Chapter 301: The Rampaging Carriage
The next day, I made my way to the Adventurer’s Guild bright and early. I wondered if the party I had helped yesterday would be there. If they weren’t, I planned to leave a message at the guild and head straight to the Forest of Enchantment.
“Oh, there they are!”
“Ah, Shu-san!”
It seemed they had been looking for us as well, as the party leader, Chunk, rushed over to greet us.
“Thank you for yesterday!”
“That’s fine, but I noticed you left the line at the counter. Is that okay?”
When I asked Chunk, the other members who had been waiting in the corner of the guild without lining up gathered around, expressing their gratitude in unison.
“It’s all good. We just wanted to deposit the reward money with the guild.”
As he spoke, he handed me a leather pouch, which I accepted.
“I see. Well, I’ll gratefully accept it.”
“Yes, if you don’t, it would be a problem for us. We were really saved from a failed escort mission.”
If things had gone differently, Fei might have been caught by the Black Ape. Plus, if the target of the escort had died, our evaluation would likely drop more than if it were just a regular failed request. But that’s just a guess.
“…By the way, you’ve already returned, huh?”
“Hmm?”
Not quite understanding what he meant, I tilted my head, and Chunk mirrored my confusion.
“Well, you were at the scene yesterday evening, right? I thought you just got back from camping out.”
“Oh, I see what you mean.”
As I nodded in understanding, I heard Ivan’s dry chuckle from behind us.
“We were back in town by dinner yesterday.”
“Eh?”
“The Mountain Pepper was delicious.”
“That was tasty. I’m not usually a fan of spicy food, but that was something else.”
Rio and Ivan were discussing their thoughts on the wasabi, nodding in agreement. I had tried to recommend it to Phonia, but she stubbornly shook her head and refused to eat it. It was delicious, though. As for El, she had asked for a grater with finer holes, and after I made one for her, she spent her time grating various ingredients and tasting them. I wondered how many times I had gazed off into the distance, pondering where El was headed with all this.
“Well then, we’ve wrapped things up here, so it’s about time we head out.”
“Eh? Where are you going now?”
As we were about to leave, Chunk called out to us in a fluster.
“Our immediate destination is the Forest of Enchantment.”
“Is that so!”
“Our goal is also the Forest of Enchantment.”
“We might meet again.”
“That’s true.”
With that, we parted ways with the Kokushi Musou party and set off northward.
We bypassed the villages and towns along the way, aiming straight for the Forest of Enchantment. According to the rough map we had from the guild, it seemed we would reach the nearest town to the forest in about three days at our current pace. As the western sky was painted with the hues of sunset, we spotted a larger town in the distance and decided to make it our lodging for the night.
“Welcome to Zaluarts.”
I showed the gatekeeper my Guild Certificate and entered the town. The atmosphere here was not much different from that of a border town. While I was processing our entry, I inquired about a recommended high-end inn and headed in that direction. It was said to be located near the center, straight down the Main Street. However, I noticed that although the Main Street was quite wide, there were no people walking in the middle. Was it reserved for carriages?
Before long, we arrived at the inn and secured a room without any issues. With a little time to spare before dinner, I decided to explore the shops. I found some ingredients for Demon’s Tongue and bought them, but they looked like ordinary potatoes. I asked about how to prepare them, but it sounded rather complicated. Apparently, they couldn’t just be heated up; they might end up becoming fodder for the Dimensional Box.
The next day, after enjoying the bounty of the mountains, we checked out of the inn and headed toward the northern gate of the town. It seemed that with the morning bustle, many people were crossing the Main Street.
As we strolled along the slightly curved Main Street, window-shopping, a carriage came barreling toward us from behind.
“So it really is reserved for carriages.”
“Looks that way.”
“That’s dangerous.”
As we exchanged our thoughts while watching the carriage pass, a loud scream erupted ahead.
“What was that?”
I thought perhaps an accident had occurred, but the speeding carriage continued on without slowing down.
“—Look!”
Just as I was about to tilt my head in confusion, Rio shouted, and I finally noticed what was happening. In the middle of the Main Street, a child lay on the ground. No one rushed to help, so Rio and I hurried over.
“Ugh… ugh…”
A boy was there, clutching his left arm and enduring the pain. He was smaller than Phonia. Looking at his left arm, it appeared to have been run over by the carriage wheel, leaving a strange mark and blood seeping onto the ground.
“Are you okay?!”
Rio quickly cast Purification and Healing Magic while straightening his arm, causing the startled boy to grimace in pain.
“Rian!”
At that moment, a woman who seemed to be the boy’s mother rushed over. Her face turned pale as she took in the horrific scene, but she gradually calmed down as she watched the injury heal.
“You’re going to be okay now.”
“Waaahhhhhh!”
The boy must have been unable to voice his pain until now. As soon as it subsided, he suddenly burst into tears.
“Rian! Oh… thank you so much!”
As the woman lifted the boy, who was still sobbing on the ground, she bowed her head repeatedly in gratitude.