Ch.152Covered Wagon

# April 27th, Wind Day Morning.

We finally departed for the next western city after completing our three-week stay in Atelier.

Taking the route that bypasses the southern swamplands, we faced a grand journey of over 260km to the 6th Western City, Moon Lake.

Even with Ancestor’s mobility, it would be a long trip taking about ten days.

“The Snow-White Demon Lord Anastasia?”

“Yes, that’s definitely what she said.”

While maintaining minimal vigilance as we traveled, I shared with everyone what Anastasia had told me last night.

I had originally planned to tell them before leaving our lodgings, but newspaper reporters had begun to gather around early in the morning, forcing me to postpone the conversation.

“Demon Lord… sounds like something out of a novel.”

“Oh? Are there many novels like that around here too?”

“Not really. Grantis itself is a land full of mysteries, so novels set in times of kings and swordplay aren’t particularly popular.”

“I suppose that makes sense.”

With treasures and monsters roaming just outside the city walls, I guess there isn’t much demand for fictional stories set in medieval Europe.

Though Phyllis seems like she might have read many of those kinds of novels…

“Setting aside the novel talk, does anyone know anything about this ‘Snow-White Demon Lord’? Any old tales or legends?”

“Well… I’ve never heard of any artifacts or documents related to that being discovered.”

“This is the first I’ve heard of a Demon Lord too. However, if she swore by her name using an Arcane Word, I think it’s worth believing.”

“Is swearing with an Arcane Word really that significant?”

“As a mage, Jessica would know that swearing by one’s name carries great meaning in magic. Moreover, a vow using an Arcane Word would have effects close to mind control or subjugation spells.”

So Anastasia essentially cast a mind control spell on herself to promise that her actions wouldn’t harm humanity?

That mysterious sensation that flowed into my chest at that time must have been related to the Arcane Word vow.

“Then shall we accept Anastasia’s proposal? We can’t trust her 100%, but if Phyllis says it’s fine, I suppose there’s no problem.”

“Hmm~ Couldn’t Will just conquer her instead?”

“Huh?”

“She’s been after Will since they first met, right? If he pretends to give in, lures her to bed, and leaves her in a daze, she wouldn’t even dream of betrayal, would she? Hehehe.”

Hearing Mina’s words, the three women looked at each other and began whispering in low voices.

“That’s convincing…”

“Come to think of it, Will has never been the first to get tired…”

“The other day, the three of us collapsed first. Even if she’s a succubus, if Will gets his hands on her…”

“Don’t say such nonsense. What exactly do you all think I am?”

As I lightly tapped Mina’s head while saying this, feeling secretly pleased was probably just a sad male instinct.

In any case, I have no intention of getting physically involved with that suspicious succubus queen, so it’s a meaningless conversation.

The first place we visited on our route bypassing the swamplands was a stronghold called Southern Fortress.

As the names Northern and Southern suggest, Southern Fortress was also a square-shaped stronghold surrounded by sturdy walls.

Like Northern Fortress, it had only minimal amenities such as traveler lodgings and grocery stores, but there was a distinctive feature of Southern Fortress that caught our attention as soon as we passed through the entrance.

“Oh? There are carriages lined up along the eastern wall!”

“That’s Southern Fortress’s famous carriage market. It started as a repair shop for carriages damaged while traveling through the swamplands, but it gradually expanded to include used carriage trading and even new carriage manufacturing.”

“Are there many people who buy carriages here?”

“Well, the route bypassing the swamplands is quite long, and there are constant small transport requests between Atelier and Moon Lake. So parties who were planning to buy a carriage might think, ‘This is a good opportunity.'”

Parties who were planning to buy a carriage…

Come to think of it, around the time I first got Ancestor, before Mina and Phyllis joined the team, we briefly discussed purchasing a carriage.

We put it off until we had more party members, but maybe it’s time to seriously consider buying one.

“Since we’re here, shall we take a look? We’ve earned quite a bit of money recently, so if the price is reasonable, it might not be a bad idea to buy one.”

“I thought you’d say that. Let’s drop off our luggage at the lodgings and then look around.”

“Agreed~”

The traveler lodgings at Southern Fortress, like those at Northern Fortress, consisted of one large room resembling a barracks, used by 16 people.

The one improvement over Northern Fortress was that each bed had a storage cabinet with a lock, large enough to fit even a big bag.

Thanks to this, we could leave our luggage at the lodgings without worrying about loss or theft, and all go together to explore the carriage market.

The carriage market had dozens of carriages on display, but they could be broadly categorized into three types.

First were the cart-type cargo wagons that looked like large, sturdy handcarts. The small model that Albert from the 3rd Western City used was of this type.

Starting at a reasonable used price of 600-700 gold, their advantage was affordability, but they lacked durability and comfort, and were vulnerable to bad weather unless covered with a separate waterproof tarp.

Since our purpose for buying a carriage was for people to ride in rather than cargo transport, this model was out of consideration.

The next noticeable type was the covered wagon, which made up the majority of the merchandise. These were the iconic prairie schooners of the western frontier era.

Priced around 1,000 gold for used models and about 2,000 gold for new ones, they were somewhat expensive but had spacious interiors and were covered with waterproof canvas tents, making them somewhat resistant to bad weather.

Unlike cart-type cargo wagons, they had minimal suspension structures, making them suitable for travel.

Finally, the hard-case passenger carriages started at 2,000 gold for the cheapest used models, with new ones exceeding 5,000 gold.

They featured suspension structures using leaf springs, and wheels wrapped in a rubber-like material for good ride comfort, but compared to covered wagons, their interiors were cramped, requiring luggage to be placed on the roof.

In emergencies such as enemy attacks, when something needed to be retrieved from the luggage, they could be even more inconvenient than cart-type cargo wagons.

“The covered wagon seems like the most reasonable option… but the basic requirement of needing two or more horses is a problem.”

“Small carriages pulled by a single horse are rare in the market.”

“I can modify it to fit Ancestor. With some spare materials and 2-3 hours, it should be enough.”

“Oh, as expected of a dwarf craftsman.”

“Hehe~ Look forward to it. I plan to gradually improve its performance as we travel.”

After narrowing our choice to a covered wagon, it was time to find a model we liked among the available options.

Even among covered wagons, there were various sizes and shapes, and some used items had been modified to suit their previous owners’ preferences, making it difficult to choose just one.

After careful selection, we finally chose a new mid-sized carriage for 2,500 gold.

Though described as mid-sized, it was designed to be pulled by two large horses, so the interior space was quite roomy, and the body had been treated to prevent decay and corrosion, offering great merit in terms of durability and maintenance.

“Well then~ Let me show off my skills a bit~”

As soon as we purchased the carriage, Mina borrowed the open space behind the shop and began modifying the shaft.

The shop owner, who thought we were converting it to a four-horse carriage, tried to stop us when he saw us installing a single-horse shaft, but after seeing Ancestor’s impressive stature and hearing that he had 2-3 times the strength of a normal horse, he became interested and helped with the modification.

After about two hours of work, the covered wagon was transformed into a single-horse carriage, and we conducted a test drive witnessed by the shop owner and about 20 residents of the stronghold.

“Oh…ohhhh!? It’s really pulling it by itself!”

“Whoa, is that adventurer’s horse a monster!?”

“What breed is it? It seems docile, so it can’t be a wild horse.”

The result was, of course, a great success.

The sight of Ancestor easily pulling the carriage with five people aboard drew exclamations and cheers from the spectators.

“We just came to buy a carriage, but we’ve become the town’s spectacle…”

“Can’t be helped. It’s not common to see a horse pulling this size of carriage alone.”

“Hmm… this was a blind spot. It seems we’ll unintentionally attract attention in the future too.”

It feels like we’ve unnecessarily drawn people’s attention, but what’s done is done.

In any case, becoming famous is inevitable when adventuring, and as they say, if you can’t avoid it, enjoy it.

“Alright, alright, we’re heading back to our lodgings now, so please make way. Our horse is gentle, but he doesn’t like being bothered by strangers.”

After sending away the spectators with a convenient lie, we left the carriage at the shop and returned to our lodgings.

Having paid a hefty sum and provided a good show, the shop would surely keep it safe until we came to pick it up in the morning.

Starting tomorrow, we’ll finally experience a genuine western journey with our covered wagon.

I might have trouble falling asleep tonight from excitement.