The Strongest Gun Magus: I Cast Bullet!-Chapter 49: Traveling Toward the City of Frost

Late next morning, when the sun was already high in the sky, the so-called "Faust" and "Julia" left the inn, hiding their auras. They continued their journey without a particular goal beyond "getting farther away from Blue Bismuth School". Marien looked around with the same excitement as yesterday, while Reynard spent more time pacifying Chili.

The piglet didn’t like all the ruckus of the last two days a single bit, and liked being stuck in a cage even less. No amount of apples could soothe its wrath or reduce the amount of smoke it exuded, but Reynard couldn’t let Chili roam free, and puff flame left and right on flammable wooden houses.

"If I let you out of the cage, you will just burn all my clothing," Reynard grumbled. "And if I cast Spirit Armor to protect it, I will have to stop hiding my aura."

"Oh, look, Rey—Faust! There are some traders on the road! We should see what goods they peddle."

Reynard looked away from Chili’s cage. He and Marien have caught up with the tail of a slow procession of horse-pulled carts and wagons. Two dozen mercenary warriors and several magi were walking or riding near it, with more people visible in the carts or farther ahead.

Reynard’s eyes lit up.

"I doubt their goods will be of interest to you, my princess. It’s probably textile, food, or something else like that. But instead of walking on our feet, maybe we can catch a ride to... wherever these people are going! Will help us to not get lost."

Marien frowned.

"Catch a ride... On these carts? They look dirty..."

Reynard chuckled, shaking his head.

"Didn’t you sleep on the forest floor during the Autumn Beast Hunt? I’d say the ground is dirtier than any cart."

"You don’t get it, Re—you don’t get it, dear!" Marien blushed a little. "Nature’s dirt is cleaner than whatever these carts are stained with!"

"Dear, now?" Reynad grinned like a cat who got the canary and reached out to take Marien’s hand. "I’m so glad you care, my songbird..."

Marien blushed harder, but interlocked her fingers with his.

"That’s easier to call you by this new name. Hmph. Dear."

"He-he... Well, I’m absolutely sure these carts are mostly stained with the same dirt that’s under our feet. And... We should greet these traders before the guards decide we are actually dangerous."

Reynard and Marien have caught up with the caravan, and now a pair of mercenary magi was looking at them with suspicion. No wonder—both of them were hiding their auras, but the amount of magical items on their person was... Noticeable.

It would be hard to tell how many items they had, or what exactly they were, but Reynard worried they might get robbed anyway. He was planning to get rid of most of them as soon as he could. The caravan was a good opportunity to start.

"Hello!" Reynard waved his hand. "We are just travelers! And you must be traders, right? Where are you going?"

"A bit young to travel far, are you?" a caravan guard, a grizzled warrior in his forties, asked. He was chewing on a long blade of grass as he did. "Well, this caravan is going to Darland. You aren’t from there, I assume. The place is an entire month of travel away with our speed—we have just begun our journey."

Reynard just shook his head. Marien perked up.

"Oh, I heard about this place... Wasn’t it... The origin of the Lore of Frost?"

A nearby mercenary magus laughed. He was a middle-aged man who looked like he had gone through a lot of fights in his life. Despite that, he was merely on the Final Cycle Nigredo.

"You read that in some history book, girl? Well, yeah. Loremaster of Frost has been told to hail from Darland city, before she went away, and her heirs squandered her legacy. Don’t hope to find any red-class spells there, but there are always jobs for mercenaries like us. Perfect to spend winter at, even if it’s going to be colder than the Loremaster of Frost’s tits."

Reynard beamed.

"This sounds just like the place we want to be. Can we come with you?"

The caravan guard shrugged.

"As the caravan master, Mister Angelo. He’s at the head of the caravan."

To Reynard’s complete lack of surprise, Angelo wasn’t against them joining, especially after Reynard paid to travel as guests, not as extra guards, and extra to keep Chili with them. The payment was done in some potions from Reynard’s backpack.

The caravan traveled at a snail’s pace—slower than a quickly walking human. Still, Reynard wasn’t worried. This was a good place to hide.

***

A month later.

A layer of snow covered plains as far as the eye could see, barely disturbed by both humans and animals. The sun lit it up, forcing people to squint.

Amid this whiteness, Darland was lying like a cracked diamond in its own dust. Its snow-covered roofs and many glass windows glittered in sunlight, but their beauty was marred by dark streets with people in heavy, dark clothing. Columns of smoke were rising toward the sky.

From closer inside, the city looked just as unwelcoming. It started with an unusually large toll people had to pay just to enter, and continued with the unfriendly faces of passersby.

Marien and Reynard were walking alongside Angelo’s caravan. Reynard was leading Chili on a metal chain. In the past month, the Forge-Boar grew large and energetic, and singed clothes on many people who thought Chili was friendly. He—it was a boy, after all—was not.

Marien huddled in her recently bought fur jacket and ignored the passersby, instead looking around.

"What a strange place... It’s so cold there, way colder than back home in winter! Must be some influence from the Loremaster of Frost."

"It is," said magus Sielo—the same mercenary who greeted them a month ago. "Winters here are cold, but locals claim it somehow gives them better harvests. Well, are you going to come with us to the inn? I can recommend a good place to rent rooms for the winter. Or, for however long you are staying."

Reynard smiled gratefully.

"Yeah, thanks."

His mind was already running ahead with the plans for this place.

Finally, he would have time for all the things he couldn’t do before. His hands were itching to get his hands on metal and Boom Powder ingredients...