Emperor's Reckoning

The old man gulped before commanding the horse to move toward the break of dawn. His head was puzzled as he failed to notice the quality of the cloak that the group wore. He was wrong, not only were they not the bandits, they were giving him a heavy sum that only consisted of just the down payment for the entire trip.

"Hm..." the old man tried to ease the unease tension. "I'm sorry to ask, but who are you, people?"

"Why do you ask?" said Graham as he leered down.

"Eek!" the old man shrieked and pulled the reign out of his terror. The horse neighed as it raised its hind legs and the carriage abruptly stopped.

"Get a hold of yourself old man!" Assid glared behind his glasses.

"S-Sorry!" the old man apologized with the strength of his seven ancestors.

"What are you doing, you two?!" Cecile said with a stern voice.

Assid and Graham immediately straighten their spine to the gaping mouth of the old farmer. A scold, mere words, it was all she needed to make them behave.

"Apologies, Young Miss."

"Sorry, older sister."

( Woah, even this giant had his head bowed, very frightening ) the old man gulped. The power that the group held was something at first glance. However, the structural hierarchy immediately laid itself out. The woman was superior, supremely superior.

"Sorry about that," said Cecile from the back.

"Oh no no no no! Young Miss, it must have been my fault," said the old farmer as he shook his head. "I was startled."

Cecile smiled, "Either way, please continue."

"Y-Yes, at once, Young Miss!" the old man immediately answered before he made the horse clap against the ground.

"You can ask anything you want, old man," said Lyon from the back.

"I-I see, thank you, err..."

"My name is Sein," answered Lyon nonchalantly.

Lumina and Luna looked at Lyon with a look that made the latter a bit confused. It was so natural coming out of his mouth and he was the same person that reconsider canceling the trip just a moment ago.

"T-Thank you, young master Sein," said the old farmer.

However, even after Lyon said that the old farmer refrained from speaking a word.

"Excuse me, sir, why did you sell your corps to the market in Garuda City?" asked Luna out of the blue.

"Ah, err, the Garuda City is a big city, and they are recently bringing a lot of crowds."

"Really?" Luna asked conspicuously.

"Yes, yes, young miss. Everywhere I go in my village, they always say Garuda City this, Garuda City that, and all of that are positive remarks," the old man nodded. "So I thought, why not go there and sold my corps as well."

"How much did you make?" asked Luna.

"Ah," the old man blushed. "The money is little compared to this pouch, young miss. I'm too embarrassed to say."

"But is it enough to feed your family?" asked Lumina.

"Yes, yes, it is enough, I can save a little bit more money than I should, but,"

"But?" Cecile raised one of her brows.

"This horse of mine is called Dora, she has been with me ever since she was born, however, just as I grow old, so is she, it won't be long before I need to get a new horse."

"But it's a good horse, you tend her well," added Graham.

"T-Thank you, sir, heh, sometimes I got scolded by my wife because I spent more time with this horse than her," the old man made a wry smile. "But what can I say, Doras has been a friend, and I know her long before I knew my wife."

"Dora is a good horse," Graham nodded.

"Indeed," said Assid.

"How about your son?" asked Luna. "What did he do?"

"Ah, he is an aspiring adventurer."

"Oh?" Kesya raised one of her brows.

"He always returns home bringing some meat, some little money too, however, I doubt that he would be able to make a decent living out of that job," he sighed. "Our farm is small, I inherited it from my late father, but the boy wants to wield a sword and not a hoe."

Lyon made an audible exhale with a wide smile as he darted toward the back of the road. His eyes bulged as he rock back and forth with one of his legs bouncing.

"Hmm? What's wrong Ly— I mean Sein," said Luna with a wry smile.

Lyon shook his head with an obvious suppressed smile. He knew that if he opened his lips to say a word, all the laughter contains would burst out and lead to unnecessary questions and weird looks.

"Do you want to take a leak?" asked Lumina.

Lyon shook his head firmly as he avoided everyone else's glance.

Cecile furrowed her brows but asked no question about Lyon's odd behavior.

"Your son sounds more like a hunter to me," said Kesya.

"Yeah, that's what I told him, but he shook his head every time I asked about it," the old farmer sighed. "He firmly believed, hand on chest, that he is an adventurer."

"But you said aspiring," added Cecile.

The old farmer sighed, "I know, but he really is just an aspiring adventurer in reality. He is currently taking some tests to enter the guild in the nearest small city from our village."

"An adventurer should, adventure," added Graham. "It's not about the guild he belonged, it's about the thrill of uncovering secrets."

The old man was slightly startled by his answer before he politely asked, "Sir, are you an adventurer."

Graham made a low grunt. "I'm not an adventurer, keep your eyes on the road."

"The path is long and would eat a few days, I hope that your family has spare food for a few days," said Assid.

"Oh don't worry, we are farmers, we have food, but I know a path most adventurers took, we can use that path instead, and coincidentally there is a little guild stationed there too, so we can take a break as well."

"How long does the path take?"

"To the local guild? We should arrive at dusk."