0.14. Distraught Within

Sequencee had a really crude alchemy set on the grass before him. A ball of flames heated the solution within one of the flasks set atop a tripod. Bubbling a few minutes, he generated an orb of ice element to flash cool the product. He poured out the contents of the into a cup and passed it to Astrid. It was a dark brown liquid.

She took a whiff of it before tasting it.

"So, how is it?" Sequencee asked.

"It's surprisingly not bad, but it could use some more sugar," she said, licking her lips.

"Okay, I'll admit, I'm not the best alchemist, nor bartender out there."

Sequencee wasn't an alchemist by profession, but Gull happened to have stuff like this lying around in the back of the caravan. To stave off the kids' boredom, he permitted them to play around with it–excluding all the chemicals and reactive metals that were part of the set.

Even without some of the more complicated devices, Sequencee could use magic to heat the apparatuses so–that was how he got the ingenious idea of turning it into a brewing set. With some ingredients they found in the forest, he tried to create some sort of herbal tea.

"Let me try."

"Me too!"

Seeing how Astrid gave her seal of approval, the other slaves also wanted to taste Sequencee's concoction. He had said that this was good for digestion right after a meal.

Astrid was Gull's slave, a diligent girl with curly dark blue hair, and ochre coloured eyes. She had a thing with tying small locks every time she did her hair, to be in her own words: unique.

"What is that?" Anna, who had just returned from cleaning the plates at the nearby stream, noticed their small gathering.

"It's Foire Grass tea," Sequence responded.

"Ah, that one … did you boil it properly?"

"I made sure it was bubbly for at least five minutes."

Anna nodded.

"Um, we probably shouldn't let her do the work …" Astrid quickly realized how she, and the rest of the slaves had become too absorbed in what Sequencee was doing that they neglected their duty to clean up after the meal.

"O-Oh."

"Let me do it."

"Ah! No Miss Anna, it's our responsibility–"

The young slaves quickly took hold of the responsibilities.

"But did you not prepare everything earlier? It's embarrassing not to help after all you've been through," said Anna with a chuckle.

It was only after they had returned all the cooking equipment into the caravan's storage space did they continue with their silly banter about the herbal tea before. With Anna joining the fray in all her goofiness, everyone had a good laugh. Entertaining stories were told, their eyes sparkled. Half an hour later, Gull called and they were to set off once more.

A cold wind blew, Sequencee noticed his mother looking longing towards the mountain range. Something felt different about her ever since they returned from the capital.

===

Norcto's Woodland. A vast forest region overflowing with abundant nature and vitality. Monsters and demonic beasts roamed, hiding in the shade, plants provided shelter and food.

Clack, clack.

Beautiful as it may seem, this forest is also a place where the strong thrive. There are no fewer than a thousand cases of people going missing in the forest every year. A natural cycle of kill or be killed, monsters that live here were in a constant battle for survival. It was law.

"Mom, is there something troubling you?" Sequencee asked.

The bottle of wine stopped just before her lips.

"There is, isn't it?"

"Hm? Who knows," Anna lowered the bottle and smiled.

Not only was she drinking at odd times, she had been spacing out quite often.

He sighed. Leaning back against the hardwood wall, he thought how uncomfortable it is to be sitting on a porter trailer filled with goods. Despite the addition of springy suspensions to all four of the wheels, his butt still felt sore from all the shaking. He eyed her as she took another swig.

Anna, who had a wind pillow to cushion the shock, stuck out her tongue.

There were many methods for them to return to their homeland, Estia. Anna just happened to opt for the treacherous trails that meandered through Norcto's Woodlands.

If they were in a hurry, they could've skipped most of the journey by taking the warp gate. The only reason why that didn't happen was because of a personal request she received from a merchant she knew. Taking this long winding road, the trip from the capital city to Estia Barony would take around a month at least, and that's not considering the stops they would be making through the various villages and towns. At the speed they were working at now, it would probably take two months.

The merchant's name was Gull, a talented person around the field of business. Though, no matter how amazing he was, Sequencee didn't understand why his mother would accept his escort request when she would typically reject almost every other commission.

Sequencee dozed off sometime after lunch. He woke up during the evening, realizing how a blanket and pillow had been given to him.

They had reached a small town, chattering could be heard outside. Sequencee folded the pillow and blanket before getting out.

Gull, alongside some of the young slaves had begun to set up shop. Naturally, there were many curious customers that came to browse the wares. Sequencee turned away from the crowd and scanned the topography.

The linked-carriages were parked right outside the moat of this particular town some distance away from the forest on a wide open hillock. Sequencee didn't know if this territory was part of Coulley's March or an unregistered piece of land, all he knew was that the wind was cool and nice. Norcto's Woodland was just behind him, while in front, a patch of grassland which stretched as far as the eyes could see. A mountain range was just out towards the horizon, clouds coiled around the peaks of the alps.

'The demon empire is just past there … '

Sequencee glanced at the crack between the two tallest mountains before settling his sights back to the shop.

"Gosh, they sell this here?"

"Don't touch something you aren't going to buy!"

"P-papa, can we not get this?"

"How much is this? Seven silver!? How about five."

A young lady ogling a silver ring, a skinny man trembling at the sight of smoked jerky, a child asking for a jar of candy, a housewife looking for cooking ware and salt. They had all come out of their homes to meet this traveling merchant.

"Sequencee, come help me prepare for nightfall," Anna tapped on his shoulders.

"Is it that time already?" Sequencee looked up the billowing clouds in the sky, it was like a smear of orange paint.

"Miss Anna! There's no need to go gather firewood, I've already made a deal with their chief that we would have dinner inside," Gull, noticing how Sequencee and Anna were on the way towards the forest, called out.

And so, their hunting trip was canceled.