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Chapter 15: By the Gods, Stay on the Road!

Chapter 15: By the Gods, Stay on the Road!

The night was uneventful and Alfred didn't even pray to Aritisa. He didn't do it just in case someone would hear him and discover his sentience.

˝So what's for breakfast? Some good stuff I hope.˝ Liz said as she got our of her tent, only to see the other members of the caravan eating some elven bread. 

˝We've got some elven bread, it's not the best but it does have a lot of nutrients.˝ Said Paulus as he handed a piece to Liz.

˝Thanks, I guess it's not gonna be great food all the time.˝ Liz said as she started eating the bread.

˝Most of the ingredients will be used for dinner after all, so for the other meals we're going to have to eat elven bread.˝ Said Rora as she finished eating her piece of bread and went to pack up the tents.

˝Let's go help.˝ Liz said to Alfred as she finished eating.

˝Alright.˝ Said Alfred as he moved to help Rora.

They then extinguished their campfire, loaded the carriage and set off. They continued traveling on the road. This series of events happened every day. They set up camp, made dinner and trained as well as talked a bit about themselves.

From time to time Alfred and Rora hunted some spiked rabbits for dinner, this allowed them to train how to skin monsters. After the fourth day Liz finally gained the basic archery skill. And on the fifth day they encountered a group of hunters on the road.

˝Hello there, are ya heading towards the capital by chance?˝ They asked the caravan. 

˝Indeed we are, why do you ask?˝ Asked Paulus with suspicion.

˝We just wanna tell ya to be careful. Since ya're heading that way, by the Gods stay on the road! It's the goblins you see.˝  The hunters said as they walked by the caravan. 

˝Thank you for your warning, safe travels to you.˝ Paulus said as the continued onwards.

˝Are goblins that dangerous?˝ Asked Liz not used to fighting these things.

˝Not really, they're quite weak individually but they usually attack in groups. So we'll need to be extra careful when setting up camp, they could attack us while we're distracted.˝ Paulus said as she checked the surrounding tree cover for any signs of movement.

˝I guess we won't be leaving the night shift to just Alfred. Since only me and Liz have any fighting experience here, we'll rotate once a night. Is that alright?˝ Said Rora while looking at Alfred.

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˝Fine by me, better than getting ambushed during the night.˝ Said Liz while waiting for confirmation from Paulus.

˝That was my plan as well, hopefully we won't have to deal with those green bastards.˝ Paulus said with disgust. ˝They killed my best friend when I was younger, it was all due to our carelessness so I'll never underestimate them again.˝

˝I'm sorry, may I ask what happened?˝ Said Jill that had been silent until now.

˝Maybe another time, certainly not when I'm sober. Not something I want to remember.˝ Said Paulus while exhaling.

˝Oh, am, sorry for asking.˝ Said Jill apologetically.

˝No problem, but we all have some things we don't want to share.˝ Paulus said as he turned his head and looked at Liz and Alfred.

˝Haha, that's true indeed.˝ Said Liz as she chuckled nervously.

˝Alright, enough of this weird atmosphere. Let's change the subject, so now that you've gotten the basics of archery Liz. Are you going to buy a bow when we get to the capital?˝ Rora said not comfortable with that conversation, she also felt that Liz and Alfred were not what they seemed. But didn't want to push further into this kind of conversation.

˝I'm still thinking about that to be honest. I don't think archery is a good fit for me.˝ Liz said sighing, thinking about the difficulty of using Rora's bow during training.

˝I do think you could use a short bow, since my hunting bow is too big for you no offence. But if you're not comfortable using a bow it's best not to.˝ Rora said trying not to insult Liz.

˝None taken, yeah I'll see when I go to the capital if there's any bows that I would like to use. Otherwise I'll try something else. Still thanks for the training, even if it could all be for nought.˝ Liz said apologetically.

˝That's no big deal, it did help me train too, so no worries.˝ Rora said smiling.

˝Yeah, Rora's decided to try and teach kids archery anyway, so this is a great experience for her.˝ Said Jill with a thumbs up, embarrassing Rora who hid her face behind her hands.

˝A hunting instructor huh, is that your goal? Seems like a good goal.˝ Said Liz while patting Rora's shoulder.

˝Well not really instructor, just you know we hunt a lot in our village so I thought that I would teach some kids how to shoot bows and hunt. I hoped that would lessen the chance of them getting hurt on their first hunt like I did.˝ Rora said still hiding her face.

˝That's a great thing, I think you're doing a very nice thing there, right Alfred?˝ Liz said while Alfred nodded. This made Rora laugh.

˝Haha, that's unfair making your golem agree with you like that. I mean it's not like he can go against your opinion.˝ Rora said wiping some tears around her eyes she got from laughing.

˝Haha, that's true.˝ Jill said also laughing a bit.

˝Yeah yeah laught all you want.˝ Liz said grinning at Alfred who looked confused at all of them.

˝We'll be making camp on that hill over there, it'll give us a better view of the surroundings so we don't get ambushed.˝ Said Paulus as he interrupted their laughter.

They prepared their camp on a small hill right next to the road that was still easily climbed by their horses. Once they ate dinner they decided that Liz would be first on guard duty with Alfred then after four hours she would switch with Rora. So all their duties decided they went to sleep. Liz on the other hand just complained to Alfred. After a few hours she said.

˝It's getting hard not saying anything about you. Man it's harder that I thought it would be. Also your rabbit stew is great.˝ As she ate some leftover stew.

˝Yes it is indeed difficult. Also thank you for the compliment, and is it not time for the change of shift?˝ Alfred said as Liz finished her meal.

˝Yeah I think it is, so goodnight Alfred, I'll go get Rora.˝ She said as she went and shook Rora awake.

Rora then came out off her tent and sat next to Alfred and layed down her bow. She then after a few minutes couldn't take the silence and said to Alfred.

˝You're not a normal golem are you? At least you don't follow Liz's orders, since you sometimes do things by yourself. Don't worry I won't tell anyone if you tell me, I promise by Lawrence the god of Law and Order.˝ 

Alfred looked at her and after a few moments said: ˝I am indeed not a normal golem, though I cannot tell you all the details. Also I don't... Grab your bow! We've got incoming hostiles, look green eyes in the trees.˝ He pointed at some trees where a dozen neon green eyes were staring at them.

˝Oh fuck! Everyone wake the fuck up! We've got goblins! By the Gods, stay on the road they said, we're literally right next to it and they still attacked us!˝ Rora yelled. 

Soon Liz came out wielding a dagger, Jill and Paulus on the other hand had some axes they used to chop wood and went next to the carriage to back away from the goblins.

˝Alfred and Liz will take the front I'll cover you from the back, Jill and Paulus you just watch our back so none of them attack from behind.˝ Rora said as she prepared to fire as the goblins emerged from the trees, all of the goblins started making noises.

˝Gigigigi!˝