After a few days of traveling, and rotating the map a bunch of times because they were unsure where they headed to, the caravan finally saw the legendary Mount Fargon.
It was a towering scale of rocks that went beyond the clouds and casted a wide shade upon the land. Aldred looked with amazement. Such height, such scale. He was reminded again that he as a human being was merely a speck of dust in comparison.
"What a mountain," Aldred said.
"This is my first time seeing it, even though I heard so many tales about this mountain." Mary looked over the window.
"It was said that the first pope climbed to the peak of Mount Fargon and prayed for Zalous to bestow his blessing to the people." Mira stared at the mountain as well. "Many people tried to climb it as result, but no one succeeded. Those who said they did always spoke in a vague and sometimes even crazed manner."
"What about Platinum and Diamond Rank? Can they climb the mountain?"
Mira shook her head. "They lose their power the moment they tried to climb it. Even flying doesn't work."
"Flying doesn't work?" Aldred was shocked. He thought he could get a large advantage than others with his flying ability.
"That's what I heard."
"Then what about Adamantite Rank?"
"I never heard they tried to climb Mount Fargon."
"Maybe they did and told no one about it."
"Maybe. Adamantite Rank is not someone we can meet, so we cannot ask them."
In the distance, near Mount Fargon, a line of long carriages rolled on a wide lane that led to a village. The carriages looked different from each other. Some looked luxurious, and some looked simple or dirty. A lot of them had crest, flags, or insignia carved on the side. Those were the ones with white majestic horses clad in bright shining armor, while the poor one only had simple horses pulling their carriage.
An even greater carriage came from the east. It was pulled by a pair of large creatures with eagle wings and claws with the body of a horse.
On the side of the carriage was an insignia depicting a golden eagle sticking out its tongue. Below it, a name carved in gold: Count of Anzalatti.
Mary narrowed her eyes.
"What's wrong, Mary?"
"Count of Anzalatti is a familiar name. His county is far from here. The one in the carriage must be his son."
"How far is Anzalatti?"
"To the far east, almost bordering Torvenia a nation of the leonin race. Have you ever heard of Timouy? It's located right beside it. Sadly, that town was reported to be in ruins. Nobody knows the cause, and nobody was alive to report what happened.
Aldred remembered about that town. His mother flattened it entirely without a single dust left, so calling it ruins was an understatement as she literally deleted it. But he was surprised that the old man did not tell anybody about it. Maybe he wanted to keep Aldred's existence a secret. That might be the cause. What a considerate old man. He did not had the chance to meet his grandson at that time. Hopefully, he could meet them someday.
The caravan entered the lane and waited their turn to enter the village. It was a long line, so it took them a while to enter it. As the carriage rolled slowly, Aldred saw the villagers selling food. One young lady brought a tray of steaming pies and offered it to him.
"Handsome boy, welcome to Horithorp. Why don't you buy this pie? It's only 10 copper."
Aldred scratched his head. "I am sorry, lady. I already ate, and don't bring any money."
The lady smiled. "That is fine." She then grabbed one of the pie and gave it to him. "This one is for you."
Aldred was touched. "I cannot take this."
"Please accept it."
"O—okay. Thank you."
The lady smiled and waved as the carriage went forward.
Aldred looked at the steaming and smiled. "What a nice lady. We just met each other and she gave me a pie."
"Hello, young boy. You seems like you need to eat more meat. Why don't you buy one of these roasted sheep." An old man walked beside his carriage with a tray of roasted meat.
"I am sorry, sir. I don't have any money with me."
The old man smiled. "Pitiful boy. Here's one for you." He gave Aldred a wrap of roasted meat.
"Sir, why do you give it to me for free?"
The old man smiled again. "It makes you happy isn't it?"
Aldred nodded.
"Then that is enough reason to me." The old man walked away to find customers.
"The people here is nice," Aldred said. "It's almost unbelievable how nice they are."
Mira looked at the villagers giving people food for free if they couldn't pay and her heart was touched. This was what she wanted. People being nice to each other. All of them were willing to sacrifice a little just so they could make others happy. What a blessed village. Even in Montcresia, she had never seen something like this before. The world was vast. She truly need to explore more of it.
Sophia looked at the villagers. "They won't last long."
"What do you mean?" Aldred asked.
"Nice people got used and abused. If they keep doing this, people will pretend they couldn't pay and they will soon run out of food to feed themselves."
"Not really." Mary leaned, putting his arm on the window. "They don't eat meat or pies."
"Are they vegetarians?"
"No. They're vampires."
Aldred was speechless. "Oh yeah, you did mention that Thignia was a land of vampire. So they drink blood?"
"Very much."
"Are we going to be okay? What if they suck our blood?"
"That's not going to happen, unless they want to be exterminated. You see how many humans entered the village? This place is a tourist hot spot right now because of Mount Fargon. More humans and other race will enter this place. If they dare to do something, the influx of powerful adventurer will clean the whole village."
"Is that the reason why they're acting nice?"
"No. I don't think so. A tourist hot spot usually sell their products with an extravagant price. What cost 5 copper could be sold with 10 silver, but the people here don't do that. All the foods are cheap and affordable which is really weird since this supposed to be a great opportunity to be rich."
"Maybe we shouldn't put prejudice against them," Mira said. "They treated us with a sweet smile so we should do the same. It doesn't matter if they are vampires or not."
"I agree with that." Aldred nodded.
After circling the village for a while, they finally found an inn:
The Crossed Arrows.
It was a modest looking inn affiliated with the adventure's guild. A lot of people were entering the inn. Aldred saw some men with a lion face complete with a majestic mane.
"Now this is what I called a fantasy world."
"What are you blabbering about, Aldred," Mareona said. "Go pick up my bags and bring it to my room."
"But we haven't book a room yet."
"Do you see my face?"
"Yes."
"Does my expression look like it give a shit about your excuses?"
Aldred sighed. It seemed like Mareona was really upset about him stealing her underwear. She'd been hitting his head a lot harder lately. He should apologize later.
For now, he wanted to get a room and sleep in a proper bed.
