Chapter 7: Traveling With an Evil God

“Have you heard? They say that there are ominous signs in the northeast where the evil god was defeated,” one of the passengers on the wagon said.

“Those are just rumors spread by others who want to sow discord in the country,” another passenger said with a scoff.

“But what if it is true?” a different person murmured.

“Nonsense. You’re just going to scare people if you keep talking like that,” someone else snapped.

As everyone participated in the discussion about the rumors, Luke sat quietly in his corner, listening to everyone else.

It seemed that news about the two breaking out of the seal had already spread in such a short period even if no one outright said it. He hadn’t expected for anyone to find out so quickly, but then again, he should have known that escaping would leave traces.

No one had said exactly what the ominous signs were, so he could only make guesses on what they could have seen.

However, none of that was important.

What was important was that it was highly likely that his ex-comrades would realize that the evil god had escaped and would be on high alert. Whether or not they had realized that Luke had also gotten out remained to be seen.

Luke supposed he should begrudgingly thank the evil god for setting him straight before he ran off to look for them.

“Hey, you’ve been quiet. What’s your opinion?” one of the passengers closest to him asked him out of the blue.

Even though their words weren’t quite loud, they still drew everyone’s attention, reminding them that there was another person aboard who hadn’t said a single word.

His hand tightened on his sword as he lied through his teeth, “Who knows. Shouldn’t we leave it to the professionals to worry about it? I have other things to worry about.”

“The lad’s got a point. We’re just ordinary folk. We can talk our heads off, and it won’t make a difference,” a passenger said, causing murmurs.

Right as it seemed that they were going to drop the topic, someone said, “Easy for you to say. I have family that lives in the northeast.”

People shot the speaker an incredulous look as one person asked, “You have family in the northeast? What possessed them to stay there?”

Seeing everyone’s gazes on them, they shrunk in on themselves as they said, “I don’t mean northeast northeast, but they still live around the area. My ancestors have lived there for years. We couldn’t just abandon it.”

“Which town or city are you from?” someone else asked.

The person hesitated before saying, “Weilbachin.”

“Where’s that?” a different person asked.

“That town is more in the north. It’s west of that place,” another person chimed in.

“Haven’t heard of it,” one passenger said.

“Well, it’s probably due to the fact that the road to that town passed that place,” a different passenger said in a small voice.

Everyone quieted down at that. Some scrunched up their faces while others had a blank expression.

“Are there no other roads?” someone asked tentatively with a grimace.

“The road doesn’t pass through that place. It just used to be one of the stops. Everyone just follows the road and doesn’t take a detour,” another passenger said.

An awkward silence fell in the group as no one dared to say anything else.

Meanwhile, Luke was just grateful that no one had drawn him back into the conversation. He feared that if he kept talking, someone might recognize him based on his voice despite it being ten years.

The only thing preventing anyone from realizing who he was was the cloak wrapped around his body.

Suddenly, the evil god whispered to him, “Are you that worried about being discovered? You can just kill any witnesses.”

If Luke wasn’t in public, he would have cursed the evil god out.

Had he forgotten about their deal?

He had sworn not to harm innocent people.

As if reading his thoughts, which the evil god likely was, the evil god said, “Yes, I said I wouldn’t harm them, but I never said you couldn’t for me.”

Luke scowled.

He would never do that. Despite everything that happened, he still considered himself a hero. Even if it killed him, he would never harm innocent people.

The evil god hummed and said, “We shall see about that. Besides, when are you going to refer to me by my name? I’m a little hurt you keep calling me an evil god.”

Luke inwardly scoffed.

There was no way he would ever be on first-name terms with an evil god. All the times before had been accidents.

The evil god fell silent, allowing Luke to enjoy the peace and quiet until the wagon got close to their destination. His head turned to look towards the town they were driving into, feeling a mix of complicated emotions.

To avoid being connected to the evil god, Luke had purposely avoided the roads. After all, like one person said earlier, Orstadbadt was one of the stops on the road.

If he had tried to directly hitch a ride, he would have drawn too much attention. Hence why he traversed the woods instead until he was certain he was far enough from Orstadbadt that no one would think he had just come from there to risk hitching a ride.

As a result, he had yet to enter any towns or cities since he had escaped.

How much had changed over the years?

He was afraid to know.

The wagon rolled to a stop as the driver said, “We’re here. We’ll stay here for a day before heading off to Dornsbachwe.”

As people got off, he scanned his surroundings, comparing the city to the one in his memories.

The place was bustling with activity as people were constantly on the move, like it had in the past. The buildings looked just the same as he last saw them.

Luke couldn’t decide if he should feel relieved or worried about how the city was the same.

After looking around for a bit, he decided to risk it and head to one of the bars. No one batted an eye as he sat down, all too busy with their conversations.

It was only when he ordered from the bartender that things got rocky.