Chereads / Lich in Another World / Chapter 12 - “Landing” in Arthen city !

Chapter 12 - “Landing” in Arthen city !

"Knight-sama"

"Are you awake ?" The call echoed from the other side of the thin wooden door, reflecting a small figure holding a tray of hot and fragrant herbal tea. But seeing no response, she turned and prepared to leave...

"Noir, do you need to find me?" Leon opened the door and stuck his head out. As he spoke, he tried to hide the long yawn that was sleepy after a night of waking up and thinking about the fabricated story and the black sword.

At that moment, the black sword behind Leon's back shook once, and a red eye opened and closed immediately.

"Knight-sama" her face seemed to light up and she quickly approached the steps of Leon's room.

"Sorry to bother you so early..." she choked out, "I heard everyone was leaving right after breakfast. So..."

"Do you want us to stay here for a few days?"

"Yes" Noir was startled, she raised her head and looked at Leon with a shocked expression, "Wait, I haven't told you yet. How do you know?"

Due to the agitation, the cup of warm tea in Noir's hand lost its balance, spilling the tea, causing her hands to burn red and large blisters to suddenly appear on her thin skin. The tea was so hot that when it hit the ground it evaporated instantly, turning the green grass from lush to dark green as if boiled.

"Ah..."

"Are you all right?" Leon was worried and approached with some purple tobacco leaves that he had just squeezed in his hand. Leon immediately applied the leaf residue to the girl's hand and blew, but suddenly realised that he was wearing armour, which was extremely embarrassing.

"I'm sorry..."

"It's just that I'm not careful..." Noir was worried and she lowered her face.

"Noir, don't move," Leon poured some more white liquid from the pile of herbs he'd crushed the day before into her wound, his mouth murmuring a strange spell that had just appeared on the notice that only he could see. Leon didn't know if it would work, but it was what the holy book suggested, so he thought it was worth a try.

"Knight-sama, hand...my "

"hand"

A small light flashed, transforming the moss-green slime on her hand into a very thin piece of skin-coloured cloth. It emitted a bit of water that looked like mist but was clearer, and the cooling sensation immediately replaced the burning pain and made the little Noir comfortable.

"It's so pleasant" Noir touched the cloth on his hand, but it quickly dried and dissipated into the air, leaving a smooth white skin without a trace of burn.

The aura emanating from the cloth gradually merged with the dawn light in the morning sky. They make the traditional kimono she wears more colourful than ever, especially the unique patterns typical of summer mountains and forests.

"Noir, your wound is healed."

"Yes, I don't feel burned anymore" the little girl looked at Leon with admiring eyes and murmured, "Knight-sama, about my suggestion, can you...?"

"Noir, if it's about staying, I don't think it's okay..."

"huh..."

"Noir, as you know!" Leon was calm.

"I and Leti have to take the kidnapped boys and girls back to the orphanage and take care of some other things in Arthen, so..." Leon hesitated, "I think I'll take a trip there."

"But don't worry, I promise I'll be back as soon as possible!"

"I see" Noir tried to laugh, but the corners of her mouth were tightly shut. Leon saw the sadness on her face, but his premonition made him feel that he shouldn't say more.

"I'm letting you go" Noir tried to regain his composure with a deep breath and then said out loud.

"In return, you must teach me that healing magic..." Noir pointed at his hand, and the thought of holding Leon back by pretending to learn this magic, which she thought was extremely advanced and powerful...

The city of Arthen today is decorated in the red of life-size square strips of paper. The sun is bright and a cool breeze blows on the wind chimes, creating a humming sound.

The highlight of Arthen is in the city centre, where an ancient cherry tree half the size of the Tokyo Dome trumpets loudly, and the red carpet is rolled out just past the giant space portal made of ancient moss-covered rocks that emit light.

As they emerged, a group of tall, strong warriors walked in a line. They swung their swords high and shouted a particular language to greet the last person to emerge. It was a man with a pair of powerful eyes, wearing a fur cloak with a blood pearl on the button of his neck, the word "龙" engraved in white.

Despite everyone's cheers, the man calmly walked up to Sora, who bowed her head respectfully, with silver riders in white armour behind her. If anyone thinks they look like Leon, not really, their armour is smaller and not as detailed as his. The sword they carried was also white, the opposite of Leon's.

An arm reached out from the crowd, startling the young lady who had been standing still, following the man's footsteps:

"What are you looking at, didn't I tell you to go to the Adventurers' Guild to find out about the Duke of Roseblade's family?"

"Drea-sama, that man is..." The girl ignored the man's question, who was shaking slightly.

"Who are you talking about..." The guard looked at the other person's face and was also startled, "Why is he here, it's not right..."

"Let's go quickly" the guard tried to pull the hand, the beautiful looking young lady tried to hide from the crowd as fast as she could, "We have to get out of here as soon as possible, the dragon's sense of smell, especially the ancient dragons, is very sens..itive"

"Phew"

The guard shuddered and shoved the young lady aside, his face changing colour as he grabbed an ice arrow that had just flown. Turning, he was met by the man's cold gaze.

"Drea-sama, the ground around us is frozen," the lady grabbed the sword at her side and tried to pull it out, but was immediately stopped by the guard.

"Don't be overzealous, Hera."

"These are just hallucinations he has created. He wouldn't dare do anything here" the guard said, watching carefully and signalling for the young woman to back away quickly.

Halfway through, a terrible pressure and weight appeared, distorting the space around them, causing the girl to fall to her knees and partially dissolving the camouflage. Her long ears and slightly darkened skin appeared, and she vomited and puked, sweat soaking down the top of her face.

"Hera, are you all right?" the man was impatient.

"Demon..race" a very loud and long screech echoed to every corner of the city, drowning out both the sound of the trumpets and the raucous voices of the crowd.

"He..." The guard broke into a sweat as he heard the man's long, cursing lament. He rolled his eyes and looked around, but when he realised that the words were still just an illusion that only the two of them could hear, he calmed down considerably.

"Upper Dragon Ambitious" the guard also appeared in his original form after leading the girl into an alleyway out of sight, breathing heavily but still grinning at the fierce eyes as if he wanted to eat his opponent alive.

"A terrifying power that has not diminished in thousands of years!"

"Unfortunately, I don't want to talk to you right now." The man grabbed the marble necklace around his neck, which emitted waves of magical power that were pitch black and thickened into a puddle. He looked worriedly at the girl, who had been unconscious for some time, trying to keep the jewel under control.

'Rrr...' A stream of bright red blood flowed from the man's palm into the girl's mouth.

Just as the blood touched the girl's lips, two sharp fangs were clearly visible...

"I didn't expect little Noir to be so smart" Leon laughed as he remembered the girl's desperate face when he learned the healing magic after only two attempts. He hadn't seen her since, as if she had been very angry and had completely disappeared.

"Knight-san, what are you laughing at?"

"No.." Leon scratched his head awkwardly, suddenly startled by a very loud church bell. Surprised as to why there was such a sound in the forest, he tried to roll his eyes forward, "Leti-san, over there is the city of Arthen ?"

"Hmm. We've arrived." Leti narrowed her eyes as well, looking at a large castle, in the distance of the city a huge ancient tree that reached as high as the blue sky, "and you still owe me a barbecue !"

"That's right" Leon sighed.

***

Time goes back to around noon, after Leon and Leti's group has left Noir's village for a while.

Not wanting to lose her image in front of everyone in the village, Leti didn't dare eat too much, just enough to move a short distance, so her face was always grimacing and her limbs were slow.

"Hey, Knight-san..."

"I'm a little hungry" Leti blushed and whispered, approaching and tapping on Leon's armour.

"Do you have anything else to eat...?"

"Huh?"

"Leti-san, you were talking to me..." Leon jumped up but caught Leti's gaze and shivered slightly, "Oh no, I..."

"Hmm, you're not giving it to me.." Leti looked angry, but her stomach wasn't. It was squealing with increasing frequency, drawing the children and Ponpon closer her in curiosity.

"Onee-chan, I heard the scream of a monster nearby" the tallest boy, who seemed to be the leader of the children, spoke up with a grin.

"Catus-kun, did you hear the sound of a real monster?" The cat-eared girl next to her was startled when she heard this, standing close to the other boy and looking around worriedly.

"Of course not, Baka Mia. I mean, her belly is loud and..."

"And ?..." A sore head caused Catus to hold his head, and he turned around angrily, intending to give the man who had just beaten him a punch, but it was a short-sighted, shallow thought that immediately flashed until he met Leti's burning gaze.

"Catus-kun, when you return to Arthen..." Leti held the scabbard out in front of her chest, "prepare to take part in a mock battle."

Catus gasped in panic as he heard this. At the mere thought of being trained by Leti, the boy collapsed and lost control of his body. His limbs were limp and he fell backwards, but luckily Ponpon held him up. The dull look to the sky was quickly replaced by 'wretched cries'.

The rest of the children laughed when they saw this and tried to coax and "congratulate" this friend who was about to get a beating instead of rice for the next few meals.

Leon felt sorry for Catus.

"Leti-san, I only have part of the beef ribs left."

"If you don't criticise, then..." Leon touched encouraged Leti's body, but had to pull his hand back quickly because of the terrible heat, and Leti's unruly face now turned to himself.

"What do you mean..."

"I only have part of my beef ribs," Leon bravely lifted a bright red, curved rib and placed it in Leti's hand. There was an immediate smell and sizzle, enough to see how hot-tempered Leti was.

How could Leti refuse such a delicious meal? She was so happy that she didn't say a word, but picked up the meat, ran to a corner and sat down to barbecue. When she had finished eating, her body seemed to be much stronger, she looked at Leon after she had thought of a good idea, "I'll forgive you, on one condition..."

"You have to treat me to a barbecue every week. At least for the next 1 month!" Leti smiled like a flower.

Ignoring Leon's chaotic emotions at hearing this absurd condition, she ran to hug Ponpon, but still glared at Catus, causing him to start crying again after he had stopped crying.

"Knight-sama" the cat-eared girl grabbed Leon's hand, "don't agree to Leti's suggestion"

"All the restaurants in Arthen will go bankrupt if she comes to eat, and you will be dead broke"

"Of course I won't accept it," Leon whispered, thinking of Leti's huge stomach and shuddering a little. The bag of gold money inside his body also breathed a sigh of relief when it heard that.

"Knight-san and Mia-chan, are you two whispering bad things about me?"

Leon and the girl were startled to see Leti gritting her teeth and staring at them.

In the distance, Ponpon and the children were excited...

***

When they were only a few metres from the entrance to Arthen, Ponpon had gone from being an active fox to being shy, and Leon, who was also a little worried, slowed down at the end of the group.

"Pon-chan, can you make yourself smaller?" Leti looked at Ponpon and rubbed the firefox's head. As for Leon, she tried to calm him down and promised not to tell anyone about his curse.

Leti wrapped her arms around a fist-sized cotton ball that was lying on the ground, tucked it into her chest and approached the gatekeeper:

"Ates-san, is there some kind of festival in city today?" Leti asked curiously as she saw the red banners and strips of paper flying along the path to the centre of city.

The soldier was startled when he heard this and turned around to point his sword at her, but when he realised it was Leti, an adventurer from the city, he calmed down:

"It's you, Leti" the soldier sigh of relief, lowering his sword and changing to an apologetic voice:

"Today, a pact between the Dragon Kingdom and the Central Church is going to be signed, so we need to be more careful than every day".

"Ah, that's why you look so serious today"

"Wait, Arthen is a city on the edge of the kingdom and is quite small, why...?"

"I don't know..." The soldier's words were drowned out by the noise behind Leti. It caught his attention, he stepped aside curiously and saw the children playing something together. Their tails and ears kept standing up, sticking out...

"That's Catus and Mia, right?" The soldier waved his hand, "I heard from Alvar-sama, he said he entrusted you with finding the children."

"Yes..."

"Ates-niichan, everyone!"

"That's exactly him. So this is exactly Arthen."

Catus jumped up and looked at Mia, "See, I told you we'd go back to Arthen," he said, pulling the girl by the hand and running into the city. Seeing this, the children followed like a small train, but were called back by Ates, the gatekeeper, and his elder, Rul.

"I know you want to go home now" the veteran soldier said to Catus, "but it's our job to check the identity of everyone who enters or leaves Arthen today."

"Huh" Catus pouted, "Don't you go to the orphanage every week and see us?"

"Why do you have to check?"

Hearing this, the man rubbed Catus' head and pointed to his name tag, "It's an order from the Duke Roseblade, if you don't obey it..."

"Rumble" The man used his hand as a symbol.

"Rul, we're no longer afraid of these intimidations !"

"Yes, your joke is old" The children laughed, but obediently lined up in a horizontal line to show how well they had been taught. They were inspected by Rul and then sent into the gate.

"Leti-san, I heard that the children were kidnapped by transnational slave traders..." Rul said seriously as he walked over to Leti.

"Yes, I saw them near the Mist Town"

"Mist Town ?" Rul and Ates looked a little surprised, "You mean the abandoned town next to the cursed ruins?"

"Yes, but I don't know where the bastards are."

"Why did they go there?" asked Ates, but was startled by Rul's pat on the shoulder, "Don't think about it, it's good that the children were saved."

"As for those merchants, they must have been killed by the mountain monsters," Rul smiled, "Lucky for them, if they get caught by Miss Leti, there won't be a single grain of dust left."

Rul is a resourceful man, but his childish ways often get the couple into trouble. This time, when they had just turned around, they saw Leti cracking her knuckles and a flame burned above her.

"Ever since I was born" Leti gritted her teeth, "I hate being talked down to behind my back."

As she finished his words, a loud crashing sound accompanied by a muffled scream rang out, causing the birds to take frightened and frantic flight....

The streets of Arthen are very similar to medieval European architecture, with dark wooden roofs flanking a large stone street. Surrounded by areas selling food, meat, flowers and jewellery. Merchants were busy coming and going, exchanging and inviting people to come and buy.

"Leti-san, thank you for protecting me just now!"

"It's nothing, you can give me to eat another meal of meat."

Leon was silent, her words had just made him feel pain instead of his pocket.

After passing through the busy street, the commotion began to die down, and the children with cotton candy in their hands naturally closed in on Leti and Leon, as if they were afraid of something.

Mia ran over and grabbed Leon's hand, and she looked at him a little, then to the darkness in the middle of the road where screams and whips flickered.

"Knight-san, please sympathise with the children."

"Well, but what's wrong with this place..."

"It's a slave trading area."

"Slave?" Leon blurted out in surprise, "Didn't you tell me earlier that the Kingdom had passed a law banning the slave trade?"

"You say it quietly, those wholesalers don't like shiny knights like you paying attention to them!" Leti nudged Leon as they entered the 'slave territory'.

"This law is not for prisoners and those who bear the curse of Kerath," Leti whispered, "criminals of all races will have an eternal magic mark on their back, and then they will no longer be protected by this law."

"Should we go back, can we go another way, I see the children are not very good..."

"The other roads to the guild have been blocked due to this event, so this is the only way," Leti thought, "But don't worry, the guild leader knows the boss of this place, so they won't make us difficult."

"Hey, what are you doing here?" A couple of wild thugs, holding a pestle and a large sword that had just come from the two corners of the street, squeezed into the middle of Leti's words and stopped her with wide eyes.

"Knight, what do you want?" A man with a cross scar in one eye growled like a ferocious black bear, who seemed to be the leader of the group, stepped forward and pointed his sword at Leon.

"I, I didn't..." Leon stammered and little Mia, seeing this, trembled and hugged him tightly.

"Don't worry, he's a Freedom Knight who doesn't belong to any nobility..." Leti motions for Leon to step back.

"Do you think we'll believe an elf like you?" the man roared, ordering the juniors to tighten the siege, "I'm not blind, that white armour is enough to prove that he's a bastard who came from a bunch of wealthy nobles !"

"I repeat, what do you want?" He gritted his teeth, his eyes full of red veins.

"I.."

"I...." Leon lowered his face and said nothing.

"This noble's dog, are you teasing us..." He couldn't hold back anymore and lunged forward, swinging the sword in his hand with great force towards Leon's neck.

"Calm, Horus..."

The sudden appearance of a tall man with long ears and light skin, holding a hand fan right in front of the tip of the sword, made the man struggle to slow down. Immediately, he shouted angrily:

"This is our business, what the hell does that have to do with you, adventurer?"

"It's only been a few days that you forgot my sister's face"

"Sister?" The man put the sword back in its sheath, approached and saw Leti's pale pink hair standing in a fighting position with the blade more than half drawn.

"It's her..." The man involuntarily became awkward and immediately told the junior to back off.

"Huh"

"Okay. I will let your sister and the children through, but what about this suspicious knight?" he glared at Leon again, "This guy has never appeared in this place before, so unless you specify the purpose, don't expect me to let him pass."

"I told you, Knight-san is just a free knight.."

"Where is the proof?" He approached Leti's face, and an unpleasant growl began to rise again...

Leon and Leti have been split in two, with Leti taking the children to a nearby orphanage and Leon going to the Adventurers' Guild. This is the first time he has set foot in the building, whose architecture is mostly dark oak, with brick walls and, most notably, some vines that can climb down from the roof.

The Adventurer's Guild is located on a street that is not very busy, so it is quite peaceful outside. Only then did Leon notice that from here he could clearly see an ancient cherry tree, with a small castle next to it.

Standing outside the door, Leon could hear the sounds of conversation coming from inside. It was this noise that worried him, and he looked at the end of the street where Leti had taken the children, and at the half-closed wooden door.

It was the same situation in the village, but with Leti standing up to communicate, Leon didn't have to say much. He could speak confidently to a small group of people, but he couldn't stand in front of a crowd.

Even in the old world, Leon wasn't exactly an extrovert. Since the death of his last relative, his mother, he had buried his head in work and only socialised with a few colleagues. So it was a challenge for him to stand in front of the curious crowd.

"Come on, Leon, you can do it..." Leon tried to calm with a deep breath, in his mind he arranged and prepared in detail for every situation he thought he might encounter.

"Boom" "rumble"

A bucket of water fell out of nowhere and landed on Leon's head, making him as wet as a rat. The laughter followed incessantly, but then quickly fell silent.

Leon raised his head and looked around, but no one dared to stare at him. They turned away, their faces grimacing slightly, and some of them began to panic.

"Noble kni... Oh, wrong"

"Knight-sama" A woman with red hair ran out hurriedly. Looking at the name tag on her chest, she was Fayre, a manager of this Arthenian guild.

Fayre couldn't breathe after talking for a while, she stopped, leaving Leon very confused:

"Manager, if you have any problems, just say it calmly."

"I.."

"I..."

Fayre couldn't say anything until a few minutes later, when Leti appeared. She had just taken the children to the orphanage, and now it was convenient to come here to report.

As soon as she walked in the door, a strange heavy pressure came around her, making Leti a little uncomfortable and she blurted out the question, "Fayre-chan, what is wrong with everyone today?"

"Knight-san too, why are you standing so still..." Leti was surprised, she looked at Leon standing in front of her and saw the bucket and the puddle of water splashing on the floor.

"You still can't get rid of that stupid joke" Leti gritted her teeth angrily, turning to look at the armoured but pale faces.

"Knight-san, don't pay any attention to them."

"Well, I'm wearing armour, so it doesn't matter if I get some water."

"But what about that red-haired girl, why is her face so serious?"

"Fayre-chan?" Leti involuntarily looked at the girl in charge.

"Leti-chan, save me," Fayre cried when she saw Leti, hugging her and banging her head against Leti's chest.

"Please help me, I don't want to be locked up and suffer terrible punishments!"

"Huh...?"

Leti followed Fayre's gaze and saw that the girl was looking at Leon, her mouth clenched. Leti seemed to understand something, she smiled reassuringly:

"It's not your fault, it's the fault of all those idiots."

"But I'm the manager who can't prevent them, won't I be guilty of a more serious pusnishment?"

"That's right."

"Maybe you can be caught and tied up so the goat can lick your feet," Leti recalled the strangest punishment she had ever read about in a book.

"What are you talking about? If that's the case, I'd rather die."

"Just kidding, just kidding," Leti wiped the tears from Fayre's face with a towel, "He's a free knight, he doesn't belong to any nobility, not to mention he's very gentle, so don't worry."

"But that shiny white armour," Fayre cried even more bitterly, she couldn't believe it, "or is he a silver horseman or Sir Sora's special bodyguard..."

"Baka Fayre-chan, why did I have to deceive you ?"

"You are so stubborn"

Leti pinched Fayre's cheek and pulled Leon's hand away: "Knight-san, what are you doing here today?"

"I," Leon was confused, "came here today to apply for an adventurer's registration."

"Huh?" The whole room, which had been silent, suddenly roared. Fayre, who had just burst into tears, stared at Leon, stunned:

"Knight-sama, what do you say..."

"Humh" Leti pinched Fayre's other cheek.

"You heard him. He just wants to be an adventurer, can't you help him."

"Ok.. Okey" Fayre wiped away her tears, and the girl stood close to Leti, holding out her hand and leading them both to the desk. Still a little scared, Fayre's face still looked at Leon.