Finally

-----Yui's POV

The next few days were more or less the same. Kaede would go off with that masked person along with everyone else, leaving me with just Natalie. It's not that I don't like sleeping with Natalie, hell we're not even sleeping in the same bed, but I just feel a lot more comfortable sleeping beside Kaede instead. But having Natalie is the next best thing as I'd hate to attack mom or even Alice, and it's already a bonus that I've drank Natalie's blood a few times now. At least Faye has now woken up, but it seems like she's also under supervision.

Now we're back on the road. The masked person travelling with us says that we're getting close to the capital now, maybe arriving by tomorrow. We did pass through another city called, Epillon yesterday, but we didn't get a chance to explore it. It was much larger than Maemont back in Inasdale, seeming to have hundreds of building that had two or more stories. Apparently according to the masked person, Epillon is where most of their adventurers reside as it's the largest city that's furthest away from the capital. To put it simply, it's essentially the capital for adventurers in Yarene. And this city is the one we just left now.

Yui: "So, are adventurers the same as the ones we have in Inasdale?"

Masked Person: "Put simply, yes. But from what I know of Inasdale, the adventures there are like an extension to the kingdom's army?"

Alice: "Correct. Odd jobs that the kingdom itself didn't want to deal with, they would give us those jobs to do."

Masked Person: "It works a bit differently here. The kingdom does have some influence over the clans here, but more so than not, adventurers are their own separate government."

Kaede: "Clans?"

She asked the question that first popped up in my head. When I think of the word "clan" I think of like a tribe or something, like very ancient civilizations.

Masked Person: "Think of them as separate guilds. In Inasdale, there was only one guild, right? Well over here, the guilds are all connected with one another, but they each handle their own side of things. One guild might be more harvesting focused, another hunting focused and so on."

Yui: "I see. So in other words, specialized guilds?"

Masked Person: "Some guilds do a bit of everything, but in general yes."

Sicily: "Can anyone register?"

Masked: "Like I said, the guilds here are their own separate government. If they're crazy enough to allow elves working for them, then yes."

Kaede: "Can you make your own guild?"

Masked: "You can, but most people join an existing one."

Yui: "I assume it's expensive?"

Masked Person: "Depends on the size of the guild. If you have a large guild, then more money would be taken out to pay for your adventurers. And with newly registered guilds, 70% goes towards the kingdom."

What?! 70%? That's far too greedy. I can understand 50%, but taking the majority of the earnings? That's a bit too much.

Masked Person: "It's based on how well the kingdom values you. If the guild makes good money, then it can drop to 50%, some guilds even take 70% of their earnings."

Ah, okay. So basically you need to prove your worth to Yarene in order to be self sufficient. Still though... 70%? Those berries I harvested with Luna back in Pontia, we got like a few silver or something. But if we were to do that here, we'd be getting basically nothing... Not to mention that the guild also requires money to survive, so I wouldn't be surprised if from a job like that, we'd get maybe 5 copper coins or something like that.

Lillian: "...So we go to Epillon to register at these guilds?"

Masked Person: "Yes, but since I'm your supervisor at the moment, I will not permit it."

I was thinking about maybe registering with Luna, but if Kaede and everyone here won't be allowed, then I should just wait.

Kaede: "Will our ranks be transferrable?"

Masked person: "No. You'll have to start from scratch, from stone rank."

Alice: "Stone?"

Masked person: "We rank our adventurers based on rocks and gems. You get given a card with the gem or rock adorned on it. And that's where the kingdom has some influence. The guilds don't increase your rank, but rather the kingdom itself. Instead the guilds just relay information to the kingdom."

So we get a whole new card for every rank we go up? That's pretty neat. God, talking about all this talk is just making me want to register already! And we're not even at the capital, haha.

Iris: "Fufu~ Don't get too excited. We'll be busy once we arrive, Ellen. You can register later."

Yui: "Ah, y-yes."

Did I make it look that obvious? Well it's true that I'm going to be helping mom with moving into her new place, but with all our maids and butlers joining us, I hope it won't take too long.

.....

Time ended up flying by as nightfall soon fell upon us, but we still hadn't arrived at the capital yet. Looks like to me that we're back to sleeping in the caravans for now...

I already feel awkward at trying to get comfy. With that stupid collar around Kaede's neck, it makes it a bit uncomfortable using her as a pillow, and with Mell already taking residence in her lap, that leaves me with having to put up with the metal collar... I end up resting my head on Kaede's shoulder, trying not to press my head so much onto the collar as I can as I try to get some sleep.

Kaede: "Sorry."

She spoke in a hushed voice since everyone seems to be trying to get some sleep, besides Kaede and Fleur.

Yui: "You're fine, haha."

Hopefully this is the last sleep in the caravan I have to deal with. I miss my old bed so much...

-----Fabian's POV

Fabian/Leon: "Finally."

Finally, we have arrived in Oakvale. We've been walking for a few days now, maybe 4? I've lost track, but we've finally made it. My legs are still just as bad as before, but I've grown accustomed to the pain now. Leon heals my legs periodically to contain the black parts of my thigh from spreading further up, but I'm going to need a nurse, or maybe a blacksmith will be a better option to get rid of these shackles that are melded to my ankles.

Leon: "Doesn't seem like this place has been touched."

Like Leon says, there doesn't seem to be any spiders running around in town.

Leon: "Come on. Let's get your legs fixed."

Fabian: "Are there even people here that can help?"

Leon: "We can try."

Slowly, we stumble our way towards the gates. The gate was open with no guards which was alarming. They must've ran back to the capital after hearing of the invasion. But it'd get even weirder as it seems like there's barely anyone in town, almost looking as if this place is deserted.

We continue to search for any sign of life, but this town seems pretty barren right now. It was then that we saw quite a large amount of soldiers coming our way from the opposite end of the road. With my legs still burnt to a crisp, I increase my pace as I stagger over to the soldiers. Leon ended up walking beside me, making sure I don't fall until we reach the soldiers.

Soldier1: "P-prince Leon? What are you doing here?"

Leon: "Spiders have invaded the capital. We've come to look for our headmaster, Lucien."

Soldier1: "Spiders?"

Soldier2: "S-since when?"

Fabian: "M-maybe 5 days ago."

Soldier3: "Your legs!"

I'm surprised it took them that long to notice. I guess their eyes would be drawn towards the prince more so than me.

Leon: "Yes, do you have any healers amongst you guys?"

Soldier1: "A few, we can certainly try to- heal him."

Fabian: "Thank you."

Leon: "...Where's Lucien?"

Soldier2: "H-he's..."

Four soldiers from behind step forward, each one carrying one end of long pieces of wood with cloth stretched to all 4 corners. On top of the cloth was a man, the man in question, Lucien.

Leon: "...What happened?"

Soldier1: "We were in pursuit of rebels when we were attacked by a vampire. Lucien went in to engage it... But."

There I can see Lucien body covered in bandages. Specifically his torso area, however I can clearly see that he's still breathing; albeit barely. But my mind was focused on what the soldier just said... A vampire? Aren't those things extinct?

Fabian: "At least you guys killed it."

Soldiers: "..."

Their response was not what I expected. I would've thought that Lucien's alive because he won. But don't tell me that Lucien actually lost? And if that's the case, why did the vampire just stop attacking?

Leon: "I don't have much mana left in me, but I can do what I can."

Soldier1: "Thank you, my prince."

He then moves closer to Lucien before immediately beginning to heal Lucien's wounds. I myself drop down to the ground, resting my legs for a bit.

"Rebels..." I figured that's what mom was, but after getting that letter from my sister. It's giving me second thoughts. It's got to be my mom that these guys were chasing. Which would explain why barely anyone was at the capital to defend against the spiders... Wait... Don't tell me that the spiders waited for this very moment. Did they seriously wait for Lucien and a part of the army to leave before invading? I wouldn't have believed it at first, but after seeing their leader who even had the ability to speak directly into our minds, I guess it could be possible.

Leon: "It's... Not working?"

Now that I'm on the ground, I can't really see what's happening, but it doesn't seem to be going well. Maybe Leon's exhausted from all the walking and healing that he's incapable of healing him?

Soldier3: "You too, prince?"

Leon: "Huh?"

Soldier4: "We tried to heal, Sir Lucien, but there seems to be something blocking our magic. Almost like-

Leon: "A barrier..."