The sun was already high when Nick woke up and got out on the deck. Steven didn't allow him to apologize and carelessly waved him off. It was obvious that Nick had his hands full during last few days and nights, therefore Steven couldn't care less about him waking up late.
The important thing was that heavens had heard Clayton's prayers and they could already see the continent in the distance. Nick convinced Steven to go and rest for a couple of hours, sat at the helm and, while trying to make plans, had a light breakfast in a form of water, fruits and nuts.
When the boat got closer to the coast and Nick could already discern the trees, he called his teammates and they discussed their next steps.
As decided previously, they would sail closer to Berin, then continue on foot to reach the city and proceed to Olava from there. Clayton, being the oldest one, would act as a moody leader and Nick would do the most talking because the other two were not as fluent in the Nestri dialect, at least for now.
While studying the map of the Nestri continent, Clayton raised his suspicions for the estimated travel time to the capital.
"Even though the information source was not smart, he had no reason to lie." Nick shook his head.
"If it was the route across half of the Nestri continent southwards, month would be a reasonable time, but the route towards the capital stretches to the east and going there directly from Berin shouldn't take longer than twenty days." Clayton insisted.
"But if there are some obstacles that are not showed on the map? Like mountains or swamps." Steven had a thought.
"Actually that's a reasonable assumption." Clayton agreed and nodded, "If traveling party has to take some detours, it might take considerably longer. This map is only superficial – we should get a better one in Berin."
Nick wasn't as experienced as Clayton, otherwise he would've payed more attention to the maps he took. One of the pirate kings definitely had detailed maps somewhere, but there was no need to feel down because of it. They had to gather information and get the means of transportation in the city anyway and buying a map shouldn't take long.
"Alright, let's proceed this way – first, we enter Berin, get overall information in a tavern or some other place, then acquire map and transportation. The best would be if we could get horses and change them on the way in those two cities." Nick pointed at the map. There were two smaller cities or towns marked in almost straight line from Berin to Olava, "We will make the necessary changes to this plan according to the circumstances."
All three of them knew that the main objective was to catch up to the girls as soon as possible and it didn't matter if the road to the capital took thirty or twenty days – they had to get to them before they reached Olava.
The three changed in more inconspicuous clothes already in Paradise city and now each of them only added cheap swords to their waists.
Earlier Nick moved the king Black's treasures to his wristband and now passed the ring to Steven.
"Do you know what this is?" Nick asked while putting the ring in Steven's hand.
"This … this is a meteorite ring?" The youth was stunned. Although his father also had one, he knew it was an incredibly rare item.
"Where do you get these? I was about to return the one you gave me!" Clayton took out the one Nick gave him on the pirate island.
Nick shrugged.
"The one you have I took from the deputy elders of the Holy Order whom I managed to kill while we were back in Ravi, but the second one was on king Black. You guys hold on to them for now, just don't show to others or we might get in trouble. Also, each of you will fill your own ring with water and food supplies. And it is possible to hide a decent weapon or even several in there. I doubt you'll want to use these decorative things in a real fight." He grinned widely and pointed at the cheep swords at their waists.
"Ye, I want to use the one that I took from pirates, but it is a bit too long … one meter is not enough." Steven scratched his head.
"Hahaha, you put it diagonally, see?" A longsword appeared in Clayton's hand and then disappeared again. Even if the space in the ring was only a cubic meter, it didn't mean one had to stack everything orderly.
With this small problem solved, Steven played with the ring for a bit to get used to it and then hid it in his pocket. They checked everything one last time and got ready to leave the boat. In the distance there were already some sails that were all traveling towards the same goal and it was definitely Berin's harbor.
Clayton directed their sailboat closer to the coast, then Nick with Seven on his back dashed towards the distant beach. Steven, blushed from embarrassment, swore to himself to take Nick as his teacher as soon as they got back to Aurora. Although several years younger and still Qi practitioner like him, Nick managed to pull off things that only Qi masters normally could.
Clayton sighed and patted the boats deck. This was an excellent sailboat and for an old sailor like him it was quite painful to do what he was about to.
Few seconds later boys heard something break behind them. Nick didn't bother, but when Steven looked back he saw the boat, broken in halves, was slowly sinking while Clayton almost caught up to them.
Even though it was taxing on his Qi for Nick to carry another person on the water, as usual he took it as a form of training and didn't bother much about his surroundings, just concentrated on the Qi circulation. When they got to the shore, he was all sweaty and panting, but still grinning widely – he had gotten an idea for a new exercise, of course it would have to wait until they are back in Aurora.
Nick took a couple minutes to rest while they slowly walked along the tree shadows on the beach, but when he recovered, they began to run to reach Berin sooner. They had an unspoken rule – to not waste any second until the girls were safe.
Soon in the distance they saw a couple of towers and yellowish-brown city walls. It looked like there were not many entrances to the city, therefore to not raise any suspicion they left the beach side and took a short detour through the bamboo forest.
Half an our later they discovered the city gates. In fact, that was more like an opening in the ten meter high city walls without actually installed gates. The Nestri empire covered the whole continent and there were no notable inner enemies, therefore this wall looked more like a cage rather than protection from outside attacks.
After coming closer to the entrance they confirmed this feeling. The poorly equipped guards were gathering entrance fees while several hundred meter long queue of travelers, merchants and armored men were waiting for their turn to enter the city. Many were on foot, but some people had traveled on horses and there were several cargo carriages as well. The trio had no other choice but to join the queue and patiently wait for their turn along with the others.
Nick approached a nearby merchant, slipped a couple of silvers in his hand and asked some questions about the city and its rules. The entrance fee was symbolic one silver per person and it didn't change on your status or background. Everyone except for the army forces and governor himself had to pay the fee. The entrance order, however, was different – aristocrats and special guests could enter without waiting, the same was for high ranked mercenaries.
The merchant was from another town nearby and didn't know many specific details on Berin, therefore suggested to go straight to the Mercenary guild and buy there any information they needed. But for stacking on supplies the best spot was definitely the big marketplace near the harbor.
The queue went quick because the guards didn't check anything at all, only collected the toll. They even seemed to get annoyed by any delay and rushed everyone to move faster. After waiting for thirty minutes, trio paid the three silver tax and stepped on a wide, smelly and dirty street already inside the city. It was now late in the afternoon and the scorching hot day was slowly turning into a warm and pleasant evening.
Most of the houses at the sides were made of rocks, mud and bamboo and the people idling in the nearby shadows were half naked and looked starved and sickly. The hard life of the locals didn't bother Nick much, he approached a smarter looking young boy, gave him a silver and told to lead the way to the Mercenary guild. The boy would get another silver when they got there and, if he was fast, two.
Boy didn't think much, just grabbed the silver and ran towards the west with trio following him. Other pedestrians didn't pay any attention to them, but along the way Nick tried to observe the surroundings as much as he could.
As they got closer to the city center, the poor mud shacks were gradually replaced by two storey white houses and now were much less poor people on the streets, but mostly workers and servants. The sides on the streets were filled with food stalls and some shops and the depressing atmosphere they saw earlier after entering the gates quickly disappeared.
"Here!" Boy suddenly stopped at a big three storey building that had a high fence around it and a wide guarded gate in the front. Currently the gate was open and apparently the guards were fulfilling more symbolic purpose, at least for now. Boy stretched his hand out with a gaze full of expectations.
Nick put in his small palm three silvers, "Good job, do you know the city well?"
"Yes!" Kid grinned as he felt more easy money coming his way.
"After we finish here, we need to get to a big marketplace and then maybe somewhere else. If you want to earn more, wait for us here." Nick said and they turned to enter the Mercenary guild.
People in groups were going in and coming out of the building and it looked like it might even be the busiest place in Berin. Nick approached another guard at the door, "Where can I buy some information?"
"Second floor." Guard answered and didn't pay any further attention to him.
The trio entered the first floor and saw a big hall in front of them. There were counters at the furthest side and boards with attached papers on the right and left sides respectively. Most of the people were bustling near those boards reading the posters and discussing in hushed voices. The stairs to the next floor were right besides the entrance door, so they just immediately went up.
The second floor was somewhat different. There was still a hall with few counters, albeit smaller and people here were mostly sitting and waiting for a counter to free up. There were also several doors that led, probably, to the employee offices or storerooms.
"What are you looking for?" A servant or more likely a guard who looked like servant came up to Clayton when he saw the confused looks on their faces.
"We want to buy some information and maps." Nick answered instead and passed over few silvers, "It would be great if we could get it without having to wait in line."
The guard looked at the few silvers in his hand and grinned, "This much won't bring you a special treatment around here."
Trio, of course, had no idea of the money value and prices on the Nestri continent. They knew they got a lot of money from pirates, but not how much it was worth.
"How about this?" Nick passed over twenty or so silvers more, "Obviously these are only our thanks to you, we'll pay for the information according to the Mercenary guild's price list."
"Wait here." Guard nodded in surprise, glanced once more at the simple attire these people wore and went over to one of the rooms.