The Beginning After The End novel Chapter 275

Chapter 275

Chapter 275: Maerin

I stepped through the portal, not really knowing what to expect on the other side.

What didn’t even cross my mind—out of everything that had happened so far, with my experience with the Alacryans both in Dicathen as well as in the Relictombs—was seeing the two guards standing on either side of me to literally jump in surprise, letting out rather terrified screams.

Regis let out a chortle in amusement while I really didn’t know what to make of the situation.

The guard on my right, a rather plump man wearing plated armor that obviously couldn’t contain his wide girth, managed to muster up what little training he had in order to at least point his trembling spear at me. It only took his skinnier—although not by much—companion a second later to follow suit.

“W-Who goes there?” quavered the skinnier guard.

I thought for a second how I should answer when the rounder guard spoke.

“Did you—are, a-are you coming from the R-Relictombs?” he sputtered, his head shifting left and right.

‘Don’t bother answering these stooges. Just kill them,’ Regis groaned.

Ignoring the voice in my head urging me to kill, I looked at the rounder guard who flinched under my gaze and answered, “Yes.”

The thinner stooge to my left let out an audible gasp. It was becoming more and more challenging not to roll my eyes.

“E-Esteemed ascender,” the rounder stooge began, bowing as much as his potbelly would allow before raising his head. “Allow this one to guide you to Maerin Town’s chief.”

The rounder stooge gestured to me to follow after him and the thinner one trailed close behind. Pushing aside the idle thought that maybe one of them should’ve stayed behind to guard the portal, I took in the sight around me for the first time.

Contrary to the...competency and grace shown by the two guards, the hall I had arrived in was anything but magnificent. While not large—no bigger than the size of a modest house in Ashber except with higher ceilings—it had features that obviously displayed the importance of such a structure. A line of pillars towered over us on both sides, holding sconces of actual fire on each one. Upon closer inspection, I could see intricate carvings of what was obviously a basilisk in its humanoid form being revered by genuflected men and women. Each pillar told a brief story, all leading to the same message of worship toward the basilisks that made my stomach curdle.

Discounting the rounder stooge peeking back at me every few seconds, the three of us walked through the smooth marbled floors in peace until we reached the ironbark doors. Light seeped in between and around the two doors, and I was suddenly reminded of my longing to see the sun.

The doors opened with a screech and groan until I was bathed in the rays of sunlight. A knot formed in my stomach and I found myself struggling to hold back tears that I didn’t even know I had. The warm touch of the sun enveloped me like a mother’s embrace.

“Uhh...esteemed ascend—”

“Shhh! He must be cultivating or gaining insight!”

I closed my eyes for just a moment and gathered myself before stepping through the blanket of light that spilled over me like warmed honey.

As my eyes adjusted, I was able to take in the sight around me, and it was...unimpressive.

Single-story houses of brick and mortar lined neatly and uniformly on either side of a cobblestone road about three carriages wide. Civilians could be seen doing their day-to-day tasks, from hanging laundry on a clothesline, tending to their gardens while children ran around swinging wooden swords wrapped in cloth. There was even a child drawing random scribbles on the back of his friend using coal.

My eyes continued to wander, taking in the sights until I noticed the stench reminiscent of a back alley outhouse emanating from behind us.

“Please bear with the odor until we reach the town proper, esteemed ascender,” the thinner stooge said, noticing my change in expression. “We’re still at the edge of the town so the smell from the town outskirts still seeps through past the walls.”

I turned around to see a wall over twenty feet high just behind the edifice housing the portal that we had just walked out of.

“What’s on the other side?” I asked out of simple curiosity.

“The vagrants and parasites that were either evicted from the town of Maerin for not paying their taxes or committing a crime are all congregated there. Our benevolent chief allowed them to stay in that area and even take jobs from residents within the town if the need arises,” the rounder stooge explained.“That also includes nightly jobs as well, if esteemed—ow! Sembi!”

“Stop being an idiot, Chumo! Do you think an ascender has so few options that he would resort to bedding those foul wenches?”

The two digressed into a heated argument, elbowing each other and whispering insults as if they didn’t think I would notice.

‘I wonder if this skit was something they rehearsed,’ Regis pondered, obviously amused.

It was interesting to see that, unlike the ascenders that I had met in the Relictombs, the two stooges didn’t have gaps in their armor that revealed the marks or crests lining their spines.

Perhaps flaunting the markings was something only higher-tier mages did to show their status? Lost in thought, I didn’t notice that many of the civilians we passed were staring at me. Some had the decency to pretend like they were doing something while others just blatantly stopped and gawked.

Some of the men sized me up, instinctually puffing up their chests even while their heads lowered in respect.

A group of town girls who couldn’t have been much older than my sister blushed after making eye contact before giggling amongst themselves. I also caught sight of some older women adjusting their blouses to accentuate their chests, smiling sweetly with an inviting gaze when our eyes locked. _{freeweɓnovēl.coɱ}

“See, Chumo! Look at everyone just drooling over our esteemed ascender. He has the pick of the lot,” the thinner stooge named Sembi bragged.

“How far is the town chief’s office?” I asked, casting a cold glare at the both of them.

“J-Just a few blocks at the heart of the town proper!” Chumo answered while both visibly shrunk under my gaze.