บท 37: New place
The soldier arrived by horse at the city and went directly to the gates of the stone wall that protected the Baron's manor and the high tower. "Halt! State your business," the gatekeeper demanded.
"I have an urgent message for Baron Floutt!" The soldier's voice was laced with urgency, his tone and hurried behavior conveying the gravity of the situation to the guards as he showed the insignia of Knight Lothar.
Recognizing the insignia and the soldier's anxious demeanor, they opened a small door set within the gate.
He was led to a side building, nearly as large as the manor but made of wood. Inside, he was met by a priest who listened intently to everything the soldier had to say.
This! The high priest must hear this news! The priest, alarmed by the gravity of the report, left the soldier at the entrance and rushed inside to inform the most important religious figure in the city about the traitors, heretics, strange weapons, paper, and, most importantly, an object of impossible existence.
Hmm, so they know about crop rotation and letting the ground lie fallow, but it seems they only rotate two types of crops. This is really inefficient. After listening to Aerd explain how the farms operated, Rafael realized there were significant improvements that could be made.
As the book said, only thinking heads can build things and advance civilization, and we'll only get them with a surplus of calories. They continued traveling through the night for about two hours until Aerd decided it was time to stop for food and rest.
"Mr. Robert, since it's just the two of us, we'll need to take turns keeping watch. I'll go first, if that's okay with you?"
Rafael hesitated for a couple of seconds, overthinking whether he could trust this man at all. "How long will it take for us to reach... What's the name of the city again?" He had forgotten.
"Calistoga is the name, and to get there, we'll have to pass through Tredember first. Unfortunately, there's no safer route, and it'll take about two days—three at most—to arrive." As Aerd answered, he found it odd that Rafael didn't know the names of the cities in his own kingdom, but he chose not to question it.
"So, do you agree with me taking the first watch?"
"Yes," Rafael agreed. They made a small bonfire, providing some light and keeping the mosquitoes at bay. Aerd offered Rafael dark bread and some grains to eat.
Holy shit, this is more like a stone than bread, Rafael thought as he struggled to chew. After eating, Aerd handed him a long cloth to lie on. It took Rafael about half an hour to finally relax enough to sleep.
A few hours later, he was awakened by Aerd. "Mr. Robert, it's time to switch places." Rafael, feeling like crap due to the short amount of sleep, got up and let Aerd take his place on the makeshift "mattress," which was merely two layers of cloth. Within a minute, Aerd was already snoring.
Just two days. I just have to endure this for two days, and everything will change for the better. The spot they had chosen to rest wasn't densely vegetated, allowing Rafael a clear view of the night sky. He added kindling to the embers to rekindle the fire.
The night had a cool breeze, but it didn't bother him thanks to his clothes. Occasionally, an owl would fly by, and the distant howl of wolves could be heard. Rafael spent most of the time staring at the stars, lost in thoughts of his old timeline.
Why did this have to happen? I was so excited to witness some historical events and then simply go back to enjoy civilization, good food, my games...my family... Sigh.
Sitting by the fire, Rafael unsheathed his short sword, his heartbeat quickening as he saw the tip of the blade still stained with blood.
I had to do it! Calm down. It's okay; he tried to kill me, so it was self-defense... I'm in the 8th century, so there's death everywhere. Yeah, it's fine. The world isn't civilized yet, so it's bound to happen... This probably won't be the last person I kill...
His mind grappled with the reality of having killed someone, but he quickly rationalized it to ease the burden. I'll clean this tomorrow when I find some water. Rafael sheathed the sword and set it aside.
He said we're going to pass through a city before reaching Calistoga. There, I can clean the sword and buy something decent to eat instead of this shit bread. Now he was both tired and a bit hungry. He spent the rest of the night struggling to stay awake.
I won't take the risk of trying to find magnets so soon again. The first thing will be paper, then concrete. From there, when I'm swimming in gold, I'll introduce new things. With the free time, Rafael began planning his future.
The night passed without incident. As the first light of dawn appeared and the birds began to chirp, Aerd woke up.
"Good morning, Mr. Robert. How are you feeling?" Rafael looked like a zombie, with dark circles under his red eyes, slouched posture, and nearly drooling. Of course, the concept of a zombie didn't exist yet.
"Ah yes, I'm fine, just a bit tired. I think we should continue our journey—I want to reach Calistoga tomorrow if possible." He stood up and stretched.
"Are you sure, sir? We could wait a bit to fully wake up..."
"I insist. Believe me when I say I'm late, so let's go." Both mounted their animals and resumed their journey.
They traveled in silence for nearly an hour, each lost in their own thoughts. For Rafael, the fatigue and hunger made it difficult to maintain a conversation, while Aerd was just a bit grumpy about being forced to depart so soon after waking up.
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