CH 32

The sound of the wheels of the carriage turning around accompanies us as we travel.

The surrounding area is covered with grasslands dotted with rugged rocks, and a forest can be seen in the distance. After that, is the sight of a high mountain range in the back, further away.

This the whole scenery since this morning.

Looking back.

The southern village was no longer visible.

The village to the south was surrounded by forests and mountains, so I couldn’t see much of the situation in the distance. So the current view felt fresh.

However, looking around, I feel that it is no different from the scenery of Japan’s countryside.

It was a weird feeling, but when I saw the sword and shield on Dan’s waist as he walks in front of me, I was suddenly pulled back to reality.

After all, this is not Japan.

However, I think it’s interesting that seeing a sword and shield will pull me back to reality.

Even though I’m living a fantasy, it’s reality and not fiction.

I suddenly became curious and looked at the carriage beside me.

This carriage was what you would call a Covered Wagon. In other words, it was a square cart made of wood with wheels, walls, and a roof made of cloth and pulled by a horse. It is such a simple shape.

If you observe the wheels of the cart from the side, you will see that there are no springs attached. Therefore, the carriage is shaking and rattling as it suffers vibrations from the bare ground.

It doesn’t look like a comfortable ride, but the speed of the carriage is about the speed of a person walking. The road here is not paved, but it is well maintained, and the road is not uneven, so I don’t think there is much of a problem.

And there are two horses per carriage. Since there were two carriages, there were four horses in total.

As far as I could see, this carriage was loaded with many barrels. It seems that some kind of alcohol is being carried.

The southern village was surrounded by fields and some other trees planted in neat rows, so maybe they were making ale or fruit wine, and that was their source of income.

“Hey, it’s time to take a break.” (Gilm)

While I was thinking about such things, I heard a voice from the carriage in front of me.

Then I saw the carriage in front gradually approached the edge of the road and stopped. Following the first one, the carriage behind also stops.

After a while, a merchant came down from the carriage’s coachman’s seat and took out water and fodder from the carriage and gave it to the horses.

I remember when I introduced myself to them.

Gilm-san was in the front carriage, and Datz-san was in the back. They were merchants belonging to a company in Rankfurt.

Gilm-san is a large man around the age of fifty. He feels like a nice father with his gray beard. And Datz-san is a young man who is about 20 years old.

Well, I’m younger than him now.

“We walked for a long time, are you okay? I think you’re okay.” (Dan)

I suddenly noticed, Dan was already next to me.

For the time being, I replied “I’m fine” and I continued.

“I’m used to walking for a long time, so it’s okay, but how do I say this… I imagined we would be attacked by monsters, but is it okay to have escorts when there’s nothing actually happening?”

I blurted out.

I couldn’t help but ask because after we left the southern village, there was nothing to speak of. There were no monsters, so we were just walking next to the carriages. The scenery was nice, so I was feeling quite good, but this is not what I had imagined.

If I have a golden claw, I will have an encounter immediately with just a single step! It may be too much, but I encountered a few monsters and went into battle! Slime A appears! I imagined something like that.

When I say something like that, Dan explains with an expression of “What are you talking about?.

“You see, there are relatively few monsters in this area, and basically no monsters come out of the woods. Are you…… You look more combative than you appear, you know? If we don’t have to fight them, that’s better right?” (Dan)

Hmmm, sure.

Well, I don’t know. I guess I have a strong image of RPGs with so many enemies that it’s impossible to listen to finish the background music on the field map?

Well, in the southern village, all the times I went outside the village was to go to the beginner’s dungeon, and I didn’t go outside otherwise, but even when I went to the dungeon, I didn’t encounter any monsters.

I wonder if it’s just in games that no matter how small and quiet the first village is, once you step out of the village, the weakest slime will come out in droves.

Apparently, I’m still thinking like this is a game.

……wait a minute.

So why did Dan get seriously injured?

I remember him saying that he was injured by a monster on his way to the southern village.

Thinking about it, I asked, “Why did you get such a big injury?”

Then Dan replied, perhaps remembering that time, holding the wounded area with his hand, he frowned.

“Ah … no, it’s not an absolute that monsters don’t leave the forest. That’s why there’s an escort request… But I think it’s a Wild Boar’s offspring or something. We don’t usually see those in places like this… Well, that’s what happened.” (Dan)

Dan laughed bitterly, continued, “That’s why you shouldn’t get distracted.”