Two Ex Royal Slave
The journey resumed once they had a wealth of information and supplies. There was no need to fret and scrimp on food when Connor insisted they carry a bag of raw materials that could be used and stored for two weeks. On the other hand, they were already calm about finances. Enrique brought a bag that contained a pile of shiny gold.
The Goddess had scolded him for leaving the other bags to Connor and the others when they were more in need. But Enrique is not a selfish person who forgets his friends. Not only Cytherea's disapproval, his friend had refused and even fled to the basement first.
The three of them opened the map given by Enrique earlier. Even he did not expect to go with the Goddess and the friend he admired so much.
"If I'm not mistaken, we're here, right? The village behind us is marked on this map but has no identity. Pretty suspicious."
"Ignore the village. We just need to get a mount as soon as possible. Farm Village will be our next destination. With this gold, I'm sure we can buy one of the 'legendary mounts'."
"Legendary mounts? Does such a thing exist?" Xavier narrowed his eyes, slightly incredulous.
"You're too uptight, My Brother. It's just a figure of speech so that we can buy a mount that is special from all positive aspects."
"I understand. It will take a day to get there, right? Let's just say we get there tomorrow night. At least now I want to take my back off. It's really tired." After so many unexpected events, since their arrival to the village there had not been the slightest time to rest. Moreover, they had a lot of stuff to carry after leaving Connor and the others behind.
His face could not lie to Enrique who had recognised him very well. In the end, this journey was led by Enrique who would take them to rest near the river.
"There's a short cave and river at the end of the road. There's no need to set up a tent or waste our supplies."
***
It took half an hour until they found the clean river and the cave that had been mentioned. Looking at the condition of the cave, Xavier could conclude that this place was often used as a resting place for adventurers. His hand rubbed the ash on the riverbank and it felt slightly warm and rough. The Goddess immediately laid down when Enrique had just finished rolling out a large mat on the lip of the cave.
"Damn it. I'm so tired. Hey, cook anything for me while I'm asleep. I'm counting on you guys, huh." After saying something that angered her partner, Cytherea suddenly fell completely asleep and occasionally snored like a buffalo.
"I won't cook anything for her. How about you, Senior Enrique?" Xavier tried to get his senior to cooperate, but...
"Leave it to me. You can take a rest. Someone has to stand guard when we decide to rest there or all our stuff will be lost."
Xavier finally relented when he realised that a bag full of gold would disappear in an instant if they decided to look after each other's interests. But in the end, he helped his senior make a meal for the two of them. Catching fish in the river using swords and swimming in the dry night but the wind temperature was enough to chill their bodies.
It didn't take long for them to serve a simple grilled fish sprinkled with salt and soy sauce. Enrique immediately woke Cytherea when she looked exhausted. Her eyes were suddenly red and her hair was messy and tangled.
"You can eat now and go back to sleep. I know you're very tired."
"Don't surprise me. I was dreaming of defeating Azazil by myself. You lowlife." Cytherea was half-awake and half-delirious. Her saliva dried on her cheeks.
"Don't talk so loud or I'll shove this hot fish in your mouth!" Xavier defended his senior, considering all of them here were equally exhausted.
***
Having fallen into a soundless slumber, the tranquillity of the night seeped into their bodies even more. The night breeze was soothing and the howls of the wolves sounded melodious and intoned but not threatening. The night sky was so clear that they could see the surface of the moon with their naked eyes. The river water flowed and gurgled in their ears, tapping their hearts they were quite troubled by Cytherea's behaviour during dinner.
Under the malma of thousands of stars, they sat on logs with a campfire in their midst. The situation was not awkward but it was as if they did not know each other.
"You're still a little stubborn like before. Get some rest and I'll wake you up after four hours." Enrique was busy peeling his favourite fruit with a small knife.
"Don't mind me. My habit when I left the royal army was to be busy and get very little sleep."
"Oh, really? What have you been doing all this time? And what made you change your sleeping pattern?"
"I don't know. I do everything I enjoy. There's not a single job that I'm forced to do despite the lack of sleep."
"You once wrote to me that you live in a village. Where is that place?" Enrique was curious.
"For now, I'm not telling you anything. One thing is certain, it's deep in the Southern Region.
"Southern Region? You're crazy! That area is honoured as the 'Hell of the World'. Even the royal army wouldn't be able to go there alone. How could you live there for so many years? I didn't even know there were villages in that area."
"Even you, who holds a high position and has a myriad of achievements, are still subservient to them. After releasing as a member of the royal army, my mind immediately went to the Southern Region. Because if I go there, no one will come looking for me."
"Yes, I know very well how tightly they keep you as a royal slave. Sir Albert is not at all talented to be the Chief of the Royal Security Organisation even though I acknowledge him as an authoritative figure and respected by his subordinates thanks to his abilities."
"Never mind. This conversation is making me sick and sleepy. Anyway, welcome to the group, Senior Enrique. I hope you don't back out once you know our goal which sounds almost impossible."
Xavier changed his position to lying on his back while facing the sky. His eyes began to blur like myopia and it took him a long time to fall asleep near the embers of the campfire.