Uninvited Guests

"D-Departing now...!"

"I'll be in your care."

"I will serve you with my very best!"

I am heading to the Citadel. I traveled by carriage.

If I had it my way, I would have just led a horse and gone, but my leg isn't in great condition for that.

It's not like I'm short on money, and it's not something to be stingy about, so I figured I'd just take a ride.

For some reason, the coachman was trembling.

He and Jin were definitely ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠meeting for the first time. I don't know why he's shaking.

Hmm, for now, it doesn't seem to be my fault. What's so scary about a young man dressed neatly, unarmed, and wearing a smile?

...Anyway, there are perks to taking a carriage.

If I had gone on horseback, I think ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it would have been difficult to keep looking after it.

I might have left it somewhere for a moment only to find it later as a puddle of blood after being devoured.

Even so, I could just buy or rent another one when I leave, so it wouldn't really matter... but it's heartbreaking, isn't it? So, this is the good thing about a carriage.

"I can't go any further!"

"Hah."

Ah, just as I was about to talk about the good points, a bad point immediately occurred.

Don't they say horses are naturally cowardly animals?

Today, Jin met a human who was even more cowardly than such a horse.

The carriage stopped. At a point where the arrival wasn't far off.

"What is the reason?"

For now, I am a civilized intellectual. I ask for the reason with words.

To be scared, nothing had happened until now.

There were no bandits coming to shake us down, no sudden orc raids—nothing like that at all.

Isn't it obvious, considering the greatest hardship so far was that the road was bumpy and the ride quality was quite poor?

Therefore, the coachman would have to provide a proper answer.

Jin didn't particularly want to forgive someone who took the money and was now going on strike.

"That city! Monsters are definitely coming out of there!"

"Aha."

I wondered what the problem was, and it was that.

...Did The Company lie to me?

'Didn't you say it was classified-nim?'

Well... sure, control can't be perfect.

If it's a coachman who has many reasons to travel here and there, he might have picked up a rumor leaking from somewhere.

However, that is that.

"If you knew, you shouldn't have even accepted this job in the first place. Then I could have found someone else."

And this is this.

It's fine to be scared. But it's not okay to pretend to work after taking the money and then do this.

"This is quite disappointing."

"...! B-But! It couldn't be helped!"

"Spit it out... no, please tell me."

The coachman, completely consumed by fear, continued in a trembling voice.

"If I refused, you looked as if you would kill me—"

"Dammit."

He was shifting the blame onto me again.

Usually, it's a nonsensical excuse, but surprisingly, or sadly, it's something I've heard quite often.

People blamed me with strange consistency whenever they made excuses.

If it happened once or twice, I'd just mess them up and be done with it, but since it happens so repeatedly, I'm in a state of slight resignation.

"...Anyway, so this is what you're saying. You didn't want to do it, but since you were scared, you took the money, and now that we're almost there, you're going to run away because you're scared."

"Money...! If you wish, I can return some of it! I absolutely cannot go to the end of that place!"

Hoo-mmm....

"Absolutely not?"

"Yes! Absolutely!"

"No matter what happens?"

"...Yes!"

It's not like I'm particularly trying to harm him.

It's just that one fact came to mind.

Not everything in the world can be solved with a lot of money.

But sometimes, there are things that can be solved with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠even more money.

"Fine. Then get the hell out."

Ah, of course, I had no more money to give to a person like that.

I'd rather just walk a bit. It's not even that far.

Fire has a very mysterious characteristic.

It makes the person looking at it empty all their thoughts and keep staring.

Jin is doing that right now. In the forest where night has fallen, he is spacing out while having lit a single campfire.

It's an expected situation. With a leg that can't run fast, I didn't think I'd be able to arrive immediately even if I moved diligently at a late hour.

I'd rather rest today and arrive tomorrow morning. That was the plan.

Sleeping on the street is no problem at all. I've grown used to it while doing adventurer work anyway.

Since there were light rations and water in the luggage I brought, I consumed them.

And then... I just need to fall asleep in this warm place where the campfire is.

"...Hmm."

That's what would have happened normally.

If a variable occurs, I cannot fall asleep.

I grasp the cane that I had set down on the ground.

And I continue to sit still. I don't go out of my way to turn my body.

A presence was detected from afar. One person.

They are getting closer. It wasn't a coincidence; they were running exactly toward me.

Three.

Two.

One....

The sound of rustling comes from the bushes, basurak,

"...Who is it?"

Only then, as if sensing the presence, Jin slowly turned his head.

And there, a woman appeared, pushing through the bushes.

She was a yellow-haired woman. Looking at her attire alone, she seemed close to an adventurer.

She is panting. She must have had a hard time running here without rest.

"...A-A person?"

She says that. She is very full of vigilance.

'In this situation, aren't I the one who should be more flustered?'

Well, since I already knew, I wasn't flustered at all.

"Of course. I'm a person."

"...."

She still doesn't let down her guard.

She is just staring at Jin without closing the distance at all.

That's possible.

On a night like this, you can't tell if a person you're seeing for the first time ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠is an enemy or not.

To put it bluntly, couldn't I be a robber who suddenly pulls a knife from his chest and tells her to hand over everything she has?

So, this is a perfectly possible thing. I understand.

'Hoo-mmm....'

I understand. It's just that I don't think that's the only possible reason.

"Well, is there anything I can help you with?"

"H-How do you know whether I need help or not...!"

"Well, someone running around at night to the point of panting for breath obviously has a story."

"...."

How many people in the world would do nighttime calisthenics like this?

"If you were just passing through, you may continue on your way. I intend to stay still right here."

"...."

"Or, if you'd like to warm yourself by the fire, you may do so. I won't mind."

With those words, I intentionally turned my head back.

To show that I really wouldn't care what she did.

...Of course, apart from that, I am staying alert.

I wait. Without taking any action.

I couldn't bring myself to lie down to sleep in this state.

Even in showing that I'm in a defenseless state, there's a line.

Waiting.

Waiting.

And after waiting for a while....

"...Hmph!"

She approaches cautiously, lets out a coy sound, and sits on the opposite side of me.

She seems to be quietly warming her body by the fire while hugging her knees.

She even shivers once. Is it fear? Or is her cold body thawing out?

"Um, are you alright?"

I try striking up a conversation.

"...Do I look, alright?"

A fairly prickly answer comes back. Haha....

An adventurer, and a female adventurer with a prickly attitude. Something very nostalgic is on the verge of coming back to mind.

'...It feels unpleasant.'

"You do look like you're having a hard time. Is there any way I can help you?"

"...."

"Water? Or food?"

"...."

"Or, should I give you my coat? Are you cold?"

The last part was just something I said. Because she was shivering.

Honestly, even if it's night, it's not cold weather.

"...T-Try giving it to me then."

But unexpectedly, the thing she reacted to was the last suggestion.

She's cold. I guess she's cold.

I take off my coat. Handing it to her, I ask.

"May I ask your name?"

"I-I have no name to tell the likes of y-you...."

"That's a shame."

I think that's possible. Since I have no name to tell her either.

More than that, there's something else that bothers me.

'Her eyes... seem fine.'

Instead, her body is cold and her voice is trembling.

'2 stacks.'

For now, it's at the stage of "that's possible." The stage of coincidence.

It would become certain if I checked the color of her blood, but would she show that willingly?

'...Should I check when she's sleeping?'

Then it would be certain.

"Are you on your way from the Citadel?"

"...H-How did you know?"

"Just, because of the direction and the fact that there's no other city around here besides that one?"

"...."

Silence.

In this case, I'll take it as an affirmative.

"I'm on my way to the Citadel for work."

"...!"

"Well, do you have any advice for me?"

Like a good restaurant or a place to stay, anywhere, I trailed off.

I didn't ask the most curious thing from the start.

Then she might go beyond just shutting her mouth and run away.

I ask such a light question and wait for her reaction.

A moment of silence.

If I wait patiently, she finally begins to open her mouth slowly.

"In that place—"

—Sareureuk!

But that mouth closed again.

Because this time, the bushes behind Jin's back rustled, basurak.

She stood up, very startled.

He, too, only slowly turned his head this time.

This time, too, it wasn't a beast. It was a person.

"Oh, glad to meet you."

"Glad to meet you too."

"...."

"It is a fire. May I impose on you for a moment?"

"Of course."

He was a man with a peculiar way of speaking.

I think there are truly many guests tonight.

...I don't know if they are the guests I hoped for, or if they are good guests.

And in the first place... I don't even know if they are human guests.