An Adventurers' Night
What with the commotion that had broken out that morning, and the villagers' insistence on repaying us somehow, we ended up staying one more night in the village.
"The sky's clear today."
"…Master. Don't you think this is a little unfair?"
"Hmm. Not sure what you're talking about."
I looked up at the clear blue sky, listening to Lucy's complaints as she shouldered a load of luggage that had swollen considerably since our arrival in the village.
"Take care of yourself, dear."
"We've been a real burden. I'll be sure to come visit again."
"Fufu. I can look forward to that, then?"
"Yeah. Of course."
Paying back both grudges and kindness threefold is our mercenary company's motto, after all.
"Could I give you just one hug?"
"…Just this once."
Looking at Carol's lonely face as she made the request, I opened my arms and hugged her as she came close.
"You have to stay healthy."
"Don't worry. I may not look it, but without my health, I'd just be a corpse."
It had only been three short days, but Carol had poured so much affection on me that I couldn't help wondering if this was what having a family felt like.
"Well then, I'm really going now."
With that, I gave her back one last pat.
"Bye-bye! Big sis Ren!"
"Thank you so much for saving my husband!"
"Come back again sometime!"
I waved my wings at the villagers who'd come out to see us off.
"Quite the unexpected connection, isn't it?"
"It's unexpected connections like these that make life interesting."
It sounded like something an old man would say, but Huey was right.
"This is the real charm of traveling."
I turned around, taking in the sight of the village already fading from view, and felt my lips curl into a smile at a feeling so different from the bleakness of mercenary life.
"It's flooded, just as I thought."
"Well, it should be fine."
And sure enough, before long we came upon the path leading to the quarry, still flooded from the torrential rains of the past few days.
*Flap!*
I spread my wings and lifted myself into the sky.
"Grab my legs."
"Thanks."
Feeling Huey's hands clamp around both my ankles, I beat my wings a few times to gather the wind.
"Here we go."
"…I could get addicted to this."
"Don't say creepy things like that."
I set Huey down on the other side, then prepared to take off again to ferry Lucy across — and froze in shock. Even accounting for the weight of the coffin she was carrying, the heaviness I felt far exceeded anything I'd imagined.
"Holy shit. You're heavy."
"How rude."
Judging by the weight, she was about as heavy as that coffin dangling below her. Definitely far heavier than Huey, at least.
"Ugh, no wonder I couldn't get out from under you."
"…Shall I take that to mean Ren would like a turn as well?"
"I'll pass."
If I got pinned under that weight, there was no way I could escape in my current state.
"Alright, we're here."
After ferrying both of them across, I touched down on the ground.
"Oof."
Gonna need to get better at landing.
"Never thought we'd be delayed by three whole days… Ren, is it okay if we're late?"
"I figure we've got at least a month of leeway."
"That's quite generous."
Our captain might look lazy, but she's meticulous about this sort of thing. Anything that needs handling within a month, she always sets a clear deadline for.
"Besides, Frederica already knows exactly where we are anyway."
She said she even carved tracking magic into the communication artifact we use.
"So no need to worry."
"If you say so."
If it's urgent, she'll contact us first anyway.
*Tap, tap-tap…*
Before we knew it, two days had already passed since leaving Brody Village.
"Is it ready yet?"
"Just a little longer."
"You're always so impatient."
With about half a day's journey left to Swinford, we'd found a suitable clearing in the forest and were preparing camp around a fire.
"That smell is killer…"
"You'll regret it if you eat now, so wipe that drool first. *Chew.*"
"How can you say that while hogging it all to yourself?"
I directed my complaints at Huey, who'd been leisurely roasting the fish he'd caught earlier on a stick and eating them all by himself.
"I clearly offered you some, and you said you didn't want any?"
"Get your facts straight. I didn't say I didn't want any — I said I wanted to eat the meat first."
"Same difference."
"…They say men stay kids no matter how old they get."
And there was Lucy, sipping cocoa beside us with a look of pure disdain.
…Does she really like cocoa that much? She's even having it for dinner now.
"Ugh, I'm starving."
"It's almost done, so hang in there. Once we hit the city, I'll make you something ridiculously good."
"Really!?"
"There's something I've been wanting to cook for you at least once."
Now that I'm looking forward to.
"Looks like it's about ready."
"Oh."
Saying that, Huey poked the meat a few times with his skewer, then nodded at me.
"Thanks for the meal!"
I lifted the meat from the fire by gripping both ends of the bone with my wings, then marveled at its mouthwatering appearance.
"This is incredible…"
"Hey, hey. What if you drop it?"
"…Looking at her, she'd probably just eat it off the dirt if it fell."
Whatever they said beside me, I just tore into the meat. Sinking my teeth into a huge chunk, the juices burst out naturally.
"Heheh…"
When Huey had first tossed this meat into our luggage saying he'd marinate it properly in sauce, I'd been privately annoyed. From now on, I decided, I'd follow Huey's word completely on anything food-related.
"How is it?"
"*Chew.* It'sh sho good…"
"Glad it suits your taste."
Today's lesson: patience can be an excellent seasoning.
"Haa, that hit the spot…"
After finishing the meal—
"Hey, eat a little slower. You'll get a stomachache."
"But what am I supposed to do when it's this good?"
"Master. That idiot bird whose only virtue is a sturdy stomach is never going to get a stomachache."
"What was that, you little—?"
A few days and she's already gotten comfortable enough to run her mouth.
"What else would you call someone who kicks a beehive without even checking, just because she's curious?"
"Even I got a scare when she poked that beehive earlier."
"Ahem."
Well, sure, I may have done something a little dumb…
"Do you have a problem with that?"
"…No, ma'am."
How underhanded, winning with facts.
Lucy kept needling me for a good while after that.
"Alright, alright. It's already over."
"Tch."
Only then did Huey step in with a snicker to mediate.
You're the worst one of all, you bastard.
"Night watch is as we decided earlier. Tomorrow we move out early and rest at an inn."
"Understood."
"Okay."
With that, I turned in first, gazing up at the sky with a slightly wounded heart and making a vow.
The fact that I'm being treated like this is entirely the captain's fault. I will have my revenge.
I'd had a bad feeling, and sure enough — just like in Dublin, we got stopped by the gate guards.
"Damn those beastman bastards. Just wait till they cross my path."
"Never thought we'd get caught in an inspection here too."
"They must be quite a capable group, given they've managed to operate this long without getting caught."
I swear, if I catch those bastards, I'm snapping every last one of their spines.
"Calm down and let's find a place to stay first."
"Yeah… *sigh.*"
"Shouldn't we go meet this Frederica person first?"
Nngh.
It would be better to go see Frederica first, but…
"Forget it. Let's just rest today."
Meeting her looking like this is going to take every bit of stamina I've got.
Passing through the commercial district, we entered a street lined with inns and taverns.
*CRASH!*
With a tremendous boom, the door of a tavern in the distance came flying off.
"Tsk. Some idiot's causing a scene in broad daylight. We're definitely not going near that place."
"Good grief. Look at all that dust flying. Master, let's go around that way."
"Sometimes you two really do look alike."
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
"Who looks like who? Are your eyes broken?"
"Are Master's eyes just for decoration? How could you possibly say I look like Ren?"
"…I'm not even going to argue."
Huey shook his head in disbelief, then—
"Hey, wait up!"
"Honestly, the moment he has nothing left to say, he always just runs away."
—promptly started walking ahead of us at a brisk pace.
And then…
"Oh, this place looks decent."
Before long, Huey suddenly stopped.
"Eughk!"
"Pfft!"
At Huey's sudden stop, Lucy following behind couldn't brake in time and planted her face squarely into his back with a weird noise.
"Ah, sorry."
Huey did his best to ignore the trembling Lucy, head bowed in mortification, and fled into the inn building. Lucy, sweeping her hair back with both hands, followed after him.
"…I will have my revenge. Without fail."
I saw it clearly. The murderous look Lucy was leveling at Huey.
He's a dead man.
Even as we headed up to our rooms after checking in to unpack, Lucy's unwavering stare must have been weighing on him.
"Alright, let's each rest on our own and meet at the first-floor dining hall before dinner."
"Sure."
Watching Huey dart into his room after announcing that he'd splurged on individual rooms for once, I muttered to myself.
"Hope I get to see him alive again."