24 Hearts

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The Tenth Fragment, Altemia

It was boring to ride a carriage. In the game, if Judah traveled to the area with a carriage or a horse, he could arrive at his destination in no time. However, time was real here. When horses were tired from moving, they had to rest, stop to eat, and at night they had to rest again because it had grown dark and dangerous. Expectantly, this delayed their time to arrive at Philoria.

‘I remember having to go through two castles to get to Aslan.’

One was -Hirod-, which served as a checkpoint with an often overlooked castle, and the remaining one was -Dempa-, which played an important role for Philoria’s southern defense line. Several castles, such as Hirod, were merely early defenses. Thick castles like Dempa were in charge of complete defense along the main road. Judah thought of Dempa, where they would arrive soon. The carriage would drop them off Dempa and then go back to Serenia Castle, giving them free time in the area.

‘… Are there any quests worth breaking in Dempa?’

He couldn’t remember. Judah glanced at Jeanne before opening his -Record-. She was dozing off with her hands together. They were in a carriage worse off than the lord’s wagon, but this world had quite developed alchemy and magical skills. Thanks to this, even if it was an old-fashioned carriage, the carriage’s trembling was of no issue. It was all thanks to the soft cushions of the seats comfortably. There was nothing to do, so he laid his back down and rested his body.

Judah opened his -Record-, pretending to look out of the window, thinking that Jeanne might wake up and see him doing whatever. A holographic window appeared in front of his eyes. Notes related to Serenia Castle fell down the list of priorities, and the system had reduced its file size to the minimum. Among the memo nestled a roughly hand-drawn map, and Judah zoomed it into the area of Philoria.

‘No.’

Although there was an important story quest in Dempa, this was a quest limited to the mage Riel, who was supposed to be with Kain.

Judah slowly read down what he had written down in the past.

Philoria was known as a country of knights, and many recruited knights here as their companions. Like Jeanne, righteous people lived within these lands who could be trusted as companions. One of the companions who didn’t betray Judah in the original game was a Philorian heretic. They were particularly reliable in escort missions, so many kingdoms and nobles paid a lot of money to entrust them in their quests.

However, Judah already had a Blue Lancer, so he didn’t have to recruit further. At the corner of his eyes, he spotted Jeanne sleeping. Her head tilted to the side, and then she wavered before her head violently hit the wall.

“Seoup!”

With the sound of her saliva being sucked back in, Jeanne opened her sleepy eyes, but then she fell back to sleep with her head leaned back. Judah turned off his -Record- as he tried his best not to wake her up as he stifled his laughter. There was nothing more to read.

‘It would be better just to pass by.’ He didn’t need to stay in Dempa either way. If they arrived in Dempa, the plan was to eat their meals and then go straight to the capital, then take a wagon from Dempa to Aslan.

Judah, resting his chin on his hands raised against the window sill, stared blankly out of the window. The scenery from the outside with the cool breeze was so peaceful.

However, the speed of the running carriage gradually decreased, and then it stopped altogether. Judah, as he was gazing outside the scenery, furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. Why did they stop so suddenly? It wasn’t mealtime, and their horses were well rested. Given everything, they were still there waiting on the road. Judah somehow anticipated that a monster or a bandit might have appeared, but when he remembered that this place was Philoria, it was highly unlikely to be any of those.

“…Have we arrived?” Jeanne mumbled as she woke up at the sudden halt of the carriage. Judah shook his head.

“No. There seems to be something in front. Just keep on sleeping a little more. I’ll check it out.”

The moment he opened the carriage door and stepped on the ground, Judah’s eyes widened. As he lifted his shoes from the cushion-like soil, traces of it stuck to the soles of his shoes.

‘Did it rain?’

He didn’t know when it came, but the ground was a little damp. He tilted his head and walked toward the coachman’s seat, who heard him as he approached.

“Oh, it’s not a big deal, so don’t worry!”

“Yeah, I trust you. You’re the driver, after all. I just wanted to see things for myself because I was curious. Can I sit here for a minute?”

“Yes. Of course. Please sit here.”

The old coachman willingly gave Judah a seat next to him. He wondered why the wagon stopped, and when he looked ahead, a wagon stopped in the distance.

“Hmm-”

Judah knew the roads of Dempa were not only linked to Hirod but also by several checkpoints. He wasn’t sure about the checkpoints until he passed them by and saw them for himself. And naturally, the wagon traffic in this trail was big, but right now, the only carriage on the road was Judah’s wagons. As they moved slowly, they saw a clearer view of the wagon ahead.

“Oh, no. It looks like their wheel fell out of the mud.” The coachman sitting next to him sighed.

It was a colorful and big wagon, but its wheels were stuck. The coach over there spotted Judah’s carriage, and then he started waving his arms for help.

“What should I do?” His coachman asked.

“Um, yes?”

“You’re from Serenia, of course you’ll help… But there’s not much of a good thing about being tied to a nobleman from another country. If we passed by them, they wouldn’t be able to complain to us. We have a busy road ahead of us.”

Upon hearing that, Judah paused for a moment and looked at the carriage standing on the side. The coachman’s eyes were enough to plead for help. His trousers were muddy, and he indeed had a hard time getting their wagon out of the mud.

“Let’s help them.”

“Okay.”

The coachman nodded his head, obeying his instructions. Their wagon stopped by the road as the other coachman ran and bowed his head. He was a pretty young man.

“Oh, thank you very much! Please excuse me, but first, do you have any seats in the carriage?”

“I have a seat…but…”

“Are you willing to go to Dempa? I’ll pay you for it if only you could bring the passenger of my carriage to Dempa.”

“What would you like to do?”

The coachman couldn’t care less, so he turned to Judah for his opinions instead. It didn’t matter much to Judah either. However, the question was, what the nobleman riding in that fancy carriage thought. Judah had made up his mind to help anyway, so he agreed. The young coachman lit up, took out ten silver coins from his pocket, handed them over to the coachman and Judah, and then walked over to his carriage. Ten silver coins were enough money as the distance to Dempa was short. Soon after, the ornate carriage door opened, and a middle-aged man in a monocle and neat suit got off. He was holding a staff with jewels in his hand, and he was pretty cool, like a nobleman straight out of a novel. He looked at the young coachman with a dreadful look, listened to the story, touched his shoulder lightly, and then approached Judah, who was down from the coachman’s seat.

“Even though it is our first time meeting, I’m so glad to meet you already. Thank you for your help.”

“It’s nothing. I have to help when others are in a difficult situation.”

“Oh. Are you from Philoria?” The man’s eyes widened at what Judah had said.

The Philorians did not easily ignore the plight of others. It was here in Philoria that even if you become a beggar, you will not starve. Judah smiled and shook his head.

“No, I’m just a common adventurer. Could we get on with the story and keep going?”

“Very well, then, if you may excuse me.”

The man opened Judah’s wagon door, bowing his head, before stepping into the carriage. Jeanne, waiting inside, jumped as the man entered but settled down when Judah came after him. The horse cried after a whipping sound, and the carriage began to move again.

“We have a short way to go. If it’s okay, I’d like to talk a little bit.”

“Yes, of course.” Judah nodded his head, happy to entertain their guest.

“Hmm, thank you. What is your business in Dempa?”

“We have no other purpose in Dempa. We’re heading to Aslan.”

“Aslan? Then you are going to participate in the Green Flagstaff!” He exclaimed as if he knew his answer was right.

“No, it wouldn’t be bad to join, but I don’t intend to do that this time. There’s a place in Aslan that I’m going to visit… But perhaps I might go see it.”

“Hmm. The Green Flagstaff only happens once in a while, so it would be better to participate when you have certain skills. Do you truly have intentions of participating?”

“Yes… yes. I don’t intend to participate, but I think my companion wants to.”

“Hoh.” He looked up at Jeanne, who was sitting next to Judah, and then grinned, “My daughter is supposed to participate in the flagpole contest, but not me.”

“Do you have children?”

The nobleman sighed, “Yes. I have a child, one that doesn’t listen to me very much. She left the house to join the Green Flagstaff. I’m on my way to meet her…”

As Judah talked with him, a strange feeling caught in his mind. He felt like he had seen him somewhere. Where? He forced himself to think, but his mind offered him no answers. As he lingered around the strange familiarity, Judah paused, realizing they had yet to introduce themselves to each other.