Chapter 173: Chapter 156 – A Bastion of Outdated Traditions

"Keep a hand on your wallet at all times, and keep your women close, lest you lose them all to grubby hands." - saying about the Oajib Sultanate from its neighbors.

Two days after they parted with Kino, Cal and the rest of the party reached the Oajib Sultanate near dusk. From afar, it appeared to be a beautiful city, where many tall minarets were visible, decked with marble and gold, their shine obvious even far away. A city that cried of opulence and wealth.

 

That vision was somewhat marred by the scene they saw at the gate, that of flustered guards trying to somehow fix the city's gate to no avail. No surprise, as the grand wooden gates of the city - a symbol of luxury this close to the desert - had been minced into a multitude of wooden cubes, each identical in size, the cuts so smooth as to beggar belief that it had been done by human hands.

 

Cal snickered discreetly as she realized that Kino - as The Bounty Hunter - must have reached the city earlier than they did. She knew of no other void mage with that level of power and precision. Most everyone else in the group looked at the remains of the city gate with awe at the feat as well.

 

By the time they reached the gate - there was no line, as this gate faced the desert, and travelers from there were rare in the summer - some of the guards finally noticed them. A few gave them leers that made Cal frown and honestly tempted her to teach them a painful lesson, but an older, seemingly higher ranked guard made the rest stand at attention and approached them, his look one of worry and trepidation.

 

"Identification, ma'am?" Said the old guardsman respectfully. Cal could see some sweat starting to run down the man's brow, clearly nervous since it wasn't even that hot at the moment. It made sense if he was a veteran, and understood well the implication of people coming from the direction of the desert, in summertime.

 

Cal nonchalantly pulled her tag out of her pendant - the black adventurer tag with platinum lining - and tossed it over to the old guard, who caught it deftly. The old man's eyes bulged when he looked at the tag, and he gulped as he pulled out a piece of specially treated paper used for checking authenticity - the tags themselves were treated to leave a specific pattern on the paper - and pressed them together.

 

He respectfully returned her tag to her after he inspected the result and took a deep breath, bowed, and welcomed them to the city. Cal noticed some of the younger guards about to protest, but was shushed by the old man with a glare.

 

When they were further into the city - and well out of human hearing range - Cal caught wind of an argument breaking out where the guards were. Mostly the old guardsman berating the rest to "fucking use your eyes" and to "look closer so you don't fuck with the wrong people" or so.

 

The city itself was cleaner than she expected, though the source of the cleanliness was obvious, since slaves, dirty, malnourished men and women chained at the legs, were cleaning the roads as they walked past.

 

Many a reprimanding look was given their way by the men they passed by, which likely came from how they mostly dressed light for the desert. The women in the city covered themselves from head to toe in clothes, only their eyes visible under their hood and veils, and not a single one was seen walking around without a man to accompany them.

 

Cal didn't care about their looks. She just calmly made her way through the city. Considering the odd looks and whispers her group has been getting, she decided against looking for a local inn, and made her way towards the local adventurer's guild instead.

 

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Each of those guilds always doubled as taverns and inns as well, since quite often their clientele would be in need of refreshments and a place to spend the night. When they entered, they noticed right away the dearth of female adventurers present, other than a couple of rough looking parties that looked disgruntled.

 

Cal quickly asked the receptionist - the woman dressed normal enough at least, unlike the ones outside - for several rooms, and received an affirmative response that they had enough room for them. That task done with, the group gathered around a table with some mugs of ale and cuts of smoked meat in hand, as they drank and snacked, all while chatting and listening to the gossip of the others in the guild.

 

Not surprisingly, most of the gossip being talked about was related to the Bounty Hunter's appearance just this morning, and how they had just cut the gate apart when denied entry by the guards, only to waltz in unimpeded. None of the guards were even harmed, other than a few of them needing a fresh change of pants.

 

The Bounty Hunter had then walked into the adventurer's guild, requested the delivery of a missive to the heads of around twenty large merchant firms based on the city, and then left. They seemed to vanish right after they left the building, with nobody the wiser on where they had gone.

 

Everybody knew what the missives meant, however. The Bounty Hunter always sent them to their targets, publicly letting them know that they were about to be hunted, without a care for secrecy or surprise. After all, the Bounty Hunter never failed to nab their prey.

 

Cal just smirked when she heard the gossip, and rounded up everyone to go to bed early that night, as it had already been late in the evening and they had just walked a long way.

 

They slept well - Elaina and Sidonie shared a room with Leila, while Cal and Ying Xiao roomed with Dan - through an uneventful night, woke up refreshed, and had just gone down the stairs to have breakfast when they heard the latest news.

 

Apparently just yesterday night one of the merchants the missive was delivered to had tried to escape the town, with his best, trusted bodyguards only, leaving his family behind. This morning they found said merchant's wagon, empty and being pulled aimlessly by the horses tethered to it, and followed the trail to where they found the corpses of the bodyguards, each cleaved into two or more pieces.

 

The merchant himself, they discovered as a headless corpse in their midst.

 

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