Chapter 2053: Leaving Twinwave
They shopped around the market, too, since they were already there anyway, though there were not many things she was unfamiliar with. After all, Bart and his team brought in a lot of ’new’ things to trade since they started partnering up.
When their rivals, the Swagen mercenary team, found Alterra, this intensified even more. It even became a contest. At some point, they’d always compare who had more contribution points.
Speaking of which, the rivalry between the two mercenary teams was no secret in Alterra.
There were a lot of bars and taverns, but it was inevitable for members of the two teams to use the same establishments here and there.
There was a lot of cross-team mockery and dug pasts. Apparently, there had been quite a few cases of stealing lovers through the years.
At some point, even Baron’s case was dug up. He wasn’t part of the Rolan mercenary team, but he was seen as someone from their side. Since someone from Swagen stole his almost-fiance, it counted as one of the cases of ’stealing wives’ between the two groups.
Had it not been for the Alterran Rules and Regulations that forbade fighting outside the sparring rings, there would’ve definitely been a lot of brawls.
As for where this all started, the rivalry began from the groups’ conception about a hundred years ago. The captains had been rivals even before they started the teams, and it just expanded from there.
Basically, the rivalry was there for the sake of rivalry. This was fine, and even the neutral members didn’t mind it because it drove the members of both teams to keep improving.
While going around the market, they heard quite a few gossip about them too, and Althea found them quite fun.
After shopping, the couple went around and checked the buildings. Twinwave had barracks and a Training Hall, which was a reason why many warriors went here to settle, ultimately contributing to its stability as a trading hub of various level 1 towns and villages.
The couple passed by a few familiar buildings and headed to the Post Office to send word home that they’d be returning today, and to make sure there was a mission for them.
There was no way they’d keep a mission perennially open without prompting. That was just an unnecessary cost. If other people wanted to use the Hall for shortcuts, then they had to handle it themselves.
On the way out of the Post Office, they encountered a couple looking awkwardly at the counter. The woman had an envelope in her hands. She seemed conflicted about whether to send the letter or not, unconsciously patting her stomach for comfort.
"But, Tello, what if they kick us out?" the woman asked, voice soft and a little shaky. The man patted her head in comfort.
"He’s your brother. He wouldn’t be able to push you away as he already had, especially with the little one coming," the man said, voice gentle. "It’s been so long, even if everyone’s embarrassed, life has to go on, right?
"It’s been a couple of months..." she corrected. "I’m not sure how to really communicate with him. What did you put in your letter?
"Well, aren’t we sending posts to see his attitude?" he asked. "Regardless of the answer, we won’t lose anything except for a few silver and a bit of pride."
The man then guided the woman to the concierge to finally send their combined letter.
Althea and Garan did not know them, so they forgot about this episode rather quickly.
However, if Baron or Eloi were here, they’d recognize the woman as Elya, Eloi’s sister and Baron’s ex, and the man with her was her now fiance.
...
Meanwhile, at the Swagen Mercenary Team headquarters.
Cogs looked at the gates to their base, looked at the profile of his nose (or lack thereof), and felt incredible dread.
Chell looked at her childhood friend and patted his shoulder. "It’ll recover soon. Don’t think about it so much."
"How soon?"
"A few...months," she said after a pause. "Short, right?"
Cogs wanted to cry! But he wouldn’t!
Then he entered with Chell to make their reports, and the blokes hanging around turned their heads in their direction, right before bursting into laughter.
"What happened to you?"
"HAHAHHHHAHAHAHHA!"
"I always said your nose couldn’t get any flatter! Looks like I’m wrong! HAHAHAHAHHAHA!"
He gritted his teeth, and then raised a bottle of soy sauce, and then he also took out the bottle that Chell managed to buy. He raised them above his head.
"HEH!" he sneered. "I heard some of you ran out of sauces lately!"
The priority for purchase was always the locals. Everyone else had to wait in line. If the stock ran out, they had to wait!
It so happened that they, people from another region, would always end up on the wait list!
Suffice it to say, Cogs received quite a few apologies and shoulder massages that day.
...
Another person who had been humbled that day was Melania, also known as the girl lusting after Garan.
She was one of the noblewomen of Twinwave Town, and they went to a neighboring town to attend a relative’s wedding. She went along with several siblings and cousins. In her party, she was the most favored one of all. She was the most loved, she was the prettiest, and her level was the highest among her age group.
She was used to getting what she wanted, and what happened with Garan and Althea had been one of the few bumps in her life.
She had resolutely refused to buy the Alterra goods from that woman, while most of the people in her party did.
Now, when her cousins—whom she had looked down on and treated as servants—suddenly gained favor after giving some Alterran goods to their grandfather, how could Melania be reconciled?!
So annoying!
...
Meanwhile, the couple shopped for another hour or two before finally heading to the Mercenary Hall.
Even if it was temporary, they were finally going home!
