Chapter 19 - Freedom

After I'm several streets away I finally let out a breath and relax. I need to get out of this city as soon as possible... I look at the surrounding shops with wide eyes. I look down at the small bag of clothes then back to the small well lit clothes shop.

I look around once before walking into the small shop. A middle-aged man looked up with a large smile as he says "How can I help you, young lady?" I slightly frown but I push it to the side and say "Do you buy clothes or do exchanges?" The man looks me over before nodding his head.

I give him a large smile that catches him off guard. He slightly blushes as I pull out the two dresses out of the bag. His eyes light up as he says "These are made of top quality fabric... are you sure you want to get rid of them?" I give him another smile as I say "Yes, please! I'd like to sell the dress I have on now as well."

The man looks at me with a frown but I quickly explain to the man "I want to exchange one dress for a males outfit and sell the other two." The man's eyes light up as he begins nodding his head "I see I see, it's good to be safe out on the streets so dressing like a young lord will help keep you safe!"

I give him a grateful smile and begin our exchange. After a few minutes, I walk out of the shop as a "young lord" with two silvers! I wave at the man and he smiles and waves back saying "Have a safe trip!" I tuck away the silvers for safekeeping and begin walking further away.

I quickly leave the city with a few others. Even though I didn't want to travel at night, I can't stay in this city any longer or I risk getting caught when they find me missing. Hopefully, no one notices until the morning and by then, I should be in the next city.

I also need to think of a way to make money... I'm not hungry now but I will need food and shelter in the future. My looks seem to be from the character I created for the game so maybe I'll have the Herbalist characteristics as well?

I sigh and shake my head. One step at a time Nova... let's just get out of here while I still can! When I reach the next town the sun has just begun to rise. Several times I spooked myself while walking last night... from now on I'll be traveling by day. I shiver when I think about the spiderweb I accidentally walked into. I never did find the spider...

Suddenly the smell of freshly cooked food has my stomach grumbling. I follow my nose and when I see the large steam buns my mouth instantly waters. They look so good! The plump woman smiles when she sees me eyeing the delicious buns. "Two for five coppers young lord!"

I give her a smile as I hand her a silver. She hands me several pieces of copper for change as she says "I'll throw in an extra one for you handsome!" I look at her with wide eyes before giving her a charming smile while saying "I will have to thank you, sister."

The woman giggles and blushes while saying "Sister? I'm old enough to be your mother!" I give her a look of shock before saying "Oh no way! You look much too young for that!" She giggles again before handing me an entire bag of steamed buns. I wave to her and walk away on cloud nine.

I'm never wearing a dress again! It pays to be a handsome man! I shove the whole steam bun in my mouth as I continue walking through the small town. As much as I would love to stay and rent a room to rest in, I feel like the devil will catch up with me so I need to keep moving.

I take a few steps closer to the other gate leading to the north as a large group of people suddenly come through. I frown and step back to wait but what I see has me uneasy. They were slaves... large rough-looking men keep the group in check as they lead the slaves by chains.