Chapter 50: The town of Markston

Traveling along the dirt road, the smell of grass and the sound of the bison's hooves pull the shaky cart forward. Despite it having been a few days already, I've gotten used to this new traveling lifestyle.

"Bump!"

With the warning given, I quickly shut my book and get a good grip on the cart as it passed over a hole on the road.

"Thank you Varita." I say before opening my book again.

"Yup!"

Though I said that I got used to it, I wouldn't say I'm good at traveling as Veda.

The first night we tried to set up camp, I came prepared thanks to the experience I had with Serci, but that was the bare minimum of sleeping on the dirt around a campfire.

Rikon was the one to help me pitch the tent and helped by explaining the usual necessities of camping, even comparing how different it is camping in the forest compared to camping in the desert.

Rikon was also the best cook in the group, able to make a variety of dishes with some of Farmi's stock. Though it had to be paid for.

'"No freebies, not even for friends." she said.'

I close the book for a moment to let my eyes rest before looking off to my right. The South has a large mountain range that seems to stretch on endlessly. It's where the apparent fourth Kingdom mentioned by Uldrei stood once before collapsing ten years ago.

I asked Farmi and the others but they only know that it was once a kingdom nad is now simply 'lands controlled by Trolls.' Even the maps in the adventurer's guild took off the name of the once kingdom.

"How much longer till we get there?" asked Varita.

"About another mile so be quiet till we get there," replied Farmi.

Despite traveling with them for three days, I haven't learned much about Rikon and Varita, my fellow bodyguards, or Farmi, the owner of the cart, beyond the surface level. Rikon has a noble heart. He tends to keep to himself unless it involves Varita doing something she isn't meant to but when she does something wrong, he is steps in to ask for forgiveness before disciplining her, often by making her sit in one spot for a period of time, putting heavy things on top of her the more times she causes problems. 

It seems like it's working, or at the very least she seems to hate being made to stay in one place for extensive periods of time more than the added weight. 

Varita on the other hand is a curious person, both as a personality and in my opinion of her. It makes me question how she functions by her tendency to do what normal people wouldn't, be it her over fascination with things she has seen multiple times over or the minor games she makes up on the spot to keep herself distracted. 

She's basically a curious idiot who isn't stupid.

The worst that she does for me that Rikon doesn't step in to fix is the number of times I had to use healing magic on her. Just this morning she got poisoned 3 times, once by a plant she apparently ran into once already and twice by the same kind of bug she met today. 

But underneath all that, she does have manners. She's never forgotten to thank me when I cast healing magic on her to the compliments she gives the cooking I learned from Uldrei, and works to improve herself, even if it is only after Rikon mentions anything.

Her primary fault is only that she takes what she thinks will sell well. And yet, that doesn't seem to include the spell book or Uldrei's Sword.

If she was ever warned before to not touch it, then it must have been just before we left. And if not, she may have taken the value it has to me into account and kept her distance deliberately. While it isn't perfect, Rikon's words are true and Varita is learning not to take other people's things. 

"We're almost to Markston!" Farmi shouts from the coachman's seat. "Try to stay close and only restock on food! The longer we take here the longer it takes to reach the University!" 

Latching the book back onto the protective holster, I hop off the cart and work to get to the front. 

Out of the three, Farmi is still the hardest for me to interact with as she has the hardest shell for keeping people away. What I do know is when it comes to talking about strength or ability, she boasts about her artifact. She is also defensive about her products, often threatening people who would damage or consume her goods without paying for them. 

Other than that, she keeps to herself, checking over her goods to ensure nothing is missing. The only exception is her kindness towards Rikon which I often see when he asks for leniency towards any of Varita's antics. 

"Better hurry redhead!" shouts the bird, Simad from on top of the cart. 

Out of everyone, I still have the best opinion of the sassy backtalking bird with a sense of humor. When I first met him, he would Squawk every time he began speaking but Farmi apparently ordered for him to do that when near a village because he was too good at human speech. Good enough that people would mistake his voice for a human's, leading to many pranks that easily got out of hand. 

I make it to the side of the coachman's seat and prepare to get up, Rikon offering me a hand that I gratefully accept as we approach a clearing. The extra pounds from the chainmail is still weight I'm still not used to wearing. I only did a light jog to catch up to the front of the cart and I was already breathing heavily.

I inwardly curse at Veda's below-average physical stamina. I've met a lot of women who are physically fit back in the kingdom, the only exception being the princess, but unlike all those people in who wear plate armor or jump through trees, the person Veda was focused on being a mage her entire life, giving her the stamina like that of the princess. 

...Sigh... I may be spoiled in the idea that Veda can train like Verei.

'Or I'm overthinking things. I want her to at least be able to do menial tasks but if she focused entirely on magic then I may have originally known plenty of useful spells that made life easy.' 

'Having to rely on Rikon all the time hurts my pride so I'll continue looking through the book for a spell that can increase physical strength or allow you to levitate objects.' 

We pass through the tree line and see our destination. Through the clearing is a large lake with a town next to it and large open fields where food is crops are being grown. But with the number of carts traveling to and from the town, the farming looked more like a hobby to relieve boredom for some while it's true purpose of this city is that of a trading post.

Though it makes sense seeing as it connects the areas north of the Valley with the areas south of it.

As we get closer to the gate, my mind thinks back on the capital, seeing this as not even a third the height and depth of the great city. But it could at least keep out the goblins, wolves and whatever other unwelcomed creature didn't have wings. 

As we approached the gate, the guard shouts. "Stop! We need to see some identification." 

I inwardly curse. Veda hasn't gotten one yet but Farmi pulls out hers she got as a member of a merchant's guild. 

After examining the card, the guard looks between us all, "Anyone else in the back?" 

Farmi shakes her head, "No, just us four. Why do you ask?" 

The other guard moves to check the back but after a minute gives some kind of hand movement. The guard relaxes before giving back the card, "How long do you plan to stay?" 

"At most 2 hours to restock supplies before continuing to the City of Oriel." 

"Alright, left path is the wagon stop. I'll warn you now, try not to leave it unguarded. We're short-staffed looking out for some bandits that snuck in once before and won't be able to guard your things for you." 

With that settled, the gates open and we're allowed entry. 

As we travel through the streets, I see a bunch of people moving about in high spirits. With everyone being so active I'm curious if there is some kind of celebration but we head away from where the music is playing to find a spot for our wagon. 

Stopping at an open space where other wagons are parked, Farmi recaps. 

"Alright, we're only staying for an hour so don't get involved in anything that forces us to stay longer. With this place housing over 3000 people and receiving travelers every day, it's easy to get distracted and even easier to get lost so don't go further than this district." 

Me and Rikon nod our heads while Varita responds vocally. 

"I will try." 

A vein pops up on Farmi's head as she grinds into Varita's, "Try isn't an acceptable answer! For that, you're only allowed to stay where I can see you!" 

Varita apologizes with a whimper but the last person those puppy dog eyes would work on is Farmi. Regardless, Farmi's keeping an eye on Varita is for the best if we want to leave on time.

'Who knows what ruckus she will cause with those loose fingers.' 

With confirmation, I start looking around for the place I want. I find it odd how Varita learns not to steal the same thing twice but stealing in general is a 'habit' impossible for her to break.

'It's as if she has an objective that continually overshadows everyone's warnings.'

'Even Rikon's warnings aren't taken and she listens to him the most.' 

"So, what are you planning to do?" 

I nearly jumped when Rikon spoke behind me. 

"J-just looking around." 

"Then why are you taking your brother's sword with you?" 

Damn it he's sharp! But at least it's not Varita, so maybe I can let him know. He might even help. 

"I was planning on putting it where my brother will find it." 

His eyebrow raised but I only told him to follow me and see.