Chapter 30 Welcome to Narashel

"...N-Na...Nara...Na...??--Muuuuu....big brother, I can't read what its written on this sign!" Aoi shouted at me before returning, panting lightly as she ran.

"E-Eh...? You can't read it? But you boasted earlier that you can read all the writing symbols used in this world?!" I said, shocked by her words.

"...A-Ahehehehe~ Big brother, I forgot--I can only read and understand all ancient languages aside from the ones we gods use...I forgot that it's been thousands of years now since the last time I read something! Ahehehe~" Aoi smiled bitterly at me.

This girl...

When we decided to go to the direction the tower is standing, we saw a sign on a distant rock pillar that looked like a torn down wall. Aoi, with her ego as a goddess kicking in--volunteered to go towards the sign to read the sign and report to me whatever its contents are, only to find out that she couldn't recognize the symbols written on the sign, much to my dismay.

"You should've not volunteered to do it then! Good grief--your mind's really just like a child..." I said to her as I jumped off from Prick's back and went to see the sign.

"...It's not 'just like', big brother...I'm really just a child!" Aoi said while sticking out her tongue.

I didn't give her antics much thought after that. I proceeded on inspecting the sign and read its contents on my mind.

{Welcome to the Kingdom of Narashel}.

"Narashel? I think I heard the name of this place before..."

It was somewhat unexpected, but we already crossed the border of another country just like that.

But Narashel? Where did I learned about that country...--ah!

Being one of the three countries that formed the so-called 'Central Triangle', Narashel is also quite a superpower--it might be the smallest among the three, but their military strength never lags behind that of the other two countries, which is why their national territory didn't changed much during the last 2000 years.

Other than that, the country is also prosperous and the standard of living is quite above average, primarily because of the tolerant and easy-to-approach nature of this country's government that many merchants prefer to invest in Narashel than on the other countries. That, along with other factors that affect their economy, are the reasons why the ratio of slaves to commoners in Narashel is lower compared to other countries.

Though all of that is just based on what I hear from other people and from what I read on books, I'm feeling somewhat fortunate that we came here.

With those thoughts in mind, I walked back towards Aoi and Prick.

"...What does the sign say, big brother?" Aoi looked at me with a curious gaze.

"Well, it says that we're entering the Narashel Kingdom."

"...N-Narashel...?" Aoi asked as she raised her eyebrows.

"Nn. What's the matter, Aoi? Are you familiar with this country?"

Aoi looked down all of the sudden when I asked her that.

"...N-Nothing. It's just...this country still exists even after that incident thousands of years ago..." She said while curling her lips.

Hm? What's wrong with her, is she disappointed because of what happened in the past?

"...A-Anyway, let's not dwell anymore in the past. Big brother, let's go!"

Prick then immediately carried us until we reached a checkpoint.

-------------

"W-Wha--?! What the hell is that creature??"

The guard dropped his jaw when he noticed something strange is moving towards their direction. He then quickly notified his comrades of his discovery.

"Someone confirm if that thing over there's really a monster and not just a mere mirage!" He said to everyone in a commanding tone.

One of his comrades, a rookie knight, took out his telescopic lens from his pocket and began confirming the guard's report.

"B-Behemoth...? Is that a real behemoth?" The rookie guard announced to the guards in shock, therefore confirming the existence of a monster from afar.

"Behemoth?!" A middle-aged guard that is apparently the leader of the guards suddenly sprang up from his hammock and rushed towards his subordinates.

"A behemoth is spotted moving towards our direction, sir!" The rookie knight reported what he just saw to his leader.

The leader, feeling somewhat irritated because of the sudden disturbance while still on his nap, grabbed the lens from the rookie knight and peeked through it, making him able to see objects even from far away. At first, he was feeling angry because he didn't see anything from the other side of the lens but he almost pissed his pants when he finally saw the image of the monster his subordinates are talking about.

"S-So it was really behemoth?!" He said in shock. "But...what are those things on his back?"

Suddenly feeling a rush as curiosity flowed though his veins, he looked at the behemoth once more. After adjusting the magnification power of the lens for a few seconds, he became more shocked at his discovery.

--------------

"Stay where you are and put your hands up!" A haggard-looking knight shouted at us upon reaching the checkpoint.

"E-Eh? W-What's going on, sir?" I asked them as I raised both of my hands up, feeling confused with the situation.

Aoi did the same, although her face shows that she's irritated by the knight's tone as he commands us. Surprisingly, Prick also raised his stingers as if they are hands, trembling lightly by the tension building up from around him.

"W-Why are you riding on a behemoth while crossing the border of Narashel, huh? Do you want to spread terror on the neighboring towns?" The haggard-looking knight asked us in a somewhat rude manner.

"Spreading terror?" I got surprised at his words. "S-Sir, we don't have any intentions like that, I swear!"

From the looks of it, they thought that we're up to no good when they saw us riding on Prick's back when we passed through their checkpoint.

"Prick's might be a behemoth but as you can see, he's not violent towards other people! We're not bad people okay? For Prick's sake!"

Still, no matter how many times I explain to them that we're not here for a bad cause, the guards won't believe my words even just a bit.

"Even so, a behemoth is a behemoth, young'un. We can't just let you guys enter along with that monster, you know? It'll cause great trouble for us if we let you enter..."

"Haaaahhhh...what to do..." I sighed in dismay.

Although I'm aware of what will happen should we enter the border along with Prick, it feels like my heart will break whenever I think of parting ways with...

"Huh...?!" I let out a sudden yelp.

"...Eh?"

All of a sudden, Aoi and I--were lifted from Prick's back using his two stingers as if we're inside a claw machine. He then put us on the ground in a gentle manner afterwards.

"Prick...what's the meaning of this?!"

I noticed that his face showed a sad expression as he looked at me.

"D-does this mean..."

His stingers slowly 'nodded' when I tried to confirm what's on my mind.

"...Prick." Aoi also looked at him with a serious gaze as she also understood what Prick's trying to convey to us.

"Tch."

I clenched my fists while slowly approaching Prick and placing my hand on top of his head.

"You...are you sure about this?"

Prick's stingers nodded again.

Ah, so it's time.

"I see. Then before we cross the border, let me give you this..."

I took out from my pocket a strip of white cloth that we still haven't used until now. I gently tied it on one of his stingers while trying my best to control my emotions. Aoi, also took out another strip of cloth from her pocket and did the same under my supervision.

"..." Without saying any word, Aoi hugged Prick before returning to where I'm standing.

I could see tears forming on her eyes when she looked at me. It's obvious that after all we've been through, she started to grow attached to our behemoth friend.

A few moments later, Prick turned away from us as he started crawling back to the desert. The irregular pace of his feet show that he's having second thoughts about leaving us.

"If you look back, the guards will hunt you down until you die." I said to him in a serious tone as if threatening him.

However deep inside, I'm about to burst in tears any moment from now.

'What happens next, only Fate knows.' I muttered to myself.

It's only a matter of time before we part ways with each other, I'm aware of that--but never in my mind that I'd realize that it would happen so quick.

After his monstrous figure completely vanished into the horizon, I turned my gaze towards the guards.

"The monster you're talking about is finally gone. Can we enter Narashel now?"

The guards, puzzled by the sudden turn of events, lowered their weapons while letting out sighs of relief.

"I said, can we enter Narashel now?"

When I faced their leader with a terrifying gaze, the ragged guard panicked for a moment.

"A-Ah, y-yes, but you need to fill up some documents before you enter..."

Afterwards he invited us inside their guard post while he's processing the documents of our entry. I just noticed that compared to earlier, the guards are looking at us warily.

"We apologize for our actions earlier, young'un--it's our job to protect the citizens of Narashel from any danger that are trying to enter the borders." The ragged guard, along with his subordinates, deeply bowed their heads towards us.

"I understand." I replied in a monotonous tone.

While still having regrets in his heart, the ragged guard placed a coin on the table. A gold coin, to be exact.

"Though it may not replace the bond you guys and that behemoth formed, please take this coin as a sign of our sincerest apology."

Without saying anything I picked up the coin from the table and went out of the guard post.

"Aoi, let's go."

While having a hostile feeling towards the guards, Aoi followed after me.

The ragged guard spoke to us in a panic. "D-Do you want us to carry you towards the nearest village?"

"No need." I flatly rejected their offer so as not to stay in that place any longer.

With that, we left the guards while leaving bad impressions on them.

--------------

"...I want to kill them."

Aoi, after being silent for quite some time, finally let out the emotions swirling inside her mind.

"...I just can't stomach how narrow-minded those fleas are! Big brother, I want to kill them! My hands are already itching to rip those puny creatures to shreds!"

I released a light chop on her forehead. "Don't you even think about doing it."

"...B-But, big brother..."

"I said, don't."

Aoi shrunk in fear as she looked at my eyes.

Truth be told, I have no plans on killing them although I'm feeling very disappointed on the way they treat us. A gold coin in exchange of the times we've spent with Prick? Would you become happy if someone pays you money after saying being wronged by others? What's with that?!

But as I said, I have no grudges on those guys, though I just hope that this incident won't leave a bad overall impression of this country to me.

"It might be better for him if he should just stay in the desert. No matter how hard we try, we can't take someone whose life depends heavily on his surroundings away form the place where he should be." I said to her.

Aoi only nodded lightly as she finally understood what I'm trying to say.

After a few minutes of walking, we reached the entrance of a town.

{Welcome to Plate Town}

Upon reading what's written on the arch, we found out that we're already in a town called the Plate Town.

As we look around, we could see that even though the town is quite small, there are so many people on the streets doing business with one another, selling various goods and services for a price.

Walking further, I noticed that the houses in this town resembled that of houses found in Mediterranean countries. A rural town, but bustling with life and simplicity.

"...Big brother, I'm hungry..." Aoi groaned as she placed her hands on her stomach.

"U-Uh? Then we need to find a place to stay as soon as possible."

Finally, after circling the town for almost an hour, we found a small inn in the center of the town.

"[Sandy Fish]? What a funny name for an inn..." I muttered to myself.

A simple-looking inn with a simple-looking sign hanging on the wall, if I were to describe the outside of this inn.

As we enter, we were welcomed by a little girl about the same height as Aoi.

"Welcome to Sandy Fish, dear customer!" She said in a lively manner.

"U-Uhhh..."

"Oh? We have customers, Saki?" A young man hurriedly came out of the kitchen.

The young man, about the same age as mine, has messy red hair with a white towel wrapped on his forehead. The little girl, on the other hand, has her hair of the same color tied in a ponytail. Both of them wore matching white aprons on top of their clothes, with the little girl holding a spatula in her hand. Lastly, when they saw enter the inn, their red eyes sparkled in excitement.

Judging from their appearances, these two...they're brothers and sisters, no doubt.

"Welcome, dear customers! How can we help you: would you like to eat here or find a place to stay?" The brother asked us with a smile on his face.

"E-Eat."

"Oh, great! Saki, get them a place for them to sit, I'm about to finish cooking their food!" He said as he hurried back to the kitchen.

"Got it, Brother!" The little sister replied with a chuckle.

While guiding us in our seats, the girl introduced herself to us.

"My name's Saki Rainen, and my brother over there is Saku. Together, we're the owners of this inn!"

Hehhhh...it's impressive that at such a young age you're already exposed to such type of business.

"My name's Ren Mortel, and this one over here is my little sister Aoi." I also introduced ourselves to her.

"Oh, Brother Ren!" Saki clapped her hands. "Nice to meet you, you two!"

"...B-Brother Ren...?" Aoi raised her eyebrows at her.

"That's right! All of our customers becomes our brothers and sisters here, that's why it's what makes Sandy Fish different from others!"

Aoi's face...she looks somewhat irritated with the way Saki talks to us.

"Thanks for the wait! Although we didn't asked your orders, we hope that you still like these food we made for you! Also, judging from the looks of you guys I think you came from a very far place. Eat up!" Saku said to us as he placed the dishes on the table with a 'blag'.

Large servings of orc meat stew, stir-fried vegetables, mushrooms and bread.

The smell coming from them makes the two of us salivate, and without minding any manners we started to dig in on the food that's on the table.

"...Haaaa...I finally ate something decent again after a long time..." Aoi said as she plopped on her seat while patting her full stomach.

"Me too...me too..." I said in approval.

While basking in the glory of eating a delicious 'normal' food, Saku and Saki came to us while the girl is holding a piece of paper on her hands.

"Brother Ren, how's the food?"

"Looks like we made the right choice going here..." I replied.

We entered an inn, right? I think we entered in a five-star hotel instead.

"Fufufu..." Saki chuckled. "As for the food, that would be one four silver coins."

"Ah, wait a moment."

I inserted my hand on my pocket. A few seconds later, I noticed something strange.

"Hm?" Saki tilted her head as she looked at my sudden change of behavior.

"...Big brother, what's wrong?" Aoi asked as she rushed towards my side.

I frantically checked the contents on my left pocket, then the right...no way--

"U-Uhhh...I think...I lost the gold coin the guards gave to us."

"...EEEEHHHHHHH??!" Aoi shrieked in surprise.