As the only woman in the party, Vereesa received preferential treatment from the Paladins: she was allowed to ride her own horse. On the face of it, though, Vereesa's pony was also the only one belonging to the three of them lucky enough to escape disaster.
Since they were both believers in the Holy Light, one Paladin kindly invited Aaron to share his mount. But after looking at his employer, whom several of the Paladins plainly disdained, Aaron chose to walk with Rhonin.
Aaron swore that he had refused entirely out of a desire to share his employer's hardships, and absolutely not because he felt uncomfortable sharing a mount with another man. Absolutely not.
Being escorted by several Paladins did not make Aaron feel particularly ill at ease. He even had the leisure to chat with Rhonin. "Rhonin, do you know why they don't like you?"
This was something of a puzzle to Aaron. After all, players did not look down on one another's classes. At most, they mocked a class for being too weak to deal damage or for being easy to treat as walking honor points.
As for NPC attitudes, Aaron did know that after Death Knights completed their starting quests and first reported to their respective factions' capitals, the residents would scorn them. But why would a proper mage, Blizzard's favored son, receive the same treatment?
After all, ever since earlier, those Paladins' attitude toward Aaron could practically be described as guarding against an enemy rather than treating him as one of their own. Who knew just how much bad blood there was between these Paladins and mages?
Rhonin sighed, glanced at the Paladins around them, and told Aaron quietly, "Most knights believe that using magic isn't the right path. They think magical power is evil, and unless they have absolutely no choice, they want nothing to do with it. I once met a staunch supporter of that view. The fellow even believed that mages would be thrown into Blackfathom Deeps, where the great demons dwell, after they died."
After saying that, Rhonin gave Aaron a puzzled look. "You're a Paladin yourself, yet you're asking me this?"
"Ahem, I'm different from them. I have a lot of respect for mages." Aaron gave a light cough to cover his embarrassment.
He was telling the truth, though. When traveling in the game, having a mage willing to open a portal was tremendously convenient. Aaron generally addressed mages respectfully as "Lord Mage."
The Paladins brought the three of them to a camp. Built from tall blocks of stone, it had no fancy decorations whatsoever. It seemed that the Silver Hand, still in its early days, lived very frugally.
Aaron noticed two kinds of banners flying in the camp, matching the two kinds of ornamentation on the seven knights' armor. Looking at those banners, he finally realized what the emblem on the elderly Paladin's chest was. It should be the emblem of the Kingdom of Lordaeron.
The three of them had already explained matters to the Paladins along the way, but the knights' attitude toward Rhonin remained somewhat stiff. It seemed Rhonin had not exaggerated much; the Paladins were still very wary of him.
Vereesa, on the other hand, received exceedingly attentive hospitality from the young knights. It seemed beautiful women were welcome wherever they went.
The middle-aged knight who called himself Duncan Senturus told Vereesa, "We saw both the dragon and the gryphon. Our duty and our honor as Paladins demanded that we rush over to offer assistance at once."
Aaron knew perfectly well that these Paladins were not merely saying fine words. At this point, the Knights of the Silver Hand had not yet split apart, and the knights' faith was still quite pure. Nor had strange users of the Holy Light's power, such as Blood Knights and Sunwalkers, joined their ranks yet.
Rhonin, standing nearby, opened his mouth as though he wanted to say something. Judging by the impression he had left during their journey, Aaron was certain it would not be anything pleasant. After all, four days together had been enough for Aaron to understand clearly that Rhonin had a sarcastic tongue to match his comical eyebrows.
Having dismounted, Sir Duncan walked over to Vereesa and helped her down from her horse as he continued, "We were also preparing to head to Hasic. If possible, beautiful lady, I hope you will permit us to accompany you. Helping others is also our duty and our conviction, and we know the road from here to Hasic inside out. I will personally lead a small squad to escort you safely to Hasic."
Yes, duty and conviction, with a little chasing women on the side, Aaron grumbled inwardly. He had never expected this weather-beaten-looking Paladin to be such a closet flirt.
Although Vereesa seemed quite happy with the arrangement, Rhonin had an objection. "You really are most helpful. However, Vereesa is an excellent ranger, and Aaron is highly accomplished in the way of the Holy Light. The three of us are perfectly capable of reaching the port in time."
Here it comes, here it comes-the main event. Rhonin's jealous. A faint smile appeared at the corner of Aaron's mouth. He could not miss such a fine show of romantic rivalry.
But just as Aaron was debating whether to fan the flames a little to make the show more entertaining, Sir Duncan merely wrinkled his nose and ignored Rhonin completely. He simply told Vereesa, "Beautiful lady, I will take you to your quarters now." Then he casually pointed at one of his subordinates. "You, find somewhere to put this mage."
Seeing the old knight's undisguised favoritism and the indignant look on Rhonin's face, Aaron only regretted having no snacks on hand. The show before him was simply too entertaining. Unfortunately, Rhonin retained some sense after all and ultimately did not fall out with the Paladins.
A knight roughly led Rhonin away. As though remembering something, Duncan turned to Aaron. "Young fellow believer, please come with me. There are a few things I would like to ask you."
After arranging a room for Vereesa, Duncan first attentively invited her to be sure to join them for dinner later, then took Aaron to another empty room.
The room's interior was as plain as the camp itself. Its four stone walls appeared to be made of the same stone used throughout the camp. Apart from a bed and a small table, there were no other furnishings. The little window had neither glass fitted into it nor paper pasted over it; it simply stood open.
After settling Aaron in, Duncan showed no intention of leaving. Instead, he motioned for Aaron to sit beside him. Once Aaron was seated, Duncan began, "Young man, where are you from? All Paladins should have joined the Silver Hand, but from the look of you... you don't even have an emblem on you."
Aaron rolled his eyes. Where was he supposed to have gotten an emblem? But how was he going to explain this? For a moment, he felt rather troubled. As far as he knew, leaving other races aside, the only visitors from beyond this world whom humans had encountered so far were the Orcs currently fighting them. Aaron had serious doubts about what treatment he would receive if he revealed his identity as a transmigrator.
But Duncan interpreted his hesitation differently. The old knight hurriedly said, "I'm sorry, young man. If you have difficulties you cannot speak of, there's no need to tell me. I was being presumptuous."
It seemed that the Holy Light Aaron had displayed earlier had left old Duncan merely curious about his origins, without any deeper suspicions.
Unfortunately, even people who believe in the Holy Light aren't necessarily... Aaron said inwardly. Of course, he would never tell Duncan anything along the lines of the Holy Light's spokespeople not necessarily being good people either. If he actually said that, this closet flirt and his men might well beat him to death.
After chatting with Aaron about the purpose of the three companions' journey, the old knight urged him to get some rest and reminded him not to miss dinner.
"Rest?" Once Duncan had left, Aaron felt the wooden bed beneath him, covered with nothing but straw, and shook his head with a bitter smile. Unless he was unbearably sleepy, he could not rest properly in conditions like these.
After thinking it over, Aaron decided to go talk to Rhonin, lest the mage grow upset and cause some trouble. Getting into a conflict with the Paladins on their own turf would certainly not be a good thing.