I Reincarnated Into A Single-Celled Organism! - I Reincarnated into a Single-celled Organism! - Chapter 63

Erika turned out to be smarter than I gave her credit for. She had accurately predicted that the innkeeper would contact the mercenary thugs and even left a deceptive crumb trail to embolden their attack.

“How well did that work out?” Her brother came over, a glum expression on his face.

Her face grew even deeper red. “I didn’t expect him to send the entire mercenary group just to teach me a lesson. If it was only twenty or thirty of them, brother definitely would have handled it.”

“If it wasn’t for that damned leader, even two hundred wouldn’t have been enough. He was far too shameless coming personally.” He spoke angrily before looking at me. “You know this boy?”

“Boy?” I raised an eyebrow.

I had seen a mirror at least once. I knew I had the body of about a twenty-year-old boy, a bit younger than I was when I died in my previous life. There was no particular reason my body looked that young. I could probably make myself older if I focused, but I saw no need. As for attractiveness, I had always been decent enough to pull any girl I wanted in my previous life, and I probably was more attractive now, but as a guy, it was hard to judge.

“These two are the ones I met in the tavern.” Her face finally softened, although she looked a bit guilty.

He glared at me. “You should consider yourself lucky. All of these deaths are on your hands.”

“Tyler!” She glared at her brother angrily.

“What? Is it true?” The boy named Tyler glared at Mara. “You’re the ones that caught the mercenary’s eyes. My sister felt like intervening, and now we’ve lost four knights and seven servants, all to save a couple of peasants.”

It spoke to the strength of paragon knights that despite everything, nearly half of them survived. As for the servants, the only survivors were the women and one lucky guy who had played dead, although he was pretending to have taken a head wound.

“It was the Blackbolt gang that went too far,” Erika declared. “Would you have preferred we left them to die? At the least, we found corruption within the groups the government has hired. Once we submit a report, the emperor will be sure to reward us.”

“Oh, sister…” He shook his head, grabbing his sister’s arms and looking down at her sadly. “We won’t be sending out a report.”

“What?” Her eyes widened as she shook off his hands. “What does that mean?”

“It will be our word against theirs… they will claim it was an accident and a misunderstanding. Besides, even if you wanted revenge, their leader has already died and been replaced. Lord Nikola will do nothing.”

“But… with the university…”

“The university doesn’t have the power it once had.”

“The provost-” she began stubbornly.

“The provost is getting old. He doesn’t hold the same sway with the court that he once did.” Tyler sighed as if he was used to repeating these kinds of things with his sister. “Just trust me on this one. At best, you will be believed, and nothing will happen. At worst, you’ll be treated as someone who overreacts and makes false accusations.”

“Overreacts!” she cried out, and then blushed, lowering her voice. “This is unjust. How can so many of our people be harmed for nothing?”

She looked a bit like she might cry.

“It wasn’t for nothing, sister.” He tried to soothe her. “Their new leader is bound to be a lower rank than this one. They won’t move as boldly as before, especially after losing so many. They might not even have the numbers anymore and the local magistrate might demand they’re replaced with a group that can properly defend the area. Speaking of which, how did the leader end up dead? What did you see?”

His eyes turned to me so abruptly that I barely realized the last part was meant for me.

“Sagebeast,” I responded simply, and when he frowned, I continued. “Came out of the forest. We hid. He lost many men fighting it, and when he fell, the rest fled, and the sagebeast chased them.”

He let out a breath. “I see, then we were all very fortunate. It must be a powerful sagebeast to be able to defeat so many men and kill their leader. It’d normally be their job to do this, but if they were defeated then I should go after it. It’s my duty as a knight to keep sagebeasts from harming the public.”

He looked off in the direction I had pointed that the army fled, his hand on the hilt of his sword like he planned to head off in that direction.

“No!” I cried out and then coughed when he gave me a suspicious look. “It was severely wounded by their leader. Close to death, I would say. Even if they couldn’t finish it off, time will.”

I didn’t want him tracking down some of those men and discovering that I’d lied. Who asked this guy to be the self-sacrificial type who would put his life on the line to bring down a powerful sagebeast? I mean, there was no sagebeast, but if it did kill the guy who defeated him, what hope did he have?

“I see…” He finally turned away from the path and back to us. “We should head to Stormberg and report this.”

I frowned. “No, we’re heading to Arcford.”

The brother and sister exchanged a look before she spoke. “Is there any particular reason you’re heading to Arcford? It’s a very large and unforgiving city.”

“We have business there,” I responded cautiously.

“Business?” She asked.

“The Capala family,” Mara spoke up as the cart stopped next to us.

I hid my expression, but I was wincing inwardly. It was better to tell them less, but now it was too late. I could see the guy’s expression darken a bit.

“You have business with the Arcford families?” Tyler asked. “They’re nothing but trouble.”

“Brother!” Erika glared at him. “You shouldn’t say that kind of stuff out loud.”

Her words seemed to imply that such a thing was commonly said in private.

“All three families only care about themselves. They only feign loyalty to Lord Nikola. I don’t know why he hasn’t put them in their place already.”

“Shh… brother!” She tried to placate him. “Let’s not discuss such things here.”

“Tch…” He shook his head irritably and then glared at me. “What business do you have with the Capalas? They’re not as bad as the Boran and Damini families, but if it’s a favor you want, you’d be better off asking a snake.”

“I have a lot-“

“Our business is our own.” I cut off Mara, and gave her a sharp look.

She at least had enough shame to blush and mutter an apology. Erika looked between me and her and then shook her head.

“You should still come to Stormberg.”

“Arcford-f” Mara began.

“The families won’t even see you in Arcford,” Erika cut in. “They consider themselves above the common folk. The guards at their front gate will send you on your way while claiming they passed on a message. You could come every day for a year, and they’d never see you. It’s not to speak down on you, but that’s how things are in the capital. You are a nobody without proper notification. Even I couldn’t get a meeting in any of the houses.”

“Is that so…” I responded, not sure if her discouragement had some agenda behind it.

“Your best bet is to try to come in from a branch location. Every city has its families, but the larger families have branches spread out in other cities to manage their assets. I believe that Stormberg has a small branch of Capala. If you wanted a chance, that would be your way in,” she explained.

“What do you think?” I looked back at Mara.

“I will follow you.”

“You’re her… big brother, right?” Erika smiled, but Mara let out a grunt like she had just been hit.

“Yes,” I replied.

“Tyler is… ah, that’s right. I never formally introduced myself. My name is Erika Blanch. I am currently attending the University and learning under the provost.”

“No one learns under the provost. You’re learning under one of his eight disciples.” Tyler rolled his eyes.

“You…” She glared at him. “Ahem, in case you couldn’t tell, this is my brother. He has joined the Arcford knighthood.”

“Charmed.” He made a face, looking at me with his chin slightly raised.

“Spirit…” I responded simply.

“I’m Mara,” Mara added.

“Spirit, Mara…” She looked at both of us deliberately like she was trying to memorize our faces. “It’s wonderful to meet the pair of you. I look forward to traveling together.”

Although I had originally planned for Arcford, I was nothing if not adaptable. Perhaps it was for the best if we ended up going to this branch location instead. I had looked at a map previously, and I knew Arcford was still a few months of travel, while Stormberg appeared to only be a few days of travel away. Simply put, I might be able to fulfill my promise more quickly by heading to Stormberg.