Chapter 62: Within the City

My little personal valet boy was quick to bite hard on the bait I hung so close to him.

He gave the all clear and let me through the city, allowing me a beautiful view of the interesting stone buildings ahead and the strange glass architecture of the place as well.

First thing I see as I enter is a fountain, spouting water out of the strange looking glass figures of some avian creature. It's beautiful.

The fountain acts as a roundabout for carriages coming in and going out through the other gate several meters away from the one, I'm at now. The fountain isn't all that catches my eye on my first walk around though.

In true commercial fashion, there are stores and homes lined up right in front of the wall and close to the roundabout.

Bursting through the wide roads of the place I am immediately hounded by persistent, grinning salesmen who only have their lives to lose if their barking tactics fail to work.

"Tired of all that dry meat? I've got fresh fishes ready to boil and be eaten by you! Cheap fresh fishes! Cheap fresh fishes!"

"A change of clothes sir? I can get your size in under a minute for a few bronze, make it a silver and you've got a set!"

"Welcome back home, sir! Get your equipment maintained now!"

These were all very cheap offers really. One silver for a set of clothes? There's got to be some sort of catch, there just has to be.

With a bit of hassle, I chase the merchants away and like a pack of flies over spoiled meat it proves to be difficult as they keep trying to confirm that you don't want them around.

I get it done though and set myself up a bit on the side of the road. There were other carriages parked at the side although none as big as mine so there could be a problem if I've learned anything about parking.

Now I simply have to wait around for my little mouse to come running back for the rest of the cheese and I can be on my way.

I still don't know anywhere around this bustling metropolis of a city; medieval it may be but the tireless work of humans never seems to cease in any era.

There's more than a fair bit of confusion in my head just looking down the many streets and corners ahead. And I couldn't much tell the difference in the architecture of homes or businesses; some homes seem to be smaller and then there's that one that's two stories and towers over every other building in range with marvellous stone pillars and what looks like smooth marble stairs.

Frankly, my experience from Carbina is rendered useless here.

Fortunately, I don't have to wait long or tolerate much more of Anselm's absentmindedness; I'm fairly certain he hasn't realized we're in Aste yet.

I see my little mouse huffing and panting along, no longer bored and filled with lethargy at his job, instead it's become the greatest opportunity for him yet no doubt.

"I had to do a lot of explaining to my superiors to let me off work this early." He pants out, his eyes filled with nervousness and more so greed for the coin he's been promised. "What do you need me to do? For the rest of the coin."

I hadn't thought it out entirely really, attempting to bribe the guard was a situation my complete lack of preparedness and ignorance of this world threw me into. Still, I held some vague idea of what I wanted.

Registration.

"I need to get registered." I speak.

If I can at least get registered with any of the big guns then my experience in this world will be a lot easier. I can't give out bribes of inconceivable amounts every time I need to get into a city after all, especially if I intend to make a comfortable living here and manipulate my way up through the echelons of society and wrest power from the King himself.

I chuckle to myself as the mouse expresses a look of distress. He doesn't even know he's talking to his future Overlord.

"That might be difficult." He groans.

This is not what I want to hear.

"And why is that?" I sneer, letting my displeasure known as I begin to set aside my coin pouch.

Seeing this he spits out his reasoning and nearly begs, "You aren't a citizen of…anywhere." He complains, "I don't know what that means and I don't care but it complicates things! This means you weren't baptised by the Synagogue and given a blessing, which means the Synagogue sees you only as lost and worse, it means you aren't registered as faithful. Because you have zero bases of identity, you can't get into a place like the Hunters Guild or the College."

I can see his reasoning; this will be very difficult indeed. "Can't you get me registered as a citizen of Ire then? Just Ire, let me worry about the Synagogue."

Solemnly, he shakes his head, "Not as a Kinsaler, it's over my station." He moans, concluding he's just lost eight gold tokus.

"But can you get me registered as something else? A migrant of a Kingdom that's allowed in here."

He blinks severally as the rusty cogs in his head begin to move and churn out an idea at last, "Yes! There are some undergrounds we can meet for this type of thing. If you're a citizen of Mafiel then you can certainly get a Hunters registration."

"How long will this take? Can we go now? How about the Hunters registration? I hope there isn't a wait for it, I'm sorely short on time." It's true, even with all the hustle and bustle we made trying to get here before time, we still ended up arriving in Aste on the third day.

He snorts, "I'm sure any delay can be smoothed out by a man of your station."

I can't help but roll my eyes at this. So much corruption. When I'm Overlord, I'll clean the streets with the blood of those infected with avarice.

"We can go to the underground of the city later at night, they operate best and it is far easier to find them at that time. For now, though…" he runs his hand through his mop of brown hair as he eyes my pouch.

"Not yet. You still have some work to do. I still need several things before I can possibly let you have the completion."

At my words he groans, "What next then?"

"A place to rest my head for starters a good place close to all the gossip- that reminds me, I need a place to listen in on the latest news going about. I've got a few questions to ask. And let's not forget a proper stable for my carriage and horse, or just cheap really, it's just a horse, it doesn't matter."

"Yes, yes of course." He says excitedly, I assume this is something he can do with ease and likely a daylight robbery for what I'm paying him too.

"Good, before any of this, I need to get some loose change."

He blinks, his face going white a bit as he struggles with some internal conflict, "All you have are golds?" he whispers it, like it'd be a sin to talk about this much coin concentrated in one place. "You're a Noble? A fleeing Prince?"

I chuckle lightly to myself as he asks these questions.

"I am a Mage, a very lucky one." It's the answer to his question, especially the one he didn't ask out loud.

'Can I beat him?'

The answer just happens to be a resounding no unfortunately for this little mouse.

"Now, shall we?"

"Uh, yes, but what about him?" He jabs a finger at Anselm lounging in the back with a book in his face.

"Don't worry about him, he's just fine where he is." I chuckle as I tap an arm on his body, renewing the Spirit Summon spell. I might be gone for a while so it's only fair I have him last as long as he can.

With that done I let go and follow my little mouse down the street and further into the city. The buildings were of two varieties unlike Carbina; those made of wood and straw and the many made of cobble all through.

The roofs of these cobbled buildings were mostly tiled plates with a few exceptions of some iron or maybe that's just zinc. All in all, it gave the city a very modern feel to it.

There is even more of this to the way the various passers-by walked or ran across and through the streets, carrying out whatever it is they need to get done.

Frankly, I could see why Leriva and Mathilda worried about the likelihood of my return. The sky is clearer now, morning dew dissipated.

However, tempting as it is, I've got to kill those Cultists.