Episode 588 Departure on the Royal Road (5)
Tuong! Turong-!
The cheerful sound of hammering echoed through the forest.
Ray, who turned over several times to inspect the wheels of the wagon, soon put down the hammer as if satisfied.
“This is enough.”
The completed wheel in his hands was in pretty good shape.
The knights admired his ability to restore a half-broken wheel to normal in only twenty minutes or so.
“Awesome.”
“The carpenter is going to cry too.”
The exterior was covered with wood, so there were some ugly parts, but it was not unreasonable to see that he was already a carpenter when he saw that he noticed like a ghost and planed when there were angular parts.
Ray smiled at the knights’ praise.
“This is nothing.”
“Come to think of it, I heard that you handled the work of the healers instead. I wish I had a lot of talent. ha ha ha.”
“Really? You should have seen the faces of those high-nosed therapists! I feel relieved, hahahaha!”
The knights laughed heartily.
After inserting the repaired wheel into the wagon, Ray nodded after rolling it around several times.
“It’s done. There should be no problem until we reach the capital. New wheels can be changed on the royal road.”
At that, Count Sylvester laughed.
“Thank you. I didn’t know you could touch trees.”
“Once upon a time, I spit and touched some wood at the blacksmith’s.”
“ha ha ha. It wouldn’t have been normal if you were there. I want to know where that forge is.”
know it hurts
If you visit him to entrust him with a request, he will probably get slapped in the cheek.
When he himself was introduced by Aira, he had to offer his cheeks, saying, ‘How dare a kid who doesn’t understand railroading dare step into a sacred forge?’
Ray, recalling the past, shook his head.
“How long do we have until the capital?”
Count Sylvester, who climbed into the carriage and leaned deeply against the back of the chair, answered while stroking his beard.
“Ugh. I’ll have to go two full days. I hope nothing special happens in the meantime…”
He glanced at the carriages behind him as he spoke.
Marquis of Garen and Viscount Mace.
The fact that the marquis and viscount were captured hadn’t been leaked yet, so the central nobles might not know about it, but if it became known before arriving at the capital, there was a possibility that things could go wrong.
Ray also looked at the back carriages.
There is still no signs of being felt around.
‘Two days.’
It’s a bit of an ambiguous time.
Not a little, but not a lot of time either.
It was enough to send an assassin into it.
If someone, be it the royal family or the central nobility, did something, there was no way that this small group of knights could stop it.
‘It’s better to be on guard.’
Ray carved a pattern on one side of the carriage so that the Count would not find out.
As I lifted my finger, a small aura formed.
He scraped the inside of the wagon as if gently scraping it, and soon a wonderful magic circle was completed.
Ray infused mana into it.
Due to his characteristic of moving mana in the air, the magic he manifested was difficult to recognize even by higher-class mages.
After successfully drawing the magic circle, Ray decided to take a breather until he reached the royal capital.
It’s a long road trip.
Even though there was only grass in front of my eyes, it had its own taste.
Moreover, his head was full of dragon rare things at that time.
‘It’s a dragon.’
I’ve been in this world for over twenty years, but I’ve never seen a real dragon.
Of course, I’ve seen dragons made from the corpses of dead dragons, but they’re literally just undead.
Like the existence of dinosaurs that were said to have existed in the past, the dragons passed down here were also similar to them.
I know it was only a legend, but there are no dragons still alive.
I don’t deny the existence itself, but everyone is living as if it doesn’t exist.
‘The words of those who have been protecting Middle Earth for a lifetime can be said to be miserable.’
Currently, only high elves and elves know about the achievements of dragons.
Moreover, since a long time has already passed, it is still unknown how they met their end.
I carefully inferred that if there was someone who knew the reason and could have recorded it, then there would be only the owner of the dragon rare.
Ray decided to put his mind at ease.
It’s okay to go back and find out anyway.
Leaning comfortably in the carriage, he took a nap.
* * *
At King Heron’s command, the castle’s attendants moved busily.
An order to hold a banquet for the prince’s birthday.
It is not small, but on an unprecedentedly large scale.
Thanks to this, the attendants who had to finish all the preparations within four days were literally dying.
“hey! Who brought food to a place like this! This is a supply warehouse!”
“Isn’t it impossible to leave the dust wandering around! It’s busy enough here, so stop whining!”
It was an instant for the castle, which should have been quiet, to become noisy.
Beggars snooped around in hopes of getting something to eat, and even merchants from the outer village smelled the money and came to visit, and the castle was unexpectedly crowded.
Upon hearing the news, the nobles of the surrounding territories were bewildered and headed for the capital.
Even though it’s the prince’s birthday, how can you throw such a luxurious banquet?
“Awesome. Did you by any chance make the three princes the successor?”
It doesn’t seem like that, considering that Prince Il’s succession has been at the forefront so far.
If so, why would such a huge banquet be held on the birthday of the three princes?
That is, while inviting not only the surrounding territories but also the nobility of the periphery.
The nobles had no choice but to get on the carriage without even guessing King Heron’s inner thoughts.
* * *
After a few days of camping, I was able to reach the royal capital by running a wagon.
A huge crowd gathered in front of the gates of the royal capital.
From merchants to adventurer mercenaries and even those who look like wizards.
The appearance of selling goods with stalls set up in front of the gate was reminiscent of a market hall.
Ray, who was watching this through the carriage window, admired a little.
“Wow, even in Celia Kingdom, there weren’t as many people as this.”
Celia is an intermediary trading country.
Because of its characteristics, people from many kingdoms tend to gather in a row, but I have never seen such a large crowd.
Count Sylvester said in a proud voice.
“Our kingdom has a large population. Moreover, since resources are concentrated in the capital, merchants from other countries tend to gather. It’s not for nothing that the saying that you can become a noble if you do business in the capital.”
“Do you have a word like that?”
“ha ha ha. Of course, it’s a joke, but it’s not completely wrong.”
It could be because there are cases where wealthy merchants became nobles.
Let’s stand in line for a long time and go to the gate.
Soldiers armed with half-plate armor approached and asked.
“excuse me. May I ask how you came?”
The soldiers’ voices were infinitely more polite than when dealing with others in line with the queue of wagons and unusual-looking flags.
The leader of the knights at the front showed the hand of Count Sylvester and said.
“I came to have an audience with His Majesty the King.”
Countess Sylvester.
Rumors of an extremely poor aristocratic family spread throughout the capital, so the soldier glanced at the carriage for a moment.
just as expected.
From the wheels of the carriage at the front, there were traces of several trees.
Although the appearance was polished, there was no doubt that it was Count Sylvester, judging from the situation where they were repairing because they did not have the money to buy carriage wheels.
The soldier sneered inwardly and stepped aside.
“I’m sorry I didn’t know. Please go in.”
How can I not understand those eyes mixed with ridicule?
The knight commander shrugged his shoulders as if he was used to it, instead of answering.
“Thank you.”
He was despised by a mere soldier, but if he got angry here, it would be like giving an excuse.
The knight commander, who did not want his lord to get involved in something useless, deliberately took it lightly.
Of course, there was no such thing as the knights under his command.
When their leader was ignored by a single soldier, they rolled their eyes.
They put their hands on the swords that were on their waists.
The moment the knights were just about to say something.
The knight commander interrupted them and shook his head.
“Did you dare to disgrace the family?”
It sounded like an admonition, but the tone was very firm.
At the words of the captain, the knights released their hands from the swords.
“…sorry.”
“He showed ugliness.”
Why don’t you know that they are?
If they move, the lord will eventually take responsibility for it.
It was hard to bear being ignored in front of Hana’s eyes.
As I was enduring it with desperate patience, one soldier said as if tossing it out.
“If you are going, go quickly. There are people waiting behind you.”
“Sorry about this. I will go right now.”
The knight commander briefly apologized and immediately mounted his horse.
“let’s go.”
Thinking of the articles, he deliberately pretends nothing is wrong.
So they also got on the horse.
Looking at the miserable figure of the leader, Ray frowned.
“There is no such thing as poor treatment. It is said that the capital of any kingdom is hard-hearted, but is this really like this?”
How could the count’s family be ignored?
Count Sylvester bowed his head as if he had no face.
“I’m sorry. I had no intention of punishing you.”
“Why is the Count apologizing? The rudeness was committed over there.”
I didn’t intend to go out, but if it’s this way, I’ll change my mind a little.
In addition, he even smiled strangely when he saw the wheel he had repaired.
It was difficult for Ray, who had been taught to smash his head with a hammer if his work was ignored while learning blacksmithing from Derp.
Originally, Ray’s mind, which was intended to come out only after making a deal with King Heron, gradually leaned toward Count Sylvester.
