Going to the Coalition

The journey to the coalition was rather boring. There were barely any people traveling to the coalition states, while a huge amount of people were traveling towards Mifis down the road Leon took.

Previously Leon didn't know too much about the Coalition, however, once he decided he was going to travel there. He visited the local library in Mifis and read up on some history.

The Coalition states were originally many small states who fought each other in an attempt to unify their land, however when Partha and other countries exploded onto the scene. They looked to eat up the small states, but before they could effectively strike.

A secret meeting was set up between the many small states and eventually, they got over their petty squabbles and decided to align themselves to fight against the giant kingdoms and empires that surrounded them.

This strategy worked wonders. Although they were small, the fact that each state had its own culture and uniqueness made it so that many things turned in their favor. For example, some states had fertile lands, while others had plentiful rare resources. Also, the difference in cultures made it so that they had different points of view on things, which meant all options would always be explored.

Thus the coalition was formed between the small states, who from then had never dropped out. Nowadays, most people from the outside like Leon thought of the Coalition as one whole kingdom rather than a series of small states.

However, Leon did note one thing that the book explicitly said, in the book talks about how although the states will never declare war on each other. The states do fight among themselves for power since there are was no official hierarchy among the states but in reality, some states had more influences over decision makings and importance.

As of now, Leon had a relative idea of where to go. Going by the advice of the Guild Bureau receptionist, he decided he would go to a state that would give him ample amounts of opportunity. Eventually, Leon chose to go to a specific state called Silce.

Silce was a small state in terms of land size, but its value came in from the many mines in the country. Their rare resources made the state wield considerable influential power, however many geniuses and powerful figures still often wander to bigger states and leave the small state behind. This left the mercenary and adventure scene in the state quite miserable, which meant even if Leon was as weak as a low E-Tier adventurer. He would still find ample opportunity in the country, however since Leon had enough power to pass off as a D-Tier. He would find even more opportunities in the country.

After a few days of traveling down a populated road of coalition people wanting to move to Partha, Leon came to a crossroads with three different ways going in three different directions. Although Leon had done some research, he didn't look too much into his route and didn't know which road to take.

He looked around for signs but eventually found out that some dumbasses had knocked them down over the years.

Instead, Leon decided he would try to ask for the information, but most of the people traveling were tired and were so hostile to strangers they wouldn't even talk. In the end, Leon was forced to go to one of the many shabby shops on the side of the road. He went up to a wooden table with fruits and vegetables to ask for directions.

"Excuse me, but where do each of the roads take you?"

A middle-aged man that looked like he hadn't seen a shower or a razor for weeks looked up to the sky as he looked like he was deep in thought.

"Hmm I can't seem to remember.... maybe if you buy something, my memory will return to me..."

Although the man was being stingy, Leon couldn't blame the person for seeking money. Leon took out two bronzes and took a small bag of four apples.

"Is your memory back? I really need to get to Silce."

The moment the middle-aged man saw the two bronze coins, his face erupted in a smile as he laughed like Leon was an old friend.

"Haha, my friend of course. If you are looking for the road to slice you just have to take the most left road and follow it. Eventually, you will reach another cross road...but I can't seem to remember where they lead too..."

As Leon took out another bronze coin for two apples, he cursed inwardly at the greedy man.

'Damn stingy, greedy old man. Even though I have more money, I still need to be cautious...'

When the middle-aged man got the coin, he continued to tell Leon the route.

"On the next crossroad, the roads in the middle and right side both lead to big cities. The right one leads to the capital, while the middle one leads to the industrial city. The far left one will lead to a town on the frontier."

Leon gave his thanks, but before he could walk away the middle-aged man added one more thing.

"Oh, one more thing. I don't know if you are looking for mercenary work, but if you are. I would suggest going to the frontier town. The bigger towns don't usually use mercenaries as the government keeps a tight leash on the situations in bigger towns."

Taking his words to heart, Leon gave a nod and hopped back onto his horse, whom he had been holding onto as he talked. As Leon started his way back to Silce, he gnawed on one of the apples he bought, while he fed the rest of them to his horse.

As Leon went down the left road more and more, Leon realized that almost no one was entering the country while all the travelers were leaving the country.

'Is something going on? What could be going on...'