"We should be grateful to all of you."
Peacekeeper unit's captain was talking to Nine as they arrived at the scene where the group fought against bandits. His people already started cleaning after all the mess made during combat.
"I guess it wasn't rumor that Aukkleia of the Nine Magics is not taking prisoners" he said, giving her a slight smile "These guys were making trouble for us for several months now. Each time they managed to get away, and here it was finally put to an end."
Nine tried to smile back, but was unable. Truth be told, she would usually try to end conflicts with as peaceful result as possible, even if she said otherwise.
In this specific situation, she was hoping they will kick their asses, maybe kill some of them, making the rest run away, and here her student had to pull such a crazy stunt. Good thing that the law in case of such attacks was clear - you were allowed to kill in self-defense.
However, she still did not want for this to be put on the boy who was yet to become an adult - it was already enough for him to be an unusual hybrid, a thing that would attract a lot of attention in the capital. If it was combined with a story of him killing about twenty bandits on his own - she did not want to think about it. It was much better for the name of Aukkleia to take this upon herself since she already had a number of different rumors being spread.
"There was actually bounty on most of those people" captain continued speaking "We are nearly done with preparing a list. I'll give it to you in a moment so you can collect a reward once you reach any city with council. Having said that, since you are going to Testroria, I would suggest trying there as it's going to be quite a hefty sum."
Peacekeepers not only took care of the cleaning, but also supported them with repairs and provided escort all the way to Saddle.
"Not that you really need that" captain commented, pointing at the bodies of bandits "Either way, having peacekeepers with you will make it less likely for anyone to inerfere with your travel."
Ineed, it was as he said - for the remaining distance, with the exception of some monsters jumping on them, it was peace and quiet.
Once they reached Saddle city, peacekeepers said their goodbye and went away.
The group entered the city, and decided to stay at "The Headless Duck Inn". Said building was located close to the stables, where they left their carriage and the horses, and in close vicinity to city guard quarters - it was an obvious pick for Nine as, in case of trouble, they would be in the safest possible place with an option of quick retreat.
Of course, it was unlikely to happen since the country was not in state of war, having peace treaties with neighboring countries, but during her times as Aukkleia, Nine was in various circumstances, and this kind of approach became her routine whenever she travelled. And after the mayorcs appeared in Copebell Understicks, everything related to her old life started resurfacing.
Nevertheless, she was the only person in their party with this kind of experiences, therefore others were quite at ease in comparison. Only after getting comfortable in their rooms, Nine became less worried and managed to enjoy small things as the others did. She had the most fun observing Mattheia and Kashia, for whom it was the first visit in this kind of place.
Obviously, they arrived just before the dusk, making it not possible to go into the city and sightsee, so they had only little time to enjoy the views, and most of the time of their stay would be sleeping at the inn. Aside from eating, of course.
"The only time I was seeing so many people would be during harvest" Mattheia was looking around during supper, checking different races present at the inn "And we had vast majority being humans."
"If we were on the walk through the streets, market for example, you would have a different opinion" Nine told him "You see, inns are typically places for travelers to stay. Most of people you will see here are merchants, adventurers and guards, but also those who decided to move somewhere else. It's a given the amount of races will be higher than in case of regular places."
"So, it's like you have parts where only specific races can be?" Kashia asked "In case of my kin, we rarely get any grounders in our cities, so there is pretty much no diversity. To be honest with you, I would often think that the place is pretty boring."
"Isn't that the case for anywhere we are staying longer?" Junie said that, while drinking her third ale "When you get used to things around you, it may get boring basically anywhere. It's like staying in relationship for too long, and falling into routine..."
"Ok, ok, let's leave it there" Nine gave her a pat on the back "Junie has some bad experiences, that's why she's like that. Either way, we grounders are not as secluded as Sky People, so you will find a variety of races basically anywhere, only the ratio will differ. Even in places with lack of tolerance, there will always be someone that differs."
Angel girl nodded.
"You know quite a bit about my kin, and you are even on friendly terms with Lord Eukleis" she turned to Nine "I can't imagine what kind of circumstances..."
Nine waved her hand to interrupt Kashia.
"I already said everyone that was a pure coincidence that I met Eukleis, nothing more."
"But the way you talk about these differences" Kashia did not want to yield "You had a chance to visit one of our cities, right?"
Others also fixed their eyes on Nine, and she finally sighed and said.
"Okay, yes, I was invited to Sky People's capital in the past. You happy now?"
"Why won't you tell us more?" Junie was pouring another drink "Is this some kind of a secret?"
"Yes, it is, and Kashia should be aware how sensitive this is."
Angel girl shrugged.
"I know that we are keeping our secrets, but how much we tell others? I have no idea. Though, it may be because I'm still ways from passing the training for my duty of choice."
"So, you got here without having your assignment approved?"
Kashia looked at her, surprised.
"Since you mention that, it means you learned quite a bit about us. I'm really curious."
"I've already said way too much. Let's drop the topic for now, okay?"
Nine was adamant about not continuing the topic, so ultimately others stopped bothering them and the time before them going to sleep was spent on chitchat focused on other stuff, including the plans for their stay at the capital.
The next day was focused on traveling from Saddle to Passcalle. Fortunately, this time it seemed everything will go smoothly as there was no trouble around Faecaus so far, even though the area was not one of the finest places any of them visited - the smell of manure was so strong, it was hard not to puke.
"Kashia, you are good with air magic" Mattheia spoke to angel girl "Can't you do something about the smell?"
Kashia looked at him with her eyes wide open.
"I'm already doing that, you know!? It's just the smell is too strong!" she was coughing as she said that.
"Calm down, we just need to pass through this area" Nine scolded them, while holding her nose with two fingers "I prefer this than having to take care of either bandits or monsters.
In the end, they managed to leave the smelly area, and everyone in the party sighed with a relief when that happened.
"The routes should be safer from now on" Junie informed others "Areas around Testroria have many more peacekeeper units on duty, and density of checkpoints is better, so ruffians have hard time to get through."
While the aforementioned was really the case, they encountered some scuffles on the way, quickly suppressed by peacekeepers.
Still, they had to spend the night in Passcalle, before the final part of their route, directly to Testroria.
Compared to previous cities, Passcalle was on a whole different level across variety of reasons. The very first thing Mattheia noticed was related to security measures - contrary to previous places, they had quite a thorough inspection upon entry to city gates. He even wondered if they are allowed to do personal checks, mentioning that to Nine with a lewd face, but got hit the very moment he finished the question.
"Use your proper brain instead of other organs" he told him, keeping hand high enough to hit him again should he try to say something stupid again.
Their turn came up next. One of the city guards made a hand gesture and used some spell on Mattheia. A moment passed, and he repeated the action, confused.
"I get response for magic signature, but no registration" he turned to his superior "Captain, could you come here for a second?"
A tall man, wearing red-and-gold armor approached them.
"What's the problem here?" he asked.
"This boy has energy signature strong enough to be a mage, but is not registered."
Captain looked at Mattheia, then at Nine who was still keeping a hand on him.
"I assume the lady behind the boy is with him? Would you care to explain?"
Nine nodded.
"Yes, he is still a trainee under my supervision. He's never been registered yet."
Captain looked turned to the guard who called him.
"Check the lady's signature. If she's registered, have her sign guardian statement. In case of trouble, she will be held responsible."
With that, the man walked away and soldier started a check on Nine. However, in the middle of the spell, he started sweating and nearly fainted. Nine's party members were looking at each other, confused.
"Let me through" captain returned, and put a hand on the guard's forehead "It's energy overload." he stood up and looked at Nine "I assume you are not a regular mage. Would you care explaining why you didn't say anything about being high level?"
Nine sighed.
"I wanted to avoid commotion. It's already enough of people going crazy whenever I tell them my name."
"I understand. Please come with me then."
"I would like my party to come too."
"Yes, of course." captain agreed and pointed at some other guards "You, come with me."
Mattheia, who was observing the situation quietly, said to Nine:
"He seems overly careful."
"Don't blame him, my energy levels are off the charts so anyone who does a check would react that way." she explained.
"Couldn't you do that differently?" Junie asked her "I mean, if you knew..."
Nine sighed.
"Junie, the same goes for you. Your energy would be even worse for them. I didn't expect them to be so weak to nearly faint due to something like that." suddenly, air around her changed, and she looked at Mattheia "Unless the effects stacked."
"What do you mean?" the boy was intrigued.
"It's the case I taught you about in the past. You can cause spell effects to strengthen each other."
"You mean it's like, the energy bumped on that guard?"
"Well, it's not exactly how I wanted to describe it, but it seems your example is better than mine."
Captain led them through reinforced door, then through a corridor into a big room with thick walls. In the middle of the room, there was a big stone on the pedestal.
"Is that a reading stone?" Nine immediately reacted to the sight of this peculiar object "Should you bring anyone here instead of connecting to it from the distance?"
Captain turned back and smiled lightly.
"That guard who nearly fainted was doing just that, so I thought it will be better to check you directly. Please, go ahead."
Nine did not say more, approached the stone and touched it - for a moment, the object changed its color, and regained original look couple of seconds after the woman moved hand away.
"Okay, stand aside" captain ordered, approached the pedestal himself and used a spell on the stone "So, you are Aukkleia of the Nine Magics, both famous and infamous for your deeds. And you say the boy over there is your student? Is he as dangerous as you?"
"People like to spread rumors" Nine replied, completely calm "I can vouch for him being a good person."
"We will see." captain already changed his focus "Now, time for the others. Please, approach the pedestal individually."
He was really amazed when he learned about Junie, as he did not recognize her due to her current looks, and it turned out that Eukleis requested for Kashia to be registered in our country after they met in Copebell Understicks.
"I must say, you have quite interesting party" captain approached Nine with a piece of paper "If it was only you and your student, I would likely decline your entry, but I won't, because of lady Junie's achievements."
Nine was quite confused about the captain's behavior, though only until he requested an autograph from Junie.
"Who would have thought captain's daughter is Junie's fan?" Mattheia was amazed by how captain reacted to the new about Junie "I had no idea you were that famous."
Junie smiled widely.
"That was the reason why I decided to become your teacher, Matt. Being famous is not an easy thing, and I needed rest. However, now that I get this feeling now, it seems I grew to miss that a bit."
"Just don't get too crazy about it" Nine warned her "Remember that we have different job than living our old lives."
"You are no fun. Take that stick out your ass sometimes."
They were about to start a fight, but their awkward argument made both Mattheia and Kashia laugh. In the end, they just went to find another inn.
Once they did, the party decided to go have a walk around the town. After all, owing to shorter distance between Saddle and Passcalle, they had more time until dusk than in case of their previous stop.
Nine and Junie considered that to be a nice change of pace, purely entertainment, but for Mattheia and Kashia it was all about new experiences - Mattheia, being sheltered by his parents for whole his life so far, never actually went past the borders of Copebel Understicks county, so he had absolutely no chance of tasting a life in the bigger city, and Kashia, while she lived in Sky People's capital, had limited knowledge about grounders, and every experience from the moment she fell was a novelty to her.
While having a walk, Mattheia quickly noticed that majority of passerby were humans, which was quite an unusual story for him in comparison to what he saw through his life. Of course, even back at home humans would be still outnumbering the other races, but not such an extent. From time to time, he also felt that some of those people were staring at him.
Nine, being just a few steps behind Mattheia and Kashia, kept monitoring the situation - usually, Sky Person would be much more likely a centre of attention, but with a mixed person like Mattheia around, you could never know. Back in Copebel Understicks, Carrera and Farah were making sure that no one makes a big deal out of his unusual looks and energy levels, which was no longer the case after he left. Because of that, Nine and Junie were following instructions of paying utmost attention to reactions people might have towards Kabanos' family heir.
The boy himself was unaware of being special in terms of mixed blood type, and considered the amount of care he was getting from parents, including several hired teachers, was them only being overprotective.
Among everyone involved with Mattheia, Nine knew the most in regards to his special traits - not only about ones coming straight from parents, but most of all his individual predispositions to variety of skills. For now, it was possible to keep him unaware with the teaching approach theye were applying. The problem was, once he reaches age where beast-kin part activates, keeping him in check is going to become harder.
With that in mind, his current guardians needed to have their eyes everywhere, and that applied not only to Mattheia himself, but also to those who could get involved with him.
Fortunately, the people from Passcalle were only staring at him, so as long as no one tried something weird, keeping low profile was possible.
As they passed through the main square, Nine noticed unusual presence, which seemed to follow them. Feeling that energy, she gave Junie instructions to check if it is really someone tailing them, or if it is just a coincidence.
Mattheia and Kashia were focused on sightseeing, so only the two guardians were looking for the potential danger. In the end, they decided to walk into one of the smaller alley for it to be easier to spot anyone who could be tailing them. However, for some weird reason Nine could still feel the energy just a couple of meters from them, despite no one being there.
"What in the hell?" she was thinking to herself "There is no one around."
They went into a small yard behind one of the restaurants, and here Nine felt the presence even stronger. She started approaching the are where the feeling was stronger - there was a carriage used for transporting the goods standing by the wall.
Junie went from the side to have a look, while Nine approached to the front, trying to be natural as to not alarm Mattheia and Kashia. When they were just next to the carriage, suddenly something jumped from above, then they heard meowing and a big black cat appeared on the ground.
The encounter was quite a peculiar one - first, the cat seemed to stand on its rear legs for a moment, and only after seeing confused looks from people around, it went to all fours, second, it looked at Mattheia, as if wanting to keep an eye contact with him. Then again, it was not possible for they boy to just stand quietly when a cat was there due to his phobia, so he quickly hid behind Kashia.
Contrary to him, Kashia seemed to like all kinds of pets, and she actually squatted and made a hand gesture to call the cat.
The animal sat on the ground, kept looking at her for several seconds, then it stood up and ran away.
"I guess it didn't like me" Kashia said with an upset voice "Why is it they like you, when you are scared of them?" she asked Mattheia.
The boy shrugged.
"I don't know. It was alaways like that, but I've never managed to stand the cats. No idea why."
Nine, who did not make any move until now, went to the spot where the cat was sitting. During the short while when it was there, something inside told her it would be unwise to do anything rash, so only now she finally moved.
"So, was it a cat that you were so worried about?" Junie joked, looking at Nine touching the ground "Are you going to tell me it was actually a monster in disguise?"
Sometimes Nine had a feeling Junie already knew everything, and was just playing around with others, who were yet to figure things out. In this scenario, that little kitty left an energy trace that she would only expect from a high ranking mage or skill master. Definitely not something a stray cat could leave.
"Instead of joking around" she said to Junie "Next time you see that creature, be on high alert."
After this event, they went to the inn to eat supper and sleep.