Long Road, Fragments of the Past II

In fact, the caravan had spent the entire morning struggling along the dilapidated lakeside road on the western shore of Valenden Lake, outside Ansera Forest. This trade route had once flourished some thirty years ago, but had become a complete mess after Oberon VII ascended the throne. Things had been better lately, at least. With caravans no longer passing through, there were no bandit groups or the like to be seen in the vicinity.

In short, the entire caravan had been busy all morning. No one had even had time to eat lunch, and they held on until the afternoon, when they finally reached Shallow Water Town.

Around three o'clock, Brando could see the outline of a town by the lake reflected in its waters, glittering beneath the sunlight—that was Shallow Water Town.

Shallow Water Town had a long history in Aouine. Ever since Count Hading had bought this land from the mountain folk in the previous era, immigrants had established permanent settlements here. At first, it had mainly served as a stopping point for adventurers heading to Pinfall Hills to pan for gold. Later, it had gradually become an important transit hub connecting Viero, Golan-Elson, and Lantorilan.

Thus, the town had preserved many old inns for thousands of years. Niss's Butterfly Flower, familiar to Brando, and Trout Pond were among them.

However, Shallow Water Town held little importance in the game. One major reason was that it was the gateway to Lantorilan, and the Lantorilan domain was rarely open to ordinary players. Moreover, the only high-level area nearby, Pinfall Hills, required travelers coming from this direction to pass through the northern section of Ansera Forest, where the mountain roads were extremely difficult. Players would rather take the longer route through Valdenburg than come this way.

After all, players could