Voiceless

"You have five seconds to choose! Five, four, three..." The guards weren't giving Kies time to make a decision. He looked around and saw that the guards weren't heavily armored and only had light armor and swords. He could easily kill them all, but it was best if he didn't. Before they came here, Sirks requested that he didn't kill any of the guards or soldiers if he didn't have to as they are just following orders and are innocent.

Because of this, Kies decided that the better option is to avoid fighting them and run. Kies ran to the side towards one of the guards and tackled him out of the way. The other guards gave chase but a sandstorm suddenly appeared in the way and blinded everyone while Kies made his escape. But that sandstorm wasn't by sheer chance or a miracle from God. Kies creates that sandstorm with his wind magic to aid in his escape.

After making his getaway, Kies found a small sandy hill not too far away from the entrance and took cover behind it, and stopped the sandstorm. He peeked out from behind it and saw that the guards were searching around frantically for him with some even checking the sands where the sandstorm happened to see if he was hiding underneath it.

Well, that was easier than he thought. The plan went smoothly and everything was perfect. The three were in the city and Kies made it out. Now the only thing he needed to do is get into the city as well. But for now, he could rest until night when it was safer for him to go in without being spotted. Kies waited a while for the guards to stop searching before leaving his hiding place and going further out into the desert away from Otane.

After walking a decent distance from the city, Kies turned around and took a good look at it. The sun had been in the way before and he couldn't see the kingdom but now that he had a good angle, he could see that the place was even bigger than Silverfield. Even though it was built in a desert where food, water, and other natural resources were scarce, the kingdom was thriving. There was a river flowing through the water and there were also a couple of man-made oases on the outskirts of the city for travelers.

Kies couldn't get a clear look at the insides of the city over the tall golden walls, but he had a feeling that it was just as impressive as the outsides. In this kingdom was the army that was powerful enough to overpower Silverfield and take on the demons. Coming here was definitely not a waste of his time. Kies had the feeling that he might gain more than just the fragment from coming here...

Kies continued walking around the city and saw that the city had four entrances. There was a gate for all four sides. He might not need to wait until nighttime to get in. The news might have not made it to the other sides yet, and he could try getting into the city right now and go search for Iris and the other two.

Kies went to the gate opposite of the one of which he caused the commotion, and stopped at the back of the line. Just like the other entrance, there were guards checking everyone one by one to make sure they were clear to pass through into the city. The last thing they wanted was for a criminal or even worse, a demon to go through.

When it was Kies' turn, the guards told him to take off his hood so that they could see his face. Kies didn't like that but he had no choice but to comply and show the guard his face if he wanted to pass through. After the guard examined Kies' face and compared it to a list of what looked like the faces of wanted criminals, he was asked for his identification.

"I don't have one," Kies told the guard.

"What? How can you not have one?" she asked him suspiciously.

"I come from a village very far East of here in search of an opportunity," he made up.

The guard studied Kies's face for a minute to see if he was lying but in the end, she brought it and let Kies through. "First thing first, you have to register yourself. If you're not registered then you can't even apply for a job," she told him.

"And how do I do that?"

"There are three ways. The first is that you go to the mercenary's guild and register yourself with them. It's the quickest, but you have to be strong enough to pass their tests if you want to register there," the guard explained to Kies.

"And the other two ways?"

"The second is to register with the army. It's long and tedious but it's much easier than registering as a mercenary. You don't actually have to become a soldier if you do that. It just means that if the situation calls for it, you could be drafted. And no, this doesn't only apply to men. Everyone has to do it."

"I see..." Otane was a kingdom that was built through bloodshed. It made sense for every person to be considered as a potential soldier if needed.

"And the last?" Kies asked the soldier, expecting it to have something to do with the military again or at least being a fighter.

But it wasn't either of those. Instead, the last way to register is, "You need to be a merchant. You don't look like one so I doubt that this one is the right one for you."

"Yeah, no. I'll choose one of the other two," Kies told her.

"Okay. Well then, good luck and welcome to Otane." Seeing how she was done explaining everything Kies needed to know, the guard let him through the gate and into Otane.

Upon stepping foot into the city, Kies' eyes widened and his jaws almost dropped at its sight. It didn't even look like he was in the desert anymore. If not for the heat, Kies would've thought that he was in a completely different place. The buildings were all tall and well designed. One glance at any of them and Kies could tell what their purpose was. The residential buildings had balconies while the commercial buildings had signs that displayed what they sold.

The streets were packed with people and carts. Lined up all over the streets were stalls and other smaller shops. Humans and people from other races roamed the streets together with no issues. It looked like a lot changed during the past years.

Now then... Should he register himself, or no? The soldier told him to do it if he wanted to be able to apply for a job, then he needed to do this, but Kies didn't really care about that. Hopefully, people wouldn't stop him on the streets and ask him to identify himself for no reason. Kies started to walk through the streets to the other side of the city where the other three were. As for how he is able to pinpoint their location, Kies could sense the fragment on Iris.

Kies went in the direction of the fragment and weaved through the crowds and made it to the other side of the city where the other three were in about half an hour. Kies spotted them sitting having lunch outside of a restaurant and walked up to them. They didn't spot him until he was right in front of them. And when they did, Iris banged her head against the table and Sirks laughed.

"What? Did you think you would lose me or something?" he asked them. From her reaction, this was what Kies guessed.

"No, we made a bet on how long it would take you to get in and find us," Sirks explained to Kies.

"A bet?"

"Yeah. Iris ordered an extra plate of food and said that if you made it back in time then the plate is yours, but if not, she could have the entire thing." Sirks gestured at a plate of what looked like sticks on meat with vegetables decorated all around. It looked more like an art piece than food and also smelled delicious.

"Wait... Wouldn't that be a bet against me without me knowing?"

"In a way, yes."

"How did you find us so quickly!?" Iris demanded from Kies. Getting past the guards was no easy task and finding them was even harder in a city as big as this.

"Oh, that's easy. I just followed my annoying princess sensor. It pointed me straight to you," Kies told her. It wasn't completely a joke though. He did in fact have a way to sense her location at all times no matter where she is.

Sirks chuckled at Kies' answer, causing him to get kicked in the shin by Iris. "Ouch!"

"Very funny. If you don't want to tell us then it's fine. Also, I guess that plate is yours now since I lost." She sounded a little disappointed about losing the bet she made against Kies without him even knowing.

"I'm fine. You can have it," he told her.

"What? Really!?" Everyone looked at her. "Ahem... I mean, really?" she asked in a more normal voice.

"I don't need food right now." Or ever to be exact.

"Okay, don't mind if I do!" Iris excitedly finished everything that was on her plate and then grabbed the one that was Kies and started wolfing it down like she was scared that Kies might change his mind at any second.

"..." Her way of eating was very messy and she didn't look like a princess at all. In fact, her way of eating reminded Kies a lot of a certain demon that had almost no regard for manners.

Kies turned away from her since watching her anymore would make him want to barf even though he had no food in this stomach. He also saw that some people were watching them... More specifically, they were looking at Iris and pointing fingers at her while making repulsed or concerned faces. She was attracting a lot of attention by stuffing food in her face. Ugh... For everyone's sake, Kies moved in front of Iris to block the sight of any passing people on the street.

Anyway, when did they get the money to buy something to eat? Kies could've sworn that they all said that they had no money on them when they left. "Didn't you all say that you didn't have money? How are you able to buy this?" It didn't look like an expensive meal but it was definitely not cheap either.

"Oh, I pawned that sword I got off that soldier," Sirks told Kies. He patted the empty spot next to his waist where the sword had been.

"You sold your weapon?" That didn't sound like a smart move. They were in a place that the moment they got recognized, they would get swarmed by soldiers. At the very least, they had to have something to protect themselves if that did happen.

Sirks saw the look of worry on Kies' face and assured him that it wasn't a big deal. "Don't worry. Not many people know what the second and third princesses look like. The only people we need to watch out for are soldiers and not just any soldiers. We need to watch out for those with red scarfs."

"Red scarfs? Why only those soldiers?"

"Because they know what the princess looks like. They are the commander's personal unit. All the other soldiers are only following orders and are searching for a girl with red hair and a girl who is mute." In other words, they didn't know what the princess looked like and was trying to find people who matched that description.

"Wait, mute?" Kies looked at Wompa and she nodded her head.

"Yeah, did you not notice?" Sirks asked.

"No." That explained a lot of things, but it didn't surprise him as much as it would have. He already had the hunch beforehand that Wompa might either just hate talking or was suffering from something that made it hard for her to talk. He just didn't know which one it was until now.

Well then. If that was how it is then it was no problem for them to move around in the city without getting caught. Since the normal soldiers didn't know what the two princesses looked like, they didn't have to worry about them. What they did have to worry about however is those "red-scarfed" soldiers that SIrks mentioned. Kies had yet to see any of them so he had no idea who or what they were.

"What are the red-scarfed soldiers?" Kies asked Sirks.

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