Chapter 37:

It was with surprising ease that our carriage slipped through the checkpoint. Had Askret greased the wheels literally and figuratively? Either way, whatever he did to the carriage was astonishing. No more was the uncomfortable bouncing; I had the impression I’d stumbled into this world’s version of a private jet. 

The felt cushions beneath my fingers were softer than any I’d touched since coming to this world. This was…truly a divine comfort. I looked up at Gale in excitement, but stopped when I realized he was still wearing a morose expression. I wanted to talk but didn’t want to push him. 

I looked at the other two. Draven looked at the carriage with undisguised greed, and Mira seemed to find the dirt under her nails more pressing. I sighed.

“Hey, you two, look at this stuff for me.”

I summoned the documents into Mira’s surprised hands. 

“This is…”

“Yup, swiped it off that guy before all the other stuff happened.”

That guy was totally fucked. Whatever organization he belonged to surely wouldn’t let him off the hook so easily. But what did these documents even say?

Mira squinted at it intensely. Draven leaned over to look too, pushing a bit too far into Mira, causing her to push him back with a finger. He snorted and leaned back.

“Coded. We’d  have to crack it.”

“It appears to be quite complicated,” Mira said, “But not dissimilar to things I have seen before. I believe we could crack it within the month.”

“Do we need to hunker down somewhere?” I asked.

Mira nodded. “That would be best. It would be easier to focus in comfort.”

Hmm, where could we stay? Oh! 

“Hey, we could go back to Shortleaf!” I pinched Gale’s thigh as I said it. He looked up in a daze. 

“Shortleaf? For what?”

I glared at him. This guy, not listening at all. Something had to be eating at him. 

“Code cracking.”

His eyebrows raised. He nodded. “It’d be nice to see everyone again. You think the Church is still trying to find us?”

I shrugged. “Probably…I don’t think they’d kidnap us or anything, but it might get annoying if they bother everyone. Should we go somewhere else? Somewhere we haven’t been?”

“Yeah, probably.”

“Actually,” Mira said, “My family has a cabin near Lake Rothsvir. Perhaps we could stay there?”

My eyes widened. A private cabin? Is this the power of money? God, I hadn’t been near a lake in ages. Not since camping with Gale. I looked at him, a smile on my face.

His face was gentle as our eyes met. He reached over and pat the top of my head, rubbing it. 

“A lake would be great. How far is it?”

“Two days by carriage.”

The day passed by in a comforting ease. Gale suffered through my endless chattering, nodding and adding input where was needed. This guy was too good with words. Did the Hero get a buff to social stats, too? Eventually, the carriage grew quiet with the malaise of travel. Gale nodded off, his breathing becoming heavy, before eventually he fell sideways into my shoulder. 

I sagged with his weight, but the warmth was comforting. His long eyelashes fluttered, his brow furrowing occasionally. Was he having a nightmare? My hand wrapped around his. It seemed to help. His breathing slowed as he seemed to drift into a different dream. 

Mira and Draven appeared to be resting their eyes, but I didn’t feel tired at all. Maybe it was my peyote vision quest? I still felt refreshed. I pulled a book out and read that. 

The carriage came to a quiet stop a hundred pages later. The light sounds of someone stepping off the cabin’s front made me look up as a face appeared in the window. It was the man we’d hired to drive our carriage out of the city. I nearly jumped—I’d forgotten we’d even hired him. He looked in apologetically. 

“Madam, I recommend we stop here for the night.”

I blinked. “Oh yeah?”

“It’s a decent stop. Flat, well-traveled. I usually suggest this area when I rest.”

This guy was pretty reliable. How long had he been doing this?

“Yeah, that’s fine. And—I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name. What was it?”

“Ronaldo, my Lady.”

“You can just call me Aria.” I scratched my head. The title “My Lady” made my heart flutter, but it still felt awkward. He smiled at that. 

“I would feel more comfortable with the title, my Lady. It would be uncouth for me to be so familiar to the Saintess.”

He looked at the others. “I will set up camp, should you wish to rest a bit longer.”

I shook my head. “I’ll help. That’s way too much to do alone.” 

Before he could respond, I balanced Gale in a sitting position and slipped from the cabin. Ronaldo seemed surprised, but didn’t refuse. He set up our tents as I grabbed fuel for the fire. I came back with an armful of tinder and twigs to see he’d already set up five tents. Damn, he worked quick! 

I set it beside the circle of rocks other travelers had undoubtably set together. Someone had even left  a few tree stumps around it, making perfect chairs. I began to kneel down to start the fire when Ronaldo walked over. He pulled something from his pocket. 

“Allow me.” 

He situated some of the tinder and struck a flint and steel, causing it to spark. It caught quickly, not a spark wasted. Was this guy some kind of survival god? Had we hired a reality tv host?

“You’ve been doing this for a long time, huh?”

“Quite so. More of my life has been spent on the road than not.”

I smiled. “It’s nice to have someone reliable. How long do you plan to stay with us?”

Ronaldo looked up. He tossed a few twigs over the fire. “As long as you’ll have me.”

“You know what our quest is, right? To kill the Demon Lord? You’re not scared?”

He paused, before sitting on one of the tree stumps. He poked at the fire with a stick. “I’ve been many places and met many people.”

He looked at me. “And I’ve seen many sufferings from people plagued by this ‘Demon Lord.’”

“If I could help end that—then yes. Though, I wouldn’t be much use in a fight.”

Ronaldo was a strong-looking man. He had a solid build, yet was lithe, like only someone on their feet frequently could be. I couldn’t see him swinging around a sword, but it looked like he could handle himself.

I was about to say more when rustling from the carriage caused me to glance over. Everyone seemed to be stirring. 

I smirked. “Took you long enough!”

Draven stumbled out, stretching with a yawn. He looked at the campsite, before nodding at Ronaldo with approval. He shuffled to a log and sat down. “You cook yet?”

Mira stepped out with a quiet grace. She stepped to a log and sat with her legs tilted to the side. As expected of nobility. She was still blinking her sleep away. 

Gale walked out a few moments later. He raised his eyebrows at the surrounding camp. 

“You could’ve woken me up.”

I shook my head. “It was easy. Ronaldo’s a super-camper, I barely did anything either.”

He walked over and sat next to me. I shuffled my log close enough to feel his warmth. What I wouldn’t give for a good camp chair. I was suddenly glad for the extra cushioning. 

The sun bid farewell shortly after. The shadows stretched against the fire, and before long the edges of the campsite seemed to shrink to its light. 

Ronaldo refused assistance with cooking. He had prepared some fresh rations from the city, kept well enough to eat something tasty before we switched to the usual bread and dried meat. I wasn’t looking forward to our travel later. Would we be eating worms right before we fought the Demon Lord? I doubt they’d let us rent an inn before we fought. 

I pictured the scene. An over-the-top evil guy with horns laughing diabolically as we ate at his dining table. The Demon Lord probably had good cooks. 

We all stared into the fire, watching it dance and flicker. Gale looked up, his face still downcast. 

“Hey.”

We all looked at him. I bumped my shoulder against his. “What’s up?”

“I…” He started to speak, but stopped. He bit his lip with a strange expression on his face. 

“Bothered about earlier?” Draven asked.

He nodded. Earlier? Had something happened?

Mira nodded, a knowing look on her face. “So, this was your first time?”

Gale didn’t reply. He looked down.

Draven shrugged. “It was bound to happen sooner or later. You don’t need to feel guilty—it was you or him.”

My eyes widened. Had Gale…?

I looked at his face. It was the guilty, self-loathing expression that broke my heart. I didn’t say anything—only leaned in and hugged him as tight as I could. 

“Draven is right. You should not feel guilty, though I know the feeling well.” Mira’s voice was quiet, but carried. “The first time is…difficult.”

The conversation died. Ronaldo stirred the fire, the embers floating in the air. 

Gale hugged me back.