Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 11: Long Road Ahead

The journey to escape was rushed especially when the castle was breached, and the remaining few guards fought to the very end. No one had the time to prepare a bag full of rations coming out of there. Moreover, the place where they had set off from was the ancestral tomb, and that seemed like no place for food to be stored…

So, when Amber was hungry, everyone became aware of the real problem at hand.

They were surrounded by barren land with not a single patch of grass in sight. Opposite of the hill was Cecil territory, which had been turned into a fiery wasteland, but there was a dense forest a little further down the hill.

In the magic medieval world, forests outside the town areas were synonymous with danger. The places where the lights of civilization could not reach had nothing besides beasts, robbers, and monsters. But it also meant that there were more food in the forests.

Moreover, in order to reach Tanzan Town in the north, they had to pass through this dense forest.

The group found a flat and open place to rest near the edge of the forest. Then they began assigning people to search for food.

Gawain first glanced at the dunce-like maid. The young lady called Betty had a presence that was hardly felt. But she was quite bold. Back when the dragon flew past, she did not come out crying out of fright. Of course, she could also have been scared silly thus explaining her lack of reaction. The young lady was still grasping the saucepan tightly as she stood there nervously. Noticing Gawain looking at her, her neck cringed slightly.

“Betty, Heidi, Rebecca, the three of you will stay here. Byron, you stay and keep guard,” Gawain said, “The rest will go hunting with me. That includes you, Amber.”

Betty had no combat ability. Although Heidi and Rebecca were mages, they were not suitable for hunting beasts in the woods. Besides, they had already used up lots of energy. Since the battle in the castle, they have not had a chance to meditate and restore their energies. This was a critical problem for spellcasters as they need to be in a healthy state of mind to use their powers. Thus, it would be better for them to stay put and restore their mana as soon as possible so that they could continue to battle in the journey ahead.

The three loyal family warriors had of course no complaints to such an arrangement, but Amber’s eyes widened. “Why must I go too? I’m also exhausted!”

Gawain glared at her. “Touch your ears. You’re at least a half-elf. Do you have the cheek to say that your ancestors lived in the trees if you don’t come with me into the forest to hunt?”

Amber flattened her mouth and complained, “You’re discriminating against my race. Who told you that elves must all hunt in the forest. I learn stealth, not rangering…”

“You dug my grave.”

“… Oh well.”

Gawain led the three soldiers and the half-elf, who claimed to be inexperienced, to go hunting in the forest, leaving behind the loyal Knight Byron and the three ladies to stay in their temporary camp.

After casting some alarm runes with what little magic she had left, Heidi sat down wearily on the stone. Rebecca had led Betty around the area within Knight Byron’s guarding capabilities and came back with a small bundle of dried branches gathered nearby.

After stacking the branches on the ground, Rebecca stepped back, raised her staff, and recited the most basic fire incantation. Then an unstable bursting fireball formed in the air.

Heidi stopped her before the fireball exploded. “I’ll do it.”

After setting up the bonfire with a more appropriate magic flame, the coldness accumulated from walking in the underground tunnel and being exposed to the early morning breeze was finally forced out of their bodies. Heidi heaved a breath of relief, and looked at Rebecca languishing, “When are you going to learn a magical skill that is not fireball…”

Rebecca looked down shamefully. “Sorry, Aunt.”

“Stop looking so worthless. Even if you apologize, don’t lower your head like this.” Heidi rubbed her forehead in greater frustration. “You’re someone with a title of nobility, okay? Your performance today… To be honest, Ancestor is probably very disappointed in you though he didn’t show it.”n

Rebecca suddenly became nervous. “So… what should I do?”

Heidi was stumped for words. She sighed and said, “Sigh, what can you do? From the looks of the clan’s current state, I’m afraid that not a single one of us descendants would be able to please Ancestor’s expectation. The state of us today… is far from the glorious state of the clan back in those days.”

Rebecca pursed her lips tightly. As a child, who obediently followed the path of typical children of nobility, the recent series of events was more than what she was ready for. She had no teachers that taught her how to deal with these things, whether it be the Dark Wave or the attack of the monsters, or how her ancestor came climbing out of his coffin. The young viscountess was left bewildered in the face of all these events.

After some silence, Rebecca finally plucked up her courage and said, “Aunt, do you think Ancestor… Is he really resurrected?”

Heidi looked into Rebecca’s eyes. She could easily guess what her niece was thinking.

“Are you suspecting that Ancestor, or his resurrection?”

“Actually I know I shouldn’t be suspecting this, but this… is really quite hard to believe.”

“I feel the same way, but we saw what happened.” Heidi shook her head. “Remember the first lesson that every mage apprentice has to go through? It isn’t theoretical knowledge or formulas for magic, but a maxim: ‘The truth may run counter to common sense, but the truth will always be the truth.’ This is also valid in areas outside magic.”

Seeing as Rebecca was starting to ponder over it, Heidi added in a low voice, “No matter what caused Ancestor to wake up from his long slumber, the resurrection of Cecil Clan’s ancestor remains a fact…”

Betty glanced at the two mistresses and realized that she did not understand what they were talking about, so she lowered her head and continued to hold her precious saucepan idly.

Soon, Gawain, who had gone hunting, returned with Amber and the three soldiers.

They did not have a bountiful catch, but it was still quite acceptable. They brought back three rabbits, two which they could not name, a large bird with gorgeous feathers, and they also picked up a bunch of wild fruits on the way. It should not be a problem to satisfy their hunger.

Watching as Amber skillfully handled the bodies of the catch, Gawain curled his lips. “You were saying that you couldn’t hunt? Your skills are on par with the gray elves of the Moss Woods!”

Moss Woods was a vast forest located on the border between Anzu Kingdom and the tribal country of Augari to the west of it. The gray elves, an elf subspecies, that lived in the Moss Woods were considered to be the best hunters in the world. To speak of their abilities to hunt prey in forests, they were even better than forest elves. When Gawain realized that he urgently needed to brush up on his general knowledge of this world, he took some time while he was free to search the memory. He had only just learned the information about this and quickly put it to use.

TryingHardToLookLikeAProperNativeOfThisWorld.jpg

While sorting out the guts of the beautiful big bird, Amber replied without looking up, “Truly a hero of seven hundred years ago. That information about gray elves should be at least a few hundreds of years old, right? Do you know that gray elves are now trading medicinal ingredients, and are no longer hunting?”

“…”

Amber continued working with her hands, skillfully skewering the food on a long wooden stick, set it by the bonfire, and she then glanced at Gawain and said, “I’m telling you I’m really no good at hunting. Though I am a half-elf, ever since my earliest memory, I have been living in human society. It was an old bandit who brought me up…”

“Then your skills…”

“Although I don’t hunt, I steal chickens.” Amber laughed like a child who could still joke with the person whose grave she just dug. “That’s where I learned it from.”

“…”

Hearing what Amber said, Heidi frowned mildly. “How uncouth.”

Amber waggled her finger at her, “Yes, yes, I’m uncouth. Ah, but I’m a thief. I can only grab a few copper coins from the pockets of those that pass me by. How can I compare to you nobles who live in castles and can overtly take from the pockets of the residents?”

Before Amber’s voice fell, Knight Byron’s longsword made a ‘schwing’, and was held at her neck.

The half-elf instantly broke out in cold sweat.

Gawain waved his hand, motioning for Byron to put the sword away, and then he looked at Amber curiously. “That’s strange. Forget other things, but why haven’t you been beaten to death with that mouth of yours?”

Before the half-elf girl could utter a sound, Gawain wagged his head smugly and said, “You’re a pro at escaping, right?”

“…”

“Okay, let’s set aside all our class differences and conflicts. We’re all in the same boat now.” Gawain let out a breath of relief, grabbed a fruit from the side, and brought it to his mouth. “Let’s all regain our strength. Mages, make use of this time to meditate to restore your mana. We must set off before noon. We have already spent a night underground, and we must not waste the day ahead.”

“Betty, put that aside for now,” Rebecca glanced at her maidservant and kindly reminded her, “You’re not going to use it now.”

Betty looked at her mistress, then at the pan in her hand as though in hesitation.

Gawain was curious. “Speaking of which, why do you keep holding this pan?”

Betty was a little scared of Gawain. Her neck cringed as she clutched the handle of the pan tightly. “Madam Hansen told me that I’ll be responsible for frying sausages and bread… using this pan.”

“Madam Hansen is in charge of the kitchen in the castle,” Heidi whispered to Gawain. “But she’s dead.”

Gawain sighed as he looked at the young lady with freckles on her face.

“This pan is yours, and it’ll always be yours,” he said, “Now you can set it aside and come over to eat.”