57
Chapter 57
"Wait, hold on a second!"
Someone rushed toward us as we were leaving, shouting urgently.
It was Silon.
Panting and dragging his heavy body, he approached us with a tense expression.
As we looked at him with furrowed brows, he immediately got to the point.
"C-could you please take me with you?"
"You? With us?"
I scoffed inwardly.
'...Is he out of his mind?'
He should be grateful we spared his life, and now he wants us to take care of his bundle too.
What should I do with this guy?
Silon must have seen the seething anger in my eyes, as he quickly continued.
"I... I have a hidden carriage!"
"...A carriage?"
"Yes! I secretly hid it in the brush before entering the forest! We can ride it if we go there!"
A carriage? What was he talking about?
"You hid a carriage?"
Silon panted as he spoke.
"Yes, that's right! We can use it to get out of here. I secretly covered it in the brush near the forest entrance."
I closed my eyes for a moment to catch my breath, then looked at Eileen.
Eileen gripped her dagger, still looking vigilant.
"If you had a carriage, you should have ridden it. Why hide it?"
"We... we came in through the narrow forest path to the west. The carriage couldn't make it in there."
Looking at his clueless face, I thought that might actually be true.
"Anyway, how can I trust you?"
Instead of answering, Silon kept his mouth shut and lowered his head for a moment.
...Even you know you can't be trusted, right?
I swallowed a sigh and looked around.
I could hear the sound of something continuously swarming in the distance.
We didn't have time to dawdle.
"Tsk... Let's take him."
Even after saying it, I felt uneasy, but we didn't have many options right now anyway.
It would be better to travel even a little more comfortably.
Silon looked relieved as he quickly turned around and said.
"This way! Hurry!"
We left the zombies behind and made our way out of the forest.
Silon took the lead, cutting through the trees at a brisk pace, while Eileen kept watch from behind and surveyed my surroundings.
I was out of breath, but strangely, my mind felt lighter.
Escaping quickly was the best option in this situation anyway.
Near the edge of the forest, Silon dashed into the middle of the leafy brush.
There was a small, shabby-looking straw cover, and a wheel was slightly visible beneath it.
"It's over there!"
I shouted in a low, firm voice.
"Shut your mouth, you're too loud."
Silon hurriedly nodded and carefully pulled away the pile of grass.
An old carriage was hidden underneath.
The iron spokes were rusted and the wooden wheels creaked, but it seemed sufficient enough to ride and escape.
It didn't look like much, but a small pony was tied to a tree next to it.
A slightly dried mane, lethargic eyes. But it was still breathing.
"Oh... this is pretty decent, isn't it? You didn't steal it, did you?"
"Ahem... a friend in our party was a merchant, so..."
Well, the source wasn't what mattered right now.
"Alright. Let's go."
Silon's face immediately brightened.
Seeing him so obviously thrilled momentarily annoyed me, making me wonder if I should just leave him behind,
'Sigh, let's not stoop to his level.'
Considering he guided us and even brought a carriage, I decided to let it slide one more time.
"Thank you! Let me check it over for a moment!"
Silon inspected the carriage wheels once and nodded.
"Looks like there are no issues. Hurry up and get in."
Gripping the handle of my mace tightly in my left hand, I climbed onto the back of the carriage.
Eileen quickly followed.
Silon hoisted himself onto the saddle and let out a long sigh.
"...So you know how to drive a horse."
Seeing as he even had a bow slung across his back, he must be more capable than I thought.
As I muttered calmly, Silon just scratched his head without saying a word.
The carriage creaked and slowly began to move.
The sounds of the zombie horde fading behind us gradually grew quieter.
An inexplicable emptiness spread through my mind, and through the cracks, the relief of being alive seeped in.
***
Clatter, clatter.
The carriage jolted constantly as it passed through the plains.
And finally, we reached a stable section that could at least be called a road.
'What was that druid trying to say, anyway?'
Unlike the warning he had given, we made it out of the forest quite easily.
I expected something to happen, but this was practically a picnic.
We hadn't done anything to trigger any unexpected variables while we were there.
...Was it all just nonsense?
Or was he just spouting hot air to scare us?
In any case, it was a relief to get out of the forest so quickly.
"How long do you think it'll take?"
"Hmm... I think it will take about a day."
The sun had already passed its zenith and was slowly setting.
Everyone was too exhausted to travel through the night.
Now we needed to stop for a moment and catch our breath.
"Let's rest here for a bit."
"Alright."
"Yes...."
Honestly, whether Silon dozed off or not, we just had to stay in the carriage, so I wondered if we should just push through.
But if we took a wrong turn, we'd be truly screwed... so resting was the right call.
We got off the carriage and began setting up a campsite.
Naturally, all the camping equipment was what Silon's party had loaded onto the carriage.
When asked why they had left so much behind, Silon laughed awkwardly and replied.
"We thought it would only take half a day since it was a simple request...."
They must have been quite the fools.
From what I loosely gathered, it was a missing person investigation request similar to the Kalzheim priest.
To think they came in expecting to finish such a request in half a day.
...Well, maybe this was the average for mercenaries who lived without a second thought.
It wasn't like all the mercenaries in the world were professionals to begin with.
A brief silence fell over the campsite.
Everyone was exhausted, and we weren't the talkative type anyway.
Just as I was thinking about closing my eyes.
"...What should I do now?"
Silon asked with a gloomy face.
Well. What did he want me to say.
I understand feeling lost because all his colleagues died, but....
We weren't close in the first place, and I wasn't in a leisurely enough situation to listen to a boy's worries.
At the same time, however, his words evoked a lot of thoughts in me as well.
Because I was always living with similar concerns.
What on earth should I do.
Right now I was taking requests, fighting, running away, and just surviving day by day, but
What came next? After the request was over? Once the carriage stopped?
Where...... should I go.
My ultimate goal was to return home.
However, I still had no idea how I could actually get back.
Was it really okay to keep living like this?
My mind grew complicated.
Just then, I heard a small voice from beside me.
"......I feel the same way."
It was Eileen.
Beyond the light of the campfire, her face showed clear signs of exhaustion.
As I turned my head, she hugged her knees and spoke quietly.
"At first, my only goal was to survive, but as I kept running...... at some point, I think I forgot the reason and the direction."
No one could reply to those words.
Perhaps Silon, myself, and even Eileen were all trapped within the same question.
Besides surviving, what else should we do?
A spark popped softly.
For a while, we silently stared at that small sound.
***
The next morning.
We finished a light breakfast with the last piece of hardtack and got back into the carriage.
Silon, seemingly embarrassed by his emotional outburst the previous dawn, couldn't lift his head the entire time.
...It made me feel awkward for no reason....
To be honest, I hadn't said much either, but it felt like I had unnecessarily gotten emotional with him.
Well, I suppose everyone has nights like that.
"You'll be able to find the way properly today, right?"
Sitting at the front, Silon silently nodded and looked down the path.
The pony pulled the carriage without issue, and though the wheels still rattled, it was better than yesterday.
A dirt road stretching out endlessly across the calm plains.
At this rate, it felt like we could actually reach the village within a day.
And as for what comes next, I decided not to think about it just yet.
The carriage slowly moved forward under the morning sun.
"You are a magician, right...?"
After holding the reins in silence for a long time, Silon quietly opened his mouth.
Considering how far we'd come, there was no way he didn't know I was a magician.
I even conjured water for him during breakfast; it would be stranger if he hadn't noticed after seeing that.
Seeing him ask this now, he must have been quite bored.
"Why?"
"Because this is my first time seeing a magician."
"Really? Then what do you think a magician is like?"
Honestly, I was curious about this too.
Rather than someone who grew up in a castle like Eileen, I wanted to hear the perspective of a guy who had rolled around in the field.
"Hmm... Let's see. People who shoot fire from afar and can do anything with a wave of their hand? That kind of image, I suppose."
Silon carefully pulled the reins and continued.
"Actually, I once heard a rumor that knights clashed with a magician in the capital. They said they were terrifying people you shouldn't even make eye contact with."
That kind of story wasn't unfamiliar.
Magicians certainly weren't common in this world, and it seemed they were subjects of mingled fear and awe.
Well, I felt the same way when I first used magic after possessing this body.
"So, are you scared of me now?"
When I asked with a slight smile, Silon shook his head with a flustered expression.
"Ah, no! I'm not scared. It's just... fascinating. Like, you don't seem like a real person, I guess."
...Don't seem like a real person, huh.
Those words struck me in a strange way.
Was it because I truly wasn't a person from this world?
Or was it because using magic itself felt like something far removed from humanity?
I closed my eyes for a moment and opened them.
The sky was clear, and the horse was still pulling the rattling carriage.
I let a tiny amount of the mana residing within me flow to my fingertips.
A single water drop formed, then quickly vanished as if seeping into the empty air.
"......You're not wrong."
"I'm not scared!"
When Eileen chimed in, I nodded briefly and let out a small chuckle.
Then, quietly, I fell back into my thoughts.
The carriage continued to move forward.
And in that quiet peace, I felt my mind strangely settle down.
***
I don't know if things are like this because the country is inherently a mess, or if the country was ruined because it's a mess.
One thing is clear: expecting a proper road in this country has now become a luxury.
The paths people used to frequent had already been taken over by monsters, or became areas infested with thieves.
We were cautiously passing through a narrow, single path between small woods.
And just like that, as expected, trouble struck.
Goblins leaped out from the bush.
"Kiek!"
"Aaagh!!"
Neigh!
With Silon's scream, the horse bolted forward in shock, stepping on a goblin and causing the carriage to lurch violently.
Fortunately, the wheels held up. The carriage instead picked up speed and dashed forward.
"Goblins again?"
"Riv, above you!"
But a few goblins had already clung onto the carriage.
One trying to climb onto the roof, one hanging near the wheels, and then.
"K-kuhek!"
The hand of the bastard climbing up next to me reached the windowsill.
I swung my mace without hesitation. As I smashed its fingers dead on, a sticky popping sound rang out along with the goblin's scream.
"Kieeeek!!"
"Get lost!"
With a shriek, the bastard tumbled down. But it wasn't over yet.
"Aaaargh! Get away!"
Silon's scream came from the front.
It seemed a goblin had latched onto the horse as well.
But the back was more urgent right now.
"Eileen! Take the window!"
I shouted, checking the inside of the carriage.
This carriage was structured like a converted cargo cart.
Shaped like a crude wooden box, it had small windows the size of a palm cut into both sides.
Normally, they would just be used for ventilation, but to the goblins, those windows were excellent entrances.
Through the empty, barless holes, the small-bodied bastards were crawling in.
"I'll block the back!"
"Okay!"
Gripping my mace, I spun around.
At the widest entrance, one goblin was already shoving its upper body in.
Baring its jagged teeth, it let out a sharp shriek.
"Kiek!"
There was no time to hesitate.
I swung my mace right at it.
Thwack.
With the sound of something getting crushed, the goblin's body bounced backward.
However, that wasn't the end.
As the goblins clung on, the carriage's speed dropped and its balance wavered, and in that opening, I could see even more goblins rushing in from outside.
There were more of them than I thought.
[Water Barrier]
Instantly, a stream of cold water surged from thin air and completely filled the entrance.
As the transparent curtain of water enveloped the doorway, the goblins hanging onto the carriage screamed in panic.
"Kiek!? Kiek!"
One of them scratched at the barrier with its front paws, then, seemingly annoyed, began to flail around.
But the barrier wouldn't break that easily.
This wasn't just ordinary water; it was a barrier formed through the condensation of magic power.
The goblin in the back poked the one in front and raised a stone high in its hand, as if telling it to move out of the way.
Then it slammed the stone right into the barrier.
Thump!
As the stone bounced off the magic power, the barrier shook violently.
Seemingly gaining confidence from that tremor, the goblins shrieked in excitement.
"Kehihik! Kieeeek!"
As if sensing me grit my teeth, the bastards gleefully pounded on the barrier while hanging onto the carriage.
These little shits... having a lot of fun, aren't they?
I deliberately took a half-step back.
I created enough space between the entrance and the Water Barrier for the goblins to squeeze in.
The goblins looked momentarily confused.
"Kiek?"
But their eyes soon flashed with excitement as they shoved their bodies through the gap in the barrier.
One, two, three.
Four... perfect.
I poured mana into the Water Barrier to reinforce it, and in that instant, I swiftly lunged forward.
Thump.
"Heave-ho!"
Smack!
A Shield Charge, pushing forward with the massive Water Barrier.
The four goblins that had entered became tangled together and flew right out of the moving carriage.
The screams of the goblins trailed off into the air as they flew.
"Kiyaaaaak!"
"Kkieeek!"
One of the bastards thrown from the carriage crashed straight into the others trailing behind it.
The goblins tumbled backward like pins struck by a bowling ball.
Clatter! Thud.
Watching that sight, a refreshing feeling crossed my mind for some reason.
'Maybe, I have already adapted to this world.'