Chapter 11: Goodbye Olympus (2/2)

Alex therefore closed his eyes and visited the world of Hypnos, god of sleep and cousin of death.

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At dawn, the next day.

Alex woke up at the first light of day, and felt refreshed and rested despite only sleeping for a few hours. He found his clothes washed and dried on a counter near the door, he checked his storage pouch and breathed a sigh of relief, seeing it untouched.

He changed his clothes and went to the bathroom, washing his face and gurgling water to clean his teeth. He'd have to ask if they have any alternative to toothpaste, as his hygiene habits from his life back home don't translate well here.

He then made his way to the dining room, a dome shaped room with a big round table in the center, filled with rough pastries, hot wine, cured meats and bread. The consul bowed him and sat back down and he greeted him and sat on a chair. Even though the table was big, only the consul and Alex were seated, making it look somewhat empty.

”Do you have any children?” Alex asked the consul as he seemed to be at the age most people form families, and this dynamic didn't seem that different in Olep.

The consul nodded and said ”Yes Lord, I have a wife and two children, a son and a daughter. My son is an army commander in Italia while my daughter is studying in Alexandria. My wife is in Bactria, to mourn the death of my father-in-law and stabilize the political situation there.”

'So he's a bigshot?' The consul's son is a military commander, his daughter a student in the ancient capital of knowledge and his wife, a princess?

”May I ask the same of you, Lord?” The consul returned his question.

Alex rubbed his head and smiled bashfully. In all honesty, back in his home world, the prospects of marrying and having children didn't attract him too much and as of now, he still isn't too interested in settling down as much as enjoying his time here.

”Not yet. I don't currently entertain the thought of making a family, huh.” Alex said awkwardly.

”That's understandable, Lord. If you ever wish to meet someone, I can guarantee my daughter, and son, if you lean that way, have excellent qualities”

Alex chuckled awkwardly. The consul was really shameless, selling off his children like that.

The two proceeded to eat in silence, which Alex appreciated, and after finishing his meal the consul stated that his carriage was ready. Alex packed his stuff, thanked the consul for the carriage, food and accommodation and left the mansion and walked north towards the dry and fluvial port.

When he reached there he noticed that there was a large crowd surrounding one of the carriages. The carriage in question was the biggest and had a luxurious exterior, and the horses in the front looked strong and unordinary.

'Isn't this just straight-up asking bandits to attack you?' Alex thought the carriage's design was quite stupid. While thinking about it, a soldier from the consul's mansion ran up to him and bowed.

”Sir, your carriage is ready”

Alex nodded and followed the soldier, who, strangely, was walking towards the stupid-looking carriage he saw earlier, which caused some doubts in his mind, but he cast them away.

Except, now they stood in front of the 'carriage' and the soldier was pointing at the door while bowing deeply and the two were surrounded by the citizens of Olep.

Alex tried to keep calm but his mind was on fire.

'I asked for a carriage, not a damn moving hotel!' He screamed internally. He just wanted a peaceful trip through the greek mountains but maybe that was too much to ask for. Alex shrugged and got in the 'carriage'. The interior was as opulent as the exterior. With comfortable looking chairs and stairs that led to a bedroom.

Putting that aside, he was a bit excited as this was his first trip in this way, the first step to exploring this new world he was unwillingly cast into.

As the driver just told him, the first part of the trip would go through mountains and stop in the small village of Atreksos. The latter part of the journey would be on a seaside road where he would be able to see the renowned 'Aegean' coast and they would reach the city of Abdera in 8 days.

While daydreaming about seeing the sea for the first time in this world, he heard the driver screaming that they were going to start and felt the carriage moving at a high speed, although it didn't feel bumpy up here.

Here goes nothing...