KLONK! KLONK!
The sound of two guys kicking a steel plate with full force. No. The sound of two faces being caved in by steel gauntlets. Abeja had gotten off the coach box, but was still close enough to the carriage to keep up the illusion.
"I've had enough, you low-level trash mob. Even if you aren't even worth 5%, I will end your sorry existence, as a service to the rest of this world," the incensed golem faced the annoying brat. She had absolutely no qualms about nipping this bud.
~Shouldn't we, like, do something?- Fin asked through the
~Relax, if Abeja is acting like that, they must have been pestering her for a while now. Let's let her let off some steam.- the blacksmith answered, shaking his head. It was also a good experience for Abeja to experience emotions thoroughly.
~And it's quite funny to watch.-
The two sides couldn't be more different; one had his mane of black hair waving in the wind. He stood in perfect posture awaiting his opponent in a cold sword stance, the expensive robes draping over his muscular figure.
On the other side was the coachman....
To everyone else watching the scene, Abeja was not the slender, 175 cm tall golem knight in shining armor, but a shriveled, bent-backed gnome of a man, dwarfed by a simple, threadbare robe that might have been costly in another lifetime, but now bore the heavy scars of time.
It was a deliberate illusion to have the coachman be a withered, hunchbacked old man, who looked so utterly frail that he posed no threat to anyone. With weathered features and warped posture to make him look more like a gnarled tree root than a man, it suggested old, fallen wealth. It insinuated both history and not too much wealth.
Master Mountain had helped design the coachman to keep a low profile. Seeing Abeja move like a wolf among sheep, carrying that disguise was hilarious. The two guards that had rushed at her sank to the ground, knocked out by two quick jabs.
Now she, or rather this little gnome, faced the young noble master, like an old grumpy man ready to strangle the neighbor's cock to have some god damn quiet early in the morning.
~She's not even using her weapons-, the blacksmith added. How serious could it get if she just beat him up?
"Die, you wretch!" the young master exclaimed with a glint in his eyes. The moment the old man was close enough, he lunged forward, his sword drawing a beautiful blue arc in the air with the sword aura, perfectly practiced, aiming to take the opponent's neck.
It would have been a majestic scene if it really were some pitiful old coachman. The gnarly hands meant for clutching reins and tending to animals caught the sword in a grip like wrought iron. The blade instantly stopped. There was no damage to the calloused old hands; on the contrary, the audience could hear the sword cry and crack under the immense strength of the grip.
"Clench your teeth, bratty boy," Abeja snarled and ripped the sword from his hands. The greatest sin of a swordsman was being disarmed by an unarmed opponent. This may have been the greatest shame of his life, if Abeja didn't mercilessly continue beating him with the hilt of his own weapon, misappropriating the sword for a club.
The shame of the moment was forgotten, displaced by the pain of his perfect cheekbones being crushed by the ornamental hilt of his own sword!
~She's no longer unarmed! We have to stop her!- Fin exclaimed telepathically. However, the blacksmith shook his head. Instead, he spoke to Abeja using the
~ Abeja, do what you want to do, but you should be aware that you will face the consequences yourself-, Seth warned the golem knight, but also gave them the freedom to make their own decision.
Making mistakes and dealing with the consequences of their actions was also an experience that would help the golem grow and develop her personality. Nothing worked better against a bit too much temperament than a little bit of suffering.
For just a moment, the sword's attack halted.
"I understand, thank you, Master," the golem whispered. The sword descended exactly five more times, crippling the young man's limbs and breaking his cultivation base, turning him into the same kind of mortal he had looked down on. However, she did not kill him; living as a mortal was probably the worst fate for him.
"That should teach you a lesson," the old man grunted, stabbing the sword into the ground, right beside the cultivator's face. Then Abeja ran off; the moment she left the influence of the carriage, the illusion vanished, but the golem had covered herself in a robe that interfered with recognition.
The crowd watched stunned, as the grimy old man not just pummeled this young master, but also fled, turning into a slender, robed figure, vanishing in the distance with great speed. Seth sighed and wordlessly got on the coach box.
Although he was not the best wagon driver among them, that would have been Mina, he couldn't let the ladies sit out here doing this work. They would draw too much attention. Their beauty had already drawn in enough gazes on their little walk along the line. Although they looked different, they refused to use ugly masks.
"Excuse me, is that your carriage?" someone from the crowd dared to approach.
"Yeah, and that was my coachman, who would have expected the old man we hired in a small village was actually a crouching dragon?" the bard answered with an embarrassed smile, pushing the blame completely onto this stranger who had simply hired to drive the carriage.
There were a couple of small conversations like this that Seth had to endure for a while, as the line became shorter. Fortunately, the crowd dispersed after the action was over. Nobody bothered with the young man on the ground.
Apparently, he was a member of a sect that had their headquarters quite a bit away, so there was nobody wishing to curry favor by helping. Rather, nobody wanted the ire of the hidden master that had crippled the man. And everyone got to move a space up in the queue.
Seth and the girls had already reached the gates by the time the guards regained their consciousness and helped their master. The blacksmith looked up the vast city wall and at the shield above. Was it his imagination or was the force field...flickering ever so slightly?
"Please exit the vehicles and have your papers ready," he heard some of the guards calling for visitors to prepare for the check. The call distracted him from the shield; when he looked back up again, there was nothing wrong.
The girls joined Seth on the carriage. A couple of minutes later, a city guard approached them. They checked the papers Master Mountain had prepared and took a look in the carriage. There wasn't really anything in the carriage, as their stuff was all in their inventories.
"What business do you have in Daoshi?" the guard asked standard questions.
"We just got married and are journeying through the province as our honeymoon. We came to visit the city, visit its attractions, and get a place on an airship to travel further," Mina readily answered.
"Congratulations. How long will you be staying?" the guard asked emotionlessly, just going through his routine.
"Probably a week, maybe two. There is lot to see after all" the cat girl answered, friendly, indirectly praising the city.
"That will be all, please keep your money ready; the entrance fee is 5 Taels for a big carriage. Have a nice stay and be careful," he said and continued on to the next carriage, having ticked off all the points on his checklist.
That felt a little expensive, but they paid anyway. Seth was more occupied with the fact that he told them to be careful... Well, Doushi was a big city, and they were acting like small tourists; maybe it was just a generic warning to a bunch of country bumpkins visiting a metropolis?
Like this, they finally entered Doushi, their first proper city of the XiGuang Province.