The Road to Nekana Village

The time has come for the group’s trip to Nekana Village. Kaito and Rina are walking together to meet Khrom and Evona at their scheduled meet-up location. While walking alongside Rina, Kaito was still giddy about visiting Rina’s place.

“What’s got you so happy?” Rina questions Kaito’s excessive happiness.

“How could I not be happy after seeing your place?” Kaito responded adamantly.

“It isn't that big of a deal, “ Rina stated. “Actually, where do you even live?”

Kaito began explaining where he lived, or more so, how he slept in a nearby farm stable. Initially, it was just so that he could save money, as it is cheaper than an inn, but he ended up liking it there. 

This was mainly because the farm owner, named Alisha, was an older, pretty lady whom he liked waking up to daily. He would often help out on the farm or give the farmer extra funds to help them out, so the farmer didn’t mind his prolonged stay.

As much as Rina wanted to commend him for saving money, she couldn’t help but judge him, as he was clearly showing on his face that he was more into the farm lady.

Breaking Kaito out of his daydreaming, Rina deduced, “At least you lived in a private place where nobody would see you with the dragon egg.”

Kaito responded, “To be honest, I wanted to tell Alisha about the egg so she could help me care for it, but you didn’t want me telling anyone about it.”

“That’s because dragon eggs are hard to get, making them extremely valuable,” Rina explained. “People knowing about it would get a bounty on your head immediately.”

“I bet we could take them,” Kaito pouted, not caring about random bounty hunters.

“Then you can take them on. I don’t want all that trouble,” Rina clapped back.

Khrom, already at the meeting point with Evona resting on his back, could see Kaito and Rina approaching, so he waved at them to get their attention.

“Hey, guys!” Khrom greeted the two as they approached him. “The carriage is ready to leave, so, are you guys all set?”

“Yeah, let’s get going,” Rina answered for both her and Kaito.

The group's carriage would take them to Bale Town. This small farming town is the most northwestern human civilization in the kingdom of Taelesta. The trip from Giora to Bale Town would take ten days by carriage, so the group had tons of free time.

Partway on the trip to Bale Town, the group struck up a conversation.

“So Khrom, how’d you get all your cool shields?” Kaito initiated. “And more importantly, where do I buy a cool weapon like that?”

“Oh, you can’t buy these types of weapons,” Khrom explained. “Or at least, not unless they're being sold in a black market or special dwarven shop,” he continued to clarify.

Khrom then informed how the most common way of achieving special weapons, and the way he got all his good shields, is by obtaining special material only found in dungeons. Many dungeon bosses can provide valuable and unique materials that can be made into special custom weapons. Other than that, an adventurer may get lucky in obtaining one by defeating a chest mimic that had stolen one.

“Throughout all my adventures with Evona, I’ve managed to get ten custom shields,” Khrom said as he started concluding his explanation. “You and Rina have seen four of them already.”

As Kaito started thinking about the four they’ve witnessed, he came to a realization. “Wait, that bed shield is one of the special shields!?”

“Indeed, it’s capable of revitalizing the user, allowing them to use more skills in battle,” Khrom explained, revealing the shield’s true purpose. “It’s quite refreshing, actually. Want to try it out?”

Before Kaito could respond positively, Evona, sitting next to Khrom in the carriage, interrupted.

“NO! This shield is only for Evona,” proclaimed Evona, being very protective of her sleeping area.

“Sorry, Kaito. I suppose you’ll get a chance some other time.” Khrom stated keeping Evona’s wish.

As the trip continued, the group of four eventually made it to Bale Town. The trip took 14 days due to the pit stops the carriage had to make along the way.

“We’re finally here!” Kaito sounded relieved as he jumped out of the carriage. “My butt is so sore from sitting down all day.”

“This is why I told you to take some time to walk alongside the carriage,” Rina reminded Kaito of her suggestion.

“I know, but that sounded more obnoxious than just sitting down,” complained Kaito.

“Then you have nobody to blame but yourself, Kaito,” Khrom stated as he helped the carriage driver unload his carriage.

“I suppose so,” Kaito admitted, as he rubbed his behind to soothe the soreness.

“Well, we’ll be walking from here on out, so the soreness will go away eventually,” Rina mentioned, detailing the group’s next course of action.

As the group walked through town, restocking for the rest of their journey to Nekana Village, they came across a statue. It was a statue of a female arachnid, one of the beastfolk races. Her torso and above were humanoid, while her lower half was a spider.

“Okay… Why do they have a large statue of a creepy spider lady?” Kaito said uncomfortably.

“That’s one of the Hero Knight’s allies I told you about,” Rina clarified for Kaito.

“Her!?” Kaito exclaimed, shocked that the evil-looking statue was a good person.

“Lady Kaede is the pride and joy of all of us beastfolk,” Evona talked about the statue, informing the group from her regular spot on Khrom’s back. “The people of this town are close with the beastfolk, so alongside them, we all view her as our hero.”

“I guess you’d better keep your thoughts of her being creepy to yourself, then, Kaito,” Khrom suggested as the group gazed at the statue. “We don’t want the people here to hate us, after all.”

“I’ll keep that in mind…” concluded Kaito.

After the group was fully prepared for the rest of their on-foot journey to Nekana Village, they decided to take the rest of the day off. The next morning, they proceeded to make the venture to Evona’s hometown of Nekana Village.