Pestilence: Rise Of The Pure Undead

Chapter 84: What A Small World!

The buzzing of insects mixed along nicely with the singing of various birds, the trees were full of vigour, sporting branches full of leaves, many even showing off ripe fruits, the avian wildlife couldn't resist such juicy goodness, rustling through and skipping around in the ambient heat casted by the oddly shaped sun up above.

Summer had began, life was thriving and the sun up above had taken on its usual form for the season, resembling a drop splitting into two, somehow, its light was now much, much warmer, only shades could be called fresh, the tall grass and flowers could serve as pockets of heat, the bare soil of the beaten up roads would scorch anyone daring enough to step upon it bare.

Pushing the sounds of nature further away, the sound of a carriage drawn by two impressive steeds tumbling its way down the unkept paths through the woods, the wheels passing over countless hole and shallow holes, the entire things bouncing up and down as it encountered minuscule, but sturdy pebbles.

The two horses at the front were starting to struggle, but the coachman would raise his hand, splashing them with fresh water to prevent them from suffering from the heat too much, inside, Milo stared out of one of the openings absentmindedly, he had gotten used to the routine back at the city during the months he had spent there with Helena.

He was getting quite nervous about this whole academy stuff, frankly, before meeting with her, he had never even heard the word, he had heard of the existence of schools, but similarly, he had never been able to confirm their existences with his own eyes, it was like going on a travel to meet someone who didn't exist.

Startled as he felt someone poking his shoulder, he hadn't noticed Helena casually sliding right next to him.

"Stop stressing yourself and pay attention to the surroundings, there are bandits in every forest you can think off, try not to get shot in the face" she said, trying to get him to worry about his well being rather than the future, it worked, it was just a little strange to say it like that.

"Actually, I have heard that the highwaymen haven't been doing much banditism lately, in fact, it seems like they have begun departing from the area, no one has reported getting robbed by any of the known faces in weeks" the coachman, actually Helena's main instructor, spoke up, making it apparent in his tone that he didn't believe it was a good thing.

Not only did it mean that something was going on, it meant that other bandits would soon take their spots, bandits were all criminals, but ones that had been settled in spots for a long time were always much more courteous and less violent, they would just rob certain caravans and rarely even hurt someone, much less kill.

It was to the point that merchants actually felt comfortable traversing this place, they knew the bandits, the bandits knew them, everyone would shake hands in agreement of what needed to be paid, after all, the bandits also took care of wild animals and monsters in the area.

No one minded them, so it was worrying for them to start vanishing without a word.

"One would sell me back magic items at real good prices too…" he lamented aloud, scanning the tree line but not sighting anything of importance.

"Oh, and there is also the fiasco with the metal dungeon a few months back, I am telling you, prices are going to rise and rise for a while until the adventurer get their balls back and start collecting resources again in there" the instructor went on spree of complaints, mostly about money and prices, the steel taken from this dungeon was rather widespread after all and was traded at good prices with other nations, with that stopping for even a little while, it was certain to affect the market for a while.

It may have been fine anywhere else, but Tamaris was a nation of merchants, word had already travelled, they would all be quick to adapt their prices.

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"So, are we getting close or…?" Helena tried to stop the endless rants with a question.

"Not at all!" he instantly replied, making Milo slide down in his seat, the heat was making it hard as well, he just had to sit inside without being exposed directly to the sun and the warmth was still overwhelming, this summer promised to be especially hot.

Having turned his head to respond, the coachman put his eyes back on the road, rising up an inclination in the road, he noticed a dark spot appearing on the distance, squinting his eyes and brining one hand above his eyes to see better, he could tell that it was a person walking in their direction on the side of the road.

Augmenting his eyes with mana to get an even better look, that person's get up immediately made him suspicious, he was wearing a long dark coat, it almost dragged alongside the ground despite looking torn.

It was clearly something scavenged and old, it looked filthy despite the blackness of the clothing.

Grey, ample pants held to the legs with bandages, sewn up over and over, the man's boots were even tied to his feet with pieces of ropes, in dichotomy with the rest of his apparel, the man's head was wrapped in a white clothes and covered by a white mask.

Those were much more clearly dirty and aged, in fact, the instructor was near certain that it was stained by multiple bloodstains, all diverging in the time they had been splashed upon this stranger.

Helena's main teacher had been around for a long time, he could tell that the mask was that of a death hunter, as such, the solitary disposition of this man was even more suspicious, the fact that not even his hands were visible, also covered by gloves only made him want to turn around.

To dress like this in such dreadfully, scorching condition only indicated bad business.

But there was no easy way to turn back on this road, so he persevered, in the worst case scenario, he could always blast this man with a spell.

"Be careful kids" he warned Helena and Milo.

Soon enough, their paths crossed, both the stranger and the coachman turning their heads to look at one another.

The instructor halted his breath for a moment as the man held up a piece of paper, a map.

"Would you happen to know in which direction Findpasser is?" an old, bizarre sounding voice came out from behind the mask.

As a response, he pointed behind him and told the man to ask there for clearer directions.

"My Thanks" and just like that the suspicious man went on his way.