Katsuo was happy that he had finally met another human being after leaving the forest but he was kind of peeved right now.He felt like he had gotten involved with something he shouldn't have.At first, he had thought he was taking care of some random thieves but it seemed like they were assassins sent to kill this guy.Well, that was okay.He didn't know if the guy he saved was a bad guy that deserved to die or not, but at least he had stopped the murder of a human being.As a bonus, he could also ask for directions to the Free City of Dawn.However, the weird incident started with the guy introducing himself.The first words that came out of his mouth were a lie.How did he know?Because while he was trying to make his tongue regain sensation with the herbs he picked up along his journey, he was also reading his status panel.---[Name]: Kalrune Einhar Greywulf (Disguised)[Age]: 26[Job]: Civilian[Rank]: 0[Title]: The Fangless Wolf, Heartsmasher[Background]: Minister of Foreign
After cleaning up the remains of the assassins, Kalrune and Maria went up to the tree Katsuo was perched on."Sir, now that the urgent matters have been dealt with, allow me to introduce myself once again. My name is Gaston Hedley, an ambassador of Oedl Kingdom, and this one here is my personal guard Maria Hedley, a rank 6 expert swordsman. Would you be kind enough to introduce yourself? Please forgive this one's ignorance but I don't think I have heard of a Voice of Nature with your description before."Katsuo jumped down the tree and inspected the two. She had glass blue eyes and ash-grey hair tied into a braid that was running down her left shoulder. With the scar running through her right cheek, she looked like a seasoned warrior. However, there was something Katsuo had found with the fight before and Maria in front of him now.He had ignored it before due to more pressing matters but 'Gaston' had called one of the assailants master class. Katsuo had regularly sparred with Aranel
Borders of Harham WastelandsCapital of Greywulf DuchyBiledzir Castle***It was just before dawn. When the nightguards were in their most vulnerable state. After a night of standing guard on full alert, they were all tired.Einrich yawned, trying to keep himself awake.He was one of the many soldiers stationed in this castle, tasked with protecting Oedl from the invasion of nasty monsters. Most people from Oedl would call his job a thankless one but as a native of Biledzir, he was proud of his career. He had grown up hearing the stories of the famous winter wolf brigade protecting the walls so they could live safely. It was thanks to their sacrifice that he and his family could live happily. Now that he was one of them he couldn't be any happier.If it was any other part of Oedl they would call him an idiot. He was a rank 4 expert warrior, meaning he could easily become a sergeant in any other army but here he was just one of the many nameless soldiers. That was because the minimum
The discussion Katsuo had with Kalrune was insightful but at the end of the day, it was just that. He had no intention of getting involved with this so-called 'secret war', so for him, it might as well have been white background noise.Though at least he had learnt about the world's current state, which was a plus.For the rest of their journey, the party didn't encounter any more assassination attempts. There were a couple of times Katsuo felt like they were being watched but before he could locate the assailant the feeling would disappear. It was annoying. Katsuo didn't know who was secretly watching them but he didn't feel any danger so he was sure that whoever it was, they posed no threat to him.And this was the reason why it felt so annoying. If he were to give an analogy, Katsuo felt like there was a mosquito in his room while he was trying to sleep. When he turned on the lights it would disappear. If he turned off the lights, he would start hearing the buzz again.Thankfully,
In the blink of an eye, a week had passed and Katsuo finally managed to get into the city.He couldn't complain that it took him this long when it was his own decision to wait. If he had used the letter that was given to him by Aranel, he would have waited a day at most. Though the waiting itself was enjoyable."Even the air inside here feels different. You can smell the freedom." said Sven while taking a deep breath.Sven was the name of the man standing in front of Katsuo. During the week they spent in line together they had gotten much closer. He was from Horvaard, a nation that was known for its love of the sea. It was said that men of Horvaard were born with a yearning for the sea in their hearts so they were drawn to it. Of course, this meant that they had a strong navy. Though it was an open secret that the members of the 'navy' would spend their free time escorting sea merchants. However, the truth was that they were a bunch of pirates. The only sea merchants they escorted we
As she looked at the oncoming crowd, Gail frowned in annoyance. Just from their get-up, it was obvious that all of them were dirt poor.It was to be expected considering they didn't use the express entrance.However, Gail couldn't stop hoping that she might be able to find a-'Jackpot!'She would have shouted in joy if she hadn't stopped herself at the last minute.In front of her there were two idiots, one of them was almost twice her size and his body was covered in scars. From his ginger hair tied into a braid, Gail guessed that he must be a Horvaardian. She didn't want to mess with him as Horvaardians were known to be barbaric people but the real mark was the naive-looking boy standing next to him. He was barefooted and wearing a black fur shirt that was crudely made from wolf skin. He had jet-black hair which was slightly uncommon, probably a Buhrakian. His unkempt hair and dirty body screamed that he was a beggar. He was probably a poor sod that had offended his khan and had t
"Who would dare to do such a thing!? Don't worry Master Katsuo! I will get them for you!"When he turned back, Katsuo saw a face he wasn't expecting to see anymore. It was Kalrune."How? Why? Ahem! What are you doing here?"Katsuo wiped the beads of tears in his eyes and tried to regain some dignity."You know who these people are, lil bro?"Sven looked at the duo walking inside like they owned the place. It seemed like the guild members were used to it since they didn't pay any attention to their antics."Uhm, well, we can be considered... acquaintances?" Katsuo coughed to hide his embarrassment."You savage, how dare you casually call Master Katsuo your lil bro? Do you even know who you are talking to? He is an esteemed Voice of Nature, he doesn't have enough time to humour your antics. So, Master Katsuo, how about we go and talk somewhere in private? We have much to talk about." Kalrune spoke haughtily while rubbing his hands together.When he looked at him, Katsuo thought Kalrune
"...ugh-"Gail came to herself with a giant headache. She wanted to check out the wound but found that her hands were tied."What?"She forced her eyes open to see where she was, trying to remember what had happened. She had successfully escaped from the Drunen Cat goons and had been merrily going to her handler to get rid of the goods.Everything was fine up to that point but why couldn't she remember what happened afterwards?Had she been jumped?No, that wasn't possible. If anyone were to try to sneak up on her, she would have sensed it and run away.Then was she betrayed by Ruth?That wasn't possible either, Gail had done a lot of business with Ruth before so she definitely wouldn't have been betrayed over this score.Maybe she had messed with the wrong crowd?This couldn't be possible as well. At least recently there wasn't anyone of note that she had offended. It couldn't be those losers she stole from either, they didn't look like they had any connections in the city.Then how