Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 252 - 18: The First Night_1

Chapter 252: Chapter 18: The First Night_1

The Neutral Land Rhea is a narrow corridor on the southeastern coastal edge of the continent. The Mist Sea coastline lies to the south, while to the north, half is composed of the towering Pandora Mountains and the other half is an endless desert, the territory of the Sand Country Bartom. The eastern and western borders of Rhea link the Falar Empire and the Neville Federation respectively. The territory of Rhea has a maximum length of 780 kilometers and a width of 140 kilometers at its widest point, with an area of about 60,000 square kilometers.

In this area of 60,000 square kilometers, only about 4 million people live. A small half of these people, approximately 1.7 million, are concentrated in three super metropolises. The City of Knowledge has the largest population, reaching 870,000 permanent residents. The City of Freedom ranks in the middle, with more than 600,000 citizens. Surprisingly, the City of Innocence, a paradise for criminals, also has a considerable number of inhabitants, with an unbelievably close number of 300,000.

The major cities of the City of Freedom and the City of Knowledge function as nuclei from which they radiate their spheres of influence, developing and establishing subsidiary medium and small cities. These subsidiary cities are densely clustered around the metropolis like a spider web, providing necessary nourishment for the development of the metropolis. The rest of the Neutral Land’s 2.3 million people live in these subsidiary cities and their affiliated towns.

For a land area of 60,000 square kilometers, 4 million residents seems a bit sparse, but this is also influenced by the overall situation of the Yarran World. For the entire Yarran World, the size of the territory is generally far greater than the demand for population. Some scholars have even researched that, even if the human population were to increase tenfold to 1.8 billion, the current territory and resources controlled by the four major forces led by humans would still be barely enough. Hence, describing the Yarran World as "sparsely populated" is quite accurate.

Although such a low population density brings many advantages, it also has some corresponding disadvantages. The biggest drawback, of course, is transportation. Due to the sparse population, the blank areas between cities or villages often consist of vast wilderness, making travel between two cities not only inconvenient for supplies, but also time and energy-consuming. The second drawback is safety. Many wild animals and lower-rank magical beasts inhabit the wilderness, causing endless trouble to ordinary people and even lower-rank professionals. Additionally, some bandit groups that have escaped the crackdowns of the two major cities are hiding between the cities to prey on travelers opportunistically. Hence, safety here is not as good as one might imagine. Valuable goods often require large escorts, but this also brings infinite business opportunities for mercenaries and adventurers.

The wedding party set off from the City of Knowledge in the northwestern part of Rhea and headed to the coastal city, the City of Freedom, in the middle-eastern part of Rhea. It’s a journey of about 600 kilometers. It’s quite a way off. Luckily, between the two major cities, there are well-maintained major roads connecting them. If it were just a few people riding horses, they could easily arrive in 3-4 days. However, for a caravan composed of carriages, this time would likely be extended to over ten days.

The caravan left the eastern gate of the City of Knowledge in the morning, continually operating within the protective umbrella of the Holy City, with no accidents occurring along the way. As night fell and darkness drew in, the experienced head of security, Ayrland, perfectly timed their arrival to a small village named Jumping Mouse Village, where the eighty members of the caravan would spend the night. Of course, the only motel in the village did not have enough rooms, but after negotiation, they successfully obtained a large open space outside the village mill for use as a temporary campsite.

"It’s really nice not having to set up camp ourselves." Vivian sat comfortably on the dry straw spread out on the ground, leaning against Catherine’s bosom, and spoke in a schadenfreude tone, "It was an absolutely correct choice to come along with them. At least we don’t have to do any of the work."

"It’s as though you helped out at all when we went out camping together." Catherine was carefully helping Vivian tie her somewhat disheveled blue short hair into two pigtails. Upon hearing Vivian’s words, she couldn’t help but tug on one of the finished pigtails: "You lazy bone, you have the least ground to mock them."

"Hehe, I’m not well, you know." Vivian did not shy away from talking about her illness. She shook her head with a look of cunning on her face and said, "You surely won’t be cruel enough to make a sick person work, big sis."

"Stop moving, or it’ll come loose again. And if that happens, don’t come crying to me." Catherine slapped Vivian’s fidgety head gently, "You, last night when you were stuffing your face, how come you didn’t say you were ill and needed to eat less?"

"Sick people need to replenish their nutrition." Vivian lifted her arm to mimic flexing her muscles and say, "Look, it’s because I had that extra dessert last night that I had enough energy to complete the journey today."

"The one completing the journey is your horse, you dummy." Catherine rolled her eyes, "Okay, all done. Fiddle with them again and I’m beating you."

"Thanks, big sis." Vivian bounced up, shook her head contentedly, and planted a big kiss on Catherine’s cheek, "I love you the most."

"Uh, did I see something I shouldn’t have?" Pannis happened to be passing by carrying a butchered sheep and immediately covered his eyes, "I didn’t see anything, don’t kill me to shut me up."

"We don’t have time to chase you down right now." Catherine glared, stood up and dusted herself off, and then grabbed Vivian to go to the camping ground, "Why are you carrying that with you?"

"I was helping out. Ayrland said he was too busy and asked me to help with the purchases." Pannis faked an attempt to poke Vivian with a sheep’s horn, but was chased away by Vivian’s magic staff, "I thought this sheep was the cutest, with the most melodious bleating, so, as a reward, it was chosen to be tonight’s dinner."

"Why does everything you say make people want to kick you?" Catherine inquired bafflingly, "And the most amazing part is that you haven’t been kicked to death yet."

"Because I run fast." Pannis answered matter-of-factly, "Otherwise where do you think I got my knack for escaping from? It was forged amongst countless flying kicks. It’s a true manifestation of hard work paying off. Hmm, it must be."

"Catherine." Lina walked over holding a hammer, "You come."

"Hold on, what are you doing with that hammer?" Catherine asked Lina, looking at her with a headache, "And what kind of look is this you’re giving me?"

For some reason, Lina had her silver hair tied back in a single ponytail, her posture while holding a hammer was rather peculiar, exactly like she was wielding a sword, she said indifferently: "I am me, now come on."

"Honestly, leave you alone for a while and who knows who you’ll turn into next." Catherine smiled wryly in resignation: "But at least let me know where we’re headed."

"To Freya." Lina gestured towards the carriage: "Her condition has improved."

"Well, that’s certainly good news." Catherine sighed in relief: "Probably the best news I’ve heard all day. Let’s go have a chat with her."

"Catherine, you haven’t spent the entire day chatting to me." Freya’s voice was as intoxicating as ever: "An entire day. Loneliness and solitude have shadowed me, lifting my head to gaze at the sky through the fifty-centimeter carriage window..."

"What’s going on, didn’t you say she’s gotten better?" Catherine quietly asked Lina: "Why is she still like this?"

"She’s improved." Lina responded nonchalantly: "Not completely recovered."

With a "bang," everyone got startled. On closer inspection, it was Vivian, who had hit the carriage door with her staff: "Speak properly."

"Ah, it hurts, don’t hit my head." Freya cried out startled from within the carriage. Perhaps trying to protect her head with her hand, but immediately afterwards she voiced her confusion: "Wait, you can’t reach me right now. Hmm, even though your shadow looms over me, I’m still filled with courage. Like a snow pine, even in the desolate autumn wind..."

A "bang" sounded again as Vivian hit with her staff, gritting her teeth she said: "Guess if I dare to come in and hit you."

"Ahhh, I was wrong." Freya complained pitifully: "Don’t hit me anymore."

"Well, this treatment session is over." Vivian took a breath, lifting her staff and standing aside: "Freya, what on earth are you up to? There’s been no news from you for two years."

"Oh, I’ve been studying." Freya’s speech finally returned to normal temporarily: "I’ve been busy and always away from the Holy City, so I couldn’t contact you."

"Still learning gun technique and mechanics?" Catherine asked: "With that old master from before?"

"Right, that master is quite impressive." Freya exclaimed: "His gun technique is simply beyond imagination, and his level of mechanics is outrageously high."

"There’s actually such an impressive person in the Holy City?" Catherine responded in surprise: "And your family’s chairman was actually willing to entrust you to that master? I can hardly imagine him letting you go for so long."

"Because that master is really impressive, and my father respects him very much." Freya explained: "So, of course, he felt at ease."

"Alright, that’s not important." Catherine waved her hand: "It really startled me hearing from you. Tell us about when you found a boyfriend? And you’re even getting married? Betrayer, why won’t you tell us the details?"

"Hehe." Freya’s giggle was filled with sweetness: "Actually, we’ve been engaged since we were very young, but I didn’t feel any romantic love for him. Do you know what love is? It’s like a fairy that has fallen into the world, no one knows when it will come, but the moment when Wescott’s father came to my father and brought up our engagement, I knew, love had fallen upon me without warning. At that moment, even though it was night, I felt a ray of warm and radiant sunshine..."

"Bang", another hit with the staff.

"Oh, meaning at that very moment, I suddenly fell in love with him and that has brought us to where we are today." Under Vivian’s threat, Freya hurriedly finished talking.(To be continued. If you like this novel, you’re welcome to vote for it on qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. If you’re reading on a mobile device, visit m.qidian.com.)