VIO Ch 80 – An Encounter on a Rainy Night (II)

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Translator: mii

editor, tlc: chiizuholic

VIO 80 – An Encounter on a Rainy Night (II)

The royal domain of Istiah Kingdom was one of the most fertile lands domestically.

The stream that flowed from the Alpe Mountains divided into two rivers. One was Monica River, which flowed to the royal capital. The other was Lida River, which borders the Lesserhains’ territory and the royal domain.

The shortest route to get from one territory to the other was by passing through those two rivers.

If there were only people crossing the river, they would use a ferry. But if there were carts and carriages to be transported, they would use a barge.

A barge was a large raft used to carry goods, moving large luggage and livestock as it got towed by a ferry.

Unlike Ruslan Kingdom, Istiah Kingdom hasn’t developed their shipbuilding technology, so they couldn’t build large ships. Therefore, they always carried goods this way when going by river.

And crossing the river was the most worrying part of Vio’s journey.

Both of the rivers were gentle, but there was a risk of the barge getting overturned if the livestock went on a rampage. 

Righting the barge would be easy with spirit magic, but scary things were still scary.

After crossing Lida River and staying overnight in the town of West Lida, the first town just inside of Lesserhain territory, Vio slowly headed for the neighboring town of Degas. 

“We’ve crossed the river. What’s left is going to Endsk,” Vio said to Rille and Jill. He then leaned his back. Legion was riding on his horse next to the carriage. When Vio looked out the window, he could see Legion’s masculine profile.

Jill mildly replied, “Yes. Thanks to Mister Dawn finishing his preparations in a mere three days, we were able to shorten our itinerary..”

“Yeah, I was also surprised. I thought he would need at least a week.”

The haunted house-looking building that the Samarellis lived in was apparently Dawn’s property. He asked his acquaintance in the royal capital to manage it for a short while and then packed the bare minimum of household goods into a wagon. He brought so few items with him that it didn’t look like he was moving to another place at all.

With a donkey pulling the whole thing, Dawn sat at the head of the wagon. Yuan sat next to his father.

Except for the wagon and donkey which Jill had arranged, Dawn did most of the preparations. He also checked on the seeds and seedlings and bought a few more. Jill then asked merchants who would be going to Leca to deliver Vio and his retinue’s luggage. The luggage should have arrived by the time they arrived at Leca town.

Jill had known that the merchants would head to Leca town while doing business anyway, so he paid the transportation cost to make sure they wouldn’t lose money. Since the merchants got a clear profit, unlike when they were peddling, they agreed with all smiles on their faces. 

Everything was going well until the carriage slowed down. Legion was waving his hand outside, so Jill opened the window.

“What happened?” he asked.

Legion replied, “There’s a carriage of what looks like nobles in front of us that’s stuck. What should we do?”

Vio immediately answered, “If they don’t look suspicious, ask them what the situation is. If they need help, we’ll help them. But if this is a trap set by bandits, prioritize running away and avoid violence as much as possible. We have a young boy in the wagon behind.” 

“Yes, understood.”

The carriage stopped, and Jill quickly closed the window. As Jill and Rille readied for trouble, Legion went to the other carriage to inquire and returned immediately.

“It seems to be a noblewoman from Ruslan Kingdom. The carriage’s wheels are stuck in a ditch, and they’re unable to move. The lady is not feeling well and is resting inside.”

“It looks like they’re having a terrible time. Hauser should be knowledgeable about carriages, so the both of you should go and help them.”

“Understood,” Legion replied. The carriage moved a little further, stopping behind the carriage in trouble.

Seeing the coachman and servants desperately trying to move the carriage stuck in the ditch, Hauser called out to them in a loud voice, “Hey! If you do that, the axle will break! Stop, stop!”

They stopped. The coachman was at a loss, his face troubled. He looked young and seemed to be lacking in skill. He said, “But we won’t be able to move if we don’t get the carriage out of there. What should we do, uncle?”

“Let me take a look… Oh, the wheels are buried in the mud.”

From what Hauser saw, the wheels were stuck in the mud that had accumulated in the stone ditch built to improve drainage. 

If they forcefully pushed the carriage out, the wheels would undoubtedly get caught in the stones, straining the axles.

“Tsk, this is tough. Do you have a log or something that can fit in this ditch?”

“No.”

“Then we’ll just have to scoop out the mud around this area and pick up the branches scattered beside it.”

“But… it’s going to rain soon. Oh no, what should we do?” the young coachman fretted. He seemed completely flustered.

“Calm down. It’s no use worrying about the weather; it’s not like we can control it. Our priority is to lift the wheels without straining the carriage. Sir Legion, do you have a shovel or anything like that?”

“A shovel… Ah, Mister Dawn might have one. I’ll check.”

Seeing Legion swiftly taking action, the young coachman took off his hat and bowed. “I’m very sorry for the inconvenience.”

“We should help each other when one’s in trouble, right? That’s normal in my hometown. Besides, our Young Master told us to help you. He’s kind. You’re lucky that Young Master passed by.” Hauser cheered the young coachman up while scraping at the mud with a pebble he picked up. When the young coachman saw what he was doing, he took a pebble as well and did the same.

The two servants, with hats worn low over their eyes, stepped forward and asked, “What can we do to help?”

Hauser pointed them toward the forest. “Gather some branches.”

“I understand.”

“Let’s go.”

The two quickly headed into the forest. As if he couldn’t stand being idle while others were working, the butler Jill came over to see the situation. When he returned to the carriage right after, this time, Vio was the one who stepped out. 

He asked Hauser with a pensive look on his face, “Hauser. In short, we just have to slowly lift the wheels out of the ditch, right?”

Hauser nodded. “Yes, that’s right.” 

“Hmm, I see…” muttered Vio. He went to the side of the cobbled road and began to write something on the ground with a piece of stone. “Maybe something like this? …Heed my wish. Green ivy, spread thy limbs high to the sky. Sing, oh earth!”

Once he murmured the spell, an ivy burst out of the ground and grew rapidly.

Vio shook his head. “This is too powerful. How about this? …Heed my wish. Green ivy, gently spread thy limbs high to the sky. Sing, oh earth!”

This time, the ivy that sprouted out of the earth grew slowly. 

Vio drew another magic circle on the ground, confirmed the effect within a range, and looked back at Jill. “Jill, give me some chalk.”

“Here, Young Master.”

As expected from a reliable butler. Just by seeing his master’s actions, Jill had already made sure to have what Vio needed ready.

Hauser and the young coachman had involuntarily stopped to watch Vio, but they hurriedly retreated when Vio asked them to step away a bit.

Before Vio could crouch, Legion stopped him, a trowel in one hand. “Lord Violant, are you going to draw a circle around the area where the wheels are stuck?”

“Yeah.”

“Then I will do it.”

“Really? Thanks.”

The thoughtful knight quickly drew a circle around the wheel using the chalk.  

Vio used spirit magic once again. “Heed my wish. Green ivy, gently spread thy limbs high to the sky. Sing, oh earth!”

Inside the circle, a vine of ivy began to grow all at once and slowly lifted the wheels. Seeing it level with the ground, the young coachman hurriedly jumped onto the coachman seat and drove the carriage forward. 

After the carriage passed over the ditch, Vio clapped his hands once. The magic dispelled, and the ivy returned to the ground and disappeared.

Hausel was astonished. “That’s amazing. Young Master, you just lifted the wheels without breaking the axles…” It was his first time seeing such magic.

However, the person himself didn’t look like he just did anything special. Vio muttered without much thought, “I had to improvise a bit; thankfully it worked. It might be of some use at disaster sites.”

Hauser smiled wryly. Though he was not familiar with magic, he at least knew that it wasn’t easy to improvise a magic spell. 

At that moment, they heard a loud clattering noise. Looking for the source, they discovered one of the servants tasked to gather branches had dropped his armful of twigs. 

The servant dumbfoundedly said, “Improvise… this kind of magic? Just what is this talent?”

Legion immediately gave his master extravagant praise. “Splendid, Lord Violant. With how you’ve made the spell easy, I think the people of Leca town will be able to use it, too. What do you think of making it widespread?”

Vio cocked his head. “You’re exaggerating. Anyone can do this much. Anyway, we’ve finished here, so let’s go. Oh,” he turned to the servants. “By the way, I heard that your master is sick. We have a doctor, so would you like to have him check her condition?”

The other, taller one replied in a low voice, “Er, please wait a moment. I will ask her.”

Watching these two servants acting strangely, Hauser and the others were puzzled.