Chapter 14: The chase for the carriage
Time passed safely, after the princess finished eating her food. The rest of Xavier’s party moved on along with Viole, Luckily though, we were visiting the same city on our way so we stuck together to form a band. This way it was much safer to travel than being alone in the wilderness.
And it was good enough for Xavier to take the reels of our carriage for us while Viole stayed back inside the carriage. The rest of his party stayed as escorts for the merchant. He permitted the two on our carriage to stay behind with us.
In this free time, I was sitting in front of the carriage while Noelle was chatting with her new friends Alexis and Viole on the back. While Xavier was reeling the reins, I was creating a scabbard for my other sword.
In truth, now that I have gathered the swords I created in the basement, the sword that my father created is now my 3rd. I’m carrying 3 swords on me right now, First is the sharp one, The other is the one I grabbed from the basement and lastly, You know already.
The first sword is the only one that doesn’t have a scabbard. Since I had created this in a hurry, I never had the time to make one sadly. So I’m borrowing the tough leather that was given to me and am using it as a makeshift scabbard.
Silver like the moon, Smooth as a calm lake and beautiful as a pearl, Hence I named it Silver. It was kind of dumb of me to name such an item sloppily, But in the future, once this is complete I’ll make sure to come up with a name befitting for this thing.
Well, for now, it is tucked beneath the chair we are sitting on for safekeeping. While the other two is hanged behind my buttock with a thin chain, as both were light and small, But it is long and I’m not used to drawing such a blade with such a short reach (Arms) so I contemplated and placed it behind my back with the handle on my left so I could draw it easily with my right hand.
Speaking of which, I only received beginner swordsmanship and I absolutely know nothing about wielding a sword other than swinging it. With a sigh, I rubbed the long sword as if it was a curse.
“Does Miss Estella know how to fight?”
“Frankly no, I have 0 experience and I was mostly self-taught”
“Do you want a light spar with me then? “
“Can I learn something from that?”
“Yes! My grandfather once said that you won’t know until you try. So it is best to test it now before it’s too late!”
“Such straightforward thinking, well I don’t hate it either way. So let's do that later? “
It has only been a few hours since we departed this morning, and I don’t think we can afford to waste our precious travel time. I also agreed with his proposal since I don’t know much about using a sword let alone techniques in real combat. As I have also said, I have literally 0 experience in combat since I was only a blacksmith that had too much time on their hands a week ago.
“Don’t worry, you’re going to the swaps, right? On the way there, there is a village that holds a grand festival, and of course, there is also a sparring match of sorts. There is no harm in participating in it, right? “
I don’t know, I’m not confident enough, But a festival eh? Having been holed up in the workshop for 4years since my father’s death, I wasn’t able to attend such festivities in my life since I was a little kid.
“Sigh, I’ll see if can. If not, just go do it yourselves”
“ There will be no next time”
“Time is eternal”
“But it is epithermal”
Both had smug looks on their faces then laughed. While the two were happily talking to themselves, the three inside were quietly staring on their backs and listening to their chit-chat unbeknownst to the two.
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Lunch came already as the sun had set high up in the sky. Birds circled above the carriage and a big wall was seen from the distance. The walls themselves were lodge in the mountains that acted as a natural protection to the beasts inside. A grandiose cobblestone pathway had replaced the gravel road and the ride towards the new city was stable.
Hearing the words that came out of Xavier’s mouth, the city was named Jorngir based on the dwarves that lived inside of it. Dwarves, as I have read on the books from my father’s collection they were a species that lived on the mountains where minerals such as iron and magic ores were commonly found.
They are masters of the forge and are so proficient in their works that Jorngir is sometimes considered as the heart of weapons. Well, that’s that, But the reason why we stopped by this city isn’t just to rest up but it's also for my own self propose, To learn more methods of said crafting.
The rest of the party voted whether to eat lunch or go on as it is since our current destination was only an hour away. Since it was a hassle to continue on with them, I grabbed the reins from Xavier’s hands and went on ahead. The rest of the party along with the merchant didn’t have much of a choice either way so they followed along.
I offered some bread to the people that currently boarded my carriage, Noelle, the princess and Viole. Viole didn’t have time to be making decisions for the party so she just slept on my carriage as Noelle cared for her. Xavier on the other hand was unfortunate enough to be left off on the road since he wanted to go take a bathroom break. That was when I took the reins from him. that's why he left so urgently.
The rest from my carriage all laughed at Xavier who came running at a high speed just to be stumbled by a rock. Upping our chase, I sped up the horse a little and the merchant also did the same, It was nice teasing Xavier as he had a hard time catching up on the way.
Before we knew it, we had apparently arrived at the foot of Jorngir just like that, It looks like not even an hour had passed and we were already at our destination. I guess this is also due to us speeding up a little bit when we were teasing Xavier. Anyways, Merchant carriages get to enter free of charge, but if you’re an escort you have to pay the fee and show your tags.
Luckily the merchant was a kind guy and pretended as if we were a part of his company so we could enter fee-less. I thanked the merchant with a bow and Noelle also copied me, The merchant felt kind of responsible so he helped us just for a little bit for the sense of security he had in our little time.
“Thank you Mr. Merchant “
“Thank you Mr. merchant”
“hahaha, Don’t mind it. Seeing you two, are you two sisters perhaps? I also feel bad for leaving out girls behind so just take this as an act of kindness, and it was fun too so thanks”
Hearing what he said, both I and Noelle looked at each other. The age of this body has reverted back to 16, but the mind is still 4years older than that. So both me and Noelle were on the same height and almost looked the same since the hairstyle was still the one the maids made for the both of us.
Not that I mind, But Noelle's eyes were sparkling with joy like a light show. It was even visible enough in hers eyes, so it kind of made me feels a little bit jerk-y for still lying on her.
Anyway, the last to be inspected was Xavier who had just arrived prior to our arrival with a haggard look. Viole scolded the poor guy and dragged him inside of the city, the guards who were on duty looked away with a whistle.
