Early morning, Ning and Shara arrived at the western gate of Ternia City, walking through the misty morning to make their way to where the carriages were kept.
Even this early in the morning, there were quite a few people already lined up at the gate, ready to leave. They thought they had co early, but it turned out they were quite late.
Ning and Shara got to the line, right behind an old woman who seed to be struggling to move her sack each ti the line moved a little forward.
Ning was surprised when the quest popped up for a single point to help her move the sack. 'Oh, so they can pop up on their own even without initiating the exchange?' he thought. He had learned sothing on the 5th day of being in this world.
"Grandma, do you need so help?" Ning asked. "Let help carry that for you."
Ning handed his sack to Shara and helped the old woman.
"Oh, thank you, young man," the old woman said in a raspy voice, breathing a little harshly. She appeared tired from having to work this hard. "But won't you struggle? This young and you're already using a walking stick."
'A walking stick?' Ning thought and looked at the spear he held. The tip of the spear was covered in rag, so the rest of it looked as though it was nothing more than a walking stick. "Don't worry about , grandma. I'll be fine," Ning said and helped her along.
The old woman, now free of any burden moved swiftly along with the line. She talked with Ning and Shara, asking who they were and where they were from.
Both Ning and Shara answered their well-prepared answers, telling them exactly who they
were.
"Oh," the old woman said. "Youngsters should live their lives without regret. Who knows what can happen in the future."
The line for people and carriages was separate, so thankfully they got ahead in ti. Unlike when they ca in, this ti around, they did nothing more than a cursory glance at the people who walked through the gate.
The old woman passed and Ning was looked through first.
"Stop!" soone shouted just then, walking over to Ning and Shara. The two of them looked confused and turned over to the voice. The old woman paused and watched too.
A man in expensive-looking clothes walked out from the shadows of the gate and ca
toward Ning and Shara. He was a tall man with a muscular build and a face that was sohow both handso and scary.
"Can we help you, sir?" Ning asked.
"Who are you?" the man asked.
Ning was a little taken aback by the sudden questioning.
"Have we done sothing wrong?" he asked. "We just trying to leave."
"If you want to leave then answer my question. Who are you?" the man pretty much demanded an answer this ti.
Ning frowned, wondering what the deal with the man was. He saw a flash of white next to the man and thought it was a Bound Spirit, but upon further inspection, he noticed that the spirit had an actual form without even him having to focus on it.
This wasn't an Unbounded spirit and one that was much more likely bound to an Overtaker if it was working along with the muscular man.
"I—"
"What do you want with my grandson?" the old woman asked, her voice raising suddenly from the front. She walked over before Ning and stared down at the tall man, even though he was twice her height.
"Granny, please don't co in the way of official invest-"
"These are my grandchildren. If you want to ask sothing for them, you ask ," the old woman said.
The man paused, looking at the old woman for a while. "They are your grandchildren?" he asked.
"Yes!" she answered.
"Where are you headed toward then?" he asked.
"Our ho, in Yalkost City," the old woman said. "Do you want to ask anything else?"
The tall man thought for a mont and shook his head. "No, you are free to go," he said, letting the old woman leave with Ning and Shara.
Neither Ning nor Shara were quite aware of what was happening. The old woman had suddenly decided that they were their grandchildren for no reason.
The tall man went back into the shadow and the three were allowed to leave the gate. Ning turned back to Shara quickly, telling her not to talk for a while.
The Spirit that was around the man hadn't left them just yet. The old woman walked outside and continued walking, letting Ning carry her possessions.
Ning walked along with her and was happy to see that she was indeed headed to where the carriages were kept. Yalkost was in fact the next city they were headed to, so the three of them got into the sa carriage.
Only then did the Spirit finally stop following them and return back.
Ning breathed a secret sigh of relief. He turned to Shara and gave a slight nod, telling her that they were no longer being followed.
There were another 2 people in the carriage beside them, a couple who seed lost in their own soft conversation. The old woman leaned back against the soft fabric of the carriage and turned to look at Ning.
"So, what is it that you two idiots did to be pursued by the guards of the city?" the old woman asked. "Did you steal sothing valuable?
"We did nothing illegal at all," Ning said quickly. "I don't know why that man wanted to stop us. Whatever the reason was, thank you for stepping in."
"I had to step in," the old woman said with a soft sigh. "Had I not, you would've died."
Ning was taken aback at those words. "I'm sorry?" he asked. "I would've died?"
The old woman turned to look at him and said, "Yes, you would've died. In fact, I still see the mark of death on you in the very close future."
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