The Normal Farmer - Completed

Chapter 18 - Arriving to Tannery

During the afternoon, Duza and her group continued their voyage, with Ronald hitting with his sling every tree he saw and receiving some angry looks from Duza every time he did it.

Almost at the end of the afternoon, when a City could be seen at some distance on the right side of the main road where they were travelling, Duza turned around her horse and went to warn the others: “There’s a checkpoint blocking the road ahead with a group of Guards. I don’t expect we will have any kind of problems getting through, but it would be better if you all were ready for everything, but don’t grab your weapons or make any sudden movements; let me do all the talking, understood? Especially you, Mister Ronald, because you have the bad habit of reacting before getting a grasp of the situation.”

Ronald opened his mouth to answer back, but Duza warned him: “I didn’t ask for your opinion, Carrier! Do as I say! And be ready if I call you!”

She then went to her place at the front of the carriage. Ronald was looking at her in silence, and Taly saw he was angry. “She is right, you know? She has way more experience in this kind of job than you. Better we do as she says.”

They slowed their approach so that the Guards at the checkpoint didn’t think they were suspicious. At three metres from the checkpoint, one of the Guards raised his right hand and ordered them to stop.

Duza calmly stopped her horse while looking at the Guards. There were four Guards and a man with a brown robe and with a Card Box in his left hand, ready to take out a Magical Card. Duza thought that was weird, not only because of the checkpoint at the limits of the City but also because of the extreme security measures. Four Guards fully armed and a Mage? Very weird indeed.

So, she asked, “Good day, Guards. We came from Durant, and we want to go to that City to pass the night before continuing our journey tomorrow morning. Did something happen around here lately to warrant the need for a checkpoint within the City limits? Because we were travelling all this time, unaware of any danger.”

The Guard shouted, with too much rudeness in his voice: “Shut up, woman! I will be the one to do all the talking! What is the purpose of your travel?”

Duza raised one eyebrow. “I don’t remember allowing you to disrespect me, only because I am a woman. Unless you want to lose your head right now, I would advise you to be more careful with the way you address me. You don’t know me, and you can’t possibly imagine what I am able to do.”

The Guard shouted while placing one hand over the hilt of his sword: “I don’t care who you are, woman! We are City Guards of Tannery, and we were placed here to prevent any suspicious person from getting inside the City. And your group looks very suspicious to me! I ask again, what is the purpose of your voyage?”

Duza placed her hand over the hilt of her sword as well. “You want to continue like that, okay… We are travelling to Argoheria on a diplomatic mission, escorting two dignitaries from a foreign country. One is riding the carriage, and the other is inside, resting. They are travelling in disguise to prevent any kind of problems.”

“Tell them to get out of the carriage. I want to see them!”

Duza slowly looked back. “Mister Taly and Miss Ari, do you mind stepping out of the carriage?”

Taly passed the reins to Ronald and jumped to the floor, going to one side door of the carriage to grab Ari’s hand when she was getting out. They stood there, side by side, looking at the Guards.

The Guard made a weird smile. “Such a young couple are foreign dignitaries? That’s good to know… That means they have a lot of money to spare, and they wouldn’t mind paying our kindness by letting them pass, right?”

Duza looked at the Guard and answered with anger in her voice: “Are you really asking for a bribe, you, City Guard? The most honourable job a normal person can have in a City? Does your Captain know about this?”

The Guard smiled. “I am the Captain of these Guards, woman! Unless you want to have the same fate as those buried there. They didn’t want to pay us for their safe passage, either.”

Duza looked to where he was pointing, and she saw more than ten spots with a stick pierced into the ground, marking the burial site of someone. Her blood started to boil. “I told you to be more respectful; you continued acting like that, and now you ask for a bribe?”

“It’s my right to ask for anything I want to allow such a suspicious group to enter my…”

He didn’t finish his sentence. Duza threw a dagger directly into his throat, and when blood was squishing out, she immediately raised her sword and shouted as soon as the Captain dropped dead on the ground: “I am the Adventurer Duza Sonanji! By the authority that my rank grants me, raise your arms immediately to be arrested, or you will die this instant!”

While she was shouting, Ini got an arrow ready on his bow, Ovaidel grabbed his short swords, and Reylom lifted his spear. The Guards and the Mage went into a panic.

They were doomed if the City Chief ever knew they failed to receive the bribe for the passage and deliver him his share, so they raised their swords and the Mage grabbed one Card. But before he could throw it, they were all blinded by the sudden bright light coming from Duza’s Spell Card that Ronald gave her, the Light Ray.

She jumped from the horse and quickly disarmed them all. She even took the Card Box from the Mage and placed her sword against his neck. “Don’t make any sudden movements and answer very carefully. Do you have any hidden Magical Card or any kind of weapon?”

“No… I mean… I have a dagger in my belt, at my back…”

“Very slowly, take it out and throw it to the ground. Then, take three steps back. Do anything else, and I will slice your throat. And to the others, the same deal: very slowly drop any Card or weapon you have and walk back.”

Five daggers and three swords fell to the ground, and they walked backwards three steps. Duza called for assistance: “Mister Ronald, bring the Spider and grab these weapons. Ask the Spider to tie them by their hands so that we can drag them to the City.”

Ronald quickly went to do as she said, and when the Guards and the Mages could see again, they had their hands tied to each other and were looking at a menacing ‘Giant Spider’ that was clacking her mouth pincers.

She made a long thread that Ronald used to glue their hands together and tie them at the back of the carriage. Duza gave him the Card Box that she took from the Mage. “See if you can use any of these while we continue. I want to have a word with the City Chief in there.”

She went to her horse again after removing the blockade from the road with Ronald’s help. Duza quickly popped the Mana orb that was above the dead Captain and dragged his body to one side of the road. Ari went to the carriage again, and Taly hopped back to his seat, next to Ronald, while still blinking his eyes from the sudden flash of Duza’s Card.

They continued in the City’s direction, with the captives firmly tied to the back of the carriage, walking and tripping while the carriage continued without any care for their well-being.

In front of the City Gate, two Guards stood there, looking at Duza with suspicion because they could hear the shouts from the captives, but before they could say anything, Duza introduced herself: “I am the Adventurer Duza Sonanji. I want to talk immediately with the City Chief about those three Guards and the Mage tied at the back of my carriage. They were blocking the road to get here, asking for a bribe to let us pass.”

The Guard slowly placed his right hand over the hilt of his sword. “They were placed in there, ordered by the City Chief himself. You were the only one who accused them until this day. I know they were four, counting the Captain. I saw them leaving these gates early this morning.”

Duza grabbed the hilt of her sword and answered, “Be very careful and think very well about what you want to do with your sword. Your Captain is dead near that checkpoint because he threatened me. I wouldn’t mind killing another distrustful Guard and absorbing your Mana… I would advise you to guide us to the City Chief without wasting any more of my time.”

The Guard slowly let go of his sword and signalled to the other Guard to let them pass. He then pointed in the direction of the Chief’s house. “I can’t leave my post, but his house is that one, right after the blue house.”

Duza made a slight bow with her head, and she kicked the horse’s sides to make him throttle. When the carriage crossed the gates, the captives were running and tripping, trying to keep up.

Ini was the last one, looking at the Gate Guards mounted on his horse while seated backwards and with an arrow ready on his bow in case they tried to attack from behind.

Duza’s group, with a carriage and four captives shouting while running, were calling all the attention of the people on the street or in the houses nearby.

When they reached the Chief’s house, Duza dismounted, and Ronald went to grab the captives. She knocked at the front door and entered as soon as a servant opened an inch of the door, almost throwing him onto the floor. Ronald, the tied Guards, and Mage followed her inside while the others waited near the carriage, horses, and mules.

Ronald was looking around while the servant rushed to call the City Chief. They were inside the main hall, with a high ceiling and a big chandelier with more than twenty torches, hanging by a rope from a nearby wall. All around were tapestries on the walls, an enormous rug that covered the entire floor, and rock columns sustaining the top floor. To Duza, it looked like the summer palace of a High Noble, instead of the house of a City Chief.

After a few moments, the servant returned with a fat man in rich clothes and jewellery, who stood at Duza’s front with a despicable look at her. “I am Baron Marlo Lozzot. I am also the City Chief of Tannery. Why do you have my Guards tied like that?”

Duza explained what happened at the checkpoint, and the Baron didn’t even flinch. He just crossed his hands behind his back. “You expect me to believe they did that when, up until now, no one ever presented any kind of complaint about their conduct?”

Duza answered with a serious look: “Maybe because they were either afraid of any repercussions, they went back without coming to this City, or these Guards killed them. I don’t care about that; I just want to know what you are going to do to punish them.”

“Ahahaha! Nothing, of course! They were just obeying my orders and guarding my City against any suspicious group that tried to enter! You were the one to kill the Captain and tie them up! You should be worried about your punishment!”

As soon as he said that, he regretted it. Duza quickly took one dagger from her belt and sliced the throats of the Guards and the Mage while looking at the Baron. When they were all dead and a big pool of blood was staining the big rug on the ground, the Baron and his servant turned completely pale.

Duza raised her eyes from the dead and warned them: “I answer to the King himself, not to a mere City Chief. You may introduce yourself as a Baron as much as you want, but we both know that for you to be a City Chief, you were placed here as a punishment, and you have for sure lost your Noble title. I can be wrong, but I can bet it was because you used the Kingdom’s money to your advantage, like you are doing here by using the City’s money in this house. Lucky for you, we will continue our voyage tomorrow morning, because if I stayed here any longer, I would send a message to the King about you and your actions here. I may still do it if anything or anyone threatens me or my comrades while we are in this City. I advise you to be very careful from now on. You don’t want to have a sudden death, right?”

Duza popped the Mana Orbs and walked away after cleaning her dagger on the Baron’s left suit sleeve. Ronald made a slight greeting with his head to the pale Baron and followed her, while Riattus was laughing his heart out: “Ahahaha! I really like this woman! She is amazing! You chose very well, Ronald!”

Ronald was silent until they left the house, but outside, he pulled Duza’s arm and asked, “Was that necessary? We could just leave them in there; this wasn’t our problem.”

Duza shook his hand from her arm and poked his chest. “You should just shut up, Carrier! You have a lot to learn about this job and the dangers of it before complaining! Tell the Spider and your Bird to disappear; we must find the Adventurer’s Guild so that you can sell your balls of web, and we need to find the Inn, for Taly and Ari. I don’t know about you, but I need a soft bed to sleep tonight because I am in a terrible mood!”

She went to her horse again and signalled for the others to follow her. Ronald went to his seat near Taly and told him what happened inside. “I don’t understand why she did that. They were corrupt, but they didn’t deserve to die because of that!”

“Or maybe they did. She was right. Maybe some travellers were killed by them because they weren’t bribed, and it will also serve as a warning to that Baron. He could try to arrange our deaths tonight if she released the Guards into his care. Or maybe she was mad because they were disrespecting her in front of us. Or maybe she wanted to prevent any craziness from a certain person… You noticed the way she addressed you, right? She forgot the Mister and just called you Carrier. It can be a warning so that you understand she is our leader or for you to realise that you are still a noob concerning this type of job. Either way, I think she did the right thing, considering what happened. I feel safer knowing she takes her job so seriously. But if you have any doubts, talk to her when both of you are alone. Like that, she won’t feel forced to maintain her leader's side in front of us.”

Ronald nodded and ordered the Spider and the Bird to disappear. He then placed the Cards in his Card Box while Riattus agreed with Taly: “He could be right, you know? Talk to her when she is calmer. She looks angry now. I guess she doesn’t like to see City Guards acting like that, maybe because she was so proud of her mother. In either case, I also think she did well. I would do the same, or even worse. I would have killed that Baron as well and confiscated all his wealth.”