A full week had already passed after arriving in the village, and right now—
I am standing just outside the wooden gate, positioned right at the main entrance. I'm not alone, of course; Miguel and a few of his hired workers are gathered here with us, preparing the final details for our departure.
It was finally time to make our way toward the city of Nash.
The sun is barely beginning to peek over the horizon, casting long shadows across the dirt path. We have to leave this early so we can make enough progress to get out of the dense forest that we'll be traveling through by the end of the day.
But even though the day had only just started and most people should still be asleep— all the villagers had gathered at the entrance to see us off. Or to be more exact, they were all here specifically to bid me a final farewell.
"Sir Knight, please come back and visit us again!"
One of the younger kids shouted from the crowd, waving enthusiastically.
"Are you absolutely sure you don't want to just marry me and settle down here instead?"
Then, one of the young girls followed up with that, a playful and joking tone in her voice.
I couldn't help but smile at that. Seeing that they had all made the genuine effort to wake up at such an early hour just to see me off made me feel truly happy.
"I have really enjoyed my short stay here. I thank you all for your kindness."
I said as I bowed my head toward them. I am honestly very grateful to everyone in this village. They treated me with nothing but respect and warmth, and I learned a lot about how to live in this world from them.
"Take care, everyone. Let's hope we meet each other again someday."
I added as I stood upright again, offering them a final nod.
Just then—
"Have a safe journey, Sir Verc."
Hans, Barbara, Clarissa, Kyla, Noah, and Molly all stepped forward, separating themselves from the crowd to approach me directly.
"Are you guys feeling well enough to be up this early?"
I asked them, noticing that they still looked a bit tired from their recovery.
"Yeah, we're doing much better. We should be able to start working again in a week or so."
Barbara answered in everyone's stead, a look of determination on her face.
"That's good news. Just make sure you all continue to rest well until then."
I nodded my head and said that, genuinely relieved to see them on the mend.
"We will. But before you go, we're just here to give you something."
Then, they replied with that. My brows furrowed slightly after hearing their words, wondering what else they could possibly give me. But before I could even say a word of protest— Hans's wife emerged from the crowd.
And she was pulling a brown horse on a lead rope!
"Huh?"
I stood there, completely surprised by the sight. Then, when they finally reached me—
"A knight needs a proper horse to ride. This boy is the fastest and strongest one I have in my stable. He might not be a trained war horse, but I promise he wouldn't let you down on the road."
Hans said that, his voice filled with sincerity.
"I'm sure a horse like this isn't cheap, Hans. What about you? You probably need him more than I do."
I replied, trying to politely decline the generous gift. It might seem discourteous to refuse, but I didn't want Hans or his family to face any financial trouble because of me.
Just then, however, Hans shook his head firmly. And with his lips parting—
"I'll just take the donkey that we got from the goblins. That strong girl is more than enough to help me with my work."
He declared that with a smile. I remembered the donkey he was talking about; it had been in his care ever since we arrived at the village. I fell silent for a moment, processing his kindness, but after a while...
"Haaa... Thank you. Truly, thank you."
I just let out a defeated, appreciative sigh and expressed my deep gratitude to Hans and his wife.
After him, Barbara, Clarissa, and Kyla followed suit. They handed me a sturdy travel bag, and before I could even ask what was inside—
"They're full of new clothes. We sewed them for you while we were recovering this past week. We noticed that you don't really have much on you even though you are traveling; we thought that maybe you lost your belongings somewhere along the way."
Barbara explained that. The two girls were behind her, looking a bit shy.
"Ah, haha... Yeah, I did lose my bag. Thank you, this helps me a lot."
I laughed awkwardly and accepted their gift. This will be a massive help to me; aside from the few spare clothes we scavenged from the goblin village, I literally had nothing to my name.
After that, I saw the village chief, Kael, give a small nudge to his two children. Then looking a bit embarrassed— Noah and Molly slowly walked toward me.
I just smiled warmly at them. When they finally got near me, they reached out and handed me a small, simple box. I took it from their hands, and then, out of curiosity— I opened it to see what was inside.
It was a pendant. It featured a black medallion about the size of a coin as the main design, and on that dark surface— a white crescent moon had been carefully engraved.
"We bought it with the money we saved up. It's not much, but we really hope you'll take it with you on your adventures."
Molly said shyly, her voice barely a whisper. Noah, who was younger, hid behind her back in embarrassment.
I felt a genuine warmth spreading through my chest seeing these two kids act like this. I smiled—
"I really like it. I'll make sure to always wear it. Thanks, you two."
I said that, and every word I spoke was genuine.
I saw the faces of the two children light up instantly. it seems like they were actually very nervous about how I would react to their gift. But just like I said, I really did like it— the design, the sentiment, and all.
I immediately placed the pendant around my neck. Looking at the two kids again—
"What do you guys think? It fits me very well, right?"
I asked that with a confident, proud smile. The two of them excitedly nodded their heads in response to me.
"Grow up to be strong and kind. See you around."
I said to the kids before finally standing up and joining Miguel and the rest of the traveling party.
"We'll be going now."
Miguel said, signaling the start of the journey.
The chief, Kael, stepped up one last time.
"Take care, all of you. And Sir Verc, thank you once again for saving my kids and for finally freeing us from the goblins' terror."
He said. I just waved back at them and told them again that it was nothing. Miguel, the others, and I bowed our heads one last time as a final goodbye, and after that—
"Bye!"
We left the village behind.
I saw Noah and Molly crying as we got away... Goodbyes really are always sad.
*****
Miguel mentioned that it would take at least three days of steady travel to reach the City of Nash.
We have a total of six people in our group. There's me, Miguel, and four of his workers.
Two of those workers are the coachmen who are driving the two carriages. One carriage is completely full of vegetables, meat, leather, and various other items from the village that are meant to be sold in the city.
The other carriage is reserved for Miguel and the two escort guards. Those guards were actually mercenaries that happened to be passing through the village on their way to Nash as well.
They had offered their protection in exchange for a ride and food, which Miguel had accepted to save on costs.
Apparently, there are a lot of bandits and monsters lurking in the forest that we'll be passing through later today.
Anyway, I'm currently riding outside the carriages on the horse Hans and his wife gave me. I'm incredibly glad I learned how to ride a horse in my past life during a random business trip; if not, pretending to be a knight while being unable to stay in a saddle would have definitely caused some suspicion.
The saddle Hans included was well-worn and comfortable as well.
I looked down at the horse, and after thinking about it for a while—
"I'll just name you Bong-Bong. And I'll call you Bong for short."
I said that, reaching out to pat the side of its head. Bong answered me with a soft neigh and a toss of his mane.
And just like that, we continued traveling peacefully through the countryside.
... ... ...
Until, later in the afternoon, we finally reached the edge of the dark forest Miguel had been talking about.
We haven't even entered the forest yet—
"GET OUT AND LEAVE THE CARRIAGES IF YOU DON'T WANT TO DIE!!!"
And bandits already greeted us.