NoGift

THE GROUP of four reached the entrance to the town of Kaurr after almost two hours of walking through the forest. Argent was slightly surprised that they easily entered the town without any sort of hindrance. She thought, considering how the Temple was holding this country under the palm of their hands, they'd have a much tighter security around the capital. But then again, maybe they're just that confident that no one would dare to do something so unscrupulous in one of their turfs.

The first thing they did once inside the vicinity of the town was to look for an inn. Which wasn't that hard, since according to the person they asked on the street there was only one. It was located near the entrance of the town so they easily found it. It was a three-storey establishment. The first floor was a restaurant and the second and third floors were the rooms.

They went inside and Argent noticed that there were quite a lot of people in the restaurant. Probably because it was close to dinner time. Argent walked towards the front desk followed closely by her other three companions.

"How may I help you?" the staff on the front desk asked with a polite smile.

"A twin room and a single room, please," she answered.

"And how many days will you be staying?"

"A week." Argent was not sure how many days it would take before they finished whatever it was they needed to do here.

The staff gave them a faint look. He's wondering if they were perhaps merchants from another village? Or maybe this young gentleman was even the son of some village head. His clothes were certainly made of good materials. "That would be 1,200 gold coins. You can pay 600 gold coins as deposit and pay the rest once you check out."

"No need." Argent didn't really care for the amount she had to pay. In this life, money would probably never be a problem for her. She took 1,200 gold coins from her space ring and gave it to the staff.

The staff's eyes shone when he saw the gold coins. He decided to be more polite to this new guests. He took two keys and handed it to the young gentleman. "Please, wait awhile. I will call someone to lead you to your rooms."

After saying that, the staff rang the bell on the front desk.

Aurum took one of the keys and gave it to Black. "Here. You'll be rooming with that guy."

"Why should Black stay with Clay?" Black asked, furrowing his brows. "I want to sleep with Master!"

"What, do you expect me to sleep with that guy? I'm a girl. Society doesn't allow me to sleep in the same room with the opposite gender who has no close blood relation to me. You're a boy. So society allows you to sleep with him in the same room."

"Well, if anyone would care to ask for my opinion, I'd rather sleep alone, thank you," Clay muttered.

Black ignored him and just frowned at Aurum. "Black doesn't care for society. I just want to sleep with Master!"

"But Brother prefers to be with me," Aurum said, smiling proudly at Black while hugging Argent's arm.

"Gold, stop teasing Black," Argent gently scolded her sister. They both knew that Black doesn't really need to sleep so he couldn't stay the night with anyone other than the people who knew what he really was. They couldn't have Clay suspecting that Black was something other than human. She turned to Black. "She's only teasing you. You'll stay in the room with us."

Black's expression brightened. "Really, Master?"

"Yes." Argent took the key from Black and gave it to Clay.

Clay took the key. "Is it really fine for the three of you to stay in one room? I don't really mind sharing a room with the kid."

"It's fine. That's why I asked for a twin room," Argent simply said.

A few seconds later, a waiter came and lead them to their rooms in the second floor.

Once they entered the room, Aurum immediately took off the choker she was wearing, revealing her beautiful face. Then she lay on one of the bed. "Finally, we can rest."

"Master, do you want Black to massage you?"

"No, thank you." Argent removed her coat then sat beside her sister. "Aurum, tomorrow, I want you to go with Black and Clay to meet the merchant who planned to distribute sPhones here in Shandra."

Aurum sat up. "You won't go with us?"

Argent shook her head. "I'll walk around town and gather information."

Aurum wanted to object. But this was what her brother asked of her. She couldn't be so selfish and forced her to change her mind. "Okay."

"Be sure to read his mind and find out if he has any bad intention towards our company. You can even reveal your real face if you have to."

"I understand, Brother."

Argent then looked at Black. "Protect her, okay, Black?"

"If that's what you want, then I shall protect Aurum. Though I'd rather protect you, Master."

Aurum threw a pillow at Black. "Shut it, kid."

Argent just shook her head and watched the two bicker.

----------

The next morning, after breakfast, the four separated to do their tasks. Aurum, Clay, and Black set off to talk to the merchant - Mr. Wicks. While Argent started walking around town.

The town of Kaurr was like any medieval town. There were merchant shops, housing building, and some small restaurants. There were people on the streets, selling their wares and people buying them. But there was one thing that could probably not be found in just any other town. It was the towering church of the Temple of Gaia.

Argent looked at the almost ivory white building with beautiful turrets. Now how should she look for evidence of the Temple's dark dealings? She was certain she could find one. More so after she learned about that village where they kept children.

"Have you heard? Someone attacked a knight!"

Argent stopped walking when she heard that. Not far from where she was, two middle-aged men were talking in front of a food stall. The man who just spoke was bald while the other was stout and short.

"That was brazen of them. Tell me exactly what happened," said the short man.

"A knight was escorting a group of Temple servants when some bandit attacked them. Severely injuring the knight and then kidnapping one of the female servants."

So the news already spread this far, Argent thought when she heard their conversation. That was quick.

"A bandit? When did Shandra started having bandits?" said the short man incredulously.

"I think they're probably not from our country," answered the bald man.

"Of course they aren't. Only heretics would hurt a Temple Knight. And there's no heretics in Shandra," said the short man again, indignantly.

Just from that conversation, Argent could tell just how devout the people of Shandra were. It would definitely not be easy to sway their beliefs.

"But what happened to the knight? Did he survive?" asked the short man.

"Oh, yes. Thank the goddess. He was rescued just in time."

Argent raised her brow when she heard that. So, that knight survived. She no longer evesdropped to the conversation of the two men and started walking again. She hasn't gotten that far when she saw a man walking in her direction. No, it's probably more proper to say that he was swaying on his feet. It was either he's drunk or he's about to faint. Argent ignored the man and just continued walking.

But when the man was about to bypass her, he suddenly collapsed and fell in front of her. Argent wrinkled her brows and was about to walk around the guy but he suddenly grabbed her ankle. She tried to take back her ankle but his grip was just too tight. Argent frowned. She was tempted to just kick the guy in the face, but she held on and kept calm.

"Let go," she said, coldly.

"F-Foo...d... g-give..." the man started muttering.

"What?"

The man raised his head, the huge glasses on his face was askew, his golden blond hair almost glinting under the morning sun. "Food... hungry..."

Then his stomach made a very, very loud sound.