"It takes at least ten days to reach the Corrupted branch. Depending on the weather and other circumstances, it can take more than twenty days. Of course, given the current season, nothing unusual should happen."
Ramon's voice, mixed with the sound of horses' hooves and rolling wheels, sounded strangely lyrical.
I looked out the carriage at the mention of the season and found that it was definitely spring. Sunlight was pouring down and new sprouts were budding. As I absentmindedly stared at the ground, I even saw ants.
It was a perfect day for a picnic, but being told that nothing unusual should happen made me uneasy. Groan.
" Groan. Every time you say that, something happens." Lanfero must've thought the same, because he expressed exactly what I was thinking.
Ramon replied, " Sigh. Brother, you are such a pessimist..."
"I'm not your brother, I am your boss."
I was at a loss on how to take this unusual scene in front of me. Ramon, a regular clan member, was sitting comfortably inside the carriage; meanwhile Lanfero, the clan leader, sat in the driver's seat and held the reins.
I asked why they were arranged like this and got a very reasonable answer.
"It would be weird if a goblin sat in the coachman's seat and directed the horses."
"Ah."
That was true. I didn't think I could easily take my eyes off such a sight as a goblin driving a carriage. If there was someone who had a radical disposition or an unnecessary sense of self-righteousness, they could even draw a sword at the sight.
However, it seemed like the hierarchy was being ignored, so I insisted that I would drive. Then Lanfero told me, "I like driving carriages. In addition, isn't this one a four-horse carriage? When else am I ever going to get a chance to drive four horses in my lifetime?"
Except for his poor clothes, he looked like a noble, but this was his first time driving a four-horse carriage. Then again, nobles probably didn't have many chances to drive carriages. I was also a nobleman, but I didn't know how to do it.
Still, what kind of clan leader said that he liked driving carriages and volunteered to do the chores? Maybe the relationship between Corrupted members was more equal than I thought. That included the clan leader, Lanfero.
In any case, aside from the minor commotion at the merchant guild, our journey started without much trouble or noise.
I leaned back in the carriage and looked at the faces of my companions: a goblin, a small giant, and a church member pretending to be an inquisitor. Even if I tried to put together a group like this on purpose, I wouldn't have been able to manage it.
Ramon was tapping here and there as if he liked the carriage.
"Hah. I heard that most cargo carriages are uncomfortable, but this one is amazing. It feels like I'm sitting on a top quality sofa."
"Well, the roads are still good, and the merchant guild said they gave us the most expensive one."
"Oh my. I want to thank you again."'
I shook my head. "I should be the one thanking you. Thanks to you, I was able to get a carriage like this for a low price."
I didn't mind spending money for a comfortable journey, especially on a trip like this. I knew I would often be meditating or circulating my internal energy. If the carriage had been subpar, I would've paid out of my own pocket to get a better one.
But thanks to Ramon, I'd ended up with a top quality carriage without spending a lot. Therefore, I had nothing to complain about.
"Really, it is a nice carriage. In addition, these horses are specially bred. They can withstand the cold well and run well on icy roads."
It was because they were cold-blooded and bred specifically as carriage horses. They weren't suitable as racehorses and were relatively slow, but they were much larger and had better physical strength than ordinary horses. Looking at them, it was obvious that they gave a heavy and solid impression rather than a sleek one.
"I think that with a carriage like this, it should be a lot easier to get supplies and carry out group missions," Ramon murmured as he gently caressed the carriage. He seemed a bit in love as he stroked it with eyes practically dripping honey.
Technically, I was the owner of this carriage. I'd thought about just handing it over to Ramon, but the goblin stubbornly refused. Looking at the situation, though, I thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to lend the carriage to Corrupted or to just give it to them.
Of course, that would be decided based on the overall atmosphere of the clan.
I wondered, "By the way, are there any precautions for this trip?"
"There isn't much to worry about until we leave the east. It will probably take six to ten days. We will pass cities and towns, and there will be plenty of good places to camp. The night is still cool, so we will have to make a fire and stand guard."
"What will happen after that?"
"If nothing happens, we will enter a snowfield. Young Master, have you ever been to the north?"
Young Master. Ramon had called me that out of the blue, which reminded me of Kayan and Arjan. What were they doing now?
They were both capable and had done well enough among the Badnikers, so I probably should have been more worried about my own future.
I answered, "I've never been there before. However, I have heard a lot about it."
"What type of things did you hear?"
"It is cold all year round. Is it true that if you spit, it will turn into an ice shard before it even hits the ground?"
" Puhahat!"
"That is a bit of an exaggeration."
Ramon and Mir laughed loudly. That was one of the silly jokes I'd heard when I was in the south, so I laughed along with them.
Then I continued to talk nonsense to lighten the mood. "There are other stories. If you aren't careful, you'll be surrounded by snow trolls. If you make a mistake, you'll find a water dragon living under a glacial lake. If you look down while wandering through a blizzard, you'll find that the skin on the soles of your feet have already fallen off..."
"Eek! What a scary place!" Mir exclaimed.
"That's your hometown."
Mir started talking nonsense herself, and she looked better than I expected. Rather than feeling despair, she seemed to be quietly accumulating anger and motivation. That was a good sign.
According to Ramon, it would take up to twenty days to get to the north. Twenty days didn't seem long, but for a journey, it was nearly a month of accumulated fatigue. If Mir spent that time crying, worrying, or burning with hate, she would be mentally pushed to the limit by the time she arrived.
In that case, it was better to act like a fool for a while, then explode with the accumulated hatred and anger when meeting an enemy.
It's easier said than done.
Emotions were called emotions precisely because they couldn't be controlled at will. Thus, I found Mir admirable.
"Sister, what are you looking at?" Mir asked, glancing at Verita.
This kid usually didn't talk politely, but her tone became strange whenever she talked to Verita. It almost made the fighting spirit she'd shown in front of Feed seem like a lie.
Verita smiled slightly as she read some documents. She replied, "This contains the details of the mission. I'm going to summarize it after reading all of it."
"I see."
"If you are bored, do you want to read some scriptures?"
"I-I'm okay..."
"What a pity."
I checked the contents of my backpack and found a cookie from the De Marlin Refreshments store there. I put the rest of it in my mouth and chewed it.
Then Mir asked me, "What are you eating?"
"A cookie."
"Gasp! Give me one too."
"This is the last one."
"Unbelievable..."
I saw Mir in despair, so I turned to Verita.
"Razbet, if you have any cookies left, give her one."
Verita paused for a moment while calmly flipping through her papers. Then she replied, "I'm sorry. I've already eaten them all."
"Really? Then Mir, do you want some jerky?"
"Give it to me!"
I tossed a piece of jerky into Mir's open mouth. Not long after, Mir drifted off into sleep and the carriage fell quiet.
Silence like this was always a part of traveling. The overall atmosphere would be lively and chatty at first. Then at some point, it would become quiet. Now was such a moment.
Ramon pulled out an abacus and a ledger, then started to do some calculations. Meanwhile, Verita continued checking the mission documents.
I had nothing else to do, so I thought I should read something. Thinking about it, the only book I had on hand was the Book of the Birth of Heavenly Evil. So I decided to reread it.
The last time, the contents had been so brutal that I couldn't treat it like a regular book. My emotions were too shaken back then. I still felt anger and pity this time, but I was able to read the book in a much calmer mood than last time. I was able to accept the contents with a somewhat objective perspective.
It was a book I'd read once before, so it didn't take too long. The problem arose after I finished reading the book.
"Hm?"
I saw something I had never seen before in the book. At first, I thought it was something I had forgotten, but that wasn't the case. No matter how many times I looked at it, they weren't sentences I had read before. I was reading them for the first time. In other words, there was definitely something new added to the book.
I was a bit flustered, but this was a strange object to begin with, so it wasn't surprising. I examined the new additions.
I sensed something strange. The feeling these words gave off was quite different from the book I had read before. The speaker has changed.
The handwriting had also changed. I soon found out who had written the new content. It was Senior Sister Tian.
Of course, it was a bit different from the handwriting I remembered. It was rough rather than elegant. I somehow felt that the senior sister who wrote this book was quite different from the senior sister I knew.
At this point, the handwriting was especially difficult to discern. The characters were also unfamiliar, so it took me a long time to read and understand them. The words weren't just rough, but also very chaotic. That proved my senior sister's emotional state at the time.
I turned the pages without saying a word.
At this time, I realized that my senior sister's handwriting had returned to the style I knew. This had to be the moment when the wandering senior sister's identity was finally completed.