It had been almost a week since I left the capital with my companions towards the desert kingdom of Aridonia.
It took us four days of flying to reach the borders of the empire and the desert, which were separated by a massive wall that evenly split the green fields of the empire with the sand of the arid desert.
We passed by a few different settlents and small towns of the empire that looked quite pretty, but we didn’t have ti to explore them all as we were in a hurry.
After we passed the border into the desert, the temperature suddenly rose. However, we were able to stay cool thanks to the enchantnts on our clothes that protected us from extre cold and heat.
We had been flying above the desert for a few days and couldn’t find or see a single settlent, which made us believe that any sort of civilization would be closer to the capital.
During the nights, the desert would get very cold, but I was able to use magic to control the sand around us and make a sturdy shelter for us to camp.
As we were camping, I received a ssage on one of my voice crystals. It was one that I had given to the empress of Droman in case she needed to tell sothing while I was gone.
The way I saw it, I had never been in a war. I had fought with large groups of people, but it wasn’t the sa compared to a real war with thousands of soldiers.
When it ca to thinking of ideas and strategies, I wasn’t the most knowledgeable. However, there was one thing that I rembered, and it was "communication is the biggest weapon."
The fact that we could send instant ssages to our allies was an advantage that we had over the army of Kalusia since I doubted they had any sort of communication thod as fast as the one we had.
That’s why I had left a crystal with the empress, but I wasn’t expecting to receive a call re days after leaving the capital.
When I heard the ssage, however, it wasn’t the empress talking but Jen, the peach-colored hair alchemist.
[ "Hey, Ichiro, it’s Jen.
I wanted to let you know that the underground received a letter, and it seed to be from the buyer of the people you saved on the boat.
It seems like the bandits you knocked out made it back ho, and their boss is angry, saying that he is going to be making deals with Aridonia instead.
Just letting you know since you are on your way there, be careful." ]
The ssage ended, and I wasn’t too surprised since I expected sothing like that in Aridonia, to be honest.
If Zagor had sent people to control the criminal activities in the empire, then I knew there was a big chance that he was also doing it in Aridonia, as he was trying to conquer both places at once.
My companions listened to the ssage with , so we knew one of the first things we needed to do when we got to the desert capital was to look for whoever was kidnapping and selling people there.
It took us two more days to find a settlent after receiving the ssage.
The capital of Aridonia was ant to be in the center of an oasis with different small towns and settlents surrounding it, and we finally reached one after days of flying.
We descended on the ground before arriving, not to startle the residents, and got to the gate where two n wearing white turbans and robes stood tall, holding spears.
I called it a gate because it was the entrance to the settlent, but there wasn’t anything other than a small wooden fence and a sign with the na of the place. If I had been an enemy force, the settlent would have been done for.
"Welco to Cactustown. State the reason for your visit." said one of the guards.
Considering that the sultan of their country had refused to join forces with the Droman Empire, I thought it would be best not to say I was coming from there.
"Just so wandering adventurers. We were making our way to the guild in the capital." I replied with a smile.
The guard scanned our group carefully in silence, then stared at expectantly.
"Wh-what?" I asked, thinking that the man was suspicious of about sothing.
"Credentials? You said you were an adventurer, no?" the guard asked.
’Oh, right! My adventurers’ card!’ I thought, as I had forgotten entirely that thing even existed, and it was supposed to be the best way for to enter any nation.
With a nervous laugh, I pulled out my adamantite card from my pocket and passed it to the guard, who widened his eyes montarily as he inspected the card and returned it as they made way for us to enter.
Cactustown was quite picturesque. The hos were small, made with white sandstone and flat roofs.
So of them had vines growing on the sides of their walls, others had small patios, and others had a few crops growing right outside their hos.
Apart from the cacti and desert shrubs that grew naturally, I saw a few different flowers planted outside their hos, which gave their little town way more color.
As we walked around, I suddenly got the sll of sothing that was very familiar to .
*sniff, sniff* "Is that... Coffee!?" I exclaid, following the sweet and bitter scent that brought to soone’s ho.
"Oh, I thought it would be a shop or sothing... Man, I want to know where to get coffee..." I said, kicking the ground with disappointnt.
However, right as I was sulking outside the stranger’s ho, a little boy opened the door while holding a watering can and was slightly startled after seeing and my companions standing right there.
"Oh, sorry, kid. We were on our way and-..." I tried apologizing, but Vespera interrupted .
"We slled sothing delicious coming from here. Boy, where did you get that ’caw-fee’ thing?" my companion asked, getting closer to the boy with curiosity.
’Pffft. "caw-fee"??’ I thought, trying to hold my laughter.
The mother of the boy ca to the door after hearing us talk about the sll of the coffee.
She was a sweet woman with long black hair and brown skin and was holding a cup of cold coffee in her hands, which made sowhat excited since I loved coffee and had been trying to get my hands on it ever since I arrived in this world.
The woman chuckled since we were evidently not from their country, explaining that coffee was produced in their capital and distributed to all settlents.
Seeing my excitent, the lady invited us in and prepared a cup of cold coffee for each, except for Yoru, who was hiding in my shadow.
Although to be fair to him, I didn’t think he would have liked the taste of coffee since I knew he didn’t enjoy bitter things that much.
In return, I brought out so apples and strawberries from my void pocket and a few chocolate pieces for them, telling them to let one of them lt in the hot coffee if they wanted to make "mocaccino."
The Lady, whose na was Gahira, told us that people in Aridonia liked drinking cold coffee during the day as it was always very hot and had hot coffee at night when the temperatures dropped.
Of course, she didn’t know what a "mocaccino" was, so I explained to her that it was a mix of coffee and chocolate, which gave the drink a sweet tone to its flavor.
We kept talking to Gahira for hours until nightti arrived, and when the temperature started dropping, she and her son pulled out a few thick covers and wrapped themselves in them.
I couldn’t tell since I was wearing my poncho at first, which was enchanted to maintain a comfortable temperature, so I took it off for a mont and felt that their hos got very cold during the night.
Without much thought, I cast an enchantnt on their ho that would maintain the temperature inside at a pleasant and comfortable setting, but when I turned to look at the pair, they had their eyes widened with surprise.
’Oh sh*t. I just did it without thinking...’ I thought, wondering if Gahira and her son were now scared of .
Nonetheless, their surprise turned to joy as they slowly unwrapped themselves from the thick covers and felt warm inside their hos.
Gahira said that she didn’t know what I had done, but she still thanked from the bottom of her heart, saying that so nights could be quite brutal for them since they lived alone and didn’t have much.
The lady allowed us to stay in her ho for the night, and the following morning, I left a few more supplies and food for them and kept making our way towards the capital.
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