NOVEL NEXT 03: Traveling Towards The Capital~
In a prebuilt camping area alongside the road, one that had a canopy of leaves over it that provided some cover from the rain, a group of five travelers set up camp. The camping area being devoid of any other the group, the five travelers had the entire campsite to themselves, setting up camp in a spot drier than the rest.
With the leaves above them dripping, and rain pouring through the gaps between the canopy, the group of travelers set up camp, using their carriage as a bonus shelter for one of their members, and tents for the rest.
Reaching into her spatial magic pocket to find a tent, Kaitlyn looked up with an awkward expression, confessing, "I... I seem to have forgotten my tent in addition to all of my rain clothes..."
Looking up from setting up her tent with an amused smile, Rachel asked, "Do you want to sleep in my tent then? I bought a bigger tent since I thought I'd be sharing with Josephine."
Walking over, Kaitlyn crouched down, setting her two swords down next to the half-built tent, "Thank you, I'll be sleeping in your tent then... Luckily I still brought some covers so I won't have to share."
"Also, nice spot that you chose," Kaitlyn murmured, looking up to see the tent was under a patch of canopy, in the right place to block the rain, "Also I was just wondering, why weren't you all using spatial magic to carry your camping supplies?"
"Well," Rachel explained, struggling a little to set up the tent, "The country that summoned us just wanted us to become good at combat, so we were just trained in combat all day, of course, still with plenty of time to rest and having lavish rooms and comforts, because we were the summoned heroes or something..."
Pitching in to help Rachel put up the tent, Kaitlyn asked, "So you weren't trained in magic at all? It's still very important in combat even if you need to channel through a weapon, critical even."
"No, no," Rachel shook her head laughing, finishing up the last parts of the tent, "We're all quite proficient with magic in combat, we do have the combat skill of low-level A-Ranked Adventurer's, we're just at a more beginner level in terms of day to day use of magic."
"Ohh... I totally forgot that you all were S-Ranked Adventurer's," Kaitlyn murmured, a little pink climbing onto her cheeks as she stood up, stretching a bit after finishing the tent, "You all don't have the ego of High-Ranked Adventurer's..."
Laughing, Rachel bowed with an exaggerated flourish, "I'm honored, why thank you, Miss Kaitlyn, wandering swordswoman~. Anyway, want to go help Oliver and Damien set up their tent? I see them... struggling, quite a bit in fact over there with their tent."
"Alrighty, let's go lend them a hand... Josephine is fast asleep in the carriage right now anyway," Kaitlyn nodded, walking along with Rachel over to the struggling Oliver and Damien.
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A few days of monotonous traveling and sleeping later...
The skies still overcast, threatening another rainstorm, a carriage rolled down the still muddy road. The luscious green forest flanking the path giving way to a grassy plain, on which a large expansive city could be seen, a gleaming castle in the center, shooting up into the sky.
"The capital!" Rachel exclaimed from the driver's seat on the carriage, turning around the last bend to come out of the forest, "There was so much forest! I'm so done with that stupid forest..."
Looking out from inside the carriage, Josephine groaned, "I do not want to have to go through that long line of carriages, how long is that? 20 carriages? 40 carriages? Truly befitting a capital, this place is busy..."
"That really is a long line," Damien murmured, looking out from the carriage along with Oliver, "How long do you think that'll take..."
"I'm sure it won't be that bad!" Oliver reassured, patting Damien and Josephine on the back, "We've already been traveling for this long, no problem if we wait a little more right?"
Now noticing the line of carriages and individual groups of people lined up in front of the city gates, Rachel lamented, "This will still take so long though... even though from here, where it's a little blurry from the distance we're at, it looks like they have two groups of guards by the gates checking everyone. This will still take forever, they have to do each group of people too..."
Sensing the air of depression falling over the group and the carriage slowing down as they neared the end of the gargantuan line, Kaitlyn piped up, "You know you can just skip the line, right? I have priority entry, I'm allowed to just go to the gate on the right there and enter immediately..."
Surprised, Rachel looked up and asked, "Wait you can? Why didn't you say that earlier?! Full speed ahead!"
Laughing at the jovial expressions the rest of the group had as their carriage moved past the rest of the line, Kaitlyn pulled out an envelope, one stamped with an ornate red seal, preparing to show it to the guards by the gate.
"Who are you anyway?" Josephine asked, looking at all the people waiting in line with a shit-eating grin, "Obviously you're not just a wandering swordsman if you can skip the line and immediately enter the capital, and to add onto that, you're also really good at magic in general..."
Coughing, Kaitlyn waved her hand with an awkward expression, mumbling, "Don't worry about it, I'm no one special, I just happen to have this..."
"Sureeeeee..." Rachel nodded, the skepticism evident on her face, "Anyway, Oliver, switch with me! I don't want to have to talk to the guards!"
"Alright, alright," Oliver agreed, climbing into the driver's seat to guide the horses and talk to the guards, "Kaitlyn, you should probably sit here too, so you can show your envelope to the guards."
"Mhm, mhm," Kaitlyn replied, a little absent-minded, climbing to sit right next to Oliver before muttering, "I hope it's not the usual group of guards..."
"What was that?" Rachel asked, sitting right behind them, "Did you say something, Kaitlyn?"
"Nope, you were imagining it..."
