"I just wanted to know if you were willing to take my carriage. I already have two people willing to go, but carrying just them would certainly be a waste of a good trip."
The man announced this calmly, rubbing his hands together in a gesture of eager business.
As he spoke, he pointed off to the side, urging Ash to look towards the waiting carriage.
It wasn't too far from where they stood.
Ash could clearly see two individuals standing close to it.
One was a girl wearing a striking red robe, and the other was a man dressed in simple brown trousers and a white shirt.
After a brief glance at them, Ash sighed and turned his attention back to the driver.
"How much?"
Still greedily rubbing his hands together, the man gave his answer. "Well, that depends on where you're going. Are you heading north?"
"Othland."
"Ah, I see. A fine destination." The man's smile widened. "That would be 200 eres for each of you."
He stretched his hand forward, palm open, now hoping for the money to land in it without any further negotiation.
Aisha, knowing they were most likely getting scammed, immediately wanted to voice her disagreement with the exorbitant price.
That was far too much for this kind of journey.
But before she could even open her mouth to speak, Ash's voice cut in.
"Fine."
He reached into his pockets and brought out a small sack of money, from which he then proceeded to pull out four shining golden coins.
"There you go. Four hundred eres."
The man took the money with a triumphant smile.
"Come, come, this way."
Without even looking back to ensure they were following, the man began to walk away.
At that moment, whether Ash and Aisha followed him or not no longer seemed to concern him. He had already gotten paid; the rest was not his business.
As the portly driver walked away, Aisha moved closer to her master, her voice a frustrated whisper.
"Why did you let him go like that? That was way too expensive, master! A trip like this shouldn't be more than 100 eres for both of us." Aisha looked visibly upset as she kept on eyeing the man's retreating back.
Ash sighed, his attention now focused on the other drivers who were also looking in their direction. From the knowing looks on their faces, he figured all of them must have already discussed and agreed upon the price. Regardless of who drove them, the cost would likely be the same.
"There's no need for us to waste our time haggling. Let's go."
With that, Ash also followed, leaving Aisha frowning at the other drivers for a moment before she quickly ran after him.
Upon getting to the carriage, Ash and Aisha were seated on the left side.
Opposite them sat the other group, a male and a female.
They also seemed to have paid the same amount, judging by how the man of the two was completely pissed off, his arms folded tightly across his chest and his face flushed red with anger.
Of course, Ash paid them no mind. His gaze was solely fixed on the system interface floating in front of him.
Even when the driver started moving the carriage, not once did Ash utter a single word or acknowledge the others.
"Ah, Kelvin, I think I forgot my logbook back at the inn," uttered the female, placing a hand on her head as she panicked momentarily.
She had long blonde hair, neatly packed in a ponytail, and wore a red robe over a black pleated skirt and a black armless top.
No introduction was needed for people to guess she was most likely a mage class.
As for the dude right beside her, who was now even madder after she told him she had forgotten her logbook, he was definitely a fighter class. The blade sheathed at the side of his waist, as well as the steel arm armor he had on, gave it all away.
"What do you mean you misplaced your logbook? Isn't that where you kept all of your damn spells?" yelled Kelvin, his vibrant purple hair seeming to dance on his head with his agitation.
The mage girl closed one eye as a nervous giggle escaped her mouth.
"S-sorry, I was in such a rush that I kinda did." Then she sighed. "I can remember a few of my spells, of course, but I really need a place to write them down for better output."
"Why you—!" Kelvin wanted to lash out at her again.
"Ah, please, do you mind if I take just a minute of your time?" The mage girl leaned forward a bit, her gaze fixed intently on Ash.
In fact, the speed at which she spoke made it seem as though she had been trying to build up the courage to speak to him for a while, which wouldn't make sense, since Kelvin knew how much she normally hated speaking to strangers.
Aisha was quick on the uptake.
She knew her master would most likely ignore the woman, and in order to prevent any kind of awkward tension from building in the carriage, she quickly butted in.
"W-what do you need?" she asked, shoving herself a little closer.
A bit confused, the mage girl couldn't decide whether to keep her eyes on the unresponsive Ash or to now shift her attention to the new person addressing her.
"R-right, my name is Echidna. I am a mage of the Yena guild, a high-tier mage." When she said this, she proudly pounded her chest with her fist, a clear sign that she intended to brag about her status.
But Aisha knew nothing of the Yena guild, nor did she have any idea what a high-tier mage even was, so all she could do was offer a small, polite giggle.
Echidna continued, her eyes momentarily moving towards Ash, who, once again, gave no one the light of day.
It seemed as though he was in an entirely different world of his own.
"I can see that you guys are adventurers traveling to the north as well. Once we pass the main border, we will be exposed to monsters lurking at all corners. Chances are we will have to spend the night in a forest somewhere, since there is a high chance the driver will refuse to pass through those dangerous paths at night."
She cleared her throat for her next words.
"An incident happened, and I kind of misplaced my logbook, so I was hoping if you had a book I could possibly borrow. I can at least write down a spell capable of protecting all of us if we were to run into a beast attack."
Kelvin immediately jumped in.
"What she is trying to say is, if she doesn't have her logbook, then all of you are completely screwed. You might as well do the best you can to provide a substitute for her."
Ash, for the very first time since he got on the carriage, finally turned his glance away from the system and directed it squarely toward Kelvin.
...
[A/N]
Yes, guilds and so on will be introduced later on.