"Excuse me... you're Luke-san, right?" I asked.
I stopped right in front of him as he held a cup filled with sake and drank it.
He immediately shifted his gaze toward me after I called his name.
"Ah, you must be the friend of those two girls, right?" Luke-san asked while standing up from his seat and extending his hand to me.
Of course, I immediately reached out and shook his hand as well.
"Well, I was a bit thirsty earlier, so I told them to go ahead first." Luke-san said while rubbing the back of his head.
"It's fine, besides, I just got here, so that's why I wanted to meet you directly." I said.
"Alright then, since the four of us are already gathered, how about we get on the carriage now?" Luke-san asked.
"Of course, I think there's no reason for us to stay here any longer." I replied.
We immediately left the guild, and I followed him from the side, not even knowing which carriage belonged to him.
There's no way I'd just hop into any random carriage.
"Ah, there they are." Luke-san pointed at the two girls standing not far ahead of us.
"Huh? Didn't you two say you'd go in first?" I asked.
Didn't I already tell them to get into the carriage first? Why were they still outside?
"Well, we thought it'd be better to wait for you two, so it feels nicer." Hime said.
"Once again, let me say it—welcome to my horse carriage!" Luke said while standing behind Hime and Yuu-chan.
He also pointed at the carriage that was right behind him.
Of course, I was very surprised to see this carriage.
Normally, the carriages the three of us rode were always open carts or covered with cloths, right?
But this one wasn't like that. The carriage before us looked more like something used by a royal family.
It had its own structure, like a large room painted in red with gold decorations, pulled by a majestic black horse.
At the front, where the horse was harnessed, there was a seat as wide as the carriage itself, allowing two to three people to sit there.
I had never seen such a luxurious carriage before—this was… incredible.
"Hehe, how is it? Cool, right~?" Luke-san said.
——
Clop, clop.
We all got onto the carriage, but only Hime and Yuu-chan went inside.
I chose to sit next to Luke-san, who would be driving the horse.
Behind me and Luke-san, there was a small window that directly connected the inside and outside.
"Ready? Let's go!" Luke-san said enthusiastically.
He immediately pulled the reins he was holding, and the carriage began moving.
——
From the guild to the city gate was quite far, so we had to pass through the busy city streets filled with people selling things.
Suddenly, the window behind us opened, and I saw Yuu-chan's face peeking out.
I didn't see Hime—where was she?
"Yuu-chan, what's wrong?" I asked.
"Yukito-san, it's amazing in here! You have to come inside later!" Yuu-chan said.
"She's right, you should enjoy the interior." Hime said.
"Hime?" I asked, since I couldn't see her.
"Ah, below this small window, there's a sofa, and of course, Hime is sitting on it while I climbed up to look outside." Yuu-chan said.
"Yuu-chan, if you climb like that, you'll fall." Hime said.
Yuu-chan let out a small laugh and returned to sit beside Hime.
"Hahaha, you all seem to enjoy it, huh? If you want to know, I personally made this carriage." Luke-san said proudly.
Once again, he surprised me.
"Really?" I asked, still unable to believe it.
"Why would I lie to you? Well, I made it, but I was helped by many others too." he said.
Yeah, I also had no reason to doubt him, especially since Luke-san was our current travel companion.
——
After passing through the city gate, we didn't continue immediately—we stopped on the side to plan.
"So, where will we go?" Luke-san asked.
Of course, both he and I peeked inside so we could see and hear the two girls more clearly.
Cling.
The magic orb Hime held glowed and displayed an area I didn't recognize.
"This… we need to go southeast from Necvalion, specifically to the city of Vannis, located beside the city of Aldger." Hime said while looking at us.
"Vannis, huh…?? Right now that city is very prosperous and has no issues, but it's possible that the Abyss forces are targeting such a peaceful city like Vannis. Alright, let's continue!" Luke-san said.
He and I immediately returned to our positions, and he drove the carriage again.
"Luke-san, have you ever—" He cut me off before I could finish.
"Just call me Luke. The four of us will probably travel together for a long time, so we should get closer to each other." he said.
"Alright, Luke… Oh right, my name is Kid, just call me that." I said.
Right, I forgot to tell him my name when we first met.
"Kid, huh? Do you think I'll be fooled by that, Yukito?" Luke asked.
Wait—did I ever tell him my name? Did I forget?
"Relax, besides, it's only natural that I know your real name, right?" Luke said.
"In Necvalion, your name is practically like that of a criminal, because you were defended by Sephira Hime back then, and the people of Necvalion ended up hating both of you." he continued.
"Even though they've seen your face before, they won't remember you unless you say your name." he added.
This was my first time hearing that… I guess I had to be more careful when in Necvalion.
"Even so, I've heard from Charles-san that the three of you are the chosen ones who might become the new heroes after the previous heroes perished on Virosia Island." Luke said.
"Because of that, I don't care who you are or where you come from, since I've had a dream since I was young—to defeat the Abyss as part of the hero's party." he continued.
"Isn't that right, Sephira Hime? I already know, you know." Luke said while glancing slightly toward the window.
"Hah… it seems we can't hide our identities from someone like you, huh?" Hime said from inside.
How did he know that was Hime? Her appearance now was completely different from before.
"You must be surprised, right? That's my main skill—Find." he said.
"If I remember correctly, that skill allows you to see the full identity of a living being, right?" Hime said.
"Exactly, that's why I can know both of your real names." Luke replied.
——
"Yukito, you probably don't know about this world yet, right?" Luke asked.
"Of course, I'm not even someone originally from this world, let alone someone who would open history books to study all the continents here." I answered.
Luke chuckled at my response and continued speaking.
"There are ten continents in this world, one of which is Velmoria, as you know. And the city of Vannis is still part of the Velmoria continent." he said.
"Velmoria is the largest continent in this world, right?" I asked.
"No, no, it's actually one of the smallest. Even though it has three major kingdoms—Necvalion, Aldger, and Danvis." he answered.
Hmm… I remember hearing from someone that Velmoria was the largest continent in this world.
Maybe I just misheard, but if I truly heard it, then it must have been a false rumor.