The Quantum Wanderer

About 20 minutes before we get to the village, according to Cecilia, we see a tree fallen on the road.  There are some 20 to 30 people circling a carriage, with a two lions inside a shield designed on the door.  More than half those people are over level 40, this is a very high level group.  The people circling the carriage does not look like they are guards.  We get closer, and a guy that is close to level 50 gets tapped on the shoulder, and looks at us.  The carriage driver is laying on the ground, with some arrows on his front.  He is already dead.  There are also 4 guard corpses around the carriage.

“Keep your nose out if you know what is good for you!”

I pass my hand over my face and turn to Cecilia, while the crows land on my shoulders.

“See?  It’s not like I am looking for it!  Now tell me, should we leave the carriage to their own luck?”

Cecilia sighs.

“Ok, you are right. By the hells.”

I turn to Ruby.

“Ruby, don’t destroy the head.  They are bandits, so we are going to need the heads to identify them later.”

“As you wish, lord.”

Apparently Ruby is so excited that she forgot the ‘my’ in her sentence.  I giggle.  The lower level people in the group have goosebumps that I am thinking about something funny when the air is so tense.  I shrug, and start walking forward.

“Listen, mister, I don’t know who you are, I don’t know who they are.  I just want to understand what is going on.  It really doesn’t feel like you have any legitimate reason for this.”

“Boys, we apparently are going to have to deal with witnesses.”

“Ruby, I need some of them alive for interrogation.  The boss in particular may have some information, so leave him to me.  Do you want to get the others?”

“Yes!  Thank you, my lord!”

While Ruby was talking, an arrow hits Cecilia.  With her new level, it doesn’t hurt her.  It bounces off her reinforced skin, and falls to the ground. I just look at her, and she makes a pissed off face.

“Everyone is a fuckin genius.  Yeah, yeah.”

Opal is just looking at her nails, and talking to Shandon and Aquamarine.  I don’t think they are going to intervene.  They are talking about something to do with their nails.

I go in, walking straight to the apparent boss.  I cast on my stone skin.  I don’t know if I would need it.  I feel some arrows hitting me.  I call Cecilia to come closer.  She is right beside me, and we are now walking towards the boss.  One of his little goons comes at us with a sword.  I take his sword out, and place him close to Cecilia.  This guy is around level 45, that is some 6 levels higher than Cecilia. 

“Cecs, let me do a test.  Just relax for a minute, ok?”

I envelop both of them with with a single soul absorption spell.  The moment I kill the guy, I cut myself off from the mana tunelling, leaving both of them for a couple of seconds in it.  The effect is immediate.  Cecilia opens her eyes wide.  Then her breathing becomes intense, and she bends over.  The dragonesses look at us.  I put my hand up, with a everything is alright gesture. The dragonesses loose their interest.

Cecilia recovers shortly after, the experiment was apparently a success.

“Don’t worry about that. It is a magic that allows you to gain more experience from a fight than you normally would.”

“Why didn’t you use it before?”

“This is my first time using it for someone else.  So far, I wasn’t sure it would work.  I am glad it did. It took me a lot of research and studying it to be able to do this, actually.”

“In that case, thank you, my villain.”

Meanwhile, a lot of people where hitting us with their swords.  The skin just won’t get punctured.  We also receive a couple of arrows on the shoulders and on the head. I get another one, and this time I make Cecilia kill the guy, with the same magic around.  She gains another level.  She tells me that she is level 41 now.

I use an ice spell, and freeze everyone’s foot to the ground, then I free Cecilia’s feet.  When Ruby noticed what I was going to do, she jumped.  The other girls are still behind us.  Muninn and Huginn are flying above us.  The leader looks around him.  He sees that his goons can’t hurt me or Cecilia, and they are all getting killed by Ruby. He breaks the ice, and goes running in the forest.  I look up, and point at him.  Muninn caws.

I take out a couple of archers using nails and my railgun spell. I get to the carriage’s door, and knock on it.

“You are safe now, you can come out.  You will have to eventually, your driver was killed.”

The door starts opening really slowly, and a male face starts looking at the outside.  He sees that there are a lot of people dead around, and opens the door a little more.  He is scared.

“It’s ok, there are no other alive bandits around.  You can come out.”

The guy is looking at through the slit of door.  I turn around, I grab the tree on the ground, and I throw it back to the forest.  Courtesy of over a thousand points of strength.  The guy gets out of the carriage, and looks at the blood bath around.  Ruby is collecting the heads, putting them under a tree.  Even with a top of the world sword, she still prefers using her hands.  The bodies are all maimed.

The guy looks at me and bows.

“Thank you for your assistance, adventurer.  We were ambushed by these bandits, we would be in trouble if not for your appearance!  What is your name, so that I can reward you later?”

“I am Marcelo.  Who are you?”

“I am Julian von Meerwasser, the first born of baron Meerwasser.  My fiancée and I were going back to Shoria.”

At this point, a woman puts her head outside the carriage’s window.  It is Hikari.  Her figure changed somewhat.  She seems more mature, in spite of the very little amount of time we haven’t seen each other.

“Honored guest!  I can’t believe it! I can’t believe I will finally be able to thank you!  And now you save me again!”

Julian turns back, and looks at Hikari, that is coming down from the carriage. 

“Is that him?”

“Yes, dear.  That’s him and his…  girls?”

I correct her.

“Wives.”

“Congratulations!  I am happy for you honored guest!”

“Thank you.  A lot has happened.  What about you?  I heard from your mother you got engaged!  Congratulations!  And the second inn!”

“Yes, honored guest!  After you big help, we decided to come to Shoria.  Here we didn’t have the same issues as Vaporvale.  I always knew my mom and I would really be able to thrive if we had a place a little more fair.  And the guild helped us in incredible ways.  We tried to thank them, but they said to thank you instead. You must really be important!”

I giggle. “Just an adventurer that got lucky.”  I can feel Opal rolling her eyes.

Muninn was on a tree branch now.  He caws, and lands on my shoulder.  He shows me a scene that is happening on the slums.  Our bandit boss  enters a house in the slums.  I turn to him.

“Please keep an eye on anyone that enters or leaves that house.” I pet his chest, and he caws. I notice that Julian gets a little nervous with the imagery.

“Do you have… pet… crows…?”

“I don’t know if pet is the right word…  We kind of make company to each other.”

Muninn caws.  He sends me another scene.  I turn to Julian.

“Anyway, I think these are not really bandits.  You guys may be in trouble.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Bandits generally don’t really report to anyone.  This looks more like an assassination attempt, probably made to look like common banditry.  The first thing the boss did was getting in touch with someone.  I am having them both followed.”

The guy that leaves the house goes straight to the noble district, and crosses the gate promptly.  The guards know this guy.  And he keeps running, he goes straight to the main manor in the city.

“Julian, is the manor in Shoria you fathers?”

“Yes.  Why?”

“I am not completely sure right now because nothing replaces a good interrogation.  But the bandits’ boss reported to someone that then went to the main manor.  The person behind the attempt is there.  I could be wrong, but I don’t think I am.”

He looks at the ground, and closes his fist.  He shakes a little bit.

“Adventurer, how about a quest to discover who ordered my murder?”

I think for a bit.

“I am sorry.  I don’t know if it is feasible.”

“What?  Why?”

“Let’s say I discover that the person ordering the murder is your father.  What then?  Who would you report the crime to?  What would be done?  What if he decides to get rid of witnesses?  I would have to kill him and all the guards.  I am not big with politics.  This is a foreign country, and he is the big boss in the area.”

“But he is not the culprit!  I am sure!”

“What if it is your mother?  Your brother?  Your sister?  The scenario doesn’t necessarily change too much.”

He slumps his shoulder.  Hikari is at his side, with her hand on his back.  His anger got a lot more complicated. Hikari looks at me.

“Isn’t there anything that can be done, honored guest?”

“I don’t know.  I am not good with politics.  The only thing that comes to mind is that the local guards do not interfere with guild business.  What if Julian becomes an adventurer?  He would become affiliated with the guild as well.  But this is just a stray thought.”

I turn to Julian.

“My suggestion right now is staying close to us, if we are close we can more or less provide some safety.  We were on our way to Buzios, we are looking for a less populated beach to go to.”

“You can stay in my inn!  Please, I insist!”

“Your mother told me that it wasn’t finished yet!”

“It isn’t open to the public, but it is ready.  And I don’t mind doing some cooking.  I would be hiring a cook soon , I can just speed things up a little bit.”

“Sure. And we can provide the meat.”

“Honored guest never told me what meat was that.”

I smile.  Julian looks at us.

“What do you mean?”

Hikari answers.

“Honored guest brings his own meat.  He says he is an adventurer.  But the meat is unlike anything I had ever tasted before.  Or after, for that matter.”

The girls are around me now.  Julian only now realizes their presence.  He is takes a look at them, and receives a pinch from Hikari.  He clears his throat.

“How are we going to do this, then?”

“My suggestion is turning the carriage around.  How many people fit in the carriage?”

“If we squeeze a little, up to six people.”

“What if I drive?”  I take a look at Ruby, she is all bloodied.  “Ruby can come with me, so that she doesn’t spoil the inside of the carriage.”  She opens a wide smile.  The other girls seem a little dejected.

Julian looks around, specially at the blood in Ruby’s hands.

“Sir Marcelo, do you think we risk another ambush?”

“I don’t think so. They were really expecting to have a fulfilled job.  The levels of the bandits was way higher than normal.”

“Would it be dangerous to ride on the driver’s seat as well?”

“I don’t think so.”

We all get on the carriage.  I am on the driver seat, Ruby is on my right, holding my arm, and Julian is to my left.  The girls inside are talking with Hikari, they are talking about the marriage ceremony apparently.  Julian clears his throat.

“Sir Marcelo, what would you do if you were in my place?”

“I don’t know.  I don’t have all the information.  If I were powerless, I would flee.  If I could, I would get rid of the people trying to kill me.  I myself think that if one is willing to kill, one should be willing to die.  But you should start thinking about it.  I am only going to be stay around for a short while.”

“What if I hire you as security?”

“I would suggest you to go to the guild for that.  It is not a kind of job I enjoy doing.  Right now, I am doing this because of Hikari, but I don’t enjoy long quests.  I am sure you will be able to find a security crew if you apply for one in the guild.  It probably going to be expensive, though.”

“Why?”

“About 20 of the gang were above level 40. That is a huge amount.  You would have to hire some 20 mithril adventurers for something like this.  The cost will add up.”

He starts biting his nails.  Muninn caws.  He shares another scene with me.  The guy that ran from the meeting house in the slums was meeting with an adolescent.  He is younger than Julian, but they both look alike.  I put my forearm close to my shoulder, and Muninn hops on it.  I put him in front of Julian.

“He can send images straight to you.  Lower your head.”

Julian did so, and Muninn focused as well.  They stayed like this for some time.  Once done, I get Muninn to my shoulder again.  Julian feels seasick and threatens throwing up by the side of the carriage.  After some time, he managed to recompose himself.  I wait till he is in a talkable shape.

“Who was the adolescent?”

“My younger brother.  Who was the guy he was talking to?”

I can feel that he already knows, but he is hoping to be wrong.

“That was the guy that hired the gang to kill you.  Your brother wants you dead.”

The ride was silent from that moment on.  After a long time, we finally arrived at Buzios.  It was a fisherman village.  It did have a guild, that was providing the inn and restaurant services.  It had, however, a lot more people than expected for a village that size.

Some people were paying the fisherman to stay in their houses.  Julian directed us to Hikari’s inn. We stopped the carriage, and some workers came up to take care of the carriage, including a guy dressed as a butler.

“I thought you were going to Shoria, lord.  Where is you escort?”

“We suffered a robbery attempt on the road. These people saved me. They are to be our guests.” 

They take the carriage away.  The butler addresses me.

“Where is the luggage, sir?”

“We don’t have any.  We have holding bags.”

“Gerard, put them into the Ocean View room.”

He bows to her, and turns to us.

“Please follow me.”

We go up a couple of flight of stais, and we are taken to a door that is in the end of a corridor.  Gerard opens it, and shows us the room.  It is a very luxurious room.  Everything is very spacious, this is more akin to a small condo than an inn room. 

The balcony has a view of the sea.  There is another bay in front of us.  This one is actually closed by coral from the sea.  It has more fish in the bay, but nothing dangerous.  Some of the fisherman apparently go to a fishing spot on land, and sometimes try to get bigger fish there.  They loose a lot of hooks in the process, but one good catch will provide a lot of fish, so it is sometimes worth it.

The beaches here have a lot less people, the whole thing has another touch to it. The main group of nobles that come here have this air of ‘I don’t even have to prove how rich I am’.  The villagers are glad to charge for overcharged services.  The fishing services are slowly being moved to the side.  It still is used to feed a couple of restaurants that are focused on fish.

We walk around the cobblestone streets, getting to know the village.  We are not going to have a lot of time to enjoy the beach today.  The trip that was supposed to take just a little over an hour ended up taking a lot longer.  We also had to visit the guild, and provide the report, with Julian’s testimony.  I don’t want to be branded a criminal.

The criminals didn’t have any reward on them.  They are probably people from outside.  A smart move to avoid any connection to Julian’s brother.

After we walk around a little bit, we go back to the inn, it is going to be time for supper. I go to the kitchen, and get a good chunk of meat.  We help Hikari, she doesn’t have any help.  In a little while, the steaks are ready, and we serve them in a single table in the restaurant.

Julian and Hikari are sharing the table with the girls and me.  He looks at the amount of meat on a tray on the table.  His face is really funny, he even looks around to see if there are more people around.  I giggle a little, because I know what is about to happen.

We start eating.  Each human picks a steak, with some sauce, and each dragoness picks their first steak.  The dragonesses eat a lot faster than humans, but in this case I don’t try to slow them down.  Even eating a lot faster they take a lot longer to eat.

After the humans finish their stakes, the dragonesses are still on the sixth or seventh one.  I see that Julian still has an inquisitive face, but now the reason is different.  I don’t really intend to get in too much detail.  Hikari was laughing, she was already expecting that kind of reaction.  She had already had her shock on the amount of meat the girls eat. 

After some time, the girls finish the meat available. I think he is doubting his memory on how much meat there was available on the table.  We take the dishes to the kitchen, and wash it.  The inn is not opened yet.

We finish up, and we to our room, to rest for the day.

The next morning, we all go down to the kitchen and prepare breakfast.  While we are eating, Julian looks at me.

“Excuse me, sir Marcelo, but what are your plans going to be for today?”

“The original plan was going to the beach.  I don’t know if I should pick those guys from yesterday for questioning, but I don’t really have jurisdiction here. Depending on the place, I could just talk to people and get permission.  But what would your father say if I appeared out of nowhere, saying that I intend on arresting a couple of people and torturing them?”

“Torturing?”

“What? Do you think your father serves tea to criminals to get their confessions?”

He holds his elbow with his hand, and looks down. He has been having a kind of protected life, apparently.  But according to some of the chit chat that we had before, his parents are still young, so they haven’t started teaching him the facts of life, apparently.  Next thing he is going to tell me that he doesn’t know where meat comes from.

…

“I am sorry for this, it sounded a lot softer in my head.  But do you realize how bad the situation is? You probably want to send a letter to your father as fast as possible.  Probably have it delivered by an adventurer, so that it gets there fast and to the right person. I can help you a little bit, but I imagine that at some point you are going to become a baron?”

“Yes, you are right, sir.  I will be on that right away.”

I turn to Muninn and Huginn.

“Can you guys let me know if anything strange approaches?  Those guys might attempt to kill Julian here again.”

They caw once.

“There you are. Nothing slips their attention.”

He has his inquisitive face again.  I think he may be a little afraid to trust that nothing is going to pass through Muninn and Huginn.

“Sir Marcelo, do you realize that if you told me that you are Wrax I could just believe it, right?”

I laugh, a lot. Cecilia laughs as well.

“Nope, not a god. I have been told that some people feel uncomfortable around me and the crows. I can understand why Wrax would pair with crows or ravens, though.”

We laugh a little bit.  Muninn and Huginn laugh as well. I can see that Julian’s expression change to a slightly concerned one.

“Did your crow, just now… laugh?”

“I think so. He has a good sense of humor.  He even plays pranks sometimes. And some of them can be a little bit on the mean side. But don’t worry, if he agreed to help, he will.  He has his heart in the right place.  Right, buddy?”

I pet Muninn, and Huginn gets closer to get patted as well.  I pet them both.

“Now that we have that solved, I am going to be close by, but I will be doing some research on the beach. Don’t worry, nothing is going to happen to you.”

The girls and I leave for the beach. We take the shade and chairs in my holding bag and head there.  The beach has very few people.