Ep.7 - Caravan Transformation!
Ep.7 - Caravan Transformation!
***
"That's right! That's what I'm sayin'~"
"Goodness... they're fierce, aren't they? What's the world comin' to? It's right grim these days, I tell ya!"
A group of merchants was chatting in front of the last hill leading into the city.
There was only one topic of conversation.
The queen's decree, issued just hours before.
"I saw it with my own two eyes! Knights all dressed up fancy, lined up in a row, I tell ya!"
"Heavens, you think you're the only one? Those little shits are runnin' round without a lick of fear, so Her Majesty the Queen drew her blade. Gwaak-! She means to sweep 'em all away!"
The knight orders had been dispatched, and indeed the forces of the entire kingdom were moving as one.
The common folk were terrified at the sight of those forces, but at the same time, they heaped unreserved praise upon the queen's decisiveness and swiftness of action.
"There's no one like our Queen, I tell ya! Peace and prosperity's right ahead, but these mongrels keep causin' trouble!"
"You just never know, do ya. Who'd have guessed the great Lady Neva would stab 'em in the back like that—"
Of course, every conversation ultimately wound its way back to condemning the criminals.
The criminals who dared to throw the world into chaos and cast the people into anxiety!
But then.
"...Huh? Who's that?"
The conversation cut off abruptly.
A woman had approached their wagon before they knew it.
"..."
The woman, who had her head tucked deep inside her hood, circled the wagon for a moment as if inspecting it, saying nothing, before finally speaking.
"Let me see your wares."
"Ah, aigo! A customer you are! Come this way! Right this way!"
Though the merchant felt an ominous energy and was utterly terrified, she strained to maintain her composure and led the customer to the back of the wagon.
All manner of spirits they'd hauled, and spices, and books...
The merchant laid them out as if boasting, and diligently studied the customer's reactions. Not that studying her could reveal what it was she wanted.
"These here are all drinks! This fella's that famous wine from the Holy Kingdom! And this here's a beer brought from way out past the Konol Grassland, still got the fizz just as it was, I tell ya!"
The merchant grew increasingly uneasy.
Even she, who had dealt with every kind of difficult customer imaginable, found this new customer, who was scrutinizing the wagon's interior right before her, nearly impossible to handle.
There was something chilling about her...
"You've got quite a lot of stuff."
The woman leaned against the wagon with her arms crossed, and ran her fingertips over the wooden panels and covers inside.
"Must be a nice wagon. Seeing how much you haul around in it."
"Th-that... that's right... it's a newly acquired cart..."
I'm freaking out!
What the hell is this bitch?
"P-p-perhaps there's nothing that suits your fancy...?"
Before she knew it, the merchant abandoned her dialect entirely and began using polite, formal speech.
Because when faced with an atmosphere this creepy, there was no room to do business comfortably.
"Oh, I don't know yet. But before that, why don't you tell that little shit to put her weapon away? If she doesn't ditch the dagger she's gripping behind her back, she's dead."
Hhk!
The uninvited guest issued her threat without even turning around, having sensed the other's attack stance.
The younger sister had prepared her weapon after picking up on the menacing mood, and yet she'd noticed it...?
Her intuition crystallized into certainty. The certainty that this person wasn't just some common thief, but a terrifying character who could slice your neck off at the slightest provocation...!
"Ah, Anna! You little shit! Put that dagger away! Wh-what are you doing to a customer...!"
"B-but... sister..."
The two merchants trembled, even on the verge of tears. But the older and more seasoned merchant swallowed hard and, addressing the [customer] with utmost respect, begged for her life.
"I-if what we've brought catches your eye, please just take it all. We won't say a word. Truly..."
"S-sister! Then what about us! Who's gonna look after Grandma and Mother...!"
"You little idiot...! Just stay quiet...!"
First, they had to survive, didn't they?
They couldn't die here.
"Th-this young one's a bit simple, so that's why. Please, just spare our lives... we beg you..."
The merchant rubbed her hands together desperately, as if they could wear away to nothing.
The sight of it was truly pitiful.
"Well, would ya look at that?"
However, the menacing woman showed no particular reaction contrary to expectations, merely giving a snort of derision.
"What're you doing? Am I killing you or something? You're getting scared all on your own and whimpering..."
She pulled a single silver coin from her bosom and tossed it to the merchant with a flick.
"One wine. That one over there. Give it to me."
"Y-yes, ma'am...! H-here it is...!"
"Don't get so scared. Kid."
The woman took the wine just like that and began chugging it in great gulps.
It was the first time in her life she'd ever seen anyone drink wine like that, but in any case, the merchant didn't have the luxury of nitpicking such barbaric habits.
The relief that her life had been saved was far greater.
Contrary to her own ominous premonition, the woman appeared to be an adventurer, not a thief or the like.
An adventurer who'd lived a bit rough!
Ahh, I'm alive!
Thank goodness!
"Th-thank you for sparing us... no, for buying from us, I truly mean it..."
"Enough. Just keep me company while I drink. You two were yapping about something earlier. What was it?"
"Ah, well...! The Queen gave an order personally, I tell ya."
"What kind of order?"
"I don't know all the details myself, but from what I hear, they're arresting that... that infamous thief bitch Philmark, and that Neva who followed her and stabbed 'em in the back. Goodness me..."
"What, Neva? Isn't Neva that Knight Commander? Famous, isn't she."
"That's right! That very person! But, well... word is the two of 'em fell for each other and ran off!!!"
Pfft-!
The customer, in the middle of drinking her wine, choked and began coughing and sputtering.
"G-goodness! Anna! Give the customer a handkerchief!"
"H-here you go!"
Well, of course.
It was shocking news.
That famously steadfast Knight Commander, falling for a thief and running off! And both of them the same sex, at that!!
"Truly the end times. How could such a thing happen?"
"Wh-what the fuck... seriously some bullshit..."
"Oh my, customer! You've every right to swear! I hurled a whole basinful of curses myself, I tell ya!"
"What kind of goddamn nonsense is that...! How the hell do two bitches...!"
"That's exactly what I'm sayin'. The two of 'em put on a whole big show of catchin' and gettin' caught, and wouldn't ya know, they got all attached!"
The merchant began spilling the rumors circulating among the common folk, verbatim.
Having gone to the brink of death and back, her mouth ran even livelier than usual.
"Haah... what a fucking joke..."
"I know, right. Tch... it's filthy! No matter how scarce menfolk are these days, that's just not it! And they were enemies, no less! How can you rub up on each other!"
"Hey. Give me another bottle."
"Goodness! I'm so grateful it brings tears to my eyes! I haven't even laid out my mat yet and I've already sold two bottles!"
The customer gulped down wine as if she'd heard something unbearable. To the merchant's eyes, that was exactly how it looked.
"Where've you come from, customer? When you first came up, I was sure you were a ghost...!"
"I've just been wandering around. Don't mind me."
"Oh dear, sorry about that. This mouth of mine just runs on and on."
"Pffha..."
The customer polished off the two bottles of wine in an instant like that,
casually tossed the bottles to the ground,
and said to the merchant.
"I'll ask one more thing before I head out. The wanted posters are just for that thief bitch and the knight?"
"Hmm... truth is, I don't really know. From what I heard, there's some little slip of a man, and a witch or something, and one with a tail... that... what's it called, a beastman? Somethin' like that."
"Alright. Got it."
The customer dusted herself off just like that and trudged away.
The vibe may have been a bit scary, but a customer who buys quick and leaves fast — who wouldn't welcome the best kind of customer there is!
"Oh my, customer! Thank you! Take care now!"
The merchant smiled from ear to ear with a happy heart, waving her hand vigorously at the customer's back to send her off.
Today's business luck seemed to be off to a fine start.
She'd already earned two silver coins right from the get-go!
"Sister, that was a relief...! I thought for sure we were in big trouble!"
"Heavens, that's your problem! If you're gonna be a merchant, ya gotta sell your wares to even an ogre passin' by, that's what I'm sayin'!"
"Sister, you're the best! So cool!!"
The two merchants grinned and chuckled like that, and then began to pack up their goods again...
just about to tidy up...
"Haaaaum..."
"Why're we suddenly so sleepy..."
It was kind of... like a drowsiness was creeping over them...
And looking around again, the grass thickets surrounding them seemed oddly still, without a single breath of wind...
"Hh, mother... goodness..."
The two of them grew increasingly dazed and staggered,
until soon they collapsed — flump — onto the lush grass.
Thin, sharp poisoned needles, planted who-knows-when, were lodged one apiece in their necks,
and once they had fallen due to the poison's effects, a group of figures began slowly approaching the wagon...
"Is this truly acceptable...? No matter the circumstances, these are innocent and virtuous merchants..."
The boldly-dressed wolf who approached, tail swishing gently, voiced her complaints with a wholly displeased expression.
"Hey. I'm the one paying. So what's the problem? If I pay, it ain't even stealing."
The customer — no, the thief — delivered that cutting remark to the wolf as she pulled out yet another bottle of wine and chugged it down.
She blew on the bottle's mouth as she casually flung pointless books and such out of the wagon.
"Stop throwing things! I told you I'll handle moving them with magic!"
The one getting angry at the thoughtless thief was the witch.
Contrary to her irritated expression, the witch was transferring the contents of one side of the wagon to another wagon intact with elegant hand gestures.
"Sometimes, a little deviation is necessary for the greater good."
The one soothing the horses as a stand-in for their original owners was the archbishop.
She whispered something to the horses and calmed them.
The horses ought to have been rearing up due to the cigar smoke, but the warmth within her acrid fog made even sensitive horses docile enough to accept her touch.
"We must hurry. We need to get as far away as possible while things are still chaotic."
The one lifting and moving the collapsed merchants with ease was the knight.
She had regained her freedom of movement after making a promise not to rampage any further.
"..."
The knight's younger sister was still pouting.
Cheeks puffed up round, lips jutting out, tied up tightly.
And, finally...
In the middle of them all, me.
'This feels... like an actual fantasy world.'
For the first time since falling into this other world,
I felt a tiny? bit of awe.
Up until now, I'd just been dragged around senselessly, and while that was happening, I kept getting fucked like a dog!
Now, we were truly moving toward a single goal.
Even if four of the members of this party were women who had made my life incredibly difficult...
'Still, it's better than before.'
Yeah.
Because it's better than before.
"...But, stop kneading me already...!"
"I don't have any snacks to go with my drinks. Snacks."
If only she hadn't cornered me into one side of the wagon and kept groping my body,
I'm sure this would have looked just like the merry journey of an isekai novel.