Chapter 14: We’re Going to be the Last Ones Standing!!

The last standing stronghold of the human race?

As this shocking piece of information was being processed through my head, I could hear the sound of footsteps coming my way.

Looking to my right, there seemed to be a group of troops heading my way on horseback. They were dressed similar to the men on the wall. I kept my umbrella on my shoulders and waited as they approached. They spread out and surrounded me.

"State your name!"

The voice came from one of the guards who I assumed was in charge.

"Dipper Pines, Sir. I mean no harm."

The man moved forward with his horse until he was towering directly in front of me. He was middle-aged and well-built with muscles on his arms that seemed like angry lions ready to pounce at me the moment I showed any form of threat.

"That is a weird name. I have never heard of a Dipper family in our Glory City. It must be a small family. So Dipper family member, why did you leave the gates and not return the safe route?"

Quickly processing the information, I decided to play along with being a member of this "Dipper family" to avoid suspicion. My years of stealth training, not only covered simple breaking and entering, but also infiltration and impersonation. Through my training, I "became" many different individuals to gain entry into different organizations. From low-end janitorial workers to high ranking government officials, I infiltrated many places and was very good at adapting.

"I diverted from my usual route and got lost. By the time, I found the walls again I was in the wrong area. I barely managed to survive the round of arrows before you arrived."

The middle-aged man seemed slightly suspicious but couldn't think of any other reason I would be there. He stared deeply at me in thought. Then after a few moments of contemplation, he slowly nodded.

"Very well. You were lucky to have survived."

He took out an incense and lit it. Green smoke rose into the air. Looking over to the guards behind him and the guards atop the wall, I noticed they visibly decreased their vigilance. This was a relief as, after 4 months of searching for something, I finally found human civilization. And apparently the last standing one at that. I didn't want to be denied entry before I even had the chance to enter.

"Follow me back into the city walls."

The guard turned his horse around and slowly started to move away. The surrounding horsemen followed and gradually began to move away. They made no move to allow me on a horse so I guessed I could only follow on foot.

The horses slowly sped up to the point where I had to run to keep up. Although the guards at the beginning threw a glance at the fact that I could keep up with the horses on foot, it seemed they quickly brushed it off.

"To be able to keep up with our horses, you must be at least Silver Rank, huh, Mr. Dipper?"

The middle-aged man called from the front of the pack while glancing back.

Silver Rank? What the heck was that?

I slightly smiled neither agreeing nor declining to his question. It seemed a satisfying answer to him because he no longer looked back and focused on moving forward.

Quickly we arrived at looked like the entrance into the city. In fact, it was a huge iron door attached to cables that could slowly let up at will. There were 10 times as many guards here than in other areas of the wall. And that's considering there were easily 100s of people in the other areas… Also, somehow, these guards near the gate felt more powerful.

As we approached, the middle-aged man in charge of the squad seemed talked to another man in charge of the gate. They both threw a glance at me and the gate guard visibly frowned. After that, they both walked towards me.

The gate guard spoke.

"My name is Shen Zeng of the Sacred Family. You are Dipper Pines of the Dipper Family?"

He seemed proud when he spoke that he was from the "Sacred Family" and his arrogance wasn't hidden.

"Yes. I am indeed Dipper Pines."

I slightly smiled as I responded trying my best to seem open and friendly. The man named Shen Zeng scoffed and spoke again.

"For what reason did you leave the city limits?"

"I decided to go hunting to make some funds for myself."

This response worked the first time so there didn't seem to be any harm in sticking with it. Especially since the middle-aged horseman was listening too. Shen Zeng continued his interrogation.

"And you return empty-handed? Where are your party members?"

"We were attacked by a strong beast and I was the only one lucky enough to escape. As I got lost, I slowly had to eat all of my game. There was nothing left by the time I made it back to the city walls."

"Hmm…."

The Shen Zeng character seemed to be in deep thought. Just as the other man had done, he stared deeply at me and eventually nodded.

"Enter the city. But remember to not go out again without being fully prepared for the dangers of the outside. Not everyone is strong enough to venture out, despite how attractive the adventure may seem. Weak people should stay inside the city walls like they are told."

As he said the last sentence, he seemed to be speaking with a deep sense of disrespect and disdain towards "weak people". I assumed that is Sacred Family must be composed of strong individuals and that this world ran on the concept of the strong rules the weak.

Also, I noticed he also looked at me with that same feeling of disrespect and disdain. He must assume I am "weak" as I claimed to have gotten stranded and lost. However, it might be the case as I hadn't yet experienced the power scale of this world and what they recognize as "strong" and "weak."

"May I ask a question?"

"Speak."

The guard seemed rather impatient to get me out of his sight.

"Besides me, since 4 months ago, was there any other person that entered the city that had a name similar to Pines or had an unusual name or circumstance?"

The guard didn't expect that question and took the time to think. After a while, he seemed to reach his answer and responded.

"No. Not that I am aware of. You are the only person by the name of Pines that have entered and all of the other individuals that entered had common names. Besides a few injured parties, which is common, there was nothing unusual to speak of. Why do you ask?"

"I'm wondering if any of my party members may have survived and reached the city before I had. That's all."

With that, the guard nodded and signaled with his hand to the surrounding guards. In response, those guards moved in formation to form a path.

With the answers from the guard in mind, I was quickly led into what they called Glory City…..