《Road to the Crown》29 - Missing part of the scheme
Advertisement
Despite how crucial this day would be, I felt absolutely no pressure as we rode through the open gates of the city of Pilzno. Separating my entire group into two units, with Kalen and Jan following with the majority of my troops and carriage, and only me, Elia and my trusted retainers entering the city just like that.
Common sense dictated that any major group had to be checked, and if the news of lord from Tarnow approaching with a huge group would reach the ears of Elia's family, they would obviously prepare something to secure their position. But if the entire group posing as trade caravan were to be lead by a noble from far north, no one would bat an eye!
The layout of the city was insanely similar to both Tarnow and Krakow, taking a shape of a water droplet, with its thicker part resting on the bank of the river, while its sharp end protruding into the open plain. With the trade route cutting right in the middle of the city, we entered from the west gate. A group of four nobles might not be common, but it definitely wasn't something strange.
"So, we are going to stay in the city Tavern or…?"
It was the very first sentence that Elia uttered after the events from the morning. Just like the last time, with our minds hazy from all the alcohol we drank, we continued the same sort of fun that we discovered on the carriage until every single drop of beer was gone… Only to enjoy ourselves some more later on! Thankfully, be it the drunkness or a shred of surviving common sense, I somehow managed to detach myself from her lips before it was too late.
In the end, we cuddled each other to the sleep, both happy with the results of the evening. But it didn't mean everything was all right in the morning!
Advertisement
Just like she did when we first slept together on the carriage, Elia put herself on the guard once again, despite not even a single move made by me either through the last evening or the night!
"Yeah. We need to leave our horses there, and then we will pay a visit to the lord of this…. To the current protector of the city. If everything will go as I want, we might even secure a meeting with the town's mayor."
Instead of trying to duke it out with Elia's family straight away, it would be infinitely simpler to just visit the town's mayor, explain the situation to him and after acquiring a paper background for our claim, we would simply chase away the occupants of the local palace.
"Oh? I thought you would want to instantly burst into their quarters and demand justice for me… There goes my knight of a white horse…"
Sending me a nudge to the side, Elia hurried her horse a bit to prevent me from paying her back. I wasn't someone who would just flaunt my status and follow the common misconceptions about the rules of our class. Instead of risking not only my life but also the prosperity of the entire nation in the long term, I preferred to just deal with this trouble in a simple and safe way. Yet, her ironic remark still ended as a needle struck right into my manly pride.
"Wait, I just realised something."
Hopping off the horse, I passed the reins to Al before turning back to Eila.
"Get the horses to the stable, and meet with me at the magistrate in about an hour."
Without waiting for her response, I dashed away towards the market street, with colourful shops decorating its sides. To prevent the horses from dirtying the stones of the street, the tavern was located right beside the gate, with the trading street extending all the way to the other side of the city wall where the opposite gate was. Unless we were willing to just skim through the city and get to the other side, no matter if we were the nobles, it was forbidden to ride a horse on the streets.
Advertisement
Looking around, I couldn't help but notice the stark difference between my current reality and modern times. While in the future, shops would create an insane composition in their front to bait new customers into entering, craftsmen of this age never could complain about lack of work, allowing them to limit their shopfronts to just a simple sign indicating what kind of trade its owner cultivated.
After passing through the smith with an obvious anvil on the sign hanging above the simple, bricked wall, inner-city tavern discernable just by the jovial voices startling everyone passing beside it even at such an early hour, and a few more shops that were differed only with the markings on the doors and image on their sign, I finally found the place I was looking for.
Compared to the other shops where people were coming in and out without even a moment of hesitation, the doors leading to this particular one were closed. Knocking on them a few times, I waited for a moment only for a burly man to open the doors and look at me as if I raped his daughter and now came asking for dowry.
"What?"
Not bothering with any pleasantries even after seeing my clothes, the burly, bald man in front of me already reached for something hidden behind the planks of the iron reinforced doors just in case my answer wouldn't please him.
"I need an engagement ring."
Apparently, this was one of the answers that didn't activate this man's trap card, with how his expression changed to an amicable one, with all the previously tense facial muscles suddenly relaxing as he graced me with as kind as a repulsive smile.
"Dear customer, please, come in!"
The moment I passed through his big body akin to the kind of people who thought that the strength alone would grant them victory on every battlefield, this small giant shut the doors behind me and secured them with a sizeable iron slab.
Compared with s simple knob that most of the doors around the world use, this place was closer to a fortress than a simple shop! But considering how many expensive materials were lying around here, all those precautions were warranted.
"Welcome to the Pilznian Goldsmithy, Royal Ring. How can I help you?"
Advertisement
- In Serial242 Chapters
ATL: Stories from the Retrofuture
In a future of robots and CRTs, Atlanta is the most powerful city in the world. And in that city, twentysomething slacker Morgan Harding dreams of being able to live a normal, peaceful life... until they're given cybernetic superpowers and forced to become a hero. Together with a mysterious sentient robot and an overworked college student, they must keep Atlanta safe from the technological threats that arise... pretty much constantly... Sigh. ATL is divided into several novel or novella-sized stories, and the entire first season is online on Royal Road for you to gobble up like a robot filling up at a power socket. And if you're itching for more, always know you can read the story at its official website too. Please vote on Top Web Fiction! You can vote once a week on each device for this story (and any others you enjoy!).
8 211 - In Serial125 Chapters
NINA
As a person who had always been fixated on her weekly routine, Nina felt stranded when she was dropped to the unfamiliar world below. With no other choice but to accept the help offered by a local courier business, she soon finds that the group of women she works with have a lot more to them than what meets the eye. Promised that she can return home after her contract is finished, Nina’s chaotic time at The Cloud Orchestra begins. But will she really want to leave when the time comes?
8 156 - In Serial32 Chapters
Call of Nightmares
Call of Nightmares is a story where the protagonists find themselves in a parallel dimension that mixes dread, horror and carnage. Aided by their newfound abilities, they must ask themselves how much they are willing to sacrifice to ensure their own survival when their very own existence creates more problems than it solves. Multiple updates every week.
8 319 - In Serial36 Chapters
THAUMATURGY
Born into the house of elite wizards of Crimsonmane, Alicia Crimsonmane did not inherit the ability to control magic like her other relatives, which led to her being ostracised from her own family for bringing disgrace and damaging the prestige of House Crimsonmane. One day, Alicia found an obscure orb containing a rare and powerful source of magic that makes people willing to kill each other to get it. The orb attached to Alicia, granting her access to its power to create magic. However, her life would no longer be the same when many people hunted her for the Divine Grace. After a series of studies to find out the origin of the orb, she realised she was not just an ordinary orb mage. Her encounter with the orb would lead her to a greater destiny, having a significant impact on the conflict-ridden world of thaumaturgy...=========================================== Title: Thaumaturgy Author: RestuIbu Art cover: @pen_camp (twitter) Tag: Action, Fantasy, Magic, R18 Release schedule: Every Thursday and Saturday
8 203 - In Serial38 Chapters
Olympus: The Agency
Hundreds of years in the future, a government-backed black ops group clones people who died in the past to form a group of deniable assets to perform missions. Stripped of names, these people are granted codes to live by instead. Agent Zeus leads this group of dead people to survive in a universe they do not understand. But as time goes on, they must make difficult decisions just to get to the next peril.Sometimes death is preferred.
8 150 - In Serial12 Chapters
The Rhema Chronicles
The fall of the gods signified the end of the world. Convinced his home world has little time left, Rhema’s quest for hope leads him In a race against time to resurrect the god who has the power to turn the wheels of fate. Rhema would discern his own place in a world that was far greater than he had imagined, find his own path between the fervent light of the heavens and the silent darkness of the void, and one day would find that even the gods are not to be blamed.
8 155

