Chapter 290 - Start Of The Travel

"We meet again pervert"

Mercury watched as the hunter sat down on the opposite side of the table, at this point Molly also saw him and spoke

"What do you want David?"

The hunter named David put his hands onto the table and folded his hands before he ignored Molly and spoke to Mercury

"You sure throw a good punch Mercury"

Mercury gave a thin smile

"Well thank you, David, I'll give you another for free if you're up for it?"

"Now, now… No need to get violent here… I am here to offer a solution to our dispute"

"Oh really?"

David gave a smile, clearly showing the gaps in his teeth Mercury had made with his punch

"It's simple, you… Shall we say compensate me for my loss of teeth and I and my gang will leave you alone"

The thin smile on Mercury's face widened slightly as he asked

"How much?"

David's smile also widened

"Well, shall we say 10.000 cel?"

Mercury began chuckling before he shook his head and then he began laughing for real for a little bit before he wiped the tears from the corner of his eyes and spoke with a disdainful tone

"I must have hit you harder than I thought… You sure got a few screws missing if you think I am going to pay you 10.000 cel"

David's face soured before he asked

"Are you sure you want to ignore my gracious offer? I'm telling you, Mercury... You might not sleep so well at night if you do"

A cold glint flashed in Mercury's eyes but he chose to remain silent as David rose to his feet and walked out of the inn while laughing, once he was gone Mercury gave a sigh and picked up his cane before he tapped it once against the ground, then after a few seconds he tapped it against the ground again before he placed it back leaning against the table

"...What did you do Mercury?"

Mercury gave a thin smile

"I took measures to ensure That I can sleep well at night"

"...So what did you do?"

"Well the fist tap made a hole that's 5 by 5 by 3 meters and the second tap made a roof on top of said hole"

"I don't get it..? Wait don't tell me---"

"Yeah if one were so unfortunate to fall into said hole one might be stuck there the entire night"

Molly gave a giggle as she spoke

"You're so bad, Mercury"

Mercury gave a slight smile, he didn't say that a 3rd 'tap' would close the hole entombing the person inside the hole there forever, not that he wanted to kill David, he didn't have the stomach for murder, not yet anyway

"Well then let's get some food"

"Oh right… Excuse me!"

This time a waiter walked over and Molly placed the orders for the two of them and soon their food arrived, two meat pies Mercury gave a sidelong glance at Molly that was busy stuffing her face with pie before he gave a sigh and also dug into his pie

'Well, this is rather good…'

After eating Molly went to the bathroom leaving Mercury alone for a few minutes before she returned and sat down across from him before she gazed into his eyes for some time, eventually, she asked

"I can trust you right Mercury?"

Mercury gave a shrug before he spoke

"Depends on what for and how serious I am feeling"

"Then when you warned me to leave the city?"

Mercury stopped messing around and answered seriously

"That was about as serious as you are going to get me"

"I see…"

Molly swallowed her saliva before she spoke again

"3.000 cel"

"Pardon?"

"I am looking for an escort to my home city and that's my offer to you Mercury"

Mercury confirmed that she was serious before he asked

"How long is it to your home city?"

"It's on the east coast… so about a month…"

Mercury gave a nod

"Sure, when do we leave?"

Molly looked surprised as she widened her eyes and asked

"Just like that?"

"Yeah, I owe you for the clothes so I would have done it for free but now that you have offered me 3.000 cel I am game"

"Seriously?"

Mercury gave a nod, then all the tension seemed to melt out of Molly as she muttered

"Thank the 33…"

Mercury gave a smile and asked again

"So when do we leave the city?"

Molly picked herself up and quickly spoke

"Tomorrow morning, an hour after sunrise at the east gate?"

"Sure, that works for me"

Molly gave a smile and stood up from the bench and after she found a waiter to pay for the dinner she spoke to Mercury with a smile on her face

"Then I'll see you then"

"Sure see you"

Molly gave a nod and walked out of the inn, it seemed that a heavy burden had been lifted from her shoulders as there were a light spring in her step, Mercury watched her go before he gave a sigh and patted his now filled stomach and let out a yawn

'Better find someplace to sleep soon… Well let's see if this inn has any rooms available'

Mercury walked up to the counter where he rented a room for the night for 200 cel, after he was shown to his room on the second floor he looked around, there were a small table and a chair and of course a bed in the small room, Mercury sat down on the bed and picked up the pillow and smelled it before he gave a sigh

'Well, it's clean at least…'

Then he undressed and checked his leg

'Wait what the..?'

Most of his muscle mass on his calf had been melted away, even now bone was clearly visible but besides that, the wound had healed fine and looked like a decade-old wound even though he only got wounded yesterday

'Weird… I should buy some warpings for it at some point, just to spare others looking at it… Man, this looks grotesque…'

Mercury gave a sigh and lifted his leg up on the bed before he laid down and pulled the covers up to his neck and closed his eyes before he began regulating his breathing and soon fell asleep…

When Mercury awoke again it was sometime before dawn, thankfully his internal clock seemed to be rather accurate, no doubt a skill from his past life, he quickly got dressed before he packed his stuff and walked downstairs again where he got some breakfast which was included in the price of the room before he walked out onto the streets which were rater lively, he gave a glance to the right side of the inn where a group of people was gathered hacking away at the cobblestone ground which David was still buried under

'At the rate, they are going he will probably be out around noon…'

Mercury gave a sigh as he stretched and walked in the opposite direction, he still had some things to do before he met up with Molly at the east gate, after some shopping, he brought a bigger backpack and a tent along with some more waterskins which he got filled by a person using water magic, then he brought 5 days of preserved food all before the sun rose, then he walked towards the east gate and found a place to sit down where he could see the gate, then he slowly closed his eyes and tapped his cane a few times a minute… Soon time passed and it was time for Mercury to meet up with Molly so he opened his eyes and looked around, it was not long before he spotted her, this was the first time Mercury really had taken a good look at her, she was a head shorter than him and had short blonde hair, blue eyes, and an oval face, her legs were long, and she wore some travel clothes with some durable looking boots and carried a rather big backpack, she somehow seemed accustomed to traveling and didn't stand out between the other travelers, somehow Mercury thought that she looked much more at ease like this than when she was a hunter's guild employee

"Hey Molly"

Molly heard his voice and looked around before she spotted him and walked over with a smile on her face as she offered a hand to help him up

"Good morning Mercury, how long have you been waiting?"

Mercury showed a smile and took her hand as she helped him up before he answered

"Not too long, shall we get going?"

"Sure!"

Mercury and Molly chatted as they walked along the path guided by the flagposts, the first two days all they saw was desert but on the third day they seemed to have reached the edge of the desert as the ground became more solid instead of the loose sand, grass also started growing on the ground and half a day later Mercury saw his first tree since he had been reincarnated

'Looks like a savanna… Well I am thankful for anything that's easier to walk on than loose sand'

Up ahead was a river where the two of them decided to have their midday break, as Mercury filled his waterskins next to the bridge that went over the river his expression suddenly changed before he looked back the way they had come, there was a cloud of dust in the distance