Chapter 129 - Meeting

As Jien, Mark and Emily made their way to the front gate of the manor estate they saw an owl with brilliant silver plumage and eyes that glowed with firelit yellows, oranges and reds. This owl glided from the top of the stone wall and landed with practiced ease on the saddle in front of Jien. It turned its head and gave Jien a look that one could almost imagine to be spitting fire. Anyone that had met Anuva would know instantly, both from her eye color and from the fiery attitude that this was indeed her.Jien had had a very long and tiring discussion with Anuva regarding what would be acceptable and what wouldn't. Though he felt it fine if she maintained a human appearance while within the manor or in private, he had made it clear that while in public or around others that her having a human form would only cause issues for him and his family. She was the first humanoid demon that any of the nobles present at her summoning had ever seen and that in itself would lead to people wishing to study both her and Jien.The argument had been long and a pain in the neck on Jien's part, but he eventually convinced the willful demon to choose a form that matched the description of other demons while in public. He assured her that he wouldn't ask her to do something as demeaning as taking the form of jewelry, but she would need to maintain the form of an animal while in public view like the others. In the end she had chosen this form, which though slightly unnatural in color of both feathers and eyes was at least acceptable.With the traveling group finally fully gathered they took off down the cobblestone roads toward the northern gates of Afrem City. Soon the fifty-foot-high stone walls that surrounded the city came into view and with it the heavy wooden gates that were currently open. Two sets of guards in simple leather armor, one on each side of the gate monitored traffic in an out of the city. The traffic itself was rather light, consisting of farmers that lived outside the city walls bringing in their various harvests for sale in the market.When the guards noticed Jien and his traveling group they stood at attention and saluted with their fists to their chests. Jien smiled at them and waved as he passed through the gate without issues, continuing out onto the dirt roads a short way out from the castle walls. Around him were fields of wheat on one side and vineyards on the other. In other areas were farms more focused on raising sheep, cows, chickens and pigs, though these tended to be a further away from the main road. The air was fresh and the temperature quickly warming with the morning sun, a perfect day to ride to where they would be meeting the others.The ride itself wouldn't be long, taking roughly a day's journey at a steady pace to reach the small village between Elker and Silvios City. The town was known as Dunn but honestly was too small to be official. If one had to classify it Dunn would be a small collection of farms that would welcome visitors to stay with them for a small fee. This small 'town' was where the children and their mentors would be meeting up and staying for night before leaving the next morning for the Warping Forest.It wasn't too far into their journey when they saw a pair of horses, one was pure black, as if an incarnation of a shadow, with dark red eyes. On its back was a familiar boy with curly dark brown hair and matching eyes. On the saddle bags of the horse a coat of arms with a pair of two dogs facing each other with a sword between them was visible. Jien immediately recognized Bernard Bell with little effort, riding on the back of his contracted demon who had chosen the form of a horse. To his side was a slightly rougher looking woman who wore simple leather armor and had a longbow on her back. To the side of her saddle was attached a quiver full of arrows. She had fairly unkempt light brown hair that was tied in a ponytail reaching the small of her back and steel blue, stern eyes, a small scar running just beneath her left eye.At a glance Jien could tell that this person was experienced beyond words. The presence she gave off was more than a little suffocating even from a distance. He wondered how Bernard could ride alongside her with a casual smile on his face while chatting. It was only when Jien urged his horse to catch up that their conversation ended, and they turned back to see who was approaching. Bernard's mentor had instinctively reached for her bow, only stopping when Bernard recognized Jien and told her who it was.Jien had figured he would be likely to meet up with Bernard along the way since he lived the furthest south, but he wasn't sure where they would meet. It was when Jien, Mark and Emily had fully caught up that Bernard introduced his mentor Lila, who despite her stern exterior greeted them all pleasantly after inspecting their group carefully. After the greeting however she didn't try to make much small talk, letting Jien and Bernard talk while she grouped up with Mark and Emily to discuss the plans for the trip and get to know the fellow instructor she would be working with.