Chapter 49 – [Hero] Capital Road
I greeted the morning with my eyes wide open as if I had stayed up all night.
Finally today, we get out of this castle.
We borrowed an expensive carriage from the lord on the condition that we return it in the capital.
The lord said he would hire a coachman, but Jeren said he could drive it instead, so he entrusted it to him.
At first, I thought of refusing straight away, but now that I think about it, if I leave the role of coachman to him, at least while on the move, I won’t be able to think of anything else.
It was a good opportunity to contain his actions.
I decided to trust him a bit more, but I didn’t want to stick him with my party members for that.
If he really is innocent, he will prove it through this journey.
***
“Wow, are you really riding this?”
The round-eyed Uni shook my shoulder, trembling at her fuss.
But no one stopped her.
Because everyone felt the same way.
“Can I ride this?”
“Mind… It seems to be bigger than the wagon for the Mage Tower.”
Seria and Arin also said one word at a time with their mouths wide open.
Isn’t this just a moving lodging rather than a wagon?
The carriage was as huge as the room we had stayed in yesterday.
Even so, only two horses moved this large carriage.
“Can you really pull this off with just two?”
They’re much more muscular than other horses, but how can they pull something this big?
“It’s not what they say. In terms of appearance, they are almost like monsters.”
Saying so, Seria touched one of the muscles.
It’s a muscle that looks like it’ll burst if you poke it lightly.
If you get kicked by them, isn’t it just instant death?
Seria says it’s okay because she has a mild personality, but I was very anxious.
“Then go inside. The carriage is enough for me alone.”
When Jeren sneaked up to me and said that, I felt that her pride was scratched, so I gave a sharp answer without realizing it.
“That’s none of your business.”
I thought I said it too coldly, so I looked at the reaction and saw that Seria and Uni were looking at me worriedly.
At least, Yuni must have been distracted by her carriage. She didn’t seem to hear me.
“Anyway, let’s go.”
I evaded it and got on the driver’s seat next to it.
Because the wagon was so large, the driver’s seat was also very wide.
I think I could lie down here.
We said our last goodbyes to the lord’s representative and drove the carriage towards the capital.
Every time I passed the street, it felt awkward that all eyes were focused in this direction.
Well, if you rode something like this, anyone would know you were a noble.
Even though I was a hero, I was not a noble, so this kind of gaze was very unfamiliar to me.
When I was a warrior, people looked at me with expectations and longing, but now what I feel in their eyes is jealousy and resentment.
It was proof, more than anything else, of how the city’s people treated their lord.
… He was kind to us.
Are all nobles like that?
I leaned against the carriage with a mixed feeling.
The wagon was moving really comfortably without any vibration.
I don’t know if it’s because he’s good at driving horses or because the carriage is so expensive, but when I close my eyes, I can’t tell if I’m in the inn or on top of the carriage.
“If you are tired, go to sleep. I’ll wake you up if anything happens.”
The man spoke to me, who closed his eyes for a moment as if he was considerate of me.
No, I can’t sleep here.
Don’t forget your purpose.
“It’s okay. It just feels better than I thought…”
“Haha, that’s right. Well, I haven’t driven a lot of wagons, but this is the first time I’ve been this good.”
After passing the words in moderation, he continued his talk nicely.
I didn’t really want to have a small talk, but as we exchanged a few words out of politeness, the atmosphere heated up quite a bit, and at some point I was absorbed in the conversation.
“Are you talking about something funny?”
Suddenly, the window connecting the driver’s seat and the inside of the wagon burst open, and Yuni poked her head out.
“Wow! Uni, what’s going on?”
“Can I go over there too?”
After asking that question, Uni didn’t even listen to my answer and crawled out through the narrow window.
“UNI! Where are you going!”
Arin’s voice was heard through the window, but Yuni came out without answering with a tired expression.
“Uh… I think Arin is calling?”
“Okay, I’ll stay here for a while.”
A look of great fatigue was felt on her face as she answered that.
“What’s the matter?”
“Ugh…”
When I asked, looking at her as she sat almost prostrate on her driver’s seat, Yuni immediately made her cry.
“Arin, Arin keeps saying boring things…”
“Huh?”
“Keep tidying up your body, don’t give in to your desires, just saying things like that. He is like my father.”
If it’s her father, it’s the village chief.
I naturally recalled the image of the village headman who gathered us together and preached in my childhood.
If you think Arin is in that place… It fits surprisingly well.
After all, is a priest a priest?
Apparently, Yuni ran away while listening to Arin’s sermon.
“Okay, then go get some fresh air. Sit upright for now.”
I said that and helped Yuni to sit properly.
This posture is a bit dangerous, and if you do it wrong, her skirt may roll up and reveal her underwear.
Well, it’s me, I’m sick of seeing it when I was young, so I’m not particularly impressed, but I didn’t want to show Uni’s underwear to a guy like that.
“Voila. It’s like nothing! But what were you talking about? He was talking very hard.”
Yuni asked proudly, as if asking for praise as she sat down with her right posture.
“Oh, well, we were just talking about the old days.”
After hearing her words, I felt a little bit prickly because I thought she was talking so much fun.
I never meant to be friends with a guy like this…
“You said that you two lived in the same town when you were young, is that true?”
“Huh! It’s a childhood friend!”
In response to his question, Uni agreed by putting her shoulder to shoulder with me.
Leaning too far towards me, her hair tickled my nose.
“Hoo… Somehow, I thought that the relationship between the two seemed particularly good, and there was a reason for that. I only thought you two were dating.”
“Uh? Uh, does it look like that? Ehehe.”
Yuni smiled with a slight blush on her cheeks.
When she said that, she felt ashamed of me for some reason and cleared her throat for no reason.
“How can I say, the atmosphere itself is different from other people. It seemed that the warrior-nim was even more friendly.”
“Uh? Is that so?”
I thought everyone was treated equally… Was it my mistake?
“No! Eric is… Treating everyone equally. Right?”
“Huh? Oh, yes, yes.”
Yuni clung to me as she playfully stuck her tongue out at him.
For a moment, it seemed that Yuni looked lonely, but seeing her doing this, she must be just mistaken, right?
Even after that, while we talked about her old days and reminisced about her memories, I couldn’t find anything like that in her.
Our discussion of memories ended with Arin opening her driver’s side window and calling her Uni back.
“Uni, how long will you be there?”
“Hee! Joe, I’ll wait a little longer!”
“It’s a story that will help you too. Don’t run away, come in quickly.”
Arin took one look at her uni, then for a moment she turned her gaze towards the man, then she glanced at her uni again.
“Now, hurry up.”
“Oooh, okay…”
Her uni writhed again and tried to get inside her window, so I hurriedly stopped her.
“Wait for a sec! Don’t do that, just go through the door! The carriage will stop.”
“Huh… Thank you…”
She went back into the carriage with a very unappreciative look on her face.
“Nothing in particular happened, right?”
“Huh? Huh.”
“That’s all right.”
The conversation between the two disappeared as soon as the door closed again.
Again, only the two of them were left in the driver’s seat, and after that, the day went down without anything special happening.
Okay. I watched it for three days and nothing really happened.
The only thing that had happened was sitting in the coachman’s seat with Jeren all day.
These were peaceful days that made the doubts I had harbored fade away.
When I ate or kept my watch, I watched the man more carefully than usual, but he didn’t really do anything.
Before that, he had shown so many suspicious behaviors, but strangely, in the last few days, he’s become calm again like the first time I saw him.
Other than that, she was the same as before, although Seria occasionally glanced at the man strangely.
Was it really just my delusion?
She almost believed it.
It was all thanks to Arin that I was able to avoid falling for his cunning trap.
“There must be something up.”
“Is that so? Arin, if you know anything, let me know.”
“… Yes. Okay.”
Arin hesitated for a moment and then nodded.
“I don’t want to drag it out for too long, so I’ll go back soon.”
I came out with a suitable excuse for a while before dinner, so it was difficult to delay too long.
“Then I’ll go in first, the warrior come a little later.”
“Okay.”
It would have been a suspicious tryst for the two of us to leave at the same time, so we met at different times with different excuses and reported the results of the day.
It is time to report to each other whether that man did anything strange to Seria or Uni.
It wasn’t very successful, but as Arin said, I still couldn’t let go of the string of doubt.
At least, let’s wait until we reach the capital.
Even so, if nothing really happened, it would be okay to dispel some doubts.
I leaned against the tree and waited for Arin to return first.
That should be enough.
It was an excuse to come out to do errands, so I couldn’t wait too long.
Will everyone be waiting for me?
He got out of the stew just before it was done, so he might be eating it first.
Meat is also included today, so if it’s too late, there may really be only soup left.
Gotta go in soon
Thinking so, I went back to the carriage, but I saw a familiar red hair on the other side of the bush.
… Ceria?
Why are you there alone?
Looking at the direction, it seems to have moved to the opposite side of me and Arin.
Aren’t you alone?
In an instant, a fire burned in my heart.
No no no no
I reflexively looked towards the carriage.
It’s still a little far away so I can’t see it properly, but I think there are roughly three people.
Uh? Then the number is right.
Still, the anxiety didn’t run away, so I felt sorry for Seria, but I decided to go a little closer.
What if it’s really urgent?
Judging from the height, it looks like she’s squatting. If that’s the case, wouldn’t I just become a pervert?
However, I can’t bear it at all without checking.
“… It’s okay.”
As I got closer, I heard her voice.
You can’t see me from the carriage side, can you?
To live with a strange misunderstanding is a no-brainer.
No, it’s a situation where there’s no choice but to misunderstand…
Anyway it’s a mistake
I don’t have a hobby like pervert spying on other people’s business.
Just… I’m just anxious.
“… Oops.”
As we approached a little closer, her voice gradually became clearer.
What should I say about this?
She held her breath, but it was a sound that slipped through like a punctured bucket nonetheless.
… Are you really looking at something?
I felt ashamed of myself for thinking a fool.
Ok let’s go back
You’re overreacting.
If I don’t go soon, everyone will think it’s strange.
“… Whoops, whoops… Ha…”
Thinking so, she tried to turn her body around, but what escaped from her mouth was a moan that could not be ignored.
Is it really, really what I expected?
I was in such a hurry that I jumped up from the spot.
And we met.
Ceria squatting and rubbing her crotch with both of her hands as she sat down.
“Uh…”
“Ah.”
