Chapter 12

"Who are you and what's your purpose for approaching His Royal Highness?!" a Knight asked with a blade pointed at Vivian's face.

 

"I -- I --" Vivian, who was still shocked, scared and confused, struggled to give out an answer.

 

"Speak!" the Knight said and raised the blade.

 

"Stand down," said Ronaldo who was heading towards them.

 

As for Caspian, he was being nursed by the butler and maid.

 

"Supreme Captain," the Knights said and gave a slight bow.

 

When Ronaldo finally reached them, the Knight who was interrogating Vivian stepped back to give him space.

 

Ronaldo stared at Vivian.

 

Her hair was tied into a braid and then tied together but was now disheveled. There were even leaves and vines sticking over them just like her body. And for her skin that wasn't covered by her gear or clothing, there were thin red lines on them.

 

His eyes then noticed the pendant hanging around her neck.

 

It was a copper-colored rectangular shape with a height of an inch and a width of 3 inches and had the initials "I" engraved on it.

 

"Adventurer, what's your name?"

 

"Na--" Vivian almost said her original body's name but stopped mid-way. 

 

"Vivian, sir."

 

"Mind your manners, you are in the presence of the Supreme Captain of Luxen City!" one of the Knights barked.

 

Ronaldo looked at the Knight and said, "It's fine."

 

"But Supreme Captain --"

 

Ronaldo didn't say anything and glared at the Knight.

 

The Knight quickly took and step back and looked down.

 

Ronaldo returned his gaze to Vivian.

 

"Why did you run to us?"

 

"I-I was in the forest.... I was… I was killing monsters and then... I got overwhelmed... Supreme Captain..."

 

Ronaldo didn't speak, but the expression on his face told her to continue.

 

Vivian took a deep breath and cleared her throat before continuing.

 

"I ran away. I just ran away to create some distance. But the next thing I knew, more monsters were chasing me so I just continued running until I accidentally bumped into you guys, si-- I mean, Supreme Captain."

 

"What quest were you doing?"

 

"Quest?" Vivian asked with a confused expression painted on her face.

 

"You're an adventurer, correct?"

 

Vivian finally understood what Ronaldo was saying.

 

"I wasn't on a quest, Supreme Captain. I was killing monsters as a form of training while heading to the city."

 

"What's your purpose for going to the city?"

 

"To earn money as an adventurer and also hone my skills even further."

 

"Where are you from?"

 

Vivian's heart sank.

 

She cursed all matter of curse words to the Zhey/Zhem God for not giving her the general information about this world.

 

The gears inside her head went overdrive as she tried to search for an answer.

 

If I die here or get thrown into prison, then there's nothing I can do…

 

And what's worse, I'm in a body of a woman…

 

I can only hope they won't pry deeper…

 

"Supreme Captain, I'm from a small village called Linu. It's located deep in the mountains."

 

"Which part of the country?"

 

"It's down south from here."

 

Ronaldo landed his gaze on the pendant around Vivian's neck once more before returning to her face.

 

Vivian was praying so hard to all of the gods she knew that her answers were believable.

 

She didn't if the word Linu was too foreign in this country.

 

She didn't know if there were mountains in the south.

 

If they asked her for more details, she knew she would be in trouble.

 

"I see," Ronaldo said and then turned to look at Caspian.

 

He was still being nursed by the butler and maid and wasn't paying attention to Ronaldo and the others.

 

He returned his gaze to Vivian.

 

"Are you okay?"

 

"Yes, si -- Supreme Captain."

 

"Where are your companions?"

 

"I don't have any, Supreme Captain. I came here on my own in search of a better life as an adventurer."

 

Ronaldo took out a potion from his belt pouch and offered it to her.

 

"Take this to heal your wounds and as compensation for how my men treated you. Even though you're an adventurer, you're still a woman. And you're also quite brave for adventuring alone."

 

Vivian stared at the bottle in front of her.

 

"Healing potion…?"

 

It looked like the small bottle that she thought was some kind of a perfume inside her satchel.

 

Vivian leaned forward and reached out her hands to accept the bottle.

 

"Thank you, Supreme Captain," she said and bowed after receiving it.

 

Ronaldo turned around and left without saying a word, but his actions indicated that the conversation was over and this was goodbye.

 

The Knights followed suit.

 

Vivian let out a deep sigh of relief before raising her head and sweeping her gaze at the rest of the people around.

 

Aside from more Knights, she also noticed a small boy, a woman who was dressed in what looked like a maid uniform and an old man wearing a suit.

 

A butler…?

 

What's with this group's getup…?

 

Her gaze landed on the boy and noticed he was dressed in fighting gear.

 

A rich kid…?

 

She then recalled their conversation as she studied the small bottle on her hands.

 

Some kind of noble and their training this kid…?

 

Back in the world where Vivian was from, although there were still monarchies, only a small number of countries still practiced it and most of them were no different from social media influencers. On top of that, she was from a country where their monarchy was long abolished and she had no interest or whatsoever about them. Because of that, she knew very little about nobility, their etiquette and how to properly address them. And if she were to be honest, the only thing she knew was Your Majesty which she wasn't even sure if it only applies to the King or it also applies to the Emperor and Queen.

 

Her gaze switched to Ronaldo.

 

What was that thing he did earlier…?

 

If she were to describe it, it was like being hit by an overwhelming sense of threat that made her basic human instincts scream in fear, leaving her body unable to move.

 

I should definitely avoid these people or anything that has to do with them...

 

The memory of the Knights kicking from behind and pointing their weapons at her flashed inside her head.

 

I swear to God I'll fucking kill you one day...!

 

She got up and was about to ask where the location of the city was but stopped herself.

 

Frankly speaking, she was lost and didn't know where she was exactly. And although they were on a field, the city that she was headed to wasn't visible from here.

 

Is it safe to ask them for directions…?

 

However, for an adventurer to travel alone -- because for some reason they think I'm an adventurer which I don't even know how did they know -- and head for a place she has no idea where the direction is sounds very suspicious…

 

But if I don't know and search around for it myself, it would be too dangerous because I'm already very low on water and I haven't yet eaten…

 

Wait…!

 

If these people are here, given it's a noble family and they even brought a maid and butler and they also don't seem to have brought many things for long travel, that means the city is near…

 

If I'm far away from the city and got further lost here and had to stay here in the night with those monsters, I'd be dead…

 

No doubt about that...

 

Her gaze landed at the Knights, especially at Ronaldo.

 

I really want to avoid these Knights and knights as much as possible but I have no choice…

 

"Excuse me, sir. Excuse me, sir Knights!"

 

Two of the Knights turned to her.

 

"This is my first time visiting this part of the country and I'm lost after running away from those monsters. Can you point me in the direction where the main road is or the shortest path to the city?"

 

The Knights looked at each other before returning their gaze to her.

 

"Just head northwest," one of the Knights said.

 

"Thank you, sir Knights," Vivian said and bowed.

 

She stared at the sky.

 

East is where the sun rises and the West is where the sun sets, right…?

 

So northeast is here…!

 

She turned to the direction of where northeast was -- or what she thought northeast was.

 

I guess…?

 

In her original world, if one wanted to search for directions, normal people would use their smartphone. And although she was an aspiring fitness influencer, but that doesn't mean she was the type to go hiking in the middle of nowhere.

 

She began walking.

 

Ugh…! 

 

I just hope I'm walking in the right direction…!

 

She walked confidently as if she knew where she was going and didn't dare to turn around to look at Caspian and his entourage and attract any more unwanted attention.

 

Chapter end