"Okay I'm going"
My parents are standing in front of the house, seeing me off. The sun is still yet to rise, so it's dark all here. I don't want to make this like our last meeting or something, so I'll keep it short.
"Please be careful", said my mom with a still worry on her face.
"Remember son, whatever happens, you have to make it. If you failed, you can go back here as long as you're alive", said my old man with a serious face.
Dude, you sound like I'm going to war or something. Yes, I'm travelling to some dangerous places, but you guys shouldn't know that right? Just take care of your back old man, and I'll send you a letter when something happens.
"I will, I will. I'll also send you a letter, although rarely, just in case something happens in the capital", I said turning while turning my back to them, "then I'm going now"
I walk my way using the main road outside this town. I can see the twilight so it's not as dark as I think. It's almost dusk now, so the wind is not as cold as the night.
'This'll be going to be a long adventure. I don't even know whether I can attend the academy next year. Even if I can't, I can still attend it next year. Although it's a shame, I'll make up to Jed when that happens. I really need to get to "that" place', I said to myself.
Yes, it's true. The place where I'm talking about is the Agrasha empire. It's located in a different country. So in order to get there, I have to travel towards the north, to the neighbouring country The Shavian Kingdom. The Agrasha Empire is the neighbour of that country, I have to go there first. This is also the exact same route that the main protagonist in the story took. So I'll just follow him.
Inside the Agrasha Empire, there's a forest called "Frightening Woodland", and that's my destination. Well, the name already explains it. That's what the locals called it. The forest spans around a quarter of the empire, but not even the mighty knight of the empire dare to touch it.
The main character goes there when he was in a dire pinch after losing to the demon king's army in the later volume. The emperor at that time leaks some secrets about the forest that only a few people knows.
The fact that there's a dragon soul residing there makes the forest filled with mana. It makes many beasts mutate into a stronger existence, and it explains the name of "Frightening Woodland" because there are many frightening monsters there.
Then why didn't the empire take the dragon's soul for themselves? It'd make the empire even stronger by having 2 dragon souls residing inside one country right? you may as well ask that.
The answer is, that the one that resides in that forest is not your regular dragon soul, but instead an evil dragon soul. Later on, the main character will get the blessing of the dragon by sacrificing his life force. In short, every time he uses the dragon power, it'll take a portion of his remaining lifetime. The more power you use, the shorter your life gets. What a deal right? He must be really desperate at that time.
Yes, I know that taking this power from the main character could make some changes in the plot. But I promise to help him by using the dragon's power when the time comes, even if it means taking a portion of my lifetime. Because I can't have him dying before defeating the demon king. But I swear other than that, I'll never use this damn power lightly. I plan to live a long life okay?
Enough about that. As for now, I've to arrive at the nearest town in order to get the carriage there. And using that carriage, I'll go to the nearest city. I don't know what the town is called, but my parents said that I can get there by following the main road. I expect to get there when morning comes.
I walked for quite some time until I see a town ahead of me. There's a guard, but the security seems pretty lax as you've expected from a slightly bigger town than my hometown. The guard don't even ask me as I walked inside the town. Maybe because they consider me to be a harmless kid?
Seeing that they're not going to stop me, so I guess I'll initiate the conversation myself. I've got a few things to ask them.
"Sir, do you know when the carriage that going to the next city set off?"
"There's once in the morning and evening. It should be going soon. If you go there now, you may be able to join them before they go"
So I thank the guard and go in the direction they pointed to fastly. I'll be in deep trouble if I'm late. Luckily the horse-driven carriage was still there and there were a few carriages and some coachmen shouting their destination.
I approach one of the coachmen and ask
"Sir is this carriage going to the next big city?"
"Yes it does lad, get in!"
I get into the carriage and see a few other people inside. I just nod my head to everyone and sit in an empty seat in the rear. The carriage is made from wood, but I won't complain about it.
Before long, the carriage starts moving and I know I'll just have to wait. I expect to arrive in the next city in the evening. So I have to plan what I'm going to do there.
Well first, I'm going to get myself a weapon. I don't know how expensive that is, but I estimated that the cheap sword would be around 3-4 silver coins. I've 50 silver coins with me right now from the town lord. It's not too much but not too little for me.
The next problem is, how I'm going to survive to my destination with just so little money and weak strength. I can't hire any adventurer to help me get there as it would cost me a huge sum of money. I also can't waste my time to work my ass hard as an adventurer in order to get money for that, also it'll be dangerous as hell.
If worst comes to worst, I'll have to go there by risking my life. But you know what? I'll think of it as I go. There's no use pondering myself without knowing the exact choice that I have, do I?
The carriage goes to rest for a bit before continuing the journey. Before long, I arrived at my destination.
There's a wall surrounding the city and there's a long line of people waiting to get it with each guard checking on each person. I guess the security is not lax anymore? As expected from the first big city that I go to in this world.
I play the coachmen using 1 silver coin and he returns me 75 copper coins. If 100 copper coins are 1 silver coin, so the fare is 25 copper coins per person huh? It's a fair price for me.
I began to wait in line in order to get into the city. When it's my turn to get in, the guards ask me some questions about my name and my origin. Of course, I tell them truthfully. I expect some fantasy-like things to happen but they let me in with just that. So there's no holding a crystal ball for identification? I forgot these things as more than half of the novel is focused on the academy.
In the meantime, I ask the guard about lodging before getting into the city and they recommend me a cheap in on the west side of the city. I guess that'll do. I'll ask the people in the city about the exact whereabouts of the inn.