Departure

A week passed, the guild had calmed down, and Issei's group had collected enough money for the journey to the next city.

When they had gone on the king's commission to defeat some monsters, they had gone to the south of the kingdom. Then they headed east, where they spent a week in the city of Gewalt.

Now they were heading north, then turning east through the no-longer-secret passage.
The demon king's castle was located on the continent of Nordost, the most northeastern point in existence.

Our heroes prepared to say goodbye to that place where they had spent long afternoons fighting monsters and other such things.

Issei wasn't considered a prisoner there, but rather a strong adventurer. The guild girl even saw him as a hero.

<Issei, we can't leave with this carriage.>

The carriage was the royal carriage of the Wohlstand kingdom; They couldn't use it to reach the other side of the mountain without attracting attention.

The knight had already thought about what to do about this problem.
Selling it was out of the question; no one could afford it, and no one should possess it, or it could harm the royal family.
The only option was to dismantle it and make it as normal as possible.

Without saying a word, Issei pulled out an axe and looked the coachman in the face.

<No, don't tell me...>

Shirou, who had grown fond of the carriage, snorted. The knight sighed and set the axe on the ground in front of him.

<We have no choice. We must save the kingdom.>

The coachman turned, whispered something, and left.

The ornaments were mowed down. The kingdom's flags were torn. The carved wood was shattered. The seat cushions were removed. The carriage was stripped of all its honors, leaving only the essentials.

Asia prepared sandwiches for the long journey, the prince said goodbye to the friends he'd made during the week, Issei prepared the carriage, and the coachman prepared the horses.

They all sighed together before climbing into the now "normal" carriage.

As with the previous journey, Issei remained vigilant for any monsters.

<Why isn't the carriage as beautiful as it used to be?>

Josuke asked, confused. Issei didn't know how to respond. As simple as the answer was, it wasn't easy to say. Josuke was just a child, unfamiliar with the situation between East and West. The knight cleared his throat.

<You see... On the other hand, this type of carriage isn't welcome.>

<No, it's better to tell him the truth right away!>

Shirou stopped Issei; he didn't like keeping a secret from the child forever.

Sooner or later, he would figure it out himself.

<There's a constant war between East and West. Issei has made the carriage as normal as possible, but that won't be enough; we should also act as if we've always lived in the East.>

Shirou made the situation very clear. As always, he didn't mince his words.
The child was confused; in his world, everything was rosy. He wasn't aware of the war or the kingdom's economic state. The coachman didn't know the details either, but he had a smattering of knowledge.

Asia wasn't aware of the situation either and remained silent. Her wolf ears drooped. Josuke, however, remained impassive, accepting the situation easily, perhaps ignoring it, perhaps trying to imitate the ever-serious knight.

The journey continued in silence. Every now and then Asia would warn of approaching enemies, and Issei promptly defeated them. The prince also wanted to get in on the action, but Issei prevented him. There was no time to teach a child how to fight.

After hours, they arrived at the destroyed village near the mountain range. Issei averted his gaze; he was responsible for that destruction. Asia distracted the little prince from their surroundings.

Shortly afterward, they reached the cursed hole in the mountain.

<You must go down; the rocky terrain will break the wheels if you stay up.>

Said the coachman, Shirou.
The carriage stopped and everyone got out. Then, to get the carriage into the hole, Issei summoned all his strength and lifted it.
Slowly, they walked through the dark cave. The stench of death made the hairs on his nose stand on end.

Issei looked at the scene before him: Asia was holding Josuke's hand. The scene touched Issei deeply, as he hoped for a similar future with Sofia.

The prince couldn't quite make out the corpses, but he could imagine them from the stench.

Then a light could be seen in the distance; the end of the tunnel was near. With a final effort, they emerged from the cave. The light illuminating the dead bodies made Josuke vomit, and Asia instinctively covered the little prince's eyes. She, too, wasn't feeling well.

<Get in the carriage.>

The coachman was disgusted, not by the corpses, but by the war.

<We're following the mountain range, heading south.>
<We can't go straight to the capital.>

<Why south? Isn't the Demon King's castle to the northeast?>

Issei sighed.

<Yes, the castle is where you said. But it's better to take a detour south. It'll be worth it. It's nothing personal.>

Our four heroes, then, took the long way to Wurm, the eastern kingdom. As always, the decision was made by Issei, but the coachman, Shirou, wasn't annoyed; he had learned to trust the knight.

No one had any idea where they were going, except for Issei, who had already been there.

The division between east and west was strangely perfect. The world they lived in was a gigantic continent split in half, the rest was all ocean.

The next stop before the capital was the Elven Kingdom, a small piece of the world where enormous trees grew, and the elves had carved out homes within.

<We're headed to the Elven Kingdom!>

Issei announced the next stop on their journey with elation.