The Bookkeeper
Chapter 87: Advent of the Pages 4

Chapter 87: Advent of the Pages 4

There was no fear in Raiden’s eyes.

This was a cruel world, and what he had witnessed went far beyond the threat of simple bandits. Instead, he was curious, wondering what new tricks these bandits might have.

He called out to the driver to stop the carriage, and it halted in an instant.

"Bandits are approaching," he said, and everyone’s eyes began darting around.

The driver, however, wore an interesting smile. Raiden at first mistook it for eagerness to fight the bandits. Perhaps he had something planned for such circumstances—this was his daily route, after all.

But after a closer look at the smile etched across his face, Raiden knew that wasn’t the case. The driver had set them up. He and the bandits were in it together.

But that only made Raiden smirk, and soon the bandits were appearing one by one on the street.

The others were as calm as Raiden, carrying on as usual despite his warning about the threat.

Raiden turned to Levi. "How did you manage to survive all this so well, Levi?"

Levi shrugged briefly, expecting Raiden to know about it already. He simply turned invisible.

Raiden let out a sigh and got out of the carriage as he gently placed Ash on the seat. Meanwhile, the bandits emerged with cocky expressions, their swords and weapons resting on their shoulders.

Raiden began stretching his body. "This is the perfect time for some experience points..."

He walked toward the driver. "I’ll be killing all of them, and just so you know, we won’t be paying for the trip either."

The driver sneered, and Raiden slapped him hard across the cheek. "Don’t act stupid."

Over a dozen bandits surrounded them, as he stood there, and one of them dashed toward Raiden, aiming his sword directly at his head.

But before he knew it, a heavy wind blew, and Raiden’s fist was slamming into his chest, launching him into the ground. All it took was a single bounce on the surface to finish him completely.

Fear swept through the bandits, but they didn’t falter. A scarred, muscular man glowing with white aura was the next to approach Raiden. He left his axes hanging midair as he let out a scream of desperation.

Even though he was not a threat, Raiden casually delivered two swift strikes to his chest while his axes hung midair, giving him no time to adjust.

The bandit dropped to his knees, his weapons falling to his sides as blood began trickling from his nose. What followed was him coughing up a chunk of blood before he dropped to his left in an instant and took his last breath.

The terror in the bandits’ eyes deepened this time, and they didn’t spare a moment before running away.

Raiden turned to the driver to see him trembling in his seat, sweat forming on his forehead. Raiden smiled once more.

Before his expression darkened in an instant. He heard nothing from the system. He’d expected an increase in experience points after killing two people, but there was nothing.

He let out a sigh of disappointment and climbed back into the carriage. The moment he sat down, Noelle gave him a watchful look, as if she suspected him of something or perhaps realized something about him.

However, the carriage began rolling, and Speed spoke up. "Since only commoners take this road, bandits of this caliber are considered the strongest."

Raiden understood that, and his expression said it all. He got five experience points whenever he killed five goblins, but if two humans got him nothing, it really spoke of how weak they were.

The carriage continued to roll peacefully without any problems. That’s when Raiden understood something—it was the drivers who brought bandits to rob passengers, and whatever money was made was shared between the bandits and the driver.

That explained their safe journey, even though the forested route from Coast City to Kingston City should have had at least one or two more bandit attacks.

Before long, the carriage began rolling into the city as children approached through narrow cobblestone streets, begging for something.

Their clothes looked worn out, while a select few among them wore relatively modern clothes. This was the first time Raiden had seen something like that. His blood began to boil with irritation, so he didn’t bother to look at them this time.

His eyes took in the infrastructure around him. The buildings had a distinctive European medieval influence, featuring timber-framed walls, steep gabled roofs, and clay or tile shingles.

The carriage then stopped at a large archway that appeared to be part of an inn.

Raiden got out of the carriage, his eyes darting around. Though the city wasn’t as attractive as Coast City or even Persia City, based on how Speed had spoken of it, he’d expected something worse. But this had a warm and soft atmosphere, despite the unpleasant smell from the commoners.

The driver didn’t bother to question them for his money and drove off. But Raiden barely cared about that—something else entirely troubled him at that moment. Did he hate commoners? And if so, why?

He had no answer to his own questions, but he knew he didn’t like something about how they simply accepted their fate and continued to live in filth. If he was fine with Speed and Soul, it was because they had fought against their fate as commoners and won.

[Papa...] Ash said as she finally woke up, nudging him with her wings flapping gently and her tail wiggling.

"Hey, you’re up?" He cradled her in his arms. "How was your sleep?"

[Okay, papa...] her soft voice echoed in Raiden’s mind.

Raiden turned to see the others already entering the inn and sneered in annoyance. He was the one who had to pay for everything, and yet they left without telling him anything.

The inn had lanterns lit around it. Its wooden sign creaked gently in the breeze, with "The Sleeping Fox Inn" written on it, hanging from an iron hook at the entrance.

Without a doubt, it was a place of friendship, perhaps where midnights ended with comforting sounds of laughter, clinking cups, and fireworks.

As he opened the door, a soft chime of a bell greeted him, followed by comforting smells of baked bread, stew, and old wood.

The moment Raiden stepped inside, the others were already speaking with the innkeeper. With a gentle smile on her face, she asked how their journey went, but Noelle wasn’t having it. Even from afar, Raiden could see her asking for the rooms already.

The innkeeper wasn’t quite pleased with her behavior, but kept her expression open. "How long will you be staying?"

Raiden was close enough to hear but didn’t know how long they’d stay, so he blurted out, "Three days for now."

The innkeeper turned to him. "Okay, dearest." But her expression dropped. "Forgive me, but have you been here before?"

Raiden knew what she was talking about, and it wasn’t about whether he’d been there before. As the bookkeeper, it was normal that people would recognize his face from the post-war ceremony.

"No, no..." Raiden replied.

The innkeeper smiled once more, but clearly she was confused and couldn’t recall where she’d seen Raiden before.

"For all of you, that would be 420 Persa," she said, forcing a smile.

Raiden paid without hesitation, and she politely guided them to their rooms.

Raiden was soon shown to his room upstairs, and the others to theirs. The room was warm and glowing, with polished wooden floors, overhead beams, and a stone hearth crackling with fire.

It had a quilted bed, a small writing desk, a window overlooking the moonlit street below, a few candles, and a washroom to the right.

Raiden let out a deep sigh and sat on the bed.

"Let’s rest for now, Ash." He set her down on the bed. "We go on a journey tomorrow."

[Okay, papa...]