"Someone looks determined..."
Jikith remarked with a sharp grin, dimly laughing at the stern expression of the youth—his laughter vanishing quickly, however, as he looked down onto the striped cloth Midas's left hand held onto. Not even wanting to know where this unusual child in front of him got his fingers on it, he simply handed him a leather poncho—its edges beginning to become loose, the mild stains on it much more faint than the dark spots on his blue travelling hood.
Midas felt much more fit compared to the day he was separated from Javelin, having spent the past two days only redirecting his mana, refining his skill of moving vines around, and eating slightly larger portions of food. The youth was eager to finally get his hands on the powder, tired from the thought of facing Gunvar someday in the back of his head—fixed on saving Javelin and his sister. Only with Jikith in front of him and the leather poncho hanging from his shoulder to hide his blue clothing—the youth was eager to finally step outside.
The sunlight was blinding, to say the least, much stronger than the mild glow of the vines fruit that were cultivated in the pathways and housing quarters inside the trunk. The streets of Baumfall were eerily empty—people on foot were sparse, seemingly heading for one of the trunk exits that would bring them to the festival. The orange-and-white striped cloth inside his clenched hand, Midas looked forward to a parked carriage in front of him with squinted eyes, aged and seemingly originally owned by the knighthood.
"Avernil... who do you think you're bringing with you...?"
"Huh, you know that kid...? It spares me the time to introduce you two to each other."
Midas's eyes widened in an alarmed manner. Uteli remained behind him—never having seen the lanky figure posted against the carriage that was parked a few steps away from the circular perimeter overseen by the same group of plant kingdom guards. Stepping forward in almost a stomp, the pirate with the fire stone approached the youth—the same cloth bound onto his forehead, making it obvious he was the same man the youth and Gunvar had fought twice already.
"This guy works with the same knight that killed our men... Not only back in the Luvious Forest but also now underneath Baumfall...! Are you really that desperate to team up with someone like him...?"
"What should I have done...? Let you attack us and pillage all we had...? You were the one attacking us, don't forget that..."
Seeing his face contort in anger, Midas flashed his own set of teeth at him dimly—his eyes narrowing as the pirate grasped the collar of his blue robe underneath the dated leather poncho. Guan simply led Uteli inside the clearly stolen carriage, making the girl reluctantly move away from the discussion. Jikith sighed at the sight, placing his hand on the pirate to make him turn towards him—almost looming over his shoulder.
"Listen, Fuegir, it would be in your own best interest if you worked with this kid... You see, Midas here isn't the only one that currently has to rely on me, since if anyone finds out about your failed intrusion into the deeper layers of Baumfall... you might already be able to guess what kind of price you'll have to pay for all of the men that this secret plan of yours cost us."
"You know I just did so to strengthen our own troops—we barely have any mana stones on us... not even you have one...!"
"I know, but the job is more important right now... We'll get our hands on some mana stones once we have the money, but in order for that to work, we have to help this kid steal one of the sold goods auctioned at the festival."
Fuegir pushed Midas off of his fingers, letting him go from his grasp as the youth stepped back due to the light force, keeping his stern expression faced to him. Groaning, he rubbed his own lids; trying to avenge his men right now would most likely backfire, as the money they would make with ruining the knighthood's reputation at the festival was something they relied on.
"Then state the plan already..."
"The knighthood has the advantage when it comes to troops... additional guards and already posted-up squads of knights were probably united into one large unit directed by Gunvar—I was able to check out the place in which the wagons are parked, and their troops easily cover all of the foreseen wagons."
"That means... sneaking up until we're close enough is just not feasible. Which is why we use this shabby ride here to drive directly past the place, snatching the good away from the knighthood as fast as we can before leaving."
The things Jikith seemed to dread seemed to make sense to Midas; the knighthood is easily capable of disbanding groups of knights across the whole kingdom—an example being the orphanage, as the letter they had found inside their ride, giving the men they had slain instructions, was most likely written by nobility that lived inside the capital city on the other coast.
"Isn't that approach a bit hasty...?"
Yet, the youth felt put off by the idea of simply halting in front of an ongoing auction—even if the youth managed to get onto the glass of Nor'Luft dust by a far with his vine, his success wasn't guaranteed, as Gunvar would most likely waste no time cutting through it. The only thing going for this strategy was the element of surprise Jikith most likely counted on because of their lack of manpower compared to the knighthood's troops.
"Our timeframe isn't exactly wide here... if you want to free your partner from imprisonment before he gets transported over into a much more secure water kingdom prison, then we have to act fast. We directly head towards the border once we get our hands on the medicine—then we bail out your friend and hopefully hinder anyonefrom coming after us on the way back to the Luvious Forest."
"The knighthood is already awaiting us; they are quite confident they will be able to lock up even more of us like in the past Trestempos... Which is why any prison facility is cleared right at the beginning of the festival to ensure there are no hiccups in the transport of confined criminals—helping with maintaining their guard over the festival."
It was now that Midas felt the weight of the operation—all his efforts would be in vain if he didn't manage to get the powder, the same being the case if he wasn't able to leave with them in time to get Javelin back. Without him, he would be unable to look his sister in the eye—the possibility of that happening made his left hand clench up as he stepped into the ride with them.
The festival lay outside of Baumfall; the wagons halted to display various items were parked spontaneously—dotted around the wide grass field outside the gigantic tree trunk that expanded from the flat ground. Passing by the remaining branches of the already fallen tree, as well as spotting dotted clusters of high-rising grass blades and flowers, Midas was finally able to lay eyes on the distant scatter of wagons.
"Do you think you can get me up to sit on top of the carriage...?"
"What...? Are you sure...?"
Pushing himself up to find a loose hold onto the rounded roof of the ride, Jikith gave the youth his hands to allow his foot to rest on—pushing his light body up, giving him a leg up to cling onto the arched wooden frame above the heads of Uteli and Fuegir that sat inside. Swallowing hard, Midas managed to find a relatively secure seat on top of the spanned-up cloth, eventually letting go of the wooden beam as he used the striped cloth, binding it over his head to cover his mouth and forehead, only leaving enough space for his eyes to be seen.
Letting the ends of the cloth flap around in the wind, the youth narrowed his eyes at the festival that grew closer with every passing moment. Guan sat in the driver's seat, letting the Fahin pick up pace dimly, stressing them just enough to be able to speed through the parked wagons without being halted—just slow enough to allow him to halt the ride once they were in reach for the medicine.
White wool and fluffed scarves covered the sleek nobles that decided to be present at the festival, standing out brightly in between the masses of footfolk walking through the scattered wagons. The air around the festival was filled with cheers and excited voices that directed towards displayed herbs and spices as others stood in front of freshly picked fruit originating from the depths of the forest spanning the northern regions of the plant kingdom. One carriage stood out from the rest, however; a roofed stage with wheels on the end of a broader path attracted the attention of many fancy-clothed elites and novelty, as a man in a sleek dark blue suit bowed in front of a seated crowd.
"Welcome to the auction of this Trestempos festival to finally celebrate the peak of the third of growth—I am honored to be the one hosting today's auction, so please let us begin...! And the first item of today is the Nor'Luft powder... A sought-after supplement to allow mana-affine folk like you to bend mana with a degree of accuracy you have never seen before...! And to add to that, it even helps with fatigue...!"
Once announced, the salesman in dark blue watched men and women drive up the price one after another, grinning at the light atmosphere of cheering and exclaimed bets, as multiple gold coins were put up on the line with mere words. The jar of fine whitish-blue dust sat neatly on a blue cushion, the salesmanright next to it as he looked down onto the seated folk. The cheers in the distance eventually gained in volume, too frantic to be consideredtoned out of joy, as they quickly distorted into alarmed screaming.
Between scattered volk and squirming elites trying to find a way to flee—a ride blitzed through the wide path. Midas bit his lip at the sight of innocent volk parting up in panic at the unexpected vehicle, frantically pushing themselves out of the way as they forced their way through. Sternly looking forward as wind hit his masked face, the youth clenched onto the arched beams the cloth was spanned on as the Fahin pulling the ride were choked by their necks to halt immediately, making the ride slow down.
Simply standing there as the fine people that just chattered to themselves in a relaxed manner disbanded as quickly as they could, the salesman looked briefly to the goods—a shiver running down his spine as he would rather run for his life than face the masked person that rose himself up on top of the ride. Sparing no time, Midas's hand expanded forward, a green light glowing from it as the spare leaf he clutched onto sprouted a winding growth that curled its way towards the glass jar placed directly in the middle of the stage.
Hopping out of the ride, Jikith and Fuegir tried to get a look through the panicking crowd that gave their best efforts to turn away from what was happening, watching as the growth expanded further, reaching for the glass jar. Rising up from behind one of the nearby wagons, a spinning greatsword swept through the space between their ride and the stage, cutting through the vines the youth sent forward. Dashing towards him before he knew it, Fuegir barely caught a heavy slash sent towards him with the dagger of his own.
Narrowing his eyes, Midas reached further, letting the end of the vine still connected to his hand grow further, grasping the cut-off end to form a knot that allowed his mana to now fully flow through the whole vine again, finally expanding far enough to wrap around the glass jar, bringing it towards the ride as he retracted the growth again. A mere moment before the youth could claim the powder as his own, another figure appeared from the back of their own ride, ripping the vine apart with his bare hand to hold onto the jar.
"Nicely done, Khud."
The youth's eyes widened at the unexpected name, staring down onto the helmet-wearing university student who was the head of the knighthood—the lack of any clothing covering his torso made it obvious he was the same person that allowed him and Haya to train at their camping grounds. Stepping off from the ride, Midas raised his hands out—one of them already grasping his rusty sickle. Freeing the jar from the remaining vine, Khud looked at who he was facing—only able to see the eyes of the tiny man in front of him, unable to point his finger at the exact reason as to why the masked person seemed so familiar.