The night grew deeper in the capital, wrapping the city in a blanket of dense silence. However, inside one of the high-class inn rooms, a magic lamp still burned brightly. Arvin Vedegra, son of Duke Melvin and Duchess Olive, sat cross-legged in the center of the room.
Around him, the luxurious wooden floor was covered by piles of fabric he had bought at the market earlier. There were rolls of elegant dark blue silk, gold-yellow cotton, bright light blue fabric, and clean white cloth. Additionally, there was a large pile of thick brown and gray fabric he had bought out from a small fabric shop, originally intended for his troops' disguises, which he would now partially repurpose.
There were no artisan tools there. No scissors clashing, no silver needles, and absolutely no sewing thread. For a magic genius who mastered the principles of pure alchemy, joining materials with physical tools was an archaic method. Arvin used the touch of his hands and the manipulation of mana to alter the structure of objects at the fiber level.
Arvin took a deep breath, centering his concentration. He took the roll of dark blue silk as the base, along with the gold-yellow, light blue, and white fabrics. As a descendant of the Vedegra family who mastered the ice element and hailed from the Vanzhas City, he had to ensure this crest was perfect.
Arvin placed his palm over the pile of fabric. A dim light glowed from his fingers. Under his alchemical control, he separated the fibers of the gold-yellow fabric, then adhered them onto the dark blue base fabric. He pressed the cloth gently. The gold thread fibers seeped in, interlocking with the blue fibers, forming a perfect circle in the center of the flag without a single rough or raised seam.
Now, for the core. Arvin took the bright light blue fabric. He closed his eyes for a moment, imagining the true power of his family, the element of ice.
"Structure Crystallization." he commanded.
With a precise touch of his fingers, Arvin compressed the density of the light blue fabric fibers until they became rigid, hard, and possessed sharp angles, mimicking the form of eternal frozen ice. He formed threeblue ice crystal motifs from the fabric.
Then, he fused the three fabric crystal motifs inside the gold circle. He arranged them neatly in a triangle pattern. One at the peak, two at the base. The color contrast looked beautiful: Above the dark blue background, a gold circle encased Three Blue Ice Crystals that shimmered.
As a finishing touch, Arvin took the white fabric. With the same technique, he fused the white fabric around the edges of the flag, creating a firm and neat white border (list).
"Nine flags completed!" Arvin murmured while wiping sweat from his forehead. "No stitching, fused perfectly."
The next task was the logistics containers. Arvin turned to the pile of thick brown and gray fabric. This fabric was strong, inconspicuous, and durable, perfect for the long journey to Vanzhas.
Using alchemy, he folded the thick fabric, met the sides together, and then fused the edge fibers until they melted into a single seamless bag.
Arvin flowed mana into the fabric, causing its texture to densify until it was as hard as steel yet remained flexible. This bag would not tear even if filled with heavy loads. A simple magic bag was created. Arvin immediately opened his dimensional storage space, took all the food ingredients he had bought from the food market, and manually placed them into the created fabric bag.
"Flags made! Logistic magic bag made! Food ingredients secured!" Arvin stretched his body for a moment. "What else is missing?"
Arvin checked the inventory inside his dimensional storage space again. Suddenly, he remembered something crucial.
"Ah, right. Their pocket money."
He remembered that he had to make many magic bags for the mercenaries and Rayand's group. Without tiring, Arvin went back to work using the remaining thick brown and gray fabric. He folded, fused fibers, and reinforced the structure one by one with his hands. He did this repeatedly until 28 new magic bags were created.
Then, Arvin opened access to his dimensional storage space. He took the fabric bags one by one, then poured gold coins from his storage into the bags.
Cling. Cling. Cling.
The sound of thousands of gold coins clinking filled the silence of the room. Arvin filled each bag with 2,000 Gold.
Several hours later, Arvin finished filling the 28th bag. The number matched exactly with the number of mercenaries, Rayand's group members, and Lorrin who would leave the capital heading toward the Vedegra region.
"Finally done..." hissed Arvin. His body felt crushed. Physical and mental exhaustion from hours of alchemy use took its toll.
After storing the remaining fabric, Arvin immediately threw himself onto the mattress. In an instant, he was fast asleep.
"Glaring..."
Arvin groaned in his sleep. He felt a stinging heat on his face. Slowly, he opened his eyes which felt heavy.
The light entering through the window was so bright and intense. The shadows of objects in the room looked short and vertical. Arvin blinked, then his eyes suddenly widened as he realized the sun's position.
It was not morning light. The sun was already high, right overhead!
"Huh? It's already noon? DAMMIT! I'M LATE!"
Arvin jumped out of bed, his feet tangling in the blanket until he nearly fell and kissed the floor. He ran to the window. Sure enough, it was broad daylight.
"I overslept! I'm dead! This is a disaster!" Arvin shouted in panic while messing up his hair. "The meeting is this noon! They must be waiting already!"
Arvin moved with lightning speed. He washed his face makeshiftly with cold water, straightened his crumpled robe, and then frantically stuffed all the flags and the brown and gray fabric bags into his dimensional storage space.
Gurgle... Gurgle...
His stomach growled loudly, protesting because it hadn't been filled since yesterday.
"Ah... I'm so hungry," he complained while holding his stomach. "But there's no time to eat! I have to finish all this business first!"
Once ready, Arvin grabbed the room key, ran out of the inn, and rushed toward the Merchant Guild. He took long, quick strides, half-running to cut through the city crowd under the scorching midday sun.
Arvin was grateful, at least the weather was very sunny. The sky was clear blue, very suitable for the group to head to Vanzhas. Even if anything happened during the trip, the mercenaries could surely handle it.
Upon arriving at the Merchant Guild courtyard, out of breath and dripping with sweat, Arvin saw the sight he feared. All the adventurers who had accepted the escort mission had gathered near the horse carts. They looked bored, hot, and some were fanning themselves with their hats.
"Sorry I'm late!" Arvin exclaimed while catching his breath. "Are you all ready?"
"Yes!" they answered in unison, sounding relieved that their client had finally appeared, even if late.
Then, Arvin approached the coachmen who would drive the horse carts. Their faces looked slightly annoyed and red from waiting under the sun.
"Let's go to the slums to pick up everyone I will be moving to Vanzhas!" ordered Arvin.