Chapter 305: Chapter 289 – Travelers on the Road

“There were some people out there who recognized the authority of no lord, for they belonged to no land. The roads were their home, as they wandered throughout their lives wherever their feet or wagons took them. Often making a living in manners that the local lords might frown upon, many lords disliked these vagabonds, yet despite their efforts, there were always more.

 

For none could fetter a heart that yearned for freedom from everything.” - Eraon Catelis, Leader of a large group of Vagabonds wandering around Alcidea, circa 526 VA.

“Had a bad dream?” asked Aideen when she saw Celia wake up with a rightful expression the next morning. Technically, unliving like them no longer required sleep, though it was good to have some from time to time to rest their minds. Aideen herself rarely slept much by then, as she had adapted to her new reality, but Celia was too new to being unliving to have done so. “Here, eat something. It’ll help you calm down.”

 

Celia gratefully accepted the bowl she was proffered with both hands. Within the wooden bowl was some sort of thick grain porridge, not unlike what she often had for breakfast when she was still in her village. Once she brought a spoonful to her mouth, though, she noticed the gentle flavor of eggs right away, and chewed on a bit of what tasted like meat as well in the same mouthful.

 

That sort of luxury was something she would probably need longer to get used to than killing a person, she thought. The village she lived in was relatively impoverished. Eggs and meat were rarely eaten, outside of festivities. Certainly nobody at her home village - not even the village chief - would be rich enough to make even their breakfast porridge with both at the same time!

 

Much less with fresh meat at that.

 

On the other hand, Aideen seemed to just nonchalantly bring out such things from her storage artifact, itself a luxury Celia could hardly fathom, that was not only absurdly large - the “spare” she had been lent had a larger storage than the small house she and her grandfather lived in back then - but also enchanted to keep whatever was placed inside in a temporal stasis.

 

She heard tales of such things, sure, but to her knowledge those were usually never seen outside the hands of nobility, or very rich merchants who used them to transport highly priced goods that spoil easily. That Aideen had one spoke volumes about her possible background, that Celia was curious about but had not gathered the courage to ask yet.

 

They finished the breakfast before too long, then tidied up their makeshift camp. Aideen had not brought a tent - probably because she had not needed one - but had offered Celia a bedroll and blanket to sleep with last night. She had also kept the fire going, likely more for Celia’s comfort than any need of her own as well. It was a thoughtful gesture Celia was thankful for.

 

“Where are we headed now?” Celia asked once they finished tidying things up and headed out for the road. They had camped for the night a bit deeper into the sparse forest that lined the roadsides than most people would have, probably to avoid complications if they were pursued, she thought.

 

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“I was originally headed straight north, but after meeting you and that last bit of annoyance in town, I’m sort of curious about this Empire you live in. Thinking of taking a walk through its western side before I head north,” said Aideen openly. Her plans were not that fixed and were more flexible, as what she wanted to do was to scout out the surrounding regions in case of potential future troubles. Changing the order on a whim meant little to her.

 

“If you’re thinking of having me guide you, I’m sorry to disappoint. I’ve never been out of this County in my entire life,” said Celia with a downcast look to her face.

 

“No worries about that, never planned on asking you to guide me,” replied Aideen with a reassuring smile. While a guide would be appreciated in some cases, this was one case where she was more interested in seeing things as they were without any other situations changing things up on her behalf. She had been treated as an honored guest when she was in Posuin due to Ginnie’s letter, and while her opinion would probably not change by much without that, she would be less embroiled in the local politics as well. “We’ll just go wherever our feet take us to.”

 

“All right then,” replied Celia with a nod. They soon found the main road once more and resumed their travels. Aideen and Celia had not traveled that fast, as they simply kept the pace most travelers would on their feet. Even if unliving like them needed far less rest and refreshments, Aideen stuck to a normal human pace to account for Celia who was still unused to her situation.

 

The road that led eastwards from Lavinja was rather sparsely traveled those days. They only spotted the occasional traveler from the other direction twice over the morning, while around the late afternoon, a small merchant caravan from the city overtook them in passing.

 

From the merchant caravan they heard of the rumors that apparently had set the city in some turmoil, as the son of the count’s retainer, who was the landlord responsible for the area south of the city, was murdered in broad daylight by some unidentified people. The merchant said that he heard how one of the young noble’s knight-attendants survived, but was in no state to speak as he seemed to be locked into a constant and endless agony.

 

Celia was somewhat uncomfortable when she listened to the gossiping merchant, though she kept that discomfort from reaching her face. Aideen on the other hand, just chatted happily with the man as if she had nothing to do with the matter and was simply interested in exchanging tales. As if she was not the very person responsible for most of the matter at hand.

 

When the merchant offered them some hospitality for the night, Aideen had not refused, so they camped together with the merchant’s little caravan that night, and continued to exchange some tales with the happily gossiping man.

 

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