Pizzas and Dragons

The middle-aged man grunts and a small smirk appears on the corner of his mouth. I can almost see the gears spinning in his head. The matter that I described is something that occurs from time to time, and most importantly for me, it is very hard to verify. I mean, what are the chances for a noble to let it be known left and right that a commoner slept with his daughter? Even if a few servants were aware of the fact, they would not risk spreading rumors even if offered a substantial reward, as the noble in question would probably make all the servants and their families disappear. In this kind of situation, would the information guild risk selling the news? First, they would have to spend time and money to figure out who the noble in question is, then find a way to approach him and sell him the info, and finally... nope... not happening! At every step of the way, there is a substantial risk of the noble deciding that burying them along with their info is much simpler than chasing after his daughter's seducer, and even if everything went all right and he bought the info after everything is over he might just decide to make the guild disappear to ensure that his family's disgrace is buried forever. No matter which way you look at it, my tracks are covered, I think.

"Very well, let's discuss price then..."

The guild's reputation is not for show! In less than two hours the masks were delivered to our hands, at the cost of enough gold to buy a small house. Without losing any time, we returned to our inn, packed our stuff, and left from the south gate, seemingly traveling for the capital, Wiverton. Of course, when the city was no longer in sight after twenty or so miles, we turned east into a small cop of wood. After fifteen minutes, two completely different people came out and started galloping east toward Tineley. Our saddles, clothes, and faces are completely different from before. Of course, our horses are the same and still bear the family's brand, but you would have to catch us first before noticing it, right?

We spend the night in the open, camping on the side of the road, and we move again at first light. Finally, as the light fades into the evening again, we reach the gates of Tineley!

We entered the town without any issues and headed directly to the port authority building on the docks to inquire about the passage to Dalton, the capital of The Grand Duchy of Dalia. To my delight, there is a galleon weighing anchor at first light hugging the northern coast,t all the way to Dalton! Without losing any time we rush to the pier and find the ship's captain, and after a bit of haggling, we manage to snag the last available cabin and convince the captain to bring our horses along as well, paying an exorbitant price for it. After we load our meager belongings onto the ship, I send Alfric, now called Al to familiarise himself with the ship, while I lie down on the bed facing the ceiling and try to take stock of my situation so far. Ever since I came to this world I have been in a frantic rush to survive, so I haven't been able to relax even a bit. Now, as we are facing the last stretch of our escape, I can breathe a little easier and think seriously about this incredible experience. Transmigration... While I read a lot of novels in the past about this, it has always been a kind of wish-fulfilling fantasy, but now... Sigh...

In the novels, the protagonist always gets a golden finger, either a cheat, a system, or a mysterious ring with an old man's soul inside, but what do I get?

A loyal servant, a bag of gold, and when my brother figures out that he can't find me, he will probably do something nifty like claiming that I poisoned our father and ran when exposed, which means I will also get a price on my head...

Shit, I have to stop thinking about this and focus on my next steps. Thankfully Edgard, my.. well, for lack of better terms, my body's landlord, had managed to gather quite a lot of funds over the years unbeknownst to his family. It seems that through Al, he slowly and discreetly acquired shares in various businesses in the barony. When he saw the situation turning for the worse, he sold the shares to his partners at a below-market price thus managing to get quite a bit of gold. Of course, a couple of partners tried to drag things along hoping to reduce the price even further, at which point, Al would quietly point out that the man behind him was a member of the baron's family, causing the other party to literally throw bags of money at him as fast as they could. Thus, for the foreseeable future money will not be an issue, but still, I am not used to lazing around doing nothing day in and day out, so I might need something to occupy my time. My musing is interrupted by Al's return to the cabin to inform me that the captain has invited us for dinner, so I put my thoughts on the back burner and change my clothes to something appropriate for the occasion.

 Night finds me once again in my bunk, trying to digest what was probably one of the three worst meals of my life. Dinner was a trying experience for me... A soup with a strong fishy flavor and so salty to be almost inedible, roasted mutton burnt on the outside and undercooked inside... at least the wine is passable... barely.

If food everywhere is like this, I might as well go back to the barony and let my brother chop my head! i mean, come on, is it that hard to roast a piece of meat? Sure, you might mess up once, twice, or three times, but at some point you will improve, right? Right? Well, apparently not.

Uh? Hold on... I was thinking earlier that I wanted something to occupy my time, and cooking has always been my greatest hobby. What if...

A Grin spreads on my lips as I finally figure out how to best enjoy my new life...