>>5178894>>5178896>>5178897>>5178902"It's too dangerous to go with them, perhaps next time? I'm going to have to face someone much more powerful than Barnham, and with a grudge against me."
"Oh, of course. I don't want to bother you in whatever you need to do. If it's anything like the beating you got on the arena, it might indeed be too dangerous for us common folk." Though Benny looked sad, you hoped he would ultimately understand that he does not have much room to argue against you.
"Don't worry, once things are clearer I'll make sure you'll play the best tunes with me. For now, try to be there for Cindy, ok?"
"Ok..." He even manages to say it without stuttering, but you can still hear some contempt in his voice. Oh well, it's probably going to pass a lot faster for him.
After spending some money with supplies and rations, you say goodbye to your friends and depart in search of the black swordsman. Only one look at the outside wastelands shows how much the world has changed while you were in the swamp.
No vegetation, no fields, no crops, no populus. Days go by without a single sight of civilization, and if it werent for the ups and downs of the slopes, along with the occasional dead bodies and animal carcass, you would think you are in a perpetual groundhog's day of following the same trail for all eternity.
Maps are a chore to follow, "Keep going west." You repeat to yourself as your rations decreased day after day. Eventually, you're reaching the point where you have to skip a meal a day so you dont run out of what little you have. Even the water you find seems to taste muddy, yuck... put some sand on this place and the entirety of Wyndham woud look like a damn desert, and we're supposed to be entering winter!
You imagine you're halfway through the path to Albion when the scenery starts to change, the rain begins to fall as you start using Merlina's cloak more often at night. There is no Od to feel at night, not even a scent of darkness, but light doesn't seem close to you either. It does make you feel sad and miss the company of the others, even if it's just been a couple of weeks traveling outside, your perception of time dilates a lot when you're in these situations. At least Gunpowder is there to chastise you when you get too much into your thoughts...
