An Encounter on the Line

''Wow! So many people!''

A young hunter exclaimed with surprise when he saw the long line at the city gates.

Mayton's group of hunters finally arrived at the city after a long journey. Because they lost one of their three ox carts, the other two had to carry more. They were already slow and this slowed them even further. Their slower speed meant more time spend on this journey fraught with dangers. Everyone was anxious about suffering another bandit attack. It was doubtful if they could survive another one with the reduced number of hunters. Thankfully no such attack took place.

While they were happy to reach the city without suffering more casualties on the way, there was something which worried them. There was still no news form Old Mert. With his speed, he should have caught up to them if nothing untoward happened to him.

''Hello there, kind strangers. You see my daughter? She is sick and desperately needs something to eat. Please, can't you help her a little?''

An old woman wearing dirty clothes approached them as she showed the little girl in her arms to the hunters. Seeing the big, adorable eyes of the girl, the hunters couldn't help but feel pity because of the hardships she suffered. All of them wanted to help this cute girl to get something to eat.

''Auntie, we are poor villagers. How can we have food or money to spare. We can't even eat until we are full. Ah, auntie I think that guard over there is looking to us!''

Mayton stuck his head out of the ox cart and said with a threatening tone as he pointed to a guard not far away. Even though the guard wasn't looking at them at all, the old woman was experienced and knew who to mess with and who to leave alone. She immediately left with the little girl without saying anything else.

Seeing them leave, Mayton sighed. The older hunters who didn't want to come to the Flaming Heart City were right. This bunch of villagers couldn't possibly survive in the city if someone didn't watch out for them. This task, of course, fell on Mayton's shoulders. Since he convinced them to come here, he was responsible for looking out for them.

The hunters were examining everything around them curiously. It was the first time most of them ever saw a line this long. There were all kinds of people waiting to enter the city. There were farmers who brought their products. There were hunters who brought leather from their preys. There were merchants who came from far away to trade. The line was so long, there were even peddlers whose only job was catering to those waiting in the line.

''How can you stop us here?! What will happen to my cabbages if you prevent me from entering the city? ''

'' I demand to see your superior! Do you know who I am? I am the cousin of…''

''Please sir, my family is waiting at home for me. If I can't go in what will they eat today?''

While Mayton was thinking about how to take care of the hunters, they heard people arguing. From how things sounded, there was a problem at the city gate. Unlike most of the others in the line, Mayton's group at least had nothing urgent to do in the city and they had several days worth of supply with them. This made them much more relaxed. Actually, some of them were still hoping to meet with Old Mert before entering the city. The city was huge and foreign to them. It would be hard to meet up with Old Mert even if he did come to the city.

''Everyone! Stop clamoring and listen! There is a murderer on the loose. Someone dared to murder the groom of a noble. Without verifying your identities first, no one is to enter the city. But even if you enter, you should bear in mind that you may not be able to leave the city before the murderer got caught.''

A guard declared loudly. This only stopped the clamoring briefly after it got louder than before. There was no way for merchants or people that live in the nearby villages who came here to sell their products, to enter the city under these circumstances. Who knew when the murderer would get caught?

Mayton's group was also debating the issue. Some of them said it was not yet determined if they could earn enough to sustain themselves in the city thus they shouldn't recklessly enter and got trapped inside. Some argued that although they might not find a way to earn a living in the city, with the food and valuables they had with them, it wouldn't be a problem to survive for a while. It was impossible to keep the city under lockdown for an extended period of time even if the murderer didn't get caught after all.

While the hunters were debating heatedly, something else has drawn the attention of Mayton. In the line of people who were waiting to enter the city, there stood an old man and a young woman with heavy make-up on her face. The old man wore a gray hooded cloak which partly obstructed his face. Even though he was old, from his stance and broad shoulders, it was easy to guess he was not some frail elderly who had no fight left in him.

As for the woman standing next to him, she wore a tight fitting linen tunic which accentuated her rather well endowed breasts. She talked with the nearby merchants as she occasionally smiled at them. Even though she tried to look calm and relaxed, the glances she threw at the guards at the city gate from time to time gave away her anxiety. All of that was normal and not enough to pique Mayton's interest. At first, he was only watching them because he was interested to hear more from the merchants the young woman was chatting with. What made Mayton be interested in them was the young woman's reaction to the guard's announcement.

When she heard the guard mention the murder of the groom, she exclaimed; '' The groom?''. Even her heavy make up couldn't hide the anger on her face. She only regained her calm after her companion faked a cough to warn her. This made Mayton think that they had something to do with the murder case. Thus he was intrigued.

He was musing the idea of approaching them when the old man showed the sword on his waist to scare away a merchant who felt emboldened by the polite responses of the young woman with heavy make up and tried to hold her hand. Next to the old man's sword, a pouch with a black hammer embroidered on it was tied. After he saw the pouch of the old man, Mayton took out the medicine pouch he got from Young Master Renas' men and compared them. They looked exactly the same. Even the initials R and M were stitched on both of them.

''This little friend, is there anything I can help you with?''

Mayton heard someone talk to him and raised his eyes from the pouch he held in his hands. The old man with the gray cloak was standing in front of Mayton with a frown indicating that he was trying to remember something as he glanced at the pouch in Mayton's hand. The old man was about ten meters away just a moment ago. This speed startled Mayton. ' Just as I suspected this old man is not simple at all.' Mayton thought.

'' Old sir, how can I be worthy of your help? It was just that I found your pouch quite similar to the one I have here. Since I am new to this city, I wonder if the old sir would be kind enough to tell me where to find the owner of this crest?''

Said Mayton, as he pointed at the black hammer embroidered on the medicine pouch. He wasn't afraid of the old man at all. Because of the speed old man demonstrated, Mayton was sure he was a cultivator but so what? Mayton himself was also not a pushover. Coupled with the obvious fact that the old man was hiding his identity thus wouldn't readily blow his cover, Mayton was confident he would be safe. Thus Mayton decided to use this opportunity to learn more about the man who told Mayton to come find him in the Flaming Heart City.

'' That's the crest of Hou- ''

Just when the old man was getting ready to answer, his face changed as he turned around and slowly walked towards his companion.

Mayton wasn't expecting such an action and wanted to call out to the old man when he heard a shout;

''Don't let the fugitives escape! Search every single person here! There is a chance they are here. ''

Mayton looked towards the source of the voice and saw a group of riders coming their way form the opposite direction of the city gate. It was their leader who was shouting orders. After hearing the rider's orders, in next to no time dozens of guards poured out of the gates and encircled the people who were lining up to enter the city.

There was panic visible on the faces of everyone in front of the city gate as they started to shout for mercy. Most of the people here were commoners. Even being the target of an angry glare from the guards made them afraid let alone having riders charge at them. In this chaos, Mayton saw the old man coming towards him again, this time, together with the young woman. Mayton looked questioningly at them.

''I know of a way to retrieve your parents' souls. If you want to learn it, you must help us hide.''

the old man said hurriedly. With the guards' effort, the chaos was dying down quickly. There was no time for lengthy explanations right now. Mayton also realized this point and let the old man and his companion enter the ox cart he was currently in, under the curious looks of the hunters.

''Uncles, this old man is my father and this lady is my elder sister if anyone asks. This concerns the fate of our fellow villagers' souls who died strangely so please don't ask anything for now.''

Mayton said as he started searching for a pair of green cloaks used by the hunters to give the old man and his companion. They had to blend in with the hunters. While searching, Mayton started to instruct the pair;

''Elder sister, you should clean your face. Have you ever seen a villager with that kind of make up? Don't worry I have a way to hide your face. Just take those herbs and rub them on your face.''

''As for you, old man, you should hide that pouch and sword. They are too fancy. Also, you should come out as soon as you changed your clothes. Seeing you two next to each other will make it easier for the guards to recognize you.''

After giving some of the spare clothes of the hunters to the pair, Mayton left the ox cart to give the young woman some privacy as she changed her clothes. Soon, the old man followed after him with his green cloak and coarse clothes.

Mayton knew he took a great risk but despite the risks involved he accepted to hide the pair. It was just that after he learned all the villagers got their souls harvested, he wanted to free their souls before they got consumed by devils. He was a person who reincarnated before and knew for sure that reincarnation was real. Thus he became desperate to locate their souls. Even a clue was worth the risk. As a former guard himself, he knew that the guards wouldn't be too hard to fool. Most of them did their duty cursorily. His only worry was someone from his side ruining things. So he exhorted the hunters to be careful and do as he told them.

''Where do you come from and what's your reason for visiting the city?''

a guard captain questioned the hunters.

''We are from the countryside and came to the city seeking refuge. Our village got destroyed and everyone died strangely while we were…''

one of the hunters narrated the events they experienced in the last few weeks one by one. When he was at the part when the bandits attacked them, the guard couldn't take it anymore and made him shut up with an order to the guards under his command to search the hunters' belongings. There was no reason to doubt those people anyway. From their looks, it was easy to deduce that they were telling the truth. The captain also heard rumors of villages getting destroyed mysteriously. This made him more inclining to believe them.

While the guards were moving toward the ox carts for conducting a search, they heard the sobbing of a woman coming from one of the ox carts. The guards exchanged glances as they opened the curtain of the cart and looked inside. What they saw made them feel pity. Inside laid a woman who was scrubbing her face as she cried. Her figure, hair, proportions of her face, everything about her was beautiful except for her skin which was covered in rashes. Seeing an otherwise beauty ruined like this made the guards pity her.

''She is my elder sister, sires. During our travel to the city, a bandit's blood splashed on her face and she contracted this strange disease. It gets worse with the sunlight so please close the curtains while searching, sires.''

Mayton knew that they were at the crucial point. The old man blended in quite well with the hunters. He had a strong build and looked like someone who experienced a lot of hardships. His companion, on the other hand, seemed like a high class lady who rarely left the city and certainly didn't do any kind of labor. Her skin was simply too pale to be a villager.

Fortunately, in the cart, there was a herb villagers used to brew herbal tea. It had mild effects of reducing pain when drank after brewing, but if your skin got in contact with it, it covered you in itchy, bright red rashes. Knowing that there was no way to convince the guards there existed a village girl with pale skin and heavy make up, Mayton decided to use this herb. By saying she is diseased, he made the guards afraid of touching her in fear of the disease being contagious, and thus reduced the risk of getting her cover blown.

Things indeed happened as Mayton predicted. The guards left them alone after a perfunctory search. And soon everyone in the area got searched, but the guards failed to find the fugitives. Thus they returned to the gates.

Seeing that they were safe, Mayton pulled the old man inside one of the ox carts and asked;

'' Old man, now tell me everything you know about my parents' souls.''