Chapter 27: Daneswald Territory
Mages were rare—that was something Hiro just realized. Marissa had given Rebecca, Nana, and Cecile a one-month break to travel to the capital to buy Rebecca a magic staff. Litmus was a relatively small country with only two cities and a capital. After examining the map, Marissa recommended that Rebecca visit Lithuaville, a town where the Daneswald estate was located. If she didn’t find a staff she liked there, she could continue to the capital.
Cecile and Nana were also eager to find new weapons. Their stats had grown to the point where they broke Hiro’s weapons every ten training sessions with the royal guards. After all, Hiro’s weapons were only made of iron and wood.
Hiro had expected bandit or monster attacks along the way, but Litmus turned out to be a very safe country. Such incidents were rare, and even if they did happen, the caravans were well-guarded. Cecile, Nana, and Rebecca traveled by caravan rather than by horse. Horses were expensive, and even though Marissa had them and was more than willing to loan them to Cecile’s group for free, they preferred not to use them for personal reasons. Plus, caravans were faster overall due to the stagecoach system, where they could exchange tired horses for fresh ones at local stables.
And so, they arrived in Lithuaville after a relatively uneventful journey. Hiro wasn’t let out of his host due to security reasons. They wanted to keep the information that they hosted symbiote a secret. Nevertheless, through sense sharing, Hiro was able to take in the sights.
Hiro noticed that Litmus was full of plains and forests, with only a few hills scattered across the landscape. The terrain was relatively flat, making the journey smooth and the view was great for one can see as far as the horizon. Lithuaville itself was impressive, with tall white walls surrounding the city. A river ran through it, dividing it in two, like a knife cutting a pizza. Cecile and Nana were excited to see a new town.
"It’s just a city. Horaine, where we were before Alex’s death, had similar architecture, didn’t it?" Rebecca scoffed, sounding unimpressed. However, through sense sharing, Hiro knew Rebecca was also excited. What a tsundere. Hiro had to agree about similarities in architecture, though. Latvin and Litmus were neighboring nations, and it was natural for their architecture and culture to share similarities—especially given their treaties and interactions.
Nevertheless, each city has something that makes it unique. This one, in particular, seemed to have a love for the color red, as many houses were painted in that color. Hiro wondered why red was so prevalent in this city, but when he remembered who the symbiote user here was, he went silent. That epitome of explosive power on their side would make everyone revere the red color for sure.
"Greetings, miss! Are you looking for a weapon?" a shopkeeper asked with a gentle smile as a torch lit up behind him.
"Why are you lighting a fire in broad daylight?" Rebecca asked, puzzled.
"Ah, are you new here? This city belongs to House Daneswald. Their symbiote user is a war hero who uses fire magic. That’s why there’s so much red around here. There was a particularly awful stampede ten years ago, with millions of goblins pouring out of the ground. Many people were grateful for what he did, so they turned the city red to honor his deeds. Oh, did you know? I heard he recently repelled foreign spies who were symbiote users. He’s incredible, right?" The shopkeeper spoke enthusiastically about Seraphine before displaying his wares.
"Here’s a replica of his sword. You look like a swordswoman, young miss."