395 Lawless Zone (1/2)
Zero and Truen didn't put off their travelling schedule for too long. They spent close to two weeks getting from Rocket Mountain to Half Moon Village. Truen didn't know how long it would take them to find the gnome city and he didn't think it would be simple.
Bob sulked and hung off from Zero's shoulder, making himself comfortable there. After a while, Zero decided to add weight reduction magic on the leather bracelet because Bob was still heavy even for an adorable fluff ball. Truen didn't say anything about the new appearance of their travelling companion. In fact, he didn't speak to Bob at all and Zero felt slightly awkward for being the only one chattering throughout the journey. There were two companions with him excluding the sand walkers but neither of them were willing to participate in a conversation with him, making him sound like he was talking to himself the whole time. Hence, Zero stopped talking to conserve his words and chose to practice his appraisal skills instead.
There were still many things to appraise while they were still in Endow Hill's territory. To travel from Half Moon Village to the edge of the Endow Hill territory just before Derby Desert, it would take them about another two weeks. The sand walkers were not very familiar with the territory and terrain of the mountain. There were many wines and tangled roots because the path was not frequently travelled on. The ride became bumpy when Ela and Grigoria started to hop more after they got the hang of the trick to moving around faster in the dense foliage.
”Are we cutting right across the forest to reach the border?” Zero asked after half a day, unable to withstand the silence anymore. Bob looked too comfortable perched on his shoulder while his poor bottom ached.
Truen nodded. ”I figured that it would be a good way to save on the time we've lost getting here. If we cut through this patch of forest for three or four more days, there will be a main road at the foot of the mountain that we can take to Derby Desert. Merchants like to travel on it so they've made it out of gravel now. It should be a lot more comfortable to travel on the sand walkers when we hit the path because even carriages pass by often enough.”
Zero was curious. ”There are people travelling within Endow Hill's territory?”
The archer nodded. ”It's called the unlawful zone. Basically, nine out of ten people that you see travelling using that path won't be decent people. Bandits, evil merchants and even slave traders often use it to avoid the stringent checks near Magnus Hilda and Altear.”
”Truen,” he called out. ”Do we really have to pass by the lawless zone to get to Derby Desert?”
The archer paused and turned to look at his friend. This was the first time Zero questioned him about where they were travelling to. He did not object to sending Camie back to Magnus Hilda and was easy-going when they had to visit Rocket Mountain for a task. Zero wasn't even fussy over having to make a detour to get things from Derby Desert and when he was making his way over to Half Moon Village as a pit stop, Zero had no complaints. In fact, Zero agreed with the proposed path that they were going to take. Why the change of heart now?
”Is there something wrong?” he asked and slowed down the pace of the sand walkers so that he could get closer to Zero.
The more Zero thought about it, the less happy he was with the whole arrangement. Sure, he agreed to Truen's terms but he didn't think that he would feel so suffocated by a promise. Although Truen's rules didn't specifically state that he couldn't help the people he wanted to help, Zero agreed to do as the locals did and to charge for his services. He wasn't allowed to do charity cases.
”I want to revise the agreement. I don't want to not be able to do a thing to help those in need when I come across them, especially in lawless zones when committing crime is the norm. I can't do it, Truen. I just can't.”