George's Age

Friday noon arrived.

George Foster arrived at the guild, where the party members were already present. They had their belongings and were even wearing thick winter clothing. These clothing were custom made to have the same buffs and protection as wearing their adventurer outfits.

George had spent some of the money buying food and water supplies along with a few other equipment for the journey like everyone else. He already had winter clothes so he had put them on. His backpack was full to the brim.

"Is everyone ready?"

All four nodded.

"Let's get moving then."

"Before that. Hester has something to say."

Emma interrupted George and looked at Hester. His face turned purple and black as she mouthed the word 'apologize'. Abe and Bernice watched with amusement while George looked at them in confusion. He did not know who Hester was.

Hester hesitantly went forward before forcefully bowing.

"I... I apologize for the events yesterday. I-I was rude, and I wish to make amends."

"That's what this is about?" George looked at him with indifference, not caring about the apology.

"Y-Yes." He meekly answered as he stared at the ground with a bright red face.

"It's hard for me to get mad over such a trivial matter so there's no need to apologize."

"S-Still..."

"Well, I'll accept your apology. Can we get a move on now?"

"Of course." Emma responded, glancing at Hester with satisfaction.

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Part of the reason the party went to Roastberry is because it is one of the few cities this close to the Northern Mountain Range with a resort town at the foot of the mountains. The tall mountains, mountain climbing, and snowy weather have made it easy for tourism in these areas to rise.

This is only on the outskirt mountains of course, but resort towns quickly arose after the end of the war and have booming economies.

Although Roastberry is the "closest" city, there is a resort town called Mountainview Springs. It would take 43 hours to get there by car. That includes bathroom breaks, food breaks, gas breaks, and overnight stays.

Normal taxi and bus service does not extend that far beyond the city and definitely not in the direction of the mountains. Luckily, there is high speed public train transportation and a station at the resort town.

Since high speed trains usually go at 300 miles per hour, they should arrive within ten hours.

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They naturally took a bus to the station and waited for the train for a few minutes before one eventually arrived. Everyone had gotten their tickets beforehand.

They all got on and sat in their assigned seats. Bernice, Emma, and George sat in the same row while Abe and Hester sat in the seats ahead. George had the window view with Emma in the middle and Bernice to the left.

The train gradually accelerated and the city began to whiz by. A minute later, they had left the city. The view was replaced with the surrounding woods.

"So... Um, George?" Bernice broke the silence.

"Yes?" George had extended his chair back a little and closed his eyes to meditate.

"You've been through the Northern Mountains before?"

"Occasionally I go through there." He nodded slightly. "Why do you ask?"

"I'm just curious. Why go into the interior when there when E-rank quests are either near the city or involve the outskirts of dungeons near the foot of the mountain?"

Abe, Hester, and Bernice listened in to the conversation.

"It's a little bit of a story." George opened his eyes and glanced at her, before looking out the window at the trees whizzing by.

"Even before I moved to Roastberry, I was travelling around looking for a place to live. I stayed in several cities that were also close to the mountains."

"During the winter, many herbs no longer grow and become rare so prices go up a lot. It becomes extraordinarily difficult to find good quality herbs at the dungeons, so I thought about chancing it in the mountains."

"Through lucky chance, I found several types of frost herbs that love the elevation and cold. The better quality ones are at higher elevations and colder temperatures. I ended up wandering deep into the mountains before finding the best place."

"The best place is located near Frozen Lake 52, and I discovered the stronghold by the warning signs for trespasses a few miles away. I was curious and took a peek, but I never got too close and stayed out of their range of sight."

"After that, I spent the winter travelling back and forth selling frost herbs for a while before giving up. They make quite a profit, but it takes roughly eight months of getting there and eight months of returning through pure walking. It's quite exhausting doing that all the time."

"Did you visit Frozen Lake 52?" Bernice asked, intrigued by his story.

"Of course not." George scoffed and adjusted a little in his seat, "Nobody lives that deep in the mountains due to the Great Demonic War. If I showed up and greeted them, they'd probably arrest me on grounds of being highly suspicious."

"How would you know if they are hostile?" Abe commented.

"If I was a guard and saw some random in the middle of an inhospitable place come over to greet me, I'd be highly suspicious. Just simple guessing." He replied honestly based on his own opinion.

'That is pretty advanced thinking. Most would check it out of mere curiosity. Maybe he's just well educated.'

Emma, after listening to his explanation, caught the subtle meanings in his words. She would normally not do this to any normal person, but she was already very suspicious of him.

"You seem to be the cautious and observant type. You must be well educated." Emma gave him a small praise.

"Not really. I've never gone to school before." George coldly replied.

Emma and Bernice looked at him in surprise while the two guys ahead showed it in their heart.

"You didn't finish high school?"

"Nope."

"Middle school?"

"None. Elementary or preschool. I have never done education here before."

Emma though it was weird he said 'here', but it disappeared from her mind.

The atmosphere turned a little awkward.

"Uh, but isn't everyone required to attend school?" Bernice expressed her confusion which the others similarly had.

"I guess not when you're a poor little orphan." George scoffed at the air.

The atmosphere turned very awkward.

"That's not true!" Emma sternly looked over at him, "Everyone has a right to education regardless if they are poor or don't have parents. The war has just ended, so maybe there were some left out of the education system by accident. I'm sure it's something like that."

"Whatever you say miss Emma." George did not bother looking at her and merely closed his eyes.

Emma was about to retort but George's words have left her hanging. She stuttered and went quiet.

The atmosphere did not improve for a while.

Bernice wanted to clear the air by changing the topic so she looked over at George again.

"Hey, um, George?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think the Aeternum government is doing a good job?"

"Aeternum government? Is it that thing that controls this continent?"

"Wait, you don't know about it?" Emma's face turned to shock, along with the faces of everyone.

Even a homeless person would have a base level knowledge of the Aeternum Empire.

"I'm not really into politics, and I don't bother to look up info or look at news to be honest."

"What have you been doing before you arrived at Roastberry then?" Emma curiously asked a different question.

"I was travelling to cities and towns like I said, finding the best place to settle down."

"When did you become an adventurer?"

"About twenty-five years ago." George answered indifferently.

"Wait, how old are you then?" Hester butted in and turned around in his seat to look at George in surprise. Even Abe curiously turned around to look at his young face and body.

"Sixty-five." George truthfully answered without care.

Everyone's eyes widened in shock and their mouths almost hit the floor.

"Y-You're joking right?"

"I have no reason to lie. It's not like it's a secret." George ignored their shocked expressions and indifferently stared at the window.

"H-How do you look so young?!"

"I have a skill called [Aura] which I maxed out. If you max it out, you get a bonus passive effect that permanently keeps you young right before you die of old age."

"Seriously?!" Yelled Hester.

"How come I've never heard of that before?" Abe said confused.

"I need that for eternal youth." Bernice looked at his youth enviously.

'Is that really a bonus for maxing out [Aura]? How come I've never heard of that before? Wouldn't that make the skill popular with the ladies and guys? Is he lying?'

Emma found it hard to believe George Foster is sixty-five and looks like he is in his twenties. She had been treating him like a young adult all this time.

'I need to ask my superiors about that skill when I'm done. Something just doesn't add up.'

'To be honest, not a whole lot about him adds up at all.'

'Like, what has he been doing to raise [Aura] to max level within that period of time? Wouldn't that require him to have killed a lot of animals considering how weak he is? Plus that many kills would level him up and yet I don't see that. Where is all his [attribute points] if he's killed that many and why hasn't he invested them?'

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Bonus Notes:

Only 1% of adventurers have [Clairvoyance], a skill that allows them to see the status of others without the requirement of the [Status Reader] item that is exclusive to the Guild Association. Almost all of the 1% belong to the Summoners, people from another world.

Emma is the rare case of having the skill through her own hard work.

Unless the person has [Clairvoyance], they will never be able to see their own status without going to a [Status Reader] item. But that requires registering with a guild before having free access.

That means a person will never know what skills they have even if they are a professional at their own work. A professional blacksmith may have a high blacksmithing skill, but they will never know and assume it is just their knowledge and experience working in the field.