'This dumb royal bitch!' Salus barely managed to keep his curses from escaping his mouth.
His face was already swelling from where the princess stepped on it.
The bruise on his face would mark his shame for at least several days to come.
'Not only she didn't announce her visitation, she dared to lecture and then humiliate me in public!'
The blood boiled in the old man's veins.
He was the governor of the city; a lord of the local castle.
'I will make you learn that this is the frontier town of Padsin, not the imperial heartlands two thousand miles away!'
Salus boiled with rage, but used all of his willpower to rein his emotions in.
Out in the open of the castle's corridor, it was highly unwise to debate anything questionable.
'Gods know she has spies everywhere,' Salus warned himself, forcing his mouth shut as he rushed through the narrow passageways of the mighty fortress.
A breath of relief escaped from the old man's mouth only once he confined himself with his most trusted advisor in the private quarters the security of which he was absolutely confident.
The old man stepped right across the chamber, passing by a huge table and resting on a slightly smaller replica of the imperial throne. He then waited for all of the important people to get inside before sealing the doors and activating the formation that kept whatever happened inside confidential.
"I want you to kill that bastard," Salus ordered as soon as the lights on the door indicated the seal was now activated. "Not because it all started with him. Not even because he killed my nephew. But because we cannot let that whore of a princess get her filthy hands on him!"
In the safety of his chambers, Salus paid no longer any mind to the courtesy towards a member of a royal bloodline.
Far enough from the princess, he could finally breathe free as the suppression of her status no longer affected him.
"My lord, if it's killing him, my men can easily deal with it. But I sadly cannot say the same about finding his whereabouts," the head of the estate's private army stepped up to the table.
"Didn't the princess give us a hint? He's cooperating with the Imperial Express, so just search through all their sites," Salus said while waving his hand to dismiss the topic.
Yet, before anyone could say anything else, Salus suddenly leaned forward in his fake throne before casting a deep, thoughtful glance at the map of the city displayed on the huge table in the middle of the chamber.
"No, wait, that whore gave us another hint," Salus muttered as his eyes jumped all over the simplified map of the city he was in charge of. "She claimed that he's smart. And that means…"
Salus's voice grew weaker and more silent with each word he spoke, quickly turning his observations into mere mutter.
The old noble suddenly smiled as a vicious glint appeared in his eyes.
"I know where he is going!"
*****
'So that's the place,' I thought when the bank's assigned guide led the three of us to… an ordinary-looking building.
There was absolutely nothing special about the Inn we entered, with an average number of customers populating its main hall as they snacked on some food and enjoyed their beverages.
Not stopping in the dining hall even for a second, the guide then brought us up the stairs, paying no mind to the Inn's staff whatsoever.
"This will be your room."
I raised my eyes as I started to pay attention to my surroundings once again.
Even the short few moments that took the guide to bring us from the branch of the Imperial Express to one of the Inns they operated were not enough for me to sort all my thoughts out.
There were simply too many things for me to consider.
What was the common sense of this world? What should I do? Where should I go?
While it was true that I've now absorbed all of the knowledge my host ever gained, I have yet to properly sort through it. And I could only go so far by going off the scraps that I figured out on the go.
"I've heard there's supposed to be a stable in this place," I spoke up, unwilling to let this detail slide.
It was a crucial part of my plan on how to survive in my current situation, after all!
"The stables are located outside of the compound, sir," the guide bowed in polite apology. "Once you are all rested, just ask one of the staff for help and they shall lead you to where horses will be provided," the middle-aged man explained.
He then reached inside his clothes and pulled out a small, silver coin-like trinket with complex markings engraved into its dim surface.
"This is the highest-ranking token of Imperial Express provided to individuals," the guide explained before pressing the coin into my hand. "Feel free to use it at will, just keep in mind that each use will be recorded and a fitting service fee will be deducted from your account."
The guide had no desire to waste any unnecessary words on us. The moment he ditched the token and explained its uses, he simply turned around and left the room, leaving the three of us alone for the very first time since we'd met.
I took a deep breath before walking up and ensuring the doors were properly closed. I then moved towards the window only to plaster myself to the wall beside it, carefully taking a peek through the wooden shuts outside.
'The sun's still relatively high up,' I took note before walking a few paces back and turning to my companions.
"We have six hours to rest. Kid, you will take the first watch. You, what was your…" I squinted my eyes as I jogged my memory to recall the girl's name. "Nay, was it?"
I turned my eyes to the girl that I'd done my best to ignore up until this point.
She was nothing more but one hell of a trouble.
If I dared to make any real use of it, I would never hear the end of it once I would return back home. But judging from what little I could figure out from my host's memories on the spot, freeing her…
Well, it would suffice to say that unless I wanted to warm up by being burned on a stake as a heretic, going against the very principle of the imperial blessing was something I should rather avoid doing.
And freeing a girl with a slave status would mean doing exactly that.
'As long as we are within the imperial sphere of influence, I can't free her,' I thought while looking for some reaction from the girl.
Still, she simply looked back into my eyes… only to look away, refusing to utter even a single word.
"Are you okay with taking a second watch?" I asked.
As wrong as it felt to assign the least comfortable watch to the girl, this was the most optimal choice.
First, contrary to me and my brother, she was well-rested and full of strength. Meanwhile, the two of us were living on a fake high of a healing spell.
And secondly, I was quite confident that I'd managed to buy us some time before the inevitable wrath of the nobles I angered would reach us. But I had no way of knowing how long it would be before the trouble would catch up to us.
That's why I was dead-set on taking the last watch myself, as that would be when the risk of an attack would be at its highest.
"Six hours you say, but wouldn't that end around the middle of the night?"
I turned my eyes to the youngest.
'What was even his name?' I jogged my memory again.
"Not exactly the middle of the night, but around three in the morning," I corrected the kid while casting a second look at the world outside to confirm my assessment of the current time. "Right when one's sleep is deepest," I pointed out before turning my eyes and smiling at my brother-in-arms.
"A perfect time to silently ditch the city before anyone could gather to bother us, isn't it, Fein?"