Chapter 193: of Spirit Verse: Travelling Plans

Shortly after parting with Yumias, it was 

already time for dinner. And after we had a very delicious meal—and not the bland rations we would have had in the fort—we were called by Korwen again.

He had told us before that he wanted to talk with us later, so this didn’t come as a surprise to us. Still, I couldn’t deny being a little anxious about it. Hard to fault me for, considering how much had happened today, right?

But he wouldn’t call us if nothing was up, right?

I thought about such things when we arrived at Korwen’s tent. It was time to find out whether my fears would turn real or not.

“Captain, we’ve come.”

“Ah, finally. Come in and sit down.”

We entered the tent and were greeted by Korwen, sitting at a table with some documents spread out in front of him. When he saw us coming in, he gathered up most of them and put them to the side. They were probably not relevant for whatever he wanted to talk about with us.

“Had a good rest?”

“Nn, we did.”

“We did, thank you.”

“That’s good to hear. At least someone got to rest.”

He chuckled deprecatively. I could already imagine how he had to work the entire time because of all the things that had happened. I really didn’t envy him.

“But was it really fine for us to stay here and not at the fort? Some people were quite surprised to see us.”

Mostly the women that were in charge of cooking. Their surprise was awfully short-lived though. Maybe they thought we had actually come back already. Like, in the normal way. And not through the tentacle door.

“It’s fine. Considering the circumstances, we’ll need to forward a few plans anyway.”

“... Because of the war?”

“That, and because of that spirit thing beneath the fort. To be honest, that one gives me far more trouble than the war. After all, the latter isn’t our problem.”

Technically speaking, yes… It wasn’t.

“Anyway, we’ll need to make extensive use of the tentacle door for a while. The fort is in desperate need of repairs, far more than I feared. I’d like the fort to be a place where we can live before winter breaks in, but if we wait until the road is cleared and ready to be used, we’ll camp outside town during winter.”

“... Incidentally, how did you get through the winter before?”

“Camping outside town.”

So they already had plenty of experience. How convenient.

“Well, in the worst case, we do. Usually, we stay either in Lafria or Aldreigh. The Lafrian army has dozens of barracks that go unused during winter, so we rent those out. Costs quite a bit. Meanwhile, Aldreigh has a vast magical barrier over the capital and the immediate surroundings that keeps the worst of the winter out.”

“A magical barrier?”

“Yes. Remember the one Lafria had over it? The one that keeps monsters out? It’s similar to that, just far more sophisticated.”

That sounded pretty amazing. Like, really amazing. Then, winter wasn’t really a problem for that city at all.

“Unfortunately, merchants and other mercenaries know that, too. So there’s always a fierce fight over the free space surrounding the capital. It got so bad that they apparently want to rent out the spaces now instead. No idea if they already got through with that or not, though.”

“...”

Nothing was free, after all…

“But enough about that. That’s not why I called you two here.”

The moment those words came out of his mouth, we both tensed up, knowing that we’d finally get to the point.

“I’ll start with the conclusion. I want you two to join Greyward and a few others to go to the nearest Aldreighan town.”

“... The nearest Aldreighan town?”

Korwen nodded, affirming it.

“You heard that right.”

An Aldreighan town, huh… I peeked over at Karen, worried about her reaction. After all, that place was the nation she was born in. And the one that had chased her out. Alas, her face didn’t betray any hint of worry or uneasiness.

“Well, don’t be too alarmed now. Simply put, it’s a shopping trip.”

“... A shopping trip?”

“Yes, your ears are working fine, Yumi.”

That’s great. But that wasn’t why I was repeating his words.

“Let’s start with the beginning. Though, there isn’t all that much to say. The fort is in need of repairs, and we require materials to fix it. Furthermore, we need to hire Earth magicians as well. Aldreigh has far more magicians around and it shouldn’t be too hard to hire a few in a decently big city.”

Aldreigh was known for its magic, so that was to be expected. Still, I would have thought he’d take his time with that.

“Wouldn’t it be better to wait until we know what needs to be fixed?”

“But we also need people to tell us what needs to be fixed. While we have people coming from all walks of life, nobody here has any knowledge about building and repairing forts. The obvious things are one thing, but we need professionals to fix everything else.”

“And… you think we’ll find such people there?”

“I sure hope so. Aldreigh has forts of its own and there should be a military base near the city. Even if we won’t find the right person immediately, we should find some clues. Worst case, we’ll have to call for someone from Lafria. But I can already imagine Ruben and Will turning that into a huge bill for us.”

Of course, they would. But that wasn’t exactly my concern.

“I mean, isn’t that rather… classified knowledge, or something?”

“Hahaha! Who do you think I am?”

Korwen crossed his arms in front of him, looking all smug.

“Of course, I have connections. It shouldn’t be a problem, finding someone.”

“Huh… Do you know someone in the Aldreighan army, too? Like Ruben?”

“I don’t.”

“... Someone from the government?”

“Nobody who could help us with the military.”

“...”

Then… who the heck was his connection?

“But I do have a connection to a certain retired mercenary captain who now does my every bidding. Who also just so happens to be pretty close to the Aldreighan army.”

“... So, you’re relying on Greyward.”

Could you really call that having a connection? I mean, sure, he had a connection to Greyward who in turn had connections elsewhere but…

“That old coot knows quite a few people in Aldreigh, far more than I do. He even used to have people from Aldreigh travelling with his band for many years.”

“Huh…”

That certainly was convenient for us right now.

“With Greyward’s connections and a few coins we should have no problem. But even if, it’s not like we have no other choices.”

That was true. But it was the most convenient one if it worked out for us.

“So, we’ll just have to accompany Greyward and his group?”

“Pretty much. It shouldn’t be too hard. You can leave the difficult stuff to Greyward anyway.”

Considering Greyward retired, Korwen sure ran him racked.

“There’s also another thing that you should look for.”

“Nn?”

“A Spirit Magician.”

“... Because of that corpse?”

Korwen nodded.

“Exactly. The corpse is a problem. Realistically speaking, it might have some use for us but right now, it is more of a bother. And neither the Elder nor Ria can actually help out much with it. Ria is of course dying to research that thing in detail but who knows how long that would take. And she is busy with the crystal anyway. And your tentacle doors.”

“... That’s quite a lot.”

“She’s thrilled about it. But we don’t have the time to wait for her to research that corpse. It’s a bother.”

“So, we need a Spirit Magician to get rid of it?

Ria definitely wouldn’t like that.

“In the worst case. But it’d be enough if we could just… stop it from messing up the forest. That’s already more than enough. And I wouldn’t have to hear Ria complaining to me for the next few years.”

“Ahaha…”

Yeah, I could picture her doing that.

“That said, finding a Spirit Magician won’t be easy. There aren’t many of them around and the ones that are, are usually already employed somewhere. I wouldn’t get my hopes up high.”

“Nn… We’ll do our best.”

“Great.”

Well, doing our best was all we could do, though…

“But… do you have an alternative if we don’t?”

“... Nothing that would be realistic, unfortunately. I know of a few Spirit Magicians, but there’s no way to get them here. Even if we could, there’s also the issue of confidentiality. I’d rather not have it publicly known that there’s a massive spirit corpse down there.”

“Wait, wouldn’t it be bad to just hire a random magician then anyway?”

“Not as bad as hiring one that I know serves a noble that is going to cause us massive headaches.”

Okay, yeah… A gamble versus a certainty, huh…

“Best case, we might be able to recruit them for our band. Not getting my hopes up on that, though.”

Korwen shrugged his shoulders, smiling wryly.

“Anyway, questions so far?”

“Nn…”

Any questions… Not that I could think of. Greyward was going to deal with the shopping trip and the hiring details, so…

“Is this another trip to show me off?”

“... You sure got to work on your phrasing. You’re not some trophy we brag about.”

Oh, wasn’t this cute girl good enough to brag about? Breaking my heart, here.

“But in essence, that’s about right. Especially since we’re going to deal with merchants this time, having you along would be a good way to spread the word.”

“Thought so.”

Not that I minded at this point anymore.

“Any other questions?”

“Nn, I don’t. Sis?”

“I don’t have anything either.”

“Good. Then let’s continue.”

With those words, Korwen turned around and picked up the large leather container with the map. Actually, looking closer, it wasn’t the same one he used for the large map, but a bit smaller. And the map was also different.

“This is?”

“A map of the Kingdom of Aldreigh.”

“Ohhh.”

This was… amazing. There were towns and even villages marked on it. The rivers, mountains… The map looked far more detailed than the large one of the continent.

“This is quite detailed.”

“Aldreighan make. They use magic to survey the area and make maps based on that.”

“That sounds really convenient.”

“It is. Incredibly so. Unfortunately, the specifics are a closely guarded secret, so we have no way of replicating it.”

“But the map isn’t closely guarded?”

Wouldn’t this be dangerous if it fell into another nation’s hands?

“It’s not like getting your hands on these maps is easy, either. Guess who you should thank for this.”

“... Greyward?”

“Exactly.”

Wow. If he could get his hands on a map this detailed, he really had to have some amazing connections.

“But Aldreigh wouldn’t mind it much either way. After all, they don’t have anyone to fear. And that confidence is deserved.”

“Because of their magician army?”

“Yes.”

So, since they had their overwhelmingly powerful army, they didn’t care if the knowledge of the terrain got out. After all, no matter how disadvantageous the fight was, they were confident they could still win handily. That was… amazing confidence.

“But thanks to that, we will also have an easier time travelling from now on. Or rather, this time you will.”

“Nn, thanks, Greyward.”

“Thank you, Mr Greyward.”

“... Where are my thanks?”

But it was Greyward’s map?

“Well, whatever. Take a look here, near the western border. That’s the town you are going to visit.”

“Nn.”

“There’s a trading route passing through here. It’s a little south of Auria. By the way, Auria would be around here, approximately. So it’s not that far away.”

Korwen pointed at the map—and next to it—for the various places. It really didn’t seem like it’d be that far.

“I don’t know the state of the trading route but it should be decently maintained, according to my information. You’ll need to follow it for around a day before reaching this town.”

“Nn. Got it. By the way, what’s the town’s name?”

The map didn’t have a name on it, after all.

“It’s called Melfin. It’s the largest town in the area.”

“Huh.”

The largest town in the area… That didn’t mean it had to be big, though. If the size of the drawings on the map were any indication, it wasn’t particularly large anyway. After all, it was only surrounded by villages. That wasn’t a ‘largest town in the area’ thing but an ‘only town in the area.’

“Nn, why do we not get materials from Auria, though?”

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“Because the materials we would need aren’t readily available here. We would need large amounts of stone but Auria doesn’t have a quarry of its own. They are importing their stone as well. We can get wood from the forest, especially since we’re already cutting down tons of trees anyway because of the road. Other tools and materials we could get in Auria but if we’re already making the trip, it’d be better to buy them there.”

“Huh.”

So it was a problem of availability.

“Nn, are we going to travel with the wagons then?”

“Of course. How else were you planning on getting the materials back?”

“Well… With the tentacle door?”

“While that is something I want you to try out, yes, it’s not something we can guarantee will work yet.”

True. While it probably would work, according to Yumias, it was still better to make sure everything would work out fine.

“So, you want me to try out if it works?”

“Yes. Best case, you find some hidden place some distance from town and try it out there. It would go a long way if we had easy access to that town. However, I also want you to be careful.”

“Careful? Of what.”

“You already know that Aldreigh is quite… fanatic about magic. But that also means they know far more than we do about it. I discussed it with Ria earlier and she didn’t rule out the possibility of them being able to sniff out or block Space magic. That’s why, if you feel like anything is off, stop immediately.”

“... Nn, got it.”

Sniffing it out or blocking it… I never even thought of that. That might be possible…

“It’ll be great if it works out but it won’t be a great loss if not, so don’t worry about it too much. In the first place, you would need some secluded location first and we don’t really know much about the area there. Might very well be that you won’t even find a place.”

“... I guess some random cave isn’t going to cut it?”

“That might hide it for a while but not for long.”

“...”

Figured. So, err, I needed something that was hidden for a long, long time… Yeah, that would be hard to find.

“Maybe I can find a dried-out well and install it at the bottom?”

“While that would be fine, it would also make it nearly inaccessible.”

“... This is impossible.”

“Good luck.”

No, this wasn’t a matter of luck anymore. It was impossible. There was no way I could find a place that was secure, out of sight and easily accessible. I couldn’t see how that would work.

“Well, Greyward will help you out. If nothing turns up, then that’s that.”

Korwen shrugged his shoulders again. Sometimes, I wondered if he really didn’t care. But then again, I knew he did. Whenever things worked out, he got really excited. Maybe, he just dampened his expectations to the minimum… Wish I could do that, too.

“Now then… Karen, you’ve been staring at the map for quite some time now. Is there something?”

“Eh? No, it’s nothing. Nothing.”

“Hmmm…”

Karen denied it, looking rather flustered. I was absorbed in my discussion with korwen so I didn’t see what Karen had been doing. But she was staring at the map? Well, it was her homeland, in a way…

“Do you want to know where the Zirzennas live?” asked Korwen.

That got an immediate reaction out of Karen. She completely froze up.

“Surprised I know the name? Your little sister told me a little about it.”

“I see…”

“So? Want to know?”

Karen fell silent, looking at the map. After several seconds, she meekly nodded.

“Then, let’s see. This area, including the town of Melfin, belongs to the Itsenga family. Then, next to it, closer to the capital…”

Korwen pointed at the area southeast of the town of Melfin, circling the area with his finger.

“That belongs to the Zirzenna.”

It was a large territory. I didn’t really have a grasp of the scale, but it was notably larger than the territory where Melfin was.

“By the way, if you go a little further southeast, you’ll reach the capital. The three territories around the capital, including the one belonging to the Zirzenna, are also called the three capital provinces. Basically, they’re the most important places surrounding the capital.”

“...”

The most important ones… Didn’t that mean that Karen was actually from a pretty important family?

“Captain, are those families like nobles?”

“Mm… It’s close but not quite the same. Aldreigh values magic above all. As such, only powerful families are deemed worthy of ruling. Their standing is based on the number of magicians belonging to the family and their skill in magic, as well as the accomplishments they made in magic research. That’s the theory at least. The three families ruling the capital provinces, as well as the ruling family in the capital, never changed in the history of the country.”

Never, huh… So, it really was an amazing family.

“So, Karen, want me to tell you more about the Zirzenna?”

“... Yes.”

Korwen smiled before going on to explain.

“Let’s see, where to start. The current head of the Zirzenna family and ruler of this territory is Ulrich Zirzenna…”

Karen froze up again before her expression fell. She knew the name. That could only mean…

“Ulrich Zirzenna currently has one child with his wife Theda, a thirteen-year-old daughter. There were rumours about them having a second child, though, but I don’t know how true that is.”

“I see…”

No mention of Karen nor Rina…

“The Zirzenna themselves are generally well-liked and capable rulers. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you much more than that. We did work for them before when we passed through the territory, but only ever through representatives.”

“You worked for them before?” I asked, surprised.

“Sure did. But only ever a few monster extermination jobs or subduing some bandits. Nothing grand. They did pay well, though, so we were always happy to take those jobs.”

Well, they were a ruling family, so maybe it wasn’t that surprising, after all. Still, it wasn’t quite what I expected.

“The territory itself is quite prosperous thanks to the trade of magic tools and the advancement in magic technology. If you ever need a magic tool, that place is where you can expect some of the best.”

That did sound like a pretty great place, for sure.

“Well, there are bound to be some less than pretty things there, too, but the Zirzenna territory was a place we passed through on our route, not a regular stop. I could tell you about its military matters but I don’t think that’s what you want to hear.”

Yeah, those weren’t very interesting right now… Actually, it might be interesting but not relevant right now.

“This is all I can tell you at the moment. I heard nothing of them having other children. Unless you were from a branch family? If that exists at all.”

Karen simply stared at the map for a while longer, not reacting to Korwen. For a moment I wondered if she had even heard him but after a while, she quietly shook her head.

“No… I think those were my parents’ names… But it’s been so long and… They were always just ‘Father’ and ‘Mother’ to me. Honestly, I can’t even be sure… Rina might remember it better than me.”

“I see.”

The room fell silent. Karen simply stared at the map, and Korwen didn’t pursue it anymore either. After a while, Korwen spoke up again.

“Do you think you can make the trip to Aldreigh?”

“... Yes. I can.”

“Then, do you want to meet your parents?”

“... I don’t know.”

“Hmm.”

Korwen closed his eyes for a few seconds, brooding about something.

“Well, you can think about it. We can always try to contact them if you want to. But if you don’t want that, that’s fine too. Just… you see that the territory isn’t that far away from us. We might be forced to deal with them one day. Keep that in mind.”

“I will. But I believe it’ll be fine.”

Karen smiled, her eyes resolute. At the same time, I could feel my hand being grasped tightly.

“I got a place to be, after all.”

“Ha. Glad to hear that. Guess my meddling was unnecessary then.”

“No, it wasn’t. I am glad I could hear more about them. Even if I don’t really have anything to do with them anymore, it is part of my past.”

There was no uncertainty in her voice anymore.

“That so. Then I’m glad I brought it up. Wasn’t quite sure for a moment what I should do if I stepped on the wrong foot there.”

“Hehe, it’s fine. Thank you for your concern, Mr Captain.”

“You’re welcome.”

It seems, that things had gone well.

“Haa… Anyway, the offer to contact them stands, so think about it.”

“I will… Well, I guess I am curious… I didn’t think I might have even more siblings now…”

“Well, a family like that can’t stay without children. It would have been only a matter of time anyway.”

“I guess it would.”

Karen then turned to me.

“Then again, I already have two little sisters that take all my energy. That’s more than enough for me.”

“... You make it sound like I’m troublesome.”

“Hehehe.”

Her only response was giggling. So she thought I was troublesome…

“... Yumi, you didn’t realise?”

“Captain, I don’t want to hear that from you.”

He was quite difficult himself. At least, according to Mrs Korwen. And he was sometimes overdoing things. Like that stuff with putting us in charge all of a sudden. That was seriously troublesome.

Meanwhile, Karen was still laughing, watching us.

“Haaa… Either way, just tell me if or if not, got that, Karen?”

“Yes, Mr Captain.”

“Good. Then… Ahh, right, there are still a few things I nearly forgot to tell you.”

“Yes?”

“Nn?”

So, something about our trip or Karen’s situation?

“You’ll have to leave tomorrow. You won’t leave in the morning but rather around noon or late noon, depending on it. Also, you’ll be going by wagon.”

“Our wagon or…”

“Your wagon. There’s not much difference if you bring one more along or not. And that way you won’t need to worry about what things to bring along, right?”

“Well, that certainly suits us better…”

Actually, we didn’t need anything to prepare, then.

“Ah, but who will drive it then?”

“Lily volunteered already.”

“Oh, she’ll come along as well?”

“She and Rina both. They asked for permission and there wasn’t any reason to say no.”

Oh, so Rina would come too. Well…

“Did you talk with Rina about the situation?”

“I did, Yumi. I had to make sure she won’t cause a ruckus, after all.”

“I see…”

That was probably how he knew about Karen’s last name, huh…

“Apart from that, you should prepare a door in the fort tomorrow. For the experiment.”

“Nn, will do.”

“Good. Was there anything else I missed? Mmm… No, I don’t think I forgot anything.”

Korwen nodded once as if confirming to himself that he had said everything he wanted to.

“Then, if you two have nothing else, that was all.”

“Nn, I don’t. Sis?”

“I’m good, too.”

“Great.”

He clapped his hands once, putting an end to the discussion.

“Then, get some rest. You’re free for the remainder of the day. And tomorrow morning, you only need to prepare for the trip. So take a good rest.”

“Nn, thank you, Captain.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome as always! Hahaha!”

A good rest… certainly was nice. There were many things to think about, after all. Now even more so than before.

“Sis, let’s go.”

“Yes.”

“Then, good night, Captain.”

“Good Night, Mr Captain.”

“You two as well. Good Night.”

After wishing each other a good night, we left the tent, making for our wagon and our bed.

Rinne

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