Diverging Paths
With that lingering wish, I left Windren, carrying the one item I hadn't found like a stubborn regret. I tilted my head, trying to guess what the missing item had been. 'What was that last one again?'
Obtaining it should've been simple—just talking to an NPC behind the entertainment district and handing over a small amount of money. I remembered exactly how to get it, yet I couldn't recall what it was until I actually saw it. Whether my farming was incomplete or not, it didn't matter now.
Following Esmar's plan, I boarded the carriage bound for the royal capital, accompanied by escort mercenaries once again. Because the distance was greater this time, two mercenaries were hired instead of one. Among them was a rare female mercenary.
"Oh my, aren't you adorable! How old are you?"
The female mercenary, who had only just noticed me inside the carriage, pinched my cheek between her thumb and forefinger without asking. From her attire, she was a mage. Right—this world had magic. It was a miracle that was hard to encounter in a remote rural village, yet it undeniably existed. It wasn't something anyone could wield just because they wanted to. Only the chosen could handle this unfair miracle.
I weakly pushed away her slender arm that kept holding my face and answered, "Thirteen."
"Wow, you're at a good age! Did you come out with your dad?"
She kept chattering in that friendly manner while casually sliding into the seat beside me. Whether it was "a good age" or "coming out with your dad," she never stopped talking. At the same time, the scent of soap—far removed from the usual metallic and sweaty smell associated with mercenaries—filled my nose. I shifted slightly away from the unfamiliar feminine scent and corrected her about my relationship with Esmar.
"He's not my dad. Just someone I know."
"Ah, really?"
The carriage started moving amid the conversation that refused to grow any warmer. Every time the wheels jolted, the metal equipment clattered. The sound of metal striking metal occasionally scraped sharply against my ears. The two mercenaries, who weren't riding horses, barely fit inside the cramped carriage space.
For a long while, only the rumbling of wheels, the bouncing of the carriage, and the clanging of metal equipment echoed inside. Amid the monotonous repetition of sounds and scenery, the male mercenary finally spoke.
"That's quite a lot of cargo…"
It sounded almost like a complaint. Following his muttered words, my gaze turned toward the inside of the carriage. Just as he said, it was packed with all kinds of metal weapons and armor. The chatty female mercenary seemed to agree as she nodded and added,
"Really is."
'Feels like looking at an overstuffed shopping basket.'
I shared their sentiment and looked around the carriage, which had no space left to lie down. At first glance, it seemed like everything had been thrown in haphazardly, but Esmar had cleverly applied a merchant's know-how to maximize space efficiency. The actual weight and quantity were far greater than they appeared. If a bandit group were to rob this carriage, they'd have enough weapons and armor to last them a while.
'Ah… bandits. Those existed too.'
While comparing things to this world's common sense, a system flashed through my mind. Random encounter elements that appeared in the field besides monsters—bandit groups. If variables piled up and bandits repeatedly robbed carriages to the point where NPCs couldn't handle it themselves, the bandits could grow into a massive force comparable to a city's garrison. Of course, even then, they'd eventually be wiped out during the final all-out assault like any other NPC.
"Normally, loading metal ingots or raw ore would be more profitable, but…"
When the two mercenaries each made a comment about the cargo, Esmar's voice came from the driver's seat. His explanation continued, as if saying "this isn't even that much."
"The weight per volume is too high, so one horse isn't enough. If we can't carry that much anyway, it's better to transport finished products instead."
"I see…"
"Oh…"
At the merchant-like explanation, they let out admiring sounds even if they didn't fully understand. It was the hardship born from a traveling merchant's ruthless calculation of profit and efficiency. I wondered if he had some kind of efficiency chart running in his head. As someone who pursued efficiency in games, I could somewhat understand that tenacious behavior. …Not completely, but a little. Even so, marking up the cost by ten to twenty times was excessive. Even stocks from ten years ago didn't rise that much.
After traveling across flat terrain for a while, the sun was nearly touching the horizon. Before it got completely dark, we diligently prepared a place to sleep behind a suitable rock. The carriage road would continue for several more days. Just like a marathon, the best approach for long-distance travel was to keep moving steadily.
"Damn it, this is getting on my nerves every time I try to light it."
Even though the sun was about to set, Esmar was only producing smoke in front of the firewood. Growing impatient because he couldn't start the fire, he soon lost his temper and fetched one of the lamps hanging on the carriage. He poured a bit of oil from the storage compartment onto the firewood, then brought over a small piece of metal from somewhere in the carriage and struck it vigorously with what looked like a small metal rod. In no time, a small flame caught on the dry grass—making all his previous struggling seem pointless. He tossed it onto the firewood, and a campfire was quickly completed.
"Tsk, I used to light it quickly with just this before. What a waste of oil."
Leaving the grumbling Esmar behind, I lay down near the campfire as the night air grew colder. Meanwhile, the two mercenaries sitting by the fire were chatting.
"We'll switch shifts after this hourglass turns about ten times."
"Yes, let's do that."
The reason for hiring two expensive escort mercenaries instead of one was exactly this. A single night watch might be manageable on a short trip like the previous carriage road, but on a journey to the royal capital that took three to four days, one mercenary couldn't handle both escort duty and night watch alone.
Second time sleeping outdoors on grass, and the uneven ground still didn't feel comfortable. As I lay there staring at the campfire, unable to sleep, I glanced at the female mercenary squatting across from me, yawning. Whether she noticed my gaze or not, her eyes were fixed emptily on the hourglass beside her. It seemed to be a twenty-minute timer, yet even as the sand grains fell rapidly, the upper chamber didn't seem to empty. When the sand finally reached the bottom, the female mercenary flipped the hourglass a little early, before it had completely finished. A small cheat born from the human desire for sleep—wanting to lie down even one minute or one second sooner.
"Huaaah…"
She occasionally yawned and rubbed her eyes vigorously. Watching her made drowsiness wash over me as well, turning her into an effective sleep aid. When sleep finally came a moment later, I tightly closed my eyes, tossed and turned in my sleeping bag, and let my consciousness drift away.
How much time had passed since I lost consciousness?
Thud!
My eyes flew open as my body shook violently. Was there an earthquake? I frowned deeply and quickly looked around, only to realize the carriage was already moving. My cocoon-like sleeping bag was gone too. I didn't remember getting on the carriage—what was going on? Was this a dream?
'Huh? Wait, what?'
As I slowly grasped the situation with half-open eyes, a voice came from beside me.
"You're awake? You were sleeping so well~"
"You wouldn't wake up no matter how much we called you, so we just carried you on."
After hearing the two escort mercenaries' words, I belatedly realized I'd been forcibly moved while asleep and rubbed my eyes. There really was truth to the saying that you wouldn't notice even if someone carried you away while deeply asleep. I received a wooden cup that still held a faint warmth and drank the soup inside, quenching both my hunger and thirst at once. Maybe because I'd just woken up, the food was especially helpful for my cold body. Even though it was only slightly warm, a gentle heat spread through my chilly insides, making my body shiver involuntarily.
"Huuu…"
"Pfft, at this rate, this kid could never be a mercenary."
"If you work as a mercenary, you get used to it eventually. What's the big deal?"
The female mercenary chuckled at my shivering and joked that I'd never make it as a mercenary. In contrast, the male mercenary didn't take the joke at face value and simply said that living this way would make anyone accustomed to it. More importantly, I never said I was going to be a mercenary. I shot back loudly enough for both of them to hear, already having my future career decided for me.
"I'm going to be a traveler."
"Ehh?"
"That's… quite a difficult decision."
At my firm declaration, the female mercenary's mouth dropped open in shock while the male mercenary let out a small laugh, as if it were no easy path. The female mercenary, looking genuinely concerned, casually patted my head and offered advice.
"You should try being a mercenary first, then think about becoming a traveler later."
"Yeah, honestly, there's not that much difference between a traveler and a mercenary anyway."
Even so, wasn't the work they did completely different? I tried to refute it inwardly, but Esmar joined in from the driver's seat, sounding worried as he drove another nail in.
"Why don't you listen to the mercenaries? Being a mercenary is just experiencing sleeping outdoors, but being a traveler is the real deal."
'Is… is that so?'
My once-certain decision began to waver slightly at the advice fluttering around my ears. No, but if I was just going to wander around looking for hidden items anyway, did I really need to get involved in mercenary work…? Ah, right… I'd need money to some extent. Then… maybe I should try mercenary work after all? The straight path I'd imagined in my heart suddenly felt like it had split into multiple branches.