I wasn't expecting that during my first and only day in this small town, I would bear witness to an assassination. A blonde wizard—whom I had found awfully familiar—was stabbed and killed by a masked man and his accomplice. It happened so quickly that none of the city guards had time to react.
The assassin was able to escape because of the people-filled tavern.
But I felt no sympathy for the slain man. After all, I knew who it was.
It was that bandit traitor who killed my friends along with his own comrades. Scum like him deserved to die.
But still, I thought to myself, the way that the masked man kept piercing into the wizard's Mana Shield was astounding. Even I couldn't smash such a defensive spell open with my battleaxe in one strike. One needed to be at least F+ rank to even attempt to break that spell open.
Yet the man from before pierced through each shield with ease. It was as if he could see something that I could not.
That, or his strength was around E rank. Which I thought was unlikely. His movements were too slow to be among the ranks of E.
Anyways, the assassination became a topic that swamped conversations the entire night. Everyone was wondering who the masked man was as they drank. Similar to me, they were astonished that the man could pierce through Mana Shield as if it was nothing.
Was it some special skill? I did not know, but I thought it was likely.
I thus went to sleep satisfied. Satisfied that the killer of my friends died a gruesome death.
...
The next day arrived, and I felt refreshed. My body seemed to receive an extra bout of energy ever since the events of last night. It must have been because my body thought that I was in battle.
Whenever I saw blood, I could feel myself going feral. I would feel empowered like I could run marathons aplenty.
My body also seemed to heal faster when other living beings bled. It was very weird. I first learned about it when I was hunting with my father as a young boy. The cut I got on my skin healed rapidly the moment we skinned the rabbit.
Knock— knock— knock—!
A rhythmic set of thuds sounded from my inn room door.
"Young master Virion, it is almost time for departure." Seth's voice came from behind the door.
I quickly got up and made myself presentable. I put on my new coat and robe and wore my newly-bought trousers. From the corner, I picked up my battleaxe and carried it out.
Upon leaving my room, I was greeted by the faces of my companions. They were all waiting for me.
I nodded at them. They would make for good allies when I became a Duke in the future.
"Let's go,"
...
Led by Seth, we all moved through the bustling town of Gobble. The incessant sound of gears and steam engines polluted everywhere we went. Steam-powered cars and horse-drawn carriages rode side by side, differentiating the lower class from the middle class.
"The town of Gobble is surprisingly wealthy," Sylfie excitedly remarked from where she was walking beside me, "They can afford so many steam machines and cars!"
Syflie couldn't go out at all yesterday. She was stuck at the inn under Hailey's advice. It was thus only now that she was seeing the sights before her.
"Look! A sauna!" Sylfie pointed at a certain location before flinching from the pain of her injuries.
"Don't move so much!" Hailey, with her sweet voice, chided from the side.
I smiled. "That isn't a sauna, my dear friend. It is a machine workshop, where different steam engines and contraptions are built and repaired."
"Ohhh!" Sylfie nodded. It was at times like these that I remember that she was born of lower-class blood. Her family was poor, to the point that I could buy her from her parents at any time I wanted.
The life of steam was quite distant for her, for the lower class could only afford the simplest of contraptions.
How much more, the life of mana power? When even the kingdom of Paura as a whole had a scarcity of it?
Only Aelthrie, the Mana Metropolis, had enough riches in the world to build buildings powered by mana crystals.
"We're here," Seth said the moment we arrived before a terminal.
Buses and cars were neatly lined up, with all of them emitting pillars of steam. A dozen of them, all uniformly built and accepting passengers.
"Here are your tickets," Seth handed each of us a slip of rectangular paper. "Our bus is that one— C-A12. We will be leaving in fifteen minutes. Until then, perhaps we can shop for souvenirs."
I nodded and headed straight for the bus assigned to us. It was a long 32-seater, coloured in a pale yellow and gilded with tubes of bronze. I got in and placed my wrapped-up battleaxe at my seat, leaning on the window. I then glanced around the bus.
It was already half-full, with a variety of people on board. I nodded at them with the grace and manners of a Northern Kingdom's noble before taking a seat.
I then waited.
The bus slowly filled up with people with different getups. Some wore robes, some had cloaks, while some wealthy-looking people wore suits. I watched as Sylfie and Hailey boarded together, taking the two seats in front of me. Seth came after them, sitting to my left across the aisle.
Avantra and Gunther were the last to arrive, sitting behind me a few rows away. A stranger then sat behind me—he was the last to arrive.
And then, once all the seats were filled, I felt the bus' steam engine rumble to life. A huge amount of hot steam was blasted into the sky as the bus began moving.
Behind us, a truck filled with supplies followed our trail. The long ride through the Great Plains began like this.