We kept to the road, and the first day of travel went very smoothly. When it got dark, we got the tents out and slept. Well, I had tents, but all of the girls somehow ended up in my tent. Celeste had to shrink down to her fairy size just to fit all of us. We'd need to get a bigger tent in the future if this was how the girls wanted to travel. Well, that, or maybe we could find some kind of tent with special magic on it. It'd be cool to sleep in something that was bigger on the inside.
The next day, it was around lunchtime and I was just thinking that I was getting kind of hungry when we noticed a cart on the side of the road. They were pulled over and it looked like they had a broken wheel. We stopped a distance away from them. Celeste flew up high to get an overhead view, and I used a telescope that I had gotten for the journey.
"The Guild Master said that any broken-down carts on the side of the road may be a trap set by bandits."
I didn't know why an established country like Aberis had bandits. It seemed like the first thing a country would do is monitor their roads and ensure things like bandits didn't happen. I decided it was like finding a turkey leg in armor and decided to just accept it. In this case, we had discussed many possible things with the Guild Master, and one such warning was to remain vigilant.
Although Lydia was my official scout, I didn't feel her job nor her experience was high enough yet that I was willing to risk her against bandits. Celeste, on the other hand, was small and could fly outside the range of arrows, so there was very little risk for her in this situation. She came back a few minutes later.
"Master, I see no bandits around the area. The cart contains just an old man and what appears to be his daughter. They appear to be transporting food."
"Ah, then I suppose we might as well greet them and see if we can help."
I also didn't see anything suspicious in my telescope. This should be safe. We approached the two stranded people.
"Hello!" The old man waved, smiling, "Traveler, good day!"
"Good day!" I responded back. "Um… you need any help?"
"Ah… that… it appears like our wheel is busted." The man sighed.
"We've been out here for hours!" The girl said, worriedly.
She was a pretty girl with blond hair and blue eyes. She had a hat on her head and wore a typical farmer's garb, or at least what I would think was a farmer's garb.
The old man nodded. "I worry if we're stuck out here for the night. Bandits or wolves. However, this food is my livelihood, and if I abandon it, we'll definitely starve."
Unfortunately, no one in my party was able to fix things. I had no woodworkers or carpenters. So, I wouldn't… wait… there was that! The White Mage ability Light Repair! Perhaps… perhaps it'd be enough!
"I may be able to help. First, let's get your cart back on the road."
"Just you and me, boy?"
"Ah… the girls can help too."
"Oh? They're slaves?"
"More like family." I smiled.
The three girls blushed, but they were more than happy to help as we pulled the cart out of the mud and got it back on the street. I could see the damaged wheel now. When it fell into the mud, the frame seemed to have cracked. The farmer's daughter moved up close to me.
"Thank you so much for helping us." She smiled.
My girls were giving slightly irate looks, please don't stand so close! At least, that was what I wanted to say, but I was just too polite.
"I'll have this working soon, maybe…" I laughed, holding my hand over the wheel.
She looked at it and gasped. "Wow… is that a storage ring? I-I'm sorry for addressing you so, my lord!"
She started to try to bow, so I stopped her. "Ah… actually, I'm just a dungeon diver. Nothing so grand as a lord."
I was getting more looks from my girls now that I was touching the farmer girl. I certainly didn't want to reveal I was a lord or anything.
"Anyway, I'm not sure if this will work, so we'll try." I decided to just move things along. "Light Repair!"
Magic came out from my fingertips, and the girl looked on wide-eyed and clapped excitedly. It took casting the spell ten times, but the wheel looked like it could handle the rest of the journey.
"I'm glad to see there are still good people in this world." The farmer said, thanking us profusely. "Here, please, have some of our food as compensation. That spell of yours likely saved me half a gold coin in repairs."
I waved off their compliments, said my farewells and the four of us continued our journey to the capital. However, what I didn't see was after the cart traveled about a mile in the opposite direction away from us, a dozen thieves suddenly burst out around it, pulling out their knives and spreading around the old man and the woman.
The woman smirked. "Three slaves and a storage ring. Boys, we've got ourselves a rich target this evening. Send Balrack in. He can enjoy the slaves however he sees fit, but remember, leave no survivors."