N/a/meless Knight Chapter 2

A small bottle of holy water from the local church which is “evil ward-off guaranteed”. Checked. Some onion. Checked. A silver cross. Checked. A bag of salt. Wait. Am I fighting a vampire? No, but… Hmmm. The contract do write something like “eldritch monster”. So… Well. They are all the same. Should things turn bad, I will just runaway like usual.

With nothing else to care about, I get out of my room.

The noon is near, so the sun needs more time to be right in the middle. East. Right side of East is South, the opposite is North. Well, let us see the contract again. The castle is located next to the Red River… If I remember it correctly, it should be somewhere South West from here. Alright.

“NAM-SAN YOU BASTARD! You did not pay the rent and now you are trying to run away!? Do you believe that I will kill you if you do that!?” – a thick middle aged women with a big bag with various cooking material cries.

I immediately do the ‘no-no’ gesture as I take the contract out and point at it.

“Ooh. I see. Finally get your lazy ass some work to do, huh? Good luck with that. Also, remember cleaning your room when you get back, won’t you? Maybe under that helmet of your, a nose doesn’t exist, but for me and the others. We. Cannot. Stand. The. Smell.” – she emphasizes her last words.

I nod continously.

“Just don’t get yourself killed.” – the woman mumbles as she turns away. “I need someone with a big ”

I wave and let out a slight sigh afterwards. Her name is Clair. She is the owner of the inn that I am renting a room at. She… Sometime over-protecting, over-caring and annoying, but she is a good woman after all. Just like my mom. My mom… I wondered how can I… Screw it. I will buy Clair a tuna fish when I get back. I do not understand the reason, but I do know it is her favourite kind of food to cook and eat.

As I get out of town, I can find the Red River with ease. The word ‘Red’ in its name is exaggerated since its color is slight pink at best, but well… overall, it’s just a name. The Red River is in my sight and so do the castle. Alright. Here comes the problem. I do think that I can swim, but swim with armour? No. “When there’s a will, there’s a way”, they said. The castle is next to the river, therefore, the bridge should be somewhere nearby.

I continue strolling around the river’s bank. In the end, it doesn’t takes me too long to find an old and moss-covered wooden rope bridge. If I have a choice, I absolutely will not walk on the bridge, since I feel like it can break at the moment something weigh more than a cat steps on. Alright. I close my eyes, take a deep breath and then let it go. I should fight everything on my own.

I put half of my foot on it. The bridge doesn’t creaking as much as I anticipated. Slowly and firmly, I carry on. As I am at the middle of the bridge, without any indication, the rope breaks.

“Well. Fuck.”

That’s all I can think of. It is the same at the present. A small brick hits my head. Oh my dear helmet. You are really great. The only thing that you cannot do is boost my luck, isn’t it?

“TAKES MY HAND, NA-SAN, NEKO!!” – Sakura cries.

As if I have an other choice. You are going to use some magic that you have just pulled from your ass, won’t you?

I am never wrong, as always. In the blink of an eye or even faster, the three of us appear at a great green grass-covered plain. It seems like nothing is threatening us… At least for now.

“You see, Na-san, Neko!? I am a genius. Who else can…” – Sakura starts boasting about her ‘magical ability’ already. Meanwhile, I silently lay on the ground without intention of getting up, continue staring at the blue flaw-less sky. I am as pathetic as ever, huh?

After a while struggling with nearly twenty kilograms of water-soaked armour, finally, I crawl upon the riverbank. At least, the water is clean. Weapons and stuffs are still here. Holy water is mixed with a little river’s water. Does it decrease the effectiveness? God knows.

Finally, here is the castle. Looks old and time-worn enough. I walk into the front yard. At my back, the place that it supose to have a door to stop thief and burglar or at the very least, prevent the place from being stray animals’ playing place, there is nothing. Windows are shattered into small pieces and scattered everywhere. Wild grass and moss make this place their home, put their roots deep into any crack that they can find.

Well, luckily, it’s not like they will pay me to clean the castle.

Some  cats runs as they see me. They look well-fed. You are lucky, cats. The next time you run into me, you will be as good as dead. I happen to know this Chink guy who is extremely good in cooking, and you know what is his specialized? Dog and cat’s meat.

Wait. What the hell is Chink, Niponese and Moonrune that I have mentioned? How do I explain this…?

To put it in short, the continent is called Clichette. The common language is Niponese. The name of a race is Chink and Moonrune is an old kind of character. Not so clear, but… Well. To be more clarified, we have two big area named East and West, people are called Easterner and Westerner respectively. East races includes Chink, Gook, Nip and something else that I can not remember. West races include Slav, Aria and the others that I don’t even bother caring.

As for me… Well. I am an Arian master race. Deep down, I don’t think Eastern races are the same being as me. But outside, let’s pretend that we do not care about races at all.

Continue my adventure…

Inside the castle, there is nothing but dust and garbage after a little explore of mine. There is sight of anything but a living creature. As I take my time, the blue sky slowly turns purple and the sun sets.

The stars are winking, gentle winds are blowing. My ears catches nothing but cats’ cries. It seems like they are asking for food. Stupid cats. I did told you that I happen to know this Chink guy, didn’t I? His name… Hmmm. I can recall the Moonrunes 衫菁王… It should be something like Shan Jing Wong… Is there something wrong here. I think… No.

I return to the front yard.

I am dazed by the creature that is standing there.