250: Bread?
The conversation went on longer than expected, and I was dreading the possibility of them putting the decision on me, but if I had to choose, I’d rather he follow us in the open where we could keep an eye on him, rather than doing it from the shadows and giving me that feeling of being watched occasionally.
Wanting to break the awkwardness, I made conversation, or rather ask a question I was curious about. “Gilain, you mentioned you have a powerful aura. What level are you?”
He let out a snort of laughter. “I believe that’s considered a rude question in this kingdom, isn’t it?”
I shrugged. “We’re essentially running an interrogation here. I’d have felt this would be the least rude part.”
“You make a valid point. I’m a little over four hundred,” Gilain said.
I just sat there, stunned, looking at him. “How do you even get that high? I heard it gets hard to level the higher you go.”
“A lot of time. An awful lot of time,” Gilain said.
I sat there wondering for a while when Milo spoke up. “Are you familiar with the adventurer Morlin, by chance?”
Gilain appeared to be thinking for a long while. “The name seems familiar, but it’s been some centuries since I’ve heard it. He was from this kingdom, correct?”
Milo nodded. “So you’re unaware of his current whereabouts?”
Gilain shook his head. “No, sorry. It’s been far too long. I imagine he’s passed away by now.”
The air mana that surrounded Luis and Hari broke as they walked through it, getting everyone’s attention.
Hari spoke up first. “We’ve made our decision, and although I’m not happy with it, we’ve decided you will join us if you swear an oath to keep anything you learn over the journey a secret.”
I was surprised, but Luis spoke up straight after. “We are only choosing this path because we both know if I attempt to take you to the capital, you’ll just leave, and I cannot stop you. However, I’m sure we both don’t want escalating political tensions.”
Hari spoke up again. “I don’t think we need to emphasise that Lily will watch you, I’m sure, and the rumours about Trevor’s association with the dragons, the phoenix, and the Goddess are not false. You’d be wise to remember that.”
Gilain, who had been nodding until now, paused at the last, but nodded again before saying, “Could I ask where we’re heading then?”
“No. Do you agree and will you take the oath now before any questions?” Luis said firmly.
Gilain shrugged. “Sure. I swear on my natio—”
Hari held up a hand. “You’ve already made it clear that you don’t have a lot of trust in your nation. We’re not going to play games. Do it properly, or you can join Luis in the capital. I’m sure Lily can get you there fast, and both the dragon and the phoenix are currently there. Both can easily deal with you.”
Gilain laughed it off. “Sorry, habit. Honest mistake. I swear on my class that I will not speak of or take advantage of any information I gain during this journey with your party or the prince, and I will not harm anyone in this party unless in self-defence of my life.”
I felt a shift in the air, like something locked in place, almost like a shudder.
“Happy?” Gilain said.
“For now. We need to get back on the road. We have a job to do, and we’re already delayed,” Hari nodded.
Liane had a scowl on her face, turning to Hari. “Are you sure about this?”
Hari shrugged. “Better to keep your enemies close, then you can keep an eye on them, especially if they are just going to observe you anyway.”
I heard Liane mumble out a “We could have killed him and pretended we didn’t see him.”
While Gilain was protesting being called an enemy.
“Your people tried to have a noble killed. That makes you and your nation an enemy. You won’t escape the diplomatic side of things forever,” Luis said.
Gilain seemed to brush it off as if nothing had happened. “So, can I ask where we’re heading now?”
“North,” Hari said simply.
The building around us started to crumble to dust, as a breeze blew the dust away from our heads. Hari was heading to the merchants’ structure while Gilain was walking over to the block of stone holding his weapon.
He didn’t even look like he hit any resistance as the stone was crushed beneath his hand, gripping the handle and pulling it out with no issue and attaching it to a strap on his back.
I leaned over to Jen as I watched. “Isn’t that dangerous, having an uncovered blade on your back?”
Jen nodded. “It is normally, though I suspect a few years of showing off, and some very high-quality gear, and likely some skills too, make it far easier.”
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Once the merchants and their drivers exited the house, it too vanished. While everyone got their horses ready, I noticed a slight issue. “How will he keep up? Does he have a horse?”
“Horses just slow me down. Walking is fine,” Gilain said, clearly overhearing me speaking to Jen.
Lily and Crisplet had both not left my side. Crisplet was currently pushing across confusion and anger to me, and Lily looked like she wanted to kill him.
While all the merchants were looking at her with nervous glances.
“Lily, watch your aura. It’ll affect the merchants,” I whispered.
Only a second later I noticed both the merchants and the drivers visibly relaxed, which again was odd. I didn’t feel anything at all, so perhaps it was targeted? Was that a thing?
Gilain certainly noticed, as he looked back, locking eyes with Lily for only a second.
Chatter from the side caught my attention.
I also couldn’t help but hear Nero talking to Hari. “Who is he, exactly?”
Hari sighed. “A fellow adventurer whom we unexpectedly ran into. He’ll be joining the escort north. No extra food or charge required, of course.”
“Are you sure? He looks and feels incredibly strong. He doesn’t even have a horse?” Nero said, looking over Hari’s shoulder.
“It will be fine,” Hari reassured.
“We’re not in danger, are we?” Nero asked.
“No, unless we’re caught out here at night. We need to get moving. I’m sorry we delayed for as long as we have,” Hari said in a rush.
I watched as Nero did a double take before climbing into the wagon, the horses now reattached. Hari left Luis and Gilain in the middle of the caravan, taking Crisplet up front, who was very unhappy about leaving my side. However, there must have been an exchange with Lily that reassured him.
I also noticed that Lily had moved wide enough that she could still watch Gilain while he walked up ahead.
From the front, I heard Anthony yell, “Are you sure he’s okay to walk?”
I didn’t hear Hari’s response, but nothing changed, so I assumed he reassured him it was fine.
Then the caravan moved.
***
Several hours had passed, and I noticed we were moving faster than normal. For the entire trip so far, it had looked like Gilain was casually just walking alongside, which just raised more questions from the merchants.
He’d also seemingly got comfortable, as he was asking questions, though most seemed mundane. “The fire elemental drying the road is a neat trick. I’ve not really seen it used before. I can’t imagine a pyromage could manage it without running dry on mana.”
I wasn’t sure who exactly he was talking to, but he looked back at us, getting a growl from Lily, who was not happy with this arrangement.
It was as the sun was setting that my mind turned to food, and looking at Gilain, it was strange, but I knew nothing of his homeland, or what they ate there, and with nothing to really do, and everyone feeling on edge, I decided to break the ice a little.
Moving forward slightly so he could hear me, I asked, “Gilain, what do they eat where you’re from?”
Gilain slowed down a little, getting closer, before Lily growled again. “Oops, not close then. What do I eat? Or what do my people eat?” he asked with a giant smile on his face.
“Uh, both?” I said.
“I don’t eat a lot, and when I do, I have some jerky, perhaps some dried soup cubes, and some Thelran bread,” he said, pulling out a piece of meat that looked so old it appeared almost white.
Or was that mould?
“That’s it?” I asked, confused.
Gilain nodded, taking a large bite of the jerky that turned to dust. It was horrifying.
“So what is Thelran bread then?” I asked, expecting something different.
Gilain pulled out a round, flat bread that looked a deep brown and handed it to me. It was hard to the touch and appeared to have some sort of salt in it.
“What’s it made of?” I asked curiously.
“Local flour, salt, and water. It’s got a good crunch. You can try that one,” he said.
As I brought it to my mouth to try, I didn’t expect anything great. It sounded very simple, but perhaps if I included some herbs or something, I could turn it into an easy-to-make buffed food item.
I went to take a bite…
Nothing. I couldn’t even break it off. It was so hard, and the moment it touched my mouth, it felt like the moisture was ripped out of my mouth.
As I looked over, expecting this to be a joke or something, I saw one in Gilain’s hand where he was happily biting into it like it was a bread roll, just a little crack and a crunch on every bite.
“How do you eat this? It’s so hard?” I was sure there was a trick I was missing.
Gilain just shrugged. “Bite it harder?”
I tried, but it felt like my teeth would break. It was impossible.
“How old is it?” I asked.
Gilain seemed to think for a long while. “Sixty or seventy years, I think. It’s still good though. A bit of extra flavour.”
Storing it away to never try again, I moved on. “So, your homeland then?”
“Our people are close to nature, so we have a lot of fruit, berries, and we hunt off the land, but we don’t eat a lot, so a kill can go a long way,” Gilain explained.
“Do you eat terrible food for a reason?” I asked.
Gilain laughed. “It’s not bad. Perfectly edible.”
It only dawned on me then that I was dealing with another Hari.
“Surely you cook sometimes though, right? Not just the bread and jerky?” I asked, confused.
Gilain nodded. “Absolutely! Not long ago I made the soup cubes using some strange horned beast I killed.”
He seemed to rummage around in his jacket, not a storage ring, which instantly had me concerned. When he pulled out a small, yellowed cube, I was immediately concerned because it felt like leather.
“Don’t tell me you chew it?” I asked.
Gilain grinned. “Kind of. Throw it in your mouth and suck on it for a bit!”
Shrugging, and figuring I got to try new stuff eventually, I did as he said.
It was as tough as I expected, and my first reaction was to spit it out as it absorbed all the liquid in my mouth. Any attempt to bite it was impossible, but then I started to get a salty soup flavour. It was only a little at first, but it was like a very savoury and salty, hard candy.
After a minute, it was still impossible to bite, but it felt like I had soup in my mouth.
“How do you make it?” I asked, looking over.
Gilain’s grin never faded. “It’s easy. I’ll teach you if you tell me how you came to be with an elemental like that.”
I let out a sigh. I wasn’t willing to give over the information yet, but maybe in time.
“Maybe eventually. Not now,” I said.
Gilain waved it off. “It was a long shot. I had to try. I’ll teach you tonight anyway. It’s surprisingly easy if you have some meat.”