Morning arrived as a mother's gentle hand, inviting the dreams of the night to enter the day. Golden rays peeked through the thick canopy, shedding light on Hunter's dark vision. He slowly opened his eyes. His body ached due to sleeping on the ground and using his horse as a pillow. However, his heart was pumping with vitality and excitement. He stretched his muscles. Under the sweet sound of birds chirping, he kicked Kolvar in the butt to wake him up. The elf was curled into a ball and snoring all night. Hunter would have hung him to death if Kolvar was in his room on earth. Lucky for Kolvar, Hunter felt a bit of sympathy for the elf. He was a slave for half of his life, and yesterday was the first time he slept as a free man in a long time.
"My lord, I didn't do anything. Please forgive me," Kolvar almost jumped up to his feet. Sweat beads formed on his face immediately.
"Relax, you're a free man," Hunter gave a pat on Kolvar's shoulder. It took Kolvar a few minutes to realize everything that happened yesterday wasn't a dream. Meanwhile, Hunter climbed up his horse to visit the village. The two of them slowly rode their horses down the slope. Since it was early morning, only a few people roamed around the village. To Hunter, the village seemed like a place stripped off from medieval movies. Muddy roads crisscrossed across the village with no shape whatsoever. The fresh air was filled with earthly smells as well as burning wood.
When a villager saw the two of them riding their horses toward them, he shouted.
"Nobles!" Hunter was taken aback by his words. But after thinking about it, it made sense. In this world, horses were an expensive commodity. Only nobles were able to afford it. The commoners had no way but to use their legs to travel. This was one of the reasons why commoners didn't travel much. Even when Hunter and Kolvar didn't wear fancy noble clothes, the villagers mistook them for nobles just because they were riding horses.
"Shouldn't we-"
Hunter raised his hand, stopping Kolvar from finishing his sentence.
"Let them think we are. Makes our lives easier," said Hunter.
A few minutes after the villager shouted, several villagers rushed out of their homes. They gathered in a group to welcome Hunter and Kolvar. The man who stood in front was an old fellow with wrinkly skin. He supported his frame with a wooden stick.
"My lords, welcome to our humble village," The old man grinned. But the grin looked forced. Every villager shared one common thing; fear.
"What's your name, old man?" asked Hunter.
"Cranson, my lord," said the old man.
"Can I assume your humble village has a tavern where we can eat and feed our horses?"
"Of…of course, my lord," The old man stuttered. The crowd quickly made way for Hunter and Kolvar to ride through.
"You can let someone else lead the way," said Hunter after seeing the old man hunching forward like a turtle.
"Forgive me, my lords,"
"There is nothing to forgive you're old,"
"Thank you, my lord. Dicky," The old man looked at the red-haired young man in the crowd.
"Lead my lords to the tavern,"
"This way, my lords," Dicky made a forced bow before leading them toward the tavern. Hunter and Kolvar followed Dicky in silence. Hunter looked around the village to see people avoiding direct eye contact with them. It became obvious to Hunter that the nobles oppressed the commoners to the point they feared them senselessly.
After a few minutes, they arrived in front of a wooden building with a sign 'Martha's Inn' hanging above the door. Hunter jumped down from his horse and handed over the reins to Dicky.
"Make sure they feed them well. We have a long journey ahead," said Hunter before tossing an astral coin to Dicky. Immediately, Dicky's face lit up as though someone had put a candle inside his head. The eyes previously feared them radiated with joy and delight.
"Thank you, my lord. I will see to it personally,"
"Good," Hunter nodded.
From the outside, the tavern looked intimate, pleasant, and welcoming. Large stones and hard wooden pillars make up most of the building's outer structure. It was hard to see through the small, curtained windows, but the silence from within could be felt outside.
As Hunter entered the tavern through the thick, wooden door, he was welcomed by the smell of alcohol.
The bartender was a little preoccupied with cleaning the table. His eyes went wide when he saw Hunter and Kolvar enter the tavern.
The place was as enchanting inside as it was on the outside. Wooden beams supported the upper floor and the torches attached to them. The walls were littered with so many different memorabilia. Since it was early in the morning, most of the chairs and tables were empty. The maid threw a glance at Hunter which Hunter immediately responded with a wink.
He made his way toward the bartender. Hunter climbed onto the barstool,
"Is it too early for breakfast?" Hunter asked the bartender. The man quickly picked up a sheet that seemed to have been made of some kind of tree bark. The sheet had several dish names written on it.
"Pork chops, mutton ribs, river fish grill, and vegetable salad," Hunter read the list of foods.
"I'll take mutton ribs and vegetable salad. What about you?" Hunter turned his gaze toward Kolvar.
"I'll have what you ordered," said Kolvar.
"It's settled then," Hunter handed over the sheet back to the bartender.
"Two mutton ribs and two vegetable salads," He shouted at the golden-haired maid behind Hunter. She quickly stopped sweeping the floor and ran back to the kitchen.
"You need something to drink? We have the best ale,"
"I would have loved to be the judge of that, but I don't drink booze. One of many pearls of wisdom blessed upon me by my old man," said Hunter. Recalling the memoirs he had with his father, Hunter couldn't help smiling.
"Sounds like a great man," said the bartender.
"He was,"
"What else he taught you? I'd love to hear more," asked Kolvar. The place was empty, and the food wasn't ready yet. So Hunter had some time to kill. Bonding with his friend Kolvar didn't seem like a bad idea to Hunter. Besides, if Hunter was to build a criminal empire, Kolvar needed to be his second in command who must be as ruthless as Hunter. The principles Hunter's father taught him shaped him into the deadliest man on earth. Now, Hunter decided to share a little bit of this wisdom with Kolvar so he would turn up like him soon.
"He used to say, son, don't get addicted to two things, booze and women. Both of them will fuck you up pretty good," Hunter chuckled.
"So I don't drink, and I don't act like a man slut," said Hunter.
"I haven't seen you two before. You traveling?" asked the bartender.
"Yep. We are heading for the capital,"
Hunter leaned forward,
"What's your name, bartender?" Hunter asked the bartender.
"Kyle,"
"Kyle, do you know any shortcuts to reach the capital sooner than usual?"
Hunter didn't say they were heading for Bellbrun in case someone came sniffing around after finding Xander's burned bodies.
"I can't think of anything. However, if you two can afford it, there are carriage services in Bellburn,"
"I wonder how much it'd cost us,"
"Twenty or thirty astral coins. I wouldn't recommend riding to the capital because of the damn bandits. You must be god blessed to avoid getting robbed," Kyle said while cleaning a wooden mug. Hunter noticed a deep hatred emerging in Kyle's eyes when he talked about bandits.
"Bandits. There is no worse kind than bandits. Robbing people, making lives harder for everyone. Man, I hate them," Hunter pretended to hate the bandits to get more information out of Kyle.
"I wish someone would wipe them all out. Is there a bandit problem in this part of the area?" asked Hunter.
"You won't see any bandits if you travel through the road between Lord Xander's manor and the city. But if you travel through the forest, you might come across a few. That's why people don't use that path,"
"Order's up," The maid came carrying the dishes. Hunter took a deep breath. The aroma made Kolvar salivate. But to Hunter, it was nothing but the death of good ingredients.
Still, Hunter ate his food in silence. He was too damn hungry to complain.
"That'd be six astral coins," said Kyle.
Hunter took six astral coins from the punch dangling on his waist. The golden-haired maid stared at Hunter without batting an eye. Lucky for Hunter, Parker was blessed with good looks. Hunter glanced at the maid too, because she was pretty and seemed to be into him.
"You have beautiful eyes," said Hunter with a gentle smile.
"Thank you. I like your eyes too," Hunter turned his gaze toward Kyle.
"Kyle, you have a room for me to take a nap,"
"Three coins per night,"
"I'll take it," Hunter slid three more coins toward Kyle.
"I'd greatly appreciate it if you show me the way, beautiful," Hunter winked at the maid.
"Follow me," The maid let out a seductive smile. She walked forward and climbed the stairs first.
"I thought your father said don't get addicted to women," Kolvar rolled his eyes.
"Addicted is the keyword, my friend," Hunter patted Kolvar on the back before following the maid to his room.