009 Caravan Party

A few weeks later, Nico hauled a large leather bag onto the back of a large passenger carriage. There were four other carriages lined up together by the road with a symbol of the Lunpin Caravan Company.

Nico paid the caravan leader, Lennox, 10 silver pieces. Lennox, a middle aged man with a curved medium-length sword by his side, gazed curiously at the two little cubs strapped in front of Nico.

"Be careful not to have the cubs disturb the other passengers," Lennox cited.

"Yes mister," Nico saluted.

Lennox straddled on his horse and headed to the front. He was the only person riding on horseback.

"Juniper, take the rear and tell everyone to prepare to take off," instructed Lennox.

Juniper, bulkier man and a tanker, shouted for everyone to return to their stations. The dozen people from the Lunpin Caravan Company stopped their idle chatter and returned to their stations.

There were few caravan companies capable of traversing through the wilderness as there were many initial investments and planning required. A caravan with one 16-passengers carriage required a tanker, a healer, a scout, and at least 3 warriors. That left only 10 spaces available for the passengers. Not including the horses and carriages, hiring the caravan party cost 1 gold pieces per day. To make a decent profit, caravan companies had to charge the passengers at least 15 silver pieces per day.

Bigger caravan parties could afford to charge 10 silvers per passenger. This was because they have VIP carriages that cost 50 silver pieces per day. Only nobility and wealthy merchants could afford such luxury.

Nico was by no means short of money. He was considerably wealthy compared to the vast majority of people in Rinlin. However, he had a stingy mindset when it came to spending money on luxury items.

Several of the villagers came to bid him goodbye.

"I don't know what they sell in Launtel, but I make the best pickles in Rinlin," said Shirley. "Make sure to write if you have time. I'll send to you the progress of the shop. Hopefully the renovation will be completed before you come back."

"Kanna have to keep a watch on the shop, but she wish you a safe journey," said Lorne. "She isn't good with cooking, but she makes good jams."

"These are the best tea in the empire, so keep it safe," said Chamber with his wife Sasha by the side. "If you ever meet an honorable guests, these are sure to impress them."

"I don't really have anything for you kid, but stay safe." Rooster rustled Nico's hair.

"Thank you everyone, I'll come back after school ends!" Nico headed inside the covered carriage. It was cramped, even when there were still two more vacant spaces available.

There were more adolescents than adults. Considering that the final destination was Launtel, they were likely students or hopefuls of Windel Academy. They were well-dressed and most likely from the upper class families.

Most people in the carriage were not from Rinlin, but Nico recognized a 8-years old boy named Yuri and his father, a wealthy merchant named Easton. Nico wasn't too familiar with them, but the father and son recognized him. Yuri waved cheerily and Easton gave him a little nod. It was comforting to see a familiar face amongst strangers.

Nico seated himself by the father and son duo. The carriage took off shortly .

"I didn't know you're heading to the Windel Academy as well," chatted Easton. "If I had known, I would have asked you to bring Yuri along."

After extensive training, Nico could be mistaken as a fifteen-years old adolescent. Fourteen was considered the age of adulthood. At that age, it wasn't unusual for them to travel alone without their guardians. Easton had bought one manadeer hide from Nico before and heard that he was a decent hunter. Although he didn't know Nico too well, he was willing to trust someone from the same village.

"Nico's going to take the exam as well?" asked Yuri.

"Yep!" Nico replied.

Rooster had prepared him briefly on the exam requirements.

"It sounds exciting," Yuri chimed.

Yuri was only eight, so he had yet to understand the importance of the test. Easton looked more nervous than the little boy. Easton had spent a lot of money preparing his son to take the entrance exam.

Easton had been told by a passing relative that Yuri had a spiritual root and should try out for the academy. Although Easton made good money living as a merchant, there were fame, prestige and wealth associated with cultivators and magicians that were beyond anything a regular merchant could earn in their lifetime.

Easton had 4 children, but he doted on his youngest Yuri the most because of his potential. Easton spent 100 gold pieces to get two recommendations from the teachers at the Academy. Easton had drilled the importance of the test to Yuri, but he also didn't want to overburden the young child.

"Can I pet your doggy?" asked Yuri.

"Sure!" Nico brought the cubs into the village often so that they could get use to people.

Nico passed Snowy onto Yuri's lap. Both the small cubs could easily pass as dogs to most people.

The passengers chatted amongst themselves. There was a rather quiet tall man sitting at the rear with a Lunpin Caravan crest stitched on his left arm. He was in charge of protecting the carriage.

The caravan made a quick stop by Caperon to pick up two more passengers before setting further west. Before nightfall, they reached a village of Paragin to set up camp. The two VIP carriages in the center continued into the village and headed toward the inn. The caravan company allowed the passengers to sleep in the carriages or find an inn. Some passengers chose to spend money for a good night rest at the inn, while others chose to stay.

The caravan party stayed mostly with the carriages. They set up camp and relaxed around the campfire.

"Ladies and gentlemen, prepare to be inspired by the amazing Ringo!" Introduced Cory, a medium build man with a knife by his hip. He was one of the warriors protecting the caravan.

Ringo, the tallest and biggest man towering close to 205cm, jumped out from behind a tree. Dressed in a flamboyant bard costume, he strummed the long wooden banjo and bellowed out "lalala" to clear his throat.

The caravan party and remaining passengers all cheered wildly, some more expressive and exaggerated than the others.

"Whoo! Ringo is going to perform us a song!" Cheered Zulu, one of the rowdy members of the caravan. He didn't have his bow and arrow, but he was an archer that often lead the party with Lennox.

"Now, for the main attraction!" Cried Cory. "Introducing the ever graceful and beautiful Estella!"

Estella, the magician of the group, walked out gracefully from behind the tree. Her face, dabbled in make-up and flowing fizzy white hair, dazzled the audience. The caravan was a mixture of laughter, howling and whistling.

As for Nico, he could never imagine the tall straight laced man riding in the same carriage could transform into a beauty drag queen at night.

Easton choked from laughter.

Yuri was confused since he couldn't recognize the man.

Lennox and Juniper shrugged, they were used to it.

Estella, or Estel in drag, dramatically silenced the crowd with a forceful hand movement. Once he had the crowd's attention, he signaled Ringo to strum a melody on the banjo.

"Many, many years ago, there were two siblings," Estella began to narrate. "Twins, in fact. Harold was the elder and Anzu was the younger. Separated by a mere hour, but it was Harold who was destined to rule the Empire of Kinbarl.

A prophecy predicted that the younger would create chaos in the kingdom. Fearful that the younger would fight for position, the current emperor, Leroy, ordered the child and all the midwives who had known about the second child to be disposed of.

Harold turned into an exceptional crowned prince, a genius cultivator and a handsome charmer. All who knew him admired him. He was given Princess Lizbeth of the Terlace Tribe as his future Queen. She was known as the most beautiful and fairest maid of the land.

As for Harold knew up, he had a chance encounter with Anzu, an orphan boy who with lived in the streets most of his life. The boys could see their faces mirrored from each other. Although they did not understand, they were amazed to find another person with the same face.

They came up with a plan to switch for a week. Harold lived without any responsibilities and worries, and Anzu lived in luxury. Before they could make the switch back, Emperor Leroy was assassinated. The kingdom was thrown into chaos and Anzu, still posing as Harold, was carried off by the royal guards.

All the officials wanted to immediately crown Harold as the next emperor to stabilize the kingdom. During the coronation ceremony, Harold rushed back to see Anzu. Ladies and gentlemen, what do you think happened next?"

Strum, dum, dum.

The audience yelled out many possible outcomes. If they were Anzu, they would keep the position as king.

"Anzu asked Harold a simple question." Estella continued. "Between the Empire of Kinbarl and Princess Lizbeth, who shalt ye pick?

Harold said Princess Lizbeth without hesitation. Unfortunately, that was who Anzu had wanted as well."

Nico thought it was a horrible melodrama, but apparently it was partially based on the history of the Kelseran empire when it was part of a super-empire called Kinbarl 600 years ago. A single woman had caused the fall of an entire empire, sort of like Helen of Troy. In oral traditions, he wondered how much of it was factual.

At sunrise, the caravan was back in business and a lot more serious than before. The next stretch of travel was through Mydar Valley. It was hilly and difficult to travel.

Zulu sat in the front carriage by the rider. He was very cautious of the terrain.

"Anything unusual?" Asked Lennox pacing his horse to match the carriage speed.

"Nothing as of yet, but it's still early," replied Zulu.

Lennox nodded and went to the other members to check on their status. Everything was in order.

They continued on their journey until it was almost nightfall. The second night was in the flat plains rather than a village. It was dangerous to camp in the wilderness, but they had little choice. The plains provided the safest vantage point. If there were any incoming attacks, they could still prepare a defensive formation. Unlike the night before, all the members of the caravan were on guard and took turns to keep watch. Most passengers were already asleep inside the carriage.

Nico opened his eyes and glanced outside. The moon was partially out and he could hear the firepit crackling outside. He got up slowly and crawled to the rear of the carriage. He peeked outside, to the right was the campfire and to the left was an open field with hills jutting out from the background.

Estel glanced at Nico as though he was asking him where he was going.

"Can I take a leak?" asked Nico.

Just do it on the side, Estel replied by moving his head toward the side of the carriage.

Is he pretending to be mute? Nico thought. He was talking so much yesterday.

Nico jumped out and went to the left side of the carriage. While taking care of business, he watched the hills carefully.

"Ahh!!!" Nico let a piercing scream from the depth of his lung.

Estel snapped his head to glance at Nico.

What the hell is wrong with you?! asked Estel with his strong glare.

"Snake!" cried Nico.

Estel shook his head in annoyance, but then snapped his head toward the distance hill. Lennox also surveyed the direction of the scream and called the caravan members to prepare for combat. The caravan members who were awake straddled on the horses. The sleeping members quickly geared up right after they heard the scream, protocol requires them to remain guard as the defensive unit. Ringo and Juniper, the tankers, naturally took position in front of the carriages.

"Cory, you're in charge of the defensive here!" Lennox commanded. "The five of us will survey the front."

Lennox, Zulu, Estel and two other members on horseback rushed into the hills. From atop the hill, Lennox surveyed a group of two dozen bandits already fleeing into the distance. He signaled them to shoot.

Zulu was the only archer, but the other two warriors and Estel had also bought bows with them. Against a fleeing enemy, bows were the best choice of weapon. They shot down three that had been falling behind.

After the bandit dispersed, the camp remained on high alert. The three bandits were comprehended. One was shot dead.

Nico saw the body of the dead bandit with an arrowhead sticking out from his chest. The arrow had penetrated through from the back while the bandit was running off. It was a bit surreal.

It wasn't Nico first time seeing a dead body. He had been to wakes and funerals, but seeing a fresh human body that he was partially responsible for was disheartening. Was he capable of penetrating a spear into a human's heart as easily as he had through a manabeast?

When Nico first heard of the movement coming toward the camp, he initially wanted to resolve the situation himself. However, the movement were from 2-legged creatures, which meant that they were likely humans. He hesitated to confront the enemy. Maybe he would have to face them in the future, but now wasn't the right time. Also, humans were a lot trickier than manabeasts, Nico wasn't sure if he could handle them all himself.

Lennox ordered the passengers to return to the carriage, and Nico complied.

"Are the perimeter secured?" Lennox asked Zulu.

Zulu nodded. "Sorry about that boss, I should have done a perimeter check again," Zulu added.

"It's fine, we can't perform a check every hour," said Lennox. "Did Ringo interrogate the bandits?"

Zulu nodded. "It's the Nightcrawl bandits. They're not a big bandit brigade, but they are known to be organized and swift. We're lucky the boy scream scared them off."

"Haha, that's one hell of a coincidence," Cory chuckled.

"It was also timely," said Zulu. "The bandits were just splitting off, but before they could even enclose the camp, they were already thrown into chaos. The three that we caught happened to be the ones leading the entrapment."

"We should be getting a reward from the Hunter Guild for the three bounty heads once we arrive in Launtel," said Cory feeling excited about a bonus.

The following day, the caravan reached their destination. The caravan pulled by the main gated entrance and unloaded the passengers. Nico jumped out and noticed Estel by the side. Estel nodded his head as Nico looked at him, whether it was a goodbye or a thank you, Nico wasn't sure. Nico waved back and trotted toward the gate.

Launtel was a beautiful city similar to Bologna architecture with its beautiful sunkissed stucco and colonnades. The market streets of Rinlin was the most lively place in the village, but the entrance of Launtel, with road twice the width of Rinlin's main roads, was already bustling with activity. Nico couldn't imagine how crowded the market streets were.

Snowy was excited to see the city and jumped around to explore more. She weaved through the human foot traffic. Junior was more timid and stayed close to Nico.

Yuri had similar reaction to Junior, and stuck close to his father.

"Nico, we're going to head toward the Icana Inn," said Easton. "If you need any help, feel free to stop by."

Everyone was tired from the lack of sleep the night before and headed to the inn for a good night rest in a comfortable bed. Easton then took off with Yuri while Nico continued to explore the city.