Maral and Dren look back to see Florian easily picking up their baskets and packages that had them loaded like mules. To their surprise, they struggled carrying that amount of weight and every time they got used to it, the loads only increased.
Florian shifted the weight to one hand and happily waved at the dumbfounded kids.
"Wow miss! You're so strong!" Maral exclaims, Florian grins bashfully "You bet I am!"
The horses take a slow and steady walk, heading straight towards the village and slow enough for Florian to walk comfortably alongside them. The path draws closer to an entrance, occasionally having to retreat out of sight to avoid the gazes of the wandering knights. Eventually, they arrive in the village of Kilerth.
The sun sat at its peak, affording them a few more hours of travelling. Kilerth, like many of the villages before, was a slum-like village with poor conditions. However Kilerth possessed its own peculiarity, much like night and day, the village both held the good parts and the bad parts. The people at the top strictly kept them separated. It was an intentional part to hide the slums without actually addressing the issue, behind the façade of a good village.
Travellers coming and going to Kilerth would sometimes leave with vastly differing opinions depending on which side of Kilerth they experienced.
The lord had been so clever in his schemes. The good side of Kilerth allowed for commerce, trade and merchants to pass through frequently, each having to pay taxes and fees to the lord. It allowed him to reap all the benefits of high taxation. However he would show the poor side of his territory to any court officials and in turn was given a lower taxation to pay for his territory. According to the law, this is to allow the lord to spend more on the welfare of his territory. This was not the case for Kilerth, high taxation and no money being poured into the parts of the village that needed it.
The children point towards their destination, an innocent, run-down looking shop. Rhetta and Khio pull the reins back slowly and come to a halt. They dismount their horses and Florian reluctantly hands them their baskets, seeing how they already struggled to carry them.
Khio perks up at something, "Hold on!" she states before running off somewhere, leaving the children, Rhetta and Florian standing there. Albeit a bit confused due to the sudden take off.
While waiting for Khio to return, Rhetta speaks to the children. "Maral, Dren, do you guys know of Legacy?" Maral looks confused and tilts her head, Dren nods. "It's an information guild in Azmar..."
"That's right... If you need help, go there. If you can get away...head there. Tell them you want to speak to the guild master, Tayoshi. He will help you and so will we." Rhetta instructs the two children with a serious tone.
Rhetta hesitates and opens her mouth again. "This is Florian, my name is Rhetta and the miss that ran off is Khio. Just remember, it will be dangerous if you say our names to anyone other than the guild master. Do you understand?"
Maral and Dren nod in agreement, seeing Rhetta's stiff expression relax was relieving.
"Eat up kids!" Khio exclaims, handing the kids some delicious looking kebabs she smelled from a food stall down the other street. She refuses to let them leave until they've eaten their fill. Rhetta did find it odd that someone would be selling food in a village with such conditions where no one could really afford to buy it. The way they ate, she reckoned it might have been the first time they tasted it. It was true, Maral and Dren were more accustomed to hunger than anything else. They might not have ever recalled a feeling like being full. Just a single kebab and their stomachs felt more satiation than ever. They wrestled between scoffing the food to satiate that painful hunger or savouring such a precious and delicious meal.
Khio smiles and gives them the remaining food, before they have to part ways. The children left in lighter spirits despite the bleak reality, and evidently a little happier than when they originally encountered them.
They all agreed on the lingering anxiety and regret over not being able to help more. This is what they could do, for now.
A sullen-looking knight approaches the group. From his rustic uniform they surmised he is a local knight. Seeing his awkward nature and his outward demeanour there appeared to be no suspicion nor malicious intention. If anything, he was nervous.
"Excuse me...Miss...May we inspect your horses?"
Rhetta looks at him directly "Our horses?" her face hardens with a questioning caution.
"We have an order...to check any and all animals or livestock that comes into or leaves the village..." he explains softly, trying to keep things as understanding as possible.
Khio walks towards him, her eyes intimidating him with the vicious glare they emanate "For what reason!?"
"There has been a plague affecting the animals around here and in the outskirts..."
Rhetta breathed out in relief, she had been contemplating what to do if the man was trying to check the brands on the horses neck. Seeing how easily it would have given away that these horses belonged to the imperial army.
She pulls Khio back, silently telling her to stand down. "Feel free, but if possible, could you tell us more about the plague? So we know what to look out for."
"I understand!" He salutes, "So far... With what we've seen, the animals start acting really tired. Some cannot even walk and then they start getting anxious until that deteriorates into aggression." He explains, trying to remember the order in which it was all relayed to him. "I think after that, the physical changes occur?" He scrunches his face up while trying to remember every detail.
"Physical change?" Khio questions, looking at the knight with a genuine look of concern.
"Even the most docile sheep can become a monstrous beast once infected. There is no other way to stop them; except for killing them. They just don't stop fighting, not until..." He faintly trembles as he recalls what had become of the sweet animals that he would always see around. "It started with one of the stray dogs, it's not really all that strange for strays to get sick. But this was completely different! When it reached the final stages we were too late. It went on a rampage and slaughtered anyone in sight."
The sheer amount of bad news that Rhetta and Khio received over the last few days had been enough to leave them shaken. They were already trying to come to terms with everything that happened. Being falsely accused of a crime they never committed, arrested, nearly executed, hounded by knights and seeing the devastation the empire faced. Along with the lives of those outside of the capital walls...
The knight walks over to the horses, looking at their eyes and patting them soothingly on the necks. He places his ear against their chests and listens to the pace of their heartbeat. "Thankfully it looks like they're alright."
The three nod their heads, "Thank you for checking."
The knight smiles, politely nodding and goes back from the direction he came from.
Khio grunts in frustration, unable to put what she was really feeling into words. "I need a drink, or a nap. I think both..."
"There should be an inn, or a tavern on the main road." Florian points over to a taller set of buildings.
"Main road?" Rhetta queries, they'd entered the village on a relatively busy road. Usually the road leading into the village was the main road.
"I'll explain on the way." Florian takes the lead and walks ahead of the two. From the corner of their eyes they see more imperial knights out on patrol, or rather barking orders at the poor local knights while they sit around and do nothing.
Florian navigates through the alleyways and maze-like slums, always stopping to ponder which direction to turn and very blatantly guessing on some of them. It doesn't provoke good faith in Rhetta or Khio who are already aware of how unreliable Florian's sense of directions can be.
"Do you actually know where we are going?" Khio griped, watching how Florian looked left and right before deciding whether to turn or carry on straight.
"If I'm going by the layout, the main road should be somewhere over there." She points
"So you're guessing!?" Khio yells now having confirmation that her confidence was completely baseless.
"Florian, about what you were saying before-" Rhetta inquires, trying to understand how the main road they entered on, was not the main road.
"Most of the smaller villages are still under a lord, depending on the region. A main road is established for a merchants use. Well, in summary, it's for money making." Florian turns the corner, with Khio and Rhetta in tow. Having to walk single file while trying to lead the horses through the narrow alleyways. They end up on a deserted path caught between two structures.
"The lords will then only expend enough effort for the main road. It's usually a singular pass through the village. Usually there are shops, taverns, inns; anything passable for nobles and merchants to use this place as a rest stop."
They emerge from the alleyway, and are struck with the contradiction. The sheer difference compared to the rundown, dingy and slum like area they were just in. This area was clean and spacious. Populated by nobles and those of the wealthier classes, even the richer commoners could afford to peruse the stores. It seemed prosperous, if anyone saw the main street they would think the whole village was well off. Unknown to them that it is simply an illusion, a pretty face to hide the ugly truth but a small path away.
"I agree with you that it's weird to see knights from the capital here. Knights are very common though, as the lord always tells them to...keep the area clean, so to say."
The street is clean and maintained. Even decorated by a neatly paved road, small communal gardens filled with sculpted shrubbery and delicate looking flowers. They saw the daily hustle and bustle as the street was filled with lower nobility. Vendors, market stalls and even some upper class shops were all open for business with a steady stream of people coming and going. The knights walked the streets in a lazy, relaxed manner and just smiled at some of the people passing by. Wagons dragged along, loaded with merchandise as they make their ways down the roads.
'This is too big of a difference...' Rhetta thought, if she hadn't walked here herself she'd never believe such places coexisted.
"What did you mean about the knights keeping the place clean? Do they volunteer to pick up trash or something?" Khio asks, seeing how friendly the knights were acting, it wasn't outside the realm of possibility.
An uproar is heard somewhere nearby and causes everyone to turn their heads, towards the sounds of disgruntled nobles loudly complaining about something. The group looks, they see a skeletal thin man stumbling from the alley and onto the main street. His clothes are in tatters, his eyes unfocused and his mutterings all make him appear delirious. One of those friendly knights ran towards the man. One might have assumed to help, seeing how kind the knights looked. They kick him with all their might, another knight drags the man further into the alley and out of sight.
The nobles held looks of disgust and eyes filled with displeasure. Their displeasure was not at all due to the display of violence they had just witnessed but rather the fact that they had to see that man at all.
"There, those knights definitely volunteered to pick up trash." Florian comments with a harsh edge to her voice.
Finally her odd choice of words made sense, nobles had regarded the residents of the slums as people who needed to be purged and kept out of sight. Florian internally scolded herself for picking up the ambiguous nature of speaking from her mentor. Saying things in roundabout ways that Rhetta and Khio could only understand after the fact. 'I've definitely spent too much time with him...'
The unrest was short lived, the jovial atmosphere amongst the main street returned and everyone seemed to put what happened to some distant thought in the back of their minds and ignored the situation entirely.
"You mentioned this was also used for merchants, I don't understand. Kilerth isn't one of the official stops." Rhetta asks, watching the line of wagons passing through.
Khio nods her head in agreement, "I mean what was the point of putting the entire merchant travel system into place if they ain't going to use it."
The Merchant Travel System, is a system that had been proposed by the heads of various merchant guilds. Including the top three, Goldwyn, Silverly and Bronzem respectfully. Official routes throughout the empire were placed, roads created and maintained. Each of these roads would lead to every major city, town and village most commonly used by merchants. Most merchants had fill out extensive surveys about their routes so the empire could officially recognise trade routes. The roads were also the shortest distance between these locations as they headed straight to locations rather than the roundabout means of travel.
A merchant was required to purchase a license from their guild, and pay a small toll for each trip to use these officiated roads. By doing so, they are given permission to travel with assured protection from bandits, thieves and the like and were given assistance at various rest stops along the way.
Aside from all the benefits, this was a clever system meant to monitor trade as well. The protection of the roads instituted the need for various checkpoints and gates where their goods would be inspected and compared against the submitted roster.
Florian looked a little tired, mostly from wondering how clueless the two were, and while knowing it's not their fault she felt like she was leading children through the world for the first time. "Maral and Dren are prime examples of what kind of place this is. You already know what they were carrying Rhetta. This is for all those not so official kinds of things. Besides, most of these people just hire mercenaries for protection anyway."
Florian points towards one of the wagons, the merchant sits in the seat guiding the wagon and beside him sits a rough looking man holding a sword.
"Not so official could be anything from weapons, to drugs, and even slaves. As long as the price is right, anything or anyone can be bought or sold."
Khio looks around, at each and every structure or building until she spots a sign hanging from a tall wooden post that reads 'Inn'
Rhetta is about to speak but is abruptly interrupted by Khio "There's the inn! Let's carry on talking there."