Quintin’s POV
When nobody answered my calls from inside the walls, my fists pounded the gates even more causing bruises and wounds to appear on my hands. My voice which was loud and brave at first, started to crack and turn into a pleading and desperate tone.
Is anybody still alive in the village? Did the bandits attack? Were they able to escape to so place else?
Just when I was losing hope, I heard the loud voice of my father saying "Stop" and that it was outside the gates. I wiped the tears from my face hurriedly as relief washed all over my body.
It took so ti for the gates to open and I felt like it was the longest minute in my life. When the gate finally opened a bit, I squeeze myself between the gaps hurriedly and ran inside to look for my parents.
What welcod was a tight hug from my parents and the smiling faces of the residents, congratulating for a safe return. So even asked why I visited so suddenly when I said that I will be away for at least half a year. Surprisingly, everything was normal.
Well, normal was too much to describe it. As I looked around the town plaza, I can see the magnificence of the newly built wall. From afar, I can see what seems to be two newly built houses. As to who is living there, I might need to ask my father about it.
Another pleasant surprise was a huge open air kitchen with many tables and chairs at the northern part of the plaza. When did we have a community kitchen here in Ersha?
Since I was done looking up, I looked down towards the ground and noticed that although the streets were not paved like in bigger towns and cities, the ground seed to have been smoothened and compacted to avoid accidents. My eyes continued to wander and then suddenly, in the corner of my eyes, I saw the town residents being led by a woman, exiting another gate towards the direction of the lake.
My eyes furrowed as I am quite sure that there was no such woman living in our town before. Is she perhaps the owner of those two new houses? Is she a noble or sothing?
It may just be my curiosity that won over but I found myself walking towards the direction where the group of villagers left, wanting to know who the woman whose back was the only thing I saw. As I stepped forward, my father grabbed on both shoulders as he shook and called my na.
I turned my attention to my father as I asked, "What is it father? Did you call for ?"
My father was staring at with worried eyes. I heard my mother speak, "Your eyes suddenly beca dazed as if you were hypnotized by sothing. Are you okay? Did you perhaps get sick from the long travel?"
I got confused with the barrage of questions I got from my mother. The last thing I did was simply look at the group of people for a while and at the back of the woman exiting the gate. Did I look at them for too long?
I shook my head and smiled to assure them, "I just saw a group of people leaving in that direction. There was a person who seem unfamiliar though I only saw their back. I was just curious. That’s all."
My father widened his eyes and smiled, "Oh! I totally forgot about that. That’s the royal envoy sent by Hoffen City. She is kind, powerful and really beautiful! She made this wall. Those new houses over there, that’s our new trading post and clinic! She is even training beginner healers! She cleaned up the bandits too and made a path that cuts through the forest straight to the lake!"
I couldn’t help but laugh at how talkative my father is. He becos like this when he is happy or very excited about sothing. I jokingly asked, "Are you simply praising sobody or are you trying to sell the envoy to ?"
My father was stunned, the smile on his face disappearing gradually. With a serious face and a tone of voice he replied, "It would be great if she takes an interest in one of the unmarried n here and takes them in as her man. If that happens, she will definitely continuously look out and provide assistance to our town in the future. The problem is, she doesn’t seem to be interested in anybody."
After the greeting, my curiosity which was not yet fulfilled continued to gnaw at . I asked my father if he was supposed to join the group earlier and he readily said "Yes" since it is an inspection of the forests and lake after the bandits were removed. He has to be there as a chief and an overseer as well.
An idea imdiately popped inside my head as I told my father in an innocent tone, "If you are really an important mber of that group, I can accompany you through the forest so you can catch up with them father. They shouldn’t have gotten far. If we leave now, we will be able to rejoin that group soon."
My father, seemingly considering what I said carefully, eventually agreed. My father has a weak physical constitution. His only redeeming qualities were his leadership skills and his brilliant mind. I just got lucky that my body was not as weak as his and even developed well enough to be accepted as a rcenary and an adventurer.
I hurriedly pulled my father towards the gate that was used by the earlier group of people to exit the town. We have to catch up to them as soon as we can but I still have to keep my father’s safety in mind.
It didn’t even take 10 minutes when I could already see the last few people of the group walking in front of us. My father hastened his pace as he saw it too. My father grabbed my wrist and pulled towards the front of the group. He stopped near the envoy and introduced to her.
She acknowledged my father’s greeting with a nod on her head but she did not even look towards our direction. She seed to be focused on explaining plants and their uses. Seeing that the envoy was busy, my father bowed and then pulled to one side for a seemingly serious talk.
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