Chapter 15- Template and Arrival

A week and a half have passed with nothing major happening.  I spent my time talking with Tamamo and some of the other passengers.  From them I learned that the human man that wasn’t part of the party guarding the cart was an apprentice architect from the Celestia Kingdom.  He was studying the design of the Shrine of the Moon so he and his master could build one in his country.

“I thought the Celestia Kingdom didn’t have a specific god they worshipped, or am I wrong?” I asked tilting my head.

“You’re right, Miss.  The thing is my master knows this old diviner lady.  She told him it would be in his best interest to start building a shrine the same size as the Shrine of the Moon.  I think the old bat’s just crazy, but I gotta do what he says.” He complained.

“I’m not so sure.  There is a friend of my family that is a diviner, and she is right most of the time.  I remember when I was little, she would always find my hiding spots and when I tried sneaking up on her, she caught me.” I said while reminiscing on the past.

He was about to respond when the cart suddenly stopped.  We were all wondering what was going on when I heard someone start talking up front.

“Oi, driver man, what’cha got in there, people or goods?” A rough voiced man said.

“Gehe, maybe some women.  We haven’t had a good one in a while.” Said a second nasally voice.

“Oh, am I finally going to do something?” I thought to myself.  “It’s even a template situation.”

As I was thinking this the dwarf spoke to his party.

“Get ready boys, looks like we have some work to do.” He said, a gleam entering his eyes.

“Hey leader, you’re getting that look in your eyes again.” Said the archer as he readied his bow for the incoming fight.

“Lay off, I haven’t been able to let loose in a week and a half.” Said the dwarf as he leapt off the cart and shouldering his hammer.  “Besides, if we don’t do this, that lass right there will.”

When he said this, the rest of his party looked at me.

“You noticed.” I asked.

“Yeah, I did.  Once you’ve been venturing as long as I have, lassie, you start to pick up on these things.  If yer going to the capital to become an adventurer, yer gonna need to work on yer poker face.” He said laughing a little.

“Thanks for the advice, by the way there are three sneaking through the bushes, two on the left, one on the right.” I thanked him as well as giving him some information.

He looked over to the archer.

“She’s right.” He confirmed while pulling back an arrow.

“You show promise, lassie.  When you get famous let me buy you a drink.” He said walking away.

The two warriors followed him while the archer was still watching the bushes.

“Girlie, if you can, take out the one on the right.” He whispered.

“You sure, won’t it cut into your pay?” I asked back.

“Nah, pay for this kind of escort is fixed and I don’t think the others would mind losing any extra from some bandits.” He answered as he fired his first arrow.

It flew straight into the bush and hit its target.  He quickly prepared a second one and fired again.  Once again, he hit.

“You are quite good.” I said as I prepared an ice magic spell.

I solidified the image in my mind and gave it shape with my mana.  In seconds a spear of ice was formed then shot.  It hit the hidden bandit in the throat, from there it froze his insides, killing him instantly.

“You’re quite the capable mage girlie.” He said, impressed.

“You would be too, if you were taught by the person I was.” I said, remembering all the training I went through with Mom.

As we continued to talk the rest of his party came back.

“How was it?” The leader asked.

“Fine, I took out the two over there, and the girlie took out the other one.” He replied, putting his bow away.

“Oh, you actually let her.  Never thought I’d see the day.  Normally you’d take em all out to get the bonus.” The dwarf laughed.

“I wanted to see what more she could do.” He said before hopping down to go and check the bodies.

“Yer in luck lass, that penny pincher never lets anyone get in the way of him making a little extra.” He said,  “The name’s Jarl.  The two over there are Zan and Gief.” He said pointing to the warriors.  “The last one’s name is Apollo.”

“How fitting.” I said.

“What was that lass?” He asked, rubbing his beard.

“Nothing.  My name is Luna, by the way.” I said, getting back on topic.

“I’ll remember that.” He said, hopping back into the cart.

After a few more minutes the rest of his party came back, and we resumed the journey.  We didn’t run into anymore troubles along the way, and after two more days, we made it to the capital of Savanna.

The capital was surrounded by a large wall.  At the gate was a line of wagons that I assume was a caravan of merchants.  There was a second line that consisted of individual people.  While I was looking at how long the second line was, I noticed a person covered in a black cloak with their hood pulled low over their face.

It seemed that they noticed someone was staring at them because they started to look around.  I quickly averted my gaze from them.  It was then that the driver came up to us.

“We’ve arrived at the capital.  I’ll have to ask all of you to go through the gate in the individual line since I need to take care of the horses at the stables.  Thank you all for you patronage.” The driver said while giving us an explanation.

After everyone got out of the cart and the driver left, Jarl came up to me.

“Lassie, if you need an inn to stay at, I recommend the Fox’s Mirror.  It’s right next to the Guild.  Just tell the lady at the counter that Jarl sent you and she’ll give you a discount.  Probably.” He said, a little unsure at the end.

“Thanks, I’ll go and try later after I register at the Guild.” I said as I walked to the end of the line.

Author's Note:

A wild new chapter has appeared and with it more characters with names.  Will they be important in the future?  I don't know, I haven't gotten that far yet.  Thanks for reading.