Beautiful Qi - Chapter 17

After I had finished brushing my teeth with the toothpaste, which tasted sweet like honey, I splashed some cold water on my face as I sat there by the river’s edge. Honestly, I had never expected this realm had such good personal hygiene, as Brenna had explained to me earlier. Aside from brushing their teeth, they also bathed twice a day, though they couldn’t do that here while they were out in the field. Aside from it apparently being dangerous with the woods teeming with wild creatures, it was also hard to find a hot spring unless they happened to be lucky. That got me thinking and wondering about volcanoes in this realm, because a natural hot spring couldn’t exist without a volcano, right?

Brenna did say hot springs were common in this kingdom. In fact, she said the palace alone had their own system, and all the lords had their own hot pool chamber. I guessed she meant their bathrooms, as in an en suite. Furthermore, the palace also had a bigger hot pool as a common area for the higher-ups. I supposed she meant a public bathhouse of some sort for the head honchos.

Everything sounded grand and extravagant, and I found I couldn’t wait to visit their palace. After all, I simply loved visiting old castles in Europe during our family trips when I had been younger.

After I had finished wiping my face dry with the facecloth, I returned to Brenna, who was sitting there on one of the boulders, watching me, smiling prettily.

We were heading back to the clinic when Brenna said, “By the way, would you like to come along with us to gather some wild herbs? It’s for Lord Noah. He’s using them as ingredients for a new potion he’s developing.” She chuckled. “When he heard the team was venturing to this part of the land, he couldn’t help but assign me to gathering those herbs for him, with Aria’s help of course.”

“Wild herbs, eh? That sounds interesting,” I said. “I’ll be glad to come along. You can tell me what they look like, and I’ll help pick.”

It was obvious Brenna was pleased with my answer, because her eyes were sparkling. She said, “That’s wonderful. I’ll inform the lords about it.”

In which case, she immediately closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, she started talking.

“My Lord Caleb? It’s Brenna here,” she said as I watched her closely while we continued our walk.

She paused for a moment and then continued. “Is it all right if we take Alfie with us to gather wild herbs?” She paused again for a moment and then nodded. “Yes, of course. Thank you so much, my lord. We’ll definitely be careful.” She nodded furiously some more and then said, “All right. Thank you, my lord.” Then she terminated the chat.

She turned to me and said, “All done.”

That easy, eh? Chatting with someone with personal qi via the WIFI communication system.

After I’d found a free spot to store my newly acquired personal hygiene items at the back of the clinic, Brenna and I headed out. As we came down toward the tent where we had the morning meal, we met up with Aria, who was helping the other soldiers clean up the area. Brenna and I were just starting to help, too, when I suddenly noticed a loud commotion going on.

Soldiers were rushing about everywhere, armed to the teeth with weapons. Then loud engines rumbled across the area, and I saw military vehicles, not unlike the Army trucks back at home, filing along and moving toward the edge of the clearing. I was awed at the sight before me.

Amid the soldiers were Felix and Caleb, gracefully saddling their winged lions and issuing commands loudly to their underlings. They sounded like a pair of sergeants doing a morning drill, their deep reverberating voices loud and clear. I was sure anyone within a mile could hear them.

They looked every damned bit the part of head warriors of the kingdom. Everything about them exuded power, influence, and control, and I felt my tummy fluttering and heart racing in excitement as I watched them.

I couldn’t help myself and found I was using my newly acquired military lenses to zoom in on Felix. He had his masked face directed away from me so all I could see was the defined line of his jaw, which was strong and sharp. My eyes lingered about his dark-brown hair, which was stylishly cut, the length resting snugly about the nape of his neck. His dark leather garments fit his masculine body to perfection, showing the defined line of his biceps, forearms, and those long, muscular legs. Everything about him exuded manliness and power.

I then shifted my eyes and zoomed in on Caleb. The moment I did so, I noted him swiftly turning his eyes away from me.

I had the nagging feeling Caleb had been watching me, and the moment he sensed me turning my attention to him, he bailed.

I couldn’t help myself, and I studied him, too, my gaze running along the line of his toned, firm physique. His black hair, like Felix’s, was cut stylishly, and the strands rested snugly against the nape of his neck. I must admit that seeing him in profile, he was the definition of a Greek god, with aquiline features: straight nose, firm lips, and strong, sharp jawline. In his dark warrior garments, he looked ready for a battle.

“They’re ready to leave,” Aria said, drawing my attention away from the men.

Brenna nodded, her hands clasped together as if in prayer. “I hope all will go well and everyone returns unharmed.”

I found myself nodding my head as well. When I returned my attention to the men, I saw Felix looking our way. He lifted one hand and waved. Beside me, both Aria and Brenna waved their hands back at him.

I stood there quietly watching as Felix and Caleb both shouted for their soldiers to depart. In an instant, the winged lions flapped their wings and then off they went, ascending to the sky, carrying Felix and Caleb with them.

As the soldiers—some riding the military trucks and others on horseback—started marching out, I had my gaze fixed on Felix and Caleb up in the sky until they disappeared from my sight.

When the camp was once again quiet and everyone returned to their routine, Aria and Brenna took me to their tent where they got themselves ready to go out collecting wild herbs.

About ten minutes later, the girls—with bags strapped across their shoulders—led me northward. As we were about to exit the perimeter of the camping site, we met up with Leona and four other soldiers. Apparently, we weren’t allowed to go out of the site without soldiers escorting us since the woods could be dangerous.

The four soldiers were Michael, Allan, Travis, and Peter, and as I would find out later, they were the lords’ top and most trusted men. I noted also they proudly sported their wolf ears, so I assumed they were wolf people, just as the girls were cat people.

Leona told Aria, Brenna, and the soldiers to contact the team if they suspected anything wrong and that they must return to camp before dark. This, Leona said was what Lord Caleb had told her to tell them, since he and Felix were responsible for everyone’s safety.

I secretly smiled. Caleb was a worrywart, wasn’t he? That must mean he cared about his people a great deal, which was an admirable trait as one of the lords of the kingdom.

Once everything was settled, Aria, Brenna, and I, along with our four soldiers, departed.

Our journey was on foot because there was no clear path for a vehicle, and the horses had all been reserved for the soldiers on the mission with Felix and Caleb. Tracking down those bandits was more important than us gathering wild herbs, so this arrangement was logical to me. Also, Aria had confirmed to me that the location where this particular herb grew wasn’t far from the camping site. A mere two hours or so journey on foot, which was fine with me because I enjoyed long walks anyway.

We hiked northward until the trees were taller than ever before and the bushes so thick that I suspected it was hard for even seasoned trampers back on Earth to get through.

We trailed along a narrow, barely passable path until we came to a less dense area, and the walk became easier. Oddly enough, I felt the atmosphere here was different. Why is this so? I didn’t know, but I felt it in my gut there was a change in the air. I thought it felt cold here, despite the heat of the sun beating down on us relentlessly.

Wiping sweat from my forehead, I glanced at Aria’s bag dangling by her side as she walked.

I asked curiously, “They’re quite small, aren’t they? Will there be enough room for the herbs? I mean, you’re planning on picking quite a bit, aren’t you?”

Aria said, “These are magic bags. They’re bottomless, so there should be plenty of room for the herbs.”

Well, of course they were magic bags. By this point, I wasn’t so surprised anymore.

“I see. They’re magic bags. I should have guessed.” Then, because I couldn’t help myself, I asked, “How much are they?”

Brenna said, “By the sound of it, you want one.”

I nodded eagerly. If I could acquire one, that’d be awesome. I could store all my belongings in there. It’d be very convenient, especially when traveling between kingdoms and, more so, realms. But I needed to get some money first if I wanted a magic bag of my own.

Aria said, “It’s rather expensive.”

Brenna nodded. “Fifteen gold coins.”

Gold coins, eh? I assumed this must be their currency.

I asked, “What’s the currency here? I mean, in my homeland, we use dollars. Of course, other parts of our world…I mean kingdom, use different types of currencies, but they can be traded.”

Aria said, “That’s interesting, Alfie. Here amongst the many close kingdoms, we all use the same sort of currency, which is bronze, silver, and gold coins. Of course, gold being the most expensive.”

That sounded logical enough to me. Then I wondered how many US dollars would be equivalent to one gold coin here.

I asked, “In this kingdom, how much would one get paid in a day if, say, one was to work as a waiter in a restaurant?”

Brenna looked at me and grinned. She asked, “Are you planning on finding a job?”

I nodded. “I’ll be honest that I have nothing on me. I lost everything during my travels.” I chuckled and said, “Not that I’m careless or anything.”

Aria nodded. “It’s unfortunate. But that’s traveling. Unless you hire adventurers or guards during your journey, then it’s not very safe, especially between borders.”

Brenna said, “About finding a job in our kingdom. It’s easy, as our economy is growing, and there’re always business owners looking for good staff members.”

Aria said, “As a waiter in a restaurant, you’ll get one gold coin a day, provided you work for eight hours a day. That’s a full-time position.”

Brenna said, “One hundred silver coins is equivalent to one gold coin, and one hundred bronze is equivalent to one silver coin. Though, I must admit we don’t use the bronze as much now since prices have increased.”

I did some calculations in my head and found the currency here was similar when compared to home. A silver coin was about the same as one US dollar, which meant fifteen silver coins was equivalent to fifteen US dollars, which was about the pay rate for a waiter.

“The pay rate is very similar to my homeland,” I said.

But that magic bag was fifteen gold coins. That’d be about one thousand five hundred in US dollars. Damn, but the price was way out of my league, especially now that I was penniless.

Suddenly, I thought about the military contact lenses I was currently wearing. How much would that have cost? Not to mention the magic socks and boots.

I started to freak out and reminded myself to be very careful with the items. I didn’t want to damage them. If I were to damage any of them, I would have to pay for the repairs when I returned them, wouldn’t I?