Forging A Demon Empire

Chapter 33

Luna had referred to this place Neforana as a town but the vast scale and the beauty of this place was more in line with a city. The ground was marble filled with street lights that the eye could see. Magic a hint of it was everywhere from the cleaning of the road to the many mages that walked around us both on guard and shopping. It was a hassle to get inside here with the many security checks that they had in place from the border security to the security that was waiting inside and the numerous checks.

All of this for the mention of the name troll slayer. It seemed our defeating those armies had put the nobles here on serious guard albeit panic. The thought made me smile these guards seemed a lot stronger than the conscripts they constantly threw at us. I wondered how I would fare against them or Luna for that matter as I followed behind her. It was like she had been here before sifting through different lines and heading in the general direction of the markets without asking for direction either that or she had an ability that I was unaware off.

She gripped my hand tighter as we walked along our cover in the city was that Luna was my provider for a noble family and that she was taking care of me.  The c******g of armour sounded beside me as well as the steady pace of other footsteps to keep up. People moved out of the way the further we went in.

Instead of having guards she had the men changed into different merchant looking attire to play on the roll that I was some merchants son. For better or worse we were all now accompanied by guards for our own protection they said. Luna seemed particularly good at convincing people that what she was saying was correct.

Our story was to find a potion that would help my father recover after he drank something that he should not consume. The rate of which priority was now given to this was astounding but perhaps to astounding as it seemed to be drawing to much attention from onlookers.

“We will soon be there Lord Gazpus,” Luna said with a smile.

That name, why couldn’t I make up my own cover name. Luna had picked it claiming that the southern use that name and it had annotations for people that were wealthy. How exactly wealthy were these people that guards were assigned to us I wondered.

I nodded to Luna in return.

We continued walking coming to a stop in what looked like the heart of the market zone. People motioned around us. Stores and Vendors fought and haggle with customers over pricing of items from food, to clothes to magic. Magic items, spells and scrolls were the heart of this exchange. Where exactly do we begin it was like looking for a needle in hay. My eyes trailed from left to right we weren’t even too sure on what he was affected by. From a magical sense that could end up being a mishap if he took the wrong thing and these people were all more interested in a sale that ensuring it worked as a cure.

“What do we do now?” I asked Luna.

“Now we ask as many questions as we can and see if we can find any good leads based on his symptom but we can’t take their word for it.”

And so our search began from one stall to another we give descriptions’ of what father was suffering from. Some people said they couldn’t help others tried to sell us gimmicks and a few even made claims that their products might work but they weren’t sure how effective unless they knew what exactly he was suffering from. It had took the entire day and we still were at square one. We had visited almost every location in the central market and my hope was waning. The market place numbers were getting fewer and fewer making it easier to walk. I sat on a chair that a shop owner had provided to me while Luna and the owner chat.

Noticing a dwarf and two other familiar faces heading in our direction in rags. Seth and Caremila what were the two of them doing here? I stood up instinctively as the two noticed me and shared the same look.

“Something wrong?” the guard asked.

“No, nothing,” I replied as I took a seat. “I never saw a man so small before.”

The guard scratched his chin. “Oh that’s understandable that is a dwarf. We see them here a few times a year.”

I watched the pair walked pass us without uttering a word.  If they were here did that mean the cure was here in this city?

“Lord Gazpus,” a voice shouted as a well-dressed young man came into view running in our direction. He was panting and a stream of sweat fell from his face. “Lord Lionel request that you meet with him he extends an invitation for accommodations at his own home.”

Who was this Lord Lionel?

Luna came outside and whispered in my ear. “Let me take it from here.”

I whispered back, “No problem.”

“We will be glad to take up this offer from Lord Lionel since we have concluded as much as we could for the day would you mind showing us the way.”

“Certainly lady…”

“No, I am a mere servant but my name is Giselle.”

“Giselle,” the man repeated as he wiped the sweat from his face. “Right away follow me.”

We followed along behind the young man as I watched the scenery changed from one type of beauty to another. When we finally reached the gates. The guards that had been following us took their leave as the young man spoke to the gate guards and we were let through. This place looked like another plane of existence with in the city itself.

It was beautiful and in time it would all be mine.