Chapter 355

“What is the problem here?” The guard patrol leader calls as he approaches.

“My blessing is too strong, and they believe it is unfair.” Cain explains with a pleasant smile.

“The Arch Cleric said he had the spirit of a Dragon inside him. He has to be a hybrid. Send him out of the city and sentence him to death if he tries to return.” The referee overseeing Cain’s matches calls out so the crowd can hear him.

“You heard the man, let’s go.” The guard demands, poking Cain with his spear, then frowning when it fails to draw blood.

The guard poked him again as Cain began moving and the dwarves started to laugh. “See that lads. Human Spears are so dull they can’t even pierce a traveler’s vest. Good thing that we are here to help them out.”

“Shut it you. You’re here only at the request of the mayor. If he didn’t protect you, we would have sent you away with this mongrel.” The guard snarls, before Cain grabs his spear, then rolls the bronze tip into a shiny ball and hands it back.

“Let’s go then, I’ve got things to see and people to do.” Cain laughs and starts towards the gates. 

“If you’re looking for relics, try Hygar, far to the northeast in Dwarven territory.” The ruckus making Dwarf calls out, waving to Cain as the guard sullenly follows him, sword drawn and mangled spear slung behind him. 

That’s two leads now, not bad for such a backwards city. It might be possible for this quest to be finished in a reasonable time frame after all. 

The guard is not leading Cain to the main entrance to the city, but instead of towards a man door sized side gate. They have also gained a few more uniformed followers, so either they are making sure he leaves, or they intend to teach him a lesson. 

Cain’s money is in the second option, but with only five or six of them, they are going to have a very rough time of it. 

Once they make it to the small man door on the north side of the city, the guard pushes him through them closes the door behind Cain with a resounding bang. It looks like Cain was wrong, they just wanted to make sure he didn’t beat up the guard and continue wandering the city. 

This place really is no fun at all. No summons to play with, no smiting annoying people with holy light, not even a chance at a half decent fist fight. 

If it weren’t for the fact that he got a decent lead on the location of an Ancient ruin, Cain might really have marched right back into the city.

The farmers working the field seem pretty surprised to see Cain just standing outside the city walls. That’s not a regular use exit, it’s for problems that need to be dealt with discretely, and the farmers are well paid to look the other way and clean up any messes that might be left behind. 

“I know, I’m as surprised as you are, but you can’t always get what you want.” Cain informs the farm hand, as he makes his way towards the road. 

“By the way, how far is it to the Dwarven territory from here? I’m headed to the Ancient Ruins at Hygar.”

The farmer doesn’t say anything just shrugs his shoulders, not knowing or caring about anything beyond his fields. 

Once he is out of sight, Cain moves to a lazy jog. At least, for him it is. To the average human without a system he’s practically flying, moving faster than a horse can sprint. He only has a general idea where he is going, but somewhere away from the stupid people is a good start. 

By the time mid afternoon comes around he has reached another decent sized village, so he decides to drop in and see if they know anything about where he is going. Once he gets closer to Dwarven territory they should at least be able to give him information on distances and roads to follow. 

“Welcome to Greta’s Vegan Diner, have a seat anywhere you want.” The teenage server, Greta by her name tag, greets him, and Cain looks around to see the place is spotless, but empty. 

“Please don’t leave. I promise it’s really good food just give it a chance.” The girl begs.

“I’ve had Elven vegan dinners more than once. If you say you can make good food, I’ll trust you.” Cain decides, picking a seat by the front window. 

“Thank you. We are brand new, don’t even have staff yet and you are the first person brave enough to enter.”

Cain chuckles and points to the special on the board. It’s got lentil stew written in delicate script, but it is also drawn in colored chalk. 

“Can most folk around here not read? I found the same thing in Kan, they prefer using pictures and numbers but no words.”

“Reading is for royalty with time on their hands, or so says most of the town. But my parents insisted it would help me get ahead in life. If nothing else, I can read a cookbook.”

Greta returns a few minutes later with a streaming bowl of stew and a stack of soft Flatbread. The smell is amazing, so Cain cracks open the window beside him. Surely someone will be drawn by that scent and try out the special. 

“So, I don’t suppose you know how far it is to Dwarven Territory do you? I’m looking for some ruins in the mountains that are rumored to hold an Ancient treasure.”

“Oh, Hygar. The dwarves are two weeks on foot from here, but take the East road, since the North road turns away from the mountains. After that, good luck with finding the mythical ruins, and the dwarves likely won’t welcome a human visitor. 

We’ve heard the dwarves found the ruins, and that’s where they learned to Smith like that, but personally I think they’re still lost. 

Because really, if they found the legacy of the Ancients they would have gained a lot more than a bit of skill at the forge.”

She has a point there. A bit of skill at the forge is something even he could grant right now, with all his mana locked away. 

Opening the window was enough to draw over a dozen hungry workers into the restaurant, but none knew what vegan meant. 

“Vegan is someone who specializes in meals without meat. Like mid winter meals, but they can actually make them taste good. You should try the special, the flavor is almost as lovely as our hostess.” Cain jokes, making the girl blush.

“Lentil stew it is. And Ale, we need ale after work.”