“Shut up you damn low lives.” I scowled at the garbage as I took out my 1911 and aimed at them.

"Ooh am scared, piss off if ya'wanna see da next sunshine." said the rough looking guy.

"HAHA, Fuckin brat got some ball though scaring us with a metal toy." added the pig through his cackling.

'Calling my 1911 an toy ehy? Too bad this toy can kill.'

I pulled the trigger, *Click*, but it didn't fire. Shit I forgot to take the safety off.

"HAHAHA HIS DAMN TOY JUST MAKES A CLICKING SOUND." the pig said loudly as he laughed his ass off.

"Ya'see? ya'balls aint worth nothin, heheh." the rough man snickered.

I quickly took off the safety and fired, a series of gunshots echoed. All 7 rounds found their marks, the snickering rough man fell face first and a puddle of his blood slowly formed.

The pig was also hit on the leg, but it looks like I hit some major artery as he was bleeding profusely. I holstered my 1911 after confirming that they can't fight back anymore.

"GAAAAAAH." the pig screamed once his meager brain understood what was happening.

"Tia come on." I said to her as I grabbed her. I also grabbed the cooked rabbit since I don't want to waste food.

I pulled Tia along since it looks like she's still in a daze or something. We went towards where the men are.

"EEEEEK, STAY AWAY FROM ME!" the pig squealed just like the pig he is.

We passed through them and went to where they came from, it might lead to a road. 

As for the squealing pig, I'll just let him be. He'll probably bleed out before long, and trash like him don't deserve to be saved.

Once I stopped hearing the pig's squealing, I stopped and turned to Tia. "Hey Tia, are you alright? Tia? Hey?"

Only when I started shaking her did she finally come back to her senses and she broke down crying, "I- *Sniffle* th- *Sniffle* -t waahaa- *Sniffle*"

I pulled her into a hug and patted her back, "It's okay now, those men are gone. They won't harm you now."

People might say I'm taking advantage of a girl's weakness, well screw you, this is the only way I can think of that can calm her.

It took a few moments to get her to calm down, "I'm *Sniffle* oka-y now Sir Gabriel."

"Let's rest here for a while, here you go, eat up first." I said to her as I handed her the cooked rabbit, "It'll be a waste if we don't eat it."

"Y-yes." she replied as she received the rabbit.

"Go on, eat now, I'll just make sure the surroundings are clear." I said to her, she looked like she was gonna say something but she didn't voice it out.

I walked away from Tia and found a tree that I can climb. l climbed up the tree and sat on a branch where I can still see Tia.

I looked down at my hands and saw that they were trembling. 'Shit, I killed a person. Even if they're just some thugs, I still took their lives.'

I was suddenly filled with guilt, but if I let that get to me then I won't survive this world. 'I'm not on Earth anymore, it's dog eat dog here in this world. I will need to get used to it in order to save my friends.'

I made my way down the tree after calming down and made my way to Tia, "It' all clear now, we can move whenever you're ready."

"S-sir Gabriel? Here." she handed me the skewered rabbit, "I've already eaten, you should eat some too."

"It's fine, I'm not hungry." I said to her, but my stomach betrayed me.

*Guurrggg guurg*

"Your body says you are though." Tia said with a giggle.

"That's better, you should stick to smiling." I said to her to further lighten the mood. "I'll have some rabbit then."

It's just a bit gamey, maybe because it's wild, but it still taste like what I remember rabbits tasted like, tastes like chicken with less fat.

After eating we continued walking, hoping to find some settlement or signs of it.

+ + + + +

"Your Majesty, it's Antonius." Antonius said as he knocked at the King's Study.

"Enter." came the King's voice.

Antonius entered, the King and the Crown Prince were once again seated at a table.

"Hey old man, I heard that you lost my dog." The crown prince said irritatedly.

"I ask for your forgiveness Your Royal Higness," Antonius bowed his head low before continuing, "The otherw- *Cough* Your pet has been missing since last night. Patrols around the capital haven't found him yet, I presume that he's already been done in by some monsters."

"Can't be helped then." the Crown Prince replied, "Claudius did bring me a young couple as an apology he says."

"I see, I did tell him to get something for you, Your Royal Highness." Antonius replied.

"Oh you should've seen how I broke them both, first I raped the girl right in front of the boy, and the girl was a virgin too, what a great find. Lately, all I had were used goods, a virgin was a great change of pace.” the crown prince recounted without even a slight hint of remorse, “What broke him the most was when I let my guys have their way on the girl, she kept crying and yelling so much that the guy grabbed a knife and slit his own throat, the girl broke down some more and my guys used her even when she was already dead, it was so fuckin hilarious.”

*Smack*

The King’s hand landed on the crown prince’s head, “You fool, this is a serious meeting, take your stories somewhere else.”

“I-I’m sorry father, I just got excited.” the crown prince replied meekly.

“Hmmph, now then Antonius what have you planned for those otherworlders?” the king turned to Antonius and asked.

“I will be personally training them as you instructed Your Majesty, I will take them to a forest or dungeon to train, I’ll also need the 2nd King’s Guard, a platoon should be sufficient enough.” Antonius answered.

“I see, if you’re going to a dungeon, then the town of Nareña to the north then?” the King asked.

“Yes Your Majesty, we’ll be departing this afternoon, and if things go well then we might arrive in Nareña before night the following day.” Antonius answered, “I heard some bandit’s are also plaguing the roads to Nareña. So that will serve as more training.”

“Yes, yes, that’ll be wonderful, we need them ready as soon as possible.” the king replied, “See it done.”

“Yes, Your Majesty, I’ll take my leave now, Your Majesty.” Antonius said and turned to leave.

“Eliyas, go to the border town of Centaria, take the rest of the 2nd King’s Guard and the 12th and 15th regiment, more reinforcements are to follow.” the King ordered the crown prince.

“Yes father, so that's where the Elyuans are going to attack."

"That is what we surmised based on the gathered reports last week."

"A week ago huh? It will take 4 to 6 days to get to Centaria, what if the garrison has already fallen?"

"They're still sending messenger pigeons every other day, therefore the garrison has not yet fallen." said the King, "Now go, prepare the men and depart tomorrow."

"By Your Will Father." the crown prince replied and left.

+ + + Elytia + + +

It's been a few hours since our encounter with the bandits. I thought that we'd be captured by them, but Sir Gabriel fought them using his magic, or so he says. Magic requires some chants, but Sir Gabriel didn't chant.

I was so scared that I can't even recall what exactly happened. All I can remember is hearing some explosions and Sir Gabriel pulling my hand until we’re far enough from the clearing. 

He then offered me the rabbit meat as he went away. I was going to refuse but then I remembered that Sir Gabriel sprinkled the fine salt on the meat. I can’t just waste expensive ingredients, so I ate some of it but I made sure to leave enough for Sir Gabriel.

After stopping to eat, we continued walking until eventually the forest thinned out and we stumbled across a road. Since I still didn’t know where we were, I looked at Sir Gabriel. “Uh-uhmm, I still don’t know where we are.”

“Hmm, the sun is already setting, so I guess this road goes from north to south. I’m not sure if the cardinal directions are just like on Earth though.” Sir Gabriel said, he turned to me while pointing northwards and asked, “Is that north?”

“Yes.”  I replied, the Duke’s lands are on the west so going north would put us farther from my destination, but since the only road is to the north and south then I have no choice.

“North it is then.” Sir Gabriel said and he started walking.

Not long after we started walking we heard a wagon coming from our back. The wagon had an open top and we could see various items in the back. It’s a travelling merchant’s wagon

I still have some money on me, good thing it wasn’t washed away when we were on the river, so I decided to hail it. The wagon stopped in front of us and we were greeted by a young man.

“What are the two of you doing in the middle of the road? The sun is already setting, roads get dangerous at night.” The man asked in a concerned voice, then he offered us to come “Come now, I still have some space on my wagon.”

I took 2 Pises out from my breastpocket, “We can only pay 200 Pisas, if that’s alright with you.”

“I was about to take you there for free, you know? Oh well, a merchant’s gotta earn every coin he can, so I’ll take you up on your offer.” the young man said, “Come on now, hop in.”

Sir Gabriel and I hopped in the back of the wagon and the wagon moved along the road. My eyes were starting to close, I was so exhausted so I just let my eyes close. I can still hear them talking when my consciousness faded.