Chapter 36: 15. starting the path to ember (2)

He watched the horses settle in silence. Leko was finally leaving. After three entire months, he was going out and seeing this new world. The Duke tried to get him to take a magic portal, but Leko wanted to explore. How was he going to do that if he magicked there? The argument, which hadn’t been an argument but them staring each other down, had gone for an hour before Friar stepped in and got the Duke to agree.

“Leko.”

The unstable voice had Leko turning to see the family behind him. He nodded at them and stepped into Friar's arms to give her a hug. It was hard to say no to the teary-eyed and puffy-faced woman.

Turning away from Friar a bit, Leko looked down at the two younger siblings. Bilair stood straight, his expression blank, which for a five-year-old was impressive. Moir hid behind the Duke’s legs with her narrowed eyes locked on him. Her body twisted in such a way that she could bolt with short notice. Leko hid his amusement at her antics. He sunk down and made sure to meet their eyes.

“Do you want me to bring you anything when I come back?”

Bilair jerked, and Moir frowned.

“Sword, Moir wants a sword,” she demanded. Leko nodded and turned his eyes to Bilair. The younger boy searched his face. The kid bit his lip and shifted from side to side for a few seconds.

“I want to be a spell crafter,” He muttered. Leko furrowed his brows in thought while nodding at the reply.

He’d be lying if he didn’t say it impressed him.

Spell crafting was hard. In fact, it was even rarer than healers. Learning spells was far easier than creating them. Not only was it a hard ability to earn, but it’s even harder to get things that you need for it, books or artifacts. It wasn’t a simple request. Leko mentally went over the map that they showed him for their trip and the places they would be going through. He could manage a minor detour. It would add a few days to the trip, but he wasn’t pressed for time.

Leko stood up and gave Friar another hug. He glanced at Mohara as he turned to the Duke. Her impassive gaze felt like a sting on his skin. He tried somewhat in the last three months to be social with her, but it got him nowhere. At least Moir didn’t bolt as soon as she saw him anymore. She waited a few seconds before leaving him in the dust.

“Since you’re offering to bring things, I want you to bring yourself home, in one piece,” The Duke said. Leko faltered as he met the burning gaze of the older man. He swallowed and ignored his dry throat.

“You’ll barely notice me gone, father,” He joked.

“We’ll notice,” Friar assured him.

Shifting at the looks from the adults, he excused himself and left to climb onto his horse. There were no carriages, for long distances they weren’t the right option. You could improve them with mana, but for that, they needed a mid-level mage.

“Captain,” Leko greeted the red-haired knight.

“We’re ready to leave, Young Master.”

“Then let’s go.”

The trip was going to take about three months. Their first stop was Lecorreno. A two-hundred-mile trip that should take them about ten days. Horses, unlike cars, could only trot so fast and for so long. They’d end up with problems if he tried to force anything.

He worked it out on an average of twenty miles per day, not the most a horse could do, but not the least, either. Leko found it as a nice, safe estimation. It would take them five days per hundred meters, thus ten days before they’d reach Lecorreno.

The Caretaker for the horses was a hunter. The Duke’s way of sneaking another guard in, but Leko didn’t comment. With the man’s mana, he could take better care of the horses than a regular caretaker.

Leko assumed they would be traveling an average of five or six hours each day. They'll then stop to let the horses rest until the next morning. Training would start after they settle for camp. He’d use about four hours to sleep. Spending the remaining fourteen hours training and hunting.

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Glancing around, Leko analyzed the guards that would be around him for the foreseeable future. None of them had faces or names he recognized. Which meant that if they were useful, he would keep them even after kicking Lance to the curb.

The Duke assigned six guards in total. Lance, and five others.

There was the Lio, blond hair, slim build, and playful. The man kept trying to flirt with Faier. Leko wished him luck In because Kurio looked like he was close to losing his head. He avoided Leko, barely glanced in his direction.

Tirik, one of the two women amongst the knights, was flinty and often sarcastic. Leko got the idea that she was not fond of him pretty early on. Especially with the number of annoyed glances she shot in his direction. Her hair was cut in a pixie bob and colored a soft auburn. Pairing that with her whiskey-colored eyes and round face. She was a pretty woman.

Venas, the strong quiet type, protective too. Green hair, wide build, and tall, very, very tall. His eyes kept flicking between the surrounding area and the different people in the party. Leko hadn’t heard him say a single word since they started traveling. He didn’t care. As long as the man was good at his job, he could keep to himself all he liked.

Ran long pink hair tied up in dual buns with bangs framing her face, fit and small. Scary, she carried what Leko considered a butcher's sword on her back. The thing was gigantic. She made dark jokes and crowed about killing off bandits. She was also obsessed with red. Leko snuck an amused glance at Lance with his stiff smile as Ran serenaded him.

Zerin, a mother-hen. Pale blue shoulder-length hair, average build. He smiled a lot, usually when looking at the party. He had a soft voice and a sweet tooth. If the party rode in silence for too long, He’d break it with a few well-placed probes.

The last member of their party was the caretaker for the horses, Hunid. Side-swept orange hair with an undercut. He was serious, but soft with the animals. Formal with Leko, but casual with the others.

Leko’s eyes flicked to Faier and Kurio with a pouting Lio trailing behind them. He’d need to get Calen at least two new party members. There was no way he was giving up Kurio or Faier to the bastard. They were his. Maybe he could work on getting these knights stronger and shoving them off on Calen with Lance in exchange for his two servants.

He turned his attention to the sun. They’d been traveling for roughly five hours and it should be getting dark in about two more.

“Let’s set up camp for the night,” Leko called out.

Lance frowned at him before looking at the sky. He nodded and ordered the knights to stop. Leko held back a huff and slid off his horse. He patted the mane and smiled at the beautiful animal.

“Thanks for the ride girl, take a good rest,” He murmured.

Leko left the horse in Hunid’s care as he helped the others set up camp.

“Young master, you don’t have to,” Kurio protested. Leko looked up from the cozy tent he was setting up and stared at his butler, confused.

“I know how to do it. I’m not going to break it,” He huffed. Leko went back to work and ignored the eyes on him. You’d swear they thought he was going to tare everything apart instead of setting it up.

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“Hah,” Lance glanced at Tirik. “A noble setting up a camp. Here I thought I’d seen it all,” she snorted.

Lance turned his attention back to his own work. Leko was an enigma. In the last three months that Lance had been training the younger man, he’s learned not to expect normal reactions. For a man raised as a noble, his reactions to things were different. His words were always kind even though he sounded cold. He didn’t play around or treat the servants like they were lesser. He worked harder than Lance’s own knights and barely slept. He somehow gained the Healing House and opened it for the slums to use. He was resourceful enough to keep the word of it from spreading to the lower and upper areas. The slums received food that was cooked and shared. He played with the urchins and let them sleep inside the Healer's House. There were whispers about a few desolated houses in the slums being restored. The Duke knew nothing of it as far as Lance could tell.

He flicked his eyes to Leko, who set up the tents like he’s done it a hundred times before. Lance knew Leko had never left Baira unless it was for a noble meeting, nothing he’d need to set up a tent for. He watched the man's hands click the pieces together with no hesitation.

It wasn’t his place to question, so Lance dropped it and went back to work.

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