Chapter 27 - Carded

Ebonshear Outskirts - Late Morning

Kayae and Suavi sat beside Simon atop the lead carriage as Kuritn quietly ushered the horses forward. The remaining wagons followed closely behind as the caravan slowly moved towards the city's main gain. Although the gates had opened at sunrise, admittance into the city proper had been delayed by several hours. A large convoy consisting of noble traders had appeared at dawn and quickly forced their way to the front of the line citing Nobel Privilege Their goods were currently being inspected by the guardsmen, however, it was more of a courtesy check for the sake of appearances rather than an actual inspection. While their sudden arrival and subsequent line cutting had obviously displeased the merchants standing outside, no one said a word. They feared a noble's wrath, it seems.

Suavi leaned her head against his left arm while Kayae did the same with his right. It was an odd sight to see, to say the least. A middle-aged man with black and gray hair with a wolfen girl on each side barely appearing older than twelve years old. As the group approached the front of the line, several nearby merchants and their respective guards looked into the wagon and openly displayed their disgust at the sight. While beastmen were already viewed unfavorably by humans, seeing two that appeared to be so young more or less wrapping themselves around a fifty-year-old man disturbed them on a more profound level.

At least there's some hope left in humanity.

Simon let out a soft sigh after catching one of the merchants lustfully gazing at the girls while licking his lips and quickly retracted his previous thought. He pulled the two girls closer towards himself while glaring at the man, "I had expected to receive scornful looks, but it seems that no world is free from deviants, is it?"

Kayae turned her head towards Simon with a questioning look, "Hmm? What do you mean? Isn't he just attracted to Suavi and me? Or do you mean he's interested in you?"

Simon quietly shook his head while patting her crimson head, "If he was interested in me, I wouldn't be concerned. I'm more than capable of protecting myself. The problem is the way he's looking at the two of you. He doesn't know you or Suavi's actual age."

"What do you mean?" the fire-eyed girl replied with a raised eyebrow.

Really? Wait, I guess it is kind of understandable since she's never left the village. Of course, Kuro would have quickly put a stop to any activity like that. Well, if Kurtin hadn't already done so.

Suavi let out an exasperated sigh but otherwise remained quiet in his arms after pulling herself closer to him and sticking out her tongue in the staring man. Simon quickly forced her to retract her tongue after seeing the tent in the man's pants grow more pronounced.

"Kayae, that man is attracted to children. I have no doubt if he knew you were actually fourteen that he'd quickly lose interest."

Kayae's tanned face suddenly turned pale as she thought about what Simon had said, "N-no. That's not true, right, Suavi?"

Suavi quietly averted her gaze while Simon yelled at the man, "They're fourteen, you sick fuck."

The man rolled his eyes before turning around and gazing at the other wagons, clearly looking for a new target.

I'll have to pay him a visit at night.

Suavi nodded her head once as if reading his thoughts. Wait, is she actually reading my mind? The blue-eyed girl turned her head away and faced the man from earlier, and activated her eyes before quickly deactivating them and turning toward Simon.

"Simon."

"I was already planning on it."

"Good. D-"

Simon quickly shook his head, "No. I don't want to know. Also, did you read my mind earlier?"

Suavi tilts her head to the side like Simon's crazy, "What? I'm a spirit. I can read a person's soul." she quickly corrects herself after noticing his raised eyebrow, "Or at least what SHOULD be a soul, not their minds. Trust me, reading the soul is enough. I don't think I'd ever recover if I could actually read what goes on in those bastards' minds."

"Aye, Agreed. I just wanted to make sure."

"What made you think I could do that, anyway?"

Simon chuckles, "Because I was already planning to pay him a visit when you nodded your head at the same time."

Kayae peaked her head out from under Simon's overcoat where she had been hiding earlier, "Y-You're really going to do it with him but not me?"

Simon's jaw nearly hit the wooden floor as he stared at the offended-looking girl, wide-eyed and speechless.

Two slaps reverberated through the wagon as both Kurtin, who was still driving the wagon, and Suavi facepalmed loudly, "Kayae, no. Simon isn't going to sleep with that man. He's going to kill him. Seriously? Even after you asked me about all that embarrassing stuff last night, you STILL thought that was what he meant? Simon, for all of our sakes, forget everything you just heard."

The still speechless Simon shook his head rapidly while Kurtin gave him the most sympathetic look he'd ever seen in his nearly six centuries of life. Then, despite not believing in any god, Simon began praying to someone, anyone, mythological winged horses included, to get Kayae's last statement out of his head.

Ebonshear - West Gate - Merchant Entrance - One hour Later

Simon held out a hand to quite the two girls beside him as the gate guard approached the lead wagon. The time for idle chatter had come and gone.

Simon and Kurtin quickly descended from the wagon and met the guard on the ground beside the wagon. In a manner fitting his present station, Kurtin gave the man a deep bow before returning to the driver's seat and waiting for further instructions. The reaction of a slave, a wolfen one at that, bowing properly without being ordered to surprised the guard greatly and caused him to reassess the situation.

"P-Pardon me, My Lord, I was not aware you were a noble. Please forgive my rudeness for not noticing earlier. I'll go ahead and have the-"

Simon cut the shaking man off with a simple hand gesture, "Please be at ease Sir Guardsman. I am no noble. Thus no slight was committed, and there is no reason for you to bow to one of such standing as myself." Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Suavi looking on in surprise while Kayae was blushing heavily. The two girls had clearly been startled by his elegant manner of speaking.

If the guard was surprised by his speech, he didn't show it.

Instead, the guard let out a soft sigh of relief while mumbling thanks under his bread before collecting himself, "Sorry about that, last week alone, two of the guards on the east gate were executed by nobles for disrespecting their noble lineage."

The man spoke in a hushed tone to avoid being overheard. Thus, Simon did the same with a raised eyebrow. "Is that so? I admit I haven't been to Ebenshear in roughly ten years. Have things really gotten that bad since then?"

The guard's shoulders slump visibly as he stares at Simon with tired eyes, "Aye. At first, it wasn't so bad, but recently things have gotten more..." the guard pauses for a moment as if trying to think of the appropriate word.

"Unfavorable?"

"Aye, Unfavorable. That seems like an apt way to describe the situation after the Baron's second son stopped him from exporting the captured beas-" The guard cut himself off mid-sentence and spun his head around, making sure no one had overheard his blunder.

Simon raised a hand to stop the man from panicking. At the same time, Suavi pulled the clearly interested Kayae back beneath the wagon's tarp. However, her pale blue ears could still be seen twitching slightly from underneath.

"Say no more, I did not see anyone listening. Perhaps we should proceed swiftly."

The guard quietly nods his head as he pulls out a small whiteboard containing several sheets of paper, "I-I agree, May I please see your merchant license and identification plate?"

What?

A soft murmur could be heard from the wagon behind him. Thinking quickly, Simon decided to take a gamble, "My apologies Sir Guardsman, my plates were lost during a bandit raid several nights ago en route to the city. We managed to fight off the bandits but, unfortunately, my escorts were killed, and some of our cargo was stolen. In fact, if it hadn't been for the quick thinking of my driver here, I'd have lost my life."

Simon raised his hand towards Kuritn, who was wide-eyed after having been mentioned but quickly managed to play along and bow slightly towards the guardsman.

Thank god he's quick on the uptake.

The guardsman merely nodded their head grimly, "Damned bandits, That explains your lack of guards. We've been having a lot of wagons lately in a similar position. You can get your merchant badge reissued inside at the merchants association and your identification plate at the Adventurers Guild nearby." The man paused for a moment as his eyes glowed slightly, “I’m assuming that you’ve got some kind of anti-identification passive that can’t be deactivated. Make sure to get that stamped on your plate as well”

He noticed Simon's raised eyebrow when he mentioned the Adventures Guild could reissue his identification and added, "Sorry, I assumed you were an adventurer from your attire. Not many merchants around these parts carry a sword as large as that and wear heavy armor."

Simon shook his head as if indicating that wasn't the case, "No, You were correct in your assumption. All of them actually. I was merely surprised that you guessed that so quickly. Most people who look at me just see a tired old man playing as a soldier."

The guardsman scoffs loudly, "Really? I could tell just by how you carry yourself that you clearly know how to use that thing. I guess the world really is full of idiots if they couldn't even see that at a glance."

Simon smiles widely while panicking internally, He actually bought that?!, "Indeed, it seems that it is."

“As for the skill, well, I’ve had to deal with my fair share of uh less savory adventurers and mercenaries in my time so I’ve had some experience with it. Don’t expect that to be common though, most guards will just straight-up attack you if you don’t have a plate. Regardless, Please have your caravan pulled over towards the side. Then, you can head inside, but you'll have to leave your goods and slaves behind here."

Simon nods his head and turns towards the wagon, "Suavi, Kayae, come out here." He waits for them to appear from the wagon and watches the guardsman's reaction.

Good. No sense of lust, and he actually seems genuinely concerned about them. This might just work.

"I apologize for this request, but as you can see, these two girls are rather...frail and can't defend themselves from...interested parties. Would it be possible for me to enter with them? I'd rather not let them out of my sight around such...company." Simon glares at the merchant from earlier who had just watched them descend from the wagon. At least that bastard is useful for something.

The guardsman's trained eyes quickly catch the spot where Simon is looking. His face quickly contorts with disgust before flicking back towards Simon.

"2 silver per girl plus the standard 10 copper entrance fee. It's not for me. It's for the other guardsmen. Personally, I'd prefer you to take them, but you understand, right?"

Simon nods his head as Kayae mumbles something about a fiftieth of a gold coin. Ah, so 1 gold coin is 100 silver. Good to know. Kuro hadn't known how much each of the coins was worth exactly since he had never dealt with actual coinage before. The best he could tell Simon was that a gold coin was worth the most, followed by silver and then copper. He also mentioned that he had heard rumors about Platinum coins, but he couldn't place them in the hierarchy. Wait, why didn’t I just ask Kurtin?

"4 silver and 10 copper? Here." Simon passes the coins over without being noticed. He slides an additional gold coin between the man's armor and into his pocket. "For your compassion. Use it or donate it to the orphanage."

The guard quickly gives Simon a swift salute and yells towards one of the other nearby guards to let them through. Meanwhile, Kuritn leads the wagon train to the spot mentioned earlier. The guard appeared in front of Simon again just before entering the gate with Kayae and Suavi in tow, holding each of them by the hand.

"The guard's other guards won't say anything. Please try not to attract any attention, or It'll be my head that rolls. Don't worry about your cargo or other slaves either. I'll keep an eye on them. Make sure to be back before nightfall, or we'll have to send a search party after you and confine you in the dungeon until the Baron gets around to judging you, no telling how long that will take these days."

Simon nods his head, "Thank you."

"One more thing." Simon raises an eyebrow while focusing on the guardsmen who were staring at the two girls intently. "I didn't say anything earlier, but none of your slaves seem to be bound by contract magic. Other countries may allow you to keep your slaves chained up as you have been, but here, the laws are different. You haven't been here in ten years, so I'll let you by with a warning. Get that sorted out quickly. That's all."

Simon nods, "I was planning on it, actually. I'll get these two contracted after I get my plates sorted out. Unfortunately, the merchant I purchased them from was...less than reputable, to say the least."

The guardsman doesn't say anything and merely gives a slight nod as he walks off towards the next caravan in line.

The trio walks through the reinforced stone gate. Soon the sun shines brightly in their eyes in contrast to the dark tunnel they had just been inside. Simon lets out an internal sigh of relief after entering the city, thankful he didn't have to resort to plan b.

We made it.

Ebonshear - West Gate - Interior

"So, what now?" Suavi asks quietly while Kayae tilts her head to the side.

"What do you mean? Aren't we going with Simon to get his plates reissued?"

Suavi shakes her head with a sigh, only to be stopped when Simon places his hand on her slim shoulder, "No, she's actually right. It might be difficult, but it will probably be necessary in the long run. I doubt we'll get far without proper identification plates. The contract magic is a problem, though. But, before that, we have something a bit more important to attend to."

Suavi and Kayae tilt their heads to the side while answering simultaneously ""More important?""

Simon doesn't say anything. His only reply is a wide grin that doesn't reach his eyes.

""EEEP!""