Chapter 30 – A Pleasant Journey

A Pleasant Journey

The day of the merchant convoy escort mission.
As written on the request form, I was sitting in a tea house in Lonzville.
Three more people were supposed to come besides me, so I guess the client will gather us here and take us along.
‘I wonder what kind of people they’ll be.’

Airi said she was out in another region for a request, so she probably won’t be here, but I hope it’s not that man who harassed me at the guild.
“Telling us to gather at a tea house that only women would go to. What do they take me for?”
…Why do ominous premonitions never fail?

The man who entered the shop flamboyantly.
About a head taller than me, with a physique that’s not excessively muscular overall.
A guy with a vicious impression, with snake-like slit eyes and short hair.
It’s that bas… guy who picked a fight with me yesterday.

The guy looked around, then spotted me and slowly approached.
“What? You’re here too? Don’t tell me you took on the same request?”
‘Stay calm.’
Think of Saya and Puel. Saya. Puel. Saya. Puel. Saya, Puel. Let’s think about Cherny once too. Cherny.
‘Whew. I feel a bit calmer now.’

“Why aren’t you answering? I asked if it’s the same request? Or did you just come to drink tea like a proper woman? Kik kik.”
“…If you mean the merchant convoy escort mission, then yes, it’s the same request.”
The man’s face began to cloud with displeasure upon hearing my words. On his chest, covered in leather armor, hung the silver-rank adventurer badge, just like when I first saw him.
How much pride does he take in that?

I guess becoming a silver-rank adventurer is this human’s greatest life achievement. How very accomplished he is.
He looked me up and down with his characteristic snake-like slit eyes and said,
“Your body’s so delicate. And seeing as you don’t have a staff, you’re not even a magician. Kuk kuk. How about you sing us a song?”

Really? Did he conclude that I’m not a magician just because I don’t have a staff?
‘Even the bandit leader didn’t make that assumption, you idiot.’
The man in front of me is showing intelligence beyond imagination.

While many magicians do carry staffs, it’s not true that all of them do.
Staffs only help with the precision of magic and slightly increase output by aiding mana manipulation, so some people find them cumbersome and don’t carry them.

I never thought I’d meet someone who so perfectly embodies the saying “you only see what you know.”
Seeing no reaction from me, the man spoke as if he’d lost interest.
“You’re no fun. Call the others when they arrive. I’ll be outside.”

He said what he wanted to say and left the shop.
‘Should I butcher him….’
It’s been a while since someone made me this angry.
“Excuse me… Are you perhaps one of the adventurers who took on the escort mission?”

Just as I was grinding my teeth and contemplating whether to kill that guy or not, someone spoke to me.
I turned my head to see the face, and a familiar face I’d seen somewhere greeted me.
…It’s the person who was always in front of the bulletin board looking for people to join the Orc reconnaissance mission whenever I went to the Adventurers’ Guild.

“You’re….”
“Haha. Looks like you recognize me. Well, I am there every day in front of the bulletin board. I’m Eddie.”
The man smiled bitterly. So his name is Eddie.

I didn’t look at him properly before, but overall he has quite a youthful impression. He could even be called a boy.
“Your name was… May-nim, right? I overheard a bit of your conversation with Camilla-san. Haha.”
“Ah. Yes….”
Judging by his voice, which has a somewhat youthful tone, he really does seem to be a boy.

“May I sit here?”
“Yes.”
Eddie sat down naturally and pointed towards the door while speaking softly to me.
“I saw Hector-san smoking as he came in, and since he wouldn’t come to a place like this, I guess he’s on the same request. How unpleasant….”
“…You know that person?”

Eddie frowned at my question as if disgusted.
“Don’t even mention it. He has a nasty temper, and he makes such a fuss just because he’s a silver-rank adventurer. There’s probably not a single bronze-rank adventurer who hasn’t been bullied by him. Including me.”

It seems that Hector guy is quite infamous.
“There’s even a rumor that he couldn’t become a gold-rank adventurer because of his personality, so his skills must be certain… but he’s not someone you’d want to work with. He treats people who look weaker than him even worse.”

In other words, he’s a thug.
Even from our brief conversation, I could tell that Eddie is a very sociable person. Now that I look at him, his face is quite cute but handsome too.
…I get the feeling he might be quite popular with girls. I’m jealous.

“Um, can I call you May-san? Adding ‘-nim’ feels too stiff…”
“Whatever you’re comfortable with.”

“Haha. Okay. May-san.”
As we were waiting for the remaining person, we heard footsteps approaching us.
“Oh my. Even that person.”
Eddie looked surprised at the owner of the footsteps. At the end of his gaze was a girl with blue hair.

In one hand, she held a staff as tall as herself. The reason I described her as a girl is…
‘She’s short. In height.’
…Literally, she was short. About chest height to me. Similar level to Puel.
But she doesn’t look young, so maybe she’s just short in stature.

She looked around, then slowly approached us.

“You guys. Have you seen this request?”
She showed us a request form. The content was the same merchant convoy escort mission as ours.
“Yes, yes! We’ve seen it… I mean, we’ve taken on the same request. Mari-nim.”
“…You know my name?”
“Of course! You’re one of only three gold-rank adventurers in Lonzville. I’m a fan!”

Only after hearing Eddie’s words did I notice the gold adventurer badge attached to her waist.
So she was gold-rank. How interesting.
“I see.”
She nodded without much response to Eddie’s seemingly excited words.
…Then she naturally pulled out a chair and sat down.

“Looks like we’re all here. Should I call Hector-san who’s outside?”
“Let’s leave him be.”
I’d rather not encounter him.
“The meeting time was noon… the client should be here soon.”
Step, step.

As Eddie said, soon after, someone slowly approached us.
“Hmm. Are you the adventurers? Looking at your adventurer badges, it seems so. Follow me.”
With a strangely arrogant tone. A man whose appearance reminds one of a corrupt merchant, with rolls of fat, gestured for us to follow him.
‘No. I shouldn’t judge people by their appearance.’

Even the NTR triplets from before turned out to be good people, didn’t they? It could be the same this time.
“Let’s follow him.”
Our group moved our feet outside the shop, following the pig… I mean, the client.
Then Hector followed us. It seems he was watching us lecherously.

“Tch. Is the pipsqueak joining this request too?”
As soon as he joined the group, he started picking on the magician girl─Mari.
“…Do you want to be frozen like last time?”
She retaliated by pointing her staff at him.

Hearing her words, it seems he’s already had the experience of being taught a lesson once.
Yet he still picks a fight. What a consistently nasty bastard.
“Come on, everyone. We’re in front of the client. Let’s calm down and have a pleasant journey.”

Eddie’s figure, sweating profusely while mediating between them, looks a bit pitiful.
‘Was it a mistake to take this on….’
Already, the future of our party seemed dark.

———

The place we arrived at following the client was a location where several carriages were lined up.
People who seemed to be part of the merchant group were busily carrying something.
‘I wonder what kind of cargo they’re loading?’

The luggage filling the carriages. The contents are not visible as they’re covered with cloth. It seems they’ve been deliberately wrapped up tightly….
“Adventurers, get in this carriage.”
The pig merchant still giving us instructions in a commanding tone. The carriage he pointed to looked quite shabby even from the outside.

“…That bastard.”
“Please be patient, Hector-san. I heard if you cause trouble again, you’ll automatically fail the gold-rank adventurer promotion test.”
“How do you know such things? Huh?”

Perhaps Eddie’s words were true, as Hector obediently got on the carriage without complaining further.
“You’re working hard, Eddie.”
“Haha. Thank you, May-san. Shall I offer you a hand?”
“…I’m fine.”

Eddie, who got on after me, offered his hand. Even his manners are good. This guy. If I were a woman, I might have fallen for him.
‘Well, my body is female though.’
I declined Eddie’s offered hand and slowly got on the carriage. It’s even shabbier than it looks from the outside. Is that mold?

Wait a minute. One person is missing. Come to think of it, Mari hasn’t gotten on yet.
“Hnngh….”
When I turned around, I saw Mari trying hard to get on the carriage.
Perhaps because her legs are short, she couldn’t get on the carriage in one go.

“Shall I help you up?”
“…Not necessary.”
With a motion that would suit the sound effect “oomph”, Mari barely managed to get on the carriage.
…Honestly, it was a bit cute.

“Pfft. Can’t even get on a carriage by yourself. Are you really a pipsqueak?”
“Shut up.”
Mari retorted to Hector with rough breathing.
It seems she used up all her energy getting on the carriage and has no strength left to fight.

The merchant group our party was escorting was heading to a city called Cleanver, located at the southern end of the empire.
It’s a distance that takes a full day even by carriage, and the road is considered quite rough.
That’s probably why the client, who looks like a corrupt merchant, hired four of us.

“…It’s bouncing like hell.”
The carriage is shaking severely, probably because the road is rough, but it’s excessive even considering that.
“Indeed. It’s a bit too much.”
“…Urgh.”
“Mari-san?! J-just a moment.”
…I closed my ears for a moment for Mari’s dignity.

“Tch. How disgusting.”
“…Shut up.”
Even though only about an hour has passed since the carriage departed, Mari already looks like she’s about to die. It was pitiful even for me to watch.

“Mari-san. Would you like to come over here for a moment?”
“…Ugh.”
Without even the strength to answer, Mari came to where I was, wobbling.
I cast a simple magic on her that’s good for motion sickness. Then Mari’s face started to regain color.

“…You, as I thought. You were a magician.”
“Did you know?”

I hadn’t particularly hidden it though.
“The flow of mana was different, so I vaguely sensed it.”
I guess that’s how a gold-rank magician notices.

“May-san is an amazing magician. She even petrified a man who was causing trouble for Camilla-san in an instant.”
“…Is that true?”
“Yes. I even thought you might be from a magic tower.”

Come to think of it, Eddie must have seen me back then too. Mari asked with interest at his words.
Since petrification magic is a fairly high-level magic… I can understand why she’s interested in me.
‘This is a bit troublesome.’

Just as I was getting anxious about what to do if she probed deeper.
“Pfft. At best, she’s bronze level. Don’t get cocky.”
“…Petrification magic is quite high-level. Silver-rank adventurer.”
“Huh?”
“Please don’t fight, everyone…!”

Hector picked a fight with me again, and Mari reacted, leading to an argument.
‘For once, he’s doing something helpful to me.’
Thanks to that, I was saved the trouble of changing the subject unnecessarily.

I enjoyed the scenery outside the window, with the sound of their argument as background.
‘I wonder if we’ll be able to arrive safely.’

For real.