Chapter 31: Departure
TL: Scaramochi
***
"Well, once we've decided that, let's get the hell out of here!"
"You're an idiot. There's no way we can leave as soon as we decide to go. "
"Aah! Who's the idiot? Then, what do you want me to do?"
I cower my shoulders and list the things I need to do.
"When you travel, you have to make a lot of preparations, you know. Food, supplies, and so on. At the very least, we need horses."
"We don't need those things. We'll just get what we can locally."
"What?"
"I just need to ask you, how did you get to this city? You can just walk around anywhere where people might pass by, and if you get hungry, you can hunt a beast and eat it."
Yeah....... What a tough guy, she's so tough.
Even when I was a kid, I was well prepared. Traveling can lead directly to death if something goes wrong.
Even a small injury or a common cold can cause death. If you underestimate them, you will be hurt later on. That is why, even though they were few in number, they always carried medical tools and medicines with them.
That is a necessary part of traveling.
Well, in Frey's case, there may be some things that can't be helped.
She is a dragon, a race of sub-humans with high physical specs, and she has dragon blood in his veins.
She is probably much stronger than any other subhuman, much less a human. They probably don't catch colds, and they probably don't get sick from eating raw beast meat.
That's why they could leave the village without thinking twice. I envy you, you know.
"How was it with Mirialia?"
"I'm no different from Frey. We have magic to provide water and fire, and we can make a simple roof over our heads with earth magic. If there was no road, I would have used wind magic to fly. And even if we didn't eat much, we wouldn't go hungry."
"What the hell, you're...... too cheating."
Frey was pretty much the same, but there was still more.
She could secure himself water and fire, which are essential for survival, and she could even make a bed. That's comforting, isn't it?
I can manage fire on my own, but not water. Water is finite and runs out after use. And it's bulky, so I can't carry a lot of it with me.
That's why I try to make sure there is water on the road as much as possible. If you run out of water, you could seriously die. To stay clean, they need to bathe regularly, and water is an important factor in their journey.
This loli elf has taken care of that on her own.
Well, not every elves can do that. It's because of the fact that Mirialia has a much larger amount of magic power than any other elves that she is able to use magic so readily.
Besides, elves can live without eating a full meal. This is because they have a high affinity for magic.
They unconsciously take the magical elements that abound in the world into their bodies and convert them into energy. To put it extremely simply, they are a race that can live without eating anything.
Perhaps that is why elves do not care much about food. The elves I knew ate only simple food.
For someone like Mirialia, she seems to be quite fond of food. She's not a recluse, she's an adventurer, and she's probably one of the more unusual ones among the elves.
"Just in case you're wondering, Athena, you're not going to be with them, are you?"
"Don't be rude, I'm normal. In my case, right after I started traveling with...... Est, we came across a peddler who was being attacked by demons. We both killed it, and he thanked us and gave us a ride in his wagon."
"That was a pretty lucky pattern, wasn't it?"
Athena's face shaded for a moment.
It would have been a relief if she and Est had set out on the journey alone. Traveling with two people is better than one, and the more people you have, the less dangerous it is. If something happened to me, I would be taken care of.
Est, by the way, is a boy who used to be a member of Stardust's party.
He was expelled from the party for some reason or another, but now he has cute girls in his party and they are having a blast.
Est seems to hate us a little, but we have to take it in stride, given the reason for his expulsion. Our paths have diverged, but our goals are the same. As we grow stronger, we may cross paths.
But Athena was lucky.
It's surprisingly common for people to rescue peddlers from demons and thieves. Of course, the peddlers hire their own guards and adventurers, but there are always accidents that they can't handle.
When you help them in such situations, they will say, "You saved my life! I owe you something! I'd like to thank you for saving my life!"
To tell you the truth, there were times when I was "playing" for that very reason.
It's not that I was kicking the crap out of demons or thieves or anything outrageous like that, you know? I was just standing right beside them until they were in trouble, and then I saved them when the time was right.
People feel a great debt of gratitude when someone saves their life.
The point is, when someone wants to thank you for something, you should just say something like, "In times of need, it's mutual," in a nihilistic manner, and then decline the offer, which will increase the peddler's favorability.
Hmmm...it's another way of getting around. Don't imitate him.
After listening to the three of them talk about their journey, I let out a sigh of relief.
"What the heck, no one's really traveling properly after all. Well, anyway, let's split up and get what we need for the trip today. You three go and buy food and supplies. I'll go get a horse."
"Hey, you're the only one having it easy.
"Idiot, we're not just going to pick a horse at random. You have to choose a horse that is physically strong and has a personality that will not be a problem on a long journey. You guys can't be that discerning."
"It's true...... I wouldn't be able to do that."
"Just so you know, don't just buy what you want. You can buy dried meat, things that will keep for a long time, seasonings, and other things that might be useful for your trip. This is also a learning experience."
"Damn, that's a pain in the ass!"
Frey clucked her tongue in disapproval, and Mirialia looked listless. I'm sure it's a trivial matter to you guys.
But this will be an important experience for you in the future. Especially if you are going to live your lives as adventurers, not as regular workers. It's not a bad thing to do.
Besides, I want Frey and Mirialia to know how hard it is to work behind the scenes.
There is more than one path. There may come a time when I have to leave Stardust. When that happens, it would be good to know the hardships and feelings of those who support us in cooperating with others.
This trip is partly an adventure, but it's also a social study for you guys.
"And while I'm at it, I'll let the guild know you're leaving the city. I'll also ask them to patrol the party house about once a week."
There's no need to report it, but we need to make sure we don't get penalized if something goes wrong.
As was the case during the last demon uprising, adventurers are called upon in times of emergency. If they didn't go to the call, they could be stripped of their adventurer's rights as a worst-case penalty.
To prevent this, you should tell them that you will be away from the city. Well, that kind of contingency doesn't happen very often.
If someone wants to talk to us, we can let them know we are available. We usually use the guild when we are looking for people, so they will know what we are doing.
Patrolling the party house is also necessary, though expensive. If it's not popular all the time, we'll get robbed. If they hang around for a little while, they're less likely to target us.
"Well, once that's decided, let's get moving."
***
So early in the morning of the next day.
We were gathered at the castle gate. Each of us was carrying as much luggage as we could carry, and our horses were carrying the larger items on their backs.
"Have you prepared everything properly?
"Oh, I've got plenty of time."
"No problem."
"I'm fine. I checked it many times yesterday."
I deliberately didn't check the supplies these guys had prepared. I knew they wouldn't realize how much they needed if I told them now that they didn't have enough of this and not enough of that. If you are traveling, you will naturally know what you need and what you don't need.
However, I'm not that worried because I have Athena.
"Well, let's get going, shall we?"
I'm getting excited.
"I'm sleepy......"
"Oh, man! Let's go wild!"
And so we left the city of Chloris for the long, long journey to the royal city of Barontark.
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