Whether it's a good thing or not, I honestly didn't really have much to pack. Granted, I didn't really have much to begin with since I was too busy with training to focus on spending our money, right now at the very least I pretty much only had my clothes. Rune ended up following me home first, which was very useful to say the least.
My clothes have extra weight put on them with magic, but it only works if I'm the one touching them. Could I have done it myself? Definitely, it's not like they're unliftable. However, since he was here I kindly asked for his help, while in return I began to pack his stuff.
Of course, I didn't just help him though. The twins shared a room, so it was pretty natural to also start packing Nala's stuff. By the time everyone else got home, we had actually finished packing our own clothes and any other valuable objects we had.
There wasn't really any rush since we decided on leaving tomorrow morning, but honestly I'd prefer to just get it over with now and not be stuck doing that later tonight or even worse next morning, so it wasn't an issue. Our parents did have a few more things of their own besides clothes though, which included stuff like dad's swords and what not.
For the record, my own sword which by now was kinda integrated in the family was in my room as usual, and I decided to just take it personally on me later when we go. Sure, I can just make a mana blade, but having a real sturdy sword is definitely better for casual sparring, or just for uhm, acting normal? After all, my mana blade is an impossible thing to do… I don't plan on hiding it from my parents or family in general honestly, but if possible I'll just stick to a real sword.
Whether it's also some kind of spell or not, the sword seemed to actually slowly change size to accommodate me. When it first got thrown next to me, it was a lot bigger than when I woke up later on, and right now it's just the perfect size for mundane usage. Which is why, a while back I had dad make me a custom sized sword belt, and I'd be finally putting it into use now.
I didn't really need it while training with Maia in all honesty, so I actually just kept both the belt and the sword inside, or maybe Maia had them in her backpack? I'm not even sure, but putting it short I was actually glad to finally get to use both.
Man, this looks a lot cooler than I expected!
I was watching myself in the mirror once I put them on, and holy shit. You know that one pose that samurais or something like that do? The one where they stand straight and rest one hand on the blade's handle. The fact that this was also a katana just made it more accurate on top of everything. And also not to mention, the general color was really dark, so it had that clean look to it.
I guess I was just born for the sword, wasn't i? Honestly, my swordsmanship is the only thing I'm actually 100% proud and confident about, but to think that I also look this good with a sword on my hip?
"Hmm, so you're finally using it, huh?"
A random voice spoke out of nowhere. What was going on, was I under attack?! Was someone going to try and take my life? Not on my watch, not while I have this cool ass blade and belt! Instinctively, I jumped to redirect myself towards the sound, but also at the same time unsheathed my blade, getting ready to defend myself!-
"Ah."
"…isn't that a little excessive?"
Well, it turns out it was just dad, so I put the blade back in it's sheathe.
"At least knock before you open the door!"
"What are you even talking about, little one? The door was wide open to begin with."
"Huh, wait, really?"
"Really, really. For that matter, I'm the last one who passed by. Your mom was first, then the twins, and they told me to also look at 'Cael acting funny in front of the mirror' so I came to check."
"Oh… I wasn't acting funny though, was I? I'd say that this looks pretty cool on me…"
"Well, it did look pretty cool, until you got that scared from me speaking up and unsheathed your blade on me at least."
"… sorry about that, dad."
Walking to me, he then placed one hand on my head.
"It's alright, my dear son… every swordsman goes through that when they first put on a sword blade. It's a natural course of events."
"R-really?! Are you not disappointed in me?!"
"No. In fact, your posing was magnificent! I am… proud of you, Cael."
"…Dad!"
"Cael!"
What an amazing father I had! He picked me up in his arms, and we hugged. This may just be… our true Father-Son bonding moment-
"…"
"…"
However, since I was facing the door while we hugged, I happened to take a glance at Nala and Rune who were standing there. Nala had a slightly conflicted expression on her face, while Rune was seemingly trying to avoid whatever his sister was about to do. Dad had also turned around and was looking at them, while holding me in his arms.
We silently stared at each other for a few moments, until…
"Mommy!! Daddy and Cael are both acting weird now!"
After that, we decided it was best to just move on.
Around an hour passed, and it was around 5 or so by now. Due to the ridiculously inconvenient winter schedule, it was already almost fully dark outside.
Thinking about it though, since we're leaving tomorrow shouldn't I also go tell them goodbye?
Or actually, goodbye may not be the appropriate word, since I doubt we'd never see each other again or anything. Regardless, I don't really have much to do either, you know? So I guess it won't be a big deal if I do go to the town and drop by at Layra's restaurant. So with that decision in mind, I went downstairs.
"I'm going out real quick!"
Everyone was downstairs, including Aldric and his family.
"Hm? Where are you going, little one?"
"To the town nearby. I figured I wouldn't have time to tell my friends we're going any other time."
"That makes sense. You taking the sword with you though?"
"I'm trying to get used to keeping this belt on at all times from now on, so yeah. Plus, it looks pretty cool, no?"
"Alright, alright. You should get going sweetie. It's getting really dark outside after all. Don't forget to stay safe."
"Got it, mom. Well then, I'm off!"
And with that, I started flying. At my current speed, it would take me about an hour and something to get there. It's around 50 kilometers away from the village, so all in all I guess I'm slightly slower than an average car right now? Honestly, I'd say it's not bad at all considering I'm still just at D rank level. I simply just don't have enough mana to go faster.
Even if I do grab some mana from my surroundings, pretty much everything you do scales to your mana density/level though. I wasn't in a rush or anything to begin with though, since neither the dark or cold were an issue. Once I was a few meters away from the gate, I switched to just walking, since I figured I should at least let the guards know that I have a sword on me.
"Hm? If it isn't the Ashford kiddo. What's up?"
"You didn't come for lunch as usual so I didn't expect I'd see you today at all honestly."
Both guards were fairly casual with me by now. They were nice guys.
"I came to let some friends know that we're leaving tomorrow."
"Oh, yeah."
"To think that it would go like that, huh?"
… You don't really seem all that surprised though?
Well, it didn't really matter either way.
"Yeah well, anyway. As you can see, I have this on me. Is it alright?"
"I don't really see a problem with it."
"I agree. Not to mention, that's a really cool looking sword."
"I know right? And this belt too, my dad custom made it for me."
"It's definitely pretty high quality. Your dad sure loves you, huh?"
"How about it, I'll give you 100 gold for it?"
"Haha, I appreciate the offer. But I value family gifts a lot more than 100 gold coins. Well then, I'll see you guys later."
Both of them nodded, and I walked through. As I said, those 2 were absolutely no different than usual, but that couldn't be said for the others. The instant I passed through the gate, everyone passing by started looking at me. I froze in place, a little overwhelmed by all the stares suddenly on me, but they didn't give me the time to collect myself before I got fully surrounded, and they just kept coming and coming.
"Cael, what the hell was that?!"
"Why was Maia on the screen earlier today?!"
"Why didn't you tell us?!"
"What about the trial, what's that about?!"
"Cael!"
"Cael!"
"Cael!"
Since when did they even know or use my name?!
But forget that, isn't this a little too much?!
Seriously guys, let me breathe a little…
They were all asking so many questions all at once that I honestly felt like a celebrity or some sort, but in a bad way. What's with the sudden attention? Sure, my sister that they saw on a daily basis turned out to be the 2nd strongest person on the continent, but it can't be that big of a deal, no?… alright, I guess it's understandable.
Even then though, no matter how hard I looked, I simply couldn't find any openings for me to escape from. At this rate, I'd either overheat from all the body heat emerging from all these people and faint, or get squashed to death. Either way, neither option sounded that good, so I was left with no choice.
"S-sorry, I'm in a bit of a hurry now!"
And with that, I jumped up high, and flew towards Layra's place fast enough to give me a good amount of time alone there.
"Welcome- oh, Cael? What's up with you?"
"I-I'll explain in a bit!"
But first, as soon as I went in, I immediately locked the door. On top of that, I put a few chairs in front of it, and pulled down all the curtains on the glass walls, or I guess massive windows? Whatever the hell they were.
"Hey… are you getting chased by a gang or something?"
"Close?!"
Panting, I then approached the main counter and took a seat.
"Cael?"
"Are you alright?"
"I-I'm… fine… Jun… Juna… I, I just need a little… water…"
A few moments later, she brought me a glass, and I gulped it down probably in record timing.
"So? What happened?"
I was going to answer, however just when I was about to open my mouth, some banging began to happen outside the restaurant. The 2 siblings got scared, and they clung to Layra, while some other employees wanted to check on what was happening, but I stopped them.
"W-wait! Don't!"
"Seriously, Cael… what the hell did you do?"
"I didn't do anything…"
No one really seemed to believe me, but at the same time everyone also just took a seat at the counter, and watched me expectantly, waiting for a reply.
"Look, I really didn't do anything! After I went into town, everyone suddenly started surrounding me and asking me so many questions that I don't even remember all of them!"
"What kind of answers could they possibly want to chase you so much though?"
"I don't mean to be rude, but I think you can probably guess that on your own…"
Surprisingly though, everyone seemed to actually be thinking about it…
"Is it about that cool sword on your waist?"
"No!- though I do appreciate that you think it's cool, and I think the same. But anyway, that's not it…It's about Maia!"
Everyone then let out a very long "ohhhh" exclamation sound as if finally realizing what I meant.
"Yeah so, now you get it?"
"Hmm. So they miss Maia?"
…
Am I on the same planet right now? How can Layra be this oblivious? Is this an alternative universe? Is this not the real one? What is happening? Someone, please give me answers.
"I was joking, I was joking!"
Waving her hands around, she panicked a little. Maybe because of my expression? I can't really see it, but I'd assume that at that moment, it looked like the same face a man would have before he jumped off a bridge or something.
"I get it, I get it. It's because of Maia being the new Lieutenant of the Commander, right?"
"Seriously, why are you guys so unbothered…"
Sharing an understanding look among themselves, she then spoke.
"I mean, it's probably because we already knew? Maia had told us the day before yesterday so. She came in the day before her birthday to let us know in advance that she'd be gone yesterday, and also told us why."
"Wait what?"
I looked at each one of them individually, trying to confirm whether what she said was true or not, and every single one of them simply nodded.
"…so does that mean that you also-"
"Yeah, we do know that you're leaving tomorrow. Maia told us. Did you come to let us know?"
"I did…"
"Sorry?"
"…don't worry about it."
I ended up getting a free meal, then flying back home feeling a little defeated, but not overall sad. I didn't have to deal with any goodbyes after all.
That night, we all had dinner together outside, with the whole village. It was pretty much the same as it was yesterday for Maia's birthday, but on a smaller scale since we had close to no prep time for it. It wasn't a bad experience nonetheless though.
The next "morning"? I'm not even sure if I can call it that since it was like 5 am but the sun was far from rising, it was time for us to get going. I'm not gonna lie, telling goodbye to the villagers did hurt a lot more than I thought.
It's not even like I was crazy close with most of them, but when you live your whole current life with someone, it's usually going to be hard to say goodbye regardless of who they are? I'm not really sure if that's accurate for everyone or not though. Still, it sure as hell was for me.
On a more positive note however, I guess now the previous village's chief son was now taking his rightful position back. It didn't really seem like he minded being under dad's command, but this wasn't really something he had a say in. Dad and all of us had to go, it was an order by the Commander herself.
Seeing as he was acting as dad's right hand man besides Aldric in taking care of the village, he was definitely ready and more than qualified for it too. I'm not particularly worried about them because of it.
When departing, we decided on a quick carriage arrangement for us to hold, and ultimately we decided on it pretty quickly. Since even with Aldric's family there were only 8 of us, and each carriage could comfortably hold 4 people, we decided on only mainly using 2 of them and leaving the last usable one free, or in this case for a little more storage? Or really just for any of the other people to rest in if necessary.
In one of them there were dad, Aldric and Lysanna alongside their kid, while me, mom and the twins went in the other one. You may think that having the 2 strongest fighters in the same one may be a little bit of a stupid move, but fortunately enough on this route there didn't seem to actually be any monsters that were too dangerous, even at night.
Not to mention, their carriage was marching in front of ours, and since one of them was an archer, they could still easily take on any monsters from all sides if needed. Safety wasn't an issue to put it simply.
A week has passed. It was the 26th of December, and we were still pretty far off as expected. I honestly wasn't actually too sure of what to expect of traveling this slowly, but I can't say I'm displeased by it.
For starters, we already had prepared ingredients, so it's not like we had to hunt every night to assure we don't die of hunger. On top of that, it should be pretty common knowledge by now that mom's cooking is ridiculously good. It seems like that also applies to campfire style food surprisingly or not, but neither one of us is mad about it.
Going to the toilet was a little hard to get used to at first, but honestly after the 3rd day it wasn't that bad anymore. It was the classic "dig a hole, enjoy, cover back up." Which was effective at the very least whether we liked it or not. Given the fact that it's been snowing almost every day as well, it wouldn't be an issue to the ecosystem or anything like that either. it's just going to fertilize the soil once winter is over I guess? So all in all, I'd say that's not an issue either.
We would travel from around 6 in the morning to 8 at night or so. We saved a lot of time Since more than 1 person here could use fire magic, and therefore we didn't need to stop earlier, find firewood, so on and so forth. Though us kids slept inside the carriages, the adults camped right outside them, so I'd assume it was more comfortable on our end? But I actually can't even say for sure, since the tents these guys had prepared for them were insanely fancy looking. although I'd probably still prefer not sleeping in them.
The carriages had a built in invisible barrier, which served as a snow barrier mostly. Not only did it not allow snow to go in, but it also regulated the temperature within its range, and high meant we didn't have to worry about freezing. We also had a clear path to travel even if a storm would break out, which saved us all the more time. Of course though, needless to say that it didn't only block snow either. If it was warm enough outside for it to rain, normally it would definitely block that too, but that's not really the case.
Now for a more interesting subject. Monsters did run into us pretty often, or at least a lot more than I expected. However, as I thought, they just weren't really that strong. So far, the biggest threats have been a few orcs here and there, alongside wild white fang wolves. Well, to be totally fair, as much as I hated to admit it, they were definitely still too strong for me currently. That wasn't the case for any of the fighting adults though.
I did still train, or I guess exercise? Everyday, but on a smaller scale for obvious reasons. I was still using only my magnificent gift which was those ridiculously heavy clothes I got from Maia, I actually got completely used to them at this point honestly. Aldric, dad and me would take turns monitoring the area around us as we travelled, using our mana sensing. Then whoever was in turn would let the rest know if there was anything dangerously close, and we'd decide on who would take care of them depending on how strong they were as well.
In the past week I've had the opportunity to deal with a few goblins that were lost on the way, but honestly that was really just only when we'd be passing near or through some woods. I can't really complain though, since that's their main habitat, and I still did get a good amount of opportunity to practice offensively. While my general training plan was lighter, I did still consistently train in a specific thing, regardless of pretty much anything. That was flying.
I would fly around the carriages, which did mean that I'd end up outside the barrier, but It wasn't an issue. If anything it was the contrary, especially when it snowed. It pretty much allowed me to keep mastering my body enhancing, and also focus on more diverse things. For example, focusing on regulating my own body temperature, or my cold resistance specifically, so on and so forth. I'd alter between them every now and then. Alongside that, when it snowed I got to actually try and enhance my vision specifically, to try and focus through the snow.
All in all, I'd say that while I toned it down, my training has still been consistent enough for what it is. I can't really expect too much since we're traveling but still I do hope for one thing. It would be pretty nice if weaker monsters or dangerous animals appeared, so I could train my offensive abilities a little more often… but I guess it's also not a negative thing if no monsters at all approach us and we just have a safe trip, huh?
Honestly, the only thing that has genuinely been dragging my mood down since even before we left, is the fact that I haven't seen Luna in a while. I really hoped she'd be in town when I went to Layra's last week, but unfortunately that wasn't the case. I asked about her, and I was told that she had also left town a little earlier.
I can't blame her for being busy, since she's a pretty rich and important fella at the end of the day, but it would be nice to see her again soon. But hey, maybe when we arrive at the capital? It wouldn't be weird to find her there, no? As I said after all, she is a fairly high status individual. But regardless, besides missing her, everything was going fine… until now at least.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Maia's Pov)
"…I'm really not sure about how ethical this is, you know?"
"It's not that big of a deal."
"Yeah, I don't know about that one, Mio…"
For the past week, we've been watching over our family from above, to make sure everything is alright as usual. We did our necessary work during the day, then starting at around 6 or so in the evening, we'd watch over them until they went to sleep more or less.
It was around 6 and a half right now, and the sun had already fully set. It was pitch black outside, but of course, that wasn't really an issue or anything since we could see as clearly as day, regardless of how dark it got. The issue was within our current situation.
It's not that I doubt Cael or anything, but it still doesn't really feel completely ethical…
We were around a kilometer or so ahead of where they'd eventually pass by in some time, above the clouds. It was snowing very aggressively, and the wind was blowing so fast that a wind of this caliber during a sunny day may be enough to fully swing up a random lady's skirt and flash the whole street while she's just walking. It was that serious.
"It's fine. I'm keeping her warm until they pass by anyway."
"I get that, but still."
Around 2 kilometers and a half to the left from where they'll eventually pass by, there was a young stranded girl. She seemed to be around 6 years old or so, and was completely alone in the snow. Although she had recently passed out, Mio was keeping her warm with a barrier around her, so she was still safe, but the issue was also the fact that there was a pack of regular wolves approaching her direction, slowly but steadily.
"Look, I get what you mean. We could solve the full thing ourselves, and avoid any more drama. But something as small as this simply isn't a job for the Commander or her Lieutenant."
She wasn't wrong. There was a village nearby, around 10 kilometers away from the girl's current location. She was a resident there, but there are some pretty scummy things going on in it. I'm not really going to bother going into full details, but making it short, it's soon going to become a problem that Cael and the rest will have to solve.
"…"
"It's going to be fine Maia. He's there after all. We both know that he'll never abandon someone in need of help."
"I guess you're right."
It feels a little wrong to dump it on him, but I also can't deny that she's correct. As unethical as it may be, we're technically still protecting her until it's simply time to switch bodyguards I guess? So sorry about it in advance, Cael. This is simply not something the 2 most powerful persons in the entire continent should mingle with. I'll make it up to you once you get to the capital, but for now… we have a short side quest for you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Cael's Pov)
It was me and dad's turn to keep the watch on our surroundings. Rune was in mom's lap, reading a book with her, while Nala was next to me as I peeled her some mandarins.
"Make sure to get off all the white thingy, Cael."
"I know, I know. Be patient for a bit, alright?"
"Fine. But you also are going have to take the seeds out for making me wait so long-"
"Don't be ridiculous. You can just spit them out of the window or something, I'm not doing that."
I said after lightly hitting her head with my hand.
"Ouch… m-mommy! Cael is hitting me again! Buehehehehe!"
She then immediately went Running in her arms, as if she wasn't already holding her twin. Mom played along for the time being though and comforted her.
"My, my. Your big brother is so mean, isn't he?"
"Y-yeah… he is!"
"Hahaha, but even then, Nala. You shouldn't make unreasonable requests to him, alright? He's peeling your mandarins for you, and even taking off all the white puff. It takes a looot of time to do that, you know?"
"…"
"So why don't both of you say sorry, and you go back to sitting next to him? He's almost done peeling it for you."
"Alright…"
"That's my baby. You guys should get along, since you're siblings. You know that Cael loves you, right?"
Nodding, she then got up, and sat next to me once again. Well, I'm not really offended or anything, but seeing how things were, and the fact that I was the older one, I decided to apologize first.
"Sorry about hitting you, Nala. Here's your mandarin."
She took it, then hesitantly spoke, although in a low tone.
"I'm sorry too… thank you for peeling it."
This girl really was one mystery, huh? Usually, she's easygoing, bossy and honestly a lot more childish than her twin, but it's refreshing in a way. Seeing that at least one of the twins was acting their age that is anyway. I'm not saying Rune wasn't acting like a 6 year old, but he was definitely more introverted. On the other hand though, whenever Nala knew she was wrong, she'd quiet down insanely fast, and she was quick to hold up to her mistakes and apologize, even if in a low tone.
In a way, it's kinda like she became more like her twin whenever she knew she had to resign? Either way, I wasn't mad from the beginning as I said, so I didn't mind it. After ruffling her hair a little, she began eating that one, while I took a new one from the bag on my other side and began peeling it for her in advance.
In the meanwhile though, something happened that caught my attention. Around 2…ish? Kilometers away or so, there seemed to be a pack of wolves. Not monster ones, just the regular animal.
They're still pretty far away though. Dad hasn't said anything about them yet either. But I guess it's probably since they're most likely not even going to get dangerously close to us anyway.
Still, there's quite a few of them. Around 15? Or omething like that. Why are they out while it's snowing this hard though?
Obviously, they could be simply hunting, but honestly I'd imagine most animals that a wolf would prey on are sheltering themselves during this much snow. Not to mention, it was relatively near a forest, but still in the open land, and still pretty far off from it.
Why did they go so far out of the forest? Are they just migrating? Wait, no. Actually there's another source of mana there? It's so dim that I didn't even notice it at first.
I guess they were hunting after all. I kept peeling the mandarin, not being too bothered by it. If they already had prey on top of already being far away, they wouldn't be an issue… but I had a pretty bad feeling about it.
What kind of prey is it though? Now that I think about it, doesn't that mana feel… Like a Human's?!
At that moment, I dropped the mandarin on the floor, as my eyes widened. Looking to my left, in that direction I gave it another chance, to see if maybe I was wrong, with trembling hands.
"Cael?"
"What's wrong, sweetie?"
"…?"
There's no way I'm wrong… there's a human there! And from the mana coming from it, it's almost impossible that it's an adult.
Confirming it, I immediately opened the door on my side, and coincidentally dad seemed to have done the same thing at the same time. We were probably both thinking the same thing too, which ended up being confirmed in the next moment as we shouted at the same time.
"'Stop all carriages!'"
Almost instantly, the ones we were in and those behind us all stopped, and the moment they did, I sprinted out. Dad didn't seem to be following me, but instead he had quickly walked to mom. After a quick glance, I started flying towards them at full speed.
Thank God that I already had my sword on me though, or it would've taken me even longer to get there. I was getting desperate. My heartbeat was racing, and sweat started running down my body so quickly that it would've been frozen if I wasn't regulating my body heat with mana.
When I was finally close enough to see them, about 3 minutes after I took off, I unsheathed my sword as fast as I could. I then landed in between the wolves and who turned out to be a young girl, holding my blade towards the one right in front of me.
We're surrounded, huh? But looking at her, she seems fine? I'm glad she isn't injured, but I should probably still check on her again... but only after dealing with these guys first.
The snow was also rapidly cooling her body even more, so it was a little bit of a race against time here, which is why without wasting another second, I sprinted forward. The other wolves seemed to have switched their attention to me when I attacked first, so even the ones that were behind us started targeting me.
I'm sorry guys, but I have no time to play around.
With a single clean cut, I sliced the first one right in between his mouth, splitting him in half lengthwise. Some of them got scared after that, but more than half still remained. I'll spare you the rest, since you can probably imagine how that went though. I had bigger concerns at the moment after all.
Sheathing my blade, I ran towards her quickly. While on one knee, I picked her up gently, and made sure for starters that she didn't have any injuries I didn't notice earlier. It didn't seem to be the case thankfully which was a large relief, and in the meantime dad and mom had caught up to me.
"Cael!"
"Sweetie, are you alright?!"
"I'm fine, but more importantly…"
"So it really was a kid. I was shocked when I realized that. I'm glad that you took off before me though, since I managed to get Isolde with me as well."
"Seriously, I was really worried as well. You both suddenly shouted to stop… but regardless, making sure this girl is alright comes first. Give her to me sweetie, I took a blanket with us. Let's get her back to our carriage."
"Alright, here you go mom."
Her expression stiffened melancholically after picking her, and wrapping the blanket around her. I couldn't blame her though, whatever had happened was clearly not alright.
"…poor baby, who would leave such a fragile little girl alone so far from any people, and in snowy pitch darkness?"
Dad then placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Isolde, we need to get inside the carriage's barrier as soon as possible. There's only so much a blanket can do during harsh snow."
Hesitantly, she nodded after looking at him.
"You're right. Let's go, Cael."
Then all 4 of us went back as quickly as we could.