The rim of the wooden wheels cut into the dirt as the crack of the whip sounded out. The whip struck against the body of the Curas with unerring accuracy, earning a mournful cry as the Curas began moving. One must say, their body strength was quite stunning. The wheels were forming deep ridges in the dirt, showing how heavy these carts were. But the Curas could even pull this. And judging from the fact that this was a journey from Ugraok to Triol-Estri, past a kingdom, it was easy enough to judge their stamina.

Tirel quietly moved as he led his weird bird into a silver cage, hushing and shushing as he tried to calm it down. The others began preparing for the journey as well once the caravan started moving. To Yuuya’s surprise, the other adventurers had bought various steeds, ranging from horses to beasts that looked like dinosaurs. Although they themselves did not get on it, they helped the ones they brought with them to climb on top of the steeds.

Filrek stretched his arms as he walked into the clearing, nodding at Tirel as well. Unexpectedly, he even nodded at Yuuya’s group, going so far as to smile at Maria. “All you adventurers, get over here.” Filrek called out and moved to the side of the road as the caravan slowly trudged past. “The companions you’re bringing with you can go with the caravan as well. Not to worry, although robbers might be present on the path here, Tirel is capable enough. After all, only few would be daring enough.”

Although Saki and Mili were more than willing to stay, Yuuya still told them to go with the caravan. After all, he did tell the adventurers to gather. No need to offend him. Yuuya thought as he accompanied Maria to Filrek.

“Alright.” Filrek began as soon as they gathered. “Well, you should know about the disaster that occurred in Ugras. Anyway, the Guriera company is moving out of the country, moving their core supplies back to their home country. It doesn’t concern you lot, just be sure not to make too much of a ruckus. Moving on, there are twelve of you, state what you’re good at. They wanted to move out as soon as possible, so we didn’t have the luxury of specific selections. Go on.”

All the adventurers began stating their roles, and it turned out that the young man was actually an Intermediate level fire mage. Although he did wear robes befitting a wizard, Yuuya could not feel a single trace of mana from him. Could it be that Intermediate level mages are strong enough to do things like this? I shouldn’t underestimate someone simply based on appearances.

“Yuuya. Swordsman. I can do offense pretty well. And some amount of magic expertise. Only at the elementary class however.” Yuuya finished. “Maria. Archer.” Maria seemed a bit intimidated when all the Platinum ranked adventurers turned their gazes towards her. Even Yuuya had to admit that it was quite intimidating.

Filrek crouched down and gestured at the others to do the same. He used a stick to draw five boxes on the mud, and began to explain. “Alright, so we’re going by the mountain route. It’s quicker to get to Triol-Estri, and these Guriera people want it done as soon as possible. There will be robbers, and that’s why we’re hired. At the rate the Curas move, we’ll take at least 2 months to get to Triol-Estri. We’ll be rotating people who keep watch. And if you need to hunt for food, I’ll allot times for each of you.”

Everyone nodded, and Filrek continued on. “Well, the mountain range will be the most dangerous. We’ll be moving towards the Great Plains. Food will be scarce, so stockpile all the food you want at the Horus Forests.” Filrek pulled out a map from thin air. Surprise glinted in the eyes of the adventurers as they realized that it was a spatial ring on his finger. He seems to be doing quite well for himself. Yuuya noted as he shrewdly slipped his ring into his pocket. Judging from the looks on their eyes, it would be better that way.

Spreading out the map, he gestured at a great patch of green between the Terose kingdom and the Ugraok kingdom. A darker shade of green preceded it, and on top of it, “The Horus Forest” was scrawled in tiny letters. Since the Horus Forests provide great cover, it’ll undoubtedly be thick with robbers. Well, we’ll be going by the sea side, so the towns might give us some reprieve. Then we cut west-“ He drew his finger sharply to the side, “-into the Great plains. The I’lltaey might be operating there, but chances of meeting them are low. And then we move through Terose, and past the mountain range, finally ending it at Manjial.”

“The I’lltaey?” One of the adventurers questioned. Another adventurer, who wore a bandanna, quietly answered. “A rebel force formed by the elves here and there. They simply want to free all slave elves. However, they’ve devolved to highway robbers now.” The adventurer seemed quite reserved as he immediately stopped talking.”

The questions weren’t over as another question popped up. “Why can’t we just head to Port town and sail to Manjial? It would be safer.” Filrek sighed as he answered. “If we could, there would be no need to hire you guys. The recent action of the knights from Ars in Ugras was unauthorized. Until the issue is resolved, Rudia is putting an axe in the trade. Swimming would be more possible than sailing.”

Knights from Ars? Yuuya wondered. A glint of recognition passed through Maria’s eyes. Yuuya decided to ask her later on about what happened.

“Well, since this is a rough bunch, we’ll just go for a simple arrangement here. Twelve of you, three at each side of the convoy.” Filrek began divvying up everyone according to their roles. Yuuya and Maria were separated, as Yuuya had to take the vanguard position, with Maria as the rearguard. To Yuuya’s surprise, he was with the bandanna adventurer and the fire mage.

As they caught up to the convoy, Saki immediately left Mili and began following behind Yuuya. Although the bandanna adventurer raised an eyebrow, he did not comment. Yuuya sighed helplessly as the trio walked at the lead of the caravan. The people that the adventurers bought with them were all at the back of the convoy, so Yuuya felt reassured since Maria was with Mili. The fire mage smiled amiably at Yuuya, and he responded in kind.

They set off on the path, heading towards the Horus forests. Although Yuuya felt slightly pressured, he didn’t mind the endless walk much. Filrek was on the caravan with Tirel and the other members of the Guriera company. Yuuya barely saw any action as they travelled on the route. It seemed quite desolate, cut away from civilization. However, there weren’t even many monsters to fight.

“Um… Mr. Yuuya?” The fire mage began hesitatingly a few hours after they set out. “Please, we’re almost of the same age. Feel free to call me Yuuya.” The fire mage laughed nervously as he replied, “Haha. Well, please just call me Blaze.” The bandanna adventurer snorted as he cut in. “When a man offers you his name, you respond in kind.” Yuuya smiled and looked expectantly at the bandanna adventurer. He seemed almost flustered as he stammered out a reply. “Wh-what are you looking at? My name is Ti’el.” He seemed to regain composure at the end as he finished.

Blaze laughed a bit awkwardly as he replied. “Well, I was abandoned at a young age, and don’t have any name up till now. I took up Blaze as my name, not because I meant any disrespect.” Ti’el snorted but did not reply. Yuuya felt quite amused seeing their interaction.

“Anyway Yuuya, what I was about to ask was whether th-the girl behind you is a slave.” He looked quite nervous as if he had offended Yuuya. Ti’el looked sharply at Yuuya, as if he were also expecting the answer. “Who, Saki?” Yuuya laughed heartily as he replied. “Haha. No way. She’s someone I’m taking care of. But she had a rough past, and so she doesn’t talk much.” Ti’el turned away, but did not reply. However, Yuuya felt he was a lot less cold towards him.

“So it’s like that. Well, since we have some time right now, perhaps I should introduce myself properly. Like I said, I’m Blaze, an Intermediate level fire mage. However, I can cast an Adept class spell. Only once though.” Yuuya felt awed as he heard his words. He still remembered the might of the Adept class Water Wave. How its domineering strength managed to eliminate a great majority of the snakes. Even Yuuya himself was swept away in its embrace, powerless. In fact, I don’t think I could escape it without using a bit of my Slayer energy. Fighting back against it would require me to overload it as well. After his life changing fight with the mecha in the dungeon, Yuuya had a clear estimation of his strength. Although he could easily rank amongst the Black Gold ranked adventurers, beyond that was simply day dreaming. And Yuuya knew better than anyone the difference between ranks. It only increased as it went on.

In the end, it all comes to strength.Yuuya inwardly sighed. Since Blaze was also revealing some of his cards, Yuuya felt it was quite rude for him not to do so. So far, he liked Blaze. “Yuuya, and like I said, swordsman. I’d be able to take on at least a Platinum ranked monster. Even Black Gold monsters if I used a special technique.”

Ti’el and Blaze looked shocked at Yuuya’s casual word. Yuuya shrugged nonchalantly. Ti’el sighed and began. “You two are monsters. Ti’el. I specialize in throwing daggers, so I’m more suited to long ranged attacks. I can use a spot of support magic too.” Ti’el finished. “Well, seems like Filrek took all of our strengths into account.”

It was then that Yuuya noticed something was off. Filrek had taken account of all our names and abilities privately. How did he know my name then? Even if he was eavesdropping, he had no reason to call my name out and shed light on this. Could it be that I know him from before? Or is he an enemy? Yuuya subconsciously raised his guard against Blaze.

Soon, it was dark and the convoy came to a stop. Filrek stood up and announced. “Here’s good enough to take a rest. We’re near the outer fringes of the Horus forests, so feel free to hunt and get food. Also, the first two adventurers who joined will keep watch tonight, with the next tomorrow night, and so on.”

Yuuya bid farewell to Ti’el and Blaze and headed towards where Maria was. Although he had some amount of trust in them, he definitely would not pick them over Maria and the rest. Saki followed him docilely, still gripping the hem of his shirt. Even though he still had some distrust towards Blaze, it wasn’t to the extent of being openly hostile towards him. There could be other possibilities as well.

Maria was already setting up camp with Saki when Yuuya arrived. “How was your day?” Yuuya asked as he wearily plopped down on the ground. They had already set up a fire, with Mili tending to it. Mili glowered at Yuuya’s nonchalant mood, but did not comment on it.

Maria looked comparatively more cheerful as she replied. “Well, I had Mili to keep me company after all. It wasn’t too bad. And Filrek was kind enough to put me on the rear guard with another woman. So it wasn’t all too bad.” Yuuya sighed as he replied. “Meanwhile, I’m stuck with a couple of monsters.” Maria giggled as she replied. “But Yuuya, aren’t you the biggest monster of them all?”

Yuuya sighed, not replying. Seeing that Maria was about to set off to hunt, Yuuya hastened to stop her. “No need to hunt Maria.” As he prepared to draw the prepared meat in the spatial ring, Yuuya suddenly thought about the strangers around them. He withdrew the ring and made it appear as if he took the meat from his backpack.

“Here. I had some meat prepared already. I think we should have enough for a while.” Yuuya said as Maria received the meat.

After a quick meal, they soon laid down to sleep. Like always, Saki snuggled close to Yuuya. However, compared to before, he only thought of Saki as he would about a younger sister. No matter what happens, no one will touch them. Yuuya thought, suddenly feeling protective.