It has been half a day since we've been traveling non-stop. My body was already aching from the rough road we were taking. And worse, it started to rain hard again. Fortunately, Yukio made sure that we won't get wet by creating a wind barrier on the entrance of the carriage.

He did this for the duration of our travel. Meaning, it took a lot of mana for someone who's a Novice mage. So it was not strange that there was a hint of exhaustion coming from the action of Yukio.

The reason why he was doing it was that Bosu became annoyed of having his clothes wet and reminded us that no one was getting paid if it went on.

Luckily, Bosu seems to have decided to take a break when he saw a cave that could be used as a resting place.

"We're going to stop there for a while. We could use some breaks. We'll wait until the weather gets better."

The burly guard nodded and drove the carriage to the said cave. It was big enough for us to stay fit but not enough for the carriage to fit, so we drop off and left our stuff in the carriage. The only thing we brought with us was the food since there were rubbishes inside that could be burned.

We positioned ourselves in the cave and began to light up a fire. It was me who started the fire by using magic. A simple fire is within my capabilities so why not.

"..."

The only thing that resounded inside the cave was the fire crackling. No one was interested in talking, except for one person. Yukio as he is, tried to start a conversation within the silence.

"What are you transporting, Bosu-san?"

It was a very straightforward question that I would also want to ask but decided not because I'm not the type to meddle in someone's business especially if it can hit the wrong spot. Although Yukio doesn't have any problems with it and just asked anyway.

"Oy, Someone is interested at last." Bosu seemed to be happy when Yukio asked. Of all things, I didn't expect that he would react like that.

"It's the 'Miracle Flower. One of the rarest ingredients for the highest grade Healing Potion. It's said that the petal alone can rival the effects of an A - grade Healing Potion. If I could sell the amount I found, it would fetch me millions and millions."

Bosu was enthusiastic when talking about the Miracle Flower he was currently transporting. I don't know if it was a good idea to share it with strangers especially when he mentioned that it would fetch for a high price.

I could already see the greed of the burly man. However, Bosu seems to have not noticed it and continued bragging about his find.

"I got lucky to be the first to have heard about the news of the strange behaviour of monsters and animals within this area."

"Now that you mentioned it, we didn't come across any monsters today." Yukio inserted a comment.

"It is one of the effects of the flower. A sniff of it could make any person sleep within seconds. Many creatures are vulnerable to the aroma the Miracle Flower bring since their ability to smell is much greater to us humans.

That's why the container I'm using for is special. It may look like an old wooden box but it has been embedded by magic to amplify its effects and limit it to not affect humans. The horses have also magic embedded to them for protection of the sleeping problem. I have used everything to our advantage so our travel would be smooth sailing. I paid large money to do those things but it's gonna pay off anyway.

I'm very smart aren't I."

He emphasized the last part of his dialogue. This tells me the reason why he chose to say all these things even though I think it should never be talked about especially when you're surrounded by strangers.

'Now that I think about it, I'm now curious how strong Bosu is. He did ask our rank which is weird since mages tend to have the capability to distinguish or estimate a person's strength.'

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

...

They went on and talk more about various subjects. I even heard Bosu questioning Yukio if I was a monster disguised because he never saw anyone as pale as me. It's been a long time since someone questioned my appearance.

Yukio appears to have met his match. They were talking non-stop. I was losing interest and I can't make out any more important details about their conversation so I ate the provisions which were dry bread and dry biscuit.

Both were difficult to swallow and it is amazing how it can easily make you thirsty. From only a few bites, I desperately needed water.

I went back to the carriage and took a magic scroll of [Create Water]. It may be wasteful to use one because we have magic but Yukio and I are incapable of using water magic and it is weird to ask Bosu or the burly guard a favor, especially the burly guard since he doesn't look that friendly.

I prepared a bottle container before ripping the magic scroll to produce fresh water. The water was created out of thin air before it was floating in front of me. The amount it produces was only enough for my container to be filled. As expected from the cheapest magic scroll.

Even though I can't use water magic that well, I was able to control the water with my free will. It was one the perks magic scrolls have. Although, it would still be difficult to handle a higher grade of magic scrolls.

All of that just to drink water, maybe I should've just brought one.

Anyway, while I'm here, I tried casting a few spells and summoning the dark shadow. The last few days have been quite busy that I wasn't able to train my sword or magic.

The first thing I did was creating a cover for the rain with the same principle Yukio was doing with wind magic. There were some improvements compared to last time. I was able to create a light breeze but still not enough to repel the droplets brought by the rain.

Next, I tried manipulating the droplets themselves if there were any improvements in my water magic. To my surprise, it went better than what my wind magic could do. I was able to stop

My training went on until I noticed the weather was getting better. It is probably time to start traveling again.

I don't need to tell them since they have come out of the cave by themselves. Bosu and Yukio seemed to have become closer to each other while on the other hand, the burly guard was silent as usual. Although, I could feel him being impatient over something.

We moved back to the carriage and set ourselves to continue our journey. This time, it was without any ceasing until we reach the bridge that supposes to indicate that we're almost halfway through our travel. Bosu said that it would at least take a couple of hours before reaching it. The estimated time we would see the bridge is when the sun is about the set.

Bosu decided to sleep for the rest of the duration before we reach the bridge. While he was sleeping, Yukio told me useful things that Bosu shared with him when I wasn't around.

One of those things he shared was Bosu is a 'Mundane' or someone incapable of magic. There are a lot of reasons why a person becomes a Mundane but there are only a few cases of becoming one.

Bosu was one of the unfortunate people who were born to never have the ability to be normal in this world. But fortunately for him, he was born in a rich household and became a merchant through the help of his family. This expedition was his attempt to improve his favor of becoming the next heir even without the help of magic.

From how Yukio described it, Bosu is more powerful than I expected. Not literally but his background is not to be ignored.

"You've got some talent for probing in information, Yukio." I praised him for having the favor of Bosu in such a short period.

"What are you talking about?"

It was a talent indeed that he was able to befriend Bosu without even realizing it. The cause may be since both were very similar to each other concerning how talkative they are.

Listening to Yukio share the content they talked about maybe a good way to consume time.

"By the way, did he tell about anything about this mage here." I quietly pointed the burly guard for suspicions.

Yukio appears to have realized that I was talking a private matter so he made sure to whisper.

"Bosu mentioned that he was the only one left among five people that he hired before coming here. During their expedition, they met a strange beast that resulted in both of them being the only people left alive. Bosu said that if it wasn't for him, he would probably die at the moment."

"Bosu had five guards before and he only hired us two? Does that sound weird considering we're technically traveling the same path?"

"I questioned the same thing but Bosu only told me that he is confident about the guy's strength and there's no need to worry about it since he was able to defeat the enemy. And if the same thing happens again, the flower would to the trick he said."

"Bosu is very relaxed, huh."

"I agree but I feel wary in front of the guard"

It looks like I wasn't the only one who's uncomfortable with the burly guard. If the friendly Yukio judge a person to be suspicious, then there is a reason to be.

"He didn't do anything during our break but I can't help but notice that he was listening and staring at us intensely the whole time," Yukio added.

"Let's keep our doubt for later. For now, we can only have our guards up." I gave my statement to stop Yukio from doing anything stupid.

With that being said, he turned silent in response to being careful. This stayed until the sun went down and reached the bridge.

...

"We have a problem." The burly guard said as he stopped the horses.

Awoken by the sudden brake of the carriage, Bosu drop off disgruntledly to check the problem.

"Oy, what's wrong?"

"Look at the bridge, we can't cross that."

Yukio and I followed and dropped off to see what he was talking about. The bridge that was supposed to help us cross the other side was destroyed beyond recognition.

"It may have been destroyed by the strong current of the river caused by the continuous rain for the past few days."

The burly guard took the initiative and conveniently explained. It was strange because that was the first time I heard him talk longer than a word.

What was stranger is the speculation he just said. The damaged bridge doesn't look like it was the result of a strong current. It was destroyed neatly compared to how it should look like if the river was the one who caused it. Besides, from the structure and the materials it was built, it won't fall easily under the pressure of water.

'Unless if it was water magic that did the job.'

"That's unfortunate. We have no choice but to take the longer route." Bosu doesn't seem to realize that it was not as the burly guard.

"How long will it take to reach the city if we took a different route?" Yukio asked seemingly worried that we won't make it in time for the selection test.

The test was going to happen four days from now. Yukio said that it would only take two days to reach the city. Of course, if we were taking the normal and the fastest path. But unfortunately, plans have changed

"If we're taking the other path, an extra day would be added. Don't be concerned, I've got some extra supplies if you're worried about it."

Yukio sighed in relief after hearing Bosu's answer. We have one day to spare even if we took a detour.

The only one smiling hearing all this news was the burly man who was already preparing to leave.

We have no choice but to return to the carriage and take the detour.