Infinite Arrow-Chapter 44 - 42: City of Ordelia (2)

After entering the city, the adventurers and the knights found a proper inn to rest at. The inn wasn’t fancy, but it was good enough for normal civilians. They’ll only be staying for a night, there’s no need for a luxurious place to stay when they are being assassinated.

Cliff and the others entered the inn and were welcomed with a warm atmosphere that came from the scented candles and a ceiling device that looked like a light bulb but powered by an orange mana stone.

"Woah– An orange mana stone for a light source? Isn’t that... kinda wasteful?" Assuming that the orange mana stone is what he thinks it is, it is reasonable to think that using it for light is indeed wasteful.

A middle-aged man standing at the other side of the counter noticed and heard the lad’s statement, he sighed "It’s a normal mana stone painted with a special paint that changes the color of the light it illuminates– why are you even questioning it? Tsk. Nobles and their privileges."

Well, can’t you be any more grumpy?

Fortunately, Cliff didn’t let his thoughts control his voice. Otherwise, they would’ve gotten kicked out because of his disrespectful behavior.

The female knight shakes her head disappointingly before walking towards the counter and dropping 5 gold coins on it.

"Two rooms, three beds."

The bearded man, also known as the owner, gazed at the party of adventurers and the knights. He noticed that most of them were wearing high-quality equipment, except for the red-haired kid.

He resembles a rat.

Cliff noticed the judging gaze of the owner and he raised an eyebrow. Deep down, he felt offended by the bearded man’s judging eyes.

"Add three more gold coins and I’ll–"

Before he could finish his sentence, three gold coins were thrown at the counter and the red-haired kid started walking towards the stairs. All of the people looked at him and he could be seen with his tongue open and openly mocking the owner.

"Grrr.... Upstairs, the fourth and fifth room on the right side of the building." The owner grunted, visibly annoyed but Cliff couldn’t care less about what that man felt. Enrid and Esther sighed and put their palms on their faces, hiding their shame and embarrassment from the others, while the knights and the cloaked girl followed the lad upstairs.

"I– I am so sorry, that child–"

"Get on with it. Make sure all of you leave on time unless you want me to throw you all out!" The owner shouted, the duo of veterans jumped out of surprise and ran to the stairs.

Cliff could be seen searching for their rooms on the second floor of the inn, each door looking similar and the only thing that makes them distinguishable is the plate numbers carved onto the wooden doors itself. However, he wasn’t just thinking about which rooms they were gonna sleep in.

It was regrettably terrible of me to do that but to avoid suspicion, it’s a must.

Six individuals. Three of them are adventurers, two are knights from the kingdom and a cloaked figure that has importance. To avoid suspicion, the logical way is to divert attention in a non-conspicuous way.

Cliff looked behind him and the knights can be seen looking around in every direction. No dramatic head turns, he could see their eyes moving and that’s enough for them. They are professionals, after all, knight training must be tough.

"Cliff, do you not get worried about how much bad reputation–" Reinar worriedly asked but got interrupted.

"Sir, I’ve been disowned by my own family. Why should I care for them? My uncle raised me when no one was willing to, he taught me the way of archery and gave me a home. I do not consider them MY FAMILY, alright?" A sudden outburst from Cliff, it was unnatural for him to be that sensitive out of nowhere. A pained expression can be seen from a distance but is hidden away by turning his back.

The knights halted their movement, and Cliff continued his search for the rooms they were assigned to sleep in.

"I– I should apologize–"

"You don’t have to right now. Do it tomorrow morning before we leave, that way it wouldn’t be awkward and he won’t have the chance to decline your apology." Arnheid reassured and advised the poor superior who seems to be feeling guilty and down since the man is looking like a hunchback.

The red-haired lad sighed.

Acting is tough. I could see why actors and actresses should be praised for behaving differently in different films– Haiya...

For the past month, Cliff has been developing his personality so that he wouldn’t be suspicious of how different he acts compared to normal nobles. Thanks to his tragic past, allowed him to act nothing like a noble and more of how a normal traumatized child would behave.

After minutes of searching, they arrived at the rooms they were assigned to sleep at. The six of them circled together and started discussing what was important.

"We’ll be taking Her Highness to our room. She’s safer with us." Arnheid stated, it wasn’t much of a suggestion but more of a decision that has been made already.

"Wait wait wait... HEAR ME OUT... Shouldn’t we discuss our plan first...?" Enrid suddenly suggested an option, he lowered his tone and whispered the plan to all of them.

After a few seconds, he raised his voice once again "So! How was that? Isn’t it a good plan?"

Suddenly, his head got punched by a certain mage. He felt the pain but not the impact, so it only made the pain worse because it rattled his brain. "ACKK– WHY??? I DIDN’T SAY ANYTHING WRONG!"

"That is endangering a child! She’s already afraid enough of the people coming after her, Do you want her to sleep with all the girls? Me and Arnheid are strong, yes but there’s somebody who’s even stronger!" The mage pointed his finger at the towering knight, the eleventh shield of the central kingdom.

"There’s no anybody more qualified than him to protect her–" Esther noticed Cliff circling them, with him walking around their backs.

"What are you doing?" Esther confronted the lad who seemed to be acting weird. For the past few hours, he’s been acting strangely ever since they entered the city.

His eyes are closed and his nose and ears are twitching, but opened his eyes a second later after being called out for his behavior. He smiled before replying...

"Oh, the princess is looking pretty tired. She hasn’t spoken a word since, I’m gonna put her to bed while y’all continue to plan and argue."

"O-okay?"

Cliff nonchalantly yet carefully dragged the cloaked princess to her room, he opened the door and the room was pretty dark. The only option was to light some candles, so he closed the door and went to the wardrobe to find some candles.

"C-cliff, are we safe here? There’s no need to cover my face anymore, right?" The princess stuttered but still managed to courageously ask for permission.

Cliff found a device, similar to that of a light bulb and lit it. Illuminating light covered the entire room, bringing life to once a void room.

Suddenly, Cliff dashed towards the princess and violently stomped the princess...’s shadow.

Yes, he stomped her shadow and it rattled to the point that someone jumped out holding a dagger and such.

"KUH...! HOW DID–" Before she could even react, a bunch of arrows were sent flying towards her direction. Her pupils dilated but she managed to deflect all of the arrows with her reflexes and proficiency with the dagger.

"TSK—" Despite deflecting the arrows, she couldn’t have guessed what happened next. The red-haired archer tackled the woman in black out of the room, they broke the door by doing so and they changed scenery.

CRASH–!!!

Back in the hallway, where everyone is discussing their plans. A crashing noise came from behind and found their archer buddy and a woman in black tussling around the ground, with the woman trying to stab Cliff with a dagger but her arm was being pinned down to the ground by Cliff’s hands.

"GET THE GIRL! WE’VE BEEN PURSUED!" Cliff shouted, the trembling princess peeked her head to see what was going on outside.

The lights from the ceiling suddenly flickered violently, disorienting all of their sights but Cliff wasn’t affected by it.

Suddenly, the ground vibrated. A bunch of footsteps, almost like a marching band coming from all directions are coming.

From the distance, a man wearing a full set of armor ascended from the stairs holding a weirdly shaped sword being dragged on the ground, destroying the wooden planks that hold part of the upper floor together. Cliff took his eyes off of the woman’s figure just to see who it was, and his pupils dilated.

T-that sword...!

[ Armor-Destroyer ]

A sword that ignores armor and destroys it easily like cutting through butter. A sword too dangerous to be wielded by anyone, if it falls right onto an evil man’s hand against an army...

Expect a one-sided massacre.