"停!"
The guard standing at the borter, holding a spear with a red plume, held his hand out towards Katachi and Roberia.
K R : "What dd he say?"
With confused looks, they looked at each other briefly, dumbfounded. They weren't versed with the knowledge of speaking Anikan, but looking to each other for answers wasn't helping neither.
"您贵姓?"
K : "I'm sorry?"
R : "What does that mean?
"听不懂吗?你是何方人?"
The officer then withdrew a wooden board with papyrus on it, and took out a sort of brush pen. He eyed at the two of them, with a suspicious look. The two of them, with absolutely no idea what he's talking about, could only assume that he was talking about something related to them wanting to pass.
*Cozy's Notes : It's a calligraphy brush. Those brushes people of the old use to draw and stylise their words and letterings. There's a bunch of styles, but in this case, it refers to Chinese calligraphy. D'oh, they're in China- I mean, Anik.*
K : "... Uhm... What?"
"你们不会说安尼话吗?... 来人!"
"在!"
The guard next to him lowered his head while hugging his left arm around his stomach, and answered.
"去找幹尔弗利来和他们对话!"
And with a confident nod, the guard started running towards the borter's interor.
K : "... Uhm..."
"你们在这儿等一会儿."
The guard signaled for them to stay put.
K : (I wish I understood what he's talking about...)
R : "Is there a translator around here?"
He held his hand out and patted downwards again, telling the two to stay put.
K : (If only there were some way to convey my thoughts... Ah! Someone's coming!)
R : (Who's that?)
From the borter walked out a man with a grey beard and wrinkled eyes.
"You two. Are you looking to pass into Anik?"
K R : "Yes!"
His entrance had been a welcoming one - Finally, there was somebody whom spoke the same tongue.
G : "I am Gänfre. I come from Auser, and I serve as a linguist."
R : (An Auseri. Interesting.) "I see."
G : "Well, introductions aside, show me your Band of Approval."
Katachi raised his right hand, and showed the bracer on his wrist, while Roberia pointed at her hairband. It didn't take long for him to ascertain that they had the correct bands.
G : "Good."
They relaxed their shoulders upon hearing the good news.
K : (That's a relief. We can pass, then... ! Ah! Of course!) "Excuse me, Mister Gänfre!"
G : "What is it?"
Katachi, with much effort, quickly withdrew the thousand-paged book from the sling with his right hand, and flipped a couple of pages while leaning it against his thigh. Since his left arm was in a sling, he struggled with a small action like so.
K : "Uhm, would you... Would you happen to know this character?"
Katachi showed the 凝 to him.
G : (A Word of Power?) "Why would you need to know?"
K : "Please. If you know anything about this, just anything, it would be of much help.
G : (I can't let his knowledge of that increase.) "... I've only seen that a couple of times, to be honest. A word like that isn't frequent in everyday speech."
The light in his eyes lost its luster for a bit.
G : "... To be frank, seeing that word reminds me of a poem I read about not too long ago.
凝望明月悔痴情，
欺人太盛休仁德。
凡事放下再放下，
舍身修道义君则。
It's a nice poem, written by an 8-year-old girl. It talks about moving on from the past, and striving to improve yourself every day."
K : (I only wish I understood whatever he just said...)
G : (He probably doesn't know what I just said. All the better - His precedence level with it won't be getting any higher.) "Well, other than the fact that it's pronounced ning, there's not much else I know about it. Sorry. That's as far as I can help with."
K : "... Thank you..."
G : "I've been meaning to ask this, though - How are you two going to survive in Anik without knowing how to speak their tongue?"
The two of them looked at each other, and back at Gänfre.
R : "I don't know, maybe try to communicate with body language, I guess."
K : "We can try signaling and stuff, or maybe get another linguist."
G : "... I figured as much... You two have no plans?"
K R :"... No."
G : "Well, look for this person."
Gänfre used the brush to draw a couple of strokes on the papyrus, and handed it to them.
G : "Ask the natives about for him. He speaks a couple of languages, so having him guide you would be a good start."
K R : "Thank you."
*** ***
It didn't take long for them to reach a small village. The scent of braised duck and herbs filled the air as they walked past a shop.
R : "I'm getting hungry just smelling this..."
K : "No. We can't afford to eat. We have to save our coin."
R : "But I'm really hungry, though. Please, Katachi. Just one piece?"
K : "No. You've already had enough from drinking at that bar back in Eliasbury! Besides, even if I wanted to buy that, I'm not even sure if they would accept our coin to begin with." (... To think she would do something like dining and dashing...)
Roberia pouted at Katachi's rebuttal, and used her knee to force Katachi into a kneeling position.
K : "!?"
And without warning, she clung onto him, and wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist..
K : "What are you-"
R : "In that case, you have the honor to carry me then."
K : "..." (It's not as if she's the only person who's hungry. This is rather unfair...)
Katachi did his best to stand up, and planted his feet onto the ground solidly. Roberia's additional weight wasn't something Katachi was used to, despite the fact that she was slender and light.
R : "Start walking, Katachi! I'm not that heavy!"
K : (... Urrgh... I can't balance that well with her on me...)
Step by step, he slowly began to grow accustomed to her weight. But the deprivation of food meant this could not last long. His steps became slower, and heavier, as he heaved and tried to walk.
Eventually, he fell forward, but his body was caught by Roberia before they hit the ground. She had apparently stretched her legs outward such that she caught herself, and her arms tugged at his throat to catch him.
R : "You're hopeless, Katachi." (A person like him who's stronger than me can't even take a hundred steps? Is he really that weak without the Words of Power?)
Roberia hauled his body onto her shoulder, and started walking.
*** ***
R : "Excuse me, do you know who this person is?"
Roberia handed the piece of papyrus to a store owner with her free, left hand. She mained her right hand most of the time, but it was now preoccupied with holding Katachi on her shoulder.
"啊, 往那边走就是了."
The store owner pointed at the direction further down a street, towards a road. With that, she thanked the stranger, and continued on her way.
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