The sun hung low on the horizon, painting the sky in streaks of amber and rose. What stood before the party of six was their destination for the day: the city of Everdale.
Its high, sturdy gates loomed tall, guarded by towering stone walls that encircled the town like a shield. The air carried the scent of dust and baked stone, a testament to the the life of commonfolks that awaited Arthur.
"So what do you think Arthur?" Emilia asked.
"It's nice" Arthur replied.
Though he had gotten his clothes back to cover the bandages, the cool evening breeze still managed to find it's way into Arthur's skin, giving him a slight chill.
'I still prefer the estate though.'
'Now that I think about it, this city isn't that far from the estate. I guess the spell could only take me this far.' he thought.
He took a deep breath, 'Anyways, first things first.' Arthur thought to himself. 'I should find a way to get i-'
"Let's go!" Emilia said happily, cutting Arthur's thoughts short.
'Or I guess I could just tag along for now' he thought.
Eventually, the group moved towards the gates where they had to go through a checkpoint conducted by the guards.
"Halt!" A guard ordered. "Oh it's Gerald's team. You guys are back already?"
"Yeah" Gerald replied tossing him a silver coin. "That's for the lad in the back." He gestured over to Arthur.
The guard did a little whistle on seeing Arthur. "Now that's a pretty face." He commented before turning back to Gerald with a thumbs up. "You're good to go."
• • •
"Excuse me, but was it necessary to give him a coin on my behalf?"
"You got any form of identification?" Gerald asked.
"No"
"You got any coins on you?" He asked again.
Hesitating slightly, Arthur replied, "... No."
"Then yeah. It was necessary." Gerald gave a short glance over his shoulder. "Without either, you'd be stuck outside the gates—or worse."
"oh- ok." Arthur commented.
Gerald simply strode forward without needing to reply.
"Hey Arthur, I'm curious, what were you doing in the forest all by yourself? And why were you unconscious?" Emilia asked as she couldn't hold back her curiosity.
"Well..."
"Let him be Emy." Rachel chimed in. "Everyone has their secrets right?"
"Yeah yeah," she pouted. "I understand." Emilia surrendered.
'Phew... That was a close one. Thanks Rachel' Thought Arthur. 'I don't think exposing my identity would be a good idea anytime soon.'
After sometime of walking, the team came to a stop.
"Okay Arthur we're here" Gerald called out as they arrived at a fork in the road that split into two lanes.
"We're here?" He asked
Arthur honestly had no Idea where he was going or where to go so his plan was to follow this group for as long as he deemed necessary. But it seems that his trip had come to an end.
"We'll be taking our leave now Arthur. I suppose that's alright with you" Gerald asked.
"Why shouldn't he be?" Doran added, a hint of mockery in his tone. "You still need an escort pretty boy?"
Arthur spared him a glance for and decided to completely ignore him and his comments all together, causing a vein to pop on Doran's forehead.
"Why you..."
He was about to do something rash before he felt his pride fall as the girls in the party began to laugh at the little display before them. At this point, Doran could barely hide his embarrassment as his face turned red in an instant.
"Okay." Gerald replied while gesturing to Arthur that the resident area was the other way. But he would need to pay to sleep in an inn.
With everything finally settled, Gerald and his party turned the other way and went to continue their business, leaving Arthur all alone.
"You guys can go on ahead." Emilia blurted out. "I'm going with Arthur. Is that okay Gerald?"
"Yeah we're pretty much done for the day." He smiled as deep down he didn't feel too good about leaving a penniless kid to fend for himself. "We'll handle the rest" he replied while waving a hand to the both of them.
"Okay Arthur where should we go first..." Emilia pondered.
"Hey umm... Miss Emilia?"
"Emilia's fine" she cut in
"Why are you helping me?" Arthur asked.
"Well let's just say I was moved by your adorable face." She replied.
"O-kay?"
"Besides it's just as Rachel said earlier. We're not monsters, so what's the problem in helping others for free?" She pouted a little bit.
"I see." He replied. "That does sounds pretty cool."
"..." A slight blush appeared on her cheeks. "It's not yet dark so what'd you say we walk around a bit?"
"Sure"
• • •
During their little tour Arthur observed that most the buildings had similar signs scribbled on them.
"Oh that? Each symbol represents a type of business." She paused and pointed to a building with a sign that had a hammer crossed over an armor. "That's an armorsmith's shop."
"She pointed another building with a similar sign. But this time it was a hammer crossed over a sword. "This one's a weaponsmith's shop." She added.
'I should really write this down...' Arthur thought while trying to memorize each one as his guide continued her tour of the town.
They finally stopped at a 2-storey building. The this time was different yet simple. It just had the diagram of a bed on it. Before he could ask, his guide spoke up.
"And last up for today, is this building right here. A must have for convenience," She stated while tapping it's walls playfully. "It's an inn" she added.
"Oh, I see, interesting" Arthur replied sarcastically. "I guess this is where we part ways"
Even before he finished his sentence, Emilia had already yanked him by the arm and pulled him into the inn.
"Don't worry about money," She smiled. "I'll cover the costs myself."
• • •
The inside of the inn was alot warmer than he thought due to the somewhat large fireplace in the reception area. When compared with the chilly night breeze outside, this was heaven—or so he thought.
By now Arthur and Amelia were making their way to their rooms after having eaten their lunch downstairs.
"Today was fun right Arthur?" She asked out of nowhere.
"Yeah" Arthur replied, his eyes fixed on the ground below while he pondered his next plan of action as he couldn't continue to rely on someone else's pockets.
"Yeah," he replied, though his thoughts were far away.
'I can't waste anymore time.' He thought "At this rate, I might end up leeching off of her. I need to get a job that can help me level up, but I can only think of one at the moment '
"Umm Emilia..."He called out to her just as she was about to enter her room.
"I've been thinking about this fur a while now, but I've finally made up my mind..." He began "I'd like to become an adventurer."