See you soon. Stay safe!" he said in farewell.
Anna and Suna put on their thick clothes and set off behind Valorant. Suna had slung a single bag over her shoulder for both herself and Anna.
"Suna, why is your bag so big?"
"It mostly has Anna's things, and then mine."
"Did you take only the important things with you, or did you just grab whatever was hanging nearby?" he asked, looking at both Suna and Anna.
It really was like that — Anna had packed almost everything that was left after the fire into her bag. Suna couldn't argue against it.
"Of course, I packed what I considered important," Anna said with a smile as she walked up to Valorant.
"Then that's fine. As long as it's important, it's enough," said the master, not paying much more attention to it.
Suna and I were walking behind the master and Anna.
"Suna."
"What is it?"
"Why do you call Anna by her name? Mr. Gustav calls her 'young lady'."
"What can I say? When I was little, the Lord found me and brought me to his home. I was so small back then, I didn't even understand anything, but he still didn't refuse to take me in. He only said I had to learn house chores and help with a few things. So I slowly started learning housework. Then one day, while doing my chores, I saw Anna. She didn't seem like a girl who talked much. But later, as we became close, I realized she actually talked a lot. That's how we became friends. The lord didn't object either, and Anna herself told me to call her by name. So since then, I've been calling her by name inside the house."
"Then why do you still call her by name even in front of us?"
"Because I figured you don't care about ranks or titles. And I think we've become quite close."
"Yeah, you're right."
"And also, I'm sorry for hitting you. I really thought you were one of the skeletons."
"It's okay. What matters is that the pain is gone."
So, we walked for about three hours. Only then did we encounter a merchant caravan headed to Vorkalis. Even though teleportation portals existed between cities, in places where there were none, people still traveled in caravans.
Master Valorant spoke with the merchants in the caravan and asked if they could take us to Vorkalis. The merchant agreed, and we set off for Vorkalis in his wagon. The merchant's name was Sven. Sven looked strong and muscular. He was a man in his thirties or forties, with black hair and a slightly dark complexion.
"So, you're headed to Vorkalis?"
"Yes, showing the city to my grandchildren," the master replied.
"What did you say your name was?"
"My name is Hamos, the boy's is Ballo, and the girls' are Rouse and Manna."
"What brings you out in this cold? Why not stay home with your feet up?"
"These kids wouldn't let me. Watching how they were suffering made my heart ache, and I agreed to go to the city without even realizing it."
"You don't say. Kids these days are sneaky — stay quiet for a second, and they'll trick you."
"You're right. If you don't mind, we'd like to get some sleep. The road's worn us out."
"Go ahead; sleep as much as you like. I'll wake you up when we reach the city this evening."
"Thanks for your kindness," the master said, closing his eyes and pretending to sleep.
The merchant caravan didn't stop traveling until evening. Master Valorant kept his eyes closed, pretending to sleep while quietly listening to everything around him all day. Suna and Anna sat in the wagon and rested. During that time, I sometimes slept, sometimes just watched in silence. When we boarded the wagon, people asked me about the blindfold over my eyes, since the master had told them I couldn't see. They said the caravan wasn't very big, but I could tell it had over ten wagons.
When evening came and the surroundings darkened, we — meaning the caravan — reached the gates of Vorkalis city. At the gate, six guards were checking everyone before allowing them in. Because we said, "We are travelers coming to this city," we had no trouble entering.
Once inside, we parted ways with Sven and went to the nearest inn, where we stayed the night. We all sat in one room and discussed plans for tomorrow.
"Tonight, we'll stay here. The teleportation portal gets shut down at night, so we'll pass through it tomorrow."
"Do you think there will be any trouble tomorrow?"
"I don't think so. The Alaris estate was built far from the city, so they likely won't have had time to learn about his death or send anyone after us."
"Are we using the portal in the morning?"
"Yes. If possible, we should be among the first to go through it."
"And after that?"
"The portal will take us to the city of Obilvor, the closest place to the Elven Forest. From there, we'll head to Yggdrasil."
"Yggdrasil is the name of the elf kingdom, right?"
"Yes, that's the name of their kingdom. It's named after the biggest tree in the area."
Anna added to the master's words:
"They also call it the Tree of Life. They say it's incredibly huge."
"Yes, that tree is enormous. And not just it — all the trees there grow large. You'll see for yourself once we reach the Elven Forest. Now go to sleep; we'll need to get up early tomorrow. Attu and I will stay in this room; the rest of you will settle in the room next door."
"Then good night!"
"Good night!" they said and left the room.
"You can pick either of these two beds and go ahead and sleep," the master said, looking at the two beds in the room, then sat on a chair near the fireplace.