Chapter 47: Packing Up (Patreon)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1C4pc9bwEDwnYeg0iwMuLswt0KleapnBqvb5qgEFPI5E/edit?usp=sharing

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Despite being richer than he’d ever been, Cayden still lived in the tiny apartment he’d moved to after leaving the orphanage. He’d just never seen a reason to get a bigger or nicer place when all he did was sleep there, the rest of his days spent delving or training with Elise at the guild or in the forest. So it only took him an hour to pack up his stuff, and another half-hour to drag everything he was leaving behind down to the orphanage as a donation for Matron Oakly.

The matron was thankful for the donation and obviously happy for the news of Cayden’s opportunity in the capital, but she was also clearly busy with taking care of the constant needs of the orphanage and the kids housed therein. So rather than distract her any longer from her tasks, Cayden bid her a final goodbye and walked out the door.

He hadn’t planned on meeting with Elise for another few hours, so Cayden wandered the streets of Avernon, a backpack over his shoulders and a large duffel bag by his side. He passed by Dryson’s forge, hesitating by the doorway before he walked away without entering. It had been months since he had last interacted with any of his old coworkers – trying to renew those relationships now, right before he was about to leave, would be foolish.

As he always did, Cayden eventually found himself at the adventurer’s guild. He didn’t want to leave his stuff unattended, so training was not an option, but he went up to the front desk to ensure there was nothing he needed to do with his membership before moving to the capital.

There wasn’t.

Cayden stepped into the courtyard behind the guildhall, looking for some of his acquaintances. While there were plenty of people Cayden recognized, at this time of the morning the guild was still mostly empty, and he didn’t see any of the few he was more familiar with. It was a bit unfortunate that he didn’t have a chance to say goodbye, but he wasn’t that close with any of the other adventurers. Certainly not close enough to delay his departure or wait around at the guildhall all day just for a chance for a few parting words.

So instead, he turned to Elise’s house. It was still a few hours before their scheduled meeting time, but maybe she would need help packing?

He got to the shop and tentatively knocked on the door. It had been a while since he had last been inside Elise’s house, a conscious decision to avoid exacerbating his relationship with Mr. Heymore any further. So when he stepped inside after hearing a yelled, “come in,” he was surprised at what he found.

It looked nothing like what he remembered. But rather than the result of natural change over time, the cause was the piles of bags stacked on top of the dining table and in various empty spots around the room.

“Cayden! Good that you’re here. Pack up these vials, please. There are some rags over there to pack around them to make sure they don’t crack.”

And within the first few seconds of stepping through the door, he was put to work.

It was surprising for Cayden to realize that, even after so long having been friends with Elise, there were still some things he didn’t know about her. Apparently, she was a bit of a hoarder. Clothes, toys, shoes, hats, knick-knacks, books, a small end table – those weren’t necessarily a surprise, as they were things he might have expected from a normal teenage girl. While much of the alchemy equipment she used was borrowed from her father, she had apparently amassed enough of her own to fill up multiple duffel bags. And since so much of the equipment was easily breakable, they took up even more space than they otherwise would in their careful packaging.

Cayden wasn’t even sure why Elise had so many books considering her soul notebook skill, which had unlimited space and he knew she attempted to copy anything of importance within. And books in this world weren’t nearly as cheap as they had been on Earth. Yet still, almost a full backpack was filled with them, ending up heavier than either of Cayden’s bags which held his armor and spare weapons.

So for the next hour, Cayden helped Elise to pack. Carefully arranging those things that might be breakable, and stuffing until the bags were fit to burst those things that weren’t. He knew that many of the things Elise was bringing she probably could have easily found replacements for in the capital, and he realized halfway through that Mr. Heymore was likely going to have to replace much of his alchemy supplies with the way he kept pushing more equipment and ingredients towards his daughter. But it wasn’t Cayden’s place to interfere, so he kept his peace with the less-than-efficient packing.

And then, with less than an hour left until their scheduled departure and one last backpack remaining to be packed, Mr. Heymore spoke up.

“Cayden, could I talk to you for a bit?”

Cayden glanced to where Elise was digging through a few cabinets in the kitchen for the cooking supplies she wanted to bring along, oblivious to her father’s call. There was nothing else left to be packed, no excuse Cayden could use to avoid the interaction. So, squaring his shoulders, he nodded and followed the older mole-man into the back room of their home, a room Cayden only recognized from his heist so many years earlier.

Mr. Heymore stared at Cayden, and Cayden looked to the side, trying to appear non-threatening. And then Mr. Heymore sighed, his shoulders sagging.

In that moment it hit Cayden at how old and small the mole-man looked – much smaller than Cayden’s rapidly growing frame, and so much older than Cayden remembered him being. Maybe it was a consequence of how little he had seen the man over the last several months, or perhaps it was just the deep, dark circles under his eyes. But Mr. Heymore was no longer the intimidating and disapproving authority figure he had been a few years prior – a result of either the man or Cayden changing.

“Watch over her,” Mr. Heymore said suddenly, his voice tired.

“Umm…” Cayden mumbled, unsure of how to react.

“I always knew she would leave, eventually,” Mr. Heymore continued before Cayden had a chance to catch up to the unexpected tone of the conversation. “She’s way too smart to stay in Avernon for her entire life. Destined for bigger things than this city can provide.” He sighed, then smiled sadly. “She got that from her mom, you know. Her smarts. Absolutely brilliant. Could have been the best at whatever she put her mind to, but chose alchemy for my sake.” Cayden was unsure about whether he was talking about Elise or Elise’s mother but was unwilling to interrupt. Elise had never mentioned what had happened to her mom – for as long as he’d known her – since he’d barely been old enough to walk – it had only been Elise and Mr. Heymore. “But, like her mother, she’s got her head in the clouds. Needs someone closer to the earth to watch out for her. Make sure she doesn’t trip over those things she can’t see.” His gaze sharpened as his gaze locked with Cayden’s. “Watch over her.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I’m serious. I know it’s unfair of me to ask, after the way I’ve treated you. But she’ll need help. I wasn’t able to be there for her mother in the way…” his voice trailed off and he coughed, clearing his throat. “Just. Please. Keep her safe. Keep my little girl safe. I…I can’t offer you much that you don’t already–”

“I will,” Cayden interrupted as he stared back at his friend’s father. “Elise is my closest friend. And aside from my sister, I value her more than anything else in this world. I will keep her safe. I promise.”

For a beat they stood in silence, staring at each other. And then, with a slight, relieved smile, Mr. Heymore nodded. “Thank you.”

“Of course,” Cayden replied. “But it’s not for you.”

Mr. Heymore’s smile widened by just the smallest amount. “That’s what I was hoping.”

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Cayden held tight to the cart's edge as it bucked beneath him while the wind rushed through his hair.

Elise had secured transport for them to the capital with one of her dad’s supplier contacts, a centaur who regularly traveled between the cities hauling his wagon at breakneck speeds. The benefit for Cayden and Elise was that it was much cheaper and faster than taking a caravan made for transporting people. The downside was that it was significantly less comfortable.

They were perched on top of their pile of duffel bags, squeezed into a corner of the cart that clearly wasn’t made for passengers. Every dip and pothole in the road Cayden felt transmitted directly to his bottom, and he could feel himself bruising a few minutes into the journey. He couldn’t imagine how much worse it was for Elise with her significantly lower vitality.

“Why does he pull the wagon himself? Why not get some horses or something?” he had quietly asked as they loaded their things on the wagon while Augustus, the centaur who would pull the wagon, strapped himself to the two poles extending from the front. Considering his horse half, it wasn’t as strange as it might have been if he had been some other race, but Cayden still felt as if pulling the wagon himself seemed demeaning for the centaur.

“It allows him to travel between Avernon and the capital in less than a day. The roads are usually safe, but if he had to stop overnight he’d likely have to pay extra for some guards.”

“Aren’t there animals that can do that? Maybe domesticated monsters?” he hadn’t looked into it before, but Cayden had previously seen farmers hauling in their harvests using animals that definitely didn’t exist on Earth.

Elise shook her head. “Not as fast as he can pull. At least not for cheap. Monsters are really expensive and difficult to domesticate, and it’s really rare for an animal to be able to level and gain skills. Those that can usually turn into bonds, which require a skill slot and a lot of money to take care of. With a build focused on speed and hauling his wagon, he can make the trip faster than most people can run.”

Cayden tried to imagine what sort of build the centaur might have to boost his hauling speed. His stats would definitely need to be focused on strength, endurance, and agility, which from what he could remember of the centaur race, lined up with the expected primary stats. He almost certainly had a skill that boosted the durability of the wagon – there was no other way Cayden could imagine the wagon staying together as they bounced and skidded across the rough road.

Even at their pace, they would arrive at the capital, Valtane, after dark. While they had met with the princess roughly in the center point between Valtane and Avernon, and it had taken them much less time to travel back to Avernon than what was expected for a normal trip between the two cities, the road that connected them skirted the edge of the Lost Forest, tripling the total distance compared to traveling as the crow flew.

Which made Cayden wonder. Were dungeon breaks really so common in the Lost Forest that they were unable to create a road cutting through? He would think the revenue generated from saving so much time on transports would offset the cost of patrols and maintenance.

But then again, he’d never claimed to be an expert on economics, and there were likely some issues he wasn’t seeing.

They traveled in silence. The wind whistling past their heads, coupled with the clatter and groaning of the wagon beneath them, made any sort of conversation impossible for their amount of perception. And with the later than his usual start, Augustus insisted on not taking any breaks. Cayden and Elise made a bit of a mess over their bags when they tried to eat their premade sandwiches while in transit, the wagon somehow hitting a bump every time they attempted to take a bite, but it was better than going hungry.

Unable to converse, train, or study, and unwilling to test his new [Inertia] skill when riding at breakneck speeds on the back of the wagon, Cayden eventually entered a zen-like state where he stared at the sky, thinking of absolutely nothing. The hours passed until eventually, with the sky lit up with a full moon and the twinkling of stars, they slowed.

They had arrived at the gates of Valtane.

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