Chapter 55
Thud.
The merchant caravan set off early in the morning from the outskirts of Ashbone towards the city center.
The actual deliveries and trading were about to begin.
"Ugh, I slept so well! I think I slept for over ten hours straight?"
"M-my body feels light...!"
"Me too... No, I'm heavy. Satisfied?"
"I didn't say anything."
Edward, Fohn, and Bolio looked refreshed, as if they had slept soundly all night.
"..."
"Why are you so quiet today? You look a bit tired, even though you were the first to go to bed yesterday."
Bolio tilted his head, seeing Anias quietly sitting and yawning.
"Mind your own business. I just couldn't sleep well because the bed was a bit uncomfortable."
"Mind my own business? I'm worried about you, and that's how you talk?"
"Please don't worry about me. Better?"
"Kain, he's a bit odd."
Kain looked at Anias and said,
"Did what I told you have any effect?"
"Oh! Thanks to that, I immediately felt better..."
Anias's face brightened as she reflexively answered, but then she seemed to realize her mistake and immediately clammed up.
"What? What is it? What did Kain say?"
Bolio looked back and forth between Kain and Anias, asking.
Anias cleared her throat and opened her mouth as if it were nothing.
"I, uh, accidentally ran into him in the hallway when I went to the bathroom at dawn, and he told me how to sleep well. It worked, and I've slept well since then. Right, Kain?"
Anias looked at Kain, intensely signaling him to quickly agree.
Kain paused for a moment, then opened his mouth.
"I'm glad it helped."
Bolio shrugged, his expression deflated.
"How to sleep well, huh? For us, shouldn't we just fall asleep the moment our heads hit the pillow?"
"That's true."
"Bo-Bolio sleeps well even without a pillow."
"You subtly mock people quite well, don't you?"
"Th-that's a compliment..."
Following Edward, Fohn also chimed in, but then subtly backed away when Bolio glared at him.
Anias, relieved that the topic had shifted, sighed, crossed her arms, and leaned back against the escort seat, closing her eyes.
She seemed to be trying to catch up on her missed sleep.
'Seeing her lie so quickly when I didn't even agree shows she really doesn't want to reveal that she's been training alone so much.'
Since she said it had an effect, she must have been focused on training late into the night even after washing and changing clothes yesterday.
'The process of precisely separating, refining, and accumulating mana as needed can take hours if you get into the right flow and concentrate.'
Kain, now, is so accustomed to it that he can start and stop it effortlessly anytime.
But in his previous life, there were times he'd wake up after concentrating only to find a full day had passed.
'Speaking of which, she wanted to hide it from me yesterday. Now she doesn't seem to care as much.'
Even in front of Kain, she had strenuously denied training, claiming she was just sweating because the room was hot.
She must have realized it was a ridiculous excuse even to herself.
After all, in this cool weather, it was impossible to sweat enough to soak her clothes just because the room was a bit warm.
'She's only at the 3rd Circle, but instead of hastily trying to reach the 4th Circle, She's trying to solidify her foundations by organizing her mana. As expected, she was more diligent than she seemed.'
In Kain's view, Anias currently possessed enough skill to move directly to the 4th Circle.
Yet, the fact that she specifically asked about Kain's current training method and followed it suggested she had realized the importance of fundamentals in her own way.
Naturally, there would be a difference in their limits compared to Kain, who had perfectly built his foundation from the 1st and 2nd Circles, but even now, there was a clear difference between doing it and not doing it.
'Good. The others are working hard too... I just need to guide them so they can reach the 3rd Circle by the time we return to the clan.'
As Kain said, Edward, Fohn, and Bolio were indeed practicing their magic, each summoning spells in the air.
"Guys, I can now move this much without my magic dying even inside the carriage!"
"Me, me too, to some extent..."
"That's because this is a well-paved road, not the swamp. I can do that too!"
"Oh, Bolio's getting pretty good too?"
"Aren't you, aren't you spinning it too wildly? Whoa!"
While they continued to travel, repeating cycles of training and rest as usual, the carriage eventually arrived at the center of Ashbone.
"Stopping the carriage!"
The disciples, who were half-sprawled after a few cycles of training, shot up at the coachman's shout.
"Finally!"
Edward stretched widely, then got out of the carriage with a joyful shout.
Following Edward, the other disciples, and even the mercenaries who had been passing the time by betting on coins or cards in a corner, quickly packed up and disembarked at the announcement of their arrival.
People busily moved about, stores and street vendors called out to customers everywhere.
There was a small orchestra playing instruments by the plaza fountain, and even clowns in ridiculous costumes entertaining children.
It wasn't an incredibly large metropolis, but it was bustling in its own way.
"I didn't realize it when we were in Hyperen, but doesn't the world seem a little different after passing through the swamp?"
"Y-yeah. The hustle and bustle somehow seems peaceful... and my mind feels at ease..."
"Wow, that looks delicious."
"Eating again?"
"Why?? Are you paying for it?"
"No. I want some too."
"..."
Unlike the snowy mountains or the middle of the swamp, there was no need to meticulously search the surroundings or maintain a state of alert after disembarking from the carriage.
Therefore, their task now was simply to leave a minimum number of people to guard the carriage in shifts.
The rest could enjoy their free time as much as they wanted, as long as they didn't go too far to be unreachable in an emergency.
"Ah, delicious! This is what an escort mission is supposed to be like. Too many things happened during this escort mission."
"All you ever think about is taking it easy. Oh, this is good."
As Bolio said, this was originally the daily routine of an escort mission.
An escort's job was to protect the client from unforeseen dangers, so the actual time spent drawing swords or casting magic during a mission was extremely minimal.
From the client's perspective, they preferred there to be no danger at all, rather than facing multiple dangers, even if it meant the escort had nothing to do.
Conversely, the escorts often wished for a moderate level of monsters to appear for additional income.
However, this particular mission had intentionally chosen a thorny path, so it was understandable to feel exhausted.
"Young masters, please go and rest. We'll send the delivery carriages with the main escorts, the mercenaries."
For the merchants, on the other hand, this was their busy season.
Among the several carriages, the one for trading needed to find a good spot and solicit customers to sell goods.
The delivery carriages, meanwhile, had to move separately, deliver to the designated locations, and then restock their cargo holds by buying goods to sell or deliver at their next destination.
"Y-yeah, go ahead. I'll help with the trading here."
Fohn, who was both an escort and learning the merchant's trade, seemed set for another busy day.
"N-no matter what happens, I'm a mage too, so I can handle it. So go ahead and rest easy."
"Oh, now that you mention it, that's true, isn't it? It'd be reassuring to have Fohn looking after the trade!"
The merchant also chimed in.
"Oh, absolutely. He learns incredibly fast, and anyway, with Young Master Fohn here, we feel very secure."
Fohn's face turned beet red as praises poured in.
Kain smiled at the sight.
"Then I'll leave it to you."
"Don't worry, we'll take turns guarding when you rest. See you later!"
"O-okay! Thanks!"
Meanwhile, Alice spoke to Siri, Edward and Fohn's exclusive maid.
"Siri, let's go together too!"
"I think I should help Young Master Fohn..."
"That's exactly what I mean! Go with me, buy some snacks for Young Master Fohn to eat, and then come back. That's helping him!"
"Uh-huh, alright then. Let's go."
Just then, Anias, who was returning their way, looked surprised.
"Whoa, that's the first time I've heard that maid speak."
"Siri is usually a bit quiet and reserved. But she does her work well."
She had been with them since they left the clan, but she generally had such a low presence that she hadn't been noticed.
"But why are you back?"
"We need to take turns guarding, don't we? Let's decide the order. Bolio! You come here too. Let's play rock-paper-scissors."
"Okay, if you don't throw, you lose! Rock, paper, scissors! Argh! Hey, you guys cheated, didn't you?"
After setting the rotation for who would guard while Fohn rested, the disciples dispersed again.
Kain walked with Alice, observing their surroundings for any unusual occurrences.
"Waaah! Mamaaa!"
"Why are you crying?"
"Mama, sniff, I lost her. Waaah..."
"Crying won't bring your mother back. Don't waste your energy, stop."
"Sniff, but because I cried, big brother talked to me. So it works, doesn't it?"
"That's a valid point. Cry more."
"Waaah!"
"Young Master...! Child, wait. I'll find her for you."
Fortunately, with Alice's help, the child's mother was found quickly.
Having confirmed there were no other unusual occurrences, Kain leisurely walked around with Alice, buying and eating tasty-looking snacks, and soon returned to the carriage.
"Alice, you can go explore a bit more if you want."
"Oh, really? Then I'll go watch the play over there for a bit and come back!"
There was still plenty of time, but Kain, from the very beginning, had no interest in laughing and chatting in taverns or watching street plays in broad daylight.
'One of the two lumps of mana I stored in the Circle Room is almost used up... If I pick up the pace a bit more, I can fully fill the 3rd Circle and move on to the 4th Circle soon.'
It had been less than a month since he reached the 3rd Circle in the snowy mountains.
Considering that it usually took even talented mages several years to advance from the 3rd Circle to the 4th Circle without extraordinary luck or enlightenment, this was an unbelievably fast pace.
'However, considering that the path ahead is still vast, I cannot be complacent.'
As circles increase, the time normally required to reach the next circle grows exponentially.
For Kain, having already experienced these stages, there wouldn't be a 'wall' between circles, but if he wanted to solidify each circle as he ascended, an increase in time was unavoidable.
Especially now, thanks to the pure mana extracted from the Snow Blossom Ice Crystal, he could accumulate it so quickly, but by the time he reached the 5th Circle, that would no longer be possible.
'Well, I'll find a new method then.'
If the path one wants to take is clear, there is no need to be rushed or leisurely.
One merely needs to move forward.
Kain headed towards the escort seat.
They had decided the order with rock-paper-scissors, but since everyone was still having fun, Kain would take over the escort duty while also organizing his mana...
"...Why are you two here?"
“—”
And saw Edward, Bolio, and Anias sitting on a wool mat spread out on the escort seat.
"Hehe, we walked around a bit and then had nothing to do, so we came back."
"It's not like we're going to be drinking all day... We've only slept and trained in our free time so far, so I don't even know what else to do."
"I just came to rest."
At the disciples' replies, Kain chuckled and nodded.
"Is that so."
This was typical of mages.
They relentlessly pursued the 9th Circle, constantly exploring.
Having run only that single path their entire lives, when given free time, they only knew how to spend it running that path again.
Even if it was sometimes painful, lonely, arduous, and felt like running headfirst into a wall when hitting a limit.
All those who dedicated their lives to magic possessed the resolve and patience to endure it.
In that case, Kain's task was clear.
"Get up. I'll teach you an excellent training method that you can do here when we're not traveling."
It was to lead them towards the right path so they could run until the very end.
"Huh? Isn't this break time?"
"Hey, why are you suddenly looking so motivated?!"
"I just came here to rest! Hey, aren't you listening to me?"
***
The trading venture was a success.
While other merchant groups hesitated to cross the region due to fees, their group had simply crossed the swamp in one go.
It was only natural that business would be good since they had brought goods from the snowy mountains and the Hyperen region before anyone else.
Amidst the crowds flocking to buy fresh ice honey and Hyperen fruits, Fohn seemed quite delighted.
Furthermore, with few people crossing the swamp these days, the spoils obtained from the monsters there also sold for a decent price.
Kain too managed to earn a more substantial profit than expected.
"Good work, everyone!"
So, as the day's trading concluded, everyone returned to the inn to end their day, and as night deepened.
"Then, I'm off."
Kain stepped out the door.
