Arcadia's Ignoble Knight: Dark Elf Arc

Chapter 89

The journey to Flos was long. Caspian, Elincia, and their companions traveled south-east from Silvaguarde in the north-west, but the route itself was convoluted.

North of Arcadia lay the nation of Helheim, but it also went by another name: the Northern Wastes. As an unforgiving and frigid land, Helheim possessed mostly barren soil, rocky mountains, and snowy peaks.

The area of Arcadia immediately south of Helheim was known as the Atlantia Province, and it shared many characteristics with Helheim. The frigid land was arid and barren. It contained little in the ways of fertile soil and consisted mostly of mountains and barren wastelands. To reach Flos, they needed to travel east through the wasteland, and then cut south after bypassing the most mountainous of regions.

Of course, if we were in a small group, we could have cut straight through the mountains, Caspian thought with a sigh as he rode on his steed with Elincia. His sorceress and life partner was nestled snugly against him, using him as a shield from the biting cold winds, but she lifted her head when his thoughts reached her.

"But if we were in a small group, we wouldn't have the strength necessary to help anyone."

"I know. I just want to complain."

"You've been doing that an awful lot lately."

Caspian didn't think he could be blamed for complaining, though he also knew it didn't help any.

The fact of the matter was that an army of 15,000 simply couldn't move very fast. They could only travel as fast as their slowest soldier, and since around 90% of their soldiers were traveling on foot, that was pretty damn slow. It didn't help that the freezing climate and rugged terrain made traveling on foot difficult.

It had been two weeks since they'd begun traveling, but they still hadn't reached the easternmost border of the Atlantia Province.

"At least all this traveling gives us time to talk," Elincia said through their bond. She tucked her head back underneath his chin as though no longer interested in dealing with the cold. Caspian sighed as he leaned his head down, placing his chin on the crown of hers.

"I suppose, but it also means we have no chance to be alone," he replied.

Because the army didn't have that many tents, Caspian and Elincia were forced to share a tent with Maddison and Valen. Of course, this also meant they were limited in what they could do together. Caspian would admit that he was getting a little antsy for some intimacy. It bothered him that he and Elincia couldn't express their love for each other physically, especially since Maddison made it a point to tease them every time they did anything.

The sun crossed the sky as they continued moving. Caspian and Elincia spent most of that time bantering back and forth. However, as the sun finally began to set, Valen raised his hand and halted their procession.

"It's getting late," he said, turning his horse around and looking at their forces. "We shall set up camp here!"

The people in front who heard the order informed the people in back, and like a chain reaction, everyone soon had the orders to set up camp.

By this point, their forces were pretty proficient at setting up camp. The camping supplies were all unloaded. Everyone had their own assigned tasks. Some were tasked with setting up the tents, others had the job of starting fires, and some were asked to cook. Most of the food was smoked and salted meat, of course, since that was the easiest food to carry. However, if being part of such a large army had its benefits, it was that no one was willing to deal with military rations. Even the smoked and salted meat was used in stews and other dishes that complimented the saltiness of the preserved food.