Chapter 69: Is It Still a Round Table if There’s No Table?
Benton was pleased to see that everyone was packed up and ready to go at dawn the next morning, all having already eaten breakfast in the inn. The caravan hit the road on time to continue its slow journey. Ye Zan estimated about two weeks to Vermillion Incomparable Rain Town and another month from there to the village, so they had another six weeks total to travel, though Benton hoped to shave some of that off.
The blacksmith’s family had been placed in the middle of the procession for protection since their cart carried little children.
As a grandfather, Benton had a natural aversion to anything that presented a danger to kids, and he couldn’t help but worry seeing Xun Wu’s restless two-year-old and six-year-old moving around the tiny cart they were crammed onto. Not only would a fall from a moving vehicle, albeit a slow one, hurt them, but they’d be at real risk of getting stomped by the trailing team of oxen.
He spent the morning getting down from his wagon to go check on them before returning to sit, soon to repeat the process again. And again. And…
Obviously, the problem wasn’t the kids’ fault. At such a young age, it was difficult for them to be confined to a small area for so long, especially considering the excitement of the sudden move. There was no way he could reasonably expect them to simply sit still.
He needed another solution. Maybe just move their cart to the last position? Nope. That placement wouldn’t work. It would solve the whole being trampled by animals that weigh more than a ton each problem, but the trailing vehicle was the most vulnerable from an attack from the rear.
No, he needed more space for the kids to move around.
Benton had already cleared out half the herb wagon for cultivating. He could store most of the rest in his ring and just put a few layers on top of the miscellaneous stuff. Any spies on the lookout for him either in the town or passing on the road wouldn’t know how deep the herbs went, and there could be multiple explanations for missing some like dumping them to save space or, crap, using them to season the rabbit stew.
Of course, putting most of the herbs in his ring meant his disciples would learn another of his secrets, but honestly, they already knew a lot. Not only that, but there was no way he was traveling with a long wagon train from the town to the village. It would be too hard to protect everyone from spirit beasts if they were that spread out, and he seriously doubted there were spies in the village. Besides, if there were spies among the village’s inhabitants, he was screwed anyway.
If they had a way to get messages out, that was.
But if they had that ability, one would have thought they would have called someone for help, considering that the town was beset by beasts and many risked starvation over the winter.
The conclusion he drew was that hiding the ring’s storage space from his disciples was pointless. He’d just have to make sure all of them were unable to pass along any messages while in town, and he’d be as safe as he could be.