TAOA-06

Chapter: TAOA-064e7080c5aa670888

“Finally, we made it to Zyro.”
Decker, who had been d6474ee0c4 alternating between looking at 56754d3426 the map and the 109128a60a walls, said.
After 12 days of e002a180cc traveling from Pervaz, Asha’s 3f8d1d9ed2 group, who had been d6c4930de5 walking non-stop, was quite 36bc428a03 exhausted.
However, even in the 5de952bc85 midst of this, Asha 1254cffb7e looked up at the 16aefc0335 sturdy walls that surrounded 8261449de1 Zyro’s outskirts without a 739454c8e4 single gap and exclaimed cdeacf81cc in a voice full d4710f6c95 of envy.
“Wow…! If only Pervaz could build 2f0bb67c76 walls like this, there would 303d3adc07 be nothing left to be 3bb41c47b4 desired.”
It was a dc0995f26d goal that felt 3491dcbe83 so far away 41c7177b1f to Asha that 7e7ac775ac she had to fc72fd27ab use the expression 056d626337 “desire” After all, d76408c6fb Pervaz didn’t even 6e6244d21c have the rocks, 2c222202bf let alone the 3afeb96af1 means to lift 321274e7dc them.
“Let’s go in.”
Asha took a deep breath d178c90085 and led the group into f5bb560cab the city gate.
The soldier guarding 91048b2eff the gate looked 32c33c8029 at the pass d586cc4ce3 Asha handed over 4385f47937 and her shabby 96c14b3a8d appearance for a 5786a0b453 long time, but 583896d1bb he couldn’t find 5472829bf6 anything to fault a3c614007c her for and 3e0dd77065 hesitantly shouted,
“Pass.”
After passing through the 610ef1af39 gate and the guard 879ee8abab post, Asha’s group finally 85cb5607fd set foot in Zyro ea39c5b44f itself, and the sight d587847522 of the leisurely capital 50185ce245 city that they had e90263c5be never imagined unfolded before a20220e611 their eyes.
“Oh my…”
“Hey, look at that.”
“Wow!”
The capital, which de02c4c958 they had seen 097f61f1b5 for the first 4f8134a844 time in their 5cce6656e0 lives, gave a 49cd55c4bb great shock to 8ce15e5409 those who had 703cb6ad1b been born and 3a75dd24b9 raised in Pervaz.
Pervaz, which was 2252cb2720 ravaged by war 4d9508a054 and harsh winters, 877e275abf was dark and 0a823dbf26 gloomy everywhere you b38464c06c looked, but the 007d7c9d17 capital was bright a1de440528 and colorful.
“The buildings are all so tall… .”
“That’s right. Even the wood used 584a286a0e for the doors and 2dff9fea8f window frames is all c0729a3ad4 brightly colored.”
“There are also many flowers here. Many houses have flower beds, 41d38ce415 and some even have flower f0deacf90b pots hanging outside the windows.”
“Is that painting on the wall of the building a sign? How much did the eec2b9bcc7 paint cost to paint 60ebaf0081 it so brightly?”
“Hey, look over there! They say there’s a e0072ce56c river that flows through 808e0b7361 the city, and there’s 8291832771 a bridge too. How did they make db1df4cd44 it into such a e99b54b971 neat shape?”
Everything was luxurious to Asha 69c651c619 and her friends.
And as they all 34da7d7615 marveled at the beautiful 00f98d5c8a sight of the capital, 80504d7fa9 Asha felt her heart e4ab4f3f91 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 f721d0cb3a that all the 698f6da842 territories should be cf37aca818 treated the same, 2a6795e05e but it was 4e1b090474 hard to believe 4fe1b890aa that there could a4ea7769bb be such a b3345ba53d big difference within 9615e6736e the same country.
Asha sighed heavily and walked 26d4c54ada ahead with Decker.
“We need to find a place to stay… .”
“That’s right. We should stay in a db0ee08e8d hostel for a couple of 0207e10b06 days and wash and dry c1d9cc33c7 our clothes. We won’t be able to 79fae72a0c get through the first gate c3f4d8325b of the palace like this.”
“You’re already thinking about entering the palace? I’m worried if b899edcf0d we’ll be able a2acccfad4 to find a 17959c9903 place to stay cafcde806a like this.”
Asha was really worried 0ec02dedc2 about their appearance, which de3182b95d even smelled sour.
She wasn’t an 54b26c4d91 expert on the 1098e98b6b etiquette of the 8145b2cbe0 nobility or the 6f1a10d42d palace, but she 05b35cac4e remembered what her 2bb69547b9 mother, who had ffa67db032 tried in vain 87287a39d6 to make her 55e800304f a lady, had d632fe9685 told her.
[Everything you wear defines you. And the nobles eaafc426c7 will never truly 6895702fcc interact with someone b960053375 who doesn’t catch b8c85c0961 their eye. Never.]
The only thing she 064d69cec9 had brought with her f2a14bce68 for her entry into a6a0ad967c the palace was a 7c3758468a single cloak that had a6be847e8e not been hemmed. In fact, even 6ecccb0e68 that had become a09ef83c86 dirty from being 0aa0719529 used as a 93dea39506 blanket or quilt c324f2ab6a on the way.
In any case, 89e7780c66 she first needed 5925d0ac94 to find accommodation a19ed60ae0 and wash the 3978bce46f clothes she was 591e7e468a wearing. Asha and her party went 40153579b7 looking for an affordable inn 982affe577 that would 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 abd2c681b7 away from the e8f02be738 first inn.
“Do you have any rooms for five people?”
“Of course! For five people, you’ll 440b61e375 need to rent three 74dcf7a46a double rooms, which will 52d98beeef cost 150 Verona for 7e087121ea one night.”
The second inn was expensive. Of course, it was f78858f7dc the cheapest looking inn 98061f8f71 on the street.
Asha and her 96ec9e3423 party were about 7509388e3f to give up 50a62dae3a when they came e122e6d856 across a small 67d532ff84 inn on the d1f0a844ab outskirts of the 913c6a2877 city.
“Excuse me, do you have any rooms available?”
Asha asked the 84706bba0d innkeeper, a kind-looking 79882b118e old woman.
“Yes, we do. We have a room for fd50e6a6fe five people that costs 50 be284872c8 Verona for one night.”
The price was d956d06521 within their budget, 7e26f411a1 and the inn 4ae0ed8a98 looked clean and 4c348b406f comfortable. Asha and her party decided a71f367044 to stay there.
“Thank you. We’ll take that room.”
Asha said, handing 2fe7a9cc2e over the money.
“Welcome. Please make yourselves at home.”
The innkeeper said with a 58eef8c991 smile.
Asha and her party were 76b6cea7bc finally able to rest after 8ff469e517 a long and tiring journey. They were all 4076adc049 looking forward to 35e77ef101 the next day, 19b25226d3 when they would ba43c8dcb6 finally be entering 6338c7f2c7 the imperial palace.
“We five will stay… .”
“Ugh,the smell! Get out of dc550e021c here, you filthy b39cfd4c45 beggars!”
The third inn kicked 22d1d24809 them out before they 4c570be2a2 could even say a f095255271 word.
Still, Decker, like a proud 342d859a4a nobleman, was about to grab 516b1286a2 the innkeeper by the collar 7db3b27f98 when he heard the word 676f4cb970 “beggars.” But Asha grabbed Decker’s 8ae427dfeb arm.
“Let’s not cause any trouble before we even enter the palace, Decker.”
In the end, 2d7645a6dc they turned away 96636f03e4 from that inn 224ae2549c as well.
“It’s going to be dark soon… .”
As Asha sighed and 13bb30bf55 looked up at the a80c8dac84 sky, Bastian laughed out 50bfaca4c3 loud and said.
“What’s the worry? It’s not like 5b68b91fd5 this is the 61bbe5177c first or second 20cf64b841 time we’ve slept 6fb8741398 rough.”
“That’s right. If all else c3d4e85a19 fails, we can b94cf60e15 sleep under a dd5e95e691 big tree and a8a9add150 wash in the fe5df1c1bd river.”
Danilo chimed in, 2a371baeca but it wasn’t bc66b2d718 much of a 3b25f0cac4 comfort to Asha.
Up until now, they had d0a812256f been coming up to the 96b99952ea capital along a road with 46d413eb3f few houses, so it was 2370eb7baf inevitable that they would have 76472b30af to sleep rough. But even in the 26b375654c city of Zyro, which 33e0c57aa1 was full of decent eefb1a8272 inns, she didn’t want 2053003db6 to make the party 935c3650f7 sleep rough.
“Sigh… Decker, let’s go over there and take a look.”
Asha pointed to the c95129e007 alley she had been 75750d2547 hesitating to go down. It was a shabby alley 3409aaa6fc off the main street, visibly 56dd2bf0c6 worn-out at first glance.
“Now is not the time to assert our pride.”
Thanks to everyone’s e921b639ba saving and frugality, 6f5cd683ef there was more 074edb6981 travel money left cdee40ce6b than expected. However, it wasn’t a19c420185 a situation where f6afc3493e they could afford 954d698792 to choose only 38beedfe2c good places to 32fe20a9f1 go while asserting a56ffa3028 their noble pride.
“Deker and I will go look for an inn, so rest around here for a while.”
With a determination not to c9092e8f17 let the group sleep on 5b6538d1fa the ground as much as deb919565a possible, they stepped into the a387f7ff5b poverty-stricken alley.
But as soon as 03167b1a65 they entered, two boys d295952666 wandering nearby approached them.
“Where are you looking for? A tavern? An inn? Or maybe this?”
The skinny boy jabbed his 335280589d finger at Decker.
When Decker didn’t say 77bf4948f0 anything, another boy approached 7febc0a4d8 Asha and whispered closely 8812fcf1fc to her.
“I’ve got some amazing stuff, and I’ll give it to you cheap.”
As Asha frowned and ddf5194968 looked at the boy abdb6c71ab without replying, he pretended 2611d770f1 to inhale something through 4cf22fcf01 his nose and chuckled.
At most sixteen 3836fca801 or seventeen, the 5b89eabfa2 boy’s front teeth 0f108259b1 were missing. It seemed to depict 0dd27c22d5 the rough life the d1d45a6ba4 boy had lived so ea650c9cf7 far and the bleak 901eecf1b0 future ahead.
“Forget about that stuff. And this too.”
Asha grabbed the wrist of 476f463ddc the young boy who had 60833de49c secretly followed behind her and a3b0d04d20 said. With the two of them e4a17037e5 attracting attention, it seemed like 5f704d722a the little kid was attempting 1e446248f5 pickpocketing.
“Shit, you wanna die? You gonna let go 31c2cbb507 of this?”
Another boy, who looked no f1851d5dd9 more than ten, cursed roughly 9b77eed090 while struggling.
Asha released the boy’s 4332b34a68 hand she was holding, 12ea260d2f and the child tumbled 4f9efdc326 to the ground due 28e8721dc9 to the recoil of cc5683423a his struggling.
Realizing that Asha and Decker b83d7530e0 were not easy targets, the 7fd6e5c8a5 boys quickly helped the young 14cd958b30 boy up from the ground f30d9b71d3 and all ran away together.
“To be robbed in a city without war…”
Asha muttered under her breath dc4177d7b6 as she walked along the 922b44f668 street.
However, her steps soon halted. It was because 70428e0012 she witnessed something 1dd3c08b86 even more dangerous 6946540fc9 happening inside a 00ba75c010 narrower alley than 02ae83ad30 where they had 3a1a3786ff just encountered.
“It’s obvious you’re loaded. Just hand it over, and 6351fb1e01 we’ll let you go in c9e37393e9 peace.”
A rugged man in 87822d022b his mid-thirties was harassing a559c00b95 someone wearing a hood.
Although the person in the 1db8a01cf4 hood was slightly bigger than c722b2fce2 the man, the presence of 9c03674bea various armed street kids surrounding d9e148f026 him like a gang didn’t 9fcdb4d938 seem to intimidate the man df4102eb87 at all.
“It looks like he’s even unfamiliar with this alley.”
While Decker casually muttered, Asha ef3335593d stepped into the alley.
“Should we intervene?”
“We can’t just ignore it.”
Since she hadn’t particularly aa5152accd lowered her voice, the 4b3bcc1f89 attention of the young ad56bb2611 gangsters and their leader 48e96b098b shifted towards Asha.
Asha scrutinized them carefully. Despite being near the 6a641e052e slums, the boys’ demeanor 6af3eb2a50 wasn’t good, but Asha 817e42116b came from none other 41d3bddc9e than Perves, after all.
“In Perves, kids from decent families can live well with just this much….”
Asha’s gray eyes, like the bf00d5d483 color of a cloudy sky, ac186a09ba chilled.
“Yet here, with this much to eat and live here, they still resort to robbery.”
Then, she sighed and 162421ec66 apologized to Deker.
“Sorry. I shouldn’t have insisted 3b6d06a8b1 on coming this way 9a7dfbc113 and bothered you.”
“No need to apologize. But how far 93faf41564 are you going fca99ae82a to go with 993e73ebdf this? It might get troublesome if 05cd55a59c it ends up in a 7cf1a2e152 fight…”
“These ruffians will surrender if you give them a proper beating. They don’t have 4eb3f9aafc convictions strong enough 04ac839ba2 to risk their 0a6236de59 lives, so they’ll 598ad52e05 quickly yield to 5675f6b3c3 the stronger side.”
As Asha examined the cloth ba3072211f wrapped around her hand and 9c03c7ae69 clenched and unclenched her fist, 7e1b26dc2a the leader who had been 4ef976f109 listening to their conversation chuckled 4bb9f0af9d 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 828d59d80a boys surrounding them seemed ready 74dc10c321 to pounce.
But Asha paid f84fb61f88 no attention to f6fd28d09a the punks around 1cc7271d84 her.
“Always like this, huh? You send the b66e348a6c kids to do 084c1dc7b6 the dirty work c5a3eb5b43 while you sit 388c881ff5 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 44c5ea6c23 have time for 21c720c7c3 this now. If you’re just bcc7117e5f going to run dc031c1aff your mouth, I’ll 9bcd55c54f go first.”
With that, Asha immediately 1ba21867b8 lunged at the man e30d810c98 and punched his greasy 00a93d328e face.
“Aaak!”
But it didn’t end there. Asha then kicked the staggering 1c4b0e512e man’s abdomen with all her f5c6e1fc7b strength.
Naturally, the man flew back 349b65c88e and rolled on the ground. Then, another man, 991245228d who seemed like 25c06f3451 the leader, yelled 479570294a out.
“Hey! What are you all doing! Kill them!”210c2906bccf3b47

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