Chapter 30 - An Intriguing Succubus

As I got closer to the town's wooden walls, I could tell that my earlier estimations were off by a little. Instead of around five feet and a half tall, the wooden walls were closer to six feet. There were also spiked spears protruding outward from the holes interspersed each foot on the wall. It was most likely done so to prevent any bright ideas of scaling the walls.

The entrance, which could fit about four humans at the same time, was made of heavy, dark brown wood that looked as if it had been reinforced multiple times.The scars made from the edges of weapons and a few scorch marks spoke volumes of the battles that entrance door had been through. It cemented the idea that this town was not a very particularly safe town to have a nice rest at.

Still, the idea of a dangerous and independent frontier town excited me a little. There must be many curious things inside.

“Halt, stranger! One more step and I will shoot you!” the man atop the ramparts of the walls called down in a tired voice. His eyes, however, were alert for any signs of danger, scanning the surroundings back and forth, and his short bow was aimed at my chest, an arrow already nocked.

Hearing that, I stopped to give a small, cursory look toward the man; we were both sizing each other up, him probably thinking I was a dangerous factor due to my strange appearance, whereas I was thinking that the entrance guard was effeminate.

There were multiple reasons for that. The guard's voice was of a tender tone, granted a little tired and sombre, and he was slim, almost to the point of being ladylike. I almost felt a little apologetic toward his appearance, as most people would have most likely mistaken him for a woman. His long, black hair also did not help.

“Identify yourself, stranger? And if I find you suspicious, I will kill you on the spot.”

I had not been expecting such security from a small town, but I was not surprised by the fact. It made sense to be wary of everything and everyone when it looked as if the town had been battered by frequent attacks from monsters, or perhaps even other humans.

“I have traveled from afar and I wish to stay at this town for a mere two days and then I will leave. I will even pay some gold for the brief stay,” I answered back, hoping that my appearance would not deter him from an optimistic answer and that the attraction of money would soften him.

“We have no wants of your gold. Leave before I kill you,” the guard said, unbridled hostility mixed with suspicion in his tender, yet hard voice.

“Now, now, Haikai, why don't you let that poor man in. Why, just look at his clothing. They look absolutely wearied from traveling. And I don't think we will be in danger from an unarmed man, granted, with a strange appearance,” another man said in a loud and naturally conversational voice, which could be heard even from down below where I was standing. He had appeared on the other rampart connected to the wall at the right side of the entrance, most likely seeing what was happening behind the town walls.

The man that had just shown up was not dressed like a fighting man. Instead, the man with the glint in his pale, blue eyes looked to be in his late twenties and had a short stubble growing on his chin. He wasn't what one would call handsome, but was at least not unkind to the eyes. “We could also use his gold, so I say we milk the poor bastard out for all he is worth. The safety he would get inside town would be well worth the gold.”

Greed, I could work with, I thought, looking at the newcomer on the ramparts. After all, I had more than enough to spare out of the gold coins I had looted from the many corpses.

“You do not tell me how to do my job, Dan Gojer! And get off that rampart, bastard!”

“What are you going to do about it? Shoot me? I sincerely do not think that will happen as I have doubts regarding whether you have the balls to do so.” There was a small grin on his face as if this was a point he had used multiple times to insult Haikai. He calmly fixed the tall, black hat he wore on his scruffy head of deep, black hair and waited for a reply.

I look upon with little mirth at the two men with their strange names arguing above the ramparts. In their heated argument, they had forgotten about me. I waited patiently for their argument to be done, but even after a long while of waiting, there was not even a sign of the argument even faltering.

The two men were like two friends or lovers who had not seen each other in a long while, though their conversation was not the least bit friendly. And by the time they were done insulting every imaginable body parts of each other, the bulky wooden entrance door was opened with just enough of a gap to let someone pass through. That is, if that someone was not heavily obese and was the size of two grown men; I had met some nobles whose body size had intrigued me a little. They almost seemed to defy their weights, lumbering around like trees that had grown legs.

I took the opened door as my cue that someone inside had granted me permission to enter the town. Thus, ignoring the two men still arguing, I walked toward the entrance and once I was inside the town, I found myself facing five heavily armed men led by a woman in a plain, bright blue, long linen dress that covered her entirely, leaving not even an inch of skin exposed. Her eyes were of a sharp blue, so brightly azure that it felt piercing and uncomfortable, not that I cared for such a feeling.

“My apologies for the unsightly show on the ramparts,” the woman said in a crisp, sharp, businesslike tone. “The two men above are the the idiots of the town when they are together, but alone they are some of the best men to serve the town.”

She was not exactly trying to justify the actions of the two men, but rather trying to make me feel safe, seeing that I was a traveler visiting their town.

I decided to make an attempt at humor to show that I did not feel slighted. “Thank you for coming along just at the right moment, my lady. I had not wanted a lesson on the anatomy of a human that would have lasted way until night when the morning has just barely begun.”

I had jokingly said it in my indifferent voice and waited for their reactions.

Suffice to say, the woman and the five men did not look amused at my attempt at a joke. I noted their reactions and decided that I did not have much capacity for humor. I should have known this, since I had made multiple attempts at humor when I was still human, all of which said attempts had failed miserably.

It was a curious fault of mine and I attributed it to my limited capacity for emotions. I would have to note in my mind that I should undertake no more pretense of humor, until I could perfect doing it.

It was either that or the town was just not in the mood for jokes, seeing that the town was under frequent attacks.

“You will have to undergo a search if you want to stay in this town, stranger, and we shall do it regardless of your permission, but the process would be much smoother if you are willing.” The woman motioned two of her men forward with a wave.

One of them came walking toward me with a resigned look on his scarred face as if the task of searching a man was one of the worst things that could happen; it seemed as if he would find the prospect of a battle much more comfortable than a search. The other man, however, had a cheerful look on his face as if he enjoyed doing such a task, possibly enjoying embarrassing people or perhaps something more.

Those were just my cursory observations as the two men came forward, intent on thoroughly searching me for weapons and other dangerous things. When the two men had thoroughly searched me all over, they had only found the three coin purses I had.

And once the two men opened them, their eyes widened in surprise at how much gold were found in there. Suspicions, however, quickly formed as they wondered to themselves what in the world was I doing in such a dangerous place with an amount of money that could have lasted for years of comfortable living.

The woman leader narrowed her pale, blue eyes, which made me think that perhaps she had linked my money to the annual battle I had just been in. The thought of that, however, was unlikely since it had taken all day to have come here even by flying at a fast speed. Most likely, she was just thinking that I was a thief who had been extremely lucky. After all, I was wearing shabby and dirtied clothing that would not have looked out of place on a down-on-luck peasant.

She motioned her two guards to hand the coin purses back to me, seeing that only coins were in there. “Very well, enjoy your brief stay at this town and pray that you won't die from an unlucky attack. You will be staying only briefly, correct?” She raised an eyebrow at the last part.

The woman had an incredulous personality; how very fast she had changed her mind into making me feel safe and into making me feel that I was in danger and would only be temporarily tolerated.

I only nodded in response and answered with two days. The woman thought upon it for awhile and finally gave me her express nod, before turning around with her back facing toward me. She had finished settling the matter with me and had deemed that I was most likely harmless.

“Oh yes, remember that the ground is always free,” the woman said, adding a few last words. Swiftly, the group of men left the entrance area with the woman setting a brisk pace a few steps ahead.