Chapter 150 - 151: The Caravan

Chapter 150: Chapter 151: The Caravan

[Am back...and in case anyone cares am alright now...and sorry about my brother repetitive writing,he was trying not too go far in the story]

They walked out of the guild with the evening air cool against their faces and the pouch of silver heavy in Daniel’s hand, and the sky above them was painted in shades of orange and pink and purple as the sun sank slowly toward the horizon and the first stars began to appear like distant promises.

Daniel held the pouch up and felt its weight and smiled. "We have the money," he said.

Paul nodded with relief written across his tired face. "Now we need to find Aldric. The caravan master."

Daniel nodded and looked around at the village streets that were growing quieter as the day came to an end. "Where is he?"

Paul thought about it for a moment. "He was at the tavern. The Green Dragon."

Daniel nodded. "Then that’s where we’ll go."

They walked through the village with the kind of tired, satisfied stride that comes from a long day of hard work and a job well done, and they passed the bakery with its warm smells of fresh bread and the blacksmith with its ringing hammer and the tavern with its flickering lights and its promise of rest.

Daniel pushed open the door and stepped inside and the others followed, and the tavern was warm with a fire crackling in the hearth and the smell of ale and stew filling the air and people sitting at tables eating and drinking and talking in the comfortable way of people who had nowhere else to be.

Daniel looked around and saw Aldric sitting at the same table as before with his gray beard and his weathered face and his sharp eyes, eating stew and drinking ale and reading a book with the patience of a man who had learned to enjoy the quiet moments between journeys.

Daniel walked toward him with the others following close behind and stopped in front of the table, and Aldric looked up with his sharp eyes and his weathered face that showed no surprise at seeing them again.

"You’re back," Aldric said.

Daniel nodded. "We’re back."

"You have the money?"

Daniel nodded and held up the pouch. "Fifty silver."

Aldric raised an eyebrow with something like surprise or respect or both. "You got it fast."

"We completed a mission."

"What mission?"

"The goblin camp."

Aldric’s eyes widened and his weathered face showed something that might have been surprise or might have been respect or might have been both at once. "The goblin camp? The C rank mission?"

"Yes."

"You completed it?"

"Yes."

Aldric stared at him with his mouth open and his eyes wide and his book forgotten on the table. "You killed the Hobgoblin?"

"Yes."

Aldric was silent for a long moment as he processed what he was hearing and recalculated his assessment of the young man standing in front of him. "Impressive," he said finally. "Very impressive."

Daniel shrugged with the kind of modesty that comes from someone who had stopped keeping score a long time ago. "It was a team effort."

Aldric nodded and looked at the others behind Daniel, at Lyra with her sharp eyes and Fluffy with her twitching ears and Cheeky with her hidden face and Mittens with her nervous posture and Paul with his tired expression and Brick Head with his oblivious grin. "You have a good team," he said.

Daniel smiled. "I know."

Aldric stood up and reached out and took the pouch and opened it and counted the coins with the practiced speed of someone who had counted more coins than he could remember. "Fifty silver," he said. "Exactly."

He looked at Daniel with his sharp eyes. "We leave at dawn. Be ready."

Daniel nodded. "We will be."

They walked out of the tavern and the sun had set and the sky was dark and the stars were twinkling like scattered diamonds across black velvet, and Daniel looked at the others with warmth in his chest despite the cool night air.

"We have a room at the inn," he said. "We should get some rest. Tomorrow is a big day."

They nodded with tiredness in their bodies and readiness in their hearts, and they walked to the inn which was a small building that was old and worn but clean and warm and safe.

Daniel paid for two rooms with coins from his own pocket, one for the boys and one for the girls. "Boys in one room. Girls in the other," he said.

Paul nodded. "Got it."

Brick Head nodded with enthusiasm. "Got it!"

Fluffy tilted her head with confusion written across her small face. "Fluffy wants to stay with Master."

Daniel shook his head. "No. You stay with the girls."

Fluffy’s ears drooped. "But Fluffy wants to stay with Master."

"You can’t. The rooms are separate."

Fluffy pouted with disappointment. "Okay."

Mittens looked at her with sympathy in her eyes. "It’s okay. We’ll be together."

Fluffy nodded and looked at Mittens and smiled. "Okay."

They went to their rooms, and the boys’ room was small with two beds and a small table and a window that looked out at the stars.

Daniel took one bed and Paul took the other and Brick Head took the floor, and Daniel lay down and looked at the ceiling and felt the tiredness in his body and the thoughts in his mind that would not quiet themselves.

Tomorrow they would leave and travel to Heaven’s Domain and take the guild exam and become members, and it was a big step and a dangerous step but a necessary step, and he closed his eyes and took a breath and tried to sleep.

The girls’ room was small with two beds and a small table and a window that looked out at the stars, and Lyra took one bed and Cheeky took the other and Fluffy and Mittens took the floor.

Lyra lay down and looked at the ceiling and felt the tiredness in her body and the thoughts in her mind that would not quiet themselves, because tomorrow they would leave and travel to Heaven’s Domain and take the guild exam and become members, and it was a big step and a dangerous step but a necessary step, and she closed her eyes and took a breath and tried to sleep.

Fluffy curled up on the floor and was small and warm and comfortable, and she looked at Mittens who was curled up beside her with her cat ears flat and her tail still.

"Fluffy," Mittens whispered.

Fluffy looked at her. "Yes?"

"Are you scared?"

Fluffy thought about it. "A little."

"Me too."

Fluffy smiled and reached out and patted Mittens’s head with a gentle paw. "It’s okay," she said. "Master will protect us."

Mittens looked at her with wide eyes. "You think so?"

"Fluffy knows so."

Mittens smiled a small and fragile smile. "Okay," she said. "Okay."

The sun rose slowly and gently and the sky turned from black to purple to pink to orange and the stars faded and the moon disappeared and the world woke up.

Daniel was the first to wake and he opened his eyes slowly and felt the soreness in his body and the aching in his muscles, but he was alive and breathing and here.

He sat up and looked around at Paul still asleep with his mouth open and snoring softly and Brick Head sprawled on the floor with his arms spread wide and his legs tangled and snoring loudly.

Daniel stood up and stretched his arms above his head and felt his joints pop and his muscles relax. "Time to wake the others," he said.

They woke the others and packed their things and ate a quick breakfast and checked their weapons, and Daniel looked at his team and his family and his friends.

"Ready?" he asked.

They nodded with readiness in their eyes.

"Then let’s go."

They walked to the caravan that was parked outside the village with three wagons and six oxen and a group of men loading supplies and checking equipment and preparing to leave.

Aldric saw them coming and walked toward them with his sharp eyes and his weathered face. "You’re here," he said.

Daniel nodded. "We’re here."

"Good. We leave in ten minutes."

Daniel nodded and looked at the caravan, at the wagons and the oxen and the men. "Where do we sit?" he asked.

Aldric gestured toward the middle wagon. "That one. It’s for passengers."

Daniel nodded and looked at the others. "Let’s go."

They walked toward the wagon and climbed inside and it was small and cramped but comfortable, and Daniel sat down and the others sat around him and they were ready and prepared and excited.

Aldric climbed onto the lead wagon and picked up the reins and cracked them. "Let’s go!" he shouted.

The caravan started moving and the wagons rolled and the oxen walked and the men followed, and they were on their way to Heaven’s Domain and the guild exam and the future.

Daniel looked out the window at the village and the forest and the road ahead, and he smiled a warm and genuine smile.

"Here we go," he said.

[Magic Castle = 5 bonus Chapter’s the same day]

[Space craft= 15 bonus Chapter’s the same day]

[Golden gachapon= 25 bonus Chapter’s]