123 The Silver Weapon

Under the cover of darkness, they moved swiftly between the trees and bushes. Once they reached the edge of the forest, the sun began to push back the night and reclaim its throne in the sky. They stumbled upon a trail near the edge of the forest. On the road were signs of recent activities. Footprints and wheels dotted the ground, and brothers would sometimes find garbage on the side of the road. "This must be the path those looters travel on," Sun said.

The brothers traveled on the road, heading in the opposite direction of footprints. They followed the path according to Root's map. Mari told Root about this hidden road, and with her accounts, Root created a map to help the brothers traverse the forest and cross the border to the Dwarf Kingdom.

While walking on the beaten path, Smoke spotted an odd object shined in the corner of his eye. "Sun, wait!" Smoke grabbed Sun, "I think I see something."

The brothers approach the shiny object hiding behind the bushes with caution. Smoke pulled out his club and used it to poke the bush. "I see it," Sun pointed, "It's over there."

The object was buried halfway, so Smoke used his warclub's cog headpiece to dig it out. Then he reached for it, "It feels metallic, but I could also feel some kind of leather." Smoke grabbed the mysterious item, and the brothers were stunned, "It looks like,"

"A gun!" Sun yelled in excitement.

"Yeah, but it's so small. The guns attached on the Razin walls were far larger than this." Smoke checked its bottom, "Where do you put iron ball?"

Sun knew what type of gun it was based on his memories from the past. It was the type of gun he would see as a child while watching westerns. "Do you see that oddly shaped cylinder behind the barrel? That's where you put ammunition. You open it by pushing the side."

Smoke tried to open it, but it would not give in, "It's not working?" Then Smoke pushed a bottom on the front of the trigger opening the cylinder to the side. "Oh, that button ejected it. I think."

"Who do you think made this? And why hide it here?" Smoke asked.

"I don't know, but I have a feeling Pagasa can tell us."

"And what if he can't."

"Then I really have no clue." Sun sighed.

"I guess we'll cross the bridge when we get there." Smoke wrapped the silver gun in a cloth and hid it inside his bag. "Better hide it at least since it could be dangerous."

On their map, they are to head south until they reach a fork in the road. They need to take the one heading to the east. Afterward, it will take several more hours before getting to the first outpost, where dwarves soldiers are stationed.

They reached the outpost in the evening. The dwarves stopped them so they can ask them questions before letting them in through the gate. But when Sun presented the letter he received from Prof. Logue, the guards immediately stopped their interview and let them through. The guards still took their bags and quickly checked its contents. The brothers felt uneasy when the guards looked through their stuff, but they weren't very thorough and missed the revolver.

The contents of the letter were a mystery to the brothers. And if they had opened the letter and read its contents, they wouldn't be able to understand it because of the spell engraved on the letter. Concealed Marks are commonly used by higher authority to keep classified information a secret from unwanted eyes. Only those serving in the Walz Kingdom's military could read the letter because of their loyalty to their king.

The guards led them to a stable where they introduced a coachman tasked to take visitors to the nearest town. "His name is Manny." The guard told them. Manny was a middle-aged man with a white mustache covering his upper lips. And he wore a straw hat, hiding his curly black hair.

"Hi, the name is Sun, and this is my brother Smoke."

Manny tipped his hat. Then he went in the stable to get the oxen ready to pull their wagon. "He's deaf, so if you wish to talk to him, you're going to need this." The guard handed the brothers a piece of paper and a charcoal pencil. "We hope you have a safe visit."

The guards returned to their post, and Manny and his wagon were ready to depart. The brothers got on, and they rode to the mountains, leaving the sun behind them. The oxen pulling the reins were small strong. They were barely one meter tall, but it only took three to pull the wagon and those riding on it. They also had odd colorations, as they were a breed of calico ox found in the mountain regions. They had black fur with purple and blue spots throughout their body.

"They sure have weird colors?" Sun said.

"Weir colors?" Smoke took out a bottle of water from his bag, "More like strange animals. I thought they were goats when they came out of the stables."

"They're a cattle of some sort."

"And how'd you know that."

"The blacksmith I met had one in his yard." Sun lied. "And thank god they didn't find the gun."

"Shh! We shouldn't talk about that. We don't know what it is yet and better keep quiet about it before we get to Pagasa."

"Oh, it's fine. Manny is deaf." Sun crawled closer to the coachman. "Watch. Manny, you're so ugly that those oxen are only tamed because they're scared of your face!"

"Sun!" Smoke grabbed Sun and threw him back behind the wagon.

"You didn't have to throw me. Look, the guys didn't even flinch."

"Still, we are in foreign territory, and they could be watching us at any moment."

"It's fine. You worry too much." Sun sat next to Smoke, "I'm more interested in the revolver's origin. We can both agree that something like this is highly advanced compared to our cannons, fake or otherwise. What if someone stole it from someone and because they don't know how to use it, they just threw it away?"

"That would mean an adventure must have stolen it from another member of the company. Remember we found this along the path most people take to cross the forest to loot the ruined cities illegally."

"But the path is also close to the dwarves' kingdom. What if someone stole and smuggled it from," Sun stopped talking when he realized the likelihood of the scenario he crafted. "Dwarves are known to be great blacksmiths, right? That means they might also be amazing engineers and were probably inventing some new type of weapon. Like the gun we found." Sun and Smoke looked back at Manny, who was seemingly unaware of the conversation behind him.

Smoke grabbed his bag and hid it behind him, "If it's true that someone stole this from the dwarves, then its best to hide until we get to Pagasa. Then we'll just return it, and hopefully, they'll believe us for finding it on the road. Even if it's a very unlikely story."

Sun agreed, but another idea crept in from the back of his mind that he could not share with Smoke. Another possibility that he hopes is true is that the revolver was from another person alien to this world. And he brought with him the revolver, like how he brought his understanding of martial arts such as boxing to his brothers. Maybe that is why he wanted to meet him? Maybe he knows of another person like him?

They reached the first town at midnight. Manny parked the wagon into the stable and stayed with his oxen. The brothers were going to sleep in the stables with Manny, but a local barmaid invited the brothers to stay at the town's inn. They gave their weapons to the clerk before getting the keys to their room. They rested their exhausted bodies on the soft futons, unaware of the watchful eyes staring at them outside the window. Manny did not rest. He just stared at the window of their room while standing on the roof of the stable.