Chapter 979 - William's New Mounts
"I hate this. Why do I have to travel with these fools?" Vesta whined at her two Shield Maidens who had accompanied her on her journey.
"Young Lady, it is what His Excellency has decreed. Regardless of our will, we must carry it through without fail," the Shield Maiden that went by the name Ali replied. "Isn't that right, Ari?"
"We cannot disobey His Excellency's orders, My Lady." the remaining shield maiden, Ari, nodded her head in agreement. "If we return, we might get punished by him for disobeying orders."
Vesta sighed as she grumpily lay on the couch inside her carriage. She knew that this was partly her fault because she didn't voice her protests when her father, Joash, asked her to accompany William on his journey to the North.
In truth, she didn't have any problems traveling with him. What annoyed her was the fact that the Half-Elf had allowed Kira and Athrun to join them in their travels.
"What are those three idiots doing right now?" Vesta asked.
Ali parted the partition that was covering the carriage window and gazed outside. There, she found William, along with Kira and Athrun, roasting the fish that they had caught over an open fire, acting as if they were just camping in the wild for fun.
The Elf ladies roam around the camp, doing various chores here and there. They still wore the slave collars on their necks, which labeled them as William's property. The only thing that bothered Ali, and Ari, was the fact that the Elves didn't seem to be disgusted with what they were doing, and their movements even showed that they were quite experienced at their jobs.
Ali then shifted her attention back to William, who was being hand fed by the pretty Elf that went by the name Charmaine. She had learned early on that she was William's personal slave, and served him wholeheartedly.
"Sir William, Kira, and Athrun are currently roasting fish outside," Ali replied after a minute had passed. "Are you interested in eating fish, My Lady? If you wish, I can catch some for you."
"Fish?" Vesta pondered for a bit before nodding her head. "Get enough for the three of us. I'll take a nap first. Wake me up later once it is cooked."
"As you wish, My Lady." Ali bowed as she left the carriage, leaving Ari to guard Vesta while she slept.
—-
"Bro, I'm feeling jealous of you," Kira confessed after seeing Charmaine feed William bite-sized portions of the fish that they were roasting. "Although I have slaves of my own, none of them can compare to Charmaine."
Athrun just smiled from the side, and didn't make any comments. As a merchant, he had also bought slaves of his own. One of them was an Elf, who was currently managing his firm, while he was away conducting business in the Fortress City of Amberfang.
It was also where he met Vesta during a special gathering, and had been enamored with her ever since.
"Bro, tell me. How did you manage to catch this many Elves?" Kira asked with genuine curiosity. "Although Elf Slaves are quite rare. Most of them are sold for very high prices, so most slave traders go out of their way to catch them. Can you tell me your trade secrets?"
William chuckled. After spending a few days with Kira and Athrun, he understood that the young man who hailed from the Desert Clan was a straightforward person.
"You already said that it was my trade secret," William replied. "Since that is the case, how can I possibly share it with you?"
The Half-Elf then opened his mouth as he accepted another bite-sized portion of the roasted fish from Charmaine, making Kira feel envious.
"Elder Brother, you mentioned that you are traveling to the North, but if we continue to travel at this pace, it will take us months to get there," Athrun commented from the side. "How about we procure a flying carriage for you in the next city? That will increase the speed of our travel exponentially."
Kira also nodded his head in agreement. As wealthy people, their flying carriages were being pulled by Gryphons. Although they weren't as majestic as Vesta's Gryphon, they served their roles well and were only a tier lower than hers.
William's carriages, on the other hand, were being pulled by ordinary horses, which forced everyone to travel on land. Although Gryphons didn't mind land travel, they still preferred to soar through the skies, making them an efficient method of traveling.
The Half-Elf rubbed his chin and nodded his head in agreement. Now that he was far away from the Fortress City, it was time to speed up their traveling speed. However, he couldn't possibly just summon one of his Beasts from his Thousand Beast Domain because it might make his companions suspicious about his abilities.
Fortunately, he had already solved this problem. Last night, when everyone was sleeping, he manipulated Soleil to sweep the land in order to look for flying creatures that he could capture to be used as mounts.
"You don't have to worry about this," William replied. "I sent my men to capture some flying mounts when we made camp two hours ago. They should be back just about… now."
The black-haired teenager glanced at the West and saw two people riding on horses headed in their direction. Following behind them were two giant orbs made of sand that Sha had used to imprison the Beasts that they had found earlier.
Seeing the two domes of sand, Kira and Athrun arched their eyebrows because they were quite curious about what kind of creature William captured to serve as the mounts for his carriages.
"Is it a Gryphon?" Kira asked.
Athrun smiled as he made his own guess. "This area is a few days of travel away from the Stronghold, so the possibility of them being Wyverns is high."
William smirked and didn't bother to confirm or deny the two demon's guesses. Originally, he just planned to capture a Gryphon or a Wyvern to serve as his mount. But, after seeing these two beasts wandering around the area, the Half-Elf decided that they would be his newest additions to his King's Legion.
Vesta, who had been woken up by Ari because of the commotion, exited her carriage to look at the sand domes with curiosity.
"Will, I have to hand it to you, these two are very stubborn," Zhu said as she dismounted from his horse. "Are you sure you can tame them?"
"Of course," William replied. He was brimming with confidence. When it came to taming Beasts, he was an expert. "Sha, you can free one of them, but make sure that they are still bound by your sand."
Sha nodded and one of the Earth Domes collapsed, revealing a monster that William had not yet encountered in Hestia.
"N-No way!" Kira stuttered as he gazed at the Beast that appeared in front of his eyes.
Athrun, who always had a composed look on his face, gawked in surprise when he saw the stubborn creature that William was about to tame.
"A Flying Armored Elephant!" Vesta's eyes widened in shock. "He is going to use THAT as a mount?!"
Flying Armored Elephants, as the name suggests, were Flying Elephants with an armor-like exterior. An adult Elephant was a Pseudo-Myriad Beasts that was capable of destroying a town or a city on its own, if there were no powerhouses guarding it.
The ones that Zhu and Sha had caught were juvenile Elephants whose rank was at the peak of Millennial Beasts. After undergoing their baptism in the Heavenly Palace ruled by the Jade Emperor, the two Demons' power had returned to their peak stage, which was only a step away from Myriad Beasts.
Capturing two peak Millennial Beasts was something that they could carry out without too many problems.