Chapter 17: The Journey Stalls

Ivan, formerly Rose, did his best to prepare for their exit from Ore Village. He put in extra work to store up additional food, and because of his willingness to help, the miners even gave him some ore that could be traded later on. Again, he thoroughly reviewed the map, even though the road south to the port appeared to be straightforward. Now that he was taking up the role of the man and Rose was his supposed girlfriend, he felt obligated to provide a safe trip for her.

Early one morning, the two of them departed the village and began walking along the peaceful road. The warm sun, blue sky, and light breeze almost made Ivan forget how dangerous Scarlaria could be. After a few hours, he longed to be back in the wagon again with horses pulling them along. He had walked long distances already, especially between Nette Village and the farm, then from the farm to Hue Town. Having a new body seemed to make traveling more difficult. Already, his feet were hurting, probably due to them being flatter compared to the conveniently arched feet on Rose’s body.

“What did you like to do before coming to Scarlaria?” Ivan asked Rose as they walked.

“I liked to listen to music and draw,” she answered. “I haven’t been able to listen to our kind of music for such a long time,” she added, frowning. “What about you?”

“I traveled a lot, thanks to having rich parents, which also meant I spent a lot of time with tutors rather than being in school,” he said. “My parents also demanded that I be a prim and proper lady at all times. I wasn’t allowed to do anything that could be considered less than ideal. I basically had to be a doll.”

Ivan and Rose continued their trip following the road and setting up a tent and fire every evening. Much of Scarlaria looked the same to Ivan, with its rolling hills and fields with clumps of trees and forests scattered around. Every now and then, there were also small mountain ranges, but none they had to cross, thankfully. By the fourth day, he began worrying whether or not they had somehow gone off course. That was until they finally passed one of the landmarks indicated on the map, which brought relief to Ivan.

On the fifth evening, Ivan estimated that they would reach the port town in two more days. With the remaining daylight, he left Rose to deal with camp while setting off to look for something different for them to eat. Having virtually zero hunting skills, he hoped to at least find some fruit. Then, just over the hill, he found an enormous tree containing fruit similar to that of an apple. But, as he finished filling the bag with as much as he could carry, a tremendous downpour of rain began to fall. The thick leaves and branches of the tree provided a generous amount of cover, so he remained there until the rain stopped thirty minutes later.

Back at the camp, Rose was attempting to get the fire started again, struggling to do so with the wet wood. Eventually, they restarted it, and the warmth of the flames dried their clothes and belongings. The fruit that Ivan brought back was sweet and fulfilling, which was the perfect way to end their day. They talked more about their lives from before Scarlaria, and Ivan felt each story was more personal since they were living in each other’s bodies.

Surprisingly, they arrived in the port town of Sudley around midday two days later with no further issues. The lack of monsters or other obstacles made Ivan feel uneasy as he had become accustomed to his journey being plagued with one issue after another. After a brief check-in to verify their dossiers, the two of them were presented with the site of Sudley’s white stone architecture. Further down beyond the docks and port lay a massive ocean. There, they found a place to get tickets for the ferry.

“Well, I’m afraid that the ferry sustained significant damage on its last trip. It’s going to take some time for it to be repaired,” the man said.

“How long?” Ivan asked.

“Between waiting for parts and the time it takes to do the work, probably six to eight weeks.”

Ivan felt defeated as they made their way to the inn. Now that they had traveled so far south into the peninsula, it would take even longer than eight weeks to backtrack to the capital on foot. The goal of getting his original body back or even getting home felt further away. Who knew if their goals were even possible? These thoughts plagued his mind so much that he barely heard the exchange between Rose and the innkeeper. He merely followed along to their room and eventually stared at the ceiling while trying to fall asleep. This was going to be his bed for weeks to come.