Chapter 18: Escort 1 (Part 1)
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Translator: SFBaka
[It’s now morning. Please wake up.]
After last night’s binge drinking, I asked Nanom to wake me up when morning came. And no, I don’t have a hangover. Nanom broke down the alcohol in my bloodstream while I slept, which is quite convenient.
Cleria and I were led to stay the night at the lodging for welcoming visitors. It seems there were often travelers like us who ask to stay at the village, so they built a building solely for housing visitors.
We were really lucky to have obtained the goodwill of the villagers yesterday. We were able to get rid of the Big Boar that has been harassing the village after all.
The worst that could have happened was that the ones after Cleria following us into the village. We would have had to fight them off here if it came to it, but thankfully, they didn’t manage to track us down yet. Zack’s behavior also indicated that they haven’t been to this area yet, so that’s good news at least.
Cleria was still fast asleep, so I decided to leave her be. She must be really tired.
I left the house and made my way back to the square. Some villagers are already awake and were busy with their work.
“Good morning, Alan!”
It was Zack’s son, Beck.
“Morning, Beck.”
I got along quite well with Beck. He’s nineteen and was on the slender side, but he looked similar to his father, Zack. He feels like the guy-next-door type with blue eyes and brown hair.
Beck seemed to have a fascination for swordsmanship, so he went up to Cleria straight away. But Cleria mentioned that my skills were better, so he went over to consult me instead. After prodding me for a while, I finally gave in and started discussing swordsmanship with him.
Truth is, I didn’t really know a thing about proper swordsmanship, but I ended up practicing forms every once in a while during our trip. Well, I suppose it’ll be fine to teach him some moves. I’ll just leave the basics to Cleria.
“You sure are early, Beck.”
“I wanted to leave the village as soon as possible. I’ve already gathered my luggage, but the clothes we’re supposed to sell in the city aren’t prepared yet.”
“So, when do you plan to leave?”
“Well, I wanted to leave before noon at the latest. Oh right, dad said to call you over.”
“Okay. I’ll go look for him then.”
Suddenly, Cleria came running towards us.
“Good morning, Ria.”
“Alan! You should have just woken me up you know!”
Eh? Looks like she’s angry? I don’t think I did anything particularly worth getting angry over though.
“Zack seems to be looking for me, so I’ll head on over first.”
“I’m coming too.”
Oh boy. She sure is grumpy today. Let’s see. I think Zack’s house was round here. It was the biggest house in the entire village. AS expected of the village chief. When we neared the house, Zack came out.
“Good morning, Zack. You were looking for me?”
“Yo. It’s about what we discussed last night. The clothes I offered as a reward. Head on over here fer a bit.”
I was dragged inside Zack’s house. The room near the front door looked like a warehouse and a lot of clothes were stocked on the shelves.
These’re the clothes we put up for sale. I’ve been selectin a few of them fer you to choose from. Go an pick the ones ye like.”
“Thank you. That’s quite a lot. Let’s see. Which ones should I get?”
“I’ll choose for you” Cleria offered in a cheerful tone, as though her bad mood from earlier didn’t happen.
“Right then. Take yer time an choose.”
Zack went out of the room.
“Alright, Ria. I’ll leave it to you.”
I haven’t worn these types of clothing before, so I don’t know what’s good and what’s not.
“Please leave it to me!”
Cleria cheerfully took some clothes from the racks and began checking them out. I honestly can’t tell the difference between these clothes. Wouldn’t anything be fine if the size fits?
There wasn’t a lot of items which fit my size, so we got to decide on some clothes pretty quickly. What Cleria ended up picking was a pair of cream-colored shirt and black pants.
“I’ll choose some for you again once we arrive in the city.”
“Thanks, Ria. I’ll be relying on you again then.”
Cleria seemed a bit miffed about the fact that there weren’t many clothes to choose from, so when I agreed to let her choose for me again in the city, her mood turned better. Zack came back in at this time.
“I’ll be getting these, Zack.”
“I see. Ya also need some underwear, right? Unfortunately, we only have this kind available.”
There was only one type of free-size underwear available.
“Can I try these on?”
“They’re all yours now. Go right ahead.”
When I started unzipping my current get-up, Cleria got flustered and hurriedly ran out of the room. Hmm. I’m a bit unused to them, but they’ll do just fine. They’re a perfect fit as well.
I went out of the room after I finished changing, and Cleria immediately came over. It seems she was checking me out. And it looks like I got passing marks.
“Ya mentioned wanting some food preserves as well right? I was thinkin of packing enough for four people.”
“That’ll be fine then, thanks. I’m planning on going hunting for food along the way anyway. Do you need some help?”
“Can ye help with packing the luggage and wares then?”
I went back inside the warehouse with Cleria and started wrapping the clothes with a big linen sheet. I had a bit of trouble folding the clothes to a small enough size so we could pack in more.
We managed to finish packing all of the wares after three of four hours.
“Alright folks, time fer breakfast!” Zack announced. The main dish is of course made from Big Boar meat. However, the seasonings used in this time’s dish are different from what was used in yesterday’s banquet. Of course, the dish is still plenty delicious.
We loaded all our luggage on a two-wheeled carriage. There were a lot more other wares than clothes. Looks like this village’s specialty was producing cotton. Raw cotton was packed into small sacks and was included in the wares.
Since the wagon didn’t have a roof, I asked what we’d do if it ever rained, and the folks at the village answered: “We’ll just think about it if it comes to that”. Well, can’t be helped then.
The other young villager coming with us was named Thor. He was a young man about the same age as Beck. They were apparently childhood friends. He looks to be a fine young man as well. Apparently, he was to serve as a substitute for Beck for driving the carriage.
We finally departed with a carriage filled to the brim with luggage and various wares. There were a lot of villagers who came to see us off.
“Don’t mess up, y’hear Beck!” Zack yelled out.
“I know, Dad.”
“Alan, I’ll leave Beck to you.”
“Please rest assured. We’ll safely deliver them to Gotania.”
We finally departed from the village, but since part of the way was a steep slope, everyone walked downhill and proceeded slowly.
We finally boarded the carriage and sped up once we reached the highway. I was told yesterday that it would take about twenty days to get to Gotania by carriage. It’s surprisingly quick, considering our form of transport.
Beck and Thor were sitting out front while I and Cleria sat on top of the piled-up luggage. This actually feels kinda neat. We were traveling at a speed just a little faster than walking on our own. I had nothing else to do, so I proceeded to activate scanning magic. The detection range is the same as before – a radius of 700 meters.
“How far are we traveling today, Beck?”
“We left pretty late in the day, so we’ll probably end up sleeping outdoors. There’s a pretty good camping spot a good ways away, so we’ll go until there.”
“Gotcha. Don’t hesitate to call out if you ever need anything.”
The carriage rattled noisily, so they wouldn’t be able to hear me on the driver’s seat if I didn’t raise my voice. Beck and Thor were talking between themselves, but I couldn’t hear them very well due to all the noise. We were both free, so Cleria and I proceeded to spend time talking to each other as well. We’re basically doing the same thing before going to the village.
Cleria asked me about the method to cast a single shot Flame Arrow, but I couldn’t give her any useful tips apart from sharpening her image of the spell. I told her that her image of the spell she wants to cast is the most important factor when using magic. It seems Cleria was satisfied with my answer and hunkered down to mull things over. I ended up quite free again.
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