The Road to the Royal Capital is Far
From the west end of Valkyra Kingdom, where Volton is located, to the royal capital Valkyratos is 10 days of travel.
Our specially made carriage was pulled by Tsubaki so we could have possibly arrived much faster by ourselves, but as expected, we couldn’t do that.
Eventually, we will stop by towns 4 times, and either camp or stay in villages on all the other nights until we reach the capital. Papeck-san said that we are likely to camp for around 2 days. Apparently, the reason is that there is no way we can let the Margrave camp, and that n.o.bles have an obligation to spend money in the towns and villages that they pa.s.s through.
The so-called n.o.blesse Oblige, “Obligations that come with being n.o.bility”.
「Hey Tak.u.mi, what’s with you and this carriage? It’s unfair, it’s way too different from our carriage!」
「It can’t be helped. Lyle-san, you are the escort of the Papeck Company, after all.」
Our first day ends at a village in the border of the territory of Margrave Volton.
The feudal lord rented the house of the village mayor to stay in for the night.
As for us, given that we have this carriage, staying in an inn is unnecessary, so we relaxed on the sofa. And as we were doing so, all members of Heath-san’s adventurer party 『Lion’s Fang』 came to visit.
Then, Lyle-san, in much admiration, made a fuss inside.
「Still, being able to make a carriage like this, can’t you make a living as a carriage craftsman already?」
「No need, Heath-sama. Tak.u.mi-sama already has an income that can no longer be exhausted.」
「Ah, hey now, Maria!」
Maria insinuated at my recent income. And of course, when that happened, this guy became even more bothersome.
「What did you saaaaAAAAYYYY!? You’re not satisfied with just your pretty slaves!?」
「Isn’t that unrelated?」
Apparently, Lyle-san’s party was going to set up the tents and sleep there for the night.
「Xervus, what do you think?」
「Yes. He undervalues his worth too much.」
In the house rented from the village mayor, Margrave G.o.dwin Volton asked his right-hand man, the chamberlain Xerves, for his opinion on the evaluation of the self proclaimed adventurer-c.u.m-artisan, Tak.u.mi Iruma.
「Owing to the hand pump and Purifier MD[1], my domain has changed dramatically.」
「Yes, for it to even result in the prevention of outbreaks of epidemics, just where did he acquire such knowledge?」
Thanks to the Purifier MD, the town of Volton had become extremely sanitary. And from the collected data, it showed that it is likely related to the decline in infant mortality rate and lower frequency of epidemics.
「In addition, the basic types of potions that have been appearing in the market recently were apparently made by Irumdono as well.」
「Yeah, and it seems its quant.i.ty is considerably limited to keep in balance with the Pharmacists Guild.」
Because those potions are items far more effective than the existing potions and can be bought for a cheap price, the survival rate of adventurers had risen and there was an increase in reports coming from the Adventurers Guild.
「His Majesty is a wise king, however there are many rotten n.o.bles in the royal capital. If we are able to protect Irumdono from such riffraffs and bring him back to the Volton domain, His Majesty might grant us something in grat.i.tude.」
It was quite fortunate that Tak.u.mi landed in the Volton domain. If this was in Triaria Kingdom or the Divine Empire of Sydnia, Tak.u.mi’s life would have become much different.
「Even so, that Dragon Horse really surprised me.」
「As expected, that Dragon Horse is likely too big even for Dorn.」
Even from Dorn’s perspective, the intimidation level of the Drake Horse that Tak.u.mi tamed was too dreadful. It’s unknown how much of it is because of the adamant.i.te barding, but if he encountered the Drake Horse known as Tsubaki in the battlefield, he wouldn’t hesitate to run away.
Moreover, it was too big to ride on. If one were to wear heavy armor and fall, he would certainly die from the height alone.
「If we were to buy that barding, just how much would it cost?」
Weapons and armor made of adamant.i.te alloy are yearned for by both knights and adventurers. So the same holds true even for the knight leader of the Volton domain, Dorn, whose sword and s.h.i.+eld are made of magic steel.
Only a handful of high ranking adventurers and n.o.bles possess mithril alloy or adamant.i.te alloy-made weapons and armor. As such, the armaments of knights are not made of mithril alloy, much less adamant.i.te alloy.
「Irumdono does not seem to understand the worth of equipment made from adamant.i.te and mithril.」
「That may be inevitable. I have received reports that Irumdono lived his life in a remote region until he came of age. Although he was brought up to be an artisan that can make even a carriage that skilfully, it would appear that he was not taught common sense.」
As Xervus and G.o.dwin say, Tak.u.mi doesn’t consider mithril and adamant.i.te to be that rare. There is a reason for the misunderstanding as well. For both mithril and adamant.i.te, the ores themselves come twofold and purchasing it is not expensive, so it is could not be helped if Tak.u.mi misunderstood.
Another reason for Tak.u.mi not appreciating mithril and adamant.i.te very much is because Orichalc.u.m exists. Compared to orichalc.u.m, he judged that they are far easier to obtain.
「I want to experience the riding quality of that carriage even just once.」
「As you say. Even with the material cost not included in the calculation, 200 platinum coins for one would still be a cheap purchase for it.」
G.o.dwin and Xervus intend to experience the comfort of the ride of Tak.u.mi’s carriage during this journey.
Additionally, G.o.dwin commissioned for another carriage to be made so he may present it to the King.