thing. Everyone took turns hugging Aralia, turning into eagles and flying away. And I lay with a broken face in a pool of blood and urine. The girl waved her hand to her flock for a long time. Then she came up to me and kicked me painfully in the groin.
– Dumb hero. I despise you. I was doing so well. Only Servilas found the groom. And you ruined everything. “She again hit me painfully in the most valuable place.” – That's bad luck. Get up and let's go into town. We'll get you the documents, otherwise they'll sell you into slavery. Or they will eat it. You will come with me to the adventurers guild. But before that, we need to tell the city hall about you. A strong magician lives there. It will help you decide on the future. He will give money. You will give me back a lot of money. You'll work it out. For my wings. Do you have any abilities? In magic or martial arts?
– I went to karate as a child. But I abandoned it. I'm definitely not good at magic. Served in the army for a year. But there have been no wars for a long time. Therefore, only the weapons were cleaned and taken to the shooting range several times.
– That's it. Why aren't you getting treatment? What spells don't you know?
She said, placing a warm hand on my head. I shook my head.
– Well, what should we do with you? Healing spell.
I was magically cured. Got up from the ground.
– If only he were handsome, it wouldn’t be offensive. It's a shame you're such a freak.
– Lady. Excuse me, but I consider myself beautiful and attractive. All the girls told me that. I had quite a few of them. – I said proudly.
– Look at you. “She created a mirror with magic and placed it next to me. – Tell me, are you handsome?
A terrible sight met my eyes. The freak in the reflection was me. My attractive face turned into an ugly face. With freckles and pimples. And also warts. Chunks of flesh hung like dried snot. I touched them, these are pieces of skin. I tried to tear them off, but couldn't. Anyone would run away if they saw me. At that moment I saw the former witch laughing. This is her curse. So she made fun of me. Well, I won’t be nice to the ladies anymore. Tired of it.
– It doesn’t matter whether I’m handsome or not. I will have a lot of ladies. I won't be kind to you. Take me to the city. In the guild. And to the magician. We must try to return home and take revenge on the witch. And we need to find out the fate of the other lady. Maybe you saw her while you were flying? Young naked? No older than twenty.
– There are no other people in the valley. The city will be more precise. I haven't been there for three years. I'll go to the store. You need to buy a new dress. Otherwise this is already old. You need different equipment. Life is not easy for adventurers.
She walked forward with a cheerful step. I followed her. She was cheerful and sang a song about the wind, although a minute ago she was furious. How changeable she is. It was a long walk, almost three hours. I'm incredibly tired. Although he didn’t show it in front of the lady. She was just as cheerful as at the beginning of the journey.
– Here is the city ahead. The glorious city of Bram. It’s a province, of course, but there is an adventurers’ guild here. The first stronghold of people in the valley where the trolls live. Next are the great mountains. Good thing they're on a demon raid right now. Otherwise they would have eaten you, handsome man. Haha. – She laughed. I began to wonder what kind of prison sentence they give in this world for killing a girl’s eagle?
The city seemed unattractive to me. An ordinary log wall is no higher than two meters. Behind it, flimsy houses with no visible luxury were visible. The gloomy soldiers were bored at the gates. The same soldiers stood on the wall. The small line of people waiting to get in at the gate did not bring back good memories. Customs is strict everywhere. This means the inspection is thorough. But I don’t have documents. Even passports. I took out my phone. The plate is discharged. Pressed. Empty. Discharged. And also new. Must be charged by magnetic fields. It had everything. And digital documents and a card and travel pass between planets. My whole life is on my phone.
– Who are they? – Said the old guard in chain mail and with a halberd.
– I am Aralia Orlova, here are my documents.
She held out the iron plate that hung on her chest. The guard examined her briefly and returned her back. Then he looked at me.
– And this one? The view is painfully strange. You are mad, are not you? What a freak. I don’t need sick people in the city. “He spat disgustingly at my feet. Others in line began to move away from me.
– He is with me. My prey. I take him to the magician Gnus. And to the adventurers guild. My wings were torn out and I was left without feathers. So I want to become an adventurer until they grow up.
– Under your responsibility. You are a free people. You'll still get into the city. So at least it's official. Three silver and pass.
– That's it. – She said quietly. – Give me one coin. Uncle, I’m such a sweet girl, do me a favor. I'll cry sometime later. – She winked at him. I almost threw up. Well, he’s old and scary.
– Okay, daughter, one coin. And then don’t come, I’m too old for this. Although you are beautiful, you could become my grandson’s wife. He's still a fool, but he'll come to his senses with you.
– Here's a coin. – The girl tenderly handed over a coin with the profile of a snub-nosed uncle. I couldn't read the inscription on it.
– Come on in. Just don't be outrageous.
“I don’t know with such a handsome guy, maybe I will.” How to keep yourself from temptation. – Aralia began to laugh. The guard is the same.
We entered the city. Dirty medieval city. Horses in carts shitting everywhere. Shabby houses. But what struck me were its inhabitants. Various races lived here. Orcs and mermaids, gnomes and elves. Beautiful and terrible bitches. But what struck me most about the slime was the people. All made of liquid. The elves were not the beauties from books and films. Here they were ordinary girls with pointed ears. They did not stand out as particularly beautiful. Although it may have seemed that way to me. The effect of the former witch's curse. After walking for ten minutes we came to the shopping district. Stalls with dirty food and goods.
“Only poor people buy here.” We need to go to the stone part of the city. There are luxury shops there.
– I take your word for it. I don't like flea markets myself.
– What a good and true word. There are plenty of tasty fleas here. Especially on the spit.
Chapter 2 Mages and their quirks
The place where magicians work. Since childhood, I imagined that it would be a huge white tower in the city center. Or a black castle where a hermit magician is served by skeleton warriors or zombies. But in this world everything is simpler. An ordinary three-story house made of mountain stone with a pen and staff sign.
– Is this building where magicians live?
– What did you expect? They are people just like us. But they take a lot of bribes. So keep quiet.
The girl who used to be an eagle said, clenching her fist menacingly. I didn’t argue with her; we entered the building together. There we were met by a small but cute dwarf girl in a blue uniform. With the coat of arms of a snake and a griffin on the sleeves.
– I
