Crimson Karma - Chapter 16

Emperor Alterion held the position as the lone sovereign of Callistonia which existed even before his regime. Kasia felt that birth and blood, here, was as important as the Mediaeval European society she was familiar with.

‘What, it is game over once the situation flips over.’

Kasia thought of Tasel’s inherent limitations as insignificant and started to carefully observe the area they were passing through.

Though the world she opened her eyes in looked similar to Mediaeval Europe, they were different. But the fact that she felt a sense of living from the people, even though they were in the middle of a war, provided quite a relief to her. She had been in war regions many times in her previous life, so she was very familiar with people who already cast themselves to death.

They, albeit being alive but devoid of any hope about tomorrow, gloomily lived each day just breathing. So even after the war ended there, the people weren’t able to go on living.

‘If Tasel disappears, then all these people will be soon worn out by the tyranny of either the current Emperor or the first Prince…’

As Kasia contemplated the impact of Tasel becoming either the Emperor of the Empire or King of Callistonia, she arrived at the Termion province from where she needed to disappear.

From there the rear supply line will be divided into 3 groups and each group will head to different supply routes. So disappearing at that point was the safest option for her. In the name list provided to each supply route leader, there was no mention of Kasia’s name.

The soldiers she spent 3 days walking together with also held no curiosity towards which supply route Kasia would be assigned to, so there was no problem for her. In the gap when the soldiers were in chaos due to the assignment, Kasia skillfully hid in the shadows.

Termion was a region to the southwest of the Imperial Palace. The Taleran mountain ranges at the Northwest and the Ertaleran mountain ranges to Southeast created a natural bottleneck area. At the gates built on the walls between these mountain ranges, irrespective of one’s status, the identity of each passerby was diligently checked.

Termion as a strategic military spot was the main camp of the Imperial Army. But for Tasel who decided to become the third power didn’t give it much importance in his current situation.

Kasia changed her dress and waited until the appointed time.

After the rearrangement of the rear supply army, they went on their specified routes. In the tents of the army, which became desolate after their departure, laid Kasia’s weapon and luggage. When Kasia showed a card given by Tasel to the guard of the tent, he, in a well-organized manner, politely handed over her baggage to her.

Kasia securely tied each weapon to her body. After confirming the sunset, she soon left the tent.

The gates of Termion were bright even in the darkness of night, thanks to the blazing torches.

Passing through the gates of Termion was akin to having her weapons disclosed. So she decided to climb through the edge of the mountain range.

There would, of course, be soldiers patrolling the vicinity, but during the current wartime, many of the soldiers were transferred. So she felt that, if she could avoid them skillfully, she would be able to pass the gate without killing anyone.

‘I should choose a direction where I need to kill the least…’

Kasia climbed up a big tree in that dense forest. Looking down, she found there were much more patrolling soldiers than expected.

If she were to kill her way through, she would have got through in no time. But if she did that, then the karma she needed to bear will also pile up. These patrolling soldiers were just innocent people doing their work diligently.

‘Tut.Though it’s a waste, I am short on time. I can’t help it.’

Kasia took out a small explosive from her bag and threw it in the direction she came from.

BOOM!

The explosive was made according to her requests. So when it exploded it created a sound and dazzling light attracting all the attention of the patrol. It should rather be called a firecracker than an explosive.

In that world, there were no bombs or an alternative that was capable of killing a large number of people. So Kasia made requests keeping firecrackers in her mind.

The patrol was shocked and they rapidly went towards the place where the sound seemed to originate.

Kasia ran with her full speed and reached the other side of the gate. The influence of the explosion hadn’t reached there, so when the soldiers guarding the gate got the report of some strange movements, they were on their toes.

‘From here I would need to use some force.’

She approached a slope without making much noise and saw that below the slope only two soldiers were going back and forth keeping up the guard. Kasia fastened the bandage bound on her hand and tightened her fist. The moment the soldiers spread out, she slid down from the slope.

A soldier who stood near the slope exclaimed as he spotted her. At the very moment, he felt a strong force hitting the pit of his stomach, before he fell and a hand struck his neck and he lost consciousness.

“Hey! What happened? D-don’t be like that, it’s scary!”

The other soldier who was at a distance from him felt it strange and hesitantly came closer. The so-called soldiers were just boys of about seventeen years old, who still had some blush to their faces. It was natural for him to be scared.

Kasia, politely, laid the unconscious soldier to the ground and ran towards the other one. She tripped him down and flattened him by strangling his neck.

‘Hm, Everything went well till here. I need to leave here quickly before these lads wake up.’

She hid behind a big tree and knocked out some more soldiers who came near.

To proceed without killing was truly an inconvenience. Though her hand went towards the dagger tied on her hip many times, thinking about the pain and suffering she experienced due to the murders she had committed, she endured. But there was no end to her swearing.

Once again she ran through the dark swiftly and safely arrived at a town near the Termion gate. There, she calmly acted as an ordinary Knight who lived in misery.

Like that, she travelled for a week without any rest. After crossing two more gates, she finally arrived at the big and prosperous city right in front of the Imperial Palace, Pien.

Kasia thought, because of the commotion she caused when crossing the Gates of Termion, the defence of the other gates will be tighter, but it was just so-so. It seemed that either there were not many who would stealthily cross the gates like her or very few to and fro messengers between the gates.

The defence of a nation to be significantly sloppy meant that the foundation of the nation was crumbling. It had not been long since Kasia woke up in that world but even she could see that Callistonia was rotten to the core.

Because of the continuous travel for an entire week, her under-trained body was pretty exhausted. She decided to rest in Pien for a day.

The roads were paved very poorly. Add to that, the crowd with horses, carriages, wagons and pedestrians. At first, she thought of staying in an inconspicuous inn at the outskirts, But after considering, to collect more rumours about the royal family she went into a pretty decent and busy inn.

“Welcome, Honourable Knight! Are you stopping to grab a bite or looking for a room to stay?”

“I want to rest for a night. I also need to grab a bite.”

“You came to the right place. I will lead to your room. This way, please.”

A middle-aged woman who seemed to be the hostess of the inn led Kasia to the second floor.

In the corridor, many doors were cramped together, bathroom and bathhouse were outside, so the inn-stayers would come and go from time to time. The hostess opened the door of the room at the end of the corridor and showed it to Kasia.

“It is not easy to find such a room with this price. There was only one left.”

“How much?”

“A silver and twenty copper coins for a night. You can dine at the diner below, the price varies based on the menu.”

The woman who spoke with a bright smile didn’t seem like lying and Kasia was yet to get used to the concept of pricing and currency of this world. But that didn’t mean that she would generously give out to the point of luxury. So she decided to proceed with bargaining.

“A silver and twenty copper looks expensive, make it one silver.”

“Yes? That is a little…”

“Well then, I will look for some other place.”

“Oh, my my, Sir Knight! Hahaha. Don’t go around selling your feet in vain… How about one silver and fifteen copper?”

“A silver and five copper.”

“Ah…Phew… a silver and thirteen copper! It will be very difficult to go lower than this.”

“Mmm… Then I will need to have food at another place…”

“No no, Sir Knight… Okay. With the condition that you will have your food at our Inn, I will make it one Silver and ten copper.”

Kasia was hopping for one Silver and ten copper in the first place, so she nodded her head with a slight smile right away. The hostess felt tongue-tied and went down to the first floor.

The room was equipped with a single bed, a table, a chair and a shelf where one could put their belongings. There was also a window. The room was not bad. Truthfully, it was many times better than the tent she stayed in, in the barracks.

On her way to Pien, because of the fear of surprise attack, the time she slept was minimal. Even if she were to sleep it would be leaning against some random cave walls or lying on a hammock made of ropes between tree branches. So from the bottom of her heart, she felt glad about the mattress on the bed.

‘For now, I should rest and eat something. And keep my ears open to the surroundings.’

Kasia took out a towel and a change of clothes. She proceeded to the bathhouse outside the inn.

The bathhouse was divided into male and female. Each bath was further divided into two. In the wider area, one could soak their body and in the other part, one would need to take a bath with a mug.

“It is much better than I expected?”

Kasia lathered her ragged hair with the soap she brought with her luggage. She scrubbed her body with the soap and washed. Then she soaked herself in the tub.

Though the tub was not big, no other woman was using the bathhouse. So Kasia, as if renting the entire place, comfortably soaked her body in the warm water.

It was not like the military garrison of Kyrel province. The water came directly from the hot spring, so hot water was available in the bathhouse. But over there, at the bathhouse, the cold water was heated to get a substantial temperature.

Kasia carefully examined her very soaking body. After waking up, she didn’t remember properly observing her new body even once. Now, carefully looking, that twenty-two-year-old body was full of vigour and vitality.

Her current body was nothing compared to the previous physique of Kasia Del Roman. But her arduous training caused the body which used to be now adorned with strong sleek muscles. It was all thanks to the divine healer, that there was not even a scar left from the injuries of Mist Forest.

It was not wrong to say that the physique of a warrior woman deals a huge blow to her charm level. For most females, they will prefer a previous soft and smooth body, but Kasia thought she would not need to advocate her femininity. Because her current life didn’t look much different from her previous one.

Kasia admired the resilience of her young body as she felt her muscles relaxing in the hot spring water one by one. But soon her mind once again turned towards the rescue mission of Queen Elena.