Departure

"Here, this is a parting gift from me.. and Seri I guess."

Since she would not be able to bid me farewell on the day of my departure, Xenia had decided to visit me in my room the day before directly after dinner. The gift she'd brought had been wrapped in a thick cloth, barely concealing the shape of the object. It was a sword.

" I know you have been adamant about wanting to use a regular straight sword but, since you first held them, I've been thinking you might have actually prefered the lighter ones. The kind you could use for magic as well."  She'd told me. Bullseye.

So as expected it was still a straight sword, but a lot lighter than a regular one. I figured she hadn't wanted to risk going for a curved blade because she and Seri had not subjected me to training involving this kind of weapon. It was a safe choice, and I was actually very grateful for the consideration. Starting over from scratch, or close enough, would have been a bit of a pain to be honest.

I have to say, this sword is actually a masterpiece. I marveled, effortlessly mowing down a wyvern that was diving for me.
Design-wise it wasn't very flashy, but there was no denying that it was the sole of its kind.
The hilt was the traditional cylindrical kind but the pommel was actually shaped into a waning crescent of the moon. The guard was flat, with this time a waxing crescent of the moon encompassing half of a sun. The blade itself was a little wider than that a regular sword, it was pitch black in colour and sported a thin line of some golden-colored material in the middle and on the edges.

"I actually had Seri find the materials for this one." She'd explained. "Moonstone and glory petals are quite rare after all, and we don't find any within our territory."

Moonstone was a mineral usually found underwater and in mountain lakes to be exact. But even as we had a mountain range close by, there were no water source found there. As for the glory petals, they came from glory trees (not the ones I knew). They came from those pretty tall trees only found close to volcanos, which are in bloom only during summer. The petals were golden-colored of course, and they were said to become as hard as gold once processed at high temperature.

"Yeah, so I had to accept of a few requests from her as a result. I'll spare you the details though..." She'd confessed, giving me a playful wink at the end to indicate she hadn't been asked anything unpleasant. To say the least.

So with that, and after receiving another night visit, this time from Nika, I had well and truly bidden farewell to the castle and the country.

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Within a week of traveling on horseback, I made it to the south exit of Matrio.

"Travel pass please."

Showing the guard my copper card, I proceeded to remount and continued on my way.
After we were done with the raid in Glursem and everything had been taken care of at the castle, we'd been left with the issue of the fiefdom lacking a governor. Since Nick Virtue had been imprisoned and we feared an uprising, we had to appoint somebody from our side to the position. Which is when Richard volunteered.

"I'll do it. I grew up there and I've worked with their mercenaries a few times in the past."
He revealed. "And since everyone is kinda going their own way, I've started to consider settling down as well. So it's a good opportunity."

With no opposition to his candidacy, it had been decided. Though since I was a little worried about him and his tendancy to appear menacing and rude, I feared he would be portrayed as a tyran or something. So I asked Cyril if he would be okay to become Richard's new advisor, which both of them accepted.
As for Nika, as much as I would have wanted to remain by her side, I ultimately decided to keep my word and depart in order to see more of this world first. That way I would also be able to make a more concrete and levelheaded decision about our relationship.

"Fine, I'll wait." She'd conceeded. "But whatever you do, or whoever you meet, come back with an answer please. I'll been waiting."

Then as a "parting gift" of her own, she'd kissed me on the lips. Leaving me no choice in the matter. So for now at least, I had to admit she had managed to secure me in a way. 


Leorto, Leorto... Reading the wooden signpost at a road junction leading either to a forest or to the continuity of the main road, I made a short stop to confirm where I meant to go next.

"Five days on horseback huh. I might have to go hunting at some point."

What was convenient with the signposts in this world was that beside the names of the villages and towns, they drew a pictogram of a horse, a carriage, and a person, and put the estimated number of days each means of transportation could expect to take to reach their destination.
I was presently within Fuyanagi's territory and my goal was to reach the small mountain village of Leorto. With the money I made from selling my hero costume at an auction house in Ispron, I planned to buy myself a small abode in a retired village. My goal was to enjoy a slow life for at least a few months.

I know I told everyone I was on my way to travel around the world but, first I needed to touch down and relax for some time. I'll go crazy if I start gathering any new experience or information right now. Plus I already need to synthesize what I've learnt before my departure anyway.

Before I left Ispron, I asked Nika to teach me about anything that might come in handy for my travels. The first thing she told me about was the gatebreak phenomenon, which was news to me. She said that I should expect some people to recognize that I was in fact not from this world. And that those people might use the derogatory term trespasser to refer to me. 
Indeed, since I did not intend to make a heroic return from the grave I dug for myself, I would no longer be refered to as Hero. The most common moniker for otherworlders was "gatebreaker". But since a lot of these people had left a pretty sinister mark on this world's history, it seemed a lot of people had come to despise them as a result. Hence why the term trespasser.

Next, along with a few reference books about the culture of other countries, she delivered me a couple scrolls which Prakia had apparently left for me.

" I did not read any of them since there was a small note left nearby stating these were meant for you but be careful with it." She'd warned me.

Indeed, since Neil had killed Prakia it was entirely imaginable she had copied his handwriting and prepared a magical trap on the scrolls. So one night after my departure, as I was out in the woods I decided to proceed with the pack opening. Well, there's not much I can do to defend against it if it's a magic circle made to explode in my face so, here goes nothing...
Standing at the edge of my sword's reach, I used it to open the scrolls I'd put on the ground and braced myself for a surprise.
Which never came. These were actually notes and references left by my magic instructor. It ranged from usage tips for dark and fire magic –my specialities– to quotes from famous mages and titles for reference books. I should have opened them in the garden or something back there. I'd lamented. With both libraries available to me, there was no doubt in my mind that the reference books he had suggested would have been there. That being said, he also had left a mountain of instructions about various spells of different kinds that I could try to master, so I was immensely grateful to him.
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Alright two more days and I should make it.

"Hey young man !" A hoarse voice called from behind me. "Wouldja lend us a hand here ?"

"Sure."

Trying to climb the steep rocky path a few ways away, a group of muscular and armed men were struggling to push a cart up the slope. Understanding what they needed me for, I linked a few ropes to my steed and forced it to tow the medium-sized cart until it reached the flat part of the road a dozen meters ahead.

"Thanks buddy." One of the men thanked me, motioning for a handshake. "Truth is, we were attacked by a pack of wolves last night. And we forgot to tie the horse to a tree so he fled in a panic."

"It's no problem, I'm glad I could help." I said, still on guard just in case.

"We owe you one." He responded offhandedly before jogging back to his comrades who were already on the move again.

I guess I didn't need to be so wary, I concluded as I brushed my horse to reward him for his effort.
Back in my world, and when I traveled to europe or the states, I had for habit to remain constantly on guard when I wandered on the streets. The reason for that was that contrary to Japan which is mostly safe, or at least a lot more than any other country I've been to or heard about, occidental and european countries in particular, suffered a lot from vandalism. And the same people who committed those infractions also tended to attempt at selling you drugs or recruiting you.
As a result I adopted the policy of always sounding friendly and relaxed when a group of strangers would strike up a conversation with me or ask for something.
Though these guys only looked threatening in the end. I admitted. I had used the friendly approach with them because they were intimidating, with their large bodies and bald heads, but as it turned out they were seemingly a friendly bunch themselves in the end.

I'm not as weak as I used to either, and I have this fantastic weapon too now. I really need to man up. 
As I admonished myself in my head, I noticed the sun had already started its descent. It was about time I found a fine spot to setup camp for the night.