The next morning, a voice flowed through the air and reached the shelter. "Lord, wake up, we need to go traveling!" Inside, a man in noble clothes slept peacefully. He was young, well-built, and had a good height. It was Lucan. He heard the voice, slowly opened his eyes, and saw the sunlight coming into his home. After fully waking up, he stood up and walked outside. He knew it was Kenny's voice.
As soon as he stepped out, he saw Kenny standing there with an excited look on his face. Seeing that Lucan had come out, Kenny greeted him with a bow, and Lucan returned the gesture.
"Kenny, are the preparations complete?" Lucan asked while washing his face. "Can we go now, or do we need some more time?" Kenny, holding a cloth, handed it to Lucan, and Lucan used it to wipe his face.
Just then, the system screen appeared in front of Lucan.
[You have 35 hours left to complete the quest]
As soon as this appeared, the good look on Lucan's face turned grim. He instantly fixed his clothes and said to Kenny, "Kenny, go and call the others who will be coming with us. We are going now. There is no need to wait for anything. And do it fast."
Kenny heard this and stopped for a second, but then he ran to call the others. As Kenny was calling them, Lucan walked toward the carriage.
He took a piece of meat from his inventory, a good place to store items that would otherwise rot. He walked quickly and soon reached the carriage.
There, Marcus was already at the front, handling the horse. It looked like he would be the one to drive the carriage. Marcus saw Lucan and greeted him with a nod.
Lucan also nodded and said to Marcus, "Marcus, is everything prepared? Can we go now, or do you need to prepare something else?"
Marcus replied, "No, sir. I don't think there is anything else we need to prepare. We can go now if you wish," Marcus said with a bit of humor to lighten the mood.
"Then let's go as soon as Kenny and Ronan arrive," Lucan said.
"Yes, sir," Marcus replied to Lucan's order.
They waited for a few seconds, then saw Kenny coming with Ronan. All the others were there, too. They must have come to see them off.
Lucan was the first to step into the carriage. The wood creaked faintly as he settled himself inside.
Kenny and Ronan climbed in after him, their movements quick. Marcus sat at the front, holding the reins tightly. He gave them a pull, and Chetak let out a sharp snort.
The others gathered near the carriage raised their voices all at once.
"Come back soon, Lord Lucan!"
"And Ronan!" It was Elara's voice.
"And Marcus!" Elias said this.
"And Kenny!" The voice came from the four who were related to Kenny.
Their shouts carried across the area, clear and loud. Lucan turned his head, watching their faces. He waved his hand, and Marcus flicked the reins again.
The carriage began to move. The wheels rolled over the dirt, steady. The fence they had built together not long ago came closer, and then the carriage crossed it with a low rumble.
Lucan leaned slightly, looking back through the opening of the carriage. Their hands were still raised, but with every passing second, they became smaller. Faces blurred into shapes, and colors faded until they were nothing more than outlines.
Inside the carriage, silence settled for a while. Kenny tapped his foot against the floor, excited for the trip. Ronan checked the note he had, making sure it wasn't left behind. It was Lucan who broke the silence. His voice was low, but it carried the weight of a lord.
"So, does anyone know where we will be going? I only know some of the states besides my own. Does anyone here know which states have a border with Elysian?"
They all thought for a few seconds. Then Marcus, who was holding the reins of the horse, said, "Sir Lucan, I know the states that border Elysian. To the northeast is Lumeris. It also shares a border with the Cursed Lands, just like Elysian. Then, if we go north, there is Artheris, and below it is Sylvanaya, which also has a border with us and the Cursed Lands."
"I see. The names of these states are exactly what I heard when I came here. So now we know the nearby states. But which state should we go to? There needs to be a market for buying items," Lucan said this to all of them.
"Lord, you said you came here crossing some states. Was there any market on your way? There must have been a market that you either didn't see or just happened to go past," Kenny said with a new idea. Kenny coming with them was probably a good idea; he had a great mind that could solve some of Lucan's problems.
Marcus thought, 'Is Kenny really that intelligent? If someone were to ask me why I didn't have that idea, I don't know what I'd say.'
Ronan thought, 'Lord Lucan did a good thing by letting Kenny come with us.'
"Hmm… if you put it like that, then, I didn't see a market, but I did hear some talk from inside the carriage that there is a big market in the Artheris state's city called Vaishali," Lucan said after thinking for a second.
Ronan heard it and instantly said to Lucan, "Lord, if it's Vaishali, then it's in the northwest direction. It's also in a corner of the state, and from there, Artheris has three state borders. So the location of the market is a good one; all the people from the border states come there."
"If it's like this, then we just need to ask people for Vaishali, and in a few hours, we will be reaching there, right?" Lucan said and looked at all of them. They all nodded their heads.
They all now understood what they needed to do, so they just started chatting. But after a few minutes, Kenny, who was talking with Ronan, looked at Lucan and saw that his lord was closing and opening his eyes.
Lucan was sleepy; it looked like he hadn't had a good night's sleep. Seeing this, Kenny realized that Lucan wanted to sleep but felt he needed to be awake for any problems that might happen because he was the lord.
"Lord," Lucan didn't hear it.
"Lord…" Kenny said in a high voice that Ronan and Marcus heard, but Lucan did not.
"Lord…" Kenny said and also placed his hand on Lucan's legs, shaking them so he could wake up. This time, Lucan heard it and looked left and right, seeing that Kenny's eyes were on him.
"What happened, Kenny?" Lucan said, yawning and rubbing his eyes.
"Lord, you looked sleepy, so I wanted to tell you that you can sleep for a few hours. When the market is in sight, I will wake you up, Lord," Kenny said to Lucan. With that, Lucan looked at the others.
"Lord, you can sleep. I will make sure we are headed in the right direction," Marcus said, voicing his thoughts.
"Yes, Lord, we will take care of the way. You can sleep for some hours," Ronan also said. Now Lucan didn't say anything because he knew he needed some sleep. Leaning on the side, he closed his eyes and slept, now only waking up after some hours.
***
The voice of the crowd came from everywhere. Some were going to the market, and some were coming from the market with items placed inside a carriage or just in their hands.
The road where everyone walked had a glow never seen in Elysian. There were beautiful houses on the two sides of the road and some small stalls.
They had many different items placed out. In some, there were fruits; in some, there were vegetables. There was also a stall with normal swords and staffs.
There, a carriage with a color between red and black was parked, and the horse attached to it was black. Its beauty was magnificent.
Everyone who was walking by the road, seeing this horse, had a great look on their face. Then there were some people inside the carriage.
A person with a rough body, only for hunting, with black gears and clothes. Then a person in a noble attire who was sleeping.
A young boy of eighteen was shaking the person in the noble attire. A tall person with a great build that looked like he had the greatest body for fighting, but he was a blacksmith.
The person who was shaking Lucan was Kenny, and the person in the noble attire was Lucan.
Kenny's voice was coming out: "Lord, wake up, we are just a bit far from the market of Vaishali!"
Now Lucan heard it and soon opened his eyes. Because he had a good sleep, he was feeling great again.
He just needed a voice ringing in his ear to wake him up, and he did wake up.
"Did we reach the market, or are we still far from it?" Lucan said to Kenny, rubbing his eyes with water that appeared out of thin air. It was his inventory, but the people who couldn't see his system were probably thinking Lucan was a mage.
Kenny had the thought, 'Lord just made water out of thin air. God, I also want to be like my lord and not be alone without my lord.'
"Lord, we are just fifty meters away from the market. If we just walk there, we can soon reach there," Ronan said, taking out his note and looking at his list of what to buy.
"We are here, then. Now that we are here, we need to buy the items. If we just go together, I don't think it will be good. The time will be used up, and we might not buy some things. So I and Kenny will go to buy the spices in a certain quantity and some other items that I need and others need in our state. Marcus and Ronan," Lucan said, looking at them.
"You two will go and buy what you want, but don't buy if it's too expensive. Ronan will buy the smithy tools, and you can buy the traps and anything else you think is necessary." Lucan said this to all of them and followed it.
"Lord, if you will buy the other items, then why don't we also come when we have purchased the tools? With that, we can help you place the items inside the carriage," Marcus said this and looked at Ronan, and Ronan nodded.
,
"If you can come, then it's good. And here is the bag of 300 gold coins. From this, I have taken 100 coins, so that leaves 200. If you can buy the smithy tools and traps with this, it will be great. But if it low, then Marcus will come to me and get these 100 coins also. And why am I giving you this much money is because I want you to buy items that are durable and in great condition. I don't want any defective pieces. Everything will be new and going to be used for a long time, okay?" Lucan said this, and the others nodded their heads. With that, no one said much, and they chose their paths, with Lucan taking the one that would lead them straight into the market.
"Okay, everyone, good luck in purchasing new and durable items," Lucan said to Ronan and Marcus, and with that, he walked into the crowd with Kenny behind him. The voices came from everywhere.
"Here, this fruit is a golden fruit! If you eat this, you can get immortality!"
"I have a fan that can absorb lightning, just for 50 gold coins!"
"Cheap items here! You can buy my whole shop!"
Every type of voice came—a woman's or a man's or an old person's. There were voices coming from everywhere just to sell all their items.