Oliena seemed a bit dazed, probably because she hadn"t fully recovered from the incident yet. Her eyes remained cast down as she said, "I-I"m O-oliena A-t-telier. T-thank you v-very much for s-saving us. If R-ray-sama h-hadn"t c-come . . . u-uu", at this point, she seemed to be recalling the feelings she had when the bandits dragged her out of the carriage. Oliena became tongue-tied as tears threatened to break free from her eyes.
The baron gently took hold of her shoulders. In the end however, she wasn"t able to prevent herself from sobbing. Ray hastily attempted to come up with something comforting to say, but in the end, he wasn"t able to. For a while, the two of them submitted themselves to a period of awkward silence.
I wish I could say something witty to cheer her up. However, I"m not very good at talking with people . . . Ryuji could probably do it . . .
Ray remembered his only friend. Completely the polar opposite of Ray, Ryuji was quite sociable and also good at sports. And yet, for some mysterious reason, he had decided to hang out with the introverted Ray. If it was Ryuji, then he would be able to smoothly deal with this kind of situation. What would he do if he were here?
"Nothing is more important than Oliena-sama"s safety. Now that everything is over, I think that it would be best if you tried to forget about what happened . . ."
Although Ray"s voice slightly tapered off near the end, he somehow managed to say some words of comfort to Oliena. While holding back her tears, she nodded once towards Ray before returning inside the carriage with the baron"s arms still around her shoulders.
Was that good enough? Anything more than this is impossible for me.
The group ate a crude and simple meal during their thirty minute break.
Ray had been feeling considerably famished ever since he dispelled everything inside his stomach. Even now, the bandits" mangled bodies and the blood which had splattered everywhere were still fresh inside his mind. Nevertheless, in order to preserve his physical strength, Ray forced himself to swallow down the food.
After they continued their journey down the main road for a while, farmland gradually began to appear. Houses were built here and there, sprinkled out spa.r.s.ely throughout the peaceful rural landscape. They probably belonged to the farming families of this region and seemed to have been built in a European style. A simple dark slate roof hung over the completely white walls, which were composed of a chalky-colored stone material that was covered in plaster. Although the buildings were simple, seeing them next to the verdant green forest was quite a sight to behold. The scene which could have come straight out of a picture book somehow felt unreal to Ray.
The clothing of the villagers were made of a woollen material that was dyed in yellow and red colors. It was quite colorful, seeing all the villagers together.
This village appears to be fairly rich and abundant. There"s plenty of water and the land is fertile. I also spotted some sheep, cows, and pigs roaming around. Although I don"t remember much about what I had written for this region, at the very least, it doesn"t seem like they"re in need of food.
Ray"s worries had eased up considerably after his conversation with Ashley. He rode his horse next to her as he asked her various questions about the world.
He learned that this place was Baron Atelier"s territory. It was on the west side of the Taulia continent, located in the Allied Kingdoms of Lacus and Saltooth. Out of the two allied kingdoms, the baron"s territory was in the Lacus Kingdom. (TL: I previously mixed up Rooks and Lacus. Sorry about that. I"ve fixed this mistake in the previous chapters.)
In the Taulia continent, there were other major powers in addition to the Allied Kingdoms of Lacus and Saltooth. These included the southern Kaelum Empire and the eastern Kaumu Kingdom. These three countries were established so long ago that they were commonly known as the Three Ancient Kingdoms. In addition to these three nations, the more newly established powers include: The Holy Kingdom of Rooks and the Kingdom of Jilsol, each of which had been founded after gaining independence from the Kaelum Empire. The relatively large, country of mercenaries, Fortis. The country of adventurers, Peric.l.i.tar. The city of commerce, Aurela. The academy city, Doctus. These six nations were members of the City-State Federation.
According to the Taulia calendar, the year is currently 3025. Today is first day of April, which is coincidentally for this world, the date of the Vernal Equinox (TL: A day of spring when day and night are the same length length of time.)
In this world, a year is 300 days, a month is 30 days, a day is 24 hours, an hour is 60 minutes, and a second is 1/60 of a minute.
The system of weights and measures is virtually the same as earth"s. For length: 1 merto = 1 meter, 1 cemer = 1 centimeter, and 1 kimel = 1 kilometer. For weight: 1 gran = 1 gram, 1 kigran = 1 kilogram, and as for the unit of tons, that remained unchanged.
The racial composition of the Lacus Kingdom comprises of approximately: seventy percent humans, twenty percent elves, and ten percent beastmen. As you can see, the Lacus Kingdom is home to a great number of humans. As for the other nations, they are also characterized by their race. The Kaumu Kingdom for example, primarily consists of dwarves, and the Saltooth Kingdom primarily consists of elves. It"s also said that to the east of the Kaumu Kingdom is a region named Québet Dame Tenebre that is ruled by a demon race.
Everything I"ve heard so far matches with what I wrote for Trinitas Mundus. The current date also roughly matches with the time period of the novel, I think. However, for some weird reason, no matter how hard I try, I can"t remember the details of the story. It"s almost as if I can"t access a certain part of my memory . . .
Ray continued his conversation with Ashley as they traveled down the main road. Since their last break, around an hour or so had pa.s.sed. They could glimpse a large city in the distance. The name of the city was Molton and it was the largest city in Baron Atelier"s entire territory. On top of the slightly elevated hill, was a neat arrangement of streets, each lined with numerous houses. On the highest point of the hill stood a s.p.a.cious mansion that was endowed with a tall three-sided steeple. Ray reckoned that the building probably belonged to the baron.
The main road lead to a large gate in a wall that was of around 5 meters in height. Starting from the time when they first saw Molton in the distance, it took roughly 30 minutes to arrive in front of the gate.