Chapter 6 – Grand plans

Dawn.

The sky was getting brighter and soon the sun started to shine over the walls onto the city.

Kai had climbed to the roof of a taller building and was drying the clothes there in the wind, all the while enjoying the sunrise and warmth that accompanied it.

'I guess it's time to return to the inn,' Kai thought as he looked down on the streets. A few people could already be seen bustling about.

He put on his clothes, until now throughout the night he had still been naked. Luckily the clothes were almost dry, good enough to wear and not be uncomfortable at least. Then he jumped down from the roof softly into an alleyway without anyone noticing.

During the 15 minutes Kai took to get back to the inn the city had gotten quite lively very quickly.

In the inn he was welcomed by the master, who was cleaning and setting tables and chair.

Kai walked up the stairs, went next to the door leading to his room, and opened it without hesitation.

"Eh! Kyaah--!" Was what welcomed him. Sophie screamed in surprise when the door was abrubtly opened and Kai walked in.

She had just woken up and had been looking for her clothes. She was standing there almost naked, only covered by the blanket from the bed. However, the sheet didn't hide her figure. Her toughened muscles, nice hips and well developed chest combined creating an extremely sensual body.

"Good morning! Here are your clothes. I took them outside and now they're almost dry," Kai finally said while smiling, but only after having taken a good look at her. Sophie had just stood there embarrassed, not being able to react.

"A- ah, thank you..." flustered, she finally managed to act.

She wanted to change, but Kai just stayed there, leaning against a wall.

"Turn around! And no peeking!" Sophie demanded, with a red face.

"Heh, yes, yes. I'll go downstairs and see what's there to eat," Kai said as he left.

Some time later.

After eating breakfast, which unexpectedly was good, the two took what little belongings they had and set out.

What were the plans? Currently there wasn't anything specific in mind, but the one to decide what to do next would probably be Kai. Sophie had said that there was nothing for her to do and that she'd just follow Kai on his adventures, at least for some time.

The immediate course of action was to buy equipment and supplies necessary for travelling. Well, the more important things were a knapsack and spare clothes, after those armor and weapons. Though, Sophie was the one who used a weapon, Kai said that he didn't need a weapon, he fought with his fists.

Sophie acquired some durable clothing and a set of light leather armor. She now looked very much like the average adventurer with her trustworthy sword, except for her fair face of course. On the other hand Kai strongly objected to wearing armor himself, saying something like "wearing armor weakens my buffs". In the end he just got some normal but durable clothes.

By the way, all of the things were paid for by Kai. Sophie had suggested to earn some money with some small quests first so she could pay for herself, but Kai rejected that idea, saying that he didn't mind and that she should accept the generosity. Also, he got his money from the labyrinth anyway.

Around noon they had a lunch break.

"Ah!? Cat ears! And a tail!" Kai's eyes were fixed on a certain person walking along the street.

"Hm? What about it?" Sophie couldn't understand why he got visibly excited.

"Eh? But I haven't seen one before. Is she a beast race?"

"No, she's a half-beast to be exact... But how could you not know about them?"

"Well, I remember only learning that there were different humanoid races. Now that I think about, they didn't really teach us about them, they only mentioned that they existed..."

Sophie couldn't understand what Kai was saying, his explanation was odd. Seeing her perplexed Kai accurately added,

"Ah, I haven't told you yet, but me and the companions I have mentioned, we're actually people summoned from another world..."

Sophie's eyes widened in surprise, however, it wasn't something totally unexpected.

"Is that so..." she said having recovered from the surprise, "That explains a lot, why you didn't know much about this world and such..."

"You're not surprised?"

"Well, I am, but people have been summoned from other worlds in the past, too. And I suspect it's the same reason, that is the upcoming war against the demons I guess..." Sophie presented her theory.

"Wow, it's exactly that, that's exactly the reason they gave why we're here... And keep it a secret, please, me being from another world that is."

"Yes, I understand."

"But enough about this," Kai closed the topic, "more importantly, about these..."

Then, Sophie explained a few things about the different races of the world.

Basically, all the different races can be found anywhere in the world, but there are also areas where their main habitat is. Unlike humans, most other races tend to not form countries, but rather gather in tribes.

The beast race, who appear humanoid with the addition of other animal characteristics, are mostly gathered around in the tropical forests around the equator. But some tribes can also be found elsewhere, lizardmen in marsh areas for example.

Elves form tribes all around the world. The highest population is the woodelves, found around forested areas respectively. There's also a nation formed by highelves, located in the southern end of the east half of the main continent. The main continent, as the largest one, is called Luheim.

Dwarves can also be found on Luheim, however, their main residence is the separate western continent over the Amber ocean.

There are also some other mythical races. Though all of them are intelligent and sentient, some are actually considered monsters due to their hostility. For example, mountain giants around mountain ranges are generally peaceful, but are hostile when their territory is intruded upon. Dragons on the other hand, roam around a fairly large area and on whim might attack whatever they come upon, but still they tend to stay in the vicinity of their lair.

At some point Kai noticed that Sophie mentioned a lot less races living in the west half of the main continent. When he asked about it, he got such an answer,

"Actually, the idea of human superiority is much more prominent in the west half. There are some nations that even strongly discriminate against non-human races."

It should be mentioned that that wasn't the case for Sophie.

However, from what he heard, Kai felt that halfs of different races were looked down upon everywhere. It seems that being a pure-blood was quite important, though he couldn't understand why the half-races were deemed worse than others.

Should also note that the half-beast from earlier was most likely a slave. Halfs were very often enslaved, and the main articles of the slavery business were half-races. Sophie didn't go into that topic too much, she looked fairly indifferent though there was slight disturbance that could be felt.

Amazingly, while talking about the various races, time passed very quickly. It may be around 3 hours past noon already.

They decided to start heading towards the adventurer's district to find an inn and on the way buy some camping equipment. Kai said that he would just wander around the world for now and look for something purposeful at some later time. Sophie was okay with that.

The next day would be spent on looking for a general direction to go towards and then buying food supplies accordingly.

At some point on the way.

Since the royal palace was in the middle of the city, they had to walk around it to get to the adventurer's district in the northern part of the city.

Then, as they were walking along the road, a voice suddenly could be heard,

"Princess Sophie, is that you?"

Looking back, there was a person stepping out of a carriage they had just passed. The person was no doubt of nobility with his fancy clothing and 2 servants that stood next to him.

"Ah! Uncle Roland!?" Sophie was a bit taken aback, but then made a slightly troubled smile.

"Aaa--, you're alive, princess! What happened? Three days ago your and the expedition captain's beacons suddenly stopped transmitting. Such a thing would be impossible unless you died, so... such was presumed to have happened..."

"Ah, how do I explain this... Well, I might have died, but I was saved at the last moment. The others are dead..."

"Really?" the man's face was a bit sad but happy at the same time, "It's good that at least you are alive," he looked at Kai, who had been standing there with an amused face, "And, who might this person be?" he asked.

"Ah! Let me introduce you, this is the very savior of my life, Hoshino Kai. And this is Uncle Roland, Minister of Education."

"Hello!" Kai lightly greeted.

"Very nice to meet you, I'm truly grateful for saving princess Sophie's life."

"No, no, I just happened to come across the situation and did what I thought was best," Kai responded modestly with a polite smile.

"Now, of course you'll be rewarded, but also I have to request that you'd keep your affiliation with the princess a secret. Please, there's a reason for that..."

"I understand, and there's also no need for a reward. I didn't save her with that purpose in mind," Kai complied without hesitation.

"...Very well," the man turned to Sophie, "Now, princess, would you please accompany me to the palace, the other's would be happy to see that you're still alive."

"Yeah, but... You know how we get along, I think it'd be better if you just said that you met me and that I am alive and well," Sophie replied.

"But... Alright, I understand, I will relay the message. Really, it's good to see you alive. Now then..."

After the man left, the two started heading towards the adventurer's district again.

It was a somewhat awkward silence. Though Sophie was grateful that Kai didn't inquire about her identity, it still felt a bit weird. However, suddenly,

"So, princess Sophie..." Kai shamelessly said.

"...Please don't address me that way, Sophie is fine," she made a bitter face.

"Hmhmm, I was just teasing. And don't worry, I won't ask about your personal life unless you want to talk about it either."

"...Thank you," Sophie said with a relaxed expression.

Some time later.

They had quickly found an inn with free rooms. The inn was quite spacious, made for serving large amounts of people. On the first floor was a big hall where the visitors could eat, drink and even have meetings. There were quite a few waitresses and the master of the inn was observing the workings by walking around and chatting with people. The atmosphere was very nice in there and the security was good too.

Yet again Sophie caught a lot of attention, but this time they were more friendly looks. Some tried to talk to her, but she excused herself with a few apologizes.

"Um, would the princess like an VIP room?" Kai asked with wry smile.

Sophie almost protested, but seeing his expression, she understood that he wasn't serious.

"No, a normal room for two is good too," she answered quietly.

They got a room for two for 5 silver for one night. Kai reserved the room for 2 days so they could come back there the next day too and paid 10 silver for it. This also included the option to wash themselves.

Night arrived soon and it was time to sleep.

The next day was for making plans for what to do next.

Kai went to the city's grand library, which also served as the main library of the whole nation. Sophie followed in suit. She wouldn't want to miss any plans Kai made, as she had decided to be his comrade adventurer until she had helped him in an amount suitable for one's savior.

In the end they spent most of the day in the library, only going out to eat and for other necessities. Kai went through quite a lot of books.

Now, the results.

First they'd start heading west. The destination was the Ancadian Mountain Range. Sophie already had a problem with this idea. That being – the mountain range was a known habitat of giants, and sometimes even some dragons have been sighted there. But Kai stated that that was exactly the reason he wanted to go there – he wanted to see giants and dragons firsthand.

Was he foolish, or was he so absolutely sure of his abilities that he could possibly go against giants? Either way it wasn't a good idea at all, or that's what Sophie said at least. Still, Kai was stubborn and thus it was decided. He claimed that going with good intentions and without any hostility would allow them to get close without conflict, but they'll see how that goes...

Secondly, if possible they'd go south from there and visit the Walhaven Empire. Though the empire wasn't that big, it was thought of as the strongest force on the east half of Luheim. Its capital, also named Walhaven, was one of the greatest cities in the world, it was a true metropolis. Advanced technology, high culture, powerful magic – all of it can be found there in the capital. Its grand architecture and the royal palace was a must see sight.

At this point the trip would take around 3 months on foot, and add to that the time spent around the mountain range. That is, if there were no interruptions. On horseback it'd be even faster, probably they'd be at Walhaven in around 2-3 months. The horses and other transport animals of this world were incredibly strong and fast, while also having great stamina. Of course, this was the effect of magical assistance.

In both cases the amount of time was actually very short, considering the whole distance was arouond 4000 kilometers. As a side note, the measurement system of this world was awfully similar to Earth's, so Kai could fairly easily recalculate the distances to his own convenience. Coincidentally the time measurement system was also similar...

Then, from Walhaven they'd head further west all the way until the Fateyin ocean. From there they'd take a ship and go to the Nibeian islands for some time. Sophie added that the Nibeian nations have always been hostile to each other and there's a high chance to get caught up in a skirmish. Kai was already aware of that.

Then they'd set out towards the middle of the main continent, but first on the way they'd stop by the only elven nation of Lozenlev on the southern end of Luheim. There's also a great labyrinth there that Kai wants to explore.

And the journey ends with going over the Azure sea to the exotic city of Balger, the chokepoint between the two halfs of the main continent.

Kai had made some really grand plans.

All together the journey was estimated to take around 9 months, but that is only if everything goes according to plan and there were no interruptions. But, as life goes, it was inevitable that some some things would take more time than initially planned.

Maybe the horses got sick, or the winds were unfavorable, or they were attacked. Walhaven could perhaps be more interesting and enjoyable than presumed. Perhaps the Nibeian nations were in great turmoil. Maybe they'd have a run-in with a mythical creature. All sorts of unexpected things could happen.

Sophie actually got a bit excited at the prospect of going on a such an astounding journey.

"Don't get too excited now, there's no knowing what might happen on the journey," Kai warned her.

"I know, but... It's just that, I actually became an adventurer not that long ago, but I've dreamed of travelling around the world since I was a little girl."

"Yeah, well, I do hope for the best. Even with this plan we'll see many different places and people. I look forward to it."

"Yeah, me too."

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