A Place To Call Home

A few hours after the unpleasant visit to the herbalist the young and old sat in a carriage peacefully bumping its way out the city

It puzzled Yu why they had to ride such a slow thing when the old geezer had a flying mount but didn't dare ask lest he'd have to cling onto his dear life on that feathery back once more

It was a pretty silent ride, something he usually liked to have, this time however it got him fidgeting in his seat, wondering what question he should ask first, yesterday left a ton of them in his mind after all

In the end he settled on the most important one yet

"Old man, was it really necessary for you to say all those things I did in the middle of such a huge crowd? Half of them, or rather, almost all of them are serious crimes that could easily land me on the hanger much less in jail"

Rather than ask what he had in store for him he'd much rather know if he could actually live after all those secrets came to light

"Relax would you, your not going to get hanged, probably"

It didn't seem like this old drunkard shard the same concerns if his constant gulping of alcohol was any indicator

"I almost got the prince killed?"

"I saved his ass, plus they have no evidence it was you who did that, not yet at least"

"Alright, what about burning down the village, stealing from the baron, I even killed the prince's horses and threatened one of the nobility"

"I've done worse-hold up, what you say lad?"

That aged face seemed to sober up with the addition of the new information

"Haah, I told you about the bounty right? You see, this is what happened at Halferg, or better yet when it began in Begaria…."

Yu then proceeded to recount all the events starting from his kidnapping of Heather to him running away from the city after finding her acts of betrayal, of course he lied about the wolf saying he'd already been a Silver ranked beast when he tamed him, the secret of his skill was something never to be shared with anyone no matter how much he trusted them

"Hahahaa!"

The first response he got for his daring venture was a hearty laugh

"Your really something kid, haha, I never thought a noble from the paradise could ever be so dense"

"??"

"Don't worry about it, that missy, Heather was it? She probably won't snitch on you, that letter should be precautionary so she'd save her family trouble in case something did go wrong, I dare the lass planned to roll in your sheets if you hadn't left too"

"What? Did you not listen to what I said?"

"Oh I heard you loud and clear, you're just not accustomed to the way these opportunistic nobles work even though your one yourself, anyway don't sweat about it"

Though he didn't think it was not worthy of any concern he decided to shove the matter aside temporarily for his question has yet to be answered

"So, was it all alright to say all that?"

"Hah, alright? No, but necessary"

"How so"

"Let me ask you kid"

He leaned in with that bad breath, something Yu couldn't be bothered with as an alarming feeling took over

"Do you think your weak lil grimoire could hold off those of us who really want to harm you?"

Words said with a touch of venom, so stinging he could only gulp in response

"Your trickery and quick wit might do you good against these Silver ranks, maybe even low Gold ranks, but once people of our calibre set their eyes on you there will be no underhanded victories, no escape, nothing that will save you from these bloody clutches"

Lifting his own hands to emphasize the words he gave Yu a few more seconds of pressuring silence before leaning back, taking all that pressure with him

"....So you did that to make me look like a difficult prey?"

"Yup, if I face a hard time catching onto your trail then others would surely think twice before going after you as well"

"Did you actually face a hard time?"

Another bout of laughter came as an answer

"Haha, not as much as I made it out to be, after all you did nothing to hide your trail, anyway I went through so much to bring you here safely I wouldn't want some old fart to butt their head in and bring an end to all my efforts"

It pleased him not how easy of a target he made, thankfully this old man wasn't an enemy

"Speaking of bringing me here, where are we? And why did you catch me in the first place"

"You ask so many questions kid, then again this is the personality that fits their small bothersome group...Ah well I hope this helps the lot of you get along, after all they are just as annoying when it comes to inquiries"

Done with the short unhelpful piece the Ol' beggar returned to guzzling the nasty drinks leaving Yu mulling over the things he realized and imagining what is to come

…

It wasn't too long before the carriage finally arrived at the next city, a city so bustling it took them twenty minutes just to get past the entrance

Boom!

As soon as they entered a body came slamming into a cart not too far away from them alarming Yu greatly, but not as great as his surprise when the person jumped out the broken lump of wood to rejoin the battle royal going on by the side

"What's wrong with these guys?"

"Judging by their looks it must be the Hollow Nightmares picking a fight with another mercenary group, this city has never had a good day after they came to be"

Yu didn't need an explanation to know which group was the troublesome one, just those excessive dark circles under their eyes were enough of a clue to their identity

"Is it really okay for them to cause such ruckus in the middle of the road"

"Not really but these damnable fellows have a big backer in the capital, the guards don't dare cause trouble with them and only have them pay for the damages, most of the time that is"

"Hmm"

It didn't sound fair but he didn't care, unless they attacked him that is, in that case he would be more than pissed if anyone tried to protect them afterwards

'Well, I already almost killed the prince, killing these guys would just be a few more names on the cutting board'

Taking his eyes off the fight he looked around the crowded place

"Is it just me or is this place jam-packed with people"

"Every street in this place is like that"

"How come? Even the border city wasn't this packed and they are supposed to be filled with mercenaries"

"Its cause Goldfields is the home to every major group and almost all Gold-ranked mercenaries have a house here hence the name"

"And the people I'm going to spend my time with are here?"

"Yup"

"You realize you're sending a tiger to a lion's den no?"

"Haha, tiger? More like tiger cub, your right though, pretty sure a building or two are going to end up in flames on your first month, actually make that first two weeks"

"....You have a lot of confidence in me old man"

"Your deeds speak for you"

A true statement, especially since every single city he visited suffered some sort of loss

'I didn't do anything to that border city no? Perhaps my destruction spree has finally come to an end'

Oh he so wished that to be true, quite frankly he was tired of travelling from city to city like a nomad, sure the life of adventure was pretty exciting but a stable place to regularly come back to would be much appreciated

'Perhaps I could find somewhere to call home in here, temporary or not'

He hoped, this world had so much to offer and he would like to at least experience some of its joy's before he departed after some sort of misshape

Holding the dreamy fellow inside the carriage continued making its way to the other side of the city, whether it was a home or a prison that awaited him was something he'd have to find out himself