The Grimoire

Chapter 18: Nerisville

The nights were long. After we had that encounter with the politicians, siniguro na ni Cairo na magkasama kaming lahat tuwing lalabas because we received death threats, well both written at sa personal na rin. That really didn't catch us by surprise kasi alam naman namin na messed up naman talaga ang gobyerno. Tsaka isa pa, kahit anong ano pang sasabihin nila, hindi parin mawawala sa isipan ng lahat na studyante lang kami. We're just a bunch of kids who have to finish a mission, iyon lang. In fact, we are sacrificing our childhood for the benefit of them, to lessen their work. 

Kung hindi napakali si Cairo, lalo na kami. I just prayed na makakaabot kami sa lugar na pupuntahan talaga namin and fortunately, we arrived safely. We immediately went to get our things para makalabas kaagad kami. Cairo and Leo were kind enough to carry all of our things. Lumabas kami sa train sa ibang door kasi mula kami sa VIP section. We saw a few people going out from the other doors at mukha silang mga tourista- hindi kagaya namin.

"V, come on," biglang tawag ni Cairo kaya napasunod kaagad ako sa kanila. I walked behind Leo and Cairo where Evie glanced at me with a surprised look.

"What?" I asked.

"V?" she whispered. "He calls you V now?" she asked. "That's an unexpected turn of events. Since when you guys gotten close?" she teased at nauna na siyang naglakad kasi hawak niya ang pera at kailangan naming makahanap ng masasakyan.

Naglakad kami palayo sa train station hanggang sa nakalabas kami sa train station. I was caught off guard by the smell of the breeze and how this place is actually like. I was expecting a station that has well-designed buildings kagaya ng Terrax but I was surprised to see a port that looked like Liwet. The infrastructures were short and simple. Although walang mall dito, may convenience store naman sila dito, well, wala ito sa Liwet kaya medyo nakakapanibago pa rin.

We saw an old guy with horses and carriage with him. He was calling out people from the train station at ni-isang tao walang tumingin sa kaniya. His clothes were worn off at halatang pagod rin siya. Most people here booked cars while he still has horses. Gusto ko mang sabihin kay Cairo na iyon na lang ang sakyan namin, I bet it's not really his style. I still hoped that he'll like my suggestion, so I decided to look at him at bago pa man ako makapag-suggest, I saw him watching the old man already and I think we both were thinking the same thing.

Nauna siyang nglakad at sumunod naman kami. He stopped by the old man and pointed at the horses and carriage. 

"Can we take those 4 horses?" he asked. "And also, the carriage for out things. If you don't mind, do you have any recommendation kung saan kami pwede magpalipas ng ilang araw. Specifically, yung malapit lang sa port dito," Cairo added and the old man's face brightened.

"8 gold coins lang po," sagot ng matandang lalaki.

"Lahat?!" Evie exclaimed and the old man nodded. 

"Ako na pong bahala sa mga gamit niyo at ihahatid ko po kayo sa port. Susunod po kaagad ang mga kabayo kapag aalis ako kaya wala po kayong problema," he reassured.

"Here," Evie said while handing 15 gold coins. "The rest is a tip," she added at napangiti lang ako.

"M-M-Masyado pong malaki ito sir," sabi ng matandang lalaki pero hindi nakinig si Cairo at ang iba pa. They went to the horses and hop on them at para bang naghihintay sila na mauna ang carriage para sundan namin. The old man glanced at me with hopes that I'll get some of the coins from his hands.

"Sayo na po iyan," iyon lang ang sinabi ko at pumunta ako sa nag-iisang kabayo na walang sakay at sinakyan ito. Buti na lang sanay ako sa kabayo dahil ito ang ginagamit namin ni papa na transportasyon. Minsan lang kami nakikigamit ng motorsiklo kas mas sanay kami sa kabayo.