The Post Town of Steinbrücke
“Haaaam… I slept so well…”
Brita stretched with a long yawn.
Today was the day we left Windenstadt.
The academic city of Weisenthal.
We had decided to head there to find information on Gram and investigate the windless zones nearby.
“Now then… where’s that girl…”
“…”
I was sleeping again today with the most serenely peaceful expression in the world.
“Doesn’t she need to sleep that long anymore?”
Brita remembered. The reason I slept so much was the price I paid for using mana. But now that I had grown stronger, surely that wasn’t necessary anymore?
Thinking this, she crept over to pull the blanket off me.
Stealthily—stealthily—
“…”
“…”
Our eyes met as she stared down at me.
“…What are you doing?”
“You were awake. What a shame.”
“What’s a shame?”
“Oh, nothing.”
?
What the hell is wrong with her?
I had sensed something approaching and opened my eyes, only to find her standing right beside the bed.
Hmm…
Maybe I’ll just go back to sleep.
“Don’t even think about it.”
“…Tsk.”
“Tsk? If you’re awake, get up.”
I rolled my eyes toward the clock.
“It’s only six.”
“Yes, it’s six.”
I closed my eyes again.
Whoosh—
My blanket…
“So how are we getting there?”
“Let’s catch a ride to Steinbrücke.”
“Steinbrücke? We’re not going straight to Weisenthal?”
The post town of Steinbrücke.
A small village situated between Windenstadt and Weisenthal. When we asked at the inn earlier, they told us a direct carriage would take two days. The travel time was about the same whether we camped on the road or stopped at the post town, so it made sense to stop. Besides, post towns were places where travelers came and went. We might be able to pick up fresh information there.
“Okay! Then let’s go right away. If we leave now we should arrive by evening.”
Clip-clop, clip-clop.
A street near the city gate, just before the market district. All the transportation that entered and left the city gathered here.
“Hey!”
Brita called out to one of the coachmen.
“Oho, customers? What lovely young ladies. Where may I take you?”
Lovely? Her?
I glanced at Brita with that thought in mind.
“Haha! What an interesting fellow! Can you take us to Steinbrücke?”
She continued without paying any attention to my gaze. Her cheeks seemed a little flushed… but I decided to keep quiet about that.
“Oh yes, I go back and forth there all the time. Hop in!”
“Okay! We’re in your hands!”
“Thank you in advance.”
I bowed my head politely to the coachman.
“This one must be a noble young lady? The way she speaks has such elegance. Haha!”
“Haha! She’s always like that! Even I think so!”
“…I’ll take that as a compliment.”
I wasn’t a noble. My name didn’t even contain a “von.” I was probably quite different from real aristocrats.
…Probably.
Creak—rattle—
I opened the carriage door and climbed in.
“It’s been a while since I’ve ridden in a carriage.”
“You were the one who said to hurry. That’s why we walked here.”
“You walked all the way from Ostenfels?”
The coachman asked curiously.
“That’s right. All the way from Ostenfels.”
“Wow… that whole distance? You ladies are bolder than you look.”
“Well, I originally wanted to call a carriage, but she insisted on walking even though it would take so long.”
“…It couldn’t be helped. If it took five days the information would be useless.”
If we wasted too much time, those bastards might have already moved on.
“Hup… So how many days did it actually take?”
The coachman asked as he climbed up to the driver’s seat.
“About three days.”
“What? Four days?”
“No, no—three! Three days!”
Brita corrected him.
“Ah, sorry. My hearing isn’t what it used to be. But… wow, you covered that distance in just three days? That’s impressive.”
That was why we had camped in the forest. We had been in a hurry back then.
“Well, we are pretty amazing! Let’s get going already or we won’t even get dinner!”
“No worries! It’ll only take a few hours to get there. Off we go!”
Clop-clop-clop.
Ah. We’re finally leaving.
It was one in the afternoon now, so we’d probably arrive around seven.
Maybe I’ll take a little nap.
“…You’re sleeping again?”
“Why not?”
“If you sleep now you won’t be able to sleep tonight.”
“That’s not true. And you’re just going to wake me up in the morning again anyway.”
“I’m not sure about the first part, but the second part is correct.”
“Can’t you let me off the hook for once?”
“Nope.”
She really won’t let me win this one…
I thought I’d stay awake for a while and then sneak in a short nap later.
A little while later, I made plans to sleep at the right moment.
But… plans have a way of falling apart.
Clatter-clack-clack-clatter-clack-clack—
“Whoa! Coachman, you really know how to drive!”
“Haha! I’ve been doing this for nearly twenty years! Hold on tight!”
The carriage raced forward.
A little… no, a lot.
Whooooosh—
The sound of wind slamming against the carriage created constant impact noises.
In this situation… I couldn’t sleep…
Bang—
“Eep!”
I was startled by the sudden gust that blew in.
“Hah, feels refreshing! What do you think, Krim? Nice, right?”
Brita opened the window and called out to me.
“Ha… Yeah.”
Enjoying the feeling of the fierce wind whipping my hair around, I kept my half-lidded eyes open all the way to our destination.
Just you wait…
Thud.
“Whew! That was incredibly fast.”
Brita jumped down from the carriage.
The post town of Steinbrücke.
It was named after the large stone bridge nearby. The village was smaller than Windenstadt, but it was the perfect place for travelers and merchants passing through.
“Thank you. We arrived much faster thanks to you.”
“Have a safe trip! Come again anytime!”
The coachman waved with a smile and drove off.
I couldn’t bring myself to say it had been too fast. How could I complain to such a smiling face?
“We really did get here quickly.”
When I looked up at the clock tower in the square, it showed four in the afternoon. He had driven at twice the normal speed. He was an experienced coachman, but was it really okay to drive that fast?
“It’s still a bit early for dinner… What should we do now?”
“Isn’t there anything besides food?”
“Hey, you—! Sigh, fine. We got here early, so what do you want to do?”
?
Why is she getting so angry?
“Let’s look around first. We might find some useful information.”
“Huh? Wouldn’t it be better to just sit in a tavern for that?”
“Sometimes that works, but not always.”
I tilted my head slightly and pointed in a direction for Brita.
She followed my gesture and focused her gaze there.
About four people were whispering among themselves.
“…Did you hear the news? About Mr. Hans’s place on Café House Street.”
“Ah, I did. His daughter got into an accident. Such a tragic thing…”
“It really is. She was such a good student and so kind. How did she end up going there… Sigh.”
“If you’re going to the city, make sure to tell your kids never to go west. Just in case.”
“But apparently some kids these days go there to test their own skills.”
“Are they crazy? Honestly… kids these days.”
An accident. The western part of the city.
It seemed they were talking about the windless zone west of Weisenthal.
Even so, going there to test their skills? What were they thinking?
“Well, at least we got some information.”
“Plus, there probably isn’t anyone at the tavern yet. We still have time before dinner.”
“You’re right. Then let’s move around a bit.”
Brita looked ahead with a regretful expression.
You… really only have food on your mind, don’t you?
Clip-clop, clip-clop.
We walked around the village, listening to people’s conversations. We learned a few things.
First, due to the abnormal phenomena, transportation had become dangerous and the prices of goods like tea and chocolate had risen.
Second, the windless zones appeared intermittently. They seemed to form and disappear irregularly.
And… some students in Weisenthal apparently studied while cutting down on sleep.
Why? Why go that far? Why sacrifice sleep?
“…You look pretty shocked by that last part.”
Just for a moment. Only a moment… I wondered if I should consider myself lucky that I hadn’t been able to go there.
It was right then.
“St-stay… away…!”
“What’s that?”
Brita turned her head toward the sound.
The words were muffled so we couldn’t make them out clearly, but from what we could hear it was obvious something dangerous was happening.
“Stay away from me!”
“What’s wrong, little ladies? We told you to come with us.”
“That’s right~ It’s dangerous to walk around alone in a place like this, you know~? Big brothers will stay with you, okay~?”
In a deserted area, three blond men had surrounded two girls.
A girl with orange hair was protecting another girl by keeping her back to the wall, while two men who seemed to be subordinates were closing in on them.
“Ugh… If you come any closer I’ll attack!”
The girl in front trembled slightly as if frightened, but she still pointed her wand at them.
“Aww, how cute~ Big brothers aren’t bad people, you know~”
The man who drew out the ends of his words approached the girl.
“Eek…!”
“Hey, hold it right there.”
“What?”
Bam!
“Guh!”
Thud! Crash—
Brita sent the man who seemed to be the leader flying with her fist.
“Boss? Who the hell are you!”
“Who are you~!”
“…First, let’s shut that guy with the weird way of talking up.”
“…Agreed.”
Thwack—
“Kyaaah~”
The man collapsed on the spot after taking Brita’s punch.
Does that sound really come out even when he gets hit…?
“Hic! N-no, that’s not it, these ladies, we really didn’t do anything, any-anything at all, you know…?”
“What?”
“Liar!”
Crack—
“Ow!”
From behind, the orange-haired girl struck the man’s head with her wand.
“Th-these people… they were trying to drag this child away!”
The girl glared at the man as she continued.
“Saying they’d do something nice for her!”
She looked at the other girl she had been protecting.
She was much smaller… just a child.
Uh…
These people were even more deranged than I imagined.
“Krim.”
“What.”
“Is it okay if I beat them up a bit?”
“Yes.”
“Hiiik! No, ladies, I was wrong, I was very, very wrong.”
“…Touching a child is just… ugh.”
Brita let out a sigh full of contempt.
“N-no, no, that’s not what I meant. I absolutely don’t have that kind of preference, I…”
“Preference my ass.”
Thud!
“Aaargh!”
Step, step.
“What’s going on here!”
It was the guards.
They arrived pretty quickly for such a small town.
“…You’ll need to explain the situation.”
Well, it was clearly a scene of violence, so that reaction was understandable.
“We only stopped these men from trying to do that to this child.”
“Ah… I see.”
The guard’s face twisted with disgust.
“N-no, it’s a misunderstanding, really… I was just going to buy her some candy…”
“Take them away!”
“Yes sir!”
The guards dragged the men off.
The girl bowed deeply to us and followed the guards.
…I don’t know if it’s a coincidence, but why do all these incidents involve blond people? It’s bothering me for no reason.
And buying her candy… That’s way too suspicious.
“Thank you for helping us!”
The girl bowed deeply at the waist.
“We just came because we heard the noise. But why were you in a place like this?”
“Ah. I came out to investigate the post town.”
“Investigate? You don’t mean the windless area?”
Brita asked the girl.
“That’s right. You knew about it?”
“Isn’t that in the opposite direction from here?”
The windless zone was supposed to be west of Weisenthal. This was the eastern district.
“Ah, well… I found a good spot nearby for magic practice. I was there when I heard the news and came over.”
“That wand and… you must be a student learning magic?”
Brita eyed the wand the girl was holding.
“No, no. I’m a full-fledged mage!”
The girl smiled with a confident expression.
She still looked young… but she had already earned her mage license? How interesting.
“Oh, that’s right!”
The girl continued as if she had just remembered something.
“My name is Soleil! And you are my… benefactors!”
The girl who introduced herself as Soleil gave a crisp bow.
“Benefactors is a bit much… I’m Krimhild. Call me Krim.”
“I’m Brita. Your name doesn’t sound like you’re from around here?”
“Yes, Miss Krim, Miss Brita!”
She repeated our names and continued.
“I came from Brisland! I’m currently staying at the library.”
Brisland. The central region of Adelgard.
Fertile lands that appear if you head west from Weisenthal. I had heard the food there was incredibly delicious. If we passed through there later… our food budget might take a serious hit.
“The library?”
“Yes, yes. The Altwissen Library.”
“That’s exactly where we were headed too.”
The library Leonhardt had told me about. If it was there, we might find clues about Gram.
“Oh, really? Then would you like to go together? I need to go report what I’ve investigated.”
“Then let’s go together. We’re heading the same way.”
“Yes! Let’s go together!”
Soleil answered with a bright smile.
For now, we would travel together. Having someone from the library would make investigating Gram much easier.
“Sounds good. It’s almost dinner time—want to eat together? Is that okay with you, Krim?”
“I don’t mind.”
“Great!”
As we headed toward the tavern, Soleil followed along with quick, light steps behind us.
Well… one extra person shouldn’t be a problem for the food bill.