Chapter 39: Chapter 36: A new ally?

A month's time has passed since I began my work as the young prince's self-defense instructor. Despite the young prince's lacking, our training has been going smoothly. He doesn't have the physical ability but has the will to work and lots of free time, which is more than enough for me, but not everything is good.

 

At the beginning of our lessons, I wasn't expecting much progression in a single month of training, but my already low expectations got shattered by his untrained body. But I don't blame the kid. His father, the current king of the North, is a depressed man who is trying his best to survive and protect his kids until one of them ascends to the throne, even if that means locking his children into a protective bubble.

 

Other than that, our gun project failed. Arthur talked with an ironsmith he trusts, and I raised my hopes because I saw that man working. He looked capable. But the ironsmith politely declined the offer stating that even if he could make a gun in secret, he would still need to order some pieces from authorized facilities with a permit because he lacks the tools to make them. We didn't push it anymore after that point.

 

Now one-bullet pistol is out of the question. Things got complicated, but I am not out of tricks just because of that. I bought a light crossbow using the training fund I got from the mayor, and since even an idiot can learn how to use that in a week, the young prince grabbed the basics, and now he regularly practices to better his aim. Ranged weapons aside, since he is not very good with a sword, I began teaching him how to use a dagger in close combat in our spare time, but rather than teaching him to how to win a fight, I am teaching him how to use his weapons as a surprise factor to take down, or wound enemies to make openings for escaping.

 

That's the training report for last month. We still have time. As long as the king is alive, heirs will live, no one will dare to ignite the war, and we only need a little more time before the general comes back. And I have questions. How does Arthur know about the conspiracy against the king or why the opposite faction hasn't done anything? Are they unaware of the heirs' location, or is something keeping them away? Personally speaking, I expected to fight or at least see one assassin, but I am happy long as things go like this. We will stay here while the dirty work gets done behind the curtains. I personally never liked politics for power. It has too many deceptions.

 

Talking about dirty work, Arthur recently invited me to a quest given to him by Hunters Guild. A dungeon nearby got open, and if not cleared, monsters dwelling inside may come out and harm nearby trading routes and villages. At first, I wasn't sure about leaving heirs alone, but Arthur said, "don't worry, we have people for that." He probably meant Ruckus.

 

I ended up accepting the offer, but still, call it a hunch, I have a bad feeling about this, but considering what I got from the small dungeon back in the forest, I would be a fool to decline this opportunity.

 

*****

 

It is early in the morning. I woke up alone today. The lazy wolf slept in the same sunny spot until I called for food residing somewhere else. I left Fluffy with Maria. These two are getting along surprisingly well, and that wolf is the creature I trust most after myself. I feel better knowing we have more people behind.

 

I got up and moved to the newly cleaned corridor. Every two weeks or so, a maid working for the tavern cleans rooms with a weird mixture. It smells good and has hygienic properties. Without waiting any more, I went outside to plumb some fresh water. This town has a large underground water reserve and a river flowing nearby. People here use cleaner underground water for daily consumption and hygiene while using the river for everything else. More hygiene, fewer diseases. I like this world.

 

After washing my face to wake up, I moved back inside and sat for breakfast. Not many people are present at this hour. This world also has clocks. I learned it during my stay. Inns or guilds usually have one or two large ones presented to everyone's vision, while wealthy people have pocket watches. I also have my wristwatch, but I prefer to keep it hidden, and I failed to calibrate it to the time of this world. Days are a little longer here, around forty-five minutes. I didn't recognize this before, and I don't know. I suppose my body got used to it.

 

Not long after, Olive came nearby with a large metal tray filled with food in his hands and dropped it in front of me. There is almost double the amount of food I usually get in the morning. I snapped my fingers. "Olive, what is with this amount of food?"

 

"So, that's your first time on one of these expeditions. Take someone who knows words, and eat it much as you can. You will open space in your stomach on the way there, and the food inside will not taste bad. Also, every one of my customers, except you, has a tab in this place, and it annoys me that you always pay it right before you leave. We have a flow here, so I am adding the extra food to your tab, and don't you pay before the end of the month." 

 

"I guess you can't argue with experience." After stuffing myself with food, I moved back to my room and grabbed my equipment. Now I only need to meet with Arthur at the gates. He said he would be waiting for me there, but I wonder if I need anything else. But looking at the time, I suppose I can ask about that when we meet. It's not like we will go there unprepared.

 

I left the inn and began walking towards the town's entrance. Streets are even livelier than usual, the spring is coming, and snow is melting. I can see it from the sun in the sky and the smile on people's faces. It makes me happy too.

 

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Should I still be angry that I came to this world? Was I happy with what I had back there, an empty room with no one to talk to, no task to do, and no goal to achieve? Was my anger because I hated this new life or because I got forced into it? Back then, I was a lost cause. I was someone with barely any friends, no family to get support from, and no goal to achieve.

 

When I got a rifle in hand and someone screaming orders to me, I thought I found meaning in my life. For the country and my loved ones or whatever memory they left behind of them. I spent two years running left and right, doing my orders. It was nothing but a coping mechanism to stop thinking.

 

One day, I decided I would have a goal in this life, one so large that I could offer all my life to it. It was to defeat the country that took what family I had in this world, but I knew one soldier couldn't change the course of the war, but I never thought that deeply. I asked for my uppers for a change in positions. I fight from forests to destroyed cities, the silent nights to hell filled with voices of people's last screams and guns blazing.

 

After reaching a certain maturity in life and seeing enough bloodshed, I can say what I did was a meaningless drug I corrupted my mind with to escape reality.

 

Now I am offered this drug once more, and I know very well how much I complained about losing it back then, and now, should I be angry if I am offered the chance, or stop whining and accept how things are going?

 

I startled with a hand touching my shoulder. It was Arthur. "Are you a good friend? You look lost." He looks happy, more than usual.

 

"No, it is nothing. I was thinking about the past, but now looking with a clear mind, I am mad at myself. Getting yourself lost over things you cannot change is nothing different than an unlocked chain a dog is too scared to leave."

 

Arthur hit my back. "You better be. It is not healthy for a man's mind. It is not healthy for no one. So, have you eaten well? I know Olive, and he wouldn't let someone go to a dungeon quest without stuffing them to the throat."

 

I pat my stomach. "You know the man. I trust in his experience, so I did as ordered."

 

Sounds are coming from outside the city, a small crowd of people talking with each other, horses beating the ground every now and then, and workers shouting each other, giving orders, lifting and placing heavy objects.

 

But one man in particular in the crowd took my interest at first look. He looks foreign to this land, even more than I do. He has tanned skin, one you don't expect from this realm with no harsh sunlight, and equipment with colors and motives unfitting for the region. But I suppose he is closer to this place than I am.

 

Arthur opened his arms wide and began walking towards the man. "Alexandros! You bastard. And here I thought you finally kicked the bucket away from all the action."

 

Alexandros answered Arthur's friendly call with his and hugged the man. "And you don't look a single year older, you monster!"

 

Two men immediately started a friendly conversation. There is a cheer in their voices, and even the blind can see they are friends. It reminds me of a feeling you feel when you encounter a man you fight side by side after a long time. Now, this begs one question, is he an ally, an enemy, or just a lucky encounter?

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