Chapter 55 – Setting out again.

A tall youth with dark hair and a somewhat handsome face was standing at a travel agency. He was looking at a map on which he scribbled some notes. This was Roland that had just gotten the information that he required to reach his next destination. This would be the next place that he would be staying at.

“Third time’s the charm, eh?”

He muttered to himself while walking towards the train station. He would be traveling even longer than he was before and he would even have to take a boat. His destination was the large island in the south of the Caldris Kingdom.

The large mass of land was called the Dragnis Island. It had a large volcano right in the middle of it and a couple of smaller ones sprinkled here and there. The name of the island wasn’t just for show, there apparently was a dragon living there.

It wasn’t roaming the lands and burning the villages though. It was the last boss of the dungeon that resided there. This was the main dungeon of this island and its rating was an S.

There were various other smaller dungeons sprinkled around the entire landmass. Due to the peculiar way that the main dungeon was placed it was said that the smaller ones connected to it. The one he was going towards had formed a couple of months ago and was still getting its rating.

Contrary to popular belief Dragnis Island wasn’t a wasteland. It was true that the center part was mostly uninhabitable and overrun by monsters. The coastline in comparison was covered by lush greenery and the climate was quite warm.

There were also various safety measures that were put in place. One of them was the magus towers. They were five large ones surrounding the main volcano, they formed a magical barrier that kept the monsters at bay. It also protected the rest of the land from volcanic ash and from surprise volcanic discharges.

At least that was what the lady that worked at this world’s version of a traveling agency said. The people in charge there were probably trying to attract more people. It was a land of opportunities for sure but at the same time, it was dangerous.

This whole kingdom was a dangerous place. Even in this large city people that were part of strong factions like the council weren’t safe. There was no guarantee that you wouldn’t be stabbed in the back.

Here we had a feud between two noble sons. The younger one wanted to take over the city’s money-making facilities before his brother returned. If that didn’t work, the deaths of six of the council members would cause this city to turn chaotic. He would be blamed for it as the acting regent but the older brother would also be blamed as he was the true heir.

‘I wonder if those three idiots are going to do similar things when they are older…’

Roland was also from a noble house. One not as established as the Dreux house that had a count as the leader. There would be only one heir to the estate. Would the other two sons just let the oldest get everything while they went away to be knights for other nobles? Or would the heir bribe them with promises of cushy positions at his estate?

Roland just shrugged, he was glad that he wasn’t involved in those power struggles anymore. Even if he told them that he had no interest in the title or land his brothers could still go after him. He really didn’t want to get into a war of succession, a Baron title wasn’t even worth that much. He could probably even earn more money as a Runesmith.

In this kingdom, there was a strict hierarchy. A knight was the lowest noble ranking, they were more or less just commanders for the army. Following that was the baron title that his father had, just a step up.

This was the true beginning of the noble ladder. A Baron was granted land and subjects to rule but the land they got was mostly smaller villages. After that came the Viscount title, then the Count followed by the Marquess. The higher the title the more land and more subjects the noble was granted.

The highest title a noble not related to the royal family could possess was the Dukal title. Nobles with the title of a Duke were the leaders of the aristocratic faction and there weren’t many of them around.

There was also the Archduke title but it was reserved for the royal family. Mostly the brothers or sisters of the current king were allowed to call themselves that. Even with a grand title like that, it didn’t mean that they were above the Dukes. It all depended on how they managed their resources or how much the current king was willing to give them.

The structure of the nobles was very archaic and convoluted. There was no trust between houses unless there was some kind of bonding contract like a marriage. Backstabbing each other was seen as a fun pastime in some of their circles.

Roland would rather spend his life as a craftsman than be involved in that masquerade. For this, he needed more power, the power that he could only gain by risking his life. Gaining levels wasn’t enough, gaining stats with no practical combat experience made no sense.

This would be similar to doing basic strength and stamina training at a martial arts school. Yet never doing any sparring with other students. A person would get stronger and learn techniques but unless they tested it on a resisting opponent they would get nowhere.

Roland was now back at a familiar place with a ticket in hand. It was time to take the train once more. He had done this before so there was a lack of hesitation in his actions. He was even slightly tingling with anticipation.

‘So long Edelgard, next stop, the town of Albrook’

This was his next destination. A rather small town with a rather common uninteresting name. A few months ago a dungeon entrance had opened up and now people were flocking there.

First, a new adventurer’s guild was getting built. With the dungeon now appearing there a large revenue stream would be opened. Mana stones were just one of the things that could be harvested. There were apparently mineral deposits there which Roland as a blacksmith was very much interested in.

He wanted to build a new workshop there, one that he could actually open up and sell things in. He wasn’t sure when and how he would do that. He would probably require someone else to sell his wares if he was busy with the dungeon and adventuring. He would also need to trust a person he knew nothing about to just stay in his workshop for days and not steal anything.

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It was finally time to leave. The conductor blew his whistle to signal for the people to get on. Roland hesitated slightly but he took the first step forward.

The youth had grown quite a bit in these past years and it looked like he wasn’t finished. He was wearing the usual black robe with which he could hide his face.

He decided to now wear any metal armor over his cloth armor just yet. He didn’t think the need for it inside the safety of this train and it was too bulky for the ride. He would also stick out like a sore thumb if he went in fully armed.

The armor of choice was the brigandine armor that was now resting in one of his storage bags. He did have some other items to cover some spots.

Both his arms were covered by wrist guards and his legs were protected by graves that were placed over his leather shoes.

He didn’t make these items himself, he just bought them from one of the shops. He did put some runic enchantments on them but he didn’t have time to add any slots for mana stones.

Roland deliberated if he should go back to his workshop to enhance his armor but he decided against it. Those people from the abyssal cult had seen his face and could still be in this city.

They were probably enraged that someone like him was the reason for their whole plan failing. This was some bad advertisement for the assassins. He needed to flee as he couldn’t trust the people from Exeor to protect him. What if those cultist nuts returned with a stronger treasure and he just dies in the illusion?

He was still probably a low priority target, the person who should really watch his back would be the gnome. This was also the reason why he was feeling slightly more relaxed with his journey.

While thinking Roland heard the conductor using his whistle again. The large train shook slightly before moving forward. He found a seat for himself by the window. It was quite crowded today as probably after yesterday’s attack other people had decided to also ditch this city.

He wasn’t feeling that nostalgic about it as he spent most of his time hidden away in a workshop. The only noticeable people that he met here were Marlo, Helci, and the gnomes elven assistant. There were also three other guys he met but he hasn’t seen them ever since that one expedition.