“Oh, no, we didn’t do any stealing at first. Ralph could barely walk, thanks to his injury, and I still didn’t have that much confidence in my capabilities back then. We saved up money polishing shoes and doing odd jobs until we got older. It was only right after the Heaven’s Blessing Ceremony that we became pickpockets.”
“Hester said she’d buy a grimoire one day, and that that’d be our ticket out of here. The only way for two kids like us to save up that much money is by robbing people, and we weren’t afraid to face death, so we decided to become pickpockets. Heh heh... I really thought our lives were over when you caught Hester!”
“I bet you did,” I replied. Then, after a long pause, I said, “Man, though... I never would have expected that you guys had it so rough.”
“Hey, don’t cry, Hester! We promised we wouldn’t do that, remember?”
“I’m sorry. But...you’re crying too, you know.”
As memories of their past came to the surface, Ralph and Hester became overwhelmed and tears filled their eyes. They looked up to the sky, desperate to keep the tears from falling, but they slid down their cheeks anyway.
“You get it now, though, right? That’s why we’re so grateful to you, Chris,” Ralph said.
“Yeah,” I replied. “I didn’t know your circumstances back when you asked me to form a party with you, but hearing this makes me glad that I did. And...I don’t mean that in a pitying way. You guys are survivors. What you lacked in physical capabilities, you made up for in mental fortitude. Nothing guarantees victory like concentrated effort.”
“Yeah!” Hester exclaimed boldly. “I won’t give up! I’m going to be stronger than Claus one day, you’ll see!”
“What she said! I’m gonna overtake him and be the best adventurer there is!” Ralph added.
As they wiped the tears from their eyes, the two of them looked refreshed.
From the outside, it might have just looked like three travelers were having a mundane chat on their way to the capital. But to me, it felt like we were deepening our bonds.
When my father turned his back on me, I’d made up my mind never to trust anyone again. But maybe, just maybe...it’d be okay to trust these two.
That was the kind of faith our conversation had inspired in me.
Several hours passed of walking straight down the road to the capital.
When we’d been talking earlier, the journey had felt like it would be a long one, but since we spent the whole time talking, it flew by in a flash. It wasn’t long before we could see the capital ahead.
It was obvious even from a distance just how much bigger it was compared to Realzahd. The line outside the city gate looked like it stretched on for miles.
I’d heard that the capital was four times as big as Realzahd, but with the number of people simply waiting to enter the city on one afternoon, it seemed like it must have been even bigger.
“This is my first time visiting the capital, so I had no idea it was this huge,” I remarked.
“Right? When we came last time, I was shocked too.”
“I can’t believe you managed to find Vlad in a city this big.”
“Hester takes full credit for that. You consulted an informant, right, Hester?”
“I did. I had to ask around to find one first, but once I did, I was able to pay him some money to find out what he knew about Vlad. And the only reason that was possible was because you gave us more funds than we needed, Chris.”
“That was pretty smart,” I said. Then, after a pause, I added, “So, does that mean you know where to find an informant now? I’d like to find out any information I can on Claus, so I’d appreciate it if you could introduce me to him.”
“Of course; I’d be happy to. Why don’t we leave Ralph with Vlad and go speak to the informant together?”
“What?! Guys! Aren’t you gonna stay with me while I get my surgery?” Ralph whined, sounding surprised.
“We’d just be sitting around twiddling our thumbs if we did that. It’d be a waste of time,” I said.
“What’s wrong with you?! You could at least stay close and root for it to be successful! I mean, this guy is a shady, back-alley healer, remember?!”
“You really need to toughen up, Ralph. With all you’ve been through already, you ought to be able to handle anything now, right? Like Hester.”
“Well, I’ve got crap luck, okay?! No matter what I do, it’s like nothing ever goes my way. But with you around, Chris, things haven’t felt so bad lately, y’know?!”
“I dunno about that. Sounds like you’re whining about things right now, actually.”
“Ugh, all right! I’ll be fine on my own. You two go get your intel.”
Now that Ralph had come around, Hester and I decided we’d drop him off at Vlad’s and set off to consult with the informant.
First things first, though: Meeting with Vlad was the top priority. I couldn’t help but wonder what in the world he’d be like.
As the three of us lined up to wait for our turn at the gate inspection, I prayed that Vlad hadn’t somehow keeled over in the short amount of time that had passed since Hester and Ralph met with him.
“Present your ID card for inspection. We’ll search your persons and then your bags,” one of the guards at the gate said.
After about an hour of waiting in line, it was finally our turn.
Several guards surrounded us, patting us down and checking to make sure we weren’t bringing anything dangerous into the city. Then we showed them our adventurers’ cards, and they let us through without any issues.
Security at the capital’s gate was stricter than at Realzahd’s. They’d searched my bag so thoroughly that they almost certainly would have arrested me if I’d tried to bring any suspicious plants with me.
Anyway, now that we’d made it through security all right, we passed through the huge gate and headed into the capital.
In Realzahd, I’d been impressed by how pretty and clean the city was. In the capital, it was the huge crowds and variety of shops that made an impression. Even though we’d only just entered the city, bustling shops lined the road right inside the gate, with people going in and out of them nonstop.
In the distance down the road, I could see a pair of fountains that looked like waterfalls, and beyond them was a large castle.