Death March — Fixed

“Tek here, typically in a game, you start off walking in the beginning, use a carriage in the middle, and then teleportation or an airship in the endgame--getting more and more convenient as it goes on. A friend told me that going on an adventure in a carriage is miserable--after coming back from being a tourist in Amish country; since this isn’t an adventure, I guess that it’s okay to enjoy myself, right?”

The wagon makes clattering and rumbling noises as it travels the paved highway, grass covered hills in the distance, and grass plains around us; dotted here and there with a few trees, nature which reminds me of the outback--but much greener.

 

“Uuu.”

“Nya!”

 

Whenever small animals like rabbits or rats show up out of nearby bushes or clumps of grass, Pochi and Tama make strange noises and react as though they’re going to jump out of the wagon. Every time it happens, and reacting even faster than I can, Liza seized the two by their waists.

The wagon is only going around 20 km/h, so they wouldn’t get hurt even if they were to jump out.

“Pochi, Tama, sit at the back of the coachman’s stand.” Liza speaks with a sigh, like a mixture between a mother and an older sister.

 

“Yes.”

“Aye.”

 

The two reply quickly, sitting down, one on either side of the back of the driver’s seat--called the coachman’s stand.

Though that will probably only stay there until they find something else that drags their attention out of the wagon.

The wind is slightly cold, but since it’s a cloudless day, the warmth from the sunlight is pleasant.

After we got out of Seryuu City for a while, we arrived in a forest--or rather, a large gathering of branching thickets. We came out again after an hour, and we are now advancing through some rather hilly areas. I could see shepherds herding their sheep on the sides of the hills sometimes. I seem to have only seen goat-made products in the city, but there are shepherds too, huh?

The wagon shakes as we follow the road, the paving stones are rather roughly laid far out here--from behind me, I can hear Lulu’s small shriek, and Arisa’s swearing, but I’ll pretend I didn’t hear it; and drive the wagon more carefully.

The highway changes, becoming more winding as it weaves between hills--it is not longer paved, the road is dirt, filled with ruts caused by wagon wheels. As a result, the wheels bounce through some rough spots several times. Although the horses are just moving along the course of the road by themselves, it’s the coachman’s job to fine-tune the course.

Even though I’m supported by the skill, due to my lack of actual experience, I couldn’t avoid them all.

Arisa leans over the partition between the wagon bed and driver’s bench, leaning on Pochi’s head, showing her face from behind me.

 

“I’d love it if you could drive more carefully.”

 

“That’s a little unreasonable, I am only a novice coachman,” I roll my eyes at her and gently flick her forehead.

Pochi looks slightly troubled as Arisa’s chest is pressing against the top of her head--oh, she seems curious about something, she is moving her head around, causing Arisa to make small noises; now Pochi is poking the weight on her head with her fingers.

“W-Wait, Pochi, please stop that!” Arisa asks as she quickly leans back, holding out her hands towards Pochi.

Pochi takes it as a game and pounces on Arisa, play biting at her hands.

“Don’t get too rowdy now,” I warn them lightly, while laughing at the flustered Arisa’s predicament.

Arisa begins wrestling with Pochi, turning it into the game she desired--and Tama sees this, quickly jumping up and joining them; looking back, I can see Lulu’s shoulders shaking, she seems to be silently giggling.

***

The trip is much more relaxed than I thought it’s be, since this is a fantasy world, I thought that we would encounter some Monsters or something, but none have turned up.

I tried searching in a wide area, but there were no dangerous animals or Monsters. At most, it was just foxes near. I did spot a pack of wolves occasionally, but they’re around ten kilometers away, at the edges of the forest--so there’s no need to be vigilant for the time being.

When I went on a date with Zena back then, she said that the Military is regularly doing practice, eliminating dangerous animals and Monsters around the perimeter of Seryuu City.

The lack of enemies is probably due to that.

Arisa had really gotten into the game with Tama and Pochi, wrestling with them, though they play bit her--she didn’t bite them back.

Liza, who seemingly couldn’t let the girls be rambunctious much longer, warns them to stop. I had thought that they should be stopped soon, so it’s helpful.

Replacing Tama and Pochi, Lulu took refuge at the front of the wagon, sitting behind me.

Her back was to the wooden diving board.

Come to think of it, I haven’t talked to Lulu that much. Communication is important, so let’s talk to her properly from now on.

 

“Lulu, are you okay? You don’t have motion sickness or anything like that, right?”

 

“Y-Yes! I’m--fine.”

 

I thought that she wouldn’t reply, but a surprised and nervous voice came from behind me.

Right, she had moved behind me silently, so she would be surprised if I call out to her without even turning my head and looking. The Beastkin girls have high physical abilities including sense of hearing and sense of smell, so I thought it would be natural to be detected this close to someone--but for Lulu who is just a normal girl, she would find it surprising. It seems that I may have almost replaced my common sense--I should be careful.

 

“You don’t have to be so nervous, just like Arisa, please casually interact with me.”

 

“Such things--Since I’m a slave, it’s wrong right?” Lulu let’s out a faint voice, so quiet that it’s almost as though she’s about to disappear--it seems like this will need some time.

For the time being, I should get her accustomed to having conversations with me.

 

“Lulu, is there anything you like?”

 

“I like taking care of Arisa.”

 

Is she a siscon?

No, it’s probably just a normal sisterly love.

I continue to talk, with Arisa as the topic--to clear away her reserved attitude, it’s important to continue the conversation, no matter the topic.

 

“You really love your sister, don’t you?”

 

“Yes, I do. Arisa has been a genius since she was a child.” Lulu says, I can hear a little bit of life entering her tone.

Rather than a genius, it was because she had the experience from her previous life, but I’d better not talk about that, without clearing it with Arisa first of course.

After that, Lulu continues to brag happily about Arisa until noon.

Humans are good at speaking about things they love, this is no different even in another world. When I glance back, I see that Lulu looks very happy as she talks about Arisa. Her eyes are sparkling, her cheeks faintly blush too--her face, which is normally that of a beautiful girl, gets even more beautiful.

I can hear Arisa sound like she is in agony from being praised so highly, for so long, behind; but, she seems to be able to understand my intention and doesn’t interrupt Lulu’s story.

When I look back, I see Arisa curled into a ball, with Pochi patting her head and Tama curling up next to her in imitation--trying to poke her face between Arisa’s arms, which are wrapped around her knees in a foetal position, looking a little worried.

Liza is mainly looking outside, but she glances occasionally at Arisa with a tiny smile tugging at her lips, barely pulling up the corners of her mouth.

Seeing my gaze, Pochi looks at me with confusion in her eyes, but I gesture not to be worried--she nods with a little smile, her ears standing back up, before going back to patting Arisa--trying to calm her friend.

Yup, peaceful is nice.

Then Lulu continued to talk about Arisa for nearly an hour after that.

***

Let’s change the story, because Lulu’s voice started to become slightly hoarse. Of course, I feel like I can hear Lulu talk about Arisa any time, the cute look on her face and the joy in her voice is strangely fascinating.

Let’s also make Arisa participate if I need to punish her for something.

Just as I find the timing to change the subject, I hear someone’s stomach growl.

Confirming by using the clock on my Heads-Up-Display, I see that it’s about time for lunch. We could, of course, eat in the wagon as we continue moving; but I want to check on the condition of the horses and their fixtures so I decide to take a break for lunch. It’s not like we’re in a rush, and we won’t reach town for another two or three days anyway.

According to the map, there’s a formation of boulders just up ahead, so I pick that place for lunch.

 

“Let’s have lunch soon.”

 

“Meal?”

“Meat!”

 

Pochi and Tama answer quickly, jumping up from beside the still embarrassed Arisa, darting to the front of the wagon; they stand on either side of the now red-faced Lulu.

Moving incredibly quickly, a girl shows her face over the partitioning board, “Shall I cut some cheese and bread if we’re going to eat in the wagon?”

Liza, weren’t you standing guard in the back of the wagon?

Arisa, who has revived, follows after Liza. Her hair is slightly disordered, her face is red, and her ears are red from where she grasped them firmly, to block off the sound of Lulu’s words.

“We have nice weather today, so let’s have a picnic.” Arisa is the one who suggests this.

“That’s right, it looks like there is a formation of boulders up ahead, so let’s take a break for an hour or so there.”

After deciding this, we advance down the road for a while--about half way to the formation we leave the highway and climb a small hill. The carriage shakes and loses speed because the ground is grasslands. I have to be careful as I advance the wagon.

Soon, we can see the boulders.

Each and every one of them is quite big, being about two meters tall and nearly seven meters wide.

I stop the wagon near the side of one of the boulders.

Descending from the coachman’s stand, I help Lulu get out of the wagon.

After I gently set Lulu down, Arisa jumps towards me.

Of course, I carefully catch her and help her down.

Pochi and Tama also imitate Arisa, jumping down as well, one by one; I catch them too.

Liza is last, and looking a little embarrassed, she stands at the side of the wagon like she is trying to decide whether she wants to get me to help her down or not.

With a laugh, I reach up and grab her slim waist. Ignoring the little noise she lets out, I lower her to the ground. When her feet are on the ground, she looks embarrassed, and her face is going pink, but her tail is swaying rather enthusiastically.

I walk over to the front of the wagon and release the yokes on the horse, tying the reins to the wagon. I quickly check over the horses bodies and make sure that they don’t have any scratches on them.

Liza goes back up to the wagon and grabs a barrel of water.

When I take out some water, I first fill a bucket and give it to the horses. I’ll give them priority, because they’re the ones who worked the hardest today.

“Liza, prepare something that’s easy to make, like sandwiches or salad.” I ask Liza to make the meal.

Since it’s bad to only have Liza do it, let’s try and see whether Lulu or Arisa can cook.

“Unfortunately, I can’t--unless you want food which is strange colours and raises Poison Resistance--” Arisa looks at the ground, her face slightly pink as she admits this.

“I have no experience in cooking, but I could do things like peeling fruit or making tea.”

“Then, Lulu, you will act as Liza’s assistant. Help her cooking, make sure to follow her instruction.”

“Yes! I will do my best!”

I wonder if Lulu is happy to be helpful, or if she is getting used to talking to me, because she responds rather enthusiastically.

Should I ask Pochi and Tama to collect firewood?

When I look at the two, they’re exuding a feeling like they’re about to run toward the nearby meadow. They have their faces turned towards me, but their ears twitch every time a bush makes a sound.

I wonder if it was because how they were raised, missing out on a normal childhood, or because of rapid maturity--they behave quite a bit like their animal counterparts. Then again, so does Liza. She looks rather cold and is very slow to wake up in the morning, especially when the temperature is cold--but she is affectionate and protective of people who she has accepted.

My sister had Monitors, and they acted like that, though they always disliked the family pet dogs and cats.

So, let’s play with Tama and Pochi--Dogs especially need to run around a lot, and some cats do too--I have to stop thinking of them like pets.

 

“Pochi! Tama!”

 

“Aye!”

“Yes!”

 

They answer quickly and excitedly.

“I will assign the two of you a mission! Check the security around the perimeter of the boulders!”

 

“Aye!”

“Yes!”

 

The two of them begin to run like the wind, let’s remind them, “I’ll call you two back when the meal is ready, so don’t go too far.”

I guess I’ll make Arisa collect the fuel.

“Arisa, gather things like dead leaves and firewood near the bushes around here.” I give Arisa instructions as I give some salt to the horses.

“Kay.” Arisa doesn’t seem to have any particular complaints, and goes to gather the firewood while singing what sounds like a song from a lesser known anime.

Her voice is incredible.