[NR] Handing It Off - Chapter 638

With the original building rebuilt, Jason rushed to get as many planks and logs drying as possible. He even expanded the amount of space being used for it. Because he knew, the moment Rosha could go out again, she was taking it and Courtney would go with her.

Jason didn’t mind this, but the mend spell was simply too effective. It made preparing the wood for construction a matter of hours instead of weeks or months. So he wanted at least enough wood for their houses and maybe a couple other buildings.

Though he did change one thing. Since he didn’t have to worry as much about the drying process, he switched to a single larger fire in each area. That way, he could work on other things instead of babysitting a bunch of fires.

Days pass and soon enough the various buildings still standing are full of seasoned planks and logs. In particular, the rebuilt building was packed to the gills with them. After all, Jason isn’t going to have to take it down any time soon.

Then the day finally arrived and a small squad of guards from the nearby settlement arrived at their clearing. The squad leader approaches Courtney and confirms it is her before passing on a message.

Squad leader, “The settlement leader is happy to report that the kingdom’s envoy has arrived and is ready for the trade. While you are free to come by anytime within the next four days. If you would like to accompany us back, we can guarantee to the best of our ability, a safe journey.”

Rosha surprised the guards when she suddenly fell down nearby. She hadn’t been purposefully hiding, but had taken up laying on the defense platform and watching the clouds. She turns to Courtney, “Let’s go right now!”

Rosha turns towards Jason, “We’re leaving now!”

Courtney rolls her eyes and Jason laughs, though neither deny her forceful request. And so the guards lead them back to the settlement.

Once there it is a brief wait before the trio are led to an unassuming covered wagon. Though once they get close, the air practically hums with restrained magic. It is heavily enchanted and yet you couldn’t tell even a few paces away.

A portly chickenkin rooster stands in front of it with a professional smile. “Ah! If it isn’t the lovely Rosha, well spoken Courtney, and mysterious Jason! I, Alma’Cal, represent the kingdom and have the authority to finish our trade.

“As a bonus, we are even throwing in some expanded packs. They are light on enchantments, but the magic combined with a number of clever mundane features allow them to store an astonishing amount of stuff.

“Now, here is proof of who I am”, and he holds out a palm-sized coin with the royal crest to one side and a realistic rendition of his face on the other.

Courtney approaches, and after channeling a point of Mana into her finger, taps the coin. This causes it to ring like a crystal bell and to emit a soft green like. The ringing proving this was a legitimate coin, while the glow showing this was the man permitted to hold it.

Alma’Cal smiles, “And with that out of the way, may I examine the manual?”

Courtney nods at Jason, so he steps forward. “Tome, it is in fact a tome. And don’t worry about that, it is more than capable of being used quite soon even if you do activate it.”

With a flourish, Alma’Cal takes the book, flips it around to face him, and begins to page through it. “Ah! Quite a decent illusion used on it. Now, I do have a scroll that can examine its properties, but it would be much easier for both of us if you share the book’s status.”

Jason nods and displays the status for the rooster to see.

Alma’Cal nods, “The Exhaustive Guide on the Crafting of an Immovable Rod! Yes, that is exactly what the title should be and the other effects seem to match up. This should be the original book. Wonderful!

“Now, step into the back of my wagon. We should have enough goods to act as a down payment of sorts. Feel free to check through each of the three backpacks we’ve prepared for you.”

The trio takes him up on the offer, though only Courtney is carefully looking through each backpack and confirming everything in them. This was not only to confirm things for herself, but also to let Alma’Cal know they know exactly what was in those packs. That way, next time stuff is delivered, there isn’t an attempt to claim something had been on this wagon.

Chances are they wouldn’t have attempted this, but the rooster respected that Courtney was crossing her ‘t’s and dotting her ‘i’s. “Trust, but confirm”, is considered an important practice by him, so to see a young lady going through the tedious work? Well, he wouldn’t mind doing business with her in the future if the chance showed itself.

Courtney, in turn is satisfied. She can tell that the backpacks aren’t actually provided by the kingdom, but rather the rooster who should be one of the kingdom’s official merchants. If they had been a gift from the kingdom, they would be matching leather, but they were each made from a different animal like what you would find when ordering small batches. After all, a common traveling pack, even with minor spatial enchantments, would be something a kingdom is going to mass produce.

And since neither of them are trying to drag things out, the trade is soon over and the trio are on their way back to the clearing with three new packs. Their old ones are carried by Jason as they will still be useful for certain resource gathering tasks. In particular, herb gathering when Jason wants to collect the herb alive. Though he can’t help but think back on the information for his new pack, because it was certainly useful.