"We're... sorry to see you go, master Ergo." the merchant said apologetically, though he didn't seem to have forgotten the incident of the day before.
Following the cobolt attack, Ceren had quickly come to the conclusion that staying in town wouldn't do him much good. He would miss the luxuries they'd provided him, but with the amount of attention he had been drawing, it would only be a matter of time before someone took a closer look at things.
That was why he set off for the capital the following morning. The townspeople had provided him with a sword and a rucksack of food for his travels.
From what Ceren could tell, they still seemed to truly believe that he was the hero, Ergo, though it seemed like he had slightly spoiled their view of him. He would have to be more careful in the future. If he was going to take Ergo's place, it wouldn't do to ruin his image.
And so, Ceren began down the long, winding path to the capital, Fareworth.
The first few days were uneventful. During the day, he would walk. At night, he would stop in nearby towns to rest in abandoned alleyways. True, it was not nearly as comfortable as a bed, but he had slept on the streets before, so he was used to it.
About a day's travel from the capital, however, Ceren began to notice the clinking of metal echoing from farther down the road.
It wasn't long before he spotted what was making the noise.
Two heavily armored men with longswords were locked in combat with a creature that looked like an anthropomorphic wolf, but without the fur. They seemed to be having genuine trouble with it.
He approached them, not fleeing, but also not bothering to hurry.
Behind the two men was a woman, maybe mid-forties, and she was wearing some very strange clothes. Her bright purple robes and over-large hat stood out like a sore thumb in the dull, greenish landscape.
His first thought had been that the two men were escorts. Not the fun kind, of course, but the kind that royals often had to keep them safe. Now, though...
"I'm ready! Stand back!" the woman shouted.
One of the men parried a frontal attack from the wolf thing. Then, both men kicked off and jumped back, almost perfectly synchronized. The woman raised her hand.
"Caerula Ignis!"
*Fwoosh*
Ceren's eyes glinted. There could be no doubt about it. This was magic.
As soon as the woman had spoken the two words, the monster had burst into bright flames. It let out a scream of pain and charged forward. Unable to put out the fire, it launched itself toward one of the two men. Startled, the man stumbled back and tried to lift up his sword, which he had stupidly left dangling by his side.
"WRAARG-"
*Shick*
Blood splattered across the man's face in a perfect arc as the creature's body fell to the ground, sliced cleanly in two. Ceren looked down at his freshly bloodstained blade and let out a tired sigh.
He would've let the idiot die, but if either of the others had seen him ignoring someone in need, it might impact Ergo's reputation. His plan of replacing Ergo was starting to lead to some rather annoying situations. He really hoped it would be worth the trouble in the end.
The blood-splattered man gazed blankly at Ceren.
"T-Thank you. You... saved my life."
"Sure," Ceren muttered dismissively, then paused, sighed, and continued in a less disdainful voice, "It was no trouble. I'm just glad you're safe."
There. That sounded hero-ish enough.
The woman in the purple dress approached them.
"You need to be more careful in the future," she told one of the men, sternly.
"Same goes for you," she continued, addressing the other man. "If you had stayed on guard, you could have stopped the warren before it attacked."
"Right, yes. Sorry, ma'am."
Having corrected her colleagues behavior, the woman looked to Ceren.
"Thank you, sir," she said, giving a small bow, "You have just saved my friend's life."
"Don't worry about it. You folks have a nice day," Ceren replied, then continued his trek down the path.
The woman looked bewildered.
"Uh, hold on a moment."
Ceren paused, rolled his eyes, then glanced back.
"Was there something else you needed, miss?"
"The warren corpse is your property, sir. Don't you want to bring it with you?"
What? Why on Earth would he want to bring some half-burnt corpse with him?
"For what reason?" he asked.
"To... sell to the guild..?" the woman asked, perplexed.
"Ah. Right. Sorry, I'm a bit distracted today," he said, giving them the vaguest excuse he could.
He doubled back quickly and threw the two corpse parts in his already empty rucksack, then continued on, leaving the frazzled group behind.
At last, that same night, Ceren arrived at the gates of Fareworth.
"One moment, sir," a guard said, spotting Ceren and walking over to him.
"What?" Ceren asked tiredly.
"What do you have in the bag?"
"A... warren," Ceren said, remembering what the woman had called the wolf-like beast.
"You're going to the guild?" the guard asked, makes a few notes on his clipboard.
"Yes."
"First time in Fareworth?"
"Y- No."
"Alright. Have a nice evening, sir."
It was nearly midnight when Ceren finally stepped into the capital city, mentally and physically exhausted. Despite the late hour, there were plenty of people in the brick-lain street and light streamed out from restaurants, cafés, and inns.
"Oh, sorry," someone said as they accidentally bumped into him.
Ceren clenched his teeth and continued onward. His new life as Ergo couldn't come soon enough.
It took a few moments before Ceren realized something was off. The people in the street weren't wandering between stalls or heading back to their homes; They were all going in the same direction. And they seemed to be rather excited about something.
"-- here? Really?!"
Interested murmurs came from all around him. For a second, he thought people had misrecognized him as Ergo again, but they weren't even looking in his direction.
*Rumble* *Rumble*
Something heavy with wheels was coming down the street and people were flocking to it. Though not particularly interested in whatever it was, but there were so many people, they were blocking his path.
"Excuse me. Do you mind. Coming through."
Ceren mumbled a few tired excuses as he pushed through the crowd of people. Nobody seemed to be paying him any attention, though. Their eyes were completely fixed on the thing coming down the street.
The rumble got louder, the sound of horse clops soon becoming audible, too. And then--
It stopped.
Asilence fell over the crowd.
Ceren glanced up. There, stopped in the middle of the street, was a large carriage. It was embossed with gold and its windows were covered with velvety curtains. Even the horses looked high-class. The entire carriage looked almost as expensive as the suite he had been lent in Able.
Probably royalty, Ceren supposed, rolling his eyes. He was just about to push on through the crowd when he heard a small click, and the carriage door began to open.
The air around Ceren seemed to change. A shiver ran up his spine, his hands becoming clammy. The door opened farther and Ceren's heart pounded hard in his chest.
There was something in there. It was like an unbearable weight was pressing down on him. A feeling unlike anything he had ever felt before. The warren and cobolts hadn't shaken him at all. Even the orcus had barely fazed him.
This feeling was something else. Danger. Fear.
The door swung open. Beyond the door stood a man, his armor gleaming in the light from the windows. As he took a step out of the carriage, he became clearly visible for the first time.
Ceren's eyes grew wide.
It was like staring in a mirror.