Vol. 1 - Ch. 212 - Old Highway

There was a old rural highway that tread down from the Rabeldin to the Rune River in south, passing over the mountain range known as 'Seven Spears,' traversing the vast Dragoon region in the southeast of the knight, and stretches all the way to the distant Fatoura Kingdom.

This was once the road Cecilia had taken in her aimless journey, awaiting the moment the ticking of clock ceased to exist for her, with Dio as her guard. 

Presumably, this was once a road bustling with merchants and travelers when Rabeldin was at the height of its power. 

However all of this was but a tale from the past, and it had been roughly 1000 years since the Runereliya became the capital of Yuglia. 

With the advancement of new roads, or construction of the railway lines, the old highway now remains in dilapidated condition, overrun with weeds, and rocks lying around, largely unattended. 

And now, that same highway was covered by a carriage Rovenne family and Schord, saving Roselia. 

The suggestion came from Allen, as he heard Cecilia missed the journey from her younger days, to return using the highway, and Bellwood showed his affirmation. —As for Roselia, she had stayed behind to research the tower over the interest she had developed. 

The carriage arranged by the Dosperior family was a small, one-horse cart designed with the road's width in mind. The aesthetic of the carriage was rather rugged, but the horse pulling it was a strong, muscular creature native to the northern part of the continent. Its peculiar chestnut coat shines brightly in the sunlight. 

In fact, this horse breed fetched a vast sum since it was the same kind of pseudo monster—it referred to the beasts that weren't monsters by birth, but had birthed a magic stone inside their body over the duration---like Rune Sheep. 

Cecilia had attempted to turn down the offer, but Freya brought the name of her deceased father, that 'it's a wedding gift from her and Vardi,' giving her no option. 

The carriage was now making its way over the Seven Spears Mountains, with Schord acting as the coachman as they progressed along the mountain path. With the horse's incredible stamina, and Allen driving away any seldomly appearing monsters—reaching mastery in mana operation, he could now do it even while sleeping---out of the path with wind magic, the trip proceeded uneventfully. 

The carriage had no decoration, however taking into account the roof of the cabin capable of shielding from rain, it wasn't hard to guess the cost with the usage of such material. 

Typically, the roof was meant for the guard on watchout, and it was spacious enough for them to even sit cross-legged, but now Allen now sprawled on it languidly, occasionally reading a book or checking out the map. 

He had fancied the air on the rooftop of course, but in an unrelated tone to it, the space inside the cabin was quite hackneyed due to his parent's love bird-like act, who had forsaken any outlook for the world around them. Whether it was the teenage persona of him, or the perspective of a 36 year old man from his memories, they both found the spectacle unbearing and that's how he came to the roof. 

Suddenly, Allen closed the book, and raised his voice at Schord.

◆◆◆

"*Yawn*... so boring... Schord, I will take over the reign."

I motioned Schord and suggested.

"Yes? Ah, heavens, no. This is a task suitable only for servants. ...Also, it may not appear so, but to be a driver, one has to know how to restrain a horse. If Young Master likes it, we can try it out in a spacious place, preferably with a smaller horse, later."

Schord, however, courteously decline my offer. In the end, I just decided to take the reign from his hands irrespective of his stance.

"I am not an amateur, so just relax. I practiced driving a carriage once after learning about them from Toni."

To refresh the memory, Toni was the easygoing uncle, and a guide for the tourists I had met on my way to the Ment Village that I had decided on for hot springs lying in the belly of Ament Volcano.

I had to say, his recommended «Tsukiya» bathhouse was top-class. Well, it was a pity I had to leave without saying goodbye. But It's in my plan to give my gratitude one day.

"Toni? ...Well, I suppose you do seem to have the hang of it. But will it not put a burden on you, Young Master? We had called off hiring any guards under your insistence, however if this caused you to drop your vigilance, I fear we might be taking priorities in a reverse order."

"Hmm. As I say, relax. I can easily handle the driving while keeping an eye on the situation. And anyway, what fear do we have with my mother in the same carriage, eh? ...And look at you, you've become quite used to my wind as well. Hehe, you're a steady one, I get."

I took the reign while chirping the last half of my words at the horse. The horse neighed, as if replying to my words. Quite an intelligent one, eh? Not a surprise, since it's from Dosperior. 

In fact, we had a plan to hire an escort at a hefty pay of 1250/hour to guide us through the highway. I had been hoping to hire a skilled explorer from Rabeldin, and steal the secrets of proper escort while at it. However I happened to encounter Shagora-san—he was one of the explorer with us on transport mission---when I visited Rabeldin's explorer association branch whe

The situation, in short, went in the following order;

«H-Hold on, aren't you Allen Rovenne?! I didn't know you're also here! Still, you're quite a sneaky one, he? Imagine my surprise when I heard you're the child of Cecilia-sama!» 

Shagora, noticing me, ran off his mouth in a booming voice, and of course, a huge buzz shook the branch. 

Soon, I was surrounded by many haughty fellas, and their rumbling like «How can we help you? Do you have any request to make?!»  or «I'm Ruki, a B-rank explorer, and am actually quite free for the next three years, so if there's any nomination request, I will take it!» and so. Ultimately, I couldn't show my explorer 'Ren' license for my reasons. 

«Oh, well I had just come to Rabeldin for a grave visit, and thought, since I am here, maybe I can find you in the association? Anyway, I have to thank you for your effort during the last mission, Shagora-san. I learned various things.» 

I promptly made my decision, greeted Shagora-san with an adlib and whisked away without turning around. 

Though I happened to heard ruckus at the end, and some shouts like «Damn you, Shagora!», «I can't believe he just drop by to thank you, unforgivable!?», «Wash your neck, Shagora, for it's about to be cleaned by my sword!» along with some fist-fight? 

I didn't get it. Why were everyone so furious for not getting a single job? ...Was the economy of Rabeldin so worse?

Anyway, I shook the memory of my mind and continued to drive the carriage while chatting with Schord. A while later, I heard mother speaking out. 

"Hmm, are you trying to learn how to drive a carriage, Allen? I appreciate your proactiveness in learning new things, but I think it's about time for a break."

Since the command had arrived, I selected a nice, spacious hill with beautiful scenery. 

◆◆◆

The name Seven Spears Mountain Range had originated from Rabeldin. The glimpse of seven mountain peaks from Rabeldin appeared like the head of spears, which was how the place got its name. 

Of the seven, one of the steep mountain peaks---Labastra Mountain---appeared in a rather odd shape along with three closely aligned peaks, resembling a trident piercing a fish. The peak facing the eastern side appeared to be the tallest among them.

We made our respite by the base of Labastra Mountain, around which the base of Rune River and a vast plain spread around. The lunch was the sandwiches we had from the Inn we stopped by last night, while gazing at the scenery. 

The air was nice, the sunlight was just perfectly warm. It made for quite a nice picnic spot. 

We were casually chatting while keeping our eyes on the scenery when my mother suddenly brought up her trip memories. 

"I had almost lost my life once during that trip."

"Mother did...?"

Frankly, even after hearing about the incurable disease she had to weather once, I found it extremely hard to imagine her ever being cornered to death. 

It wasn't everyday she would talk about her past as well. And then, she narrated her share of the story.

As the death appeared nigh close, my mother saw she wouldn't have the luxury of ways for the selfish journey she had embarked on, and travelled through the journey in a stagecoach like any other commoner, paying minimal fee to the merchant. 

During her journey, they had met a peddler who made his living travelling through the villages located in the region of Sever Spear Mountain Range while traversing through it. He probably saw them on foot, and gave a helping hand, "If you wouldn't mind a detour that I have to take, you can hope on in."

Since she had no destination in her mind, my mother and Dio hitched on the ride.

It appeared that he was almost a barter merchant, as he boasted how not even a bandit would dare to touch him because he's pauper, but on the flip side, he was proud of his life that helped the settlement around the mountain in gaining their necessity items. 

He *was* a jolly old-man. 

One of the days she was travelling with him, my mother was struck with a high fever. And in turn of misfortune, there was a heavy downpour that day. 

Seeing the deteriorating health of my mother, he promptly sorted out luggage and made space for her to lie down inside the canopy out of concern. And then an accident happened while Dio was inside the canopy too, nursing her. 

Maybe it was the overlapping of thunder and rain, along with the jolts that threw her senses awry, my mother, or anyone else for that matter, didn't notice an 8-meter Land Dragon approaching them, and ultimately, the Land Dragon crashed into the carriage, overturning it. 

A guess was that maybe the Land Dragon, which doesn't prefer appearing out in any human's presence much, had been attracted by the food supply that Merchant had discarded---they'll have short shelf life---to make space for my mother given her condition. 

Dio had promptly jumped out of the canopy and confronted Land Dragon. However Land Dragon was awfully strong, and Dio back then had yet to reach his current level, hence making it an impossible fight for him. 

By the moment my mother somehow dragged her feet with hazy vision, grabbing her sword that had been thrown out from impact, Dio was already on his knees, using the spear as his clutch. 

For a short moment, there was an intense stare-off between the Land Dragon, its reptilian eyes shrinking, and my mother before it eventually let out a roar and returned to the depth of the forest. 

But unfortunately, after receiving a full brunt of impact when the carriage had toppled, the elderly merchant breathed his last after whispering the final words, 'there's a village nearby. You can ask the shaman, an old lady, there for help.'

Enduring the fierce downpour, my mother and Dio made their way to the village they'd learned from the elder merchant. 

After somewhat losing their way in the forest in the gloomy weather, they somehow made it to the village by midnight, and my mother fainted there. 

'I will repay with however possible, just save our young lady,' Dio had pleaded before the entrance of the village. Maybe she believed the uncalled visitor to be a member of Marquis' family, or maybe not, but the old shaman proceeded to invite them in.

Three days. My mother remained in a deep coma state, however she managed to recover soon with the medicine and care of an old shaman.

And so was the whole story.

"...I guess, I wouldn't have been here without that elderly merchant and Shaman Miss Mu huh. ...We must visit them to express our gratitude, I believe."

I proposed an addition to our plan, though my mother shook her head in denial, a desolate expression covering her.

"Mu had already been at the dawn of her lifespan, while the benefactor of our life, merchant Col, had already passed away. I fear she has already closed her eyes. And beyond that, didn't you say you have some task to undertake in Drag Reid? It's at least five days trip to that village. A mistake can haywire your schedule, and trust isn't something easy to come by."

Hmm, well considering the trip and all...

"...I think we can cram in the five days in our schedule. We've managed to remain in our schedule thanks to his boy as well."

I said while caressing the neck of the horse, who neighed as if in reply.

So adorable. ...Maybe I should give it a name. Freya-san did say the horse was meant to be a gift. 

I was quite curious about the dwellers of deep mountains, and the elusive shaman race... Ahem, I mean, whether she's elusive or shaman race or something else, the words did tickle that adventurous side inside me.

"It's decided then. We're going to the Dosco village for a visit! Are you pumped up, eh, Mu?!"

With excitement beating the drums within my heart, I called out to the horse, giving it the game of (supposedly) dead shaman, caressing its nape carefully. However Mu completely ignored me.

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