Chapter 75: Journey

The caravan traveled east along the imperial road.

When they first left Hoggen City, the roadsides were lined with vast fields.

During the bright daylight, many people labored in the fields.

These were the farmlands belonging to the small villages surrounding Hoggen City.

These agricultural and pastoral villages relied primarily on farming to supply grains and meat to Hoggen City’s residents, exchanging them for goods they could not produce themselves.

Although no village had an especially large population—generally no more than a thousand.

Yet in reality, these farmers and villagers constituted the majority of the world’s population.

But such a scene could only be seen near Hoggen City.

As the caravan advanced, the weeds along the road and the surrounding trees grew increasingly dense, and the scent of humanity faded.

Massive trees, requiring several people to encircle, became common.

Thick layers of fallen leaves piled up on both sides of the road.

More and more bird calls and insect chirps reached their ears.

Perhaps due to magic, or perhaps due to insufficient development, the wild plants in this world grew abnormally lush and towering.

“Stay on the imperial road and don’t wander off,” the driver reminded Gao De.

Young men were impulsive and loved to stir up trouble—he had to add this warning.

The imperial road was maintained year-round by the authorities, who dispatched mages to inspect and clear nearby ley-line creatures; it wasn’t absolutely safe, but under most circumstances, it was relatively secure.

But once you left the imperial road and entered the primeval forest, all bets were off.

Gao De nodded.

He wouldn’t go out of his way to court death.

The caravan typically rested for fifteen to thirty minutes every two hours, as both people and beasts needed rest and supplies.

But the caravan had just departed from Hoggen City, and after days of rest and recovery, everyone was at peak energy and strength.

So they traveled nonstop until noon, when the lead man ordered a brief thirty-minute halt.

As soon as he heard the halt was permitted, Gao De leapt down from the cart.

With the novelty worn off, the discomforts of travel finally set in.

In his past life, many people felt fatigued after just half a day on a smooth high-speed train, let alone Gao De, who now rode a bumpy cart designed for hauling cargo.

After only half a day, his buttocks had already gone numb from the jolting.

Fortunately, his diet and exercise had improved recently, and his body had grown much sturdier.

After stretching slightly, Gao De took down his water pouch from his waist and took a sip.

“You brought too little water,” the driver said, jumping down from the cart and unfastening a leather water pouch clearly twice the size of Gao De’s, then taking a hearty gulp. “I’m Grul.”

“Water sources in the wild aren’t safe. You can only replenish at villages along the way, and the next village where you can get water is still two days away.”

“No problem, I’ll ration it,” Gao De said.

He didn’t elaborate—his water supply was light not from ignorance, but because [Water Creation Spell] gave him the confidence to carry less.

For ordinary people on long journeys, clean drinking water typically made up the bulk of their burden.

Grul pulled a strip of salted beef from his waist pouch and broke it in half. “Try some?”

Gao De stared at the two pieces of salted beef in Grul’s hands, hesitated, then took one.

Grul grinned and shoved the remaining half into his mouth, chewing.

Seeing this, Gao De finally felt safe enough to taste his own.

The beef had been salted, tasting intensely salty, and after long curing and compression, it was extremely firm, even dry and hard. Gao De chewed twice, found it difficult, chewed a few more times, then just swallowed it whole.

Grul watched, chuckling warmly. “Unless you’re used to it, ordinary folks have to tear this into tiny bits to eat.”

You could’ve told me sooner—I already swallowed it, Gao De muttered.

After a brief rest, the caravan resumed travel.

Only now, after actually traveling this way, did Gao De understand how grueling long-distance travel in the wild was for ordinary people.

And this was still the imperial road.

If someone like Pierre in his youth had plunged into the primeval forest to hunt ley-line creatures for resources, the challenge would have multiplied several times over.

There were no flat roads in the primeval forest—only rugged, steep terrain filled with dangers.

Whether wild beasts or ley-line creatures more vicious than most, even mages would struggle to survive.

For a typical mage apprentice, venturing alone into the primeval forest to hunt was gambling with their life.

Night fell.

Traveling at night not only restricted visibility, increasing the risk of getting lost or encountering danger, but also drained human and beast strength severely.

So stopping to camp overnight was the best choice.

The caravan had already found a safe spot at dusk, set up a temporary camp, and prepared to spend the night.

In fact, the caravan had traveled this route many times; they had long planned exactly when and where to stop each day.

Gao De’s fifteen silver coins were certainly worth it.

Dozens of carts formed a crude camp, fires were lit, and hot soup made by boiling salted beef was served with black bread—this was the simple meal of the journey.

After assigning guards for night watch, everyone went to sleep.

These people spent their lives on the road and had long trained themselves to fall asleep quickly anywhere, replenishing their strength on the spot.

But for Gao De, falling asleep was extremely difficult.

Not only did the occasional beast roars from deep in the forest disturb him, but even the insects drawn by the firelight were enough to drive him mad.

Moreover, sleeping in the wild made Gao De feel profoundly unsafe.

“A High-Rank Mage should be able to solve the problem of overnight stays in the wild,” Gao De muttered to himself.

As the saying goes, demand determines the market—and similarly, demand should determine spells.

Under this overwhelming sense of insecurity, Gao De barely slept all night, only dozing off in scattered fragments.

When dawn broke the next morning, the caravan quickly packed up and set off again.

Gao De, having slept poorly the night before, dozed half the morning on the cart before finally becoming fully alert.

“How many days does it usually take to reach Bremen City?” Gao De asked Grul.

Yes, the caravan’s destination—and Gao De’s destination as well—was Bremen City, the largest city in the entire Bremen region.

“It takes about seven or eight days going there, but only five days returning,” Grul thought for a moment and gave a conservative estimate.

“One day, we detour a short distance to a small town near Kamengde City to replenish water and food, and rest overnight—otherwise, both people and horses would be too exhausted.”

“In this line of work, it’s all about long-term sustainability. Rushing a day or two gains you nothing—it’s pointless.”

After a day together, Grul had clearly grown more comfortable with Gao De and talked more freely.

Gao De naturally nodded in agreement.

Fatigued travel was always a deadly mistake.

(End of Chapter)