After introductions were made, we boarded a carriage headed north. This part of the continent was mostly plains and hills, making for a rather boring scenery. There I had the chance to speak with the saintess.
"So... What's it like? Being the saintess and all."
"... Heavy" She muttered, her cat-like eyes staring off into the seemingly endless plains as she rested her head on the windowsill.
"I bet... Carrying the blind faith of thousands of people-" Before I was able to finish my sentence I was interrupted.
"I don't like you" She said plainly. As if it were the most obvious thing ever.
"Huh?"
"You're loud... But not fun like Mister Jester. Your soul is loud. This whole time it has been screaming, y'know?"
"Uhh... I'm sorry, I guess? I can't hear anything though?"
"You shouldn't be able to. That is my right." She mumbled before returning to staring out the window of the carriage.
With a sigh, I decided to check out of reality and tapped away through my system panels to pull up whatever live stream was popular at the time.
After around 8 hours we reached a forest. Deciding not to enter it for today, we set up camp. Tweehee me an item called an "Adventure totem." They were these little marbles that allowed a person linked to it to have their place of login be moved while they were offline. These items made travel in Eclipse Now a lot easier. After sending Tweehee a message that it was his shift, I logged off.
"Ugghhh..." I sat up to prepare for work. I had slept maybe an hour or two in-game, but it was nowhere near enough to catch up on all the sleep I've missed. Looking at the clock I estimated that I had enough time to take a quick shower before heading out.
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After half a week of repeating this routine, we had finally arrived at our first town. The fact that our band, including 2 carriages of servants and 3 of lower-level bodyguards, was not checked, let alone stopped at the gates was a tad bit suspicious... Nevertheless, we made it beyond the walls of the city and into its bustling streets.
After a short moment, we arrived at some sort of villa? It was more of a mansion, but considering its purpose I guess a villa would be the right word to describe it. I sighed to myself. I know we have a rather large crew... But is this really necessary?
After escorting the saintess to her room, I went to sit down and take a break. My room was directly next to the saintess in case of an emergency, so I did not have to look long to find it. Placing down Tweehee's Adventure Totem, I began to navigate my system to log out before I glanced at the time. It was still 3 whole hours before Tweehee could log on.
Come to think of it, I needed to pick up some more ammo anyway. We ran across a rather large swarm of monsters yesterday and my supply was running out. With a sigh, I hopped out of bed and walked towards the window. I technically wasn't allowed to leave the saintess's side, but it would take me less than an hour to get everything I needed. And so, I left the villa.
Navigating the streets of this city was rather difficult considering that no one except my guild had been here before, therefore there were no maps or tips on where to go. Following my instinct, I navigated towards the heart of the city: The market.
I suppose this city was more well-known for its pastries as nearly every single shop along the strip was a bakery. Sighing at my failed intuition, I turned to leave when I heard a laugh come from behind.
Turning my head I see her... Long green hair, perfect blue eyes and a voice like heaven itself. For a moment my heart fluttered, before I reminded myself that this was not real. Nevertheless, I could not stop my feet from moving forward.
"E-excuse me?"
"Hmm? Yes, dearie?" As she spoke I could feel my eyes begin to moisten. "I was uh... Never mind-" I turned to leave before I felt a hand grab my arm.
"Oh, sorry! But you dropped your wallet!"
After this short exchange, I ran into her a few times during the 3 days that we would be staying in this town. Constantly sneaking out to see her was getting me a bit of flak from my guild, but I couldn't care less.
I had learned a bit about her. Her name was Marie, and she was visiting to taste some of the city's famous pastries and hopefully get some guidance on improving her baking skills for her tavern back home. I had told her I was a travelling mercenary.
On the third day, it was time to leave. After helping the saintess pack her bags (To which I was mostly unneeded), I escorted her to the carriages. As we boarded I rummaged through my pockets before realizing I had forgotten something.
"Ah shit! I forgot Tweehee's Adventure totem. I'll be back in a sec stay right here."
On my way back to the villa, I spotted a familiar green hair in the crowd fleeing into an alleyway. Behind her two men and a woman followed.
With a leap, the cobbled street under me tore apart as I flew above the crowd. Landing at the entrance to the alley. There, a group of hooligans held Marie at knife point while mugging her. Without wasting a second I whipped out my revolvers to help her. But then...
"Stop! Don't shoot them!" She shouted.
My hands froze just before I was able to pull the trigger. With a kiss of my teeth, I put away my revolvers and balled my fists.
The first to run at me was the woman. She brandished a knife as she sprinted, ready to stab me in the gut. With a simple motion, my fist collided with her face sending her flying into the brick wall. Next was one of the two men, this one was much skinnier than the other.
After punching him in the stomach he leaned forward in pain. I quickly followed it up with a knee to the face. After losing a few teeth, he dropped to the floor.
For the last one, all it took was a glare to send him running down the other end of the alley. I considered chasing him down, but seeing Marie let out a sigh of relief was enough to calm me down.
"Thanks a whole bunch, mister mercenary! I suppose I owe you for that one huh?" She chuckled as she reached for her purse.
"I don't have much on me to be honest, but I hope this is enough." she retrieved a small bag of gold coins before attempting to hand it to me, which I promptly refused.
"Oh come on, I gotta pay you back somehow! Oh, I know! There's this bakery that makes really good apple tarts just down the road from here! At least let me treat you to that!"
"Fine," I muttered with a chuckle.
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After finishing our sweets, we began talking like always. She spoke of her hometown. A little port city far out west. Eventually, we got caught in conversation.
Before I even realized it, two hours had passed. We sat on a park bench holding a bag of assorted pastries.
"Apples remind me of home" She blurted out.
"My parents owned an orchard before they moved to my hometown. I remember running down a long row of apple trees holding a basket filled to the brim with freshly picked apples." She said with a small chuckle.
"... Funny, I grew up on a farm too. It wasn't an orchard or anything but I can get where you're coming from. Whenever I have fresh veggies it always brings me home." All of a sudden, I started sharing tales from my childhood. It was more than 30 years ago but I can remember it so vividly. The endless field of wheat, the chicken coup where I would help gather eggs... It was a nice memory.
Looking at the setting sun in the distance I coughed out the bite I had just taken.
"Ah! Gotta go sorry!" I hopped up from the bench and gave her a wave
"Alrighty! It was fun talking with you! If you ever end up in Postal Port please pay a visit to my tavern! I still haven't paid you in full." We chuckled before I left.
Sprinting through the streets I arrived at the villa which was supposed to be my original destination before I got distracted. Climbing through the window to my room where the totem was supposed to be, I saw the room ripped to shreds. Inside stood Tweehee breathing heavily.
"Y- YOU!" He growled before swinging his chainblades. I went flying out of the villa with a large chunk of the wall. Colliding with the ground I slid for a few meters before coming to a stop.
"Gah! Fuck's wrong with you?" I slowly got up to my feet, glancing at the flashing system panel to my right it said that I had a fractured arm. That swing had killing intent behind it.
"IT'S YOUR FAULT! YOU BASTARD!" He screeched as he jumped from the gaping hole in the side of the villa. Landing a few meters away from me he began spinning his blades.
Rushing forward, he attempted to bisect me by spinning his blade in a large arc. Quickly unholstering my six-shooter, I fired off a bullet at his dagger causing the blade to go flying in the opposite direction. Not wasting this opportunity, I sprinted at him. Not expecting this, he was too flustered to guard himself from the hilt of my gun slamming into his face.
He staggered back a few feet while clutching his white mask. Said mask slowly grew dark red as blood from his nose and cracked teeth seeped into the fabric.
"Guh... y-yew bastward..! swe was kidnawped! Our onwy hope at sawvation! I couwd have been pwomoted to an owacle after this jowb!" He revealed, his broken teeth slurring his speech. He removed his mask, revealing his shaggy blond hair and green eyes. spitting out his loose teeth as he took out a healing potion, he brought it to his mouth.
Bang!
Before he could even use it, I had already put a bullet in his forehead.
"Sigh... I'm in deep shit aren't I?" I looked up to the sky, standing there for a moment before moving.
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As Marie packed the last of her bags into the back of the carriage, she thought about the strange man who had helped her. For some reason, whenever he looked at her she could see the most sincere gentleness behind his eyes.
Speaking of, a shadow loomed over her from behind. Turning to see who it was, she saw Alkaline standing there, hat pressed to his chest and covered in dirt.
"H-hey. The job I was here for just ended and I was thinking about hitting the road. I figured that West would work out well for me, so... I was wondering if I could hitch a ride with you?" He muttered awkwardly
"Of course!"