Chapter 562: 564. Back of Halburn

The inn’s kitchen emerged around Dallion. His eyes moved about, readjusting to the new reality. Even after all this time, he hadn’t gotten used to the experience completely.

“Did you make it?” Aspan asked, as a copy of him placed a plate of food on the table, in front of Dallion.

“Yeah. I’m sixty-eight.”

The food smelled nice, but for some reason Dallion didn’t seem hungry. He was still contemplating his decision at the trial. Was it the right choice? Or was it the wrong one?

“How was the trial?” Hannah asked.

“Different,” Dallion replied. “It wasn’t a combat one.”

“Non-combat trials are usually messed up,” the copyette said. “Some make sense only after you see how stuff works in the real world. Want some pointers?”

“I’m fine.” Dallion stood up, not touching his food. “I better get going. Jiroh said it was urgent.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

“I know.” Dallion replied before leaving the kitchen.

As he did, the fake Hannah passed by him, going in. With the conversation done, the copyette was getting rid of any incriminating evidence. The order was still hunting him, even if they didn’t know he was in the city.

That was a bit abrupt, dear boy, Nil said. Still upset with the trial?

No, Dallion lied. Just worried about everything else.

None of the guards stopped Dallion as he left the city. It was normal for hunters to come and go. Plus, with Eury gone, he had become the only hunter in Nerosal. That had increased his value to the nobles, as well as the mirror pool. Now he understood why it had been so easy for Jiroh and Eury to save him from all sorts of complicated situations. Everyone wanted to be on the good side of a hunter. It wasn’t so much about strength—true nobles had plenty of that—but convenience. The hunters were the ones sent into the wilderness in search of artifacts and creatures; they were the ones to deal with Starspawn that the local and imperial armies didn’t want to, especially now that the empire was engaged in war with several other countries. The only person with which Dallion’s position didn’t hold any new favor was the general. One would think that the sly snob would be overjoyed that one of his debtors had become a full hunter. Instead, he had been avoiding Dallion for months.

“Ruby, keep close by,” Dallion said to the gem-like shardfly fluttering above him. “There are furies where we’re going.”

The creature flew down, quickly landing on his shoulder. Of all the creatures Dallion had found and released in the wilderness, Ruby was the only one who had remained. One could say that he was Dallion’s only real world familiar, and like any familiar, he had grown in strength as well.

“Get some rest. You’ll need it.”

The same thing could be said to you, dear boy, Nil sighed. It’s been a while since you had some decent sleep.

I got enough rest…

In truth, Dallion didn’t want to sleep again for a while, at least not until he fulfilled his promise to Jiroh. There was no reason for him to do so, and it wasn’t like the fury could enter his dreams at will, but something told him not to risk it.

The wilderness had changed a lot in the last three months. Most of the patches of plague plants in the area had died out, some with help from Dallion. That had brought a quick return of caravans in the area, traveling all the way to the sea and back, as if there was no tomorrow. Regardless of the occurrences up north, there was no stopping trade. At least, that had been the case. From what Jiroh had said, both the order and the empire were interested in Halburn. As a trading town, it was a nice prize for a local noble, though Dallion could see no reason for the Order to be there.

Has anyone offered cities to the Order? Dallion asked.

Still focused on the trial? Nil asked.

Jiroh said that the only reason the imperials didn’t move in was because the clerics were there. Why are the clerics there, Nil?

Even the Academy has no idea why the Order does the things they do. They are far older than the Tamin Empire. It’s said that there were temples back when the copyettes tried to take over the world.

Some of the ruins Dallion had seen confirmed that. Even the altar near his home village was nothing like the current temples of the Order. It was universally claimed that the altars were created by the clerics of the Order. The secret Dallion had learned while asking a few items at an Order shrine was that was only true for the past. In the last several hundred years, no cleric had created a new altar. Only old ones were used, which was why they were protected so jealously.

Has anyone tried to destroy the Order?

That’s a question many have asked. There are records of Archdukes trying during the early days of the empire. Let’s just say that’s the reason why some provinces don’t share the name of their rulers. Incidentally, that’s also why no one is willing to hand over cities to clerics. The Order never takes, but what it’s given it doesn’t return.

Good to know. What are they searching for in Halburn?

Only two things: something old or something new. I guess you’ll find out when you get there.

The weather shifted twice during the trip to Halburn. Clouds would appear out of nowhere, then be suddenly dispersed without any warning. From what Dallion had read in his ring library, that was a tactic used by furies during battle. That kept him a bit on edge. Gleam had gone there with the whip blade and made sure that the clouds were in fact only clouds; though. Dallion had been among furies long enough to know that wasn’t a guarantee.

A large camp of military tents surrounded the watchtower by the border. The troops were local—Dallion could make out the emblems of the Countess Priscord. All of them seemed skilled and battle-hardened—something normal border guards wouldn’t be.

Mercenaries, the harpsisword said, her voice a combination of musical sounds merged together to form speech.

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Dallion nodded. Several of them still weren’t used to their uniforms, wearing not at all to standard. Some even had their own weapons instead of standard military issue.

“Hey!” One of them shouted, seeing that Dallion was watching them. “What’s your business?”

“Hunter,” Dallion replied casually, showing his emblem.

In nine times out of ten, that was enough to avoid answering any serious questions. Thankfully, this was one of those times. The soldier checked him out, paying special attention to the weapons, then disturbed for him to keep on going.

Interesting, Dallion said to himself. None of the soldiers had warned him about there being imperials or clerics in the town. Was it possible that they didn’t know? Halburn was half a day away, so it stood to reason that things there could be kept secret. Something of such importance would have been communicated, though… unless it was done without the knowledge of the local Archduke or the countess.

That’s the game of politics, dear boy, Nil said. Better get used to it.

Nil, I chose to become a hunter precisely not to get involved in this. Once I’ve gotten Di out of there I’ll get back to how things were before.

Things will never be as they were before. I know you’ll try, but you’ll see. The more one goes down the path of awakening, the more one sees things that were invisible before.

I know. Possibly for the first time in his life, Dallion missed the days when his awakening level restricted him from knowing things.

As night came, Dallion stopped. He had no intention of sleeping, but didn’t want to approach a town surrounded by two armies in the dark. Finding a nice spot, he put his backpack and gear on the ground, then sat down.

Only two of the seven Moons were visible in the sky: the Red and Green ones. Lately, that had been common that only a few of them would be overhead, though never the same. In the awakening realms, that would mean that only some of the Moons were paying attention to what was happening. As for the real world, though, Dallion had no idea.

“Gleam,” he said. “Keep an eye on things. I’m going to get some rest.”

I thought you weren’t going to sleep until you got back, the familiar said.

“I wasn’t.” Dallion curled on the ground.

Getting the hint, the whip blade rose from the ground, then extended to form a protective circle in the air surrounding him. Not the most efficient way of fighting, but this way she could see everything in all directions.

Morning came suddenly. The first ray of the sun was enough to wake up Dallion thanks to the level of his perception trait. He stood up, stretched, yawned, then went to finish his daily biological functions. Washing up, he then took a few minutes to himself, then continued on. This was going to be a big day.

Several hours later, Dallion was glad that he had waited until morning. He expected there to be a large imperial presence near the town, but even he wasn’t prepared for what he saw. Judging by large tents and soldiers gathered near the wall, there had to be thousands, or at least five full legions. That was a considerable fighting force for a relatively small town such as this.

What do you think, Harp? Dallion asked as he calmly made his way to the town gates. Forties?

Some are in their thirties, the harpsisword replied. The officers are higher, maybe close to your level.

A thousand awakened that were all initiates just standing there, waiting for an equally strong army of clerics to leave the city. Something was definitely going on here.

“Hunter,” Dallion said, showing his emblem to the first imperial he approached. “I have business in the city.”

The legionary glared at him. Dallion could feel annoyance and confusion emanating from the man; he had no intention of stopping Dallion whatsoever.

“Talk to the guards,” the imperial said in utter disinterest and went back to talking to the other soldiers nearby.

Seems they aren’t worried about losing the town to anyone else, dear boy.

With that many of them, I wouldn’t be worried, either. Any idea if any of your mage friends will show up?

If you’re talking about someone from the Academy, it’s possible, though unlikely. The emperor doesn’t like to have them accompany his troops. Well, unless there was an active war going on, but you know that.

No one stopped Dallion at the city gate or after. Business seemed to have returned to the city. However, the hunters had not. It was difficult to imagine that this used to be one of the hunter gathering spots in the south. Only a few years ago, hunters from all directions would stop here for a few days to get some rest, restock, and learn of new jobs. The only thing that Dallion could see now were war clerics, furies, and a lot of local sellers.

The place seems booming, Nil said. Maybe Jiroh was making a big fuss over nothing?

Jiroh isn’t one to exaggerate, Dallion said. Besides, not everything is booming.

What do you mean?

Do you see any open inns or taverns? Dallion asked. Even with the hunters gone, all the merchants that came by would have a place to sleep.

The way Dallion saw it, there were only two options, none of them particularly good. Either the inns and taverns were confiscated by the local ruler, or their owners had left on their own.

“Looks like Jiroh was right. This was urgent.” Dallion continued forward in the direction of the fury’s tavern.

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