New Destination

After finally dealing with all of the bandits, Ryan started burying the bodies away from the farm. He did not like the thought of corpses being littered around his parents' home. He dug a large hole and with the help of his wind magic, he moved the bodies inside and buried them, leaving only a dirt spot in a field on green. He then cast wind magic again to cause a breeze and blow away the signs and stench of blood.

Ryan: "Can't leave the front yard dirty."

Next, Ryan went on to check the carriage the bandits had with them. He was curious why something as expensive-looking as this was alongside a bunch of rough band of thieves. Once he saw the contents, Ryan was able to figure out the general situation for these men.

Ryan: "If they really did what I think they did, then this'll be a pain in the ass to deal with."

Looking inside, he saw numerous magical items and weapons that ordinary people could never afford. This meant that these items belonged to a noble, and judging from the quantity, a high ranking member of the Senate. This left only one most-likely candidate, Valtome, the Duke of Culbert and an egotistical dick that believes himself to be superior over everyone.

In the game, Valtome was described as greedy and arrogant. He demands total obedience over anyone he believes to be lesser than him, which was basically almost everyone excluding the highest members of the Senate. He was most notable when he tried to kill Elincia, the Queen of Crimea, after she rushed between two armies about to clash and said that she wanted no bloodshed within her country. Ryan had enormous love and respect for her character and personality.

Ryan: "If these things really belonged to a douche like Valtome, then I wouldn't mind taking some of these things for myself."

Aside for the one thing that caught Ryan's eyes, there weren't many things that he really wanted as he had pretty much everything he needed in his backpack. However, this did not he would not leave these things untouched. He took many of the Skill scrolls, a couple of weapons, most of the magical enhancers, and medicinal items and left the rest.

Ryan: "These things would be useful for my future plans. Can't be too greedy, but can't let opportunities go either."

After settling things he went to fetch some horses to pull the carriage. Ryan wanted to take these things far away from this place, he did not want anybody to disturb the peace of this place. When all things were set and ready, Ryan looked back to the house.

Ryan: "Bye dad. I won't be gone for too long so please keep watching over our house."

Ryan rode towards the south at the fastest speed he possibly could. The sooner that he got rid of the carriage, the safer the journey would be. Although he was sure that there was only a few handfuls of people that can take him on in physical combat, he had told himself this once before, 'dangers are best left avoided'. Attention usually paints a target at the back of the head.

Eventually, Ryan finally sees a great city out in the distance. After the days had passed where Ryan was trying hard to dodge everyone he could see, he finally was able to see the city walls of Culbert, which meant that he was done dragging along the carriage.

Cutting the reins loose, Ryan moved most of his things to one of the horses and got on the other one, riding one away while being closely followed by the other.

Ryan: "Finally I can get rid of that thing. Thank God and the Goddess that I didn't run into trouble on the way here."

Ryan looked up.

Ryan: "I guess even you can help me out once in a while."

Just when he said that, he heard something to the right of him. Since he was a Branded, his senses were better than the average Beorc, so he was able to notice some things a couple moments sooner. Turning his head, he was able to notice a group of people riding towards where he left the carriage.

Ryan: "Goddammit! Just when I was praising you, you go and do this!"

Ryan quickly tried to ride away from his location with his two horses, hoping that he wasn't seen the incoming Beorcs.

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The cavaliers riding towards the carriage was a group of knights that were patrolling the outer perimeter of the city. It was a routine thing for them to do, but they were speeding themselves along to get back to hunting the band of thieves that stole from Valtome. The reward was too great not to take a chance.

As they were riding along to the north, the group spotted something that caught their eye.

Cavalier: "Sir! I see something in the distance. It looks to be an abandoned carriage."

Cavalier Captain: "I see it. Let us investigate, but be wary of the surroundings. We don't know what we might find."

Cavaliers: """Sir!"""

As they approached the carriage, they began to slow down. You could see that they were closely observing their environment to make sure that this was not some sort of ambush or trap. When they finally got close enough, they first noticed the symbol on the side of the vehicle.

Cavalier: "Sir, there! It's Duke's Valtome's symbol. Is this his stolen carriage!?"

Everyone was visibly excited.

Cavalier Captain: "Open it up! But be careful, remember, it was stolen by bandits. I wouldn't put it past them to rig it with a trap."

Slowly opening it, the cavalier was a bit nervous, but that nervousness soon disappeared when he could see everything inside the vehicle. He saw that inside was filled with many expensive-looking things and his eyes started to shine.

Cavalier: "Sir, It's all clear! It's filled with weapons and magical items!"

Cavalier Captain: "...Humm. It seems like this is the carriage that was stolen a few weeks ago. Although there appears to be a few things missing, most of it is still here."

As the captain was thinking, one of his subordinates grabbed his attention.

Cavalier: "Sir, we spotted some horse tracks going away from here, it seemed like somebody wanted to get away from here after leaving it behind."

Cavalier Captain: "If that is the case, then it is hard to say that this is the work of those bandits who stole it in the first place. So it is likely that somebody managed to somehow obtain this cart and decided to just leave it here. However, why did he not decide to bring it to the city and obtain a reward?"

Although there were many questions the captain wanted answered, there was nothing he could do about that now.

Cavalier: "So captain, what do we do with it now?"

Cavalier Captain: "What else? We take it back to the city and get a hefty reward for it."

Cavalier: "But sir, with all due respect, don't you want to just take it? I mean we all can make much more gold than we could if we turned it in. Nobody knows that we currently have the carriage."

The captain fell into a deep thought.

Cavalier Captain: "Although as tempting as that sounds, we should still bring it back."

Cavalier: "But sir-"

The soldier was hard-pressed to let all these valuable goods go, as was the same with his comrades, but their captain gave them a warning.

Cavalier Captain: "How would we be able to sell all of these things without drawing attention? If the Duke ever finds out about this, you know what would happen to your life and your family's."

Everyone dropped their heads and thought about it further. Their captain was right. If they were ever caught selling the Duke's stolen goods, their families would be in grave danger. All these people could think about currently is the lives of their wives, parents, and children.

Seeing all of them not making a sound, the captain then made the decision.

Cavalier Captain: "C'mon, let's get these stuff back. Although we may not get as much money out of it, expect at least a pay bonus, if not a promotion."

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After riding for a couple of minutes away from the soldiers, Ryan finally slowed down, seeing as how there was no one following him.

Ryan: "Thankfully none of them followed me."

Now that Ryan was done with that, he was now thinking of what he should do now. His current longtime goal was to make it to Crimea before the war starts, but he had five years to kill before all that. After searching through his brain for the map of Tellius, he remembered that Persis was the closest notable city after Culbert.

The Duke that ruled over Persis was Sephiran, the closest person to the Empress of Begnion. Ryan was curious how a city ruled by such a man would be and thus decided to make it his current destination.

Ryan: "Hopefully, I'll be able to see for myself what kind of face that man will have. The man who would bring mankind steps before their destruction."