The following morning, Ambrose returned to Martial Online. The sunlight gently fell on his face, with dust particles floating in the air.
It was surprisingly a wonderful sunny day in Yatagarasu. It was a rare sight, and thus, laughter seeped through the window as families gathered for a picnic, as did players, to enjoy the rare sunny day.
They weren’t sure how long it would last, but they didn’t care as they had fun in nearby parks.
“Whew.” After letting out a deep sigh, Ambrose opened the door and walked down the stairs.
“Have a wonderful day!” At the counter, Bella smiled and handed several rented books to an embarrassed-looking young man. Her smile shone more brilliantly than the sunlight that entered the bookstore through the window.
After the young man left the bookstore, Ambrose stepped down the final step and saw Bella tidying up the counter. “Good morning.”
“Ah, good morning to you as well!” Bella greeted him with a warm smile and turned towards the upstairs. “Did Emma come?”
“Not yet; probably having breakfast.” Ambrose said and approached one of the windows. He looked outside through the stained glass and saw silhouettes moving by. “Good weather.”
“It’s very rare weather in here.” Bella replied, joining Ambrose at the window. “Is Amaterasu as sunny as people say?”
“There are cloudy and windy days, but the majority of the time it’s sunny and beautiful,” Ambrose answered.
“I kind of miss that,” Bella said wistfully, gazing out at the streets.
“Where you live, does it also have gloomy weather?” Ambrose asked.
“Excuse me?” Bella turned her red eyes towards Ambrose.
“You said you miss it, as in you miss the sunny weather. So, it sounds like where you live in reality, the weather isn’t that very good either.”
“Ah…” Bella smiled and shook her head. “Actually, the weather where I live is quite pleasant, especially during the summer.”
Ambrose nodded. ‘Is she living abroad and missing her home or something else?’
“Are you going to wait for Emma?” Bella asked. “With such good weather, we could visit a nearby park. It would be a waste to miss such good weather.”
“I think I will have to get going, unfortunately.” Ambrose said without a smile on his face.
“Ah, I think Emma will be sad to see you leave so soon.” Bella turned back to the window and saw both of their reflections in it. Her height could barely reach Ambrose’s shoulders.
“Well, I suppose I should do something with her back in reality. We live only a few doors apart, after all.” Ambrose said with a sigh and then opened the door. A warm wind entered the bookstore.
As Ambrose stepped out, he looked back at her and said, “If anyone comes looking for me, tell them that you haven’t seen me.”
“Huh?” Bella replied, confused by Ambrose’s request.
Ambrose smiled gently. “I have my reasons. Trust me. I was never here, got it?”
“A-alright.” Bella nodded and then watched as Ambrose walked away and disappeared into the crowd. She sighed and closed the door. “He is so mysterious.”
…
‘How the fuck does a horse cost 1000 silvers?’ Ambrose’s eyebrow twitched as he walked beside a brown-maned horse. He went and bought a horse, realizing how much faster it would be than walking.
He didn’t want to rent a wagon either, as this was simply the fastest method he could think of. The train and renting a wagon could expose his identity.
‘The horse was worth like 8–9 steel swords. What in the heck? The economy in this game is messed up, but I suppose the prices are higher for items that would help players more.
‘I haven’t checked the price of other, better weapons, but I suppose they are more expensive than this horse. I could guess that my Black and Red Sword is worth 10,000 silvers, maybe even more.’
As he walked the horse with the help of the reins, he crossed a road, took a small shortcut through a narrow alley, and then arrived at the street that led to the open-gated entrance of Yatagarasu.
‘Huh, what is happening in here?’ Ambrose thought and had to join a single-file line. He noticed a long queue of people waiting to enter the open-gated entrance of Yatagarasu.
White-robed individuals pulled down the hood of a player and then checked his face while glancing at a brown bounty poster on the side. When they finished making sure of something, they let the player pass and then did the same with the next one.
‘Who are they?’ Ambrose tapped the shoulder of a person in front of him. A gray-bearded man turned his head around, his eyebrow raised. “Excuse me, who are they?”
“Oh, they are White Inquisitors.” The gray-bearded man said. ” They are a group of highly skilled and powerful individuals who enforce the laws of our land.”
“Oh, do you know why they are here?” Ambrose’s grip on the reins tightened.
“I’m not sure, but I have a pretty strong guess.” The gray-bearded man looked at the inquisitors and scoffed. “The Inquisitor is just a fancy term. In reality, they are nothing but bounty hunters.”
‘Shit!’ Ambrose’s bad premonition came true. ‘Are they after me? There must be others with bounty posters, but they might’ve seen my sketched face before and could remember!’
“Apparently people even saw the Brown Inquisitor lurking around. He is one rank higher than whites and vastly more powerful. I guess they are after a dangerous criminal.”
“Is there also a Red Inquisitor?” Ambrose asked, as it sounded like the ranks were the same as bounty posters. ‘Does Brown Inquisitors come after people with Brown-ranked bounty posters?’
“Yes, but I haven’t seen one before.” The gray-bearded man. “They are incredibly powerful, but that also means they are also hunting incredibly dangerous criminals who have the legendary Red Bounty Posters.
“That’s why I am not too worried. Criminals with Brown bounty posters can’t really disturb the public peace, but if the criminal had Red one… I would have left immadiately when the news about Red Inquisitors arriving on Yatagarasu reached my ears.”
“Alright, thank you.” Ambrose then left the gray-bearded man alone and looked at his brown-maned horse. ‘Well, shit. I guess it’s time to make a quick escape.’
…
“Not him.” A white-robed Inquisitor nodded.
“Alright, you may go.” Another white-robed Inquisitor said and let a pale-faced player pass by. He then rubbed the back of his neck. “Next one, hurry up!” 𝑜𝒱xt.𝗰𝑶𝕞
A brown-haired woman stepped forward while clutching her leather bag. The white-robed Inquisitors exchanged glances and immediately let the woman pass as they were looking for a male.
The woman sighed in relief, grateful that the attention was no longer on her. She then stepped out of the entrance and heard loud screams behind her. She flinched and spun her head around.
“Whoah, look out!” Players screamed as they jumped out of the way.
The white-robed Inquisitors unsheathed their longswords and saw a brown-maned horse charging towards them, its eyes wild.
The horse’s hooves thundered towards them, its nostrils flaring in rage.
A hooded figure pulled out his Black Sword and deflected the attacks from the white-robed Inquisitors. The horse then thundered out of the entrance and galloped away.
“It’s him!” The white-robed Inquisitor shouted. “Inform Sir Brown Inquisitor!”
“Chase after him!” There were only three horses available; thus, three White Inquisitors mounted their horses and started the chase while the players watched in shock.
They thought they were in the middle of a movie shoot!