Witch or Saint? – Part 04
We stopped at night to camp out, then resumed our trip early in the morning.
As I watched the landscape rush past, my nose caught the smell of the sea. Zero, who had never seen the ocean before, was restless. The scent was unfamiliar to her.
When the carriage crested the hill, my field of vision widened, and I saw the color blue stretching out to the far horizon. The sea. Vast and blue, like always. A city lay sprawled along the shoreline—the port city of Ideaverna.
“Incredible!” Zero leaned out of the carriage. “Mercenary, look! There are so many ships!”
“Amazing, right?” Theo joined her, smiling proudly as though showing off something he owned.
Countless vessels were docked in a row on the harbor. Huge ships with their sails completely unfurled kicked up waves as they sailed away. Small, fully-loaded cargo ships slid into the docks in a hurry.
Canals from the sea spread out like veins all over the city, where small boats with colorful canopies swayed like leaves.
“Those are all stalls, by the way,” Theo said. “People unload cargo from the bigger ships to the smaller ones and sail through the waterways to do their business. They sell, like, rare fruits and stuff.”
“Rare fruits? Very interesting,” Zero said. “I want to try them!”
The horse neighed. As the carriage trudged gently down the hill, I saw a crowd gathered by the road. There was even an elegant carriage. It was probably a group of people waiting for the saint’s arrival.
The sun was still high in the sky, and for once, the priest’s face was filled with relief.
“Ah, thank goodness! Thank you so much, Your Eminence, for coming all the way from the Holy City to a remote place like this!”
On the road to Idea Verna, the most famous port city in the Republic of Cleon, the governor and his party had surrounded us.
As we stepped out of the humble carriage, a large, bearded man who appeared to be the governor himself, rushed over to us and, for some reason, grabbed Zero’s hand.
“It’s an honor to meet you, Your Eminence. I must say, you’re even more beautiful than what the rumors say!”
“I am indeed beautiful, but I am not the saint. In fact, you could say we are polar opposites.”
Keep your mouth shut, you moron. I shot a glare at Zero, and she looked away. Seriously, what’s her problem?
“The saint is the one with the huge breasts over there.” Zero glanced at Lia.
Eyes wide open, the governor immediately pulled away from Zero and grabbed Lia’s hand instead.
“I apologize,” he said. “Her appearance was too immaculate that these wicked eyes of mine misjudged. But you are beautiful as well.”
He’s a legit womanizer. It’s almost impressive.
He looked to be past middle age, but his toned physique was brimming with life. This kind of aura was common among sailors. As one might expect from a governor of a port city, he was most likely eighty percent a sailor.
“Please enter the carriage,” the man said. “Let us skip all the troublesome formalities and go to my castle. Your companions may come, of course.”
A Beastfallen like me couldn’t possibly ride in the carriage he prepared. Lia, her attendant, the priest, and for some reason, Zero rode in the governor’s carriage, while me and Theo settled for the one that brought us here.
Zero didn’t say she wanted to ride with me, and I didn’t try to get her in either.
“Gramps…” Theo sounded dismayed.
As the wagon rumbled onward, I wrinkled my nose at the smell of the sea, directing only my ears to the boy.
“Zero is your employer, right?” he asked. “Why are you only nice to the saint?”
“Are you talking about me carrying her? We didn’t have much of a choice back then.”
“You supported her in the carriage too. Zero looked really pissed.”
“Well she wasn’t gonna fall off the wagon.”
“Maybe, but you know, you should be more considerate of her.”
“Sorry, but I have no idea what you’re trying to say.”
“Aw, jeez! I’m telling you to be more aware of how a woman’s mind works!”
How was I supposed to do that? I had barely made contact with any women in my entire life. I highly doubted Zero had this woman’s mind thing anyway. She lived her life based on logical reasoning, and her signature move was ruthlessly dismissing my emotional arguments.
“Anyway! Here’s my advice as a friend: When you get to town, be nice to her. Okay?”
When exactly did we become buddies?
I didn’t feel the need to deny it, so I kept my mouth shut. I seemed to have really taken a liking to the boy.
Not long after, the carriage passed through the gates of Ideaverna. The distinctive feature of the city was no doubt the waterways that acted like normal streets. The small boats drifting along the canals had different colors on their canopies depending on the type of goods they sold.
The most dominant color was red, which stood for food.
The town was bustling with residents shopping in their own boats and thrilled tourists and travelers who seemed to have just arrived by boat.
If Zero was riding in our wagon, she would have definitely jumped off and set off to explore the town.
“Hey, Theo. Do you know what Ideaverna is famous for?”
“There’s a lot. Foreigners usually love to eat Kelbas, the huge shrimp, but I’d say Fulgol is the best.”
“Is that a fish?”
“Yes! It’s big, and it’s used in all sorts of dishes. Fulgol isn’t exactly rare, but here in Ideaverna, you can eat them raw.”
“Eat fish raw?”
“It’s delicious. It’s soft and sweet. When I was here, I sometimes picked up discarded bones and scraped off the bit of meat left and ate it.” Theo suddenly leered at me. “I see how it is. You’re planning to please Zero with food. You really don’t know anything, huh? When it comes to women, it’s gotta be shiny things!”
“You mean jewelry? Unfortunately, that doesn’t work on that woman. She already has a lot.”
“You just don’t get it.” Theo rubbed his freckled nose.
What is it that I don’t get? And what exactly is it that you know so much about?
His confidence, however, made him sound convincing. I was, in fact, unfamiliar with women.
“Don’t you feel happy when you receive something? It’s the thought that counts.”
“In that case, wouldn’t food be alright?”
“You need something tangible! Man, you’re such a nincompoop.”
Nincompoop? Where’d he learn such outdated language?
Letting out a sigh, I turned my attention back to the cityscape. Tanned seamen had all sorts of tattoos all over their bodies, the most common one being that of the goddess, followed by anchors and chains. Tattoos of goats were the rarest.
“Wait, goats?”
Although differing in details, the bandits also had goat tattoos. I thought it was unique to the bandits, but it might be symbolic all throughout the Republic of Cleon.
“Theo. Do you have a goat tattoo?” I asked casually.
“I don’t.” He replied casually as well. Then he giggled. “You thought that since I was working for the bandits, I had a goat tattoo too, didn’t you? It’s the other way around. Those with goat tattoos become bandits.”
“What?”
“People with the mark of a goat gather at Fort Lotus. Rumors draw them in, or someone brings them.”
“What kind of a gang is that? Besides, you don’t have a tattoo.”
“I don’t, but my mom got one.”
“I see. Your mom’s a bandit which automatically made you one too.”
Does that mean his mother is still in the gang?
But Theo begged for us to take him so he could return to his home near the Holy City. If his mother was a member of the gang, then where exactly was his house?
“Wait a sec… By home, you meant Fort Lotus?!”
The bandits’ hideout, Fort Lotus, was located near the Holy City of Akdios. If Theo’s mother was there, then Theo’s home was Fort Lotus.
“Yup.” Theo laughed.
In other words, after being separated from the bandits, he was trying to return to Fort Lotus by himself.
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