…
The merchants had arrived in the village yesterday morning and would be leaving in the afternoon today.
Charles' family had spent the previous day packing anything of value they wanted to take with them and selling the rest to their neighbors. As a result, David and Peter hadn't been able to spend much time with them.
They would be departing with the merchants today—traveling in a group was a common practice, after all.
No matter how much cleaning the knights did, there were always plenty of monsters and bandits lurking, waiting to attack travelers.
Merchant caravans always hired adventurers to guard them during their journeys. Paying a small fee to join the caravan until the city was a smart choice.
As Peter approached the village square, he slowed his pace.
There were too many people in the caravan to be housed in the tavern. Once the tavern had filled up, the remaining merchants and the adventurers responsible for guarding the carriages had decided to hunker down in the village square.
Peter had counted the entire caravan when it arrived the previous day—a total of twenty-three carriages.
The group consisted of fifteen merchants, six adventurers, and one administrator from the nearby city.
When they first arrived, at least fifteen of the carriages had been filled with goods that weren't commonly found in the village—things like spices, salt, finished clothes, liquor, and more.
Now, however, those same carriages were loaded with crops from the last harvest. Some of them were designated as taxes for the city lord, while the rest had been sold to the merchants in exchange for their goods and some extra coin.
Mariah had likely lost some money to the merchants during negotiations, but it wasn't a major concern. Taking the crops to the city and selling them personally would have been far more troublesome.
As Peter approached the village square, the people there turned to look at him. However, most quickly lost interest and returned to whatever they had been doing.
"Ah, the boy from yesterday," one of the adventurers remarked in a bored tone.
One of the adventurers sat lazily near the campfire. He had black hair and black eyes, his well-trained body suggesting years of experience.
Leaning a spear on his shoulder with one arm wrapped around it, he absentmindedly picked his nose with the other hand. He appeared to be in his late twenties.
"Causing chaos so early in the morning, eh?" he remarked.
Peter responded offhandedly, "Just came to spend some time with my friends before the caravan leaves." Without paying the man much more attention, he turned and bowed slightly to the adventurer sitting beside him.
"Good morning, holy sister. By any chance, do you know where I can find my friends?"
The red-haired priestess smiled warmly and nodded in return.
"May Avaris brighten your day with her smile. They should be on the west side with your other friend who visited half an hour ago."
Peter expressed his gratitude before excusing himself and making his way westward.
As expected, David was already there when he arrived near one of the carriages.
"Took you long enough," Monica complained, turning her face away in mock annoyance.
Peter could only offer an apologetic smile.
"Sorry about that. Mother didn't let me leave without breakfast, knowing I wouldn't be back until late afternoon."
"Let it go, sister. His house is afar. Just look at him, covered in sweat. He probably ran the whole way," Charles added to the conversation, poking his sister.
"Anyway, so you guys are going to leave today, huh?" Peter couldn't help but sigh.
Rose was getting married, and now these two were leaving as well. Besides David, every single person he considered a friend was drifting apart from him.
"Yeah," Charles replied in a tiny voice, looking downcast.
Peter took out a piece of paper from under his shirt and passed it to him.
"What is this?" Monica asked from the side as all three of them looked at it.
"Nothing much. David was saying he would be sad if you guys forgot about him, so I decided to make something to remember us," Peter explained.
Charles unfolded the paper.
It was a picture of all four of them together in the open fields.
Peter was certainly not a great painter, but the drawing was above average, considering it was made by a child.
With both Mariah and Joseph busy with merchants and the village administration, Peter had plenty of free time yesterday, so he had spent six hours making it. He had even used some spices for colors.
I hope it stays hidden from Mom. A shudder ran down his spine at the thought of the consequences.
While he was lost in thought, the kids grew emotional. He only noticed when he heard David inhaling mucus back into his nose.
Ugh… this kid. Go clean your nose properly. Peter shot him a look of disgust.
It seemed David got the message because he took a few seconds to clean his nose with a cloth some distance away before returning.
Peter sighed.
Closing the distance, he pulled both siblings into a hug. When David looked at him with tears in his eyes, Peter signaled for him to hug Charles from behind.
"There, there. No need to cry. Go to the city and get rich once you learn to use your Skill properly," he said in a casual tone, trying to stop them from crying any further.
Charles nodded, quickly wiping his eyes.
"If you're really feeling generous, just remember to treat us well when we come to visit you. Right, David?" Peter added, attempting to step away.
Before he could, Monica grasped his clothes tightly in her palms.
David promised to visit them as soon as they grew up, and Peter simply played along, letting them relax.
The next few hours passed with them sitting together, reminiscing.
They talked about all the pranks they had pulled in the past, and then David shared his dream of becoming an adventurer unlike his father's profession.
Charles and Monica excitedly spoke about the things they wanted to see once they arrived in the city—grand fountains, the adventurers' guild, fancy clothing shops.
They even promised to show Peter and David around when they came to visit after becoming adults.
It was a nice goodbye.
None of them seemed to realize just how vast a city truly was, nor had Charles and Monica even knew where they would be staying.
How will we even find them in a large city without a proper address? The thought made Peter sigh before he shook his head with a small smile.