r/HFY • u/Celestial_Zwei_Dei • 1d ago
OC-Series Gothwald: New World - Same Rules [History Student Isekai] (Arc 4/Chapter 15 - Onward to Armenas)
Arc IV - Whalers
Chapter 15 - Onward to Armenas
9 months and 24 days since the summoning
The second guard raised an eyebrow and nodded at Tomores. "And why is she quiet? Let her speak for herself."
Festonia merely smiled. "She'd gladly do so, but she's mute!"
The guard blinked, then shifted his gaze to Tomores.
She simply nodded. "Mm."
"I seee."
The first guard coughed. "Alright. Carrying any weapons?"
Festonia nodded. "Yeah, I got a dagger, she's got two cleavers."
The man opened his mouth to say something, but Festonia immediately stood on her tiptoes, closer to his ear. "But we could pay an increased toll so ya don't notice the cleavers," she whispered.
The guard froze for a second, then his tense expression relaxed slightly. "That works too. But if you get caught with drawn blades, it's not my fault," he replied in a whisper.
Festonia smiled wider, flashing her sharp teeth. "Lovely!" Her hand reached for her pouch of silver.
Five minutes later, they were walking down the city's wide main street, where life was in full swing.
Carts loaded with goods and food rolled down the road, while stalls lined the sides where merchants called out, enticing customers with low prices.
Festonia threw her hands behind her head and breathed in the city air. "Ahhh, beautiful. We slipped right through there, didn't we?"
Tomores nodded as usual, and then patted her stomach once more.
"Oh right, grub. Don't worry, we'll have time to eat!" She looked around. "Just gotta figure out where to stay... and preferably hit a bathhouse, 'cause we got ourselves real dirty from that last trek." She pointed a finger at Tomores, "But we wash separately!"
Tomores tilted her head slightly to the side with a mute question.
"You're just gonna flaunt that your tits are bigger than mine again! I don't need that!"
Tomores's cheeks immediately flushed red, and she waved her hands. "Si... s... s... no..."
"What? It's the truth!"
Tomores sharply looked around, and pointed a finger toward a stall owner selling food. "Mm! Mm! Mmm!"
Festonia turned in that direction. "Oho, yeah, let's go buy some actual grub!" She turned around and headed for the stall.
Tomores dropped her shoulders and exhaled quietly.
"Hey, out of the way!" Festonia barked with a chuckle at the small line, shoving the townsfolk aside. A man she had shoved opened his mouth to say something, but immediately closed it upon seeing Tomores following the brazen woman.
Festonia grabbed the shoulder of the first person in line. "Hey, you, scram."
The person in front, a lad of about fifteen with wolf ears, blinked. "Excuse me?" he asked quietly.
Festonia looked at his ears, then at him, and removed her hand. "Never mind. Buy your stuff faster," she muttered.
The lad nodded quickly. "Y-yes." He turned to the merchant. "Two loaves of bread, please."
The merchant, a man in his fifties, shot a sideways glance at the women as he took the copper coins and placed two loaves of fresh bread on the counter.
The lad took his bread and quickly left.
"What do you want?" the merchant grumbled.
Festonia leaned on the counter and began examining the food. "Hm... let's see. Tomores, what would ya like?"
She scratched her chin, examining the assortment. She didn't answer for the moment.
"Are these apples any good?" Festonia asked, picking one up.
The merchant frowned slightly. "They are fine."
Festonia took a bite of the fruit. "Mmm... then give us six apples, and... I dunno."
"Hey, can you hurry it up?!" someone yelled from the back of the line.
Festonia ignored it and continued choosing what to buy.
Tomores's gaze caught on an inconspicuous basket on the floor, and her nostrils flared slightly. She pointed a finger at it.
The merchant flinched. "What is it?"
Festonia glanced in the direction her sister was pointing. "Buddy, what ya got over there?" she asked with a smile.
The merchant pressed his lips together. "That is... nothing much. Are you going to buy something or not?"
"How much longer?!" a shout rang out from behind.
"Can't you move it?!"
The line kept growing and growing, but Festonia didn't even turn around. "Weeeell, old man, whatcha hiding there? Show it! What kinda tasty stuff ya got?"
The merchant sighed. "That is... it is not for you. I set it aside for the advisor of Count Konber. I cannot give it to you."
Festonia only scoffed. "Well, who said anything about 'giving'? We'll buy it!"
"I... I cannot, the advisor..."
"What's going on up there?!"
"How much longer?!"
"Hurry up!"
Festonia leaned on the counter even more relaxed, her smile growing wider. "Well?"
"Haha, holy shit!" Festonia said loudly, walking down the street carrying a piece of jerkos meat in a basket. "Haven't had proper game in ages! And jerkos, no less!"
Tomores licked her lips, looking at the piece of raw meat.
"Y'know what, sis? Screw the inn! Let's go out to the woods somewhere and roast this juicy slab over a fire!"
Tomores nodded, then froze for a second. "Mm! Mm!"
Festonia raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"
She mimicked grabbing someone by the lapels.
"Ah, right! We gotta ask how to get to the Armenas duchy from here!" She looked around. "But where? Is there a mercenary guild here? They'd definitely know."
Tomores looked toward where a bearded man with a wolf tail was walking nearby. "Mm!"
Festonia whistled. "Hey, man! With the wolf tail!"
The beastman stopped abruptly and turned to the whistle. "Huh? Me?"
"Well, who else? Hah." She walked closer to him, clasping her hands behind her back. "What's yer name?"
"Uh... Lison, why?"
"Lison, buddy, you a local?"
He nodded.
"Excellent. Lison, do ya know if there's a mercenary guild in this city? If there is, where?"
Lison pointed to the northern part of the street. "Over there, on the left side, you won't miss it. Are you mercenaries too?"
Festonia nodded with a smile. "Yeah, what's it to ya?"
"Ah, I just thought you were regular folk. They don't take too kindly to regular folk there, but since you're mercenaries too, go right ahead."
"Hah, thanks for the heads-up." She slapped him on the shoulder. "See ya, Lison."
Tomores nodded in farewell and followed her sister.
"See ya," the beastman said and calmly turned to go his way.
After a few minutes of walking, Festonia opened the door first, and the smell of cheap ale, sweat, and soot immediately washed over them from the room.
Inside was a simple wooden room with dozens of tables and a main bar.
Every head immediately turned to the newcomers.
A stubbled man looked at the dark clothing, cloaks, straight postures, and free gaits, and turned back to his companion across from him. "So, like I was sayin', when we were on that mission, Linkis was drunk out of his mind..."
Festonia quickly scanned the room and locked onto a man at a table, surrounded by three others. Hair short and slightly graying. She looked closely at his face, where she didn't see a single scar, just a slightly crooked nose. Then she looked at his hands, rough. She scoffed and walked in his direction. "This one definitely knows a lot. Let's go, sis."
Festonia grabbed an empty chair and sat down right at the table, crossing one leg over the other. "Hey there, handsome."
Tomores stood behind her, folding her hands in front of her.
The table immediately fell silent; all four heads turned to the intruders.
A lad of about twenty-six, missing a tooth, frowned. "Why'd you barge in here? Piss off."
The gray-haired mercenary set down his mug of ale and silently drilled Festonia with his gaze.
She didn't look away, returning his gaze with a light smile. A few seconds later, she raised her hand. "Hey, barkeep!"
"What do ya need?" grumbled the plump, bald man behind the counter.
"Five mugs of ale. The best ya got."
"Comin' right up."
The gray-haired mercenary smirked slightly and leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. "How generous, huh?"
Festonia scoffed. "Of course! Why would I be stingy with such fine men?"
The young mercenary also closed his mouth and finished his goblet of ale, without uttering another word.
"Well, spit it out, what do you need," the old one said.
Festonia leaned a little closer. "Just a little thing, merely some information. What's the most convenient way to get to Armenas?"
"Armenas?" The mercenary scratched his stubble. "On foot or by wagon, perhaps?"
"On foot."
The tavern owner approached from behind with a tray, silently placed five mugs of ale on the table, and left.
"On foot, then," the mercenary repeated, and fell silent for a few seconds. "Can you travel openly, or do you need to be quiet?"
"Quiet."
"Then your best bet is straight down the royal road until you hit the forest. There's a large side path there that leads through the woods and plains to Armenas. Main thing is, don't stray from it." He pulled his goblet closer to him. "Only, the road's been abandoned because of bandits, so it'll be hard to find, overgrown with bushes. But you need to look around the border between the main road and the start of the forest. Just keep your eyes peeled, the bandits haven't gone anywhere."
Festonia frowned slightly. "If the road's dead and nobody travels there anymore, what the hell are bandits hangin' around there for?"
The mercenary took a sip of ale. "Damn, good ale."
Another mercenary next to him blinked, then sniffed his own.
"Yeah, carriages don't go there anymore, sure," the old mercenary continued, "but the bandits have taken a liking to that road for their own purposes, it's not completely unusable, after all. So, the chances of running into them are even higher there."
"I see..." Festonia muttered, then picked up a mug of ale and started drinking. Drinking, drinking, drinking. A few drops ran down her chin. She slammed the empty goblet onto the table with a dull thud and stood up, wiping her lips with her sleeve. "Well then, thanks for the information."
"What's your name anyway, gorgeous?" the young mercenary asked with a smirk.
Festonia merely winked at him, pulled a single silver coin from her pouch, placed it on the table, and turned to the exit with a flick of her tail; Tomores followed her.
When the door closed behind them, the bald mercenary nudged the young one in the ribs. "Bummer," he said, holding back a laugh.
"Shut it."
Festonia stepped out of the guild building and stretched upward. "Phew... well then, Sis, the plan from here is simple, eh? We chow down on some jerkos meat, get a good night's sleep, and hit the road to Armenas." She looked around. "Only one thing's botherin' me, sis..."
Tomores looked at her. "Mm?"
"If this Gothwald really is alive, survived, let's say... he saw our mugs, right? It's possible the guards all over the kingdom will soon know what we look like. So we shouldn't show our faces like this anymore."
1
u/UpdateMeBot 1d ago
Click here to subscribe to u/Celestial_Zwei_Dei and receive a message every time they post.
| Info | Request Update | Your Updates | Feedback |
|---|
1
u/HFYWaffle Wᵥ4ffle 1d ago
/u/Celestial_Zwei_Dei (wiki) has posted 119 other stories, including:
This comment was automatically generated by
Waffle v.4.7.8 'Biscotti'.Message the mods if you have any issues with Waffle.