Hyper Luck

“To Asparagan…”

That was the first time I’d been back to the Sanctuary in a long time, but I had to turn back not even a few minutes after I’d arrived.

It was considered an extravagance to even expect a welcome to a returning member in this Sanctuary.

Instead of the warm welcome, the only thing I actually got was just a letter sealed with wax placed in the Asparagan dorm I was assigned to.

The seal was in the shape of an inverted sword. It must have been left by Master Robin.

The summary of the letter was very simple. The high-quality brown parchment had only a very short phrase written on it that made me wonder if the paper was actually worth it.

[ To Bing Caravan. – Robin – ]

And that was why I had to go back to the ever-familiar Aspargan, before I could even feel the extreme cold of the Sanctuary located on the peak of Mt.Amex which is known for its low temperature.

After passing through the crowded square and arriving at the dock, I reached out to the station attendant to show my seal on my hand in a familiar movement, as if it had been done many times, even though this was only my second time.

“Welcome. We will take you to the best shop we have. Where is your destination?”

“It is to Bing Caravan.”

“Then we will take you to ‘White Horse of Roandel’.”

Soon, the attendant bowed his head to me, and I too bowed my head in response.

Next, a white ticket that I received from the station attendant, the fingers of the person drawn on the picture in the ticket moved in real-time, guiding me where I should go.

Following the instructions on the ticket, I arrived at the front of one of the largest airships among the ones parked in this station.

And there was a very realistic statue of a white horse placed in front of the ship as a decoration.

“Welcome.”

A middle-aged man in a uniform with golden epaulets took off his hat and greeted me in a gentle manner.

“I am the captain of this ship, ‘Talier’.”

“Thank you.”

I couldn’t help but let out an empty laugh the moment I stepped inside the boat.

Inside, a feast of twinkling lights spread as the varnished woods glittered as if they were decorated with gold and jewels.

After passing the golden corridor, I climbed the stairs and arrived at the ‘VIP passenger room' where round tables are arranged for each seat, and I sat down at the seat assigned by the ticket.

As I leaned over on the large chair attached to the spacious table, shading the awkward air, I heard a very familiar voice from behind.

“What took you so long?”

My heart started to beat faster and my face brightened up as soon as I heard the familiar voice.

“Are you coming along with me?”

The woman walked out from behind, a half-elf with naturally tanned skin that had been exposed to a lot of sunlight. It was Khea.

“Why do you think I’m on this ship then?”

Khea answered in her signature blunt voice, dragged a huge chair, and sat down naturally across from me. And soon her green eyes started to twinkle.

“Anyways, this is my first time being on a mission with another Sworder.”

She didn’t care to hide how excited she actually was. It must have been her first time going to Bing Caravan since she was a Sworder.

My journey to a new area was always full of tension and excitement.

“Mose, did you know? I heard that Bing Caravan, the entire country, is floating in the air.”

“Wait, really?”

“Yeah, like that dumb face you’re making right now.”

She continued the conversation in a way she usually did and smiled at me. Although she was an NPC, she was the only friend I had in this world.

I wasn’t sure if she had accepted me as a friend though.

“I’ve met the owner of one of the five caravans that rule over Bing Caravan.”

And I continued the conversation in a playful tone as did she. Then she stretched out one finger at me and swung it around.

“It feels like I can see Lahnde the God of Lies standing behind you.”

And obviously, she didn’t believe me.

The experience felt like a dream over a night even for me.

Yvonne of Roses, her charismatic presence back when she snared the catastrophe with her roses made my blood run cold just by imagining it.

And as we talked for a few hours, I suddenly looked out the window and saw that there were a lot of dark clouds.

And very soon, thunder and lightning flashed from time to time, like a camera flash going off, among the dark clouds.

The window lit up like a sheet of silver as the lightning reflected upon it, and I could feel a subtle and serene shaking spread inside the ship.

Bing Caravan was even further than Langeru. The only thing I heard about the place was that it was a country of merchants, so I couldn’t even imagine what it would look like.

Khea stopped talking eventually, and started to look outside the window. And sitting in front of her, I too stared outside the window. A few hours later, the dark clouds outside started to fade away.

A thin ray of light began to penetrate between the dark clouds. It was such a magnificent view that it was enough to make me shout out loud in awe.

Just as the ship was about to get out of the clouds and into the vast sea,  a dark shadow suddenly passed by the brightening window.

The size of the shadow was large enough to remind me of Garnas which made me take a step back from the window. But soon I realized the shadow was not from a monster like Garnas.

A ship.

It was a ship.

A gigantic ship with a cross on its front, and by the time the ship disappeared behind the windows, I couldn’t help but drop my chin when I looked at the scenery presented in front of me.

And it was the same for Khea who was also watching the scene behind the window. As her and my eyes met with both our chins dropped while watching outside the window.

Hundreds of airships filled the sky beyond the window. The majesty of the ships flying with their different bows and flags waving looked as if they could even pierce through the skies.

Words of exclamation came out of my mouth at the sight as I watched the hundreds of ships soaring through the sky.

And an announcement came from the speakers inside the ship.

[ To all of the ‘riders’ who rode our White Horse of Roandel like the wind, we will soon arrive at our destination, the Bing Caravan. In Roandel, the white horses also represent ‘good luck'. We wish all riders on this white horse the best of luck, and let us lower the rein. ]

I watched where the hundreds of ships were headed as I rubbed my face on the window, I could finally see Bing Caravan.

A gigantic, truly gigantic, disc-shaped tower soared above the ground. The tower seemed to be designed to look tangled here and there. One could not even measure the peak of the tower.

The airships that had gathered on the outskirts of the tower began to stick together like some grains of corn.

This place, where the entire tower is the country itself and the anchorage of the airships seemed to have been built for one purpose only.

To trade.

It was a place to trade all kinds of things.

That was Bing Caravan.

***

***

The ship stopped completely after a huge rattling. Khea also started to pack up with sparkling eyes with her heart beating faster.

Since she was a person of this world unlike me, I figured she needed luggage when she was traveling to faraway places.

I followed behind her after she finished packing up and got off the ship at the dock which was connected to the tower. A message box popped up in my sight as soon as I stepped on the floor of the tower made of white rocks.

< Bing Caravan >

The message that appeared with magnificent music was as if it was trying to let me know that another adventure was about to start.

Just as Khea and I were about to enter the tower, a man in a neat uniform similar to a suit approached us. He was an NPC.

“Welcome! Ms.Khea and Mr.Mose! My name is ‘Russell the Silverhead’ sent from the information guild!”

And soon,

<Lv. 27 Russell>

Words appeared on top of his head. He started to guide us into the tower with a smiling bright face. The inside of the tower was very huge.

Not to mention this was…

“We are currently on the 84th floor of the Caravan. Floor 80 to 90 is where the accommodation facilities are gathered!”

As Russell said, 84th floor. However, the width of this floor alone almost exceeded Asparagan Square, and in that spacious area, various architectures showed themselves off with colorful fireworks and crystal ball lights.

“You must be the person our master sent, right?”

Khea grabbed Russell to ask him this question.

“That is correct. I will tell you the rest when we get to the place you are going to be staying at.”

Said Russell with a sudden cold voice tone, as he led us to the place.

The place he took us was the largest building in the entirety of the 84th floor. It was an inn with the name ‘The Place Where Flames Rest' which had impressive red bricks.

Russell spoke as he took us up the stairs.

“This place is the best accommodation we can provide on this floor. Even the ‘Room of Candles’ which is the lowest-ranked inn on this floor costs over 30 gold.”

Soon he stopped at the end of the stairs, looked down at us as we followed, and held out his hands.

“You two will be staying in the ‘Furnace Room’.”

A giant door appeared as I climbed the stairs, one could compare the size of the door to a castle gate. The place beyond that gate made me feel as if I had become the king of a country.

As soon as we entered the room, Russell locked the gate and looked at us with a serious expression.

“Before I speak, I would like to inform you that the words I say have the same effect as Master Robin’s words.”

Khea and I both knelt on one knee almost at the same time in front of Russell.

“Sworder of Asparagan, Khea.”

“The blade you have called is here.”

Answered Khea as she bowed her head to Russell.

“Sworder of Asparagan, Mose.”

“The blade you have called is here.”

And I too answered right after her. Russell was in a cold sweat as he looked at us.

“Suddenly, a new, and same mission was assigned to both of you at the same time, so the command had to be given in this way.”

Russell flipped to the next page of the parchment he had in his shaking hand.

“Currently, a weapon that ‘should not be present and should not be passed on to another’ was smuggled in Bing Caravan. It is said that this item will be put up for sale at the auction house held on the top floor of the caravan soon.”

Russell quickly wiped the sweat running down his forehead off with his sleeve.

“Bing Caravan is a city run by the merchants. Nobody, even us, has the right to take an item that had been taken into the Caravan. Therefore the main objective of this mission is to successfully bid the item from the auction, no matter what.”

Russell continued to read as he flipped to the last page.

“And Khea will participate in the auction by disguising as Arianne Marie, the young lady of the Arianne family from the city of Periph.”

“My blade shall follow your order.”

Khea answered with her head bowing without moving even an inch.

“And Mose will take the role as Arianne Marie’s escort knight.”

“My blade shall follow your order.”

“This should not be considered just a mere roleplay. Best of luck, blades of Asparagan.”

Russell sighed in relief after he had finished reading as if he was glad that it was finally over. Then he briefly checked the very end of the letter and looked at me with eyes shaking.

“ Uhm, there is a postscript to this letter…”

I raised my head at his words to look at him. He started reading,

“By the way, Arianne Marie is set to be extremely extravagant, so keep that in mind as the guard will have to wear a very luxurious armor to match her. Ah, right. I heard from Bidrock that you already have an ‘excessively luxurious’ set of armor.”

He even acted perfectly, looking down at me as he read the letter. Khea burst out laughing with her head bowed beside me. Russell got scared from the stare I gave him, so he stepped back and showed a cold smile.

“I-I was just carrying out my mission as a ‘messenger’ from the information guild. I have no hard feelings against you two…!”

Said Russell as he quickly bowed his head to me. I quickly got a grasp on this situation, put my arm around his shoulder, and bowed my head lower than he did.

“It’s okay.”

Russell hurriedly got prepared to leave the room after that.

“Anyways, Ms.Khea. This is my first time seeing a half-elf with my own eyes, but… You truly are beautiful. Though my memory will be erased with ‘Ovillian’ magic.”

He left the room after he said that. A person working as a messenger for the information guild seemed like a tough job to have.

However, if he was to remember what he said to us, then that scary Robin would’ve chased after him to the end of the world so this was better for him.

“It was this kind of mission, huh?”

I stared at Khea as I touched my throat that got thirsty from all the nerves. But Khea had her chin up awkwardly unlike a minute ago.

“Khea?”

“How dare you speak to me in such a manner!”

Khea stood from her seat all of a sudden. She showed a very arrogant expression in a very natural way,

“My name is Arianne Marie! Rise from your seat and show some respect!”

She said as she was already getting into the role for the mission. And all I could see was a faint but evil smile on her face.