"Where are you going, young man?" An old woman that is sitting with me inside a stagecoach asked. She brought a lot of items with her. In my fast counting, there are at least 6 bags with her.
"Hm? This stagecoach is going to Timberville right?"
"That is not what I mean… The old lady chuckled a little before continuing, "Your destination?"
I scratch my head a little. "I will go to the Northwellen Territory."
Northwellen is a place north of a huge sacred forest. Meanwhile, the destination of this stagecoach is Timberville. Timberville is a town located in the south of the sacred forest. That sacred forest has no special name, people usually call it 'The Sacred Forest of Northwellen,' or 'Northwellen Forest'.
"Northwellen eh? I heard there is an ancient dragon in the forest… I pray for your safe travel," said the old woman using her soft voice.
"Thank you very much," I replied and then decided to get a little rest here.
I have been traveling for more than two weeks from the royal capital. I am traveling alone to a remote place like the Northwellen because I will become the Count of that place.
There is a civil war between the first prince and the second prince over who should become the king. Many noble sided with either side for many reasons. That civil war ended only three months ago when the second prince was killed in the battle near the royal capital.
The Count of Northwellen was one of the supporting factions of the second prince. He followed the second prince in the hope to revitalize the remote area of Northwellen. He hoped the second prince can bring more trade to the Northwellen territory after the civil war ended. Too bad their faction lost and he is not able to fulfill his dream. The new king—the first prince—then executes all noblemen that work with the second prince. Not only that, but many noble families also lose their right to their land.
The new king then redistributes the now free land to all the knights and nobles loyal to the first prince. I, Aquila Lockway, the second son of the Lockway family, was also a knight that fight alongside the first prince. Seeing that I was a knight and also a son of a loyal Count that rules the southern area of the kingdom, I get a noble title for myself. Of course, this is a big deal, but for some reason, I get the most remote place in this kingdom.
The Northwellen is a place south of the northern mountain. The big mountain range in the north of the kingdom is too big, no one is able to pass the mountain range alive. East of Northwellen is another big mountain range. That mountain range separates the area from the other kingdom. Meanwhile to the south and west of Northwellen is the Sacred Forest of Northwellen.
To reach the Northwellen, the only way is to pass the forest using a small road that part the sacred forest. A carriage needs 2 days of a journey to pass that road, so camping in the forest for a night is a must. It is not unusual to hear people get attacked when using that road. Because of that few people want to risk their lives for a small profit trading with Northwellen.
There is also a river that flows from the north but no ship can use the river to travel from or to Northwellen. The reason is also because of the magical beasts in the forest. It is a certainty that someone passing by ship will get attacked by magical beasts, either from the forest or from the river.
* * *
"Wake up! We have reached the destination."
I woke up when the coachman shouted at me.
"What is this?" I noticed that I hold a bag when I woke up. The bag looks like the other bags the old woman has. I searched for the old woman but to no avail, I didn't find her anywhere.
"Where is the old woman that sits here?" I pointed toward the place where she sat. "She has an item she forgot to bring."
"Huh? Old woman? There is no old woman that board the stagecoach today. You are the only one that I bring today." The coachman sounds a little impatient. He also signs me to leave the stagecoach fast.
As soon as I leave the stagecoach, the coachman order the horse to move. Looking at the departing stagecoach, I am confused about my situation right now.
"What should I do with this bag?" I speak to myself in a low voice. "Let's take the inn first before looking for horses to use tomorrow."
I planned to buy two horses here and use that horses to reach the Northwellen territory tomorrow. One of the horses will be a packhorse to bring food for the two horses. I will then rest for a night in the wilderness before continuing the journey when morning comes.
I go inside the inn and reserve a room for sleeping tonight. I paid a few silver coins for the room and added a few more for a dinner. I then go inside the room, put my belonging, and goes outside again to look for a horse.
…
It is already near dinner time when I come back to the inn. There are many other guests at the inn. They are all drinking beer and enjoying the night. I am not in the mood for a beer so I eat dinner and go back to my room.
I see that the bag that I got from the mysterious old woman is still in the room. I decided to check the content of the bag. There is a bluish-white big egg and a red book in the bag. Other than that, there is a piece of paper with something written on it.
'The new count of Northwellen, Aquila Lockway, this is a gift for you. We will meet again someday.'
"What does that mean?" I am confused, "Gift? What gift? This egg? And the book? And how can she know my name?"
I pick up the big egg with both of my hands. The egg is so big it can't be held with only one hand.
"What kind of egg is this? Claude should know what kind of egg this is."
Claude is one of my most important retainers. He has already reached Northwellen a month ago. I ordered Claude and one other retainer to come to the place first. While I finish all the administration in the royal capital, in the end, I need a month to finish that. The reason Claude goes first is to establish a rule on that place. There might be other people that seize the chance to sit on the lord's chair when the power is empty. But seeing that Claude has never sent me an emergency message I know that there is no problem there. Well even when there is a problem, I'm sure Claude is able to resolve that.
I then look at the red book. The book is thin and looks like it only has 100 pages or less of content inside. There is no title or any kind of thing that indicates the content of the book. I opened the book on a random page and sees a page titled the 'White Panther'. There is a detailed explanation of the monster called the 'White Panther'. Their habit, living areas, food, lifespan, and a lot of other information regarding the 'White Panther' are written there.
I opened another page and there is another page with information about another magical beast. As I am not interested in magical beasts I keep opening another page. And I noticed something weird about the book. It does not matter how many times I open a random page, it feels like the book will always have another page. I decided to open the last page of the book.
"As expected, there is still more page after this."
The book has another page even after I open the last page. I then tried this again and again only to have the same result.
"This is my first time seeing a magic book. Is this some kind of magic that hides the true size of the book?"
I am not knowledgeable about magic so I don't know what kind of magic applied to this book.
"Then again, why is that old woman leave her magic book to me?"
Once again I am confused by that old woman. What reason did she have to leave the egg and book with me? Not only that, but the coachmen have no memory of her is also a weird thing. I decided to sleep and recover my energy so that I can leave this town full of energy tomorrow.