Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 542 - 11 - The Way Home _1

Chapter 542: Chapter 11 - The Way Home _1

"Clip-clop, clip-clop," the urgent sounds of hoofbeats echo through the nighttime sky, reverberating over the open plains near the City of Knowledge. Five swift horses race in a line along the main road. Under the waxing light of dawn, their shiny, sweat-soaked bodies reflect glimmers of light. The riders atop the horses were covered in a layer of dust, their faces streaked with muddy lines from sweat. However, they never once relaxed their focus on controlling their mounts, making every effort to maintain the same speed and stay within the line.

The five members of the adventure team borrowed five quality war horses from the Mercenary Guild yesterday morning and rushed back to the City of Knowledge. To conserve the strength of the horses, they only took a total of ten hours’ rest in between. The rest of the time was spent on the road. After two days’ time, they barely made it back to the City of Knowledge before sunrise. At this hour of late summer dawn, the sky was slowly growing lighter, bright enough to see the surrounding scenery. Looking ahead from atop their horses, the colossal architecture of the Holy City made its way into their field of vision, their forms discernible in the gloom. The five riders turned off the crystal energy lanterns on their saddle racks, slightly decreasing their pace to allow their horses to recover some stamina as they slowly approached the city gate of the City of Knowledge.

These young women had seen all sorts of cities and towns during their adventures, each with its own charms. However, none could compare to the beauty of the City of Knowledge, for that was their home. No matter how beautiful or exotic other places might be, they held nothing against the appeal of home. Near home, even the most tired body would naturally fill with vitality. They would wish to walk faster, to get home sooner, to enjoy the familiar sensations and smells of home, and to wash away the fatigue of their journey.

During the night in the City of Knowledge, three out of the four city gates that connected the city to the outside world were shut, with only the southern gate left open for emergency pedestrian or goods traffic. To ensure the city’s safety, however, nighttime checks were stricter. The spacious city gate always had sixteen Bronze Rank city guards on duty every night, ready to ward off any potential crisises. The reason for keeping this gate open was that the southern part of the city was where the Adventurer Guild was located. Apart from adventurers from the city itself, a majority of mid to high-rank adventure teams from outside chose to base themselves in the southern part of the city, an area that represented the city’s highest-end battle capabilities. Even the city’s guard unit had its headquarters there. Suppose the city faced any crisis during the night, and the south gate was breached. In that case, the invaders would be met head-on with the Guild’s greatest strength. Over the hundreds of years since the Holy City was built, only two ill-advised invaders dared to attack it at night.

Nevertheless, the guards at the city gate remained vigilant and dedicated, never slackening their attention. Those who entered the city in armed groups were scrutinized closely. However, when our group of five riders entered the city, they did not face any hold-ups or obstacles. The city guards weren’t stupid. They knew that Nellie’s Adventure Team, as one of the few Gold Rank adventure teams, was one of the most well-known in the City of Knowledge. Moreover, it boasted the highest proportion of Legendary Rank adventurers. Every member of the city guard was required to memorize the images of these top-tier adventure teams. Those professionals worthy of the title ’master’ in Legendary Rank were often a bit arrogant or quirky, and did not like being disturbed. Given this situation, letting them through without hindrance was the best choice; after all, if they had ill intentions, the guards couldn’t stop them, so they might as well save their strength.

Even if there were urgent matters, it was general safety knowledge not to gallop along city roads. The five riders slowed their pace even further, quietly making their way through Adventurer’s Paradise. The Adventurer’s Paradise was eerily silent in the early morning, and virtually no pedestrians were to be seen on the streets. Even shops and stores that catered to adventurers had their doors firmly shut, and there were no carts delivering goods passing by. In the City of Freedom, legions of mercenaries would be up and jogging about the streets. But adventurers were different from mercenaries. Adventure teams with a base in the Holy City were at least mid to high-rank, with few weak low-level members. Morning jogs held little meaning for them. What they needed more was to hone their fighting skills and get familiar with their teammates’ tactics. If they required morning training, they would do targeted practice at professional training grounds, like Catherine, rather than boosting their physical strength by jogging like mercenaries. Hence, adventurers were seldom seen out and about in the early mornings. Stores catering to adventurers wouldn’t be so foolish as to open early and waste their entire morning waiting for customers.

"Catherine," as they slowed their speed, Pannis said from beside her, their five horses trotting side by side along the Holy City’s spacious streets. "Christo is quite old and doesn’t like crowds. You guys can head home first. You’ve been away for so long, who knows what kind of trouble those two little undead and those two thief-like sisters might have caused. You better get back early to resolve any issues. Freya and I will go straight to see Christo. It won’t take too long, and we’ll join you guys soon."

"That sounds good." Catherine nodded and replied, "But won’t you two get tired? You’ve been up all night. And wouldn’t it be impolite to visit the master so early?"

"We’re fine, and as for the timing..." Pannis looked up at the sky, "The city is vast, by the time we get there, day should have broken. Besides, the old man sleeps little. He won’t mind."

"Alright then, we’ll head back first." After some thought, Catherine agreed, "We’ll prepare breakfast while waiting for you."

"Don’t you dare." Pannis and Freya shouted in unison, "We’ll bring breakfast back when we return. Please do not cook."

"That’s a bit much, don’t you think?" Catherine glared at them angrily, "Especially you, Freya, you traitor. Back when Pannis wasn’t here, didn’t I cook for you every day? Yet, you’ve betrayed me so quickly."

"Haha, haha, sis, you’ve got it all wrong." Freya looked up at the sky, avoiding Catherine’s gaze. "I’m just worried about you overworking yourself. You should rest some more, haha."

"You two are so annoying." Catherine rolled her eyes. "When did you two become so chummy."

"Hehe." Freya and Pannis exchanged a glance, waved and said, "We’re leaving first, sis. You take your time to figure it out."

After crossing the border between the adventuring and commercial districts, a different scenery unfolded before them. It was now early morning and other city gates have gradually opened. The streets were bustling with early risers and the number of cargo carriages passing through the Temple District was also increasing. The City of Knowledge had an interesting characteristic, theoretically all four city gates can be used by pedestrians and cargo carriages, but people naturally choose the West Gate as the transport gate. The reason for this isn’t surprising when thinking about it, the southern adventuring district attracted a large number of adventurers, it was also the military and political center of the city, making small and medium-sized merchants instinctively avoid it; the eastern Mage District attracted a large number of mages, whose temperaments were the most unpredictable in the Yarran Continent, even more enigmatic than a woman’s heart, the merchants who did not have a mage background willingly avoided them; as for the northern city district, this artist haven where people revered night over day, anyone who disturbed their rest might be drowned by the furious fans’ saliva, it’s no wonder that the clergy with the best temperament would naturally choose the western Temple District as their primary cargo route.

"My father mentioned recently that they’re discussing a new plan," Freya explained to Pannis. "They’re planning to open two side entrances in the southeast and southwest of the commercial district, so foreigners can enter the commercial district directly."

"That was proposed a hundred years ago," Pannis murmured. "However, the city lord at the time asked the Business Federation to fund the city’s renovation, but the stingy guys at the Federation were unwilling to loosen their purse strings, so the plan has been dragging on. It seems like both sides are losing patience now, haha, it’s indeed about time. Both the volume of people and goods are increasing, and it’s troublesome to keep diverting."

"Yep, my father has been arguing with the president of the Business Federation lately," Freya said, covering her mouth and laughing with a hint of schadenfreude. "They’ve been arguing for over twenty years. I remember seeing them quarrel in the study room when I was little, I guess they’ve become fond of quarreling."

"Hey, that’s your father you’re talking about," Pannis retorted with a sideways glance. "Is it really appropriate for you to make fun of him like this?"

"What’s the big deal?" Freya shrugged indifferently. "I’m a bad girl hiding behind a fake smile, isn’t this what I’m supposed to do? Hehe."

"You..." Pannis shook his head helplessly. "Stop messing around, it’s a long journey ahead. Let’s hurry up and find Christo, he must be anxiously waiting."

"Are we going to his home?" Freya asked. "Cliff Street?"

"No, based on Curlee, no, based on Christo’s personality, he won’t stay at home after sending out an invitation five days ago," Pannis said as he knew Christo well. "He must be in his own research room at the Tower of Colossus now, and he has probably been living there these past days. So we’ll go straight to the Tower of Colossus, no need to look anywhere else. Let’s go."