The Little Girl Who Wanted to See a Skeleton / Farewell and a New Journey

The entire system of control, from the kingdom to the mercenary guild, then to mercenary companies and adventurers, fit together without a gap.

This was the real world!

Over on the other side, Luke finally let himself go completely after taking another swig of wine.

He grumbled, sighed, and gradually began to slur his words.

"Freedom... my ass!"

"Without... without power, where... where's freedom supposed to come from? Without a backer... someone behind you, where... where's power supposed to come from?"

"Kid... there are only a few big shots... among mercenaries who can make the wind and rain obey them... the rest... all of us... are just struggling to stay alive... a miserable lot..."

Luke's voice grew softer and more slurred until heavy snores finally took its place.

Chen Mo silently picked up Luke's worn cloak and gently draped it over his curled-up body. He looked up at the darkening sky, where a river of stars stretched overhead.

Chapter 20: The Little Girl Who Wanted to See a Skeleton

Time flew by.

Chen Mo had shared an airship with the group he had met by chance, and after a brief six-day voyage, they finally reached their destination.

White Stone Outpost, at the edge of the Southern Continent.

It was a large checkpoint wedged between two mountains, with sturdy walls built from gray-white boulders. It served many border-defense functions, including keeping watch, receiving travelers, conducting inspections, and providing a waystation. Entering it meant officially setting foot in the Creek Moon Federation.

From White Stone Outpost to White Stone City, there were still dozens of kilometers to travel.

In a world where individual martial might could overturn rivers and seas, every nation used every means at its disposal to control its transient population. Unless someone stayed out of cities for life and avoided the occasional patrol checkpoint, legal identification was a problem they had to solve.

Chen Mo had gotten the details from Luke. If he wanted an identity that would let him move about the continent legally without being detained for inspection at every turn, the easiest way was to register as a mercenary.

To register as a mercenary, he had to go to the mercenary guild in White Stone City.

And to enter White Stone City, he needed a legal identity.

He had run straight into a dead end.

Fortunately, there were old hands like Luke.

The veteran mercenary gave him two options. One was to get forged papers, which were cheap but carried some risk when used. The other was to go through proper channels, with procedures that were fully compliant and legal, but expensive!

Chen Mo wasn't short of money, so he chose to obey the law.

The people from the great Cloudmist Territory family conducted themselves generously. They had let Chen Mo aboard and charged him only two silver coins for passage. As for the two pieces of gold they had taken from him, they had compensated him with a full twenty gold coins, even thoughtfully exchanging two of them for silver and copper coins. In terms of pure face value, Chen Mo had actually come out ahead.

What did you call that? A fair and square transaction, clean and straightforward.

Even if someone came to Cloudmist Territory in the future and claimed that the gold pieces were family heirlooms, they couldn't hold Cloudmist Territory responsible.

Old Luke had told Chen Mo in private that the bigger the family, the more particular they were about how they did things. Those with ugly manners would never be fit for respectable company in any kingdom.

Truly great and powerful families didn't need to resort to snatching and plundering to make money.

Under old Luke's careful guidance, Chen Mo found Luke's "old acquaintance" and "iron buddy," an outpost squad captain with a full beard.

The bearded man looked Chen Mo up and down for a long time and asked the same questions several times in different ways. Then he opened a cabinet beside the desk and watched Chen Mo put in three silver coins, a bottle of unfiltered wine from Blue Village, two boxes of pastries from the Wulu Food Shop, a handful of tobacco leaves from the Great Wind Wasteland, and two round trinkets whose purpose was unknown.

After checking that everything was in order, the bearded captain issued Chen Mo a "temporary travel permit" valid for three days.

And don't complain about the trouble. Without that assortment of gifts, even money wouldn't have helped.

The outpost captains liked money, but they didn't take just any money. What they wanted was clean money that wouldn't leave trouble behind.

From the types of gifts, they could tell which connection had sent someone their way, whether to do them a favor, and how big a favor to do.

Old Luke didn't have much influence, but it was just enough.

The permit was rather long. Translated, it went roughly like this:

"This is to certify that a summoning apprentice of Black Raven Castle in the Mirror Lake Kingdom, surnamed Chen and given name Mo, five chi and three cun in height, thin of build, pale of face and scant of beard, accompanied by one undead skeleton spearman, has entered the country to seek family. This temporary travel permit is hereby issued, authorizing temporary passage along the route from White Stone Outpost to White Stone City, for a period of three days."

After putting the permit away, Chen Mo still had to buy a ticket.

He definitely couldn't manage the dozens of kilometers on foot. More importantly, according to the veteran mercenary, the stretch outside the outpost and before White Stone City was practically a place of chaotic evil.

Without a carriage, he would lose all his money and possessions at best, or have his corpse dumped in the wilderness at worst.

Chen Mo specifically asked Luke, "With the road so lawless, doesn't the Creek Moon Federation do anything about it?"

"Of course they do!" Luke lowered his voice. "The inn at the outpost belongs to the White Stone City governor's wife's family, and the carriage company belongs to his lover's family."

"If they didn't do anything, how could it be so lawless out there?"

"And if it weren't lawless out there, how could the inn and the carriage company charge such prices?"

Chen Mo felt he had learned something again.

To keep demand for the inn higher than its supply, blood had to flow in the wilderness. To sell carriage rides at high prices, anyone who dared walk had to be taken down.

The lords of the Creek Moon Federation were fucking business geniuses. They could probably high-five certain capitalists back on Blue Star from across the void!

At that moment, he was immensely grateful that Mother Homeland had not only packed him weapons for self-defense, but had also prepared gold, a universally accepted currency. Under certain circumstances, those shiny yellow little cuties could be more "persuasive" than guns and cannons.

Otherwise, he would probably have had to fight his way through, guns blazing.

Once the bullets ran out, he'd die on the road and be buried in a ditch.

Even after buying a ticket, he couldn't leave right away. He had to wait until tomorrow.

Chen Mo had to stay another night at the inn.

After spending the whole day donating money to the White Stone City governor's dear wife, beloved concubines, and little lovers, Chen Mo had gone numb.

So much so that, in his dreams, he viciously whipped those heartless rich people several times over. He couldn't make out their faces, only their figures.

Early the next morning, Chen Mo packed up and loosened his muscles in the open space outside the inn. At the same time, he waited for Luke so he could say goodbye to his "guide." The morning breeze was cool, and the dawn glow painted the gray-white outpost a warm gold.

Then Chen Mo saw Commandery Princess Liushuang coming out.

The young commandery princess was dressed differently again today, in a long gown that was clearly formal wear. Bright yellow tassels swayed gently from it, scattering flickers of light as she walked.

Chen Mo had seen the girl three times, and each time her clothes and appearance had been completely different.

He strongly suspected her party had a carriage specifically for transporting clothes.

The girl spotted Chen Mo at a glance, and her eyes instantly lit up. Lifting her skirt, she ran over, her voice filled with undisguised excitement. "Hey, little mage! Can you show me your skeleton?"

Captain Peiwen, who was close beside the commandery princess, nodded slightly to Chen Mo and explained, "Our commandery princess has never seen an undead creature from the netherworld before, and she's curious. If it's convenient, please keep your summon under control. She only wants to have a look."

Chen Mo always felt that this group from Cloudmist Territory looked down on others, which made him somewhat uncomfortable, so he didn't want to associate with them much.

The young commandery princess, on the other hand, seemed to have a touch of youthful innocence. As for her hobby of looking at skeletons... had she been a medical student in her previous life?

Chen Mo readily brought Little White out and had him strike a pose, standing perfectly still for her to examine as she pleased.

The young Commandery Princess Liushuang moved close to Little White, her big eyes full of delight. As she looked him over, she muttered, "Oh, oh, it really is! How strange. How can it move? Does it have a brain? Where's its brain?"

"Your Highness, undead creatures... usually don't have brains in the physiological sense..." Captain Peiwen subtly adjusted his position, placing himself right in the path of any possible attack between the commandery princess and the skeleton. His left hand half closed, and his right thumb had already pushed his sword a fraction out of its guard, all while he patiently answered.

But the more he answered, the more questions she had.

"Does it never have to eat? If you feed it, will it still not eat?"

"It doesn't have to sleep at night? Then does it ever get sleepy? Like this, like this?" The young commandery princess bobbed her head repeatedly, pretending to doze off.

"It can't talk? What a shame. Then can it understand what I'm saying?"

"Mr. Skeleton? Hello, hello, hello?"

"..."

Looking at the girl and Little White in the dawn glow, then at Captain Peiwen with sweat on his forehead, Chen Mo suddenly felt he was missing a camera. Otherwise, a photograph of this scene would have made a truly wonderful sight.

Chapter 21: Farewell and a New Journey

In the end, the young commandery princess couldn't stay long. Under Captain Peiwen's frequent urging, she had to bring this rare skeleton-viewing ceremony to a hurried close.

The ones who really had authority in the Cloudmist Territory party were Lady Linda and Master Locke. Those two were always strict and rigid in their conduct. Never mind letting the young commandery princess look at a strange necromancer's skeleton; even if she took an extra glance at a wildflower by the road, they would probably go on at length about how it was "against the rules."

However, on certain days, the two of them, as followers of the God of Wisdom, had to perform lengthy and complicated prayer rituals. At those times, only Captain Peiwen remained by the commandery princess's side.

The commandery princess studied swordsmanship and, like Captain Peiwen, was a follower of the God of War. This created a small window when their schedules didn't overlap.

For the commandery princess, this counted as a rare chance to "get out for some air."

The little girl was full of curiosity about the moving skeleton, and Chen Mo obligingly had Little White perform a set of calisthenics. The sight made the commandery princess's eyes crinkle into crescent-shaped slits.

Thoroughly satisfied and in a wonderful mood, Commandery Princess Liushuang decided to give the young apprentice a small reward.

"You were hurt when I first saw you," she said, casually taking a small box from her pocket and tossing it to Chen Mo. Her tone carried a touch of grown-up concern. "Here, have some medicine for your wounds. You should be more careful from now on."

Chen Mo instinctively wanted to decline, but the moment he saw Captain Peiwen's cheek muscles twitch, he changed his mind.

It looked like good stuff.

Whether I use it or not doesn't matter. I ought to send Mom back some local specialties, right?

He was like a kid who waited for the day he could ask home for living expenses. Now that he finally had a chance to get his hands on some high-end products and rarities from this world, why stand on ceremony?

What he received was an exquisite little pouch containing a rectangular block the size of a finger joint. At first glance, it looked like a tiny bar of translucent white soap.

The instant he opened the pouch, a delicate, refreshing fragrance quietly spread through the air.

Captain Peiwen's brows and eyes twitched for quite a while before he finally couldn't hold back. Worried that Chen Mo didn't understand its value, he explained, "This is a fifth-tier healing medicine, made with water from the Spring of Life. It's comparable to a life shepherd's heal serious wounds spell. It can save your life, so keep it safe."

"Oh, oh, thank you very much!"

Chen Mo quickly tucked the medicine box into his clothes. His mind raced for a moment, and he took out a gift in return.

The little girl had been generous, so someone from the Xia family couldn't fall short either.

A thermite grenade.

Most of his other weapons were one of a kind, but he had two of these. He could give one to the girl to play with like fireworks.

"A small weapon. Um... it shoots fire and gets a little hot, so be careful when you use it."

After Chen Mo briefly explained how to use it and what precautions to take, Captain Peiwen accepted the oddly shaped lump of metal without a change in expression, a professional smile on his face.

He carefully examined the grenade's surface and structure but found no magical fluctuations. He gently rubbed a finger against the safety pin and found no sign of runic controls either. Unable to make anything of it, he put it in the spare weapon pouch at his waist.

The young commandery princess waved freely, and the two sides said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.