27 - Goodbyes
The caravan stopped for lunch, Luke began preparing, and Val was chatting with Sav when Jamal approached.
Val shifted his attention to Jamal, and Jamal began to talk to him,
"Take this pouch, it has the corpses of the bandit boss and the vice leaders. I want you to give it to the adventurers guild when you arrive in town. It has a letter inside for the guild master, which describes what happened and who they are. You should receive your portion of the reward once the information in the letter is confirmed by the guild master. Our part of the reward will be sent to the Duke and Lightning Fangs cut will be given when they complete the escort mission."
Val understood what Jamal was saying, the caravan would not be passing any adventurer's guilds, and even if they were, they did not have time to wait a few days for confirmation, they were on a time schedule. So it was better for Val to submit the information and proof of what happened.
Val nodded and was about to say something, but Jamal continued, pulling out a sigil from his spatial ring, the sigil was his crest, he explained,
"I will also give you this sigil, this is my crest, possession of this proves that you are my ally, so never give this to anyone! Also if you ever need to contact me, you can show this to the adventurers guild and pass them a letter and they will have it delivered to me. You can also use this to send a letter to Sav if you want HAHAHAHA."
As he said the last part, he laughed heartily. He was clearly poking fun at the close relationship between Val and Sav, that had developed in such a short time.
Val took the crest and put it into his spatial ring, once Jamal had said what he wanted and handed over everything he walked back to the campfire to get some lunch.
Sav then spoke to Val,
"You definitely need to send me letters, I want to hear about your adventures, I'm going to be bored and alone!"
Val sighed and agreed, they then walked to get lunch and enjoyed the little time they had left with each other. The food Luke cooked was good as always and Leo and Larz scoffed down plenty.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
After lunch, it was time for Val to say goodbye to everyone. It had only been a few days but Val had enjoyed the company of these people.
The merchants all thanked Val for help during the battle with the bandits, they came together and gave Val a parting gift. They gave Val a magic item, which was a ring that when activated with mana, created a mana shield, the shield was round with a diameter of 1.2 meters.
Val appreciated the gift and graciously accepted, wearing the ring immediately. Next to say goodbye were the women who Val saved from the bandit's imprisonment. They all thanked Val and told him to come to see them when he visited the Dukedom.
Mark, Becky, and Margret were next, they wished Val the best of luck, warning him to always be safe and telling him that they might run into each other again. As adventurers, they often travel around, so it's not uncommon to bump into adventurers you have met before on requests.
Becky then gave Val a hug, Val was not very comfortable hugging people, he was not used to it, and had not received many in his life. Whilst hugging Val, Becky whispered in his ear,
"You have to come to find me when you're older, I have a special surprise for you."
Becky had a sly and creepy smile when she said that to Val and he felt very uncomfortable but did not know what to say, so he stayed silent.
The entire interaction had annoyed Sav, she did not know why though. She was too young and immature to understand she was feeling jealousy.
Jamal and Mr. Gregory were next to say goodbye, they said goodbye and thank you, reminding Val of what he needed to do and reiterating to come to the Dukedom in a few years.
Val nodded, he had given his word and would not back down, he also now had a genuine reason to go. Val turned and faced that reason. Sav was the last person Val had to say goodbye to.
The two of them had become unreasonably close in such a short time, which is something Val could never have expected. He was usually very closed off to others and found other people burdensome.
Sav came up to Val and gave him a hug too, she could not allow herself to be outdone by Becky, whilst hugging Val for a little longer than Becky did, she told him,
"You have to remember to come to the Dukedom, I will be waiting for you, okay?"
Val nodded and simply said,
"I promise."
As they were separating from their hug, Sav shyly gave Val a quick kiss on the cheek. Val was shocked and Sav's face became completely red. Both of them were very embarrassed.
Sav quickly turned her head away, not wanting to meet Val's eyes. Val slowly started to walk away.
If anyone was looking at Becky they would have seen her with an annoyed face, which made her look far less pretty.
Val slowly became further and further away, and slowly tears started to fall from Sav's face. The other women did their best to comfort her.
Eventually, Val's figure was no longer visible and the caravan packed up and headed to their next destination.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Val had been walking with Leo and Larz for a few hours. He had found it less enjoyable than when he traveled with the caravan, he had gotten used to constantly chatting to pass the time.
However, he also enjoyed the freedom of traveling by himself. He was now walking inside the outskirts of the forest. He was enjoying the atmosphere, the ground was covered in green grass that was not too long, and there were tall tree's all around, some of them even reaching 20 meters tall. At the moment the sky was blue without a cloud in sight and there was a light breeze that Val found very refreshing.
As Val was walking he would occasionally see rabbits but Leo and Larz would immediately kill them. It had happened 4 times now and the trio had a decent stock of food.
---------------------------
It had already become nighttime, and the trio had exited the forest and found a nice spot off the main road to set up camp. They had begun to drain the blood of the rabbits caught today and cooked the rabbits previously caught. They went to sleep in their tent, the trio did not have a night watch, but Leo and Larz's senses were very good and they would notice if anyone approached them. Val felt very lucky to have these two with him, that provided so much support, and without having to worry that he would be betrayed. He enjoyed traveling with the caravan but there was always a worry in the back of his mind, that they would betray him for their own safety or self-interest.
---------------------------
The next morning the trio continued their travels, similar to yesterday afternoon, they had no issues, finding a few rabbits which had become the staple of their meals.
The trio's days continued like this for another 3 days, they were now only 3 days away from their destination, Loka Town.
However, today was a little different, they ran into 2 groups of 3 goblins. The goblins weren't an issue for the trio, who quickly killed them. Val cut off their left ear and they continued on their way.
Goblins had become an easy source of income for Val, unfortunately, Val assumed they would not earn him much, especially compared to the fortune he currently had. But it was still better than nothing. It also helped Larz get some battle experience, who had never fought prior to the goblins.
---------------------------
The trio continued on their way towards Loka town for another 2.5 days, they had run into a few more groups of goblins and easily killed them. Val now had a total of 25 goblin ears which he could use to prove his subjugation when he arrived at the adventurers guild. The trio had stopped to prepare some lunch, they were only half a day away from town and wanted to arrive as soon as possible, but they were also very hungry, so they decided to stop and eat. The trio took their time to bleed out the rabbits they had caught today and started preparing the food.
Leo and Larz enjoyed the cooked meat, if they were in the wild they would have to eat the meat raw, so having it cooked was more enjoyable and tasty. But for Val, it was starting to become repetitive and bland. He would have to purchase some seasoning and salt when he arrives in town, which he can keep with him to make his food more tasty and enjoyable.
As the trio was finishing their meal and about to put out the fire and collect the rabbits which were hanging up to have the blood drained, both Leo and Larz noticed something, they quickly shifted their sights towards where they noticed something.
Val immediately understood that someone or something was approaching. Val decided to call Larz into the [Personal Dimension], he planned to call Larz back out if it was a monster, but he could not risk letting other people see him yet, he was not yet strong enough to protect Larz and himself.
Val waited patiently for whatever was approaching to get closer, slowly Val could make out a group of 5 people coming toward him.