I Reincarnated into a Single-celled Organism! - Chapter 189

The town of Boltshade appeared in the dense forest like an ancient ruin. It had gray stone walls that were wreathed in ivy giving it an ancient look. The heavy gate was flanked by rusted pikes that likely had seen action more than once. A group of armored men carefully opened the entrance just large enough that a single human could enter. They stood on either side, hands on their weapons, as they let the group in one at a time.

I trailed near the back. I remained relaxed, but I was still making sure to extend my senses and check my surroundings. When I finally entered the city, I let my gaze wander. Fate and her brother were walking ahead, while their uncle, Fortune, was speaking to the guards. I noticed some kilojoules exchange hands, but I ignored it.

A thin fog clung to the cobblestone roads, the yellow glow of lanterns keeping the small town lit despite the late hour. Although, calling it a town was giving it too much credit. Besides the rather impressive wall, the town itself was shockingly small. I could count the number of buildings on both hands. It was just enough to support the soldiers and their families. It was more like a trading outpost than a town.

Once the doors shut behind us and Fortune finished speaking to the guards, they waved us on into the rest of the townlet. The other members of the group continued, moving slowly to regain their breaths after they dashed the sage-beast-infected woodland. It was only now that they were behind these walls that they allowed the tension in their shoulders to release.

I felt a slap on my shoulder and looked to see Fortune. “You did good, kid. Most commoners would have fallen apart and died or fallen apart.”

“Ah… we saw all kinds of sage beasts up in the hills, my master and I?” I decided to go with the lie I had told ages ago about being raised by some mysterious alchemist.

He nodded without asking questions and then continued. The walk was short, as the building we were heading to was in sight from the front gate. It was the largest building in the city, and also the only inn within Boltshade. This didn’t mean I was nice. The sign hanging above the door was little more than a plank of rotted wood, and it had the picture of a bed and a lightning bold, not even bothering to use writing. It was possible commoners wouldn’t be able to read it.

While the outside was derelict, the common room sounded lively, and we pushed open the door to a well-lit room with even a flutist playing tunes in the corner. No one glanced our way upon entering, not even blinking over the number of weapons being carried. This seemed to be because every present was equally armed and armored. There were perhaps a dozen tables, and all but one was still available.

“Rooms,” Fortune walked up to the portly innkeeper who was currently pouring glasses of frothy beer before he glanced back at his men, some of which licked their lips as if they were dying to thirst while looking at those cups. “Food and a round of drinks as well.”

The men all broke into smiles as Fortune slapped down another kilojoule. The innkeeper stopped pouring and nodded to a young girl who grabbed the plate and delivered it to one of the other tables. He then wiped his hands off on his greasy apron and nodded.

“Lot of strangers appearing tonight. It’ll take an hour or so for the food. I only got three rooms though. They ain’t big.”

“Three rooms are fine.” Fortune declared, looking reluctant before pushing over yet another kilojoule.

The innkeeper nodded and took all of the kilojoules. His second-in-command, the guy he had called Felix who had used the arrow before, leaned close to his ear and spoke. No one else could hear him in the noisy bar, even paragons, but my hearing was a cut above the rest.

“Can we afford this kind of spending?”

Fortune immediately responded. “After the success of this mission, we won’t have to worry about money in the future. Besides… this might be the last comfort some of these men ever experience.”

Felix’s expression turned solemn, and they both ended up glancing at the three younger men. I noticed I was included in that group. I didn’t know whether to laugh. Even if everyone else died, I’d be the most likely to survive this journey, although none of them knew that.

I was able to get a better look at everyone now that we were in a well-lit area and they all pulled their hoods back. The group of Lou wasn’t all soldiers. There were three in positions of authority, Fortune, Lot, and Felix, three younger men, the youngest looked to be even a few years younger than I appeared, and two other women besides Fate. One of them was muscular and seemed to know her way around a sword, but the other might have just been a servant, although she was also a paragon.

As we sat down to wait for our food, Fortune divided our rooms based on this grouping as well. I was supposed to bunk with the other younger men. Although there was only one table, somehow the division ended up similar, with Lot, Fortune, and Felix sitting at the head, the girls in the middle, and the considerably rowdier younger men at the end. Fortune and Felix spoke quietly with each other, while the girls seemed content being in silence.

As the first round of drinks arrived, the younger men all started drinking and talking excitedly about this expedition. They were even retelling the flight through the woods like it was some grand adventure, embellishing it with each retelling. By the third time, each of them had managed to take out an enemy on their own, and Felix had shot down fifty of them with a single arrow shot.

Of course, they didn’t specifically mention the sage beast or the nature of this trip. Even the younger guys while inebriated had a better sense of that. By listening in on their conversation I found I was able to learn a bit more about their family. At first, I had been listening to Fortune, but the two men were merely reminiscing about former trips. So, I started to listen to the younger ones instead.

The main mission was truly being carried out by Fortune and Felix, who were high-level paragons. Lot was being brought along to gain leadership experience, while the others were being brought to gain general experience. They referred to each other as a cousin, so it was hard to understand their familial relationship as it tied to Lot or Fortune, but it was clear that their authority in the family wasn’t high. They seemed to dream of evolving to higher levels and gaining the reputation and authority that came with it. The highest among them was a new flawless, and the other three were top-tier evolved.

They were all on this mission with the hope of being allowed the resources necessary to evolve. If they really could get to that sage beast, even cutting off a small chunk of his meat would contain enough power to potentially push any one of the three into evolution, or the flawless into the next tier. This is why they all chose to save their lives.

“What about you?” I couldn’t help but ask Fate.

My question caused all the young men to quiet down. At first, I was afraid I made some kind of paragon mistake of etiquette, but I realized all the men were watching fate out of the side of their eyes.

“What about me?” Fate responded.

“Why did you come? Your brother and uncle are already here. I can’t imagine your father is comfortable with you risking your life, even for the family.

She remained quiet for a bit, and at first, I thought she wouldn’t answer, but then she spoke. “I’m also in a bottleneck. I’m a top-tier flawless. I wish to break into the fourth evolution.”

“Really? That’s quite impressive.”

“Sister will be the youngest Lou to ever reach the 4^th realm. She might even reach Lord one day.” Lot stated proudly.

“Don’t talk nonsense,” Fortune grunted. “How could a Lord be so easy to reach? I was thirty when I reached Champion, only a few years older than her, and even though I’m fifty, I still haven’t broken into prestiged. Maybe if you spend more time working on your evolution instead of fantasizing, you’d be as close to evolving as her!”

Lot couldn’t help but wince at that. It seemed like it was rough being the brother, especially when his older sister was outperforming him.

Felix glanced between Fortune and Lot and then smiled. “Don’t let his words get you down too much. He’s also hoping some prestige meat will help him evolve. Still bitter your dad is the only prestiged in the family.”

Fortune jerked, giving Felix an angry look, but soon the younger men all burst into laughter. Lot’s sour expression eased, and even Fate hid a slight smile behind her napkin. Fortune merely grunted, hiding in his cup until their laughter settled.

“That’s right…” A voice drifted over in the silence. “A powerful prestige sage beast! Just a little over a day north of here. When it dies, we’re going to take all its wealth!”

The entire Lou family grew somber and exchanged looks. It appeared like the information they had tried to keep hidden seemed to have already leaked.