Chương 43: The Greymantle Mountain Range

The sun was rising over the horizon. Packing the last of his belongings into a large travel bag, Kyle swung it over his shoulder. He fastened his sword to his belt and gave the room one final glance to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything before walking out.

'It's times like these that make me envy people with game-like inventories.' Kyle thought as he tightened his grip on the bag's straps. He passed by the counter and nodded at Marielle before walking out.

"Have a nice trip, little Kyle." Marielle waved with a faint smile on her face. Kyle waved as he disappeared among the crowd of adventurers, heading toward Mirevale's western gate. Three hundred kilometers southwest, Velkaris sat on the coast, a week's travel at a caravan's pace. This would be a long journey. Kyle walked out of the city gate, and, as expected, a large caravan of carriages was waiting not far from it.

"Kyle! Here!" Following Aaron's boisterous voice, Kyle spotted Doyle's party next to a carriage near the end of the caravan.

"Good morning. Where are Doyle and Tina?" Kyle greeted him as he walked up to Aaron. Only Aaron and Luke were present. Kyle glanced around for a moment before looking at the carriage.

"Morning. Captain Doyle is in no condition to walk. He's in the carriage. Tina is also there, taking care of him." Luke pointed at the carriage and said, As expected, the blinds of the carriage were pulled aside, and Tina's face appeared on the window. She waved at Kyle in greeting before pulling the curtains shut to block the sunlight.

"Morning!" Aaron waved and said. His expression was much better than before. Looking at the caravan extending into the distance, Kyle counted more than 40 carriages and over a hundred people. Following his gaze, Aaron said, "This is the Lorraine Chamber of Commerce's caravan. We're just a small part of it. There should be over 40 other adventurers. Not to mention the guards and attendants."

Pausing for a moment, he pointed at the luxuriously dressed, plump-mustached man at the head of the caravan who was directing people to put wooden crates in carriages. Even from here, Kyle could see his spittle flying as he relentlessly cursed the workers.

"That's the person in charge. I heard that he's a high-level manager of the chamber of commerce. However, he has a nasty personality. I don't recommend dealing with him unless necessary," Aaron said with an annoyed expression. Kyle was amused.

'You're one to talk about nasty personalities.' He couldn't help but recall their first meeting. Kyle had to admit that he had the urge to smack Aaron at the time. Shaking his head, Kyle continued to listen as Aaron enthusiastically talked about the dynamics between chambers of commerce, their inner workings, and which ones were good and bad. He didn't hide his disdain for the Lorraine Chamber of Commerce at all. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

"You know a lot about chambers of commerce," Kyle said with raised eyebrows.

"Of course! My father is one of the higher-ups of the Dawn Chamber of Commerce." Aaron proudly raised his head.

"I see." Kyle nodded in understanding.

'I guess that's to be expected. The path of a mage is very expensive, and without either good talent or background, it would be hard even to get started.' Kyle thought as he hopped on one of the horses. He stroked the head of the horse, soothing it. He had been taking lessons with Luke over the past two days. He could now barely ride it. It didn't take long for the caravan to slowly start moving. Kyle took one last glance at Mirevale. The sun's light shone on the town's two-story wall, giving it a golden sheen.

Thin streams of smoke rose from chimneys as the town slowly woke from its slumber, and the number of people coming and going gradually increased. Mirevale was not a famous or significant place in this kingdom. Most people in big cities, including the capital, didn't know of its existence. However, it was undoubtedly his starting point. This place's name will eventually resound through the kingdom and even the entire continent because it was his, Kyle Vaelthorn's, starting point.

'I will make sure of this.' Kyle turned his head, closely followed by the carriage. Aaron and Luke rode next to him. As the caravan slowly moved forward, Kyle boredly looked around. His gaze fell on a certain adventurer team not far ahead. What specifically caught his attention was a brown-haired dwarf The dwarven kingdom is located in the north-eastern area of the Aetherion continent. There are several nations between it and the Eldrathia Kingdom, including the mighty Oberon Empire.

So, it was quite rare for dwarves to appear in the Eldrathia Kingdom, especially in this remote place. Kyle keenly noticed a silver adventurer tag swinging as the dwarf's horse moved forward.

'A silver-class adventurer? He has to be at least at the peak of rank 1. Why would an adventurer of this level accept this escort quest?' Kyle wondered.

"A dwarf, huh? He should be heading to investigate the geological anomaly occurring between Tarnfell and Velkaris recently. I guess he just hitchhiked on the way." Luke said from the side.

"I see. That makes sense." Kyle nodded in understanding.

"Speaking of which, quite a lot of copper-grade adventurers took this quest. I counted 18 iron-grade, 21 copper-grade, and 1 silver-grade." Aaron said from the side.

"Most should be temporarily leaving Mirevale due to the increasingly dangerous situation. Not all adventurers seek thrills and riches." Luke looked around before lowering his voice and saying.

"Heh! They're just cowards then," Aaron sneered.

"Aaron, stop it. In a way, we're no better than them. We came here to assist the local adventure guild in expelling goblins, but here we are going back with our tails between our legs." Luke shook his head and said.

"Our situation is different! It's because we encountered—""Stop! We can't talk about that. And in the end, that's just an excuse. It's still because our ability is lacking," Luke interrupted and said.

"Fine…" Aaron stopped talking and looked away, his expression disgruntled. Kyle just looked from the side, disinclined to participate in their argument. The caravan continued moving forward, passing through the grassland outside Mirevale. Kyle caught glimpses of the Silverbark Forest at several points during the journey, but it was soon left behind. They stopped once in the afternoon for half an hour, long enough for rest and a quick lunch, before pressing on.

The grassland gradually faded away, replaced by a series of small forested hills. They weren't far from the terrain that would occupy the largest section of their journey. The Greymantle Mountain Range. They continued moving until the sun started setting over the horizon. Only then did the caravan stop. The caravan leader waved for the coachmen to position the caravan in a circle, surrounding the valuable merchandise in the middle. Only then did the attendants start setting up the camp.

Kyle and the other two settled their horses before each pitching a tent. They quickly built a simple campfire before sitting around and warming their food. The carriage door opened, and Tina supported Doyle down. Luke quickly stepped over and took Doyle's other arm, helping him sit next to the campfire.

"Why did you get out, Captain? Weren't you told not to move too much for at least a month?" Luke complained.

"Ahahah... I'm not a corpse yet. I can't just always lie in the carriage." Doyle laughed and said.

"You…" Luke speechlessly looked at Doyle.

"Cough! Well, apart from being a bit bored there, I came down to tell you to be more careful tomorrow. More than half of our journey will be through the Greymantle Mountain Range." Doyle awkwardly coughed and said, his expression turning serious.

"That place is full of monsters and bandits. The chance of encountering an attack there is higher than everywhere else. So, we need to be cautious."