmed himself down first. His stamina felt like it was going to run out.
"Then what now?" asked Oliver breathlessly.
"For now, I suggest you stay at the inn. We'll talk inside, it looks like the sword is also valuable to them," said the bat in Oliver's bag.
"Okay, I'm hungry too."
Oliver rubbed his stomach and felt very hungry. He immediately exited the small alley, and wandered around the city. Before that, he covered his head with a hood over his jacket so the guards wouldn't notice.
The bustle of downtown Arkansas was not a mere nonsense. The reason is, there are so many travelers who stop in Arkansas until this city opens a lot of entertainment businesses and of course it's crowded.
Apparently, the security in Arkansas is very tight, because in this chaos they are still doing their respective jobs. Was it only Oliver's town that was attacked? Or is the attack not here yet?
Oliver stopped at a fairly large building, where there was the sign "Motel" on the front.
"Don't worry! I have money!" Shiro shrieked as he got out of the bag and moved onto Oliver's shoulders.
"You stole my money?" Oliver accused the cat.
"I put this on the treasure in the dungeon you know! You are stupid for not taking the gold there!" Shiro teased back at Oliver.
"How dare you, I'll throw you here," Oliver joked to his noisy cat.
Shiro could only beg for mercy, so they decided to enter the motel.
Inside, it turns out that there is also a bar, and lots of locals are sitting and relaxing inside. Oliver walked over to the bartender who was busy shaking the customer's drink.
The bartender was friendly enough, and after telling Oliver where he was going, he was given a room for a rent of five gold. Oliver immediately took out the money Shiro had given him and went straight up to the second floor where their room was.
Oliver slowly opened the bedroom door, and saw a rather large mattress there. Azriel and Shiro immediately got down from Oliver's bag.
"Finally arrived!" Shiro was relieved that the situation had calmed down considerably from being chased by the guards.
They turn themselves into humans, making the mattress full and cramped.
"You guys are really lazy!" teased Oliver who could only shake his head at the behavior of the two vampires.
"We're tired of being in that little bag of yours," Shiro complained.
"Okay, next time you go on foot," Oliver said as he glared at Shiro and gave a small smile.
Oliver relented and sat in a chair near the bedroom window. He saw the hustle and bustle of the city from the bedroom window and smiled a little.
In the past, the city was like that too. However, a vampire attack changes everything.
"Apparently, the vampire attack hasn't reached here yet," said Azriel, summing up this situation.
"Is that so? What makes you think that?" asked Oliver without looking at the person he was talking to.
"Yes. This calm bothers me a little," Azriel said when he felt the bad air in the city.
"I thought it was me. Doesn't this town look quite calm? Even though a vampire attack has reached the town next door." Shiro felt the same way.
"Is this city unsafe?" asked Oliver who saw the bustle of the city.
"I don't thing so. There's just something strange." Azriel completed Shiro's words, making things even less clear in Oliver's eyes. Because he felt very calm in this city.
Oliver thought for a moment about his past with his parents, he didn't stop hoping that his parents were still alive. Even though he knew the odds were slim. He missed them.
"Can we take a break to think about this?" asked Oliver suddenly.
This made Shiro and Azriel slightly surprised and immediately looked at Oliver with a surprised look.
"What happen?" Azriel asked.
However, Shiro instead gently patted Azriel's arm and covered her mouth with one thumb. It seemed that Shiro understood exactly what Oliver was thinking at the moment.
Being Oliver's vampire makes Shiro also know a little about his heart. He felt Oliver's sadness.
"I just hope they're still alive," Oliver whispered with a smile on his face and holding back the pain.
At the age of almost 18 years, he must feel this kind of hardship. How unlucky his fate was, hoping that something miracle would happen and change everything.
"Okay, tonight we'll just take a walk in the city," said Azriel.
It made Oliver smile a little and feel little sad, but he must be happy.