Chapter 31

Soon he had been walking for an hour, then two. Ash's leg muscles, which had healed for the most part, began to ache again.

Sharp stones on the rough dirt road cut into his paws, and soon pain coursed all the way up his legs.

But Ash didn't complain. At least he felt much better than when he left Roth to walk.

'How did he manage this? It's almost like he wasn't walking at all for the last three days… but that's impossible.'

Ash tilted his head over to the carriages, packed with spices.

'The caravan kept moving, so there is no way Roth could have res-'

Something caught Ash's eye. A small sitting space was hollowed out at the back of one of the carriages, the exact size of a certain wolf.

'This bastard. ROTH!!! Get out here now!'

Roth remained silent, but Ash could tell that somewhere, hidden in the backs of his mind, Roth was definitely laughing.

Now that Ash had spotted the resting spot on the carriage, there was hope for a better future. Not a better present, though.

While the horses weren't moving quickly, they were still too fast for Ash to jump into the carriage while it was moving. Unless the carriages stopped, he would have to wait for lunch break to board the carriage.

'It's ok Ash, just a few more hours of walking, then I get to take a nice nap on that carriage.'

Ash continued walking, his eyes fixated on the carriage the entire time. Another hour passed, and by now, his paws were on fire once more.

'Hey Roth, buddy, when are you going to come back out? Come on buddy, don't be scared…'

For a good portion of the walking, Ash passed the time by talking to Roth, who never responded.

At the beginning, his words displayed mild anger, but after another hour of walking, they were a bit scary.

'I wonder how to make reincarnated friends sharing the same body with you feel pain.'

Luckily for Ash, the carriages soon halted, and he could finally rest. The cramped carriage was infinitely more comfortable than walking, and he soon forgot about his newfound hatred for Roth.

****

Now that it wasn't quite so painful, travelling didn't seem so bad. It certainly wasn't enjoyable, but at least it wasn't the torture from before. The night after Ash took back over, Roth returned from hiding.

After receiving a verbal attack from Ash, the two reconciled, and spent the rest of the next two days chatting.

The trip was rather uneventful. No one was stupid enough to attack the massive convoy, a small army would be needed to take on the Graves caravan.

On the night of the seventh day of travelling, something interesting finally happened.

The sky was dark, and the members of the caravan were lit only by the campfire in front of them and the stars above. It was a new moon right now, and there were no clouds whatsoever.

A sudden spark of light caught Alice's eye, and she pointed up to the sky. Soon, all of the guards were watching the sky.

Shooting stars, and not just a few!

It was a meteor shower.

The beautiful light streaked across the sky, leaving brillant lines in their wakes. Among the lights was one much larger and brighter than the rest.

A brilliant blue hue emanated off the comet, painting the canvas known as the sky.

"Wow…"

This was the only word spoken.

None of the caravan members had seen something so brilliant or beautiful before, not in their entire lives.

Time slowly ticked past, and the comet disappeared over the horizon, leaving the stars alone in the sky, yet none of the humans watching looked away.

It wasn't just the Graves family that had seen the comet; people across the entire continent observed the beautiful sight.

Surely, some would see it as a good omen, and others as a sign from whichever god they believed in.

A single event covering the night sky, uniting everyone in looking up to the heavens…

Even if just for a few moments, despite all their differences, people of all countries and creeds shared the same emotions.

It was a beautiful thing, just as beautiful as the sky itself.

***

The remaining week of the journey passed in a similar fashion as the first. The closer the Graves' got to their destination, the more other travelers they encountered. By the time they reached their destination, their numbers had doubled.

How?

A well armed caravan like the Graves' wouldn't be targeted by even the stupidest bandits, so other merchants and travelers took advantage of this. A tail of carriages had slowly developed behind the Graves' caravan, staying just far back enough from them so as to not anger them, but close enough that no bandits would dare coming close.

The closer they got to the city, the more merchants that joined the tail, until there were another fifteen carriages following the Graves'!

The destination was the city of Ignar. A few fields surrounded the outcroppings of the city, but it was nothing like the endless farms around Holen. There were two reasons for the lack of crops.

First off, the soil surrounding the city wasn't as good for growing crops as near Holen. Some simple foods could be grown with ease, but it didn't have the potential of Holen.

Secondly was the mines. Ignar was a mining city, and that was what drove the city's trade. There was no need to struggle with growing some plants when a much more valuable material lay just beneath the soil!

Steel on its own wasn't that valuable, but after some experimenting, it was found to be greatly superior to bronze. When heated and combined with carbon, a new material: steel.

Steel was harder than bronze, and held an edge must better, making it a must have for weapons. Bronze still had its uses, but currently, steel was the most valuable material on the market.

Upon reaching the city, the trail of carriages and travelers tailing the Graves caravan dispersed, and the Graves' entered the city.

It was time to trade.