Chapter 34 Chapter 34 - Onward to Capital (2/2)

”Oh well, there's a spark for all sorts of flames…” Lino mumbled. ”Are you guys confident in doing well during the festival?” Lino asked, shifting the topic as the carriage slowly began moving, leaving behind the house-scattered Bridge Village behind.

”Confident, of course we're confident!” Jon exclaimed, puffing his chest out. ”Though, now that I'm seeing you… uh, you're not participating in brawling, right?”

”Ha ha, no,” Lino said. ”I'm going there merely to sight-see and, you know, sight-see.” he added with a wink.

”Oh!” Jon, Harry and William all exclaimed in unison, smiling knowingly.

”Oi, bastard, did you already forget that there's a lady in here with us?!” Eggor berated him as a giant palm landed on top of Lino's head.

”Oh, fuck you old bastard! Isn't that why I'm talking in metaphors?! Huh?! Did I say anything along the lines of 'I'm going to the Capital to fuck every single woman that would say yes'?! No! No I didn't!”

”…”

”…”

”Oh, yeah,” Lino chuckled lightly, though clearly not embarrassed. ”Khm, so, seeing as I'm not participating in the brawls, you guys better take top spots and treat me to fine ale, got it?”

”… are you even old enough to drink? Wait, are you even old enough to be talking about women in the first place?!” Jon asked as he had seemingly forgotten Lino was younger than them because of the robust body the boy had.

”Eh? What do you mean am I old enough?” it was Lino's turn to puff his chest out in pride. ”I'll have you know that I've both drank the finest mead and screwed the finest lady already! I'm a full-fledged man!”

”…”

”…”

”Ah, seriously,” Eggor sighed, clearly far more embarrassed for Lino than the latter was for himself. ”My deepest apologies,” he then turned toward the woman who was still smiling faintly. ”The kid loves to brag, 's all. I'll make sure to teach him a proper lesson.”

”No worries.” the woman replied in a gentle, low voice. ”Say kid, how about we kick them out when the night comes and have fun together?”

”…”

”…” silence, absolute silence! Jon, William, Harry and Eggor stared at this seemingly proper lady with bulged eyes. Lino's lips parted in slight 'o' exclamation before being overtaken by a sleazy smile.

”He he, you have fine eyes,” he said. ”I don't mind playing with you for a while.” after a few moments of silence, the conversation quickly steered away as everyone believed that the lady was just teasing the little boy.

However, the night came, and Jon, Harry, William and Eggor found themselves camping outside, by a tall oak tree. They all had elongated expressions of utter confusion on their faces as flickers of campfire shed some light on the nightly darkness. A few moments later, the carriage began shaking and creaking, as deep growls and moans echoed out in strange rhythm. Of the four, Eggor was the most disturbed one; he had yet even to teach the young brat of propriety and fealty and the boy had already gone astray! Who knows? Maybe he's really going to the Capital to sightsee after all! Eggor felt cold shivers run down his spine. Lino was, after all, fairly young and decently handsome. That paired with his unusually stout and well-refined body and it isn't a stretch to say that he'd be a decent catch in the eyes of many women. If he truly extended his hands and arms around haphazardly, Eggor suspected a birth of new specimen of demons by the time they're done with the visit to the Capital! No, I have to prevent that!! Tomorrow, I'll have to lecture the bastard properly!

On the other end of the curtains, Lino was currently having fun exploring the mature body beneath the palms of his hands. His head was kneaded deeply in-between the woman's breasts – whose name Lino only learned when she exclaimed 'Call my name! Call me Sarah!' during one of her erotic spasms. After environing number of sessions with Aeala, both his endurance and skillfulness had grown up a notch. Paired with the fact that Sarah was far from being as beautiful as Aeala resulted in carriage shaking and creaking for almost twenty minutes before coming to a stop.

Morning came and only then did Jon, Harry, William and Eggor dare enter the carriage. Inside, Lino was leaned against the wall, seemingly deep in thought, while the woman was perched up against the backend, sleeping. Her hair was a mess, dress torn in several places, while her lips were curled up slightly. Three pairs of eyes quickly locked onto Lino, gleaming in strange glee as they re-inspected this youth. On the other end, Lino had once again realized that the idea that cultivators should abstain from all 'worldly pleasures' was absolutely moronic. He'd tasted the fruit and he knew there wouldn't be going back now.

The carriage proceeded onward toward the Capital slowly. Though the small space within still appeared lively, there was bound to be a certain amount of awkwardness due to everything that transpired last night. Lino could only shrug it off with a chuckle. Meanwhile, Sarah was much more active than yesterday, as though her lips were suddenly unclogged. On the other hand, even though Eggor wanted to lecture Lino, he felt it was better he waited until the two were alone, without any disturbances. With such mixed atmosphere, the carriage slowly arrived at the Umbra City.

After dismounting the carriage and paying the toll, Lino was finally able to glance at the magnificent city. Outermost walls were built from thick, gray brick, rising upward for at least ten meters, with dozens of watchtowers spread about. The city's architecture was mostly gothic, baroque in the sheer amount of detail. Every major building had at least two spires piercing the sky like spears, while their domed roofs ranged from pure white to pure black in color, almost leaving no color untouched. The dirt road of the outside was immediately replaced by beautiful, white limestone. The city itself was built in a large valley, surrounded on one end by a deep and wide river, on another by a massive mountain, while the remaining two were open plains spilling into forests and hills. Lino's eyes bulged slightly at the sight of it all; though City of Mercenaries was without a doubt a rather impressive city, it looked like a massive dung when compared with Umbra. The centerpiece of the whole exhibition was no doubt the Palace – though Lino considered it more of a massive castle within the city. With walls striking nearly twenty meters in height and almost a meter of thickness, and six carefully placed watchtowers with reinforced, glassed windows to boot, it looked like an impregnable behemoth of cosmic proportions. Though the walls were drab gray in color, the insides were all but; even if he was unable to clearly see everything, just the dozens of white-dyed spires rising up like skewers were more than enough to tell him of the luxurious lifestyle that royalty enjoyed.

Lino had quickly parted ways with the group as he was led by ear by Eggor to look for the inn. The city streets were bustling with activity to the point that it took them almost a minute just to move a hundred paces. Even Lino found himself slightly annoyed as he constantly bumped shoulders with no small amount of courses heading his way. After the eleventh time, he snapped. He reached out with his right arm and grabbed the collar of a middle-aged man who told him that 'he was clogging the streets harder than a thick dung clogged narrow bum'. The middle-aged man was immediately shocked as he realized he couldn't put even a whiff of resistance against the massive force which heaved him up into the air. Lowering his gaze, his eyes met a pair of black stars, glaring at him with incomparable annoyance.

”I'm clogging the streets, huh?!” Lino growled angrily. ”I'll clog your damn mother! Fuck you!! Say it again you fat-fucked bastard, I dare you!! Come on, where's your fucking bravado, huh?! If I see your face again I'll rip my foot so far up your ass that I'll unclog your fucking throat from your neck, got it?! Get lost!!” he threw the man casually, yet the poor thing flew nearly ten meters across the sea of people, landing elsewhere where he was immediately besieged by another relay of curses, no doubt getting beaten up.

”…” Eggor's eyebrows twitched as his expression turned odd; he suddenly realized that the little bastard was actually holding back against him! If he used that vicious tongue to the full extent against him, Eggor wondered whether he'd even be able to withstand a minute of it. ”Let's go, don't stir up the trouble the moment we arrive.”

”…”

It took the pair nearly fifteen minutes until they arrived in a slightly less-populated street; unlike the limestone-paved path they came from, the streets here were much more akin to those outside the walls. Either they were full of stirring dirt or of shaky, half-cracked cobblestones. Lino knew that this was the reality of things, whether it was Umbra Capital, City of Mercenaries or Bridge Village in question. Wherever was the splendor of delight and magnificence, there was the light-woven shadow cast upon the backend few ever see. For every nobleman bathing in liquefied gold, there was a whole set of families who'd forgotten what the word 'bathe' even means. Though the streets were impoverished and full of beggars, neither Eggor nor Lino were affected that much. Former had gone through far worse things in his life, while the latter had grown up in a place exactly like this, if not worse. Both were all too familiar with the ugly side of life.

After fiddling about for a few minutes, they finally reached the small-time inn near the western end of the city, barely fifty meters away from the tall wall. The inn was three stories tall, the only building nearby which boosted stone walls and some basic decorations. After paying a ten-silver-a-night fee, the duo was sent up to the second floor into a relatively small, but comfy enough, room with two beds and absolutely nothing else.

”Tsk,” Eggor clicked his tongue. ”Ten silvers for this shit? Aren't they ashamed?”

”Oh come on,” Lino rolled his eyes. ”It's still better than that crap you call home.” Pu! It's been a while since Lino felt the humongous palm crash against his cheeks. He realized he missed it somewhat, causing his eyebrows to fiercely twitch. Oi, this isn't good. What if I suddenly get a stiffy while fighting? Where would my damn image go?

”… are you sure you don't want me to give you anything?” Eggor asked as the two sat down.

”Old bastard, do you want me to turn into a parrot?” Lino said with a somewhat annoyed expression. ”Unlike you, I won't be proactively looking for the damn Demons. I'll just look for the signs and bolt my ass to eighth heaven the moment I spot something.”

”… ah, whatever, I already tried. Can't do anything if you keep refusing the toast. Where do you plan on looking?” Eggor asked as the two had already cleanly studied the Capital's map before departing.

”Sewer system,” Lino said, sighing. ”Though all entrances elsewhere are probably barred, I can maybe dig up something. What about you?”

”I'll go mingle with the crowd under the pretense of registering you,” Eggor said. ”Remember to use the talisman if you get in trouble, got it?!”

”…” Tsk, why don't perky women sweep in and give me communication talismans? Why are only old geezers so interested in me? Lino scoffed inwardly for a moment before replying. ”Alright, alright. Don't be a worrywart. I'm not a complete idiot.”

”… are you certain about that?” Eggor asked, looking at him with odd gaze.

”Be honest, you're just jealous I banged that babe while you could only sit outside and watch-no, wait, listen-right?”

”….”

The two waited for the night to arrive before Lino departed from the inn. Mantling his [Cleft Shadow], he began inconspicuously moving through the alleys. He also equipped [Celestial Plate]. Though its effects were somewhat lowered at his current Level, they were still helpful, especially during the night. Before meeting up with that old geezer from the Dying Roses Sect, he had to do three things first: scout out the Black Bear Inn, map escape routes, and listen in on the gossip from the commoners. As someone who practically grew up in the streets, Lino was quite versatile in understanding where the source of information lay. Even if most of it was gossip, it was almost always based on a truth; after simply weeding through the lies, one could usually find out far more from the ordinary commoners than even established Information Guilds. After all, the latter would always withhold a certain amount of information, especially if it pertained to important figures. And that's exactly what Lino had to learn – the hierarchy and structure of the upper strata. For a whole Demon Nest to not only appear but also sustain itself within the heart of a Kingdom, a powerful hand with immense political and economic influence was required. In order to unveil the hidden shadow behind it all, he first had to learn everyone who operated in light.