The next morning, the caravan rose early, and Liyakade’s group set out alongside them.
“Alice, please get in the carriage first.”
“Mhm.”
This time, Field still had Alice board first, but in a change from before, Field was the second to get in.
She had Liyakade board last so that Field would be sitting in the middle.
Since Liyakade wasn’t the one who had proactively suggested the seat swap, it might make Alice feel a little better.
“By the way, Alice, are there any local specialties from your hometown? Could you tell us about them?”
Not long after the caravan began its journey, Liyakade took the initiative to strike up a conversation with Alice on the other side.
After her late-night talk with Field, Liyakade felt much more at ease.
She understood that she simply didn’t want physical contact with Alice right now and didn’t need to be so tense; having Field sitting between them actually made their communication and the overall atmosphere more comfortable.
“Um… specialties? Let me think.”
Alice was slightly overwhelmed by Liyakade’s sudden initiation of conversation.
After all, since yesterday afternoon, Liyakade seemed to have avoided speaking to her voluntarily, leaving Alice immersed in a somber mood.
After a night of adjustment, both sides seemed to have recovered some of their spirits.
In fact, Liyakade already knew exactly what specialties Alice’s hometown offered.
Having played through the original game dozens of times, she knew almost all the special materials and items.
However, for now, it was better to proactively start a topic with Alice.
“Well… the specialties of my hometown are mostly certain medicinal herbs.”
Alice counted them off on her fingers as she recalled the unique plants of her home.
“Rest Herb, which has healing and analgesic effects when applied to wounds. Purple Crystal Herb—eating it can strengthen one’s constitution, but it’s very rare, and eating too much is bad for the body as it causes a physical burden… and then there’s Purple Mist Vine Grass. Ah, but that herb is a forbidden item within the Kingdom. No one dares to grow it, though some still grows naturally in the wild.”
‘Purple Mist Vine Grass? What is that?’
Liyakade had seen and even used the other special plants Alice mentioned in the original game, but she truly didn’t know anything about this “Purple Mist Vine Grass.”
The fact that it was a forbidden item in the Kingdom piqued her curiosity even more.
“It is an exotic plant. Perhaps because of its proximity to the Magic Domain, it grows near the Kingdom border.”
Field, of course, knew all about such forbidden items.
After adding that comment, she looked at Alice, giving her the chance to introduce the exotic plant.
“Purple Mist Vine Grass is an exotic plant with very potent medicinal properties. It can be used to treat wounds and can numb the nerves; its pain-killing effect is particularly strong.”
Alice had lived at the Kingdom border since childhood, so she naturally understood these special plants.
Although they were forbidden items, using them in small amounts could be very useful in certain situations.
Furthermore, the Kingdom border was difficult to regulate, so some physicians would occasionally use these forbidden goods.
“Oh? Since the effects of Purple Mist Vine Grass are so good, why is it banned?”
Liyakade was somewhat puzzled.
Logically, an herb that could both heal and kill pain with such high efficacy should be celebrated in the Kingdom, not banned.
“That’s because Purple Mist Vine Grass has very strong side effects on ordinary people,” Alice explained seriously to Liyakade.
“It’s fine when used externally on a wound, but for pain relief, it must be taken orally. If this herb is ingested in excess, it creates a numbing sensation. An overdose can even leave a person’s limbs powerless and cause hallucinations.”
“It’s difficult to resist even with magic power. Therefore, the Kingdom placed Purple Mist Vine Grass on the list of forbidden items.”
“I see.”
Liyakade frowned upon hearing this.
It was no wonder these herbs were banned; their effects sounded like certain special prescription drugs from her previous world.
Generally, they would only be used by highly professional physicians to treat extremely specific conditions as an exception, under very strict management.
In the Kingdom of Calderra, implementing the kind of oversight that existed in her previous world was nearly impossible.
Therefore, the Kingdom’s strategy was a “one-size-fits-all” ban to completely cut off their use.
Liyakade hadn’t even known these herbs existed in the game.
“I didn’t expect such an herb to exist.”
Liyakade couldn’t help but sigh.
The vastness of this world truly exceeded her imagination.
She was reminded of the original background lore.
This world didn’t just consist of the Demon Race and Humans; there were other fantasy races as well.
Calderra was not the only human nation; other human nations existed in the surrounding areas.
However, the original story focused primarily on the struggle between the Kingdom of Calderra and the Demon Race.
The story’s conclusion was either the Kingdom’s victory or its destruction, with no mention of relations with other nations or races, let alone any sequel.
The final ending was also quite vague, simply stating that Field and Alice’s marriage was recognized by the Kingdom of Calderra and they lived happily ever after.
‘But for me, this world is no longer just the original work. The whole story isn’t confined to just Calderra and the Demon Race anymore. Maybe after dealing with the Demon Race affairs, I can take Field and Alice on a trip outside the Kingdom of Calderra to see other races.’
While thinking this, Field spread out a parchment map and began studying it in the carriage.
“What are you looking at so closely, Field?”
Liyakade leaned in.
Field had been looking at the map yesterday, so why was she still studying it today?
“I’m just checking. This map is different from the one I saw yesterday. Yesterday’s was an official map from the Royal City. This one I requested from the caravan; their maps are updated with every journey, so they’re more current.”
As Field spoke, she pointed to their current location on the map.
Then, her finger slowly traced the path ahead, pointing to a stretch of the road marked with many large and small marks.
“What are all these markings for?”
Alice asked Field, sounding curious.
“The caravan leader said these are places where they previously encountered bandits or monster attacks. Whenever a battle occurs, they mark it on the map to optimize and improve future routes. These lighter, smaller marks represent minor threats that were easily handled.”
“I see… these aren’t marked on the Kingdom maps.”
Liyakade nodded, showing respect and curiosity for the caravan’s specialized map.
The official Kingdom map only noted the one area where large groups of bandits were likely to appear; other areas had no clear annotations.
“Huh? Based on this progress, we’ll soon be entering an area with quite a few bandits.”
“Mhm. But it looks like the bandits here are just small-time thieves. Seeing so many guards with us, they might just give up the idea of attacking us entirely.”
“What are these places marked with green circles?”
Alice noticed a region marked with a different color and symbol and questioned Field.
“Those are the locations where we can replenish our water supply along the road.”
Field patiently answered both Alice and Liyakade’s questions.
“After all, this is a long journey of over ten days with a large group of people. The caravan can’t carry enough water for the whole trip at once. Water produced by Water Element Magic Users isn’t drinkable, so the caravan needs to find other water sources along the way to refill. These are all water points found during previous trips.”
“I see.”
Liyakade nodded.
She learned quite a bit from Field’s explanations.
It turned out there were so many things to keep in mind when traveling with a caravan—it was very different from the game.
In the original work, there was basically no mention of the process of Alice and Field traveling with a caravan.
Those minor bandit and monster attacks were likely handled easily by the guards alone, requiring no action from Alice or Field, so there was no need to waste screen time or the player’s time on them.
The only bandit attack shown in the original plot occurred near the border, involving a group colluding with the Town Head—the very bandits in the area marked on the Kingdom map.