Reincarnated as a Son of the Sword Saint and the Sage
Chapter 65 - 65: On the Road

It was not long before the carriage started to march towards the capital. Seeing the shadow of the trees outside through the black window, Eisherz was reminded of a certain time of day.

"It's already noon. The intensity of the ambush really made me forget my sense of time. How about having lunch with us then continuing our discussion later?"

"Well, if the lady herself insist…"

"Good. Estella."

"I understand, Milady." The woman, besides Eisherz and her lady's maid, Estella, finally opened her mouth since Michael stepped in the carriage.

Estella is a woman in her late twenties. Her long black hair tied in a French twist and her sharp and cold gaze added to the unwavering seriousness of her expressionless face. Along with her orthodox maid uniform, she was like the strict matron of a girl's dormitory.

She stood up from the seat and walked toward the table at the center. As soon as she raised her right hand, a familiar, pitch-black disk appeared in front of her.

"An Item Box…" Playing dumb, the group of Michael gasped upon seeing their Mom's storage spell.

Space-Time Magic was already very difficult to learn, let alone master. For that reason, space magicians only focus on leveling up the proficiency of Space-Time Magic spells and intentionally neglect the basic elements.

Stella ignored their shock as she was putting her hands into the disk. She took out a pile of seven white ceramic plates from it and laid them quickly but gracefully on the table. In just a matter of seconds, each plate was already occupied with mouth-watering beef steak drenched in aromatic sauce.

"Please enjoy your lunch." Estella bent her body before turning back to her seat.

"If it's not enough to satisfy your palate, Estella can serve another dish or two."

"Thank you very much. Thanks for the meal."

Michael and his team used their fork and knife to slice the same meal they had for breakfast. The people inside the vehicle enjoyed their several minutes of consuming the blessings in front of them. They didn't utter a word while eating as the wheels went round and round.

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"Now that we've finished with our lunch, we can now start our postponed discussion. Are you fine with that."

"We're fine with that, Lady Eisherz."

With lunch done, Eisherz opened the discussion again. There are mountains of things that need to be discussed in the conversation.

"What are we going to tackle first?"

"Pardon my rudeness, Milady." Van chimed in. "Can I give my report about what happened earlier?"

"Go ahead, Van."

Having the permission to speak, Van nodded. "Understood."

Van starts narrating the incident. Michael and the team carefully listened to Van's story. Then they grasped the gist of why the ambush happened.

According to Van's statement, the caravan was ambushed by a group of twenty-six outlaws. Due to the duration of the journey, the magic casters, who were safely riding the front carriage, were called by nature.

Urged by a body metabolism, the caravan park besides the road waited for them to drizzle. But that was the most anticipated opportunity that the observers had patiently waited for a long time.

Without wasting any seconds, the bandits unerringly took down the whistling mages. Before the knights realized it, they were already surrounded by an overwhelming force of outlaws.

The knights desperately tried to resist and fight back. But they were too many for the five of them to handle. Though the brave knights managed to kill five of them before the group of Michael intervened.

"If your team hadn't come to our rescue, we wouldn't be here talking right now." Van chuckled after he ended his story.

"Many noble children will come or come back to the Imperial Capital. Bandit attacks are frequently occurring during these days." Eisherz added.

"It remains me; these days are the time for the academy to open its gates again, accepting new and old students after the winter break." Michael repeatedly nodded his head in realization.

Atrocious bandit attacks are common during these times, but instead of targeting merchants, they're targeting noble children in lieu. That's why the empire deployed more patrons outside of the city. But the location they were before was too far for the guards to roam.

Outlaws attack convoys of nobles for some reasons. Abducting a rich and pampered kid in exchange for a ransom or selling them to illegal slave merchants for a large sum.

In isolated cases, some hire bandits to assassinate a noble child and make it look like an average bandit attack. Whether it's for personal gain or not, Michael can't ignore this case as an intended assault given how the mages sprinkled together.

(Might investigate later.)

Speaking of the academy, Raphael's sister, Louise Raevender, is currently on her way to the capital, having just departed a few days ago. Even if they were attacked, she was accompanied by their mother. Therefore, Raphael and the others won't have to worry at all.

"So Lady Eisherz is a student of the academy?"

"Yes. This is my third year studying at the academy." Eisherz answered Uriel's inquiry. "Although I am a student there, I am only taking general studies, so I am not able to fight the whole thing." She continued with a low volume.

(She's not a combat type? Then what are those numbers for?) Michael wanted to say something, but he didn't.

Seeing her expressions, Gabrielle tried to console Eisherz. "You don't have to worry about that, Lady Eisherz. Everyone has their weaknesses and strengths. Even I am not skilled in close combat, but I am confident with my healing spells; it's one of my contributions to our team. It's up to you how to use the power you're good with."

"Thank you, Gabrielle." As if swayed by Gabrielle's enticing voice, Eisherz gained her confidence again.

The evidence of her lack of experience and strength was shown in her last attack. That's because she can't use her abilities in that kind of situation. Every single thing has its own time and place to become valuable.

"Let's close this topic about mine. How about telling yours?"

"Sure thing."

Being asked by an aristocrat about themselves, the group of Michael comes up with the story Raphael made up in case this kind of situation occurs.

"Just as she said earlier, Lucy and I are twins. We live somewhere in the Kingdom of Astley."

"You all came far from the County of Arts?"

"Well… yes. We have traveled for several days up to now."

Eisherz paid attention to the group's origin, which was too far from the empire. Traveling from the Kingdom of Astley all the way to the Dixon Empire is indeed a long and tiring trip. There are two routes between those countries if one travels by land.

One is to turn around and cross the elongated Kingdom of Boulder to get from Astley to Dixon, and vice versa. The Kingdom of Boulder is vertical in shape, and one has to track the whole kingdom to cross countries.

The shortest route is to pass through the Primaria Theocracy and Dwarf Nation of Doria, but you have to climb a mountain range first after crossing the Theocracy to enter Doria. Which is why many took the Boulder route to travel between the two countries.

If someone asked what's the best way to get to the empire from Astley or vice versa, air would be the best answer. No traffic, no obstacles aside from flying monsters, and no bandits, except if they were airborne. But one had to find a flying mount first, like a Pegasus or a trained Wyvern, which were hard to acquire and not available all the time.

"But why travel to the empire?" People won't travel far away unless there are some reasons. Eisherz couldn't help but ask.

"We trained ourselves earnestly and eagerly for a long time. Slaying monsters, challenging local dungeons, fighting outlaws, and so on…" Michael paused to fold his arms. "But recently, we realized that we couldn't find enjoyment in what we've done so far. All the achievements we've attained don't spark any further interest. We want to experience more challenge and joy.

That's why we want to challenge the most difficult dungeon on this continent." Then he pointed a finger to the north, where the Imperial Capital was located.

"Mmm." The three girls nodded in agreement after Michael's motivational speech.

"That's a courageous objective you have, but I heartfully wish you good luck."

"You have my wishes too." Van joined Eisherz in encouraging him. "It might not be easy to achieve, and you might encounter endless obstacles, but given how strong you all are despite being young, I know you will achieve your goals someday."

"Thank you for your words." The four bobbed their heads at the ones in front.

"If you happen to conquer the Imperial Dungeon someday, I'm sure that you all will become big shots. Anyone who will conquer that dungeon will receive great fame and achievements after all."

"Throughout the entire history of this continent, only a handful of brave people managed to conquer the Imperial Dungeon. Even reaching the 60th Floor serves as a great feat among adventurers."

"The first one was the founder and the first emperor of the Dixon Empire. It happened a thousand years ago."

"Indeed. It was after he ended the Demon Lord's tyranny." Michael expressed his harmony with the statements of Eisherz and Van.

The hero, who was also the empire's first ruler, Alfred Dixon, was the first person who managed to reach the 70th Floor of the dungeon and become its Dungeon Master afterwards.

After ending the five-hundred-year rule of the Demon Lord, the hero attempted to challenge the dungeon that the demon was desperately trying to conquer, and the rest is history.

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