Chapter 639: Nobility and lowliness
Riva was rather confused, but only a fool would stay when he could leave, so he hurried out.
Fortunately, none of his belongings seemed to be missing. He had broken into a cold sweat earlier when he saw the jailer rummaging through his things, but even his money pouch was still there.
Little did he know that the money he carried would not even pay for two rounds of drinks, and the jailer had scorned taking it. Apart from a pile of seemingly useless junk in his pockets, there was half a sack of dry, hard provisions beneath him and a bundle of pickled food that smelled revolting. Nobody wanted any of it.
"Go on. Those are the people who vouched for you!"
Riva was pushed out of the prison. Having spent most of the day inside, he found the sunlight outside rather blinding and could not help covering his eyes.
Once he had adjusted a little, he saw a group of people outside riding Horn-Helmet Beasts. Every one of them was finely equipped, and even the towering mounts beneath them were intimidating. Riva instinctively shrank back.
"Pfft... hahahaha! This is the wretch?"
Unlike the mockery that usually provoked Riva, this laughter did not make him angry. Instead, he grew even more timid.
Clop... clop...
A towering Horn-Helmet Beast took a few steps closer, its sheer bulk putting tremendous pressure on Riva.
"Are you the fellow who said he had prepared supplies to go looking for the star?"
The man riding the Horn-Helmet Beast looked quite easygoing as he gazed down at Riva and questioned him.
Riva was unsure how to answer, until he saw the rider narrow his eyes and panicked.
"Y-yes! I'm going to look for the star, so I'm not a spy..."