At the request of the Holy Church, more than just an invitation for the Hero, we were headed to the Holy Capital Fahn in the Fandora Theocracy, located north across the country.
How troublesome… Well, the distance is only about the same as going from Melrose to Dandole, but crossing two borders and going to a land with different customs seems more stressful than I thought.
“Well then, I’m counting on you, Feld.”
“Understood.”
A week had passed since we departed from the Royal Capital… and we still hadn’t left the Kingdom of Claydale.
Neither Aria nor I had reached level 6 Dark Magic yet, so I truly appreciated the days when we could casually use Spatial Transfer.
As I was thinking about this, Aria, who had returned from the driver’s seat, looked at me with a fixed gaze.
“Don’t seek casualness at the cost of your life.”
“…Could you please stop reading my mind so casually?”
My caretaker is truly excellent.
Dolton said that the reason Aria and Feld were taking turns as drivers was because this trip was different from the last one.
Apparently, the butler at Dolton’s mansion usually arranges the driver and accommodations, but this time, since we didn’t know what might happen, he was staying behind.
So they were taking turns driving, but it was inevitable that I, let alone the leader Dolton, was excluded. I can’t even ride a horse.
“Last time” seemed to refer to when we went to the large-scale Dungeon on the remote island. What was different from that time was that Viro, the scout, had become a Shadow Knight and retired from the “Rainbow Sword,” and I, the Magician, and Jesha, the warrior, had joined as replacement members.
Dolton’s “Rainbow Sword” high-speed carriage had considerably more space inside than a noble’s carriage, but with the muscle-bound Feld and Jesha inside at the same time, I felt a sense of pressure. Has the room temperature risen a little?
Even so, we could move much faster than in a normal carriage.
As a magical tool, it used Magic Stones to self-propel to some extent, and it was sturdy and had a huge Shadow Storage, so it might have cost more than the royal family’s carriage.
We’re heading to a place where we don’t know what will happen, and even though we’re leaving the butler behind, we’re using such an expensive carriage. It might end up being scrapped, you know?
Miranda answered my simple question.
“They’re going to make a new one with the Elemental Dragon reward. Right, Dolton?”
“Well, yeah. If you have money, it’s better to use it than hoard it. Besides, we have more personnel now, so we want to have some leeway.”
Dolton added to Miranda’s words.
Elemental Dragon, huh… I’m not very interested, but it seems like it was tough. Including the discovery of Elena, it seems like we received a reward large enough to live off of.
“If you’re going to remake it, could you at least add a washbasin?”
“…Are you planning to make it a house or something?”
That would be nice too. It would be great if there was a toilet as well, but is that too much to ask?
“Snow.”
“What is it, Aria?”
“Can’t you do something with the application of Shadow Storage?”
“You’re asking for the impossible.”
Are you telling me to research that? Magic is certainly my specialty, but I didn’t expect to be told to do something so outrageous.
Also, please stop reading my mind so casually.
About two weeks later, we arrived at the border with the neighboring Duchy of Gordle.
About twenty days from the Royal Capital, huh? It should normally take more than a month, so it’s still fast, but I’m already getting bored.
The carriage was moving slowly just before the border. I heard from the inn town just before that it takes time for Adventurers to cross the border.
From the perspective of the general public, Free Citizen Adventurers without citizenship are no different from ruffians. People who easily leave the country and try to earn money there aren’t even citizens.
In other words, they’re suspicious, so it takes time to review them when crossing the border.
“Pass.”
“The Holy Church!?”
But when we showed that it was at the request of the Holy Church, the soldier, who had seemed displeased, hurriedly cleared the way for us.
The Holy Church. The largest denomination on this continent, which came from another continent with the Mersenians over a thousand years ago.
The authority of its name is immense, but I sighed because we were about to go to its headquarters.
“Hey, what kind of country is this ‘Duchy of Gordle’?”
Jesha, who was bored like me, said that, and Feld, who was next to him and also bored, recalled his knowledge as a former noble and began to speak.
“Let’s see… It’s a country with a small territory but many craftsmen.”
To summarize his story, it’s an impression of a country that’s next to the Fandora Theocracy, so it hasn’t been absorbed by a major power.
Its territory and population are less than a tenth of the major power Kingdom of Claydale, but even in the era when Claydale merged with Melrose and Dandole, the reason why it wasn’t targeted by Claydale or the nearby Cerleece Kingdom was because it paid tribute to the Theocracy with its special products.
Livestock farming and agriculture. Carpets made from high-quality wool and fragrant fruit wine made from high-quality grapes are treated as the highest quality products used in Holy Church rituals.
In other words, the Holy Church objected to this country going to war with other countries and losing its craftsmen, which is why it has survived.
The Holy Church has enough “power” to restrain the movements of nations. That means there are a lot of believers, but when the maximum number increases, both good and bad things increase.
To use a rough analogy, if there are only a hundred people, the range of good and evil is only a hundred. But if there are a thousand people, the range also becomes a thousand.
Even if there are many pure people among the believers and priests of the Holy Church, it holds as much darkness as it does purity.
…I wonder which side the Hero-sama is on? I’m looking forward to it.
We don’t have any particular business in the Duchy of Gordle, so we’ll be passing through almost directly. All we’ll do is enjoy the famous fruit wine and grilled lamb ribs from the stalls.
If you go north for about three weeks, there’s the capital, and if you go west from there, there’s the Cerleece Kingdom, and if you go northeast, there’s the Fandora Theocracy, so this country is also a trading point for the three countries, including Claydale.
Therefore, no matter how pastoral a country it is, if the flow of people increases, there will be those who prey on its simplicity.
“Dolton, bandits.”
Miranda, who was driving, stopped the carriage and called out from the small window while we were on the way from the capital to the Theocracy.
“Have the young ones take care of it.”
Dolton said that without getting up from his seat, and I stopped Jesha and Aria, who were about to move.
“I’ll go. I’m bored.”
Aria sat back down as if sighing at my smiling face, but Jesha showed his dissatisfaction.
“I’m bored too, you know?”
“Oh, do you want to come with me? But I’m sorry if I accidentally kill you.”
When I said that without any remorse, Jesha made a face as if he had bitten into a bitter bug and glared at Aria.
“Aria…”
“Give up.”
I’m glad you understand♪
“Snow is going out?”
When I went outside the carriage alone, Miranda, who was holding a bow and guarding the surroundings, looked slightly taken aback.
“Don’t burn the forest down.”
“Lightning doesn’t burn things easily, so it’s okay.”
…Probably.
When I concentrated a little and searched for the enemy, I certainly felt a suspicious presence.
Mira judged it to be “bandits.” But…
“There’s something ‘strange’ there.”
“Eh…”
When Mira frowned at my murmur and searched for the “presence” further away, she also seemed to have caught a strange presence, and her expression changed slightly.
“It’s decreasing…”
Yes… The presence that I initially caught as “bandits” suddenly began to decrease.
Faint screams could be heard from afar.
“Hee…”
It looks like it’ll be a good way to kill time.
Will the existence that appeared be an enemy or an ally?
What did Snow see there…?