L.E. Miranda
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SSR - Book 2 Chapter 6: The Trip (1)
🕑 Added 2025-03-05 22:35:32 +0000 UTCRylan stared through the window at the rapidly changing scenery while nodding to himself.
They’re about as fast I thought.
Even though the lizard creatures were moving this quickly, the carriage barely rattled. Every rock in the road or hole was cleanly avoided, making the journey quite peaceful so far. He turned to look at Sarah and Aelfric, who were looking through the other window in wonder.
“…I know it’s been three hours, but I’m still not used to how fast the trees are going by,” Aelfric suddenly said with a furrowed brow.
Rylan smiled.
“It’ll happen soon enough. Don’t worry about it.”
Aelfric turned to look at him.
“Can you go faster than this when using the Falling Snow Steps? Or at least about as fast?”
“I’m faster, but I don’t think I could use the Falling Snow Steps for days straight yet," Rylan replied with a chuckle.
“Then wouldn’t it still have been easier to just run back to Cantavega? Even if you need to rest on the way. Oh, we wouldn’t have been able to go with you…”
Rylan nodded.
“That, and I also don’t want to risk being seen moving at that speed by anyone. There’s also the danger of having to fight on the way or arriving there too tired to jump into the Dungeon right away. I wouldn’t have been able to cut down the trip by too much anyway, a few days at most.”
Sarah looked at him.
“You’re planning to enter the Dungeon as soon as you arrive, my lord?” she asked, sounding a bit worried.
“No, not exactly. I’ll talk to Father and gather information about the enemies that have appeared so far. From there, we’ll come up with a strategy. It’ll be pretty barebones, though,” Rylan replied with a serene expression.
She let out a small sigh of relief, making him smile.
“I won’t go in completely blind. I like danger, but I’m not stupid,” he continued.
Sarah scoffed with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
“Roland liked danger, not you. And I wouldn’t be so sure about the second part.”
Rylan narrowed his eyes. He suddenly lunged forward, right arm outstretched. The movement flowed into a light flick that landed right on the center of her forehead with a loud noise.
“Hey!” she yelped, bringing her hands to the point of impact.
Rylan gave her a satisfied nod and sat back down. Aelfric looked back and forth between him and the pouting Sarah with a genuine smile.
“That reminds me,” Rylan said, grinning. “How’s your family, Sarah?”
Her pout softened into a warm expression.
“They’re fine. The money from this job allows me to keep them clothed and fed, especially after the Lord increased my salary again. And,” she smiled at him. “It’s no longer so unbearable. Mostly. Kind of.”
Rylan scoffed.
“Yeah, right. Be glad you don’t have to watch me bathe anymore.”
“I think you’re secretly sad about that, young master.”
“Not so secretly.”
Sarah laughed. Rylan leaned back on his seat with a grin and looked at the ceiling. If anything, at least this trip would be a good opportunity to get closer to Sarah and Aelfric, the two people who had been with him for the longest time.
The lizards’ speed didn’t decrease as time passed. Once the sun was slowly sinking under the horizon and shining its orange light between the trees and through the clouds, they arrived at the first stop.
The carriage slowed down. Rylan looked through the window. The first thing he noticed were the small stone houses, arranged in a random fashion all over a large space with no trees. Despite their size, they were quite pleasing to the eye. They were almost all at the same size, but the shape of the wooden roofs varied, ranging from pyramids to domes. Smoke billowed out of the tiny chimneys.
There were only a few roads that weaved between them. The sunset’s glow added to the rustic beauty of the village. Rylan stared at the furthest point he could see. Beyond the village’s limits, the forest started getting thicker again. Still, since the village was so close to a main road, there shouldn’t be any issue.
Some men, women, and children dressed in plain clothes pointed at the carriage as it passed by, stopping their conversations to stare at it. Some of the children ran after the carriage, only to be scolded by their parents and pulled to the side. The adults, on the other hand, seemed to be staring at the lizard creatures with wariness. It was an understandable reaction.
The carriage slowly made its way through the village until it reached its center and ground to a halt. A few seconds later, two knocks resounded on the ceiling. Rylan stood up and walked out of the carriage, stepping on the soft grass. Aelfric and Sarah followed him out. Right in front of them was a stone structure much bigger than the houses but still built in the same rustic style. The smell of roasted meat and vegetables escaped through the windows.
An inn.
Rylan smiled. It had been quite a while since he had last been somewhere like this, especially if he included his past life.
“It’s quite cozy,” Aelfric said, walking up to stand next to him.
Rylan nodded and turned to look at the coachman, who was smiling just as cheerfully as ever.
“We’ve arrived, masters! I’ll take the two kids to a place where they can rest and eat, then return here! Please, feel free to go inside! It’s a well-regarded place!” he exclaimed, sounding a bit tired.
Sarah frowned slightly. Before she could say anything, Rylan lifted his hand and smiled at the chubby man.
“Thank you, Pedro. We’ll find ourselves a room and get one for you too. I’ll tell whoever’s in charge to give you the keys when you get back. You should sleep on a soft bed tonight,” he replied with a grin.
Pedro blinked, then flashed a relieved smile.
“…That would be nice, Master Rylan. Thank you so much.”
Sarah’s frown intensified. Giving her a glance, Rylan turned around and walked into the inn with large steps. His eyes darted around, grasping everything he could about his environment as hot air hit him in full. Wooden tables, candlelight, groups of people eating and laughing. It was a familiar, comforting view. To the left, there was a wooden counter. A young boy stood behind it, staring straight at him with warm brown eyes. The boy flinched and hurriedly bowed, opening his mouth to say something, only for his words to be lost in the noise.
“Young master,” Sarah said in a reproachful voice from behind Rylan before he could take another step.
He waved his hand, stopping her.
“Yeah, I get it. Don’t sweat about the small stuff, and let’s get ourselves a room.”
It was only obvious that someone like Sarah, who had been extensively trained as a caretaker, would find issue with the coachman’s laidback attitude of dropping them off and going somewhere else. However, Rylan didn’t really mind. He preferred things this way.
He approached the counter. The young boy bowed again.
“Welcome!” the boy exclaimed, almost shouting.
Rylan smiled at him and raised two fingers.
“Three rooms, only for the night,” he shouted back.
The boy shook his head.
“There are only two rooms!”
Rylan shrugged and nodded, then turned to Sarah with his hand outstretched. With a furrowed brow, she grabbed a pouch from within her robes and gave it to him. Once he handed it to the attendant, the boy gave them two keys. Rylan shook his head and gave back one of the keys to the boy, explaining the coachman’s situation. Finally, after some more back and forth about rules and the inn’s services, Rylan went up the stairs to the left, followed by Sarah and Aelfric. On the second floor, they walked through a narrow corridor and entered their room.
Rylan looked around.
It’s bigger than I thought.
The room was wide, but there was only a single large bed and one bathroom. Behind him, Sarah flinched as she walked in. Rylan nodded in satisfaction. The room was easily defensible if the need arose. Striding inside, he sat down on the bed and smiled at his two companions.
“Well, that’s that. We should get some rest,” he stated.
Aelfric scanned the bedroom.
“I don’t think the three of us can fit on that bed,” he said with some hesitation.
Rylan nodded.
“Yeah, which means only two of us will sleep here.”
Sarah blinked. Aelfric rubbed his chin with a pensive expression.
“So,” Rylan continued, looking at Sarah. “Sarah, you’ll stay here with Aelfric. I’ll stay with Pedro. I can protect him, and you can protect Aelfric, so it’s all good. Since we’ll be in the same building, I’ll be able to react to anything that happens, anyway.”
Her eyebrow twitched as her gaze hardened slightly.
“…Of course, my lord. It’s a good decision,” she said, sounding a bit colder than usual. Rylan furrowed his brow in confusion, but didn’t think too much of it. Maybe she was just tired.
He stood up with a nod.
“I’ll wait for Pedro downstairs, then. You two just relax. See ya tomorrow,” he said with a grin, walking up to the door and stepping outside.
Rylan made his way down to the inn’s first floor and waited for Pedro while enjoying the heated atmosphere, which seemed to be in defiance of the darkness outside. After some time, the man arrived with an apologetic grin. Together, they made their way to their room.
Tomorrow would be the start of the second day of their journey. The reunion with Gerard crept ever closer.
***
Jasmine stared into her father’s blue eyes with a dumbfounded expression.
“He’s gone!?” she exclaimed in disbelief.
Christian Lamollet raised an eyebrow.
“Don’t make it sound like he’s dead. He just left the city to go take care of something. I’ll be able to find out what it was after some digging, but yes, he isn’t here.”
Jasmine sighed and rubbed her temples.
Just when I was going to ask him to teach me…
Tomorrow was supposed to be the fateful day that would mark the beginning of her learning process with Rylan. His actions so far made her believe that he would accept it if she asked. Rylan’s tall frame and honest eyes flashed through her mind. Jasmine grinned.
“I guess this what they meant when they warned me about having a daughter,” Christian said with a sigh.
She blinked before hurriedly shaking her head.
“No! I just want to learn from him.”
Christian sighed again, making her frown.
“I’ll find out where he’s headed and why he’s going there. From there, we can think about what we’ll do,” he stated in a steady tone.
Jasmine hesitatingly nodded, clenching her fists. The sooner she got Rylan to guide her, the better. Every time before falling asleep, she kept thinking about their battle in the tournament. She had never been overwhelmed so completely before. Rylan was the one who could make her swordsmanship progress the most. Every swing of his sword had made her feel like he was staring at an artist painting a canvas. If anything, what she felt was admiration. She nodded to herself again with a determined expression.
“Thank you, Dad,” she said.
Christian waved his hand dismissively.
“Don’t thank me yet. And Jasmine,” his gaze was dead serious. “Don’t get too caught up in Rylan’s swordsmanship. It’s the only part of him that far surpasses you. In terms of spellcasting alone, he isn’t greater than you at all. He beat you in a fight, but mostly due to other factors.”
She let out a breath.
“Yeah, I know.”
Swordsmanship was an interesting, fun hobby, but it could never be anything more than that. Magic reigned supreme. As her thoughts reached this point, Jasmine frowned in confusion.
“What is it?” Christian asked, tilting his head.
“…Rylan used swordsmanship to win against Hayden, who was far stronger than him. Doesn’t that count for something?”
Christian furrowed his brow.
“…It does. But there’s no reason to believe swordsmanship can bridge the gap between a Fourth Circle Mage and one at the Fifth Circle, for example. You’ll better understand what I mean once you reach higher Circles.”
With a sigh, Jasmine looked at the open window to her right. The starry sky and the full moon painted a peaceful picture. Christian turned his head, following her gaze.
The moonlight shone upon them.
***
The next two days of the journey were simple and straightforward. Rylan spent most of his time inside the carriage as it sped through the dirt roads in their way, pulled by the two giant six-legged lizards. By sunset, the group would arrive at a place where they could sleep and allow the animals to rest. Naturally, this meant he had an abundance of time to spend on mana absorption. Every bit helped.
On the fourth day, however, there was a change.
Inside the carriage, Rylan narrowed his eyes. It was only a feeling, but he had learned long ago to trust Roland’s instincts. He glanced up, as if he could see through the roof.
The mana has changed.
It was unclear why, but it didn’t matter. His mana immediately circulated within him at full force, improving all his senses in a heartbeat. He knocked on the carriage’s ceiling twice as he stood up. Once it stopped moving, he decisively strode out of it and spun, trying to grasp the reason behind this change.
His eyes zeroed in on four objects rapidly approaching his position, cutting through the air like arrows. Rylan raised his eyebrows in surprise.
Did they intentionally take the same path as us? Or is this a coincidence?
His sharpened eyesight allowed him to see that the objects looked like large brooms, all different in appearance. On top, either sitting or standing, were five figures. His heart skipped a beat as he recognized who the fifth person was.
…Seriously?
Comments
Dave_S
Thanks for the chapter!
P3t1
The scene in my mind is where Sarah and Rylan first get to his room after his change, and she wordlessly begins undressing. Idk whether that scene got cut out.
Gopard
I'm still fairly certain it was never written he molested her... She was literally his supervisor by his father's orders and a third circle mage to boot. She just had to clean up his whoring and drug scandals and pay his tab and broken shit whenever he got wasted and did dumb things stuff like that... Bad enough ofc but she was always more in the kind of "has to watch him do degenerate shit" not "get molested or abused" state right?
Gopard
Thanks for the chapter!
P3t1
Sarah’s being weird. I don’t know what’s up with that … I mean, she slept with Aelfric and Rylan is just trying to be nice, not forcing her to sleep in the same room as him. Which is just basic decency, considering how he had treated her and molested her before the change. (Unless that part got retconned entirely)
Alex Alexander
Thanks for the chapter. I wonder who the 5th person could possibly be.
Stephen Pearson
Thanks for the chapter! :-)
John Emad
Thanks for the chapter
Raymond Mouton
Thanks for the chapter. BTW: made her feel like he was staring => made her feel like she was staring
