Ceres

25

Three days later and after Guy departed, Ceres and the others followed. They rented horses instead of a caravan.

Orion was amazed at how convenient Ceres' face masks are. They are truly realistic and even he, himself, wouldn't know if he was in disguise or not. He kept on wondering whether Ceres' face is also her real appearance. Moreover, he can't get rid of the thought about Gil and Ceres' relationship. It doesn't look like they're friends at all. He knew that something was off with those two. Perhaps their identities are more troublesome than mine?

The journey from Roguen to Moss Valley in a caravan would take at least two weeks. But, with just horses, it would take a little less than two weeks. Given their time frame, they could arrive at Moss Valley at the same time that Guy arrives there.

That is what Orion thought.

Along the way, Ceres and Gil kept on ambushing bandits. Aside from taking the bandits possessions, they also captured them and presented them to local authorities. This made the journey longer than it should have. Also, they took a lot of detours!

"What are you doing?! Do you badly need money?!"

Right after Ceres and Gil presented the bandits to a random town, Orion couldn't help but ask what's been bothering him for so long. But, the two eople only ignored him.

It turns out that aside from the money that they could get presenting the bandits to local authorities, they also could get money from the mercenary guild. They actually registered as mercenaries and were carrying out jobs while traveling to Moss Valley!

Before going out of Roguen City, Ceres and Gil registered as mercenaries. Becoming a mercenary is easy. One must only show his skills, pay a fee of five gold coins and then, he can finally get a badge signifying that he is a mercenary. During the registration, Ceres didn't reveal any information aside from her false name which was needed to register. The mercenary guild doesn't require a lot of things and they only needed a person who can complete jobs. Moreover, Ceres didn't want to get a lot of attention that's why she left the other information blank. Her age could cause a lot of rumors and get unnecessary attention. Then, during the test, she only exhibited some of her skills in using a dagger as a weapon. After everything was done, she finally got a mercenary badge. She also told Gil to register so that they could do the same job and also, so that no one would question why they're always together.

The badges of mercenaries are special. It is imbued with magic arrays and one only needs to drop a small amount of his blood to bind the badge to him. When a person uses his spirit essence on a badge, he will know some information about the owner of that badge including the completed and on-going jobs. This also helps in avoiding problems created by stolen or missing badges.

Regarding the jobs of mercenaries, since there is no ranking, anyone can take on any job they want. However, some jobs can only be accessed in specific mercenary guilds. As for the payment, it can be acquired in any mercenary guild. All transactions are held in mercenary guilds.

On a certain night during their travel, they were roasting a hare meat and preparing to eat dinner. Despite being with Ceres and Gil for a bit longer than he expected, Orion doesn't doubt their fighting abilities. However, what he still doubts is Ceres' ability to heal his grandfather. The disease is something that numerous experts have failed to cure. How can a mere kid be able to help his grandfather?

Because Orion has a straightforward nature, he asked...

"Are you sure you can heal my grandfather?"

Ceres didn't look at him and kept her eyes closed while waiting for Gil to finish roasting the meat.

"No one can be a 100 percent certain about something."

Orion clenched his fist so hard. He knew that he couldn't fully trust Ceres. The only person that could probably heal his grandfather is Old Pang.

"All I can say is... I will do my job properly."

With that said, even though Orion was a bit disappointed, his mood was somehow lifted. No matter what it takes, he will certainly find a way to save his grandfather.

---

A week before they can arrive at Moss Valley, they stumbled upon a job posting in a mercenary guild of a random city. The posting was about escorting a merchant caravan going to Moss Valley. Perfect timing!

"Since your friend is not a mercenary, I will not pay for his food during this travel."

The leader of the merchant caravan told Ceres and the others about Orion's situation. They all understood it and still agreed since they were all going to Moss Valley anyway and Ceres and Gil registered for the job.

Two days before they reach Moss Valley, they met an ambush of bandits. There was only one way going to Moss Valley from where they came from and be able to arrive in the fastest time. Because the merchant group wanted to arrive in Moss Valley as soon as possible, despite the mercenaries' warning, they took the dangerous path. The reason for this path being dangerous is that it can be a great ambush place for bandits. The narrow road makes it difficult to escape any ambush because both paths may be block by bandits if they were numerous.

What the mercenaries' told them actually happened, they really met an ambush and they were outnumbered! When they were working on a path to retreat and go back to where they came from, the path was already blocked! At this moment, Orion realized that both Ceres and Gil were nowhere to be found!

Knowingthe two, he knew they were already making their moves. However, the othermercenaries and merchants realized that the two were missing. They have oneconclusion: those two might have sold the information to the bandits!-tbc

A/N: I need to work on my other stories (editing and such) but I feel so lazy these past few days. Thinking about it, I think it has something to do with skipping breakfast. Hmm...