417 Gloomy Rain
The morning after was unfortunately cloudy. But I can't afford to let it get to me.
We gotta keep going for commercial city even in this weather. From here, we can get there in just one, or at worst two more days.
We should depart early to cover the distance. And since we'll likely have to camp out, gotta stock up too.
The door to my room was knocked as I was mulling over that.
"I'd like to speak with you regarding our departure today."
The coachman entered my room. Apparently he had already bought up food supply yesterday. He wanted to put it in my magic bag. Then we'd depart once it's done.
As it didn't inconvenience me at all, I readily agreed and went to the coachman room where the food was.
Apparently he heard about my camping set and cooking utensils from Linda thus he opted to buy ingredients.
Well it's true that even though I'd like to arrive faster, we're not pressed on time so having good quality meals is preferable.
I have room to spare for this kind of stuff. Though this begs question who paid for all that.
"It's from my personal fund. I had recently realized we weren't in a hurry. I don't mind pitching in if it means having warm meals. Seeing as you have all the utensils, this will be my contribution."
Looked like I didn't have to hesitate so I gave my thanks.
The food is like payment for using my cooking utensils.
We had breakfast at the inn and departed afterward.
Both Karuts and Gilgel never showed up in the end. I breathed a sigh of relief.
(Wouldn't wanna waste any more time here. Smooth sailing.)
However, I'm bracing myself for yet another event that's sure to crop up on our way to the commercial city.
Around two hours passed. The clouds suddenly darkened before it started pouring.
Our wagon kept going nonetheless. Yes, there hasn't been a single incident.
We passed by several wagons coming from the opposite directions and travelers on the roadside sheltering from rain, yet there's no incident. Unbelievably enough.
(Nothing happening, yes good, keep at it. The rain makes it a tad gloomy but that's fine. I'd take this hundreds times over incidents.)
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As that thought swirled in my mind, the voluminous dark clouds started producing thunders.
Then that happened just as our wagon got in a woodland area where the highway ran.
A crashing sound loud enough to shake your body resounded in the air. A literal lightning bolt out of the blue.
It struck somewhere inside this woodland area. But I couldn't find the point of impact when I surveyed the nearby surroundings, which put my mind at ease. It would get ugly if a fire started here. No guarantee it wouldn't come to us even in this rain.
Also you can't see the turns and twists of this highway inside this woodland. If the bolt struck a tree that fell on the road, that'd be a snag. It would take time to clear it, delaying this journey.
Visibility is poor in this rain as well. I don't even want to imagine a tree suddenly falling on this wagon because of that lightning strike.
(Hmm, I'm getting drowned in negative thinking. Is it because of this rain? C'mon, it's just lightning, it's normal during rains.)
I took a deep breath to put my mindset back to neutral. The cold air filled my lunges, composing me back.
Now that I'm aware of the 'Factor of Unrest' within me, I should get prepared to deal with all kinds of bad scenarios.
Who knows if it turned out to be something unbelievable.
However, I'd get a depression if I let myself be overwhelmed in that 24/7. I breathed out and tried to empty my mind.
I'm still 15, I still have a long road ahead. Letting this Factor of Unrest gnaw on me would send me straight to a path of cripple. My mental state won't last.
And sure enough the road ahead had been blocked. But it was no tree.
No, it was a giant boulder around three meter tall and five meters in diameter.
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