Chapter 26 - Ritual and Oath
From a far, Silas saw the towering wall surrounding the town. And there were even taller towers shooting out on the wall. They served as watch guard for the town.
The road toward the town was smooth as they officially took a step at the man made road.
Slowly, their carriage approached the town.
There were lines for similar carriage like him. They were from minor nobles, merchants and adventures.
Even with Viremont’s flag hanging on the carriage, Silas had to respect the line. After all, he didn’t come under the order of his father.
He held no authority of his family other than his name.
Silas waited for the carriage to reach near the guards.
The first rows of inspectors came and checked their carriage. There were two inspectors.
A knight and a mage.
One used his human sense and the other mana sense. Silas let the mage roam around the carriage.
Luna grabbed her robe and hugged herself, shielding herself from the sense.
After the inspection, they arrived at the wall.
At the wall, a high ranking officer came and asked for paperwork. Silas had no idea what he was talking about but Old Gin provided them with the necessary papers.
Now, he had to wait for them to confirm.
Silas sighed.
Ice-pick was beside him. Surprisingly, she had her own paperwork. When Old Gin asked, she gave him.
So Silas asked how she got it as there was no way the kingdom would provide an identification to a demon, especially someone like her.
She said she used her Charm to seduce the high ranking officer in a small town to give her. Silas didn’t know she would take such a high risk.
Well, he was glad that nothing happened. If she got discovered, she would likely get hunted down by a sixth circle human at least.
Although, Ice-pick was strong. Strong enough to face the Fifth circle human but against the sixth circle, she would be dead.
He needed to use her properly.
As he lamented about the future, the high ranking officer came with a paper and certificate for entry.
The officer bowed to the carriage and said, "I have informed the house of your visit, Sir Viremont. We welcome you with the most honesty."
[Haha..] Thamior scoffed inside his head.
Silas didn’t react and waved his hand, motioning the carriage to move.
They entered the town.
Silas looked through the window and saw the view of the town. The town’s view was not that impressive. It was just a generic fantasy town.
The only thing going for the town’s aesthetic was those big walls and watch towers.
With a glance, Silas could describe the town with one word.
Efficiency.
They valued military strength over beauty. The town was not known for comfort. Every street had soldiers walking around with their weapons, intimidating people.
’That is why the regular crime rate is so low.’ Silas yawned but found himself unable to do so, because of the bandages.
He needed to get used to it.
’I will create miracle bandages with Luna and need to create a mask as well. But a bandage looked cool and all but I can not present myself like this in a formal party.’
The carriage came to a stop in front of the inn. A small window opened and Old Gin’s face entered into the view.
"Sir, we have arrived at the inn but I need to put down the carriage first. I suggest you stay inside the inn and wait for me."
Silas nodded and ordered his people to get out of the carriage.
Ice-pick rubbed her eyes and jumped down gracefully. Luna was timid and covered her face with a giant hat.
Roland, by contrast, carried himself in a high noble manner. His eyes didn’t waver and scanned around, searching for potential enemies.
Silas could feel the intense circulation of energy inside Roland. He must be showing off his strength to warn others.
Silas fixed his attire and nodded at Roland. Roland led the group and opened the door to the inn.
Oh, Silas didn’t catch the name of the inn but looking at the exterior, it was of high quality.
Silas smiled. The interior was also high quality, it was spotless clean and as soon as they arrived, the servant arrived and guided them to the service room.
The inn reminded him of a hotel.
Silas sat on a soft sofa, his butt sunk in. Roland stood behind him and the two women stayed beside him.
’Hmm.. What is my first impression?’ Silas asked himself.
’I look mysterious. But with Ice-pick, I look like some kind of scumbag. Her massive feminine features and my looks, almost as if I pay her to appear. And Luna’s appearance doesn’t help either. She was timid so they will think of her as someone I abused because of her baggy clothes.’
Silas’s thoughts wandered. He then looked up at Roland’s face. ’His presence helps a lot in lifting up my image.’
When Silas finished the tea, Old Gin entered with a stranger. The middle aged man introduced himself as a manager of the inn.
"Greetings, Sir Noble. It is an honor to welcome you to our inn."
Silas nodded slowly.
"I am called Beck, the manager of this inn. I have discussed the room you require with your butler. Anything you want to add?" Beck said.
"I am satisfied with this. Oh.. don’t let others come to my room. Refuse their invite, I don’t care which words you use. It can be rude or respectful."
Silas stood up and fixed his attire again. "Oh and we will stay for as long as we can. I don’t know the time limit. Is that okay?"
Beck smiled and bowed. "Of course."
"Hmmm..." Silas titled his head. He put on an act and turned toward Beck. "I will give an exception to the invitation. Floen Family."
"Yes."
Silas left the room and was guided by Old Gin to his room. The room was much nicer than his own room in the Viremont’s house.
"Tch! As expected of this town."
Ice-pick and Luna stay in the other room.
Old Gin stayed there waiting to say something.
Silas waved his hand.
"Sir, our Viremont Symbol didn’t work here." Old Gin stated. "Because of that, we don’t get a discount and our fund got cut in half."
Silas frowned.
"Do you think it will be enough for us to buy supplies to Palm Mountain and a house here?"
Old Gin shook his head. "Not enough sir."
"Do you know why the crest doesn’t work here? Is it because of Floen?"
"No sir. I know the reason but your father and mother prohibited me to speak of it."
Silas squinted his eyes, not understanding why.
[Seems like the ritual is getting started.]
Thamior sounded.
Silas frowned. He had heard this before from Zeke’s mouth. What does the ritual mean?
’ Did Viremont practice some kind of magecraft? How come I never heard of it? Did my mom and dad suppress the information?’
Silas turned to Roland, looking for an answer.
"I know of the ritual but I can’t speak because of the oath. And I am not your retainer so the oath is bound to me."
Silas smiled at the explanation. "Then, why don’t you become my retainer and tell me about the ritual?"
Roland smiled softly and shook his head. "I need to observe more."
"I see." Silas muttered and turned to Old Gin. "Alright, I understand. For now, meet with Max and the other people. I will think of a way to make money."
Old Gin bowed and left the room.
Silas sighed and sat in the mahogany chair.
"I want to know about your plan, Silas." Roland butted in.
"Why?"
"So that previous accident won’t happen. I realized that there is a lot I can do if we speak more clearly."
Silas stared at Roland for a long period and nodded. "Yeah."
He didn’t reveal much about his plan because he was afraid of betrayal. The mistakes from previous life still hunted him.
He didn’t want to repeat that. But to achieve a victory, he needed to learn how to trust.