「A few days later.」

After waking up early and washing up, Colin began to pack his things in his small attic room.

He was so keyed up about the long journey ahead that he hadn’t slept well the night before.

Speaking of dreams, Colin hadn’t been practicing his Swordsmanship in his sleep lately. He wondered if it had something to do with that so-called "special commission."

In any case, based on the fact that wearing the ring often caused him to dream of practicing his Swordsmanship, Colin felt the reward for this commission would likely be related to Swordsmanship, though he had no way of guessing the specifics.

As he thought about this, he slipped a stack of stitched-together parchment into the outer pocket of his backpack.

It was the easiest place to reach, so he could pull it out to read at a moment’s notice.

Now that he had someone who was fully literate, he had spent most of the past few days holed up with Orelia, single-mindedly reading and taking notes. On a side note, he hadn’t run into Sela, the Mage Apprentice, at all these past few days, perhaps due to a shift change or some other reason.

He’d been copying for days, until he felt he’d copied enough—and until Orelia started begging for mercy.

The stack of parchment he’d gotten earlier was now mostly used up.

Colin had also taken the opportunity to draw his own map based on the one in the library.

While it certainly couldn’t compare to the ones sold in shops, it was serviceable.

He had also asked the Dwarves for some notes on the monsters of the south, which would definitely come in handy.

With all that taken care of, today was the perfect day to hitch a ride with Bob’s caravan. That way, he could save some money on food and have an easier journey.

He’d made very efficient use of his time recently.

Beyond that, Colin hadn’t bought many other supplies.

He only purchased a few coils of rope, several wooden bowls, five Torches, and a small pot. These miscellaneous items only cost him a few Silver Coins. It wasn’t a huge expense, but they would certainly make the trip more comfortable.

Then there were the Casting Materials.

Judging by the casting motions from his vision, the spell Tasha’s Hideous Laughter seemed to require a few crackers and a feather.

Colin took care of it by spending a few Copper Coins at a component-specialty shop.

The crackers they sold were soaked in Antiseptic Oil and wouldn’t spoil, and the feather was just an Ordinary chicken feather. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

This was the first spell he had that required materials to cast. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to cast it successfully later on.

Finally, there was the matter of his room.

Colin paid another two Gold Coins to extend the rent on his little attic for two more months. At least this way, if Bob hadn’t found a place in the city by the time he returned, he’d still have a place to stay.

After finishing his packing, Colin put on his full suit of Chain Armor and went out to the main road.

From a distance, he could see Orelia, who was also wearing a Cloak and carrying a small pack.

When the Tiefling saw Colin emerge, she stood on her tiptoes and waved eagerly. Her long, slender tail swished back and forth behind her, matching the rhythm of her wave.

"Good day, Mr. Colin," Orelia said with a slight nod.

Colin asked, "Has Kase arrived yet?"

A CLANGING and CLATTERING sound came from behind them, followed by Kase’s voice. "I’m here, Colin."

The guy was still carrying that pile of equipment. With the addition of a Longbow, the Half-Orc’s luggage looked even more cumbersome.

"Good morning, Mr. Kase."

After greeting him, Orelia took out a few pieces of bread. "Mr. Colin, could you help me give this bread to the refugees on that street corner?"

"Me?"

"I used to go with the groups that distribute food. Since we’re leaving on a long trip, I wanted to do one last small thing to help." Orelia pointed at herself. "Besides, look at me."

"Alright," Colin said.

If a Tiefling actually went in to hand out bread, the refugees would probably be too scared to eat it.

Colin took the bread and walked into the alley she had pointed to.

A few refugees were huddled in the small alley. They were all elderly people and very young children.

The young could still earn money through manual labor or other means, giving them some hope of turning their lives around. These people, however, could only hide here and wait to die.

Holding the pieces of bread, Colin handed them out one by one to the refugees huddled on the ground.

They didn’t fight or snatch. They only accepted the bread when it was offered directly to them, murmuring their thanks. There was just enough bread from Orelia for each person to have one piece.

After handing it all out, Colin walked out of the alley and looked at Orelia. "Are you okay with that? You were the one who gave the food, but you didn’t even get to hear a single ’thank you’."

"At least I’ll have sweet dreams tonight," Orelia said with a smile.

"Just for that? Don’t you want them to help you with something in return?" Kase asked, crossing his arms. "Then again, that’s pretty similar to that Paladin. He gave us and Colin Potions when we first met. Human Totem Warriors are hard to figure out."

As they were talking, a caravan slowly emerged from the city gate.

Bob, who was leading it, walked closer and called out, "Colin, my friend! Time to get on board!"

This time, the four-carriage caravan only had seven guards. However, they were all wearing Chain Armor Shirts with Armed Swords at their waists, looking a hundred times more reliable than the previous refugee guards.

It seemed that with the recent chaos, the Carriage Guild was finally willing to spend some real money.

Of course, Colin and his party were also serving as free guards for the caravan.

It was a small way of repaying Bob for all his help.

Colin sat down next to Bob, and the two of them climbed onto the back of the carriage.

"That is..."

"A new member of our little party," Colin introduced.

"A Tiefling?" Bob whispered. "Are you serious, my friend? Don’t be surprised if you run into villagers who won’t let you into their town."

"She’s a Priest. You can trust her," Colin whispered back.

Bob glanced back at Orelia, who was sitting hunched and anxious on the carriage, and sighed.

As a well-traveled carriage driver, he knew exactly what kind of hardships Tieflings faced in this world—and that even those who associated with them would be met with scornful looks.

"I just hope your future teammates aren’t all strange-looking characters."

"Right. I’ll recruit a Half-Dwarf and a Half-Elf next," Colin said sarcastically.

Bob chuckled. "There’s no such thing as Half-Dwarves in this world, my friend."

The caravan continued south.

Just like their trip to investigate the Cultists, this journey was also smooth sailing. They didn’t see any monsters along the way; most of the living beings they encountered were Adventurers or refugees also heading south.

With time on his hands, Colin spent the journey reviewing the notes he’d taken over the past few days, brushing up on common knowledge about the world and information on monsters.

For a modern person like him, learning about this fantasy world was like reading a hardcore novel; he could read on and on without feeling too tired.

By afternoon, the caravan reached a small town and dropped the trio off.

The party then continued south along a smaller path.

The sun traveled with them, sinking below the horizon before long.

"By the way, which southern city are we heading to this time?"

"You’re only just now thinking to ask...?" Colin said, consulting his map as they walked. "We’re going to Rommon, one of the hubs on the trade route. It’s the closest city to my destination, and as a trade city, it’s bound to have jobs for us to earn some money. I heard there are a lot of dangerous goblins around there."

Kase sniffed. "Goblins? You’d call those little guys ’dangerous’?"

"Rommon? That’s quite close to my chapel," Orelia said, a nostalgic look on her face.

"Didn’t you come from the Holy City Cadopolis? That’s pretty far from Rommon."

"The Holy City is actually a lot like Thousand Masts City. It’s a central hub that expands outward. The Monastery I belong to is responsible for watching over the trade routes." Orelia paused for a moment, then quickly added, "But there’s no need to take a detour back there. I haven’t become a Priest who can stand on her own two feet yet."

"That works," Colin said. "Also, my plan is to reach a village to resupply at least once every two days, and maybe ask about any available jobs. Is that okay with you two?"

"Uh... are you planning to take us to a village to resupply tomorrow night, then?"

"Something like that. The next village is still a long way off. We’ll definitely have to make camp in the wild tonight."

Kase glanced back and asked, "Then why is there a village right ahead of us?"