After they finished eating and cleaned the tools, they packed the adventurer's kit and stashed it beneath one of the stairs.
Liam approached one of the soldiers, "Do you need that horse for the coming hour or two?"
"Not really, we're still going to be cleaning till sunset." The soldier replied, "I'll move him out of the way if you want."
"No, I wanted to borrow it to head to the city." Liam looked toward Alice, "I can't let her walk, not in her condition."
"Jimmy is a moody horse. You won't be able to ride it." The soldier shook his head. "Warhorses are trained to only obey one rider, and that's my horse. It won't listen to anyone beside me."
"I know that, can I try anyway?"
"Do what you want, but don't blame me if you get thrown down." The soldier waved his hand and returned to work.
Liam approached the horse. Horses are smart, depending on how many you handle and if you know them well, you can relatively understand what they want or need. I chose this horse because it showed an interesting trait, he only listens to his rider, but he's smarter than he looks."
Liam pointed at the soldier, "He allowed me to ride you to the city, and you'll get more hay for it." Seeing his rider, and hearing familiar words such as hay, more, and ride… the horses are smart creatures. Liam easily climbed the horse and patted his neck, "Good boy, such a beautiful black mane."
[Horse Training: Level 1] And I got the skill back. I did train a lot of horses and demonic monsters in the past. It's not a skill that relies on stats so it's always easy to get and level up. It took dealing with two horses to get, but I guess convincing a warhorse to let me ride it was worth more than that draft horse I used in the city.
Draft horses were more used to people and tame, almost anyone could easily ride them. At the same time, warhorses were trained to withstand wars and fight to the death with their riders. I need to get a mount as soon as possible, a horse would be great to use in the human land as it doesn't stand out.
The soldier looked back and saw Liam riding his horse. He gasped and showed the other soldiers, "He's riding him!"
"A young man full of surprises, not only did he survive a fight with Ricardo and lady Samara, he's even good with horses." A soldier smiled.
Liam approached Alice with the horse and extended his hand to get, "Get on, we'll go get you something to wear and then to the bath."
Alice stared at him…she knew how to ride a horse, but her body didn't have enough strength or energy to climb him. She can barely walk. "I can't get on…" She mumbled.
Liam jumped down from the horse and patted his neck, "Don't move."
He then lifted Alice up, she was extremely light and he could feel her bones on his shoulder and chest, even the adventurer kit was heavier than her. He quickly put her on the horse and climbed back up. "Let's go." He patted the horse's head and they rushed back to the city.
Liam stopped by the old lady who sold him his clothes and walked in. "Lady Helda, I want clothes for her." He pushed the door open and walked in with Alice slowly following him.
"Clothe for whom?" Helda walked from behind her desk and headed toward the main entrance of the shop. "You did take a bath, didn't you…" She looked and saw Alice standing behind Liam.
"Wait, isn't that Alva?" Helda gasped, "I haven't seen her around for months, and I thought she got taken to jail again or died somewhere."
"She's going to be living with me from now on. Can you get her some clothes? something cheap but decent." Liam approached Helda.
"Getting cheap on her?" She stared at him with a grin.
"I'm not getting cheap; I don't have the money to spare. I've got forty silver coins so I want to leave 10 for her bath. You have thirty silver coins to work with unless you want to give us clothes for free." Liam looked at her with a smile.
"Liam…you don't have to spend that much money…I'll wear what I can get…" Alice pulled him by the wrist.
"Don't worry; you'll be going on quests with me so you'll need to wear something decent." Liam patted her head.
"You can count on me. I'll get her something nice." Helda smiled.
Liam found a chair to sit on and wait as Helda dragged Alice all around the shop; she gave her a set of commoners' clothes, a long robe, an old leather jacket, shoes, socks, and everything else. She even filled a small bag with underwear and hair ties.
"I gave her enough clothes for twenty silver coins, and I added anything that wasn't selling for free." Helda pushed Alice toward Liam.
"Take care of her. She never had a decent chance in life." Helda smiled and Liam walked out with Alice and headed straight to the public bath.
"Go inside and take a good bath, I'll pay for it and go to the city to find you a weapon with the money left from the clothes. Wait for me here if you get out before I return." Liam looked at the bath owner.
"Young man, I suggest you pay an extra two silver coins." She approached him.
"I thought it was ten?" Liam stared back at the owner lady.
"She'll need more than just a bath. You better pay up or save some money to pay the extra two silver coins when you come back, I'm sure she'll tell you it was worth it." The owner giggled.
Liam turned toward Alice for a second and then it clicked in his head. "AHH, got it. Here twelve silver. Give her a deep clean."
"Wait! What was that for?" Alice asked.
"You don't need me to tell you, I don't know." Liam replied but that was a lie. He already guessed with a single look behind the owner's counter. She had a bunch of shaving razors and lice combs…If Alice had lived on the streets for a while and was in the condition he found her in, such a thing would be necessary.
It wasn't something that she would tell him about, nor a thing she would feel good speaking about. All he could do was pretend he didn't know and keep going.
"Take care of her."
"Got it. Young lad."
Liam left the bath and headed back to the blacksmith and lady and bought a dagger for Alice to use. He still didn't know whether she could fight or not, but she could be useful in many other ways. Taking care of the house and cooking would be an option, but he knew that all humans have potential for power so he'll start training her on how to fight as she recovers.
Daggers are light weapons that don't require much strength to swing, and they are as deadly as swords. A five-inch deep stab wound would kill just as well as a sword stab. It's a good weapon for Alice as she's currently too weak to swing an arming sword.
As he returned to the bath, Alice had already gotten out and was sitting on the benches and waiting for him.
"Alice, you're done." He asked with a smile.
"Yeah." She nodded with a smile.
"So, what were the extra two silver coins for?" He asked with a grin.
"Nothing!" She looked away with an embarrassed beet-red face. "But the bath was worth it…" She mumbled.
"I see…I see…" He stared at her with a grin.
Liam and Alice walked out of the bath and headed toward the horse that he tied behind the bath beside the plaza. As soon as they reached the horse, a man growled from the streets.
"Alva you fucking bitch! How many times have we told you never to show your face here!" He rushed toward them with a clenched fist.