Chapter 48: Springlake Town (Towards another Dungeon)

The Magical Dungeon was only a few hours of hiking away, located in the nearby outskirts of some subsidiary town of Ordbridge City out there. It wasn’t Meadowfield Town, but Tobias thought that if it was, then it would be one nostalgic trip.

But this town was called... Springlake Town. And once more, Tobias found himself groaning in pain at people’s naming sense when it came to places. He could already tell that the town they would be going to would have a spring... lake... or something like that.

If Meadowfield Town was located south of the City, then Springlake was located somewhere north-east. Or something like that, according to their Leader.

So once again, even more forest hiking. Because it was only a relatively quick trip, they had only brought with them some basic backpacks. Tobias himself had only packed his weapons, a sack for money, and a spare tunic and trousers in case some water-based accident happened.

And as for his party... He honestly didn’t know, or bother to ask what they brought with them. So with a sigh, he turned towards Clara – who had kept herself walking beside him, close enough but not quite to the point of touching.

When she noticed his gaze on her, she only looked back at him, and tilted her head to the side. “Something bothering you, Toby?”

“Not really.” He replied, and then his gaze flicked to her backpack. “Now that I’m thinking about it, what do you even bring in your backpack?”

“Oh.” She blinked at his words, and then let out a small hum. Then she nodded to herself, and removed her backpack, holding it with one hand while the other one opened it, and rummaged around. Then she brought out a... clay jar? “Dried fruit slices! You want some?” She said, grinning at him while she handed him the jar.

“That’s... honestly amazing.” He said, then let out a nod, and took what she offered. “If you don’t mind, then I’ll have some.”

“Here you go.” With her hand freed from holding something, she closed her backpack, and slipped it behind back again.

“Thank you.” So Tobias opened the jar, and examined what was inside of it. Really; there was an assortment of different fruit slices, and the common thing they all shared was the fact that they were dried... or baked.

Fruits spoiled quickly, after all. Not enough time to dry them like this, unless they were exposed to fire from an oven.

So he took a slice from what he presumed was an apple. Well, it certainly looked like it was an apple slice, with the semi-circle shape, and the faint red like skin on its edge. The only real difference was the fact that it wasn’t moist as he remembered an apple would be, and instead was hard, and most likely brittle.

So he placed the dried apple slice in his mouth, and began to chew it.

It was crispy, and really did taste like an apple slice which was literally placed in an oven. It was sweeter than a normal apple, maybe because of its dried, crispy texture allowing its flavor to saturate better, or maybe because it was also sprinkled with sugar at some point. Point is, Tobias thought it was a really good snack.

Then again, Tobias had a way of knowing that, because everyone had eaten an apple at some point in their lives.

“How is it?” Clara asked, with expectant eyes on him.

“It’s good.” He replied, giving a nod to her. His words made her give a sigh of relief, and he wondered why. “Did you make this?”

“Nope.” She said. “I’m glad to see that the store I bought it from seemed like their products tasted good as well, after all. And, well, I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

That made sense. Clara really was a food enthusiast, and she still seemed to keep running around the city to see what new food she could find. Because really, there was absolutely no way for her to prepare dried fruit slices, and the last time he checked, she didn’t have an oven she owned.

“Anyways, here you go.” He said, and extended the jar’s open end to her, revealing its dried, fruity goodness to her. “You should get some too.”

“Yay!” And with those words, she reached into the jar, and brought out a slice of orange, which she began to nibble on with a delighted expression.

Tobias thought that it was particularly adorable that even though she owned the jar, she still seemed excited at the prospect of being offered.

“By the way...” Tobias began, as he eyed the rest of the party in front of him. Bastille turned around to see what was happening, and his mouth seemed to be set in a frown when he saw what Clara was eating. Jacques only kept his eyes forward on the road. “Is it alright to share this with them as well?”

“Hmm?” She blinked at his question, as she reached into the jar to get another fruit slice – apple this time. But then she nodded. “Mhm, yeah. That’s alright.”

“Alright.” He nodded at her. So he called out to his party members, and invited them to take some of the snacks as well.

And just like that, they all gathered around the jar, taking dried slices of oranges, apples, yellow orange-like fruits (lemons, as Clara told him), and pears.

“Thanks.” Bastille said, nodding towards Clara. She idly tilted her head to the side, and he gave a cough. “I didn’t expect you to actually like, let me join on this because we somewhat don’t get along sometimes.”

Somewhat was one way to put it lightly, Tobias noted.

“That’s fine, don’t worry about it.” She replied, waving her hand as if to dispel any bad history between them. “You’re really obnoxious and annoying, but even you can be pretty nice sometimes, huh.”

“Ghrk...” The Sorcerer groaned, and Tobias could tell that it was a critical hit towards him, especially because to snap back at her right now would be incredibly rude. But he only gave a nervous, somewhat guilt-ridden smile to her. “Yeah... Sorry for those times, by the way.”

“That’s also fine.” She huffed. “You should return to your usual self. Now that I’m seeing it, being nice doesn’t fit you.”

“Eh, maybe some other time.” He replied, then munched on another apple slice. “You’re still sharing this with me, and I’m not looking forward to being excluded from snacks. Next time, I’ll probably be back to my normal self.” He admitted, then shrugged to himself.

Clara only let out an amused, yet somewhat annoyed grin at his words. But she didn’t say anything else, only choosing to munch on another fruit slice.

“Just like Bastille, I’m also thankful for sharing your snacks with me.” Jacques began, and gave a polite nod to her direction. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” She simply said, returning his nod with a polite nod of her own as well.

The action made Bastille frown, and Tobias could imagine what was going through the otherworldly Sorcerer’s head.

Clara and Jacques got along decently well, and he was usually the one who tried to intervene between Bastille and her whenever things got too heated. So it was only normal for her to respect him, unlike the Sorcerer.

Jacques really was Party Leader for a reason, huh.

That being said...

Gods bless Clara for her insight to bring snacks. It made the journey just a bit more lively, as everyone idly chatted with each other now that they were gathered around like that.

Because really, Tobias felt that recently, everyone was off doing their own things independently. While he got along with everyone relatively well, he just felt like they all should try to socialize with each other as a party more often.

Then again... He understood that they probably figured out something happened between them, and were now giving them ample space to do their own things.

How reliable, and how respectful of them, really. Maybe he really was blessed with the best adventuring party ever, who got along with him surprisingly well.

... But then again, with the exception of Clara, (once again, he still didn’t know much about her history at all, and it was a shame because he had basically promised her his future at this point) every one of them was strange to some degree or another.

Maybe that was the reason why he got along with them really well. There was an expression saying that birds of the same feather flocked together, after all.

***

Springlake Town really lived up to its name. At the end of forest path, there was a massive lake, and from eye judgment, Tobias estimated that it must have been around roughly three fourths of a kilometer in diameter. It wasn’t a perfect circle, but it was exceedingly close to one.

In the far off distance, he could see the rough outlines of different wooden-based buildings, as well as some wooden platforms – piers, most definitely, and boats of all colors and designs tied to those piers.

But there were also boats out in the middle of the lake, and from this distance, he could barely see fishermen casting their lines, and some of them drawing it and catching what seemed to be fish.

Looking at the far right corner, he could see where the first part of the town’s name came from; because there was a gushing spring there, as it seemed to come from a higher elevated place, before disposing its water on the lake like some sort of waterfall.

And to the opposite corner of the spring, there was another spring, except this one seemed to lead elsewhere and didn’t supply water to the lake.

“This place is beautiful...!” Clara breathed out, and her face was set to one of amazement.

Actually, now that she mentioned it... Tobias looked back towards the lake, and the springs.

It really was amazing. Because of the higher springs supplying water, and the lower springs removing the water, that meant the lake was pure and clean – much unlike what a lake, much less one a town monopolizes, should look like.

So really... It was beautiful. It was like nature’s own way of designing itself – or something like that.

“I’ve seen better...” Bastille said, then shook his head. “But I’d be lying if I said this wasn’t one of nature’s best constructs.”

Tobias nodded at his assessment. It seemed like they shared a similar conclusion, after all. Because really, they were the kind of people to dissect something to a technical level, and see how practical it was.

“Alright.” Jacques clapped his hands, and caught everyone’s attention effortlessly as they turned to face him. “So our plan now is to find the Town’s Main Office, and inquire about the Magical Dungeon from there.”

“Sounds like a plan to me, chief.” Bastille shrugged.

Tobias only nodded at his statement, which was shared by Clara. He glanced towards her, and only found her cheeky smile facing him.

And so, now that everyone was on board with the current objective, they all walked towards the direction of the town. By their side was the lake which was too pure, and too clean to ever be a lake besides a human settlement of any kind.

When they crossed the surprisingly well-constructed, arching wooden bridge positioned above the lower spring, Tobias leaned towards the side, seeing and hearing the loud splashing of water as it surged from the lake into the spring.

The spring seemed to wind straight ahead for the longest while, before seemingly branching to its right side, and that’s when the trees blocked the sight.

The water being carried elsewhere by the spring told him that it really did all the work in cleaning the lake...

After a few more minutes of walking and appreciating nature, they finally walked to the town proper. Tobias’ eyes quickly scanned the ground, before he felt his lips turn into a frown.

There were no square stone tiles. Only the pier’s wooden planks, and normal, round cobblestone paths on more grounded places.

...

While Jacques used his good looks and charisma to secure directions towards the Town’s Main Office, Tobias had instead opted to look around himself.

Now that he was paying attention, the first thing he noticed was the scent of fish, freshwater, and wood soaked in water. They wafted in the air in an almost nauseating manner which made him breath through his mouth, but looking towards his companions, it seemed like they were used to it, or didn’t let it bother them to the same degree that he was.

... Seriously. Wasn’t Jacques a noble? How was he fine with this...?

But he let go of that thought, and after he got used to breathing through his mouth, he looked around. The houses were also predominantly made of wood. Granted, it looked like durable wood which could weather storms, but the lack of stone surprised him.

Was this not a town? Houses made of (almost) entirely out of wood was something that belonged more to villages, from what he knew.

But then again, maybe it was hard to find some decent stones around the nearby area to use to construct stone buildings? Well, he didn’t know much about buildings, aside from the fact that they were used for various purposes.

“Toby, look!” Clara called out, and he idly turned to her. Her hand was stretched out, and she was pointing at the lake – no, at the boats, rather. Then she leaned closer to him. “You wanna ride in a boat with me?”

For a second – a split moment, he almost considered asking why. And then he remembered that a casual boat ride in the middle of a lake was probably something that was considered romantic. That’s what he read from one of Bastille’s strange books which he called ‘The Little Siren’, after all. (A fairy tale aimed at children with a dash of pure, innocent romance...? How ingenious, really!)

“When our Dungeon’s done, that would be nice.” Tobias replied, and his words made her smile positively beaming, and her eyes glowed radiant happiness.

“Mhm...!” And with that noise of happiness, she moved closer to him and wrapped her arms around his right arm.

His instincts instantly flared. And before he knew it, he found his left arm patting her head, and she very, very slowly looked up towards him, her slightly parted mouth and widened eyes only indicated that she was terribly shocked at his gesture to her.

“Come on – oh.” Bastille trailed off when he saw the current state that Tobias and Clara was in. Then he only nodded to them. “I mean... I think it’s nice that you guys are finally brave enough to do PDA and all, but Jacques found what we’re looking for, and we don’t have all day. Let’s go.”

Tobias didn’t know what it was that caused Clara to flush brightly, as she quickly distanced herself from him. Was it because of Bastille’s straight face when he saw them? Or was it because of her sudden intimacy with Tobias?

He really didn’t know. All he knew was that she looked incredibly adorable at the time.

And when he walked closer to her to give her a shoulder pat of assurance, she only took a step backwards, as if suddenly finding his presence unnerving or scary...

Well, as Bastille wisely said before; It is what it is.

...

And what the hell was PDA?