Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 525: Caravan [Bonus Chapter]

Asher rose to his feet, his gaze glancing around the pub as everyone stared at him in silence, some were seated, some standing, all of them looking at him as though he had suddenly become the center of the entire room.

’It seems I’ve made a scene,’ he thought to himself with a mental sigh, an inward weariness passing through him, but before he could say or do anything to ease the tension or slip away quietly.

"To the genius who ended Pan’s reign," one of the customers suddenly shouted as he raised his mug high into the air, his voice filled with drunken enthusiasm and unrestrained delight.

"To the genius!" everyone shouted in unison and glee as they all raised their mugs and clanked them together with loud, echoing cheers, then resumed their drinking as though nothing significant had happened, laughter and chatter immediately returning to the tavern.

None of them cared about Pan; he was just another drinker here and just another trash awakener who happened to frequent the pub. None of them cared about his injuries or his pain. Pan and Asher were merely a source of entertainment and nothing more, like actors on a crude stage. They had all seen a good show this morning, something to break the monotony of their day, and that was all there was to it.

Pan’s broken arm? Please, even children wouldn’t flinch at the sight of it. Injury and death were no different from oxygen within Crymora, both equally common and equally ignored. Even unawakeneds were perfectly fine if they saw a dead body or limbs twisted in the wrong direction, their hearts long since desensitized to the harshness of this world.

Asher turned and walked back towards Anna. He sat down again as he spoke, "I hope I didn’t cause too much trouble," he stated with a sigh, his tone polite yet detached, as though the entire fight had been nothing but a trivial inconvenience.

Anna looked around at the damaged tables, chairs, and the entire barrel of spilled pub special ale soaking into the wooden floor. She shook her head as she replied, "It’s fine, this is the least amount of damage this pub has ever suffered. Normally a fight would cause far greater destruction than this, you need not worry," she stated truthfully, as she was already used to this in all honesty, her voice carrying the resignation of long experience.

"I will pay for the damages," Asher stated with a calm expression, not bothering to argue or feign innocence. Anna nodded her head in agreement; why should she reject coins that were freely given to her, especially in a place where repairs were a constant necessity?

"If I may ask, how can I get to the Blackstone Village?" Asher asked as he received the mug Anna was serving him, the faint scent of ale rising gently from its surface.

Anna fell into her thoughts for a moment, tapping the counter lightly with her fingers, then spoke, "Although I’ve never heard of such a village, there are a group of caravans at the far south of the County that usually travel together. You can ask if any of them are traveling to the Blackstone Village or even near it. If they are, you just have to pay a few coins and you will join them on their journey," she replied, as she truly knew nothing more than this small piece of information.

"Thank you," Asher replied with a small smile, but he didn’t leave immediately. Instead, he decided to wait a few more minutes before departing, quietly sipping his drink while observing the ordinary rhythm of the pub.

"When do you plan to leave?" Anna asked as she cleaned a mug in her hand with a worn cloth, her tone casual, almost conversational.

Asher fell into his thoughts, but he wasn’t thinking about anything in particular; he was merely acting, crafting a believable lie. "Since this is my first time in this County, I guess I will leave in about a week after exploring a bit," he replied, his voice relaxed and natural.

Anna nodded and said nothing more. Asher did the same. After finishing his last mug of ale, he rose to his feet as he didn’t want to be served another. He took out a silver coin and placed it on the counter as he spoke, "For the trouble and damages."

Anna nodded with a small smile as she took the silver coin without a word. With that, Asher turned and walked away without glancing back, his steps loud as the wooden floor creaked under his feet and weight, each step echoing faintly behind him.

Stepping outside, Asher manipulated light photons once more as he changed his face and clothing without missing a beat, the transformation smooth and seamless like water flowing into a new shape. As for his reason for doing this, it was because of Anna. While she might be able to fool another person with her gentle demeanor and casual tone, she couldn’t fool Asher.

Although it might seem like nothing, Asher knew that Anna was asking questions, questions that seemed innocent on the surface, but they weren’t innocent at all. Each one subtly probed for information, testing him. But Asher didn’t exactly care. He had given false information the entire time. Even if they wanted to track him down to rob him or follow him for some ulterior motive, they couldn’t, as he had already changed his face again.

Although he could easily kill whoever came after him, it didn’t mean he would allow flies to buzz around him simply because he could swat them. It was better to avoid the buzzing entirely rather than deal with needless annoyance.

’Now I just have to get to the caravan, then move with them to the village,’ Asher concluded, but at the same time, he hoped that the departure date to the Blackstone Village wouldn’t be too far away. After all, he had no clear way to the place and didn’t want to waste time wandering aimlessly.

’Hey system, shouldn’t you have a map function or something? I remember asking this last time,’ he asked the system internally, his tone faintly annoyed.

[And the system remembers telling the Host that the system isn’t a map.]

The mechanical chime of the system echoed within his mind, emotionless and blunt as always. Asher sighed at the system’s reply. He could have just flown there if the system had something like a world map or at least some form of navigation assistance.

At the thought, he suddenly stopped in his steps, his eyes narrowing slightly. ’Wait, the system not having a map function doesn’t mean I can’t get a map for myself,’ he thought to himself as an idea clicked sharply in his mind like a spark catching fire.

Although he couldn’t exactly read maps professionally, as he wasn’t a geologist, nor had he really read any maps in his past life, Asher felt that the maps of this era were simple enough that he could understand them instantly with ease, especially with his heightened perception and memory.

’I should visit a merchant,’ Asher thought to himself as he immediately threw away the idea of visiting any caravan, deciding he would save that as a last resort. With that, he removed the illusion covering his body aside from the one on his face and walked towards the direction of a merchant building, his figure blending naturally into the busy streets as though he had never been there at all.