120: Consequences (4)

Consequences (4)

Billy's group checked the other spot, and they found nothing. In the end, the expedition that would need several turns and three months was finished in just three weeks because of that. Sarah looked apologetic, but Billy didn't plan to blame her for what she couldn't understand.1

"I feel like I wasted three good weeks of good training," Natalie said.

Natalie wasn't the type that held back her punches, she was also prone to give Sarah a hard time whenever possible, neither her words, so that was directly sent to Sarah's ears. She didn't say anything in response, so the taunts ended right there.

"I suppose Billy's guess was right… those were magic tools left by travelers," Kate said. "For whatever reason, like they forgot or they got attacked, they left those things that were supposed to make their lives easier. Those aren't actually combat tools, after all."

"Putting that aside, when are we going to the next dungeon?" Lily asked.

"We might not be welcome to use them freely anymore," Billy said.

"You think so?" Lily frowned. "What did you say about Jean wanting our help to clear the dungeon? I didn't hear anything about them succeeding in doing that."

"Well, you also need to consider that we might make them lose their prestige if we do something that they couldn't do in several months," Billy said. "They will probably try to put some of them in our party, but I won't work with strangers."

"Well, I wouldn't mind, that probably would help our image after the last incident," Alexander said. "Besides, I am kind of tired of this non ending training."

Billy sighed… those kids sure complain a lot. In any case, Billy wanted some money to buy the tree that bears fruits to restore mana. So, he might as well plan one trip to another dungeon. Right now, he has almost one gold coin. Considering that the next dungeons have five floors, he might be able to gain the remaining four gold coins.

"Let's send a letter and see if we can use one of the next dungeons," Billy said. "If things work well, we will depart in two weeks to clear it."

"And if things don't work well?" Natalie asked.

"Then we will check the dungeons of other states," Billy said.

The group frowned when they heard that. That possibility never crossed their minds… it was only natural that the other states would have those. While they probably couldn't even get close to Toles state, Hiloh should have other borders with other states. For the time being, the people of Hiloh and Heinhall state were allies, but they were a group free of people. They could go anywhere they wanted… that being said, they didn't feel that comfortable with the idea.

Once they returned home, Billy wrote the letter and then sent it before reporting to his family and Edward the results of their exploration. He didn't seem that surprised when Billy shared his conjectures.

"Over the years, I collected many things as you can see," Edward said. "Some seem connected to each other, like the candle holders and vases, but the weapons seems too different from each other. Did you find anything similar to your spear?"

"Now that you mention…" Billy furrowed his eyebrows.

Billy knew that it was a glaive because of his previous life knowledge, but everyone never called it a glaive. It wasn't the type of woman that was produced since the way it was used was a bit different. The soldiers of Hiloh state used common spears without variations because it would suit their numbers in wars.

"My guess is that many empires already existed in this world, until now, we lived isolated so I am not one hundred percent sure," Edward said. "I have been trading letters with Jean and asking him about he knows regarding the story of this world, but there are few registers out there."

"Because of the constant wars between states," Billy said.

"Exactly… Jean confirmed and rulers emerge and fall pretty much constantly and when that happens, the enemies make sure to destroy everything related to the history of their defeated enemies," Edward said. "His state has been peaceful since the time of his father, and he kept that way, but for some reason, in the last ten years, the Toles state has been trying to conquer them. Their territory is pretty large, so it seems they need more hands to grow their fields and feed the soldiers… they want slaves."

Billy had forgotten about that, but in the end, slavery still existed in that world. It wasn't surprising, though. People find all sorts of ways to make sure that they stand above others… some are more subtle about it, some aren't.

"Thanks to you, I am starting to write the story of our state in a book and in reality," Edward said. "So, let's make sure that our state history won't disappear like many other empires."

"I will see what I can do," Billy said and then nodded.

The next day, the group reunited again to train, and Sarah also joined them. Despite the fact that her information didn't help much, Natalie didn't voice her antagonism. On that day, Billy was practicing his ice magic to be fast to cast, and while Sarah didn't ask him to teach that yet, she was always looking at it. As for the others, aside from Kate, they didn't learn Fire Manipulation yet, so it was currently impossible for them.

As for his skills with the spear, Billy still was practicing them for three hours in the morning, but in terms of numbers alone, it seemed that he wouldn't close the gap between him and his father anytime soon.

"Being novel with magic is good and all, but I guess I need to focus more on my physical skills," Billy thought. "I should ask Dad if he can spar with me again and see if the difference in strength between us has decreased."

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