NOVEL NEXT Chapter 36:: Leaving The Capital
I handed out the scrolls I had made to everyone after breakfast.
“This is a message scroll that can be used from anywhere in the continent. It’ll even work in dungeons.” I said.
“What?” They were shocked. With most scrolls, you were lucky if you could reach someone at the other end of the city. The entire continent was unheard of and in dungeons!
“There’s no way.” Halit didn’t believe me.
I shrugged my shoulders. “Don’t use it willy-nilly. Only use it if it’s an emergency.” My warning only made him doubt me even more. “The second scroll I gave you is a Gold-rank shield.” It being a scroll, it was consumable and could be used only once, but it was better than nothing.
“Hmm.” Halit hummed. I wasn’t sure if he believed me or not.
He’ll come to accept my amazingness, I thought, and moved on, “This one will make you stronger and faster for a few minutes. It’s best if you used it to escape.” I handed each of them one. “And this one is a downgraded version of the magic spell [anti-detect]. You probably won’t need it, but if you find yourself being chased by monsters or people, use it to hide.” I directed this advice more towards the boys.
“We understand, master,” Garth said, though, among the boys, he was the one I was least worried about.
The rest of the scrolls were for me. I didn’t think they needed scrolls like: detect water, floating eye, enhance vision, etc.
“Okay, that’s everything for now. Was everyone packed?” I asked.
“Yes, master,” Garth answered.
Everyone nodded, and some said, “Yeah.”
“Okay, then let’s return our keys. Garth, go get us a rickshaw. And we’ll go to the same carriage company we went to last time.” We’ll need to hire a carriage to leave the capital.
“Yes, master,” Garth answered right away, and handing his luggage over to Woodie, he went off to get the rickshaw.
While Garth was gone, I handed back the keys and had a pleasant conversation with the inn’s receptionist. She asked if we enjoyed our stay and so forth. And I gave positive reviews for everything… The food in the restaurant, the staff, etc. She was happy to hear it.
Then Garth returned with the rickshaw, but we realized there were too many of us to fit in one rickshaw. So I sent Nikola and 3 of the boys off first, and Garth ran and got us another rickshaw.
***
All of us met up at the local branch of the Carriage Company, and Garth and I went into the building to hire ourselves a carriage.
“You want to go to Haneul village?” The receptionist asked us.
“Yes,” I told him.
“We don’t have carriages that go to Haneul village.” He said. I tried to think back to how I traveled to such places in the game. But in the game, it was very likely that I might’ve just bought a horse since I didn’t need to worry about my team or the boys. Thankfully, the receptionist hadn’t finished his thought and went on to say, “We do have wagons going to Haneul. One’s leaving this afternoon.”
“Oh, okay. We’ll take that.” I said.
“It’s 3 copper per person.”
“Alright, we need 8 seats,” I said and put a silver coin on the counter. “You can keep the change.”
“Ah, yes, madam. I’ll put in a note with the driver, so you get the first pick of the seats.” The receptionist became more respectful and accommodating.
“Hm. Good.” I said. “So, do I just head to the back?” The carriages were at the back of the facility. That’s where the people would load on.
“Ah, well, the wagon to Haneul won’t leave till 12 o’clock. You can wait here if you’d like.” The receptionist said as he created our ticket and wrote a tiny note that said: ‘VIP.’
I looked at the clock. It was 5 to 11. “1 more hour.” I mumbled and said, “My butler will wait here. We’ll come back in 45 minutes.”
“That’ll be fine.” The receptionist said as he handed us 8 tickets.
So I turned to Garth and said, “You stay here. I’ll go talk to everyone.”
“Yes, master.” He bowed and sat down in the waiting room.
I went out and handed out the tickets to everyone and said, “Our ride doesn’t leave till 12. We can go to some nearby cafe, or if you want, you can wait with Garth.”
“Garth’s waiting here?” Woodie asked.
“Yeah, I told him to wait,” I said.
“Hm. Then I’ll wait with him.” He said.
“What about the rest of you?” I asked.
Nikola, Dixon, and Halit looked at Woodie, unsure. And he said, “You guys go to a cafe. It’ll feel crowded if we all wait here. I’ll keep Garth company.”
“Alright.” Nikola accepted.
We didn’t stay at the cafe for long. We walked around the neighborhood, taking in the sights, and by the time we meandered ourselves to a cafe, it was already 20 minutes to 12. So, some of us bought drinks and snacks to-go and went back to the Carriage Company.
***
I was glad we got back on time because, thanks to the receptionist, it looked like we were being given priority for the seats, and the rest of the people were being forced to wait.
“Finally, you guys are here!” Garth was happy to see us. “They’re making everyone else wait till we take our seats. Let’s hurry.” When I heard that, I regretted being largesse with my tip. I didn’t realize there was a VIP option. I thought I was just giving a big tip. They were making it uncomfortable with the rest of the passengers.
Anyway, we climbed onto the wagon and took our seats. Then the rest of the people were let in. An old woman got on, followed by 2 middle-aged women. Then there was a knight in pink armor, and with the pink knight were two men. One of her men was a cute sheepman with curly white hair. The bigger human-man made the sheepman sit on his lap to conserve room. Then a couple that looked in their teens got on, and finally, the driver stopped a group of women from getting on.
“What’s going on!?” The de facto leader of the group of women shouted.
“There’s no more room. You guys will have to wait till tomorrow.” The driver told them.
“What!? What’s this!? We paid for our tickets yesterday! This is our ride! You’re letting us on!” She shouted at the driver.
“Sorry, ma’am, but there’s no room. You can let the receptionist know that you bought the tickets for today, and they’ll upgrade your tickets, so you get the first pick tomorrow. But you’re not getting on today.” The driver told them.
“This is absurd! I want to talk to the manager!”
“You can talk to the manager in the office.”
“No, I want to talk to her right now! Bring her out here!”
“Madam, I’m sorry, but you’re not getting on today.” The driver said.
We, the people in the wagon, watched the spectacle outside. And I took back my regret. I was glad I paid the extra money. If I didn’t, I could’ve been the one waiting till tomorrow. The woman had a lot of hot air, but eventually, she realized there was no point arguing with the driver and huffed back to the office.
The driver apologized to the rest of us. “Sorry for that, folks.” She sighed. “I won’t delay any longer, so I hope everyone has everything they need. We won’t be making any stops till we reach Haneul around nightfall.” The driver got on the front and beat the horses forward.
***
The commotion was behind us; the people settled in. And after we’d driven for a little while, one of the middle-aged women said, “A lot of people are going to Haneul today.” She smiled at everyone.
And her friend said to the young couple, “What are you guys going to Haneul for? You’re young. You should go somewhere more romantic.” Then turning her attention to the girl more than the boy, she said, “Exteberrya has a lot of handsome men. You’ll like it there.”
“Hahaha…” She laughed awkwardly and politely. “My sister’s adventurer’s group is staying at Haneul right now. I’m going to join her.”
“Oh. Work then.” The woman nodded. “What about the rest of you. What are you guys going to Haneul for? Family? Home? Just a visit?”
Her friend disclosed their own circumstances, “We came to the capital to visit my cousin. Just a family visit. Haneul’s our home. We’re going back.”
“Fellow Haneuleans.” The old woman said. “I was just at the capital to visit my granddaughter. To think something like The Bracelet of Eros would be sold while I was there.”
“I wish I could get something like that. I wonder how the auction house got their hands on something like that.” One of the women said.
We, who knew the answer, looked at each other awkwardly.
“So, what are you folks doing in Haneul?” She turned her attention to the pink knight sitting next to her.
“Hmm. Benard’s family lives there.” The Pink Knight pointed at the sheep man. “His father’s ill. We don’t know how long he has to live, so we’re going to visit him.”
“Oh, that’s sad news.” The woman said. “Hope he gets better.”
The pink knight smiled. “We hope so too.”
“Then what about you guys?” Finally, they turned their attention to us.
“Well, we’re going to Delaron, but we thought we’d stop at Haneul on the way,” I said.
The woman thought for a moment and asked, “If you’re going to Delaron, wouldn’t going through Pamduma be better?”
“See, I told you,” Otto said.
I clenched my jaw and said, “I heard Haneul has beautiful sights and thought it’d be more fun to go this way.”
“So you’re visiting.”
“Yes.”
“That’s nice.” The woman smiled. “And you’re all together?” She pointed at Nikola.
“Yes,” I said.
“It is nice to see another beast race here.” The Pink Knight said. “The capital needs to become more diverse. It’s the only way to convince the other towns.” The Pink Knight looked at her own sheep boyfriend.
“Oh, yes, the capital doesn’t have that many beast races.” The woman said. “We have quite a few.”
And the old woman said, “Even a cat tribe settled in a few years ago.”
“It wasn’t a few years ago.” The middle-aged woman corrected her. “It was over a decade ago.”
The old lady smiled. “That’s true. I’m an old woman. Give some slack.”
“If you want, you guys can stay at our place while you’re in Haneul.” The sheepman offered.
“Benard, should you decide that without asking your mother.” His girlfriend, the pink knight, said.
“Ah, right.” He looked at us awkwardly.
I was wondering where we’d be staying. Haneul didn’t have hotels or inns, though plenty of people were happy to accept guests as long as you paid them. At least that was how it was in the game. “I can pay,” I said. “Would it be fine with your mother if I paid?”
“Yeah!” He nodded. “My mother would welcome it, Terrie.” He told his girlfriend.
“Alright.” She said.
“And Sherrie can take a look at your dad.” Sterling offered. “She’s a medical genius!”
All their eyes turned to me instantly. My eyes twitched, and I wanted to smack him in the head. “Haha…” I scratched my head and tried to wiggle out of it, “I don’t know if I’d call myself a genius. My boyfriend likes to exaggerate. Don’t pay him too much mind.”
“I’m not exaggerating! She reall-”
“Sterling! Dear! People don’t want to hear it. I haven’t seen his father, don’t be cruel and bring their hopes up needlessly.” I said sternly, trying to shut him up.
“Oh, right.”
“If your boyfriend believes in you that much… We’ll accept all the help we can get. If you can look at his father, I’d be grateful.” Terrie, the pink knight, bowed her head to me sincerely.
“Ah, yes.” Both her boyfriends bowed their heads too.
“Ah, sure, I’ll take a look. I can’t guarantee anything, though.” I really didn’t want to take a look. Even if I could cure it, wasting my time on these side quests… They’re just that: a waste. In the game, it would’ve been kind of fun to do it since you could probably screw the whole family afterward… or something close. But I have my crew with me, and this is the real world… And I’m running against time. Unless one of the guys had high experience points, it’s just not worth it. From what I could tell, her boyfriends are cute, but they didn’t have much in terms of experience points.
“That’s fine,” Terrie said. “We sent a request to the church more than a month ago, and they haven’t even responded. Before we left the capital, we tried to get an alchemist to come and take a look, but she refused. We’ve been trying to find anyone with some healing-type spells, skills, you name it. And either they don’t want to help us, or you know… So we’ll take whatever help we can get.”
“Ah, yeah, sure. I’ll take a look.” It’s impossible to refuse now. I wanted to smack Sterling’s cute head. I decided I’d just look at them and say I don’t know. When I fail, it’ll teach Sterling to think twice and not shout out everything in his head.
“I requested for the church’s help when my second husband was dying.” The old lady said. “If you’re counting on them, don’t. They don’t send out healers and divine magicians for people like us. Maybe the local priestess or nun might come over and give a prayer, but that’s it. I had to watch my husband…” Tears were welling up in her eyes. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t say anymore.” She wiped her eyes.
“It’s alright,” Terrie said. “We know. The healers can be very busy. Let’s just leave it at that.”
“Yeah.” The old woman agreed.
“What rank’s your sister?” The middle-aged woman asked the teenager to change the topic.
We talked about many things. We talked about everything that popped into our minds. The Demon Queendom, The elves, recent news, rumors, border conflicts, etc. And whenever the second princess or The Bracelet of Eros was mentioned, we became eerily silent till they moved on to the next topic.
Then maybe an hour or two into the wagon ride, the driver stuck her head into the passenger area and said, “We might have some trouble ahead.”
