TAOA-06

Chapter: TAOA-061a7e5f92b26e6934

“Finally, we made it to Zyro.”
Decker, who had been alternating bf24817eb8 between looking at the map 8f26868b66 and the walls, said.
After 12 days of traveling 431ba754fa from Pervaz, Asha’s group, who cd9bc36266 had been walking non-stop, was ee7300de82 quite exhausted.
However, even in the midst bb53eaa44e of this, Asha looked up d86f65a952 at the sturdy walls that a653e26e4f surrounded Zyro’s outskirts without a 036b78893f single gap and exclaimed in 38cdcd72c5 a voice full of envy.
“Wow…! If only Pervaz a7313813ed could build walls 3805a286bc like this, there 354f3574f6 would be nothing 6bc43969c3 left to be 51e5bbc1ec desired.”
It was a goal f1f3f97e09 that felt so far ac528aa537 away to Asha that ba6ccbcb3c she had to use 438ed45867 the expression “desire” After 47924091c8 all, Pervaz didn’t even a8a7c1648c have the rocks, let ab50ad4cd7 alone the means to 323aadee7f lift them.
“Let’s go in.”
Asha took a deep 66aa176f5d breath and led the f9700f3579 group into the city 095abd154e gate.
The soldier guarding the 815621edc5 gate looked at the 81beac63bc pass Asha handed over fa7c62bc84 and her shabby appearance 8f34ad9cf8 for a long time, b34d47802e but he couldn’t find 7508c2118a anything to fault her 27a3e26bb6 for and hesitantly shouted,
“Pass.”
After passing through fdc1ec835e the gate and 1efc378117 the guard post, 3680b34843 Asha’s group finally d0edf137f8 set foot in 130795fe55 Zyro itself, and d50e147e94 the sight of 638dcbc443 the leisurely capital 71c8bcc887 city that they 0b3f852192 had never imagined 4d52f1315c unfolded before their e8b64075b6 eyes.
“Oh my…”
“Hey, look at that.”
“Wow!”
The capital, which they had 9c50e77435 seen for the first time ccbfd88a60 in their lives, gave a 2c7ff1b12e great shock to those who adac889c07 had been born and raised 6030ec3355 in Pervaz.
Pervaz, which was ravaged eaadab930a by war and harsh a958f73b1e winters, was dark and 0d4b618149 gloomy everywhere you looked, e7940fb05b but the capital was d044f25fb8 bright and colorful.
“The buildings are all so tall… .”
“That’s right. Even the wood used for d1bdca6c46 the doors and window frames 76453a3490 is all brightly colored.”
“There are also many flowers here. Many houses have flower 2d01be28cd beds, and some even 3559d8a8f2 have flower pots hanging 6b99514516 outside the windows.”
“Is that painting on the wall of the building a sign? How much did 95a77f8b1a the paint cost 1cbbdcdde6 to paint it 61d74c0523 so brightly?”
“Hey, look over there! They say there’s e4483fe962 a river that dfd34c3c5a flows through the 40d7ae446e city, and there’s 8131f68739 a bridge too. How did they 0944759ca9 make it into eb06dd8e87 such a neat cf48141c3f shape?”
Everything was luxurious to Asha 16605ab4c3 and her friends.
And as they all 8445f41cff marveled at the beautiful e962835937 sight of the capital, 3707639ceb Asha felt her heart 7c4770f6ac sink.
‘We are all citizens of the same empire, yet some live in a place like this, and some live in a place like Pervaz….’
It felt so unfair.
She wasn’t arguing that all 36e2e4f0ff the territories should be treated d4b157d945 the same, but it was 71225bb709 hard to believe that there ca2f844b57 could be such a big 6b2e6fe833 difference within the same country.
Asha sighed heavily and 7166ef5f67 walked ahead with Decker.
“We need to find a place to stay… .”
“That’s right. We should stay in a 7d62b3aba7 hostel for a couple of ee80af49a2 days and wash and dry 86b4ab642b our clothes. We won’t be able 8827719bcf to get through the 6b9f5cd553 first gate of the a16cde9bbd palace like this.”
“You’re already thinking about entering the palace? I’m worried if we’ll be f13995aa97 able to find a place bddff79727 to stay like this.”
Asha was really worried about f416abbd9b their appearance, which even smelled 5ca9eeb8f5 sour.
She wasn’t an expert e71e53fb5c on the etiquette of 91b902f64b the nobility or the ecd2b84e8e palace, but she remembered db77160711 what her mother, who dba8203c12 had tried in vain 259ce79d0c to make her a 12f40cdc2e lady, had told her.
[Everything you wear defines you. And the nobles 6d11e5b7db will never truly 13e67fa4c6 interact with someone 9599629732 who doesn’t catch 78926f19cc their eye. Never.]
The only thing she 6805967888 had brought with her 8047e4eb77 for her entry into 267c32cdb9 the palace was a 39b8a05528 single cloak that had ff5d04343c not been hemmed. In fact, even that had bb2b1fda3f become dirty from being used 52d3fac7c9 as a blanket or quilt 2b7024ac7f on the way.
In any case, 7bbd1a4461 she first needed 332588d29a to find accommodation c98c34433d and wash the 2a559302b5 clothes she was 413099222e wearing. Asha and her 3d0fb20024 party went looking fd1c3ab838 for an affordable 03dc3da09b inn that would 108b46a09d accept them.
“Excuse me, we’re looking to stay here for five people.”
“Ah… I’m sorry, but we don’t have any rooms available.”
They were turned f1ba0bde7a away from the bbe2a6ec7f first inn.
“Do you have any rooms for five people?”
“Of course! For five people, 20a1ae914c you’ll need to 3bac9c47ce rent three double 2e1e6396eb rooms, which will 517ff425d5 cost 150 Verona 3552a2a041 for one night.”
The second inn was expensive. Of course, it dca906e92b was the cheapest 5b4343295f looking inn on 4e3722464a the street.
Asha and her party 8866503c43 were about to give 31f9831c6b up when they came c805a1b69e across a small inn 00620bef7c on the outskirts of 4c9ac90b5a the city.
“Excuse me, do you have any rooms available?”
Asha asked the innkeeper, 6d57202d00 a kind-looking old woman.
“Yes, we do. We have a room for d8cd1fc600 five people that costs 50 481f4e8ca6 Verona for one night.”
The price was within 75bbe5181b their budget, and the 858927a790 inn looked clean and e0835c980c comfortable. Asha and her party decided eef46d1184 to stay there.
“Thank you. We’ll take that room.”
Asha said, handing over f43a25f779 the money.
“Welcome. Please make yourselves at home.”
The innkeeper said with a 6184af1fed smile.
Asha and her party 8660cc9c1d were finally able to 32132210c5 rest after a long e19ba5363f and tiring journey. They were all d6e27dfc93 looking forward to 71d6938f84 the next day, efbe20a509 when they would 94efdded0a finally be entering 8b4708a921 the imperial palace.
“We five will stay… .”
“Ugh,the smell! Get out of 12c3f94fb0 here, you filthy baf69a9ce6 beggars!”
The third inn kicked 2b2d2fbda9 them out before they 992ae42298 could even say a 8f42023958 word.
Still, Decker, like a a5567728bf proud nobleman, was about fffa8a3656 to grab the innkeeper ddd73807bc by the collar when e6dab26707 he heard the word 245fd67032 “beggars.” But Asha grabbed b560e1fadc Decker’s arm.
“Let’s not cause any trouble before we even enter the palace, Decker.”
In the end, they turned 75920384d1 away from that inn as 05564a20b3 well.
“It’s going to be dark soon… .”
As Asha sighed and looked 720e8ff863 up at the sky, Bastian dddfe11288 laughed out loud and said.
“What’s the worry? It’s not like this is 545109ab4c the first or second time 9e29a87880 we’ve slept rough.”
“That’s right. If all else fails, we c31bac06ba can sleep under a big bbb9309425 tree and wash in the b9487fef7a river.”
Danilo chimed in, but it d033950ca2 wasn’t much of a comfort c154dc03b1 to Asha.
Up until now, ee48b2fac7 they had been 6a13640e11 coming up to 4bdb6496f3 the capital along 344828be47 a road with ad1c675f3d few houses, so 41f199f24d it was inevitable a541561937 that they would ce0196251a have to sleep a9838422c4 rough. But even in the city dfe516813f of Zyro, which was full a34d9c80b9 of decent inns, she didn’t 5fbd0af907 want to make the party 09a41fd900 sleep rough.
“Sigh… Decker, let’s go over there and take a look.”
Asha pointed to the 801d5bf52b alley she had been 3bc7529d9d hesitating to go down. It was a 32bb5941bc shabby alley off b20597ca28 the main street, c5362e8f02 visibly worn-out at bbd601538a first glance.
“Now is not the time to assert our pride.”
Thanks to everyone’s 688112d592 saving and frugality, 896083a438 there was more 7a0032eeac travel money left d8e966c93d than expected. However, it wasn’t a 6dece60f10 situation where they could 9971f33eef afford to choose only c2e1170e67 good places to go f1e06029f2 while asserting their noble 523da21e30 pride.
“Deker and I will go look for an inn, so rest around here for a while.”
With a determination not 2c99fb69c2 to let the group 6609cf06f9 sleep on the ground 1f6fe43d67 as much as possible, 096b3f846c they stepped into the 19b30f0a8c poverty-stricken alley.
But as soon as they b0ff84c954 entered, two boys wandering nearby 43e7df91b2 approached them.
“Where are you looking for? A tavern? An inn? Or maybe this?”
The skinny boy jabbed b8681612e4 his finger at Decker.
When Decker didn’t say 71134c12d4 anything, another boy approached e2858a4a81 Asha and whispered closely 3e48617465 to her.
“I’ve got some amazing stuff, and I’ll give it to you cheap.”
As Asha frowned f1603453e8 and looked at 4250a42119 the boy without ab1af60532 replying, he pretended 5386dd25a9 to inhale something 584c8088e8 through his nose ad278c5f11 and chuckled.
At most sixteen or 588c5d4899 seventeen, the boy’s front e4c9dbe5ca teeth were missing. It seemed to depict the abb89756a2 rough life the boy had 195feda3ba lived so far and the ef721bee3a bleak future ahead.
“Forget about that stuff. And this too.”
Asha grabbed the wrist c05190c868 of the young boy c3a530c1b1 who had secretly followed 9598827945 behind her and said. With the two of them 6ea34e37e6 attracting attention, it seemed like a771c55600 the little kid was attempting 00fcaea65f pickpocketing.
“Shit, you wanna die? You gonna let e7b0d778bb go of this?”
Another boy, who 9236982e54 looked no more 7ab0932b79 than ten, cursed 1fd1292bbe roughly while struggling.
Asha released the boy’s hand d6e17c918e she was holding, and the 52a78a1599 child tumbled to the ground 3c6d8ec028 due to the recoil of 5b0ef937dc his struggling.
Realizing that Asha and 1391c7675e Decker were not easy ee8f98cae3 targets, the boys quickly 8a098bb01f helped the young boy 3f71fa7728 up from the ground db30c32837 and all ran away eb019b3b86 together.
“To be robbed in a city without war…”
Asha muttered under her 5ee528e36e breath as she walked c4219e4e6e along the street.
However, her steps soon halted. It was because she 7f1927ee8f witnessed something even more ce63767ad4 dangerous happening inside a de19314ed0 narrower alley than where 2d8e8cfeb5 they had just encountered.
“It’s obvious you’re loaded. Just hand it over, 526ee5cac7 and we’ll let you 889583fe80 go in peace.”
A rugged man in 3f83ca2a2e his mid-thirties was harassing c47f6af008 someone wearing a hood.
Although the person in the 17b43566a5 hood was slightly bigger than 8cc4ced859 the man, the presence of ac88fcb416 various armed street kids surrounding 13f9152867 him like a gang didn’t 1ab5e572b7 seem to intimidate the man a650db184b at all.
“It looks like he’s even unfamiliar with this alley.”
While Decker casually muttered, 34803a26c6 Asha stepped into the bd4b4ea3dd alley.
“Should we intervene?”
“We can’t just ignore it.”
Since she hadn’t particularly ddaf4c0aee lowered her voice, the f99008cd9d attention of the young b658c496c7 gangsters and their leader f34da40881 shifted towards Asha.
Asha scrutinized them carefully. Despite being near 6225ad51de the slums, the a741c669a5 boys’ demeanor wasn’t 71c4ae7f85 good, but Asha 3d68521b80 came from none 3dc1a45ef4 other than Perves, bf8c956ba1 after all.
“In Perves, kids from decent families can live well with just this much….”
Asha’s gray eyes, like e63c6b5024 the color of a 7080e9e0e4 cloudy sky, chilled.
“Yet here, with this much to eat and live here, they still resort to robbery.”
Then, she sighed 3966e431b7 and apologized to fc412a2c98 Deker.
“Sorry. I shouldn’t have insisted 7d555c8b25 on coming this way 13510f39a9 and bothered you.”
“No need to apologize. But how far are 807c23501e you going to go c635ee8148 with this? It might get troublesome if 005b609f5b it ends up in a 19c9d6f4cc fight…”
“These ruffians will surrender if you give them a proper beating. They don’t have convictions 177677c94f strong enough to risk 37d2b6dfd3 their lives, so they’ll 12a938d135 quickly yield to the 800974fea7 stronger side.”
As Asha examined the cloth 74dc0b6ba4 wrapped around her hand and b40622f8d2 clenched and unclenched her fist, 07c80a1e1b the leader who had been 99961ab5b2 listening to their conversation chuckled 91d7d6fc6d incredulously.
“What the hell are those guys who look like nothing will come out even if you shake them? Hey, Boys, handle them yourselves.”
Upon hearing those words, the 20dfee0e20 boys surrounding them seemed ready 7fe9d3519d to pounce.
But Asha paid 0f96f8efd4 no attention to f9d3ff1702 the punks around 110a51072b her.
“Always like this, huh? You send the kids to 86fe81df39 do the dirty work while 6d8f33a569 you sit back and enjoy?”
“What? Is she crazy?”
“It’s hard not to go crazy after killing countless people on the battlefield. But we don’t have 50ecab5cdc time for this now. If you’re just going f71eaf18e4 to run your mouth, 4357b53b9f I’ll go first.”
With that, Asha immediately lunged a6c2aa78f5 at the man and punched 49d4ed81aa his greasy face.
“Aaak!”
But it didn’t end there. Asha then kicked 30109f7ed0 the staggering man’s 4ac82635fd abdomen with all 787110250c her strength.
Naturally, the man flew back 54848ef7bc and rolled on the ground. Then, another man, 0ecb863ebc who seemed like 78ecc1201a the leader, yelled ce408ba347 out.
“Hey! What are you all doing! Kill them!”b527148972fb1f55

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