Vengeance Upon Fate - Chapter 14

Kurogane was now leaving the center of the city, making his way to the western paths in hopes of reaching his next destination.

As he calmly yet swiftly roamed amongst the city crowd, he gazed at his surroundings.

He looked to the right and saw the bar which he commonly visited for meals. Looking to the left, he saw the adventurer’s guild.

A male adventurer opened the large door to walk out, and Kurogane could see the residents inside laughing and partying – free of care and responsibilities. As the door sealed itself shut, Kurogane turned his head away.

(I won’t be seeing anyone here for a long time. Who knows if I’ll even make it back. It’s not like it matters, since all this place ever had for me were countless misfortunes.)

Kurogane then started to recall Reo and his warm, enlightening smile.

〔Just come back in one piece someday, that’s all I ask for!〕

The same words echoed through his mind as he walked, his hood inconspicuously shading his head.

(I’ll be back for your sake alone. That is more than enough of a reason for me to do so.)

Kurogane headed towards an alley to stay out of sight since multiple groups of guards were patrolling the walkways.

“They might still be after me. I’ll head out at night since there are fewer guards. I can use the darkness to my advantage.”

Nightfall came by, and the crickets were stridulating as consistent as ever. After slipping through allies and avoiding encounters with the ground patrolling guards, Kurogane finally reached the western portion of the city walls.

He did his best to avoid the main gate, as guards would examine every citizen who left and entered, for obvious security reasons. This meant that he would be forced to remove his hood, which would likely end up against his favor.

With no other choice, Kurogane had to find a way to leap over the walls without getting noticed by the wall guards, as there was no telling what they would try to do and how far they’d go to be willing to find him, assuming he even got away somehow.

He stood before one portion of the wall as he hid behind a small building, closely monitoring the guards that were patrolling while the night was still young.

The guards of Varsilis were fully protected from head to toe in their gleaming, stainless steel armor that shone boundlessly as it echoed the moonlight’s offerings.

Even their helmets fully covered their heads, only leaving a seven inch long, horizontally curved for their vision through the helmet. They also wore steel boots and boldly crafted black gloves, followed by a ruby red cape that was topped with the golden pair of wings logo, which represented their loyalty to Varsilis.

The head piece also had a ruby red plume on the back portion, which stuck out and had its strandy ends hanging downwards. Each knight carried silver hilted rapiers made of Mithril, a metallic compound stronger than steel.

The color on the blade was similar to a steel type, but had a minor blue tone to it. They had their swords placed in a finely crafted, navy-colored leather sheath that was attached to their black waist strap.

Unlike the normal guards that he would see in the city, the ones that patrolled above the walls had a steel bow that they would hold in one of their hands instead of having it undrawn. These weapons had premium bow threads that were certainly capable of unleashing powerful projectiles. However, they didn’t seem to be carrying any ammunition with them.

As Kurogane noticed that lack of ammo on the guards, he began to think to himself.

(They most likely use elemental enchantments and spell projectiles. It’s still fairly effective and doesn’t require the hassle of carrying and reloading ammunition. I better be careful here.)

Kurogane pulled out two copper coins. With merely two guards facing their backs towards him with just eight feet apart in their vision, he could somehow get them to look towards their sides and use the gap in between them to quietly jump over and escape with the seconds he would hopefully have to spare.

(This should give me just the right amount of time)

Kurogane threw both coins, one to the left and the other to the right, both landing on the floor near the sides of the guards.

One looked to their left and the other looked to their right to see what happened, and in that brief moment, a slight gust took place as Kurogane silently leaped in between them, landing on the floor and pressing his body against the wall as he immediately stood up.

“Hey, what was that?” said one of the guards.

“Probably the wind… or I dunno, a wild animal maybe?” said his partner.

“I don’t know about you, but I don’t recall any animals that come here at this time of hour.”

Both looked forward with a vibe that something could be hiding against the wall on the outside portion. They looked back at each other and nodded, following their instincts to give it a quick glance.

As they approached the wall end, they leaned slightly forward and looked down to see if anything was hiding there, but found nothing in sight.

One of the guards placed his hand on his chin in confusion, his partner looking at him, eventually shrugging to himself. A few moments later, two more guards came to see what was going on, one arriving from each side.

Distant from the wall within a tree at the edge of the forest, Kurogane stood on one of the branches as he monitored the guards from the distance, who eventually went back to what they were doing.

Kurogane closed his eyes and took a deep sigh of relief.

“That was awfully close,” he murmured.

Kurogane jumped off the tree and proceeded to sprint silently through the forest.

(I should be able to navigate better if I come onto the main path. According to the map, Furren should be around six hours from here if I keep up my usual pace.)

About two hours later, Kurogane was walking on the main path, looking downwards while pondering on what to do next.

The land was vast and massive. Tall, lengthy Oak and Elm trees occupied the extensive, short grassed greenlands. The stridulating of the crickets was much louder, almost as if they sat next to one’s ear.

Occasionally a few wolves would be heard howling, which probably came from the tall, stone landmasses far away.

Kurogane didn’t manage to encounter any other travelers or harmful creatures. They were either asleep or out of sight altogether.

As he remembered something of great importance, he paused abruptly and began to think to himself. Wuxiaworld for visiting.

“It’s close by, isn’t it?”

Kurogane knew that his hometown, Harlan Village, was about an hour away, southwest from his location. He began to picture the place when it was still flourishing. Since he escaped alive, never had he gained the courage to pull himself together and visit the ruins of the place he once called home. The place where his heavenly days went by until it crumbled before him.

But now he came to an understanding that it was over. He was done helplessly hiding himself. With a long, unpredictable journey ahead of him, he was filled with impeachable courage and determination. Running away any longer was not an option.

Kurogane looked up towards the moon, which gazed back in a calm, soothing manner.

(It’s about time I faced it.. All of it… I can’t keep avoiding what I’ve carried till now. Southwest from here lies my home and the rest of the village. I’ll stop by and leave my prayers before going over to Furren. My mother along with the rest deserve it by all means..)

As he thought to himself, his fingers began to ball up, a tight fist forming due to unbearable regret.

Kurogane turned away from the main walkway, heading southwest to an alternate path in hopes to reach his village soon.

“I’m coming, mother.”