After a week of constant travel, we finally reached Barta, the former capital of the Easton Kingdom.
I hoped it would be as lively as Brogue or Sincaro, but it was the opposite. It felt like we were in Auhnaver, but worse; its streets were littered, and poverty was evident.
Arthur's heart broke upon seeing the city's current status.
"Sigh. Everything the Apton Empire touches, they ruin it," Gale commented.
"Egil, please allow me to visit my family. I'll catch up with you soon," requested Arthur.
"You didn't have to ask, just go. There should be an adventurer's guild around here, we'll meet there tomorrow."
He nodded and walked away.
We continued and found a decent inn with a reasonable price.
While Gale and the rest stayed in their rooms, I took some ingredients out of Ness' blessing and went to the inn's kitchen to cook. The owner was kind enough to let me use the kitchen for free.
About an hour had passed and I was so absorbed into what I was doing, and I didn't notice a crowd was forming behind the kitchen door. Several of the inn's guests, including Gale and the rest, and even the owner were drooling from the smell of the food.
Ness couldn't resist any longer and stepped in.
"What are you cooking, Egil?"
"It's one of my favorite dishes. It's almost done, and I'll let you taste it first."
I asked the owner for bowls, filled one, and gave it to Ness.
"What are these long strings?" she asked.
"Those are noodles. Go ahead and give it a try."
The onlookers gulped as they looked at Ness trying the food.
"It's good!" she exclaimed.
"Glad you like it."
I then handed out bowls to everyone, and they too, loved the food.
"What's the name of this dish?" asked the owner.
"It's called stir-fried noodles."
She walked closer to me and whispered:
"Would you be willing to sell the recipe for a reasonable price?"
"I could give it to you; in exchange, I need some information," I whispered back.
"What kind of information are you looking for?"
"Everything you know about the lord mayor."
She stepped back a bit and thought about it.
"Okay, we've got a deal."
As soon as the crowd had their fill and returned to their normal lives, the owner and I stayed and she shared everything she knew.
According to her; the current lord mayor, a noble from the Apton Empire, assumed his position as soon as news of the royal family's passing broke out. The first thing he did was to have all the surviving Eastonian soldiers arrested, they're all currently locked up in the castle's dungeon.
Taxes then shot off the roof but there were no improvements in their lives. No rehabilitation or infrastructure projects took place in the city, and aid was not provided to those who suffered most during the war. Rumor is, that the tax money is being used to fund their next offensive, but exactly which city or country is unknown.
She moved closer and with a soft voice, she said:
"There have been multiple attempts to overthrow the current lord mayor, but they were easily thwarted by his right-hand man, a commander who took part in the invasion of the city."
This was valuable information. If we could find that commander and deal with him first, everything else should be easy.
"Owner, do you know what that commander looks like?"
"I haven't seen him personally, but I heard he was a dangerous-looking fellow with a scar on his left eye. They said an Eastonian commander did it at the battle outside the port."
"Sir, are you by any chance planning on fighting the current lord mayor?"
I didn't answer.
"I can introduce you to someone."
Intrigued, I pressed for more information regarding the individual she wanted me to meet.
"There is a group of Eastonian loyalists moving in the shadows, and I know their leader."
"Do you mind if I ask why you're acquainted with such a group?"
She pulled her shirt's collar away to reveal a mark on her shoulder; It was a wheat stalk tattoo. If I remember correctly, King Eogan's blessing was from the god of agriculture named Consus.
"We know King Eogan and Princess Lucia are no longer of this world; but if the gods allow, we'll push these Aptonian invaders away with everything we have and seat a new king on the throne."
"Are you sure you should be telling me that?" I asked.
She fixed her shirt to cover her mark and smiled.
"You look like a kind and trustworthy person. Besides, you wouldn't be asking for information about the lord mayor if you weren't up to something, am I right?"
"Stay here, I'll be back in an hour," she added.
She left the kitchen and went somewhere, and I wasn't sure why she wanted me to wait for an hour—maybe she wanted me to meet the resistance leader as soon as possible.
And so, I waited.
An hour had passed but there was still no sign of her so I decided to leave and return to our room. As soon as I stepped out of the kitchen, I was greeted with a swing of a sword.
I jumped back to dodge the attack.
"Hoh, and I thought I peeled that skin off your face," said a man's voice.
"Who are you?"
"I have a better question; who are you?" he replied as he entered the kitchen. He wore a black outfit and a black cloth concealed his face.
He then darted and thrust his sword towards me. He was fast, but I moved to the side to avoid it and ran outside the inn, only to find myself surrounded by several more people dressed in black and armed with swords and spears.
There were no other people besides them, perhaps they cleared the area before this guy attacked.
I left my weapons in Ness' care thinking I wouldn't need it, and I regretted doing that a little.
"Don't worry," he said, "they're only here to watch."
He continued attacking, and I dodged every single one of them.
"You're no fun. Stop dodging and try to do something if you can!"
I kept on dodging until he stopped attacking. I wasn't sure why but he was looking up the inn; then I remembered, Ness and the others were upstairs.
"Since you're just dodging my attacks and my question, perhaps your friends would be more fun to deal with."
Before he could run inside, I charged at him and covered my right fist with mana just enough to knock him out.
I thought my punch landed, but it felt strange; it felt like I punched a brick wall, and I was stunned as soon as I realized that a person managed to stop my attack with their bare hand.
"Stand down, Maxen," said the woman who jumped between us, her voice deep and intimidating. She had a slim build and her red hair was tied into a ponytail. She wore a black coat with a wheat stalk embroidered on the left chest.
"I'm not done yet!"
"Don't make me repeat what I just said."
He clicked his tongue and walked away. She turned her attention to me and said, "Now, why don't we go inside and talk."
Alerted by the impact of my punch, Gale and the rest of the group exited the inn and were ready for a fight. Ness opened up 'Storage', took out my weapons, and threw them at me.
The woman, who seemed to be their leader, was stunned when she saw Ness use the blessing of the former king.
She unsheathed her sword and pointed it at Ness from where she stood.
"You, why do you have the king's blessing?"
Gale stepped in front of Ness to shield her from any possible attacks.
"You said you wanted to talk, then let's go inside and have that conversation," I told the woman.
She glared at me before she calmed down and put her weapon away.
"Very well," she said.
The woman accompanied me to the kitchen and the rest soon followed.
We made ourselves comfortable and started talking.
"I'm Brianna, leader of the resistance."
"Egil, an adventurer."
"Tell me the truth, why does that woman have the same blessing as our former king?"
"I was there when Eogan and Lucia were killed. I could even say I was the reason for their untimely demise."
"Explain yourself before I separate that head of yours from your body!" she shouted angrily while gripping her sword.
Although reluctant, I shared what happened from when they first arrived at the island until their deaths.
"A blessing with the ability to absorb and transfer blessings, very intriguing."
I only told her about the 'Transfer' blessing. Who knows how they would react if I told them I had multiple blessings?
"You still haven't told us everything, have you?"
"I'm Lucia's husband."