Arcadia's Ignoble Knight: Dark Elf Arc

Chapter 62

Everyone woke up bright and early the next morning. After eating a quick breakfast at the inn, they left and traveled toward the gate.

Silvaguarde only had one gate leading in or out of the city, which restricted access and the number of areas where the Peacekeeper's needed to stand guard. As they walked through the city, Caspian eyed the Peacekeeper's that were patrolling the streets. They had the same configuration he remembered from other cities. There were two Peacekeepers and two Knights.

When the Knights were first introduced into the cities, many of the citizens had eyed them warily, as though expecting these magical creations to attack them without regard like the murakumos had. That never happened. After several weeks of these Knights being stationed in every city, the common folks had gotten used to their presence and now ignored them.

"People can get used to anything, huh?" Caspian murmured as Erica spoke with the stableboy responsible for renting out horses. It looked like she was seducing the price down, which caused him to shake his head.

"What?" asked Elincia as she stood next to him.

"I was just thinking about how everyone has grown used to the murako--sorry, I mean how they've grown used to those Knights. In the first few towns that we passed, everyone would stare at them with such blatant fear in their eyes, but now no one even bats an eyelash." He frowned as the thought led to another, less pleasant one. "It makes me wonder... if people become used to these Knights, then won't that mean they'll no longer be afraid and discontent with Duke De'Falco's rule? If that is the case, then the sorceresses will never have a place among these people. What will happen to them?"

"I... I don't know," Elincia said uncertainly.

Caspian shook his head and smiled. "Sorry, I'm being pessimistic."

"It's okay." Elincia grabbed his hand and squeezed it reassuringly. "I think you have a valid concern." She turned her head to gaze at a group of Peacekeepers and Knights who walked passed them, watching as one of them yawned before they disappeared around a building. "If Duke De'Falco ends up being benevolent, then the sorceresses will not have a place to go. More and more people will believe the duke was right about sorceresses betraying the people. On the other hand, I don't really want his reign being brutal either because that could mean many innocent people would suffer."

It was a quandary that neither of them knew how to solve. If Duke De'Falco ended up being a tyrant, then the citizens would grow to hate him and rally under the sorceress when they chose to reveal themselves again. However, having a tyrant as a ruler also meant the citizens would suffer. Elincia didn't want that. At the same time, she didn't want the sorceresses who had spent their whole lives in service to the people to be hunted down and killed like dogs.

Erica soon got the price down to what she deemed a reasonable amount, and the eleven of them mounted their horses. It took awhile because they needed to have the stableboy help them strap their packs to the horses. Derek had bought a lot of supplies for the journey.

There were only six, so several people ended up riding together; Elincia rode with Caspian, Cassidy rode with Christo, Erica was on Derek's horse, and Tiffania rode with Dranor. Sylvia had her own horse, but Collafloore ended up riding with Maddison because he apparently didn't know how to ride a horse.

Their group of eleven trotted toward the gate. There were about ten guards at the gate, five Peacekeepers and five Knights. The Peacekeepers looked at the eleven of them with a frown, but since none of them looked like their wanted posters just then, they let their group pass without incident.

The gate was on the west side of Silvaguarde, which meant they needed to take the road for a ways out, and then traverse around the city at a distance before traveling toward the Sacred Forest. Their first day of travel took them about sixty kilometers out from Silvaguarde. Even though they had decided to get a start on their day early, they could travel no further since both the horses and those riding them were soon exhausted.