“Don't you have spies that can do that kind of thing?”

Everyone sighed when they heard Aleph saying that. That was a pretty rude thing to say, but it couldn't be helped…

“Espionage among clans is forbidden.”

“But it isn't like it doesn't happen… I guess you wouldn't do that, but others would.”

“We are a clan of warriors, and we need to be honorable and follow the law.”

Even if the law was stupid… that was what Aleph wanted to say, but he avoided it since nothing good would come from it. Still, it looked like Hei wanted to do something similar but less unlawful.

“For starters, I want you all to negotiate with a certain merchant in the South about some metals that we need. You guys will have to buy and transport it as well, so you will have to carry quite the sum of money. Bandits might become an issue, even though I didn't pass this information to anyone.”

It made sense that Hei wanted a group of people that he could trust in that task, but they were all kids, with the exception of Edea, who was eighteen. They didn't know a thing about commerce either… it was bound to happen that they would be ripped off.

“Don't worry. You are going to take the right amount and the same amount of metals that we buy every six months. You will just have to convince the merchant to sell the same amount for the right price. It is fine if you all fail a bit; it will be a good experience.”

“Captain, when should we depart, and how far away is the destination?”

“Three days would be a good time for you all to prepare, and the trip should last six days going in. Returning should be more than six days, perhaps seven, with the cargo. I would advise negotiating for five days to convince the other side of your offer. It isn't the right time of the year that we buy these, so he will try to sell a bit more expensive, but he won't go as far as trying anything outlandish when we are preparing for war.”

A mission that would last more than three weeks… Aleph felt like sighing just because he was starting to make some progress with his training. It would be difficult to follow the same routine while traveling, even more so when no one bothered him when he was alone and working. In any case, Heirina soon got up and then saluted.

“We gladly accept the mission, Captain. We shall not fail.”

“All right, I will be expecting good results.”

That seemed like the type of job that would make sense, given that they were preparing for war. Still, Aleph felt that something was amiss. He couldn't pinpoint what it was for now, but he could tell that he wasn't mistaken.

“I will prepare the vehicle and the horses that we will use. You guys can focus on your own preparations. After three days, I will wait in front of the training grounds at sunrise. Don't be late.”

Everyone nodded and then began to disperse. Staying three weeks away from home was quite the thing to do… fortunately, they were heading in the opposite direction of the trouble that they faced before, so they probably won't find the same kind of issues as before.

“All right, see you guys in three days.”

“Don't be late.”

After saying that, Irlan and Kaitrine left Aleph.

For the next three days, Aleph had to hear the farmer complain about how life was going to be tough while he was away… at that point in life, Aleph was considering asking for a raise or at least changing jobs. There was only so much whining that he could take.

Still, he had gotten used to that routine too much to change it… besides, it was very efficient. All the work and training he had done in two weeks made him improve his parameters and generation four times.

  Health: 690/690

  

  Magic: 200/200

  

  Stamina: 580/580

  

  Strength: 37

  

  Vigor: 32

  

  Precision: 26

  

  Wisdom: 10

  

  Resolve: 10

  

  Traits:  Regeneration Lv 47

  

 

“I guess it can't be helped… that kind of lifestyle is what I need to keep improving steadily. Besides, drinking that much milk everyday sure made me full of energy.”

Sometimes, even Aleph got tired of all the hard work that he was putting in. Still, recently, he never felt burned out… even without taking breaks, he felt like his limits were endless.

When the mission day arrived, Aleph woke up two hours before sunrise and headed toward the training grounds. That place was pretty good for training his legs, so he tried to use that new technique and improve it a bit. It would be better if he could learn how to use it everywhere, in all terrains, but that would be difficult in hard terrains while using boots. He would have to get barefoot since the boots wouldn't last for long. On the other hand, he would hurt his feet.

As expected, doing that on a terrain of soft grass was the best… Aleph was able to use the technique three times in a row. The range also improved by twenty percent. It wasn't a matter of finesse. It was something that he had to pull it off with his own control over his body.

After a bit, Irlan and Kaitrine showed up. Both of them rubbed their eyes to get rid of the sleepiness, but soon, they woke up when they saw that Aleph had brought his iron club.

“That is a pretty nasty-looking weapon. I can't believe that you can actually wield that; it is longer than you.”

“I can't use it yet, Aside from training.”

Kaitrine raised her eyebrow at how Aleph was planning to fight without a melee weapon if something happened. Still, she didn't ask since Heirina and Edea showed up. Much to everyone's surprise, Edea had a long bow with her. Behind them, there was a single long wagon being pulled by four horses. That was the kind of thing that certainly would attract bandits, but they needed that much to carry the stuff that they were going to bring.

“This won't give us much privacy, so I am not a fan… but we will have to get used to it. Get in.”

Heirina wanted to drive the vehicle as much as possible to keep her mind busy, and after those three hopped on, she began to drive it. Aleph was on the back of the wagon, keeping a close watch on their backs and for possible pursuers, but it was too soon for that.

As the group began to move south, the sun began to rise as soon as they left the town. It looked like Irlan and Kaitrine didn’t sleep that much last night since they were already dozing off. The cold wind of the morning sure was relaxing, but not that much. Edea was full-on alert, but as usual, it looked like she wanted to kill time by talking.

“Didn’t you buy new ones to throw at the enemies?”

“Iron balls? Yeah. I asked a blacksmith to make new ones.”

Edea looked like she wanted to ask where they were, so Aleph sighed and took them from a small bag on his belt. She frowned when she saw that they were on the size of marbles, but they were as heavy as the other ones.

“I asked the guy to make them as small as possible, it cost me quite a bit of money, so I am not going to throw them without planning to recover them somehow.”

That could put the entire group in a bind, but Aleph was serious about money and the value of his hard work. Those weren’t arrows that could be easily mass-produced, after all. Aleph looked at the bow on her back and wondered if she could actually use it. Maybe she had some talent and polished it up in the last few weeks. Maybe she had a trait that would help her with that. She looked like she wanted him to ask about it, but Aleph just looked away in the distance… it was too much of a hassle.

“Give up, Edea. You will find brick walls that are better conversation partners than Aleph.”

Heirina had a point, and Aleph couldn’t deny it. Still, it was fine since he wasn’t training to become a diplomat or anything like that. Putting that aside, they were moving quite slowly, so he wondered if Heirina was dozing off as well. Still, it looked like she was being mindful of the sleepy heads.

In the middle of the morning, they woke up feeling refreshed and then Heirina began to pick up the pace. All of a sudden, Edea suddenly got up from the floor of the wagon and then grabbed her bow and nocked an arrow while looking behind them. Aleph followed her line of sight and soon found a rabbit jumping over the path they had just passed, and without hesitation, she fired the arrow and pierced the stomach of the rabbit… she was skilled, and it looked like she had been waiting for a chance to show that off. Heirina nodded as she looked over her shoulder.

“Good shot. Considering how much Aleph eats, we should start stacking up food.”

“I already solved that problem.”

 

The author here, everyone. Thanks for reading the book. I hope that you have fun reading the book as much as I have writing it. If you want to join our discord, this is the link: https://discord.gg/AQsYm99A

I also have a Patreon for those who want to read ahead. Don't worry; I will post a new chapter every day here, but I will be posting two on the Patreon. There are currently forty-five chapters ahead there. Thank you for your patience, and have a nice day! 

Thank you for your continuous support, Matthew, Martin Jedlák, and Aaron N Ewoldt!