Regular Wednesday Update.
~
“Hold tight!” His master shouted over the wind, as the Vixen rushed head straight towards the edge of the forest that almost touched the Border of Manjo.
Ruzen yelped, the gravity and inertia rendering him helpless as he almost flew off the Vixen. If not for his tight hold around his master’s waist, he would have been helpless. Because even after learning everything, he didn’t have much training around practical things, so it was difficult to initiate anything out of conscious manipulation.
A heavy jerk later, Ruzen was tugged down by his master, as their Vixen sniffed the moss growing below them on the forest floor after landing. The trees were shorter than those Ruzen had seen at first when he entered the King’s domain, but they still held majestic growth spurt and were wide in girth. One young leaf alone could cover Ruzen’s entire torso if he was able to wrap them around himself, so it was no wonder the tress itself was gigantic.
“The air is a bit humid,” Ruzen noticed, adjusting his dress and straw sandals properly, he also did not forget to redo his hair a bit, since they had gotten tangled and messy after their journey.
“Here, let me,” Master He’Da quickly chanted some mantra and within seconds, Ruzen’s getup was back to how it had been the first day. And He’Da also took care of his own face, by wearing the disguise.
Ruzen was always intrigued by his master’s fast spells, it was interesting.
He’Da smiled, “Yes, I don’t have a designated title, but you can say I am a human with mature core energy, I was in warrior and medicinal division before. At the very beginning though, before joining the King’s Court.”
“Oh, I see.”
The master and disciple continued their journey on foot, leaving behind their ride on its own. Since it was dangerous to bring along the Vixen in a crowded city.
“There is a massive lake nearby, where the spring water enters, the mineral in the water is a good nourishment ingredient for beasts.” He’Da explained, setting free his Vixen.
As they continued to walk, they finally reached somewhere, with a huge wall almost 50-meter-tall sitting in front of them. The wall was not very beautiful, was almost roughly carved, but the solid grey of the stone gave a mixed feeling of grandness and arrogance.
Three big gates sat in the middle, and two guarding towers stood on both sides of it. There were obviously many guards guarding it, not one or two, but an entire troop of them.
In passing, Ruzen saw a few travelers who had assembled at the front of the gate waiting for something, as the guards stood blocking their way.
“Hey brother, wait at the back,” a grubby man said, his eyes held a tint of annoyance when he noticed the master and disciple duo step ahead of him.
“We are just inquiring, what is going on?” He’Da asked, adjusting his straw hat.
“What can I say, the competition registration is today, so according to the rules, they need to check our enersym before we could get in. Really, they have nagged us lot for so long, I am pissed.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“It’s too much!” another fellow traveler complained, glaring daggers at the guards.
C ofk wbgf agjnfifgr kfgf jgbecv, rbwf tjv ieuujuf, rbwf vlvc’a, rbwf kfgf abufatfg klat atflg ojwlilfr, la kjr j mbwylcjalbc bo rfnfgji asqfr bo ugbeqr.
Eehfc uijcmfv jgbecv jcv ofia ilxf tf kjr cb vloofgfca ogbw atfw, atflg mibatfr kfgf jirb nfgs clmf, jcv ibbxfv gfjiis fzqfcrlnf jr kfii.
Even if one was a merchant, they were dressed well.
So it seemed like Ruzen wasn’t too eye catchy, good! It relieved him somewhat, he never liked being a sore thumb, it only made him nervous these days.
“Let us stand in line,” He’Da dragged Ruzen back and they both stood behind the annoyed man who was still fuming at everything.
A group of men who wore similar sets of garb stood at the corner, behind Ruzen, and they didn’t look that interested in showing their irritation. They attracted Ruzen’s attention, because almost all of them had tattoos on their forehead. What could it mean? Of course, they were Cursed ones, a group of them. Were they around for the competition?
By chance he caught the eyes of one, who was the tallest, looked like team leader to him. They shared eye contact for a while, but Ruzen found it a bit awkward, so he looked away first. This was the first time he met someone who was not ashamed of sharing eye contact with strangers.
“Hm?” his master made a sound in question, noticing Ruzen’s fidgety behavior. But Ruzen didn’t say anything, so he didn’t press on it.
A few seconds may have passed until a bold woman dressed in white robes came forward to greet them, she had exited through the guard tower so she must be their inspection master. She had strange eyes, since they were missing a pupil, but overall she seemed normal and had an air of authority to her tone. “Greetings fellow travelers, I apologize for the long wait, but I got stuck with a very important task and was unable to come in time. Please come forward one by one and place your palms on my hand, I need to check your enersyms in order to clarify a few things. We will open the door once everyone present here is checked thoroughly. New order and new rules, I apologize again.”
Some seemed to grumble under their breaths, but they followed the woman’s order.
“She is lady Hi’Ki, she is a palm reader, human and beast offspring,” He’Da told his disciple, “she is a respectful lady, reason why everyone stays quiet even if they have complains. Her reading skills are thorough. I believe she and another one like her are given the inspection duty today.”
Ruzen nodded, and watched as a few more people came forwards, ranging from kids to adults, everyone waiting for their chance to come.
After his master was done, he pushed Ruzen forward when others around him were hesitating, and Ruzen faced the woman as she took his palm gently into her tan hands, her face was beautiful and she had this calm scent to her. She was a gentle but strong woman, and Ruzen felt nostalgic, recalling his own mother whom he could no longer meet.
“Please pay attention young man, your emotions should be kept calm when someone checks on your enersym.”
Startled, Ruzen blushed and took a deep breath to stop thinking about random stuff. He was the only one whom she reprimanded and it left him embarrassed.
He wasn’t sure if letting a stranger check his enersym was a good choice, but since his master didn’t rebuke or take any action, he got along the process.
When a minute passed, Hi’Ki’s brows furrowed and she pressed his palms tighter into her hands, again repeating her process. “Strange, I cannot trace anything on you?”
Ruzen turned his head slightly and from the corner of his eyes saw his master’s flat look, it made him tensed in return. The fellows from before, those cursed ones, they also seemed to be taking interest in him now, which wasn’t really a good feeling.
“…are you sure?” Ruzen didn’t want to question a master, but he also didn’t want to be blamed for something he had no control of.
“Young man,” she started, dropping his plam, her tone wasn’t accusing, but she also didn’t sound very kind, “please give me your name, I will check your palm with our stone reader. If that fails, we will have to take you into inspection.”
Inspection?
Before Ruzen could speak, a female traveler interrupted rather sharply, “Can we at least go in first? We all can’t just wait around because of him.”
Hi’Ki pressed her lips into a tight line, “Lady, rules are rules, we only open the gate when ‘everyone’ is done with.”
“How long then?” the ‘lady’ snapped, she was a young girl around Ruzen’s age, and she seemed to have a haughty temper, her hair was done is a small bun, and she wore several layers of garments tied with a bow. She was delicate, if not for her temper.
“Not long.” Hi’Ki replied politely, deliberately answering vaguely to avoid further questions.
When she looked back at Ruzen, Ruzen remembered that she had asked his name, so he muttered it out with a slight anxiousness, he wasn’t ready for any kind of interrogation, really.
“What? Can you be louder young man?” Hi’Ki didn’t hear it clearly so she asked again, and Ruzen was a bit flustered, how come he couldn’t even talk properly, he seemed to have become even more nervous than when he first transmigrated. Maybe it was the completion, or something, but he wasn’t feeling very good.
“I am Ruzen.” He said, with a bit of a slow yet loud pace, so that his words came out clearer.
“Ruze-” Hi’Ki kind of faltered, and took a second look at Ruzen, she didn’t even hide her blatant staring. “You can enter then.”
A silence fell, as others looked at Ruzen in puzzlement. Who was he, that even his name was enough? Did they both know each other?
Ruzen himself was unsettled, wasn’t the lady here to check on him, why did she suddenly cleared his case?
“Next,” Hi’Ki called, and she avoided looking at Ruzen, only letting him know that they were done with the process.
He’Da sighed, relieved. It seemed like the King had stepped in long before, he had good foresight, or… someone had leaked Ruzen’s name on purpose and… He didn’t know anymore, the first option seemed more in line with the King’s schemes. So he dragged Ruzen back and held him firmly.
Ruzen shared a look with his master, but because the master didn’t say anything, he guessed it was something to do with the King. Because until now the King seemed to be making a clear path for him, and it wasn’t strange that the lady knew.
Feeling the care, Ruzen felt his heart warm up. He would definitely thank the King next time he saw him. The thought made him a bit flustered, would they kiss then too?
“What are you thinking?” his master asked him, as they saw Hi’Ki reading others.
“Was it the… him?”
“I think so. Others don’t know your name.”
“Oh.”
“Alright everyone,” Hi’Ki spoke, she seemed to be done with the reading, “According to your enersym range, I will give you badges, if you do anything wrong inside the city, your badge will be taken away and accordingly you will have to make compensations. Please enlist your names and purpose before you enter.”
Everyone did as she asked, and were given a badge as she handed them out appropriately. The badges were all color based, and Ruzen saw her giving out violets and browns to the group of cursed ones.
He guessed, that the deeper the color, the more powerful they were.
When it came to him and his master, his master was given a black badge, and he was given a… white badge.
Ruzen’s eyes twitched, what did white mean, didn’t it mean he was even less powerful than that chirpy bun girl who had a yellow badge?
“I don’t think the colors are that important,” He’Da calmly explained, “White can just mean that she couldn’t read you.”
Ruzen snorted, but he didn’t say anything, just went along his master, who filled in the form for both of them, stating that they had came for the competition.
A creak startled the onlookers, as the gate finally opened, revealing the big city in front. Manjo.
A wide street, laid with stones raced ahead, on both sides there were 3-4 storey buildings, with symmetrical shapes and slanted roof. It was a very wide street, almost 200 meters in width, and Ruzen could compare the buildings and cottages on the side to an east Asian layout, with Chinese roofing and structures. He wasn’t sure if it was entirely like those in china, but it was very similar. So it seemed like Manjo most likely was dominated by eastern style architectural infrastructure. The concept was very similar to his previous world, and he wasn’t expecting it. It was strange how even different civilizations seemed to have such similar tastes in custom and culture. Maybe everyone was wired to have certain similarities.
“Wow,” Ruzen gaped, as they entered through the gates and stood to take in the view. “There are so many people here.” He had seen such crowd even in those desert market towns, but their planning wasn’t so large scale, and had little grandeur. Since his experience of the desert was full of dark history, his review of Manjo was much better.
“The registration area should be at the end of this road, if we hurry, we won’t be late.”
“Hm!”
Thanks for the chapter!!
Thank you for the chapter ❤❤
good luck Ruzen!
thanks for the chapter <3
Thanks!!!!!
❤❤❤
Extra treatment again! Wonder if the reason why the lady couldn’t read him was because he is to strong or because the King protects him? 🤔 So sweet how the King already prepared for his entry to the city. Continuation of the pampering. ☺💞
CANT WAIT!
They got the Kings memo about Ruzen. I wonder if the mark on Ruzens back hides his enersym from others…
Thanks for the chapter!
Thank you for the chapter!
Thank you for the chapter ❤
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Master – student duo: “The mission is to be inconspicuous. Act normal.”
[ ~Ding~ Alert: Mission failure! Proceed with caution! ]
Master – student duo: “But we just got here!”