On the Road (4)
The day of our departure from the capital had arrived.
We had prepared in advance, yet once the day itself was upon us, the scramble was anything but mild.
"Ah, if I'd known it would be like this, I wouldn't have bothered with breakfast."
"You still have to eat in the morning," my sister said, sorting through the tools in the kitchen.
"Don't forget the magic implements over there."
"Yeah."
The tableware that originally belonged to the mansion wasn't ours, so we left it behind and packed only the dishes we had used on our travels. The alchemy tools had already been decided on, but…
"Ugh, did we really have this much left?"
The cupboard was full of finished products. Poison pellets, Attunement Agents, painkillers, soap, Fram.
"Fram and the poison pellets go in my pockets…"
The painkillers went into Sister Mary's pouch. At first she had forbidden their use because they contained poppy and were considered dangerous, but after countless clinical trials they had been cleared of side effects and approved for use. With three people capable of Holy Magic among us, I doubted we would need painkillers much, but still…
The soap went into a container.
A life without soap was unthinkable now. The recipe was simple enough that we would be able to keep using it going forward.
"We're done here."
"I'll check the bathroom side again."
Maybe there were towels or something?
"All right, I'll leave it to you."
I went into the storeroom and looked for anything left behind. I was especially thorough about food. If any food remained? When we came back later, the leftovers could rot, reek, and bloom with mold.
So we absolutely could not leave any behind.
"Yeah, no food left."
The iron had all been taken outside, so the storeroom was clean. That settled the storeroom as well.
I walked the mansion, checking for anything forgotten. I looked through the rooms, and just in case, even the ones we had never used. After finishing the third floor, I came down to the second and ran into Maximilian.
"I've looked through everything here."
"Have you? Then we should check the study one last time."
Had I packed all the illustrated guides and books? I wasn't certain, so I needed to make sure.
When I reached the study, it looked as though Maximilian had already tidied away the books that had been left on the desk.
"Ah—none of my books were still here, right?"
"No. If there's any book you want, you're welcome to take it."
Even in a world where paper was cheap underfoot and books were mass-produced with printing magic, books were still expensive things.
"I'm fine. There are plenty of books at my Master's place."
Someday I would inherit that secondhand bookstore, so there was no need to be greedy about books.
"I see."
Yes—nothing left behind among the books, either.
Once we finished securing the second floor and came down to the first, Sister Mary, my sister, and Priest Daniel were standing ready with their respective loads.
"Have you finished looking around?"
"Yes. I don't think we missed anything."
Well, even if we had, it wouldn't have been a real problem… When I reached for the bag sitting in the hallway, Maximilian slipped over and picked it up himself.
"Shall we go, then."
He moved quickly so I wouldn't snatch the bag back.
Really, he was so kind. My mood lifted strangely, and a smile found its way onto my face.
Once everyone was outside, Maximilian locked the mansion door with the key. Then we loaded the luggage onto the carriage and prepared to move.
"The three of you should ride inside."
"Inside the carriage?"
"Yes. We have a carriage—there's no need to walk."
Is that so…? Wouldn't it be hard on the horses?
"And with Miss Julian and Miss Mary here, what is there to worry about? If the horses tire, we can simply heal them with Holy Magic."
Ah… Holy Magic really was convenient.
Among its applications were not only wound recovery but stamina recovery as well… and through blessings, there were even ways to strengthen the horses directly.
"That's true enough."
Priest Daniel and Young Master Maximilian would take turns driving the carriage, while Sister Mary, my sister, and I rode in the cargo bed.
The prepared iron and the bags took up only about thirty-five percent of the cargo space, so there was plenty of room.
"There's a lot of space."
"We should be able to travel comfortably."
We settled into our places and lowered the canvas, and a cozy feeling settled over us.
"Is everyone seated?"
"Yes, you can go ahead."
"Then we'll be off."
Priest Daniel cast a blessing on the horses and drove the carriage forward.
Honestly speaking, the ride quality was terrible. The hard floor and the wheels absorbed none of the shock at all.
It couldn't begin to compare with the carriage I had ridden when we visited the Count's estate.
"Ow—my backside hurts more than I expected."
The one consolation was that the canvas kept out the cold wind. Pulling a sleeping bag from my pack to use as a cushion eased the pain in my hips a little.
*
Traveling by carriage was comfortable. It was faster than ordinary walking, and thanks to Holy Magic we could cut down on rest time as well. Best of all was still the canvas that blocked the wind.
But the distance we covered each day wasn't all that different from traveling on foot.
That was because of the drawbacks that came with a carriage.
First, climbing mountains was difficult. If the road was narrow or rough, you simply couldn't pull a carriage. You needed a well-maintained major road. Fortunately we were near the royal capital, so the roads were well kept and it wasn't a problem—but the closer we drew to the outskirts of the kingdom and the Meyer Territory, the more this would hold us back.
"It doesn't matter for now."
I was lying inside the carriage, nestled in my sleeping bag, reading a book.
"Yuli, are you all right?"
"About what?"
"Miss Julian is remarkable."
Sister Mary and my sister both looked pale.
"Motion sick again?"
The carriage did rock quite a bit, but both of them had it bad…
"I can endure it…"
"You're the weird one, Yuli."
Was I? I never got motion sickness at all, so I had no idea.
"We'll take a short rest."
The canvas at the front parted slightly, and a voice came through. I sat up, grabbed a few carrots, and climbed out.
"Ugh, cold!"
The chill wind greeted me the moment I stepped outside. It really was warmer inside the carriage…
The horses stood quietly at rest.
I brought the carrots over to them.
"You've worked hard."
When I held out a carrot, a horse lowered its head and began to chew, and I carefully stroked its head. After they finished their carrot snacks, Priest Daniel gave them water. Once Holy Magic had been cast on the horses, a late lunch was ready.
"Having a carriage really does make things easier," Sister Mary said as she transferred the food into bowls.
"Does it?"
"Yes. Organizing the luggage is convenient, of course, but managing the food ingredients is so much easier."
True enough—when we traveled on foot, there had been severe limits on what food we could carry.
First, there simply wasn't enough space to store things, and second, things got badly damaged while we moved. Vegetables and fruit were awkward to keep in a bag, and carrying them around in a basket wasn't easy either.
But a carriage? You just arranged everything neatly and set it down in the open space.
"To be able to eat meals like this while traveling—it's truly wonderful."
On foot, we had often foraged on the spot, boiled a simple soup from dried ingredients, or just made do with jerky and bread.
By contrast, we were eating well at every meal now. Come to think of it, the food had been good during the merchant escort mission, too. That must have been thanks to the carriages as well.
After eating the delicious lunch Sister Mary had prepared and tidying the area, we set out again.
"We should reach our destination in about two more days."
"Two days—that's still a ways off."
They had said it was about a six-day journey, so it would take exactly that long.
"You mentioned hot springs, yes?"
"Yes. It's a famous tourist destination, so I hear there's quite a bit to see."
From Maximilian's explanation, they held regular performances and concerts as well. Apparently that was because royalty and high-ranking nobles visited the place.
"I'm not particularly interested, though."
What I was curious about was whether there would be anything unusual. A new environment—might there be new materials to find?
That was the sort of thing I thought about as we rode.
Was I going to put on weight? Only a few days ago I had been doing morning exercises out of worry about soft fat settling in—and now I was just sitting in a carriage?
But it was winter, wasn't it? It was cold, wasn't it?
Right. Let's believe I won't gain weight.
With nothing to do, my mind wandered into useless thoughts.
"Everyone—bandits."
A quiet voice came from up front.
At the word bandits, my sister reached for her sword, and I took up the spear I had been neglecting.
Sister Mary rose silently to her feet.
I cracked the canvas just enough to check outside without being noticed…
Five well-armed people were blocking the road ahead.
"Didn't I tell you? On this road, there are carriages that travel without any escort at all."
Judging by their gear, they weren't ordinary bandits. Most likely… adventurers who had turned to banditry.
I glanced over; my sister was already set to leap out at any moment.
Only five of them. Either Priest Daniel driving up front or Maximilian guarding the side could have handled them alone. But there might be an ambush from behind.
I spoke so that no sound would leak outside.
"Mary, the rear—watch the rear for me."
You never knew. The ones in front might only be a distraction while their comrades struck from behind.
"You too, Sister—watch the back."
My sister nodded. Up front, a tedious exchange dragged on. Roughly: if you don't want to die, hand over the cargo and the money. Not all of it—leave half and go. And if you refuse, it won't be fun.
Weren't we near the capital, where security was supposed to be good? Or was security so good that adventurers, unable to get lucrative escort or subjugation requests, had fallen into banditry?
Sigh. Nothing but a sigh. If it was that hard, they could just move to another region… though that wouldn't be easy either.
Maximilian, apparently reluctant to shed blood, tried to talk them down gently, but…
They trusted only their numbers and grew reckless, and in the end a fight broke out.
The fight was one-sided. Neither my sister nor I needed to step in, and there were no hidden comrades. Maximilian didn't even draw his sword. He simply beat the bandits with the scabbard still on.
"Pick your targets carefully. And try living an honest life."
Maximilian delivered something that wasn't quite a sermon while the five of them knelt. They begged and begged again—please, just spare us.
In truth, they might not have been worth sparing. But there was one reason we let them live.
"I'm letting you go because you say this is your first time and you haven't killed anyone. Are you idiots, pulling this near the capital? You should count yourselves lucky you didn't run into a passing knight."
Said the man who was a knight himself…
"Yes, yes! We absolutely, absolutely won't do it again."
Why people with decent gear would do something like this, I had no idea.
We finished dealing with the bandits in short order and pressed on our way once more.