Embracing Magic - E.M Chapter 76 (Part 2)
Rodin had no choice but to lift the children and place them on the horse. After putting each of them up, he took the reins.
“Aren’t you going to ride with us?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll have more horses soon.”
“How?”
“You’ll see.”
Rodin led the horse for about ten minutes. Soon, they found the eight horses tied to a tree.
“Huh?”
“Wow! Horses!”
“These horses probably belonged to the men who killed your families. I found them yesterday and just left them here.”
There were fewer horses than raiders, as some had shared horses.
Rodin untied all the horses and tied them to his own. He separated one horse and mounted it.
“Let’s go. Hold on tight, so you don’t fall.”
“Are you going to run?”
“No. Magic Hand.”
Using his magic, Rodin created a magical hand to steady the children as he slowly started moving the horses forward.
Even at the slow pace, the up-and-down movement of the horses was significant. Larry and Bianca nearly tumbled off the horse several times.
Each time, the Magic Hand caught them, and they made a fuss every time they felt themselves floating.
“Ahh! I’m going to fall!”
“Brother! I’m not falling! This is fun!”
The journey suddenly became noisy. Rodin wasn’t used to such racket, but it wasn’t unpleasant.
‘Children should act like children.’
Their pace was slow. To prevent them from falling off, Rodin had reduced their usual speed to about half.
* * *
Because of the slow pace, it took them two days to reach Lanse. They arrived just before sunset.
A long line of people awaited them at the heavily guarded checkpoint into the city. Rodin and the children took their place at the back of the line.
“This is going to take a while.”
“Should we get off the horse?”
“Stay on.”
“My butt hurts.”
“Then get off.”
With Rodin’s help, Larry and Bianca got off the horse. They looked around, curious, like typical children.
‘Well, they are still kids.’
Watching them, Rodin often wondered, ‘What was I doing at their age?’ And every time, the answer was the same: the library, the barracks, the dining hall, and classes.
‘I wonder if Instructor Serion is still alive.’
He had seen Serion leave the training camp on horseback the day he left. As long as he hadn’t headed north, he should have made it out safely.
“Rodin, can I ride again?”
“Why? You can’t see?”
“Yes.”
Rodin used the Magic Hand to lift Bianca back onto the horse. She stretched her neck upward, eagerly taking in the sights around her.
“There are so many people. Brother Larry, there are so, so many people. More than we can count on both hands.”
“Uh… brother.”
Larry cautiously addressed Rodin. From his expression alone, Rodin could guess what he wanted.
“Do you want to ride again?”
“Yes. Can I ride a different horse?”
“Sure.”
Rodin lifted Larry onto the horse next to Bianca’s.
At the moment, Rodin was managing nine horses by himself.
His lazy, fat horse, plus the eight horses that had belonged to the raiders.
It was too many to handle alone.
‘If I weren’t a magician, this would’ve been tough.’
Using the Magic Hand spell, Rodin held the reins of four horses at a time. People passing by stared curiously at the floating reins and at Rodin.
As Larry and Bianca excitedly looked around from the horses, the line steadily moved forward.
Occasionally, a commotion erupted at the front, but the guards quickly intervened to settle things.
“I hope we can get in before dark.”
Most cities closed their gates at sunset, and naturally, checkpoints would stop operating by then.
The sun was already setting over Lanse. In about ten minutes, it would be dark, and there were still dozens of people ahead of them.
‘Ah! We’re lucky.’
Fortunately, the number of people in line dropped significantly. A merchant group had submitted their documents for everyone at once, allowing them to pass quickly with their porters and mercenaries.
Thanks to that, the line shrank rapidly, leaving fewer than ten people in front of Rodin.
‘Oh, good, another one.’
Next, a group of mercenaries approached the checkpoint. They were processed together and allowed into Lanse.
At that moment, a group of soldiers came out from inside the checkpoint. They counted the people in line and then stopped at a certain point.
“That’s it for today. Everyone behind this line, please return tomorrow morning.”
“Oh!”
“Damn it.”
“Just a few more.”
The people behind the line groaned in frustration, but the soldiers were firm. They finished speaking and set up a rope to divide the line.
Thankfully, Rodin was right in front of the cutoff. He had barely made it in time to get checked today.
‘But do Larry and Bianca need identity tokens?’
According to the rules, official identification tokens were issued starting at age 10. By regulation, both Larry and Bianca should have had theirs.
But in reality, only children of nobles or those living in lord’s castles received them at age 10.
For those living in remote villages, it was usually around age 13 or 14 before they received their tokens.
The main reason being that identity tokens were only issued at the lord’s castle.
‘Well, if it comes to it, I can just use magic to get us in.’
Rodin generally tried to follow the rules as much as possible, thinking it would prevent trouble later.
However, if there were to be an immediate issue, he had no problem breaking the rules.
He was not the kind of person who would let the law stop him from doing what needed to be done.
“Next!”
The line moved quickly, and soon it was Rodin’s turn.
Rodin dismounted Larry and Bianca and stood with them. The guard at the checkpoint held out his hand, and Rodin placed his identification token in it.
“Oh, a mercenary… Ah! A magician, I see.”
“Yes.”
“Mercenary magicians are rare. Hmm. Do the children have their identity tokens?”
“No, they’re too young.”
Once the guard realized Rodin was a magician, his demeanor became more respectful. Even in Rance, magicians were treated with respect.
“I’ll let you through for now. But it would be good for the children to get their identity tokens as soon as possible. Even young children with tokens can find small jobs in Lanse. Oh, and there’s a local office here in Lanse that issues tokens. You can find it near the western plaza.”
“Got it. I’ll check it out. By the way, do you know where I can sell horses? I happened to acquire a few.”
“Must’ve been some foolish bandits trying to rob a magician. As soon as you enter, there’s a horse market to the right. You can try there.”
“Thanks. I’ll be on my way then.”
They passed through the checkpoint. Rodin lifted Larry and Bianca back onto the horse and entered Lanse.