It was a long trip out to the first stop on the patrol. The cart ride was packed, until one of the smaller groups got out before reaching the town at the end of this leg of the trip. They passed by the mountain valley where the cart had dropped Geon, Deya, and Oren for the plateau job several days ago, this time getting to see the rest of the picturesque landscape that ran the length of the road towards Vitrea.
Thin streaming waterfalls fell down from the mountain range on their left as the cart rumbled eastward, and kicked up a thick mist that chilled the cart and filled it with a fresh-smelling humidity. Vex stared out the window, not often coming this far north of Vane Gloria and taking in the eye full while he had the chance.
“I feel like there should be rainbows overhead. And fairies,” Vex said as he stared rapt out the window. He looked back at the rest of the cart. “And great beds of flowers. The painters usually depict this place with more colors than this. Not to say it isn't still beautiful, mind. It just feels like I’m only getting half the experience of comin’ out this way.”
A man from one of the other groups barked a laugh. “Yer about six months too early fer that’un. Come back then an’ you’ll be paintin’ pretty, too.”
“I guess I’m comin’ back in six months then.”
They rolled into Vitrea a couple of hours later, all piling out and taking a moment to stretch their legs. They had about an hour to wander the local shops, or do whatever else. The guild here might be a dead relic, used only as a town hall now, but the town itself was still decently populated for being on the frontier. Just in the area that the cart left them, there was an alchemist, a weapon shop, a grocery store, butcher shop, and a fancy tailor. A few people milled about the street, looking over at the new arrivals with interest, surprised to see so many people climbing out at the end of the cart’s route.
As they milled around the street deciding which store they each wanted to check out first, the other groups in the cart with them took off for the start of their patrols, waving goodbye to Midaan’s party, and Vex in particular. They took off together, the first camp of each of their patrols located relatively close to each other, then branching apart.
Ciel went to the clothing shop just to check out the styles there, though not intending to buy anything. Tailors were already expensive, and this place in particular was targeting the upscale demographic that disproportionately populated Vitrea.
She trailed between racks of flowing dresses and robes, a little put out that they didn’t have anything someone could wear on the road. Everything here looked as though it was meant to be worn at a fancy nobles’ party, or at the plays in the central cities. High society garb.
Ciel caught the eye of the clerk in the shop, who radiated a sense of judgment. She looked down at her travel leathers with blue undershirt and trim, caught in a glare typically reserved for a mouse in a pantry. Feeling a bit pressed, she gave a few more articles a cursory once over before waving a contrite goodbye to the stern woman behind the counter.
Stepping back out into the street to escape the pressure, she looked about for any of the others, seeing Deya peering through the windows of a weapon shop, and she headed over to join her.
Deya heard her coming and moved aside to make room in front of the glass. Ciel peered in next to her, trying to see what it was that garnered her attention. There was a selection of ornate wands and staffs wound with the standard gold alloy and inset with a selection of gems that looked less functional and more decorative.
Deya stood up straight and made her way away from the shop, her mouth set in a grimace. Ciel followed after with a question, but she didn’t have to voice it.
“Stupid shop could’ve made six different wands with the stones used in one of those pieces. I’d bet almost none of them are being used in that enchantment.” She shook her head at the waste of it. “I’d get one if they weren’t selling them for the price of ten.”
“The clothes place wasn’t much better. It’s all ball gowns and flowing robes.”
Deya rolled her eyes. “Never understood those things. Give me a pair of trousers any day. At least I’ll have pockets.”
Ciel smiled. “I get it; I’ve been to a few of those noble parties myself. They can be fun, but I liked them more when I was younger. No political games back then – at least, none that you knew about.”
“Thank the gods for poor parents.”
Ciel raised an eyebrow as she laughed. “Not to pry, but you are a pretty gifted enchanter, or at least well on your way to becoming one. Those apprenticeships aren’t exactly cheap favors.”
Deya's mouth turned down. “Yeah, you aren’t wrong. But it wasn’t riches that got me that apprenticeship.”
“No?”
“No, it was being incredibly annoying.” Deya shook her head with a smirk.
Ciel burst out in laughter. “Somehow I can see that.”
Deya chuckled as she recalled her campaign to be taken in. “I snuck around her house and watched her working through the windows. When she’d go out to lunch, I’d break in to her office and read all the plans she was working on. Learned what crystal cores were, and how they were made. I'd filch materials from her storage and use them on failed experiments.”
Ciel’s amused smile fell to a nervous grin as she talked. “Kings below, you weren’t kidding. I’d have tried to kill you myself after all that.”
Cheery as ever, Deya said, “Oh, she did try! There’s a lot of weapons in there. There was a week or so when she would try out new wands on me in an attempt to either kill or incapacitate me to turn me in to the guards.”
Ciel looked confused. “Well how in hells did you get her to take you on?”
Deya shrugged. “I finally made some crystal core plans that made sense, and could work. I left them on her workbench. After that, I didn’t see her for a few days. She stayed inside the whole time, just working on something. Next time I came around to check on the place – y'know, to see if she left it unattended – she was waiting there for me, and she used a new wand on me.
“Shocking thing was – it was my wand. My design. I could tell by the shape of the fireballs she was slinging at me, two flames circling each other as they flew through the air at me. Eventually, she cornered me in her yard. I thought I was dead as she loomed over me, but instead she just held the wand up and asked me-“
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Deya's face went hard, and she plastered mock fury on her face. “'How the fuck did you think of this?'”
She dropped the angry face, and sighed deeply. “That’s the proudest moment of my life.” She paused. “So far.”
“What's your goal in the long run? Trying to set up your own shop?”
Deya flopped her hand back and forth, unsure. “I've thought about it. I don't think the day-to-day is for me, though. I'd rather just work on the plans. The actual process of putting together an enchantment is kind of boring. But seeing the idea turned into a reality is pretty nice. I had a thought that maybe I could make a living by selling plans to crafters – but I'd have to spend at least some time experimenting with crystal cores and monster material interactions on my own time before I get consistent in that area.” Deya shrugged. “Maybe at some point I'll take the time to do all that. I'll have to make a lot more money first, if I want to afford materials, so that brings me back around to mercenary work.”
Eventually they decided to circle back around to the cart stop to wait with the others.
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The next leg to Sitensa took off from Vitrea, and only one other party was along for the ride, filling the cart only just over halfway. Piling out at the other end hours later and stretching muscles that had sat dormant for a second time, they gathered their things and made their way to the inn at the center of town.
Piera tried not to show how tense she was in this familiar and unwelcome place. It had been years since she was last here, but the bitter taste of those memories kept her braced for some elder's tongue-lashing, or a rock thrown by their hateful kids. She kept her runes held firm, leaking no light.
They ducked into the building, Deya unable to hold back a gasp at the fancy lobby, decorated with bushy flowers in great variety, many of which were clearly imported from some distance away. Vex himself recognized a few varieties from his family’s home near the coast. The counter and tables were covered with lace place-mats for decorative bowls of fresh fruit, delicious in their appearance, but so meticulously put together that it discouraged picking anything out.
Midaan went up to the clerk at the desk to register their stay, divvying up the party between two rooms for the night. The host looked the party over with a cautious eye, and his gaze hovered over Piera for a moment – but then he took Midaan’s money and handed over the keys for their rooms without complaint. He passed one to Ciel so she could settle the women into their room, and they all took off to unload for one last night in a warm bed before roughing it towards the first camp.
Piera sighed in relief as the women closed the door to their room, each claiming a bed by throwing their things on top. Deya leaned her crossbow against the wall next to her pillow before falling face-first into the pillow.
“Mmph.”
Ciel sat down by the end of her bed. “Agreed,” she said, pulling her boots off. “Never thought I’d be looking forward to the road, but an honest march might be preferable to sitting in a cramped wagon.”
“...Doin’ nuffin.” Deya agreed into her pillow, muffled but loud enough to be heard. She rolled over. “I feel like I wasted a whole day.”
“Well, just remember: it’s Rank 2 money.”
“Small blessing with seven people.”
Piera smiled, “Still more than you’d get in a Rank 1 party doing three nearby jobs.”
Deya shrugged. “I guess. It kinda depends what else we meet out there.”
Ciel laid down on the bed, already thinking about closing her eyes and going to sleep. Sitting around shouldn’t be that tiring. But her stomach rumbled. They’d only had a bite of dried meat on the cart ride down, not wanting to spend money on the tavern in Vitrea as well as the one here in Sitensa. She sat back up and pulled a pair of more casual shoes that she could easily slip on.
“I’m going down to eat. I think I saw a tavern nearby.”
“They’ll have food here in the inn, too. This is a fancy town,” Piera remarked.
Ciel shrugged. “They’ll have fancy people here, too. I don’t want to have to deal with that. Tavern is more my speed nowadays.”
Deya rolled her head to look at Ciel, in her sparkling blue trimmed robe, fit with a blue-tinted light metal chestpiece, her clean blonde hair flowing past her shoulders in the flawless manner of a fine lady, even after the long cart ride.
“I don’t know if anyone’s told you this, Ciel, but you are fancy people.”
Ciel eyed her with a tired face. “So I’ve been told. Doesn’t make them any less boring.”
“Or less drunk,” Piera chimed in. “Speaking of, I could use a drink myself. If we aren’t going to the fancy diner, I guess I’ll join you.”
They made their way out of the room, letting Midaan and the rest of the guys know that they were leaving to eat, and they headed back into the lobby and out into the night.
Sitensa, like Vitrea earlier in the day, was another town that inherited the rich folks that wanted out of the city life, but weren’t entirely willing to give up the creature comforts made possible by having a populous underclass beneath your feet. This town was trying to modernize as quickly as they could. One of the self-powered carts drove slowly along the street, still half set with cobbled stone – smoother than the dirt roads that led into and out of the town, but requiring the new carts to drive slower than their mechanisms allowed for. The other half of this main street was already converted over to a smooth surface, and as the cart that passed them to the new section of road, it soundlessly sped up, two runes glowing brighter inside the vehicle.
Piera stared after the cart, amazed. “It’s so much faster than the regular carts.”
Ciel chuckled. “They are pretty cool. They won’t really take off for a while. All the town and cities need to change over to the new roads before people start buying them in large numbers.”
“I’m kind of surprised that Vane Gloria hasn’t started on that process yet. You’d think they would bring that new stuff out to the frontier, to place that could actually use it.”
“Sure, but as I said, it’s not super useful until the work is done on the roads. Right now, the only people with those kinds of resources are the rich people, who are also the only ones that can afford to buy those carts in the first place. Vane Gloria isn’t exactly a rich town, they’re just influential because of all the work they get done.”
Piera shrugged. “That’s kinda what I mean. Imagine having twice as much reach within a single day’s travel. We could spread the mercs of Vane/Gloria’s so much farther north than we already are.” She shook her head. “Seems like a waste, using them as toys.”
Ciel decided to poke back. “You're not wrong to be frustrated. But having seen a little bit of the business side of making something like that, I can tell you that it costs a ton to get an operation like that going. Which means they have to charge a lot for the product if they want to keep in business. Then consider that they have to rip up and remake all the roads we have now in order to take advantage of the new tech, and the costs are even higher.
“Rich people wanting toys end up being the only way to fund it, because if they want the toys badly enough, they will pay out the nose for them. Re-paving the streets between their home and their work. Re-paving their neighborhood so they can show off. Then more people buy carts and re-pave different streets, and more rich people spend money.”
Ciel got into the explanation, waving her arms around like she was conducting a city to grow.
“Then the city starts to pile on. The theater re-paves it's own street. The market blocks pile money together to re-pave their streets. Then so many people are buying carts that the business can afford to make better carts. Cheaper carts. Then the dam breaks, and everyone wins in the end.”
Piera had been side-eyeing Ciel for her whole explanation, then she huffed. “You're the one that spends time in the Center, so I guess you'd know. It still feels off that rich people being selfish ends up being the way it always happens. Taxes are a thing. I feel like the Office could use that money to speed the process up.”
Ciel shrugged, not wanting to delve into a whole other civics lesson. And Piera wasn't wrong there, anyway.
Deya had checked out of the conversation ages ago.
They arrived at the tavern, and ordered their food, the rest of the party walking in as it arrived at the table. The guys mouths started to water, and Vex ordered the same tangy chicken and stir-fried vegetables that Ciel ordered, while Midaan and Oren copied Piera's pasta...thing.
“They call it a pasta cake,” Piera said.
Eyebrows bounced all over the table, and Geon blurted. “That's a horrible name. It's not even made of cake! It's, like, sauce and cheese.”
Piera shrugged. “It has layers like a cake does, though. See?” She peeled back one of the layers of pasta, revealing a layer of meat as well.
Oren clapped his hands. “Don't care. Looks filling.” He headed up to the grill to order for them, Geon joining him shortly after once he decided.
They relaxed into the meal and drink, letting themselves have a bit of fun and unwind after the day-long cart ride.