"Let's go to Terrence's first," Lance said as he locked the doors of the quarters.
"Terrence?" Serene asked.
"We're renting?" Verin asked.
"Rent what?" Serene asked again but she didn't get any response. They just walked and didn't talk. She's unfamiliar with that part of the capital and was never at that side. She only went to the streets where she could drink and socialize with different people to de-stress.
"Where are we going?" she fussed again. But like before, they didn't answer her.
"Ah, geez! If this is about last night, I already said I'd watch my alcohol intake!"
"You promised," Verin pressed, "right?",
"Fine, I promise!"
"Alright, we are here," Lance stopped in front of a structure which says, 'T's horses'.
"What?" Serene blurted out, "we're renting a horse for each member?"
Lance let out a dry laugh and kept tapping her head, "no, silly. That'll cost us a fortune."
"Then what are we going to rent?" she looked at the signage again, "it says horses!"
"They got wagons too," he said, then turned around to enter but Serene caught his shirt and pulled him back to them.
"Wait, wait, wait!"
"What, woman?" he stood properly and dusted his half cape.
"Shouldn't we rent a horse or a carriage, and not a wagon?" she blinked.
"I told you, it'll cost more money." He reasoned.
Thenea raised her arm, "I was not taught how to ride one."
Serene gasped and her eyes twinkled, "then ride with me!"
Lance sighed, and asked everyone, "Who else here doesn't know how to ride a horse?"
Verin looked at the side and slowly raised his hand.
"Huuuuh?" Serene faced Verin, "how could you not learn? Aren't boys taught how to? Where do you live? You're a swordsman? How come you're ignorant with this?"
"I'm from the east, woman!"
Serene groaned, "Three people can ride, three can't. Perfect pair, right?"
Lithea tilted her head, "I can't."
"Oh, oh," Serene faced Viv and held both of his arms, "you?"
Viv slowly turned his head from side to side. Her face went pale.
"Wagon it is!" Lance said and entered the renting place.
"NO! I DON'T' WANT TO RIDE A WAGON IT'S TOO STUFFY."
Lance happily talked to Terrence while Serene is visibly throwing tantrums with her head fuming in anger. The others jusy watched her, already used to her tantrums.
"Fucking nobles," Verin muttered.
A vein popped on Serene's temple, "what did you say?"
Verin's eyes widened, "nothing!"
"Hey," Lance waved his hand.
"Lance, you're back, bud!" The owner, who was the same height as him but with a ginger head, greeted him with a friendly smile.
"I'm here to rent again."
"Sure, are you going to take Kau again?" he said and started rummaging for receipts.
"Oh no, I'm here with the team," he chuckled, "I would like to rent a wagon."
"It's the first time you'll be on a team, no?" Terrence checked his board for available wagons.
"Yeah, that's right."
Lance turned his head towards the door and saw how chaotic it's gotten again, his guess, Serene is causing it again. There was never a dull moment with her, but what he hated is how she could be messy when drinking.
There was a time when Serene returned drunk and that was when he woke up to drink a glass of water. He found her face first on the floor, laying on top of her vomit. When she woke up that morning, she received an earful from him and Verin. But she just won't listen.
"I got here my best and biggest wagon," Terrence said, "since it's a good day for you."
"Hmm?"
"Let me throw in a discount!"
"What? I can't accept that."
Terrence laughed, "You've been a friend to me and you never accept my discounts."
He tore a receipt and handed it to him, "now you're forced to take my discount."
Lance looked at the receipt and choked on his saliva.
"Three silvers for a big wagon?!"
Terrence shrugged.
"Ten coppers are equivalent to one small wagon," he calculated, "if it's your biggest, shouldn't you charge me five silver without discount?"
"That's fine, you'll keep renting from me anyway."
Lance simply shook his head and headed to the back to check the wagon.
"I'll go check it."
"Good luck on your adventure, Lance!"
After he checked the wagon, he left the rental place, tossing his coin pouch in his hand, playing with it as he is guilty of taking advantage of Terrence's kindness. But he was forced.
That wagon was at least 7 silver worth for a week's worth of rental.
His mind wandered back to when he came back from his first long distance quest, when he showed his receipts to the guild reimbursement, he was surprised to see he was paid with one gold short. He expected to be paid three gold coins since it was a long distance work and an S rank.
He asked the attendant about it and he just learned there's a limit for their expenses when doing a mission. Since then, he became frugal and saved all of his coins; refusing to spend a single copper coin on something unnecessary. He used to splurge on luxuries during work, reasoning with how he deserved it for taking on dangerous jobs. Also, one more thing is, he's tight today, he just learned how scary the chief is.
Thinking how Calla would chew on him if he won't manage their expenses, he gulped.
That was a huge wakeup call for him.
"How was it?" Verin asked when he noticed Lance.
"Please tell me you didn't get a small one," she cried.
Lance didn't mind Serene and chose to answer Verin, "it's all set."
"Are they bringing it to us?" Verin asked.
"Yeah, he told me to wait here."
"You didn't rent something cramped, right?" Serene poked his arm.
"You'll see, redhead."
"Tell me you checked it properly," she asked more, "that it won't get crashed while we're on the road?"
"Don't you trust me?"
"NO!"
Lance blinked.
"I'm the commander here, missy."
"I'm older than you!"
"Both of you are acting like a child," Thenea spoke.
"I AM NOT!" both of them said.
Viv pointed something on the road, "horses."
Everyone looked at what he's pointing at and not a few seconds later, two horses pulling a huge wagon were running towards them.
"That is a big wagon," Thenea commented upon seeing the wagon from afar. This is by far the biggest one she's seen.
Serene clapped. "I won't have to curl up to fit in!"
Thenea nodded, "hmm, hmm."
"Are we renting the driver too?" she asked.
"Ah," Lance shook his head, "I'm thinking all of us would take turns."
Serene fluttered her eyes.
"What?"
"We can teach those who have no idea how to drive while we're on it."
Serene threw her head to the back.
"You have got to be kidding me?!" her lips trembled.
Thenea smacked Serene with her staff, "stop it!"
"You're mean."
"You're whiny."
Verin let out a deep sigh and knuckled the two, "we're leaving."
The team finally set off with Lance and Verin driving the wagon. Since Verin does not know how to do it since he refused his father to teach him when he was younger, not knowing it will come handy when he grows up. Now, he regrets not learning at an early age.
"Hold it properly!"
Verin sat stiff while holding the reins tightly, "like this?"
"What are you doing? Don't freeze!"
While the two were bickering in the front, Viv's stomach growled loudly, the girls at the back turned their eyes on him.
Viv was sitting at the end of the wagon, looking at the scenery at the back; getting lost in his own mind.
"Is he numb?" Serene asked. His stomach kept growling and he never moved an inch.
Thenea shook her head and unpack a pouch of cookies she had with her in case he would get hungry.
"No, it's just that, he never really had food growing up," she recalled sadly before tapping Viv's shoulder and handed him the cookies with a smile.
"No food?" Lithea asked.
Viv's eyes sparkled as his mouth formed an O shape, happy to see his favourite snacks; sweets. He wagged his imaginary tails as he munched the chocolate chips.
Serene rubbed her eyes and then blinked them, trying to get a better look at Viv's back, 'is it just me or he's really got dog tail and ears?'
"Can anyone see that?" she pointed at him. The others didn't mind her.
"Yes," the light mage got back to her seat before answering Lithea's question, "he grew up on the streets when his parents died. Luckily, a retired knight found him and raised him when he got a little older."
Lithea's mind wandered to Mia. She wouldn't want that for her sister.
Serene sighed and joined the two seeing how they are not paying attention to her and how they can't see Viv's dog features.
"So you met through that knight?" Serene asked.
"No," Thenea giggled, "we met on a mission."
"A mission?"
"Yes, it was really fun!"
Serene raised an eyebrow, how can a mission with a maniac be fun? What household did she come from to not mind his crazy tendencies? Questions after questions filled Serene's mind. She's not sure if she can be like Thenea, keeping a lunatic by her side without worries.
The journey continues with the girls talking, while in front Verin has finally got the hang of driving the wagon. Lance sat there with a smug on his face.
'I'm the best teacher.'
They finally left the Capital and entered the border between the center and the eastern part of the kingdom. They all need to take a rest within the border as the sun is preparing itself to set and leave them in the care of the night with the moon and its friends, the stars.
As the silent journey continued, Viv's stomach once again growled. Thenea laughed before giving him another pack of cookies.
"Here you go, Viv!"
Viv's eyes once again sparkled, erasing his dull gaze, making it more lively and round.
"Tia!"
He did small jumps in his seat, seeing Thenea handing him a pouch filled with cookies again.
"Oooo~" his eyes dilated even more, amazed at the golden brown cookies once more before eating them one by one. Not a single care in the world with his cookies melting inside his mouth.
Serene stared intensely at his tail, confused. Her eyes followed the movements of his tail and watched carefully how his dog ears kept moving. They are as though expressing the happiness he feels eating his snacks.
"How many cookies have you got?" Serene asked Thenea without taking his eyes off of Viv.
Thenea smiled as she shrugged and settled back on her seat, "that was the last one I have prepared for him to munch on."
Serene whipped her head to Thenea, "you mean after he finished that and when his stomach growls again," she squints her eyes, "or if one of us gets hungry,"
Thenea hummed, "hmm?"
"There will be no more food?"
The light mage smiled and clapped her hands, "yes!"
"HOW CAN YOU STAY POSITIVE IN THIS SITUATION?"
Thenea blinked her eyes, "eh?"
"IT'S GETTING DARK AND WE ARE NOWHERE NEAR A VILLAGE. WE'RE STILL INSIDE THE BORDER!"
Viv finished all his cookies but he wasn't satisfied, his stomach growled once again.
"WILL YOU STOP THAT?!"
Viv frowned and took his knife, he thought Serene was attacking him.
"Woah!" Serene stumbled making the wagon move.
"What's going on in there?" Lance shouted from outside.
Lithea silently took a piece of bread and cut it in three pieces, handing each of it to those who were inside the wagon with her.
Both Serene and Thenea are confused with her actions but accept it anyway.
Viv's mind flashes back to the time when Ox handed him his first freshly baked bread. With Lithea's actions, he knew she's not a bad person. To him, the first and most important basis to determine a bad person is through food.
Food has always been his source of comfort.
His eyes sparkled as he ate and mumbled, "enk yu."
The night finally came and Lance suggested they spend the night, and camp out before they set out in the morning again. The first village they would enter once they got out of the borders is still 15 kilometers away. Even though they can endure it, the horses still need to rest. The 10 minute breaks they gave to the animals in between the journey wasn't enough to let them continue that far.
All of them got off the wagon. While Verin was securing the horses to a tree, Lance led the others to a spot where they could camp.
"Why must we sleep outside? What if it rains?" Serene whined.
"We can just cram inside the wagon." Lance grinned.
"We should let the horses rest, Serene," Thenea said before following Verin to look for some small branches to make fire.
"What are we doing now?" Serene again, asked.
"Looking for woods to make fire." Verin answered.
"We don't have any fire users here?"
"We can't just rely on our powers all the time, preserve your mana." Lance said, setting out some sleeping beds.
Verin, Thenea, and Lithea gathered lots of wood enough to keep them warm throughout the night.
"I haven't done anything like this," Serene commented as she watched Verin make fire.
"Me too, I usually stay in an inn," Thenea said, "but this is what adventure really is."
Serene looked at Lithea who was trying to make something out of the sticks they picked up earlier.
"This is my first, too," she said as she senses them waiting for her to speak, "but I'm fine with it."
"What are you doing now?" Serene squatted next to her.
"I will use this to cook that."
They all followed the finger where she's pointing, it was a hare all tied up.
"Oi! Are you going to cook that?" Verin gulped.
Lithea nodded.
"I thought this was your first time?" Lance raised an eyebrow.
"Master taught me how to survive on missions."
Their mouths fell wide open, 'her master sure is scary.'
Viv broke the weird atmosphere when he pointed at Lithea, "spoke a lot."
Thenea laughed at him, "sorry, Lily. He's always like this whenever he finds it unusual."
"Wow!" the others are amused at Viv.
"You sure do know a lot about him," Serene grinned.
Thenea giggled before answering and helped Lance with the beds, "we got closer during our first mission!"
Everyone is now all ears.
"He is actually living with me and my grandmother."
"What sort of relationship do you guys have?" Serene gave her a meaningful look while the others were confused.
"It's not what you think."
Thenea smiled as she recalled the events in the past.