Chapter 102: Road To Barcelona

They went back to the city only a whole full hour after Kadre was done ‘picking up rocks’. The streets were quieter now, the revelry at the gates fading into tired murmurs.

“Okay, what’s the plan? We have kind of

gotten derailed here,” Mikael asked as they sat atop the guard house, at least what remained of it.

“We’ll leave at dawn. I’ve got another associate at Barcelona,” Kadre replied, packing up a small bag while Mikael changed into a fresh set of clothes. The bag clinked with every movement, and she shifted it with a guilty hand.

“And where is Barcelona?” he asked.

“It is a port city, just a few hundred miles away from here. Best place to start looking for your mysterious relics. A lot of goods come into the Empire through there.”

“We won’t be going to Corinth again, I take it.”

“The tide here this time around, plus the issue with that massive beast, Corinth is going to be a hotspot for authorities and officials. I am not risking it. On the bright side, Barcelona is a major port city, connecting many parts of the Empire. Even to outside the Empire if need be. Perfect for when we pick a trail and need to get somewhere.”

A look of genuine surprise appeared on Mikael’s face. “I honestly didn’t think that far. Good one.”

She smirked, a little proud. “Planning is half of thievery, kid. The other half is running.”

Overhead, the moon shone brightly, illuminating the nearly ruined city, corpses and survivors. Somewhere below, a woman was weeping over a collapsed doorway, and a pair of knights were carrying a stretcher in silence.

“I met General Rodain.” Mikael dropped a bombshell after moments of silence.

Kadre all but rose up with eyes widened in shock.

“The General Rodain?”

“Yes. Archsage rank. Fire affinity. Black outfit. The whole package. Apparently, he came to talk.”

Kadre heaved a sigh of relief and exasperation. The lad was definitely a hot cake, if even one of the highest officials came personally to see him. Her mind raced through every exit route she knew.

“I hope you didn’t mention me, boy?”

“Of course not. Why should I go about blabbing about my plan to people who would do everything to potentially obstruct me? They’ve got the resources and means.”

“Is the General still in the vicinity?”

“I’m not sure. I left them back at the Godbeast’s body.” He threw on a cloak.

“Them?”

“General Erica was there. It was nice meeting her again.”

“So you know the power couple….. Very good for you. Now are you gonna tell me why the Empire is seeking your ass? Or do I just quit this job before you get me killed?”

She strapped a little pouch to her waist,slung the bag over her shoulder and turned to sit in front of Mikael.

“It’s most probably because of my invention. You know, the Rank Breaker. I take it they want me to make more for them.”

“Then go fucking do that before we become national fugitives.” She laughed, nervously.

“I am afraid I can’t even if I wanted to. I’m currently lacking materials. And no, even the Empire can’t source it out for me. That’s how rare it is.”

Mikael sat down after he was done changing, and he placed the scythe before him. There was nothing he could do for the Empire even if he wanted to. No celestial essence meant no more Rank Breaker.

A heavy silence settled between the two, for minutes. Both got lost, each in their own thoughts.

Kadre’s thoughts drifted to the associate in Barcelona, and whether they still owed her the favor he had promised two years ago. Mikael’s, meanwhile, drifted toward the chill in his bones, the faint tremor that refused to leave his fingers.

Soon after, Kadre broke free of hers and rose. “Let’s go.” She tapped Mikael, whose eyes were closed, thinking him to be asleep. He didn’t budge.

“Are you really falling asleep now, Mikael?” Kadre growled. Sure, the day had been rough since the previous evening, but they needed to leave the city soon. She tapped his shoulder, much more forcefully this time, to stir him awake. It yielded no fruit; Mikael’s eyes were shut tight.

The only change that occurred was that he winced and his face contorted in pain. A gesture Kadre felt was quite overexaggerated for her trying to wake him up.

“Really?” she sighed in slight annoyance. She leaned closer to his face, and that was when she noticed the boy was sweating quite profusely. His breathing had turned shallow, and his fingers twitched against the scythe’s shaft. Was he having a nightmare?

She shook him by the shoulder with a look of concern.

“Hey, Mike. Wake up, buddy. Whatever it is you’re seeing, it’s all a dream. Hey.”

Meanwhile, on a realm several layers beyond his body’s physical location, Mikael fought hard, back and forth, against a piece of his soul. The space around him was a dark, endless void, laced with threads of silver and gold that coiled like living things on a greater part of the black.

His aim was to find out what exactly was the issue between his body suddenly freezing up and the scythe. But the answer was not forthcoming, so he decided to transmute as many strands as he could with the surprisingly very little remaining mana he’d absorbed from the lion turtle.

It was substantial, the remainder. But after one strand of Mikael’s soul came back from the scythe, what remained of the spoil was next to nothing. It would seem each cycle took exponentially more energy to complete than the last, he noted. The strand shivered as it settled back into place, and the pain that followed made him grit his teeth.

That was when he noticed that someone on the outside was shaking him vigorously.

Since there was very minimal energy for Ragnarok to proceed safely, he decided that that was that for the night.

He opened his eyes to a worried Kadre, who jumped back from the suddenness of Mikael’s awakening.

“Sweet Mother, you nearly gave me a heart attack,” she sighed, clutching her chest. “I was about to find a bucket of water. Having a good sleep, I see….” she mocked.

“Not really. How long has it been?”

“Definitely over twenty minutes. And you fall asleep very quickly. How much I envy your youth.”

Mikael stood up and stretched. His joints cracked, and his muscles still ached from the fight.

“You look like you just passed eighteen, so where do you get off?”

“I am an adult, you brat.”

He picked up his scythe, in a way that made Kadre subconsciously reach for her back pouch. Mikael pretended not to notice.

“Adults don’t go around shouting that they are adults. And I’m way older than you could ever imagine, remember that.”

He jumped off the roof. Kadre followed, having searched her mind for a suitable comeback and finding none that would support her claims. Not that Mikael waited to hear it.

They walked away till they came close to the destroyed main city gate. Knights roamed in their numbers, alongside the city adventurers, and not surprisingly, the cores of two Sage Ranks blazed just above the wall. Their auras pressed faintly against the night air, like banked coals waiting for a breath of wind.

Mikael sighed. ‘Must be your father and the General, Erica.’ He turned to Kadre. “You are our logistics person. What’s the plan?”

Not wasting any time, Kadre pointed to a section of the walls that had holes. “We could sneak out from here, go all the way to the west side, then we move. Or even head back to the northeast, slip away through all the rowdiness. Then double back and get on the western road.”

Beyond the broken wall, the plains stretched into darkness, silent and endless, and past them lay the road west.

Mikael thought, then spoke a moment later. He glanced once more toward the eastern sky, where the faintest line of grey had begun to bleed into the dark. “The fort’s just some miles from the eastern side, plus the Godbeast’s corpse is also around there. Knights will be all over that place.”

“So west it is then. Relax. As long as there’s no General there, I can get us out unnoticed.” Her voice carried no worry at all. It was the voice of someone who had slipped past far worse.

“Very well then, lead the way.”

Kadre turned into a street filled with rubble, and Mikael followed. Broken beams and shattered roof tiles crunched beneath their boots as they weaved through the wreckage.

Silence settled between the duo, with the sound of shouting, crackling of fires and a few hushed murmurs being the constant push on that silence.

A pair of drunken knights stumbled past, singing loudly and off-key, and neither of them gave the cloaked duo a second glance. Kadre let out a quiet breath once they had gone.

They walked, only stopping when a stack of coins drew Kadre’s greed, and a gem store was found completely unlocked and still filled with gemstones.

All ended up inside her bag.

“Kadre,” Mikael said flatly.

“What? It was unlocked. Practically an invitation.”

“Really? Now?” He looked at her with an expression that said tired and slightly unsurprised.

“Never reject an open invitation, lad.” She continued on her way.

Mikael only shook his head. Among all the strange company he had kept across his long existence, a thief with no shame was, at the very least, refreshing all the same.

See y’all with tomorrow’s chapter.

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