As the caravan awakened from their slumber, people arose once more, most putting their tents and sleeping gear into their own small spatial spaces, packing the rest onto the supply carts the caravan had.
With the morning wind blowing, a more heavy wind that began to bring a chill to everyone’s bones, and the sun rising in the sky, the caravan set off once more.
Day after the day the caravan traveled, through rain, through rare heat, through rougher terrain. Traveling, they fended off and annihilated several attacks from beasts, saving a few other caravans as well. Throughout the journey, during the rare rest days, everyone trained together, bonding a fair amount while making sure their skills didn’t rust for the upcoming challenges.
Sunrise after sunrise, sunset after sunset, day after day the caravan continued on, passing the border between countries. Even as they traveled, they bumped into several other adventurers heading off towards Chelsea’s invitational, letting them join the caravan as they continued on.
The caravan expanded as they got closer and closer to the destination city, the adventurers in the caravan now consisted of the original eight along with Nao, Alix, Gwen, and Clayton. Moreover, since most people knew each other, everyone trained together, and everyone was united towards a common goal, bonding was fast and friendships blossomed.
In particular however, Kaitlyn and Rachel continued to grow closer, their friendship unhampered by their first heart to heart talk, in fact making their bond just a little stronger. As the days marched on, they had a few more night escapades, spending most of the days on the carriage talking with the others hanging out as well.
Trundling on, the caravan, after a long but not treacherous journey, made it to their target city, the trading city of Mariken.
Coming up on the city of Mariken, many members of the caravan who had never made the journey before let out sighs of amazement.
“This... this...” Oliver murmured, speechless as his mouth hung agape, “the architecture here is... so reminiscent of northern Europe.”
“I mean... I still prefer the charming aesthetic and the weather, of course,” Josephine began, pulling her jacket around her as snow coated the area around them, “This place is so cold it's unbelievable, but it gives off a really charming vibe...”
Others murmuring in agreement, the caravan made its way to the expansive trading city. Mariken, the largest city of Chelsea’s northern territory, was home to a myriad of people, there were rich merchants, famed adventurers, soldiers, and members from the government.
Beyond this, the city seemed to stretch on for a while, from their vantage point the caravan could see the more affluent districts along with areas such as the slums, home to people from every walk of life. Yet, right now, the charming city made out of brick and stone was coated in a layer of snow, being the largest and second most northern city in the duchy.
Making their way forward, as the caravan got closer and closer they could see the bustling environment of the city. As the capital of the duchy, Kaneth prepared to fight off the monster wave, Mariken was also sent into a frenzy, the commerce bustling as large amounts of supplies were in a constant flow towards the city in the north.
Watching the process of the entire caravan having to be checked into the city, Oliver, leaning back against the carriage seat tapped his chin, “So... the country we’re in is called the Eustass Republic, but most of the time it seems like there are permanent rulers of this country... So how does that work really?”
“True, that doesn’t seem very republic like,” Damien agreed, a sudden deep mystification surfacing on his face as his brows furrowed and his movements slowed, “Hey Kaitlyn, do you know?”
Still sleepy, having just woken up from a nap, Kaitlyn shook her head while rubbing an eye, brushing her messy hair aside before pointing to Jayce, Sasha, and Dexter.
Getting the attention of Dexter as Jayce and Sasha seemed to be discussing several important matters with an advisor from their court, Oliver then repeated his question, “Hey Dexter? Do you know why it’s called the Eustass Republic when it... doesn’t seem very republic-like?”
Thinking for a second, Dexter, with an amused expression, surmised, “Well, there are elected officials who are in charge of the day to day workings, really, of the country. However, the voting system isn’t the best, they try to get every person to vote, and each person to only vote once, but obviously it's quite difficult to regulate.”
“I see...” Josephine nodded along having just tuned in, letting out a sigh while being reminded of the fact that there wasn’t any fancy technology in this world, “So it is a republic? How long are the elected periods?”
“Hmm...” Dexter thought out loud, pausing for a second, “Not really a republic I’d say. First, I’ll just answer, yeah there’s a 5 year election period I believe for most positions? Some of the higher positions are slightly longer while the lower positions are shorter. However, remember how I said ‘day to day workings earlier’?”
“You did mention that, yeah, the officials are in charge of the day to day matters of the country,” Oliver answered just a second before Damien could, getting a subtle jab in the leg.
“Mhm, so on a larger scale I wouldn't say that the country is a republic then,” Dexter explained, his hands moving as he gave details, “So there’s a very secluded and small family of phoenixes that rule this country. They’re kinda the monarchs of this country, the country was founded in worship of them originally after all.”
Wide-eyed, the four otherworlders each sucked in some air, much to the amusement of the other adventurers that had also begun to listen into the conversation. Coughing, recovering after hearing about the existence of phoenixes for the first time, Rachel, excitement gleaming in her eyes, asked, “So... could you tell us a bit more about these phoenixes?”
Faced with four excited otherworlders, Dexter laughed, having seen a much younger side to them during the recent journey, “Of course! The phoenix family lives in the capital city in a place called the Palace of Light. Overall, this place has two sections, the inner section where the phoenix family lives and an outer section where most governmental work happens. Additionally, this family is really low-key, although they don’t hide themselves, they don’t come into the public light very often, the most active they were was the war against the Demon King where they were on the front lines fighting...”
“Also, the phoenix family is quite nice, they’re all quite... warm, you could say,” Dexter grinned, chuckling at his own pun while everyone in the carriage let out a groan, “Honestly, I can tell you more later when I think of it... but there’s not much to them.”
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