Chapter 61.

After taking time to settle their minds, the trio thought about their general situation : they were safe and all, but they could not sit idly as their resources were not limitless. Considering that a week at the inn cost six gold, they needed to make that much within seven days. And that was not even counting the food and other possible expenses. Even if they tried their best to minimize everything it would be difficult, as taking multiple smaller rooms was not a question. It would be less costly, but they would have to sleep separately, which was a big no-no.

(Enora) I guess we'll have to go kill monsters in tunnels again.

(Nick) Well, that's something we have experience with after all. I don't know what we could do apart from that.

Rose nodded.

(Rose) It's still early, let's have a meal, head out into the city to buy some dried food and go to work. With a bit of luck, the monsters around here are weaker and more stupid.

After an hour, the three of them were heading towards the main city gate, mentally exchanging the information they had gathered here and there. The 'Desert Road' faced directly that exit, two dozen meters large with a soil getting lighter and finer as it went on. Apparently, by following that tunnel, they could eventually get to the surface and, from there, visit Chrimmos, the nearest city in the golden desert. Said desert was situated at the centre of Eretheria, a nation that covered a continent as large as 'Australia'. They could not picture that 'Australia' thing, but Rose had probably studied it, as she knew its specifics and could make sense of the numbers and details given by the local of Sephayis to calculate sizes.

Apparently, the Free Nation of Eretheria was the southernmost continent of Syndos, this alien world. It wa onestly a relief of some sort to finally know the name of this world they had been kidnapped to, as ontinually saying 'this world' and everything was getting tiresome. Anyway, the nation was at the south, and every city on its soil was as free as a city can be, only having to follow some basic rules to make sure all of them would stay up and running even after conflict. The leading faction of the country was a powerful family that had established the inner working of the place for more than a millennia, even before Syndos joined the Conjunction. That faction had always been able to think further, making changes and peculiar choices that oddly worked well enough for everyone.

The few rules that all free cities had to follow were : paying a relatively low tax that adapted to each city's capabilities, never involving mages of the main Schools of magic into armed conflicts, and answering any call for war that may arise from the capital. The first was quite straightforward, as money was the way to win everything, no matter the world. For the second, there was more to it. The entire continent was a desert with a few oases, meaning resources could be scarce at times. The easiest way to remedy this was to steal from the neighbours. This was totally accepted by everyone, as it would regularly redistribute wealth to the strong and get everyone rid of the excess population that the cities would have a hard time taking care of at some point. As long as only armies made up of soldiers unaffiliated with the magical society were involved, and no city was ravaged, the leading faction would never interfere in the yearly armed conflicts. The Mortal Armies of each free city was, however, not a concern for the capital. Mortal were not irreplaceable.

Why though ? Why prevent the official mages from fighting and the cities from invading each other ? How would one gain resources without pillaging ? Simple : blackmailing. After each local war, both sides would have parleys in which losses would be counted, and the 'winner' would be authorized to negotiate compensation that had to exceed the costs they paid. As for the mages, the purpose of the Schools was mainly magical research, but in case a global conflict with another country was to begin, the Free Nation of Eretheria would look plain dumb if their most powerful mages had been killed in a civil war. The leading faction would be in dire need of those mages in that case, so their main job was to gather magical resources and make sure everybody followed those rules to protect their sovereignty in uncertain times.

Quite a fascinating place the trio had been brought into, and debating it made the journey to the Desert Road that much shorter. Soft yellow lights illuminated the large path from crystals embedded in the walls and ceiling at regular distances, also showing the many small side tunnels. It felt like the place was even more of a maze than the Trial, but the large road looked safe.

(Enora) Did the Captain expect us to explore those paths to find danger ?

(Nick) Seems like it. You chickening out ?

Without answering, the tall warrior unsheathed her sword and entered the nearest tunnel. The other two followed heavy spear and bow in hands. They had not bought anything new except for a bunch of arrows, as they did not want to splurge the little they had. This new environment was a lot darker than previously, but their eyes adapted quickly as they trudged through this three meters large place with a determined pace. Their patched-up armours made them confident.

However, they ended up disillusioned after a few hours. Even though they did find a few Grey Devil camps, they did not see even the shadow of an Ash Troll. And only those were valuable to them. Being paid a measly five coppers for each Aaterpa was disappointing, and made them feel like they wasted time ! And they did since it took as much time to get rid of a dozen of those little monsters as it did one Troll, while the reward was only half. By their calculations, they needed to kill twenty Grey Devils to make as much as one Ash Troll would, and ten Trolls for one Giant. These rewards felt reasonable at first, but they soon understood why no guards wanted to do it : they were risking their lives for very little.