Death March — Fixed

“Tek here, when I was a child, I couldn’t help but find magnets mysterious; the way they floated when it was carefully placed over one of the same polarity. Magic shows were popular, and still are, but I thought that the floating magnets were Magic. In this parallel world, magnets may be considered a Magic Stone.”

The inside of the wagon, which usually has a lot of space, is now mostly full of luggage.

This is purely for camouflage, because Hayuna and the man believe me to be a merchant--and while most merchants work as spies, one without any wares is incredibly suspicious.

Of course, I’ve made sure to leave just enough space for people--Mia complains, “Cramped.”--but it’s still pretty spacious compared to a normal carriage, from what Arisa tells me.

***

“Shouldn’t we wake them soon?” Arisa asks me, gesturing at the sleeping pair.

“Well, let’s leave them alone until we camp--if they’re weird people, we can leave them before arriving at Muno City.”

That’s right, I have made up my mind, I am going to Muno City--the lure of adventure is tugging at me, and there are no Monsters that should be able to threaten the girls--Arisa is also curious about the fake hero.

“Okay.” Arisa nods at my words.

For the time being, there aren’t any thieves, beasts, or Monsters nearby, so I leave the driving to Lulu. Liza is training her horse riding--Mia is beside her, expertly riding the other horse, while teaching Liza; who, of course, is riding the one with a saddle.

“Master, I want to touch the cheeks of this young organism. I request permission.” Nana has her eyes fixed on the baby while she asks, her hand is outstretched, almost, but not quite touching the baby that I am currently holding.

“Alright, but be careful.”

Nana actually smiles at my words, managing to force her facial expression to change, as her finger moves forwards, stroking the soft skin of the baby’s cheek.

She has an ecstatic look in her eyes--she sat with her legs pulled up, one arm around her knees, while the other outstretched. The baby didn’t seem to mind this touch, it made little noises and seemed to grin.

There is something about holding the baby--while an adorable Nana is staring intently at it and--oh, she seems to have begun copying the noises the baby makes, which is a little strange--there is a strange feeling in me when I look at the baby and at Nana.

Arisa isn’t here, she’s sitting with Lulu on the driver’s seat--she said that she doesn’t want to be near Toruma, with his disgusting smell.

Pochi and Tama look quite interested in the baby, but they don’t get close to it for some reason--the two seem somehow a bit gloomy, I wonder if they aren’t good with babies.

When I asked what’s wrong, they only answered back with, “It’s nothing.”

It doesn’t look like nothing, so, I’ll talk to them after the meal tonight.

***

Pochi and Tama, who were looking so down earlier, rush off in high spirits after we got to the location we planned to camp at, while saying, “We will hunt big prey today.”

Do they want to show off to the baby?

Arisa and Mia are going off to gather firewood.

“Arisa, the long staff would be a hindrance when you’re gathering firewood.” I tell Arisa, who is clutching her staff as she sets off.

“I want to test some new Magic, which is hard to do for the first time, when using a short staff, you know?”

“Oh, what kind of Magic have you decided to learn?”

“I’m still not completely sure. I’ve narrowed my pick down to three possibilities--so, I thought of trying them first. Since there’s a wasteland beyond that cliff, I won’t set the forest on fire, even if I fail, right?”

“It’s alright.” Mia also spoke.

“Even if it burns, Mia said that she will extinguish it.” Arisa smiled.

“Leave it to me.”

“Be careful not to get Pochi and Tama caught in it.” I warn the two, rather enthusiastic girls.

 

“Okay.”

“Nn.”

 

When I give permission, I see Mia giving a peace sign, her face still expressionless.

Looking closer, she isn’t expressionless, her cheeks look a bit red; She looks like she feels a little embarrassed.

It seems that she’s still thinking about her failure when it came to testing Magic yesterday--accidentally flooding the whole camp.

Today’s meal is being prepared by Lulu and Nana, I’m going to be teaching Liza how to take care of the horses. From what I know because of my aunt’s love of horses, that the one who wants to bond with the horse, should be the one who takes care of it.

I’m also thinking that Liza should learn to ride, for the sake of increasing her mobility when it comes to taking down thieves.

 

“Liza, are you doing well riding the horse?”

 

“Yes, I’ve done something similar to a beast called a Lineback back in my hometown.”

 

I couldn’t picture what the creature looks like, from that strange name. Maybe it’s used in a Lizardman version of football?

Let’s not pursue it.

***

Since we’ve gotten more horses, I’m thinking of how to put them into practical use.

At first, I thought of using more horses for pulling the wagon, but I’m worried that if it goes any faster, the suspension system will break--and the road is rough, so even the axel would be in danger.

When I considered making more advance suspension, I realized that I would require more advanced equipment to make such a large-scale spring, so I shelved the idea for now.

In the end, all three new horses are to become mounts. If the Beastkin girls ride on them while armed, it should scare off thieves.

Well, while waiting, I decide to make a saddle and reins for riding--fortunately I have a lot of leather--I find some good diagrams which explain the sewing and cutting methods; they are in a beginner’s book on leather working--so they are rather simple.

I shave wood to make the base of the stirrups, since I could use just leather, but these would be much more comfortable--but they might break--I need to buy a portable forge and anvil, so I can work with metal.

It only takes me around 30 minutes to complete, and I immediately try putting it on one of the horses to see if it fits; which it does, especially because the saddle is adjustable.

Just as I am removing the new saddle, Nana calls for me--it seems that Hayuna has woken up.

“Thank you very much--you even allowed me to use a Magic Potion for the sake of Toruma.” Her first words are to thank me.

“You’re welcome.”

Hayuna takes off her hood while thanking me. She has reddish-blond hair and her slightly childish eyes make her face look younger than her age of twenty-five, she’s quite beautiful--More-so than would be expected from the wife of someone who looks like Toruma.

Her breasts are quite large, which could be normal or it could also be because she recently had a child.

She is level fifteen with the Cleaning skill.

The man who’s still sleeping, sprawled out beside her, Toruma, is twenty-five as well, with (32) following; he is tall and thin with brown hair, his eyes seem narrow, and his teeth look crooked. He isn’t ugly, though he looks a lot more British than most of the people I’ve seen--who are closer to Swedish, and surrounding areas, in looks: Tall, athletic, blonde hair and blue eyes, etc.

He is level twenty and has the Social skill.

While I’m having a quiet, friendly chat, with Hayuna, Arisa sits beside me and talks to me in a whisper--her face looking fairly anxious, “You don’t have an interest in married women do you?”

Arisa is wearing her hood, and the little of her hair that occasionally peeks out from the shadows, looks to be a brilliant gold; she seems to be wearing a wig, or using Magic, for some reason.

“I don’t. I don’t do cheating, unless I come to an arrangement with both the husband and wife to share, or if they have an open marriage.” I whisper back to her, resulting in what sounds like an exasperated sigh, followed by a quiet giggle.

I turn back to Hayuna, “It looks like you are on a journey, where are you heading?”

“Well, we were in the middle of eloping--when we got word that Toruma’s parents had forgiven us, so we were going back to the Capital City of the Dukedom.”

Oh, yes, Toruma is a nephew of the Duke.

Arisa muttered, “Template!”, as she looked at him.

I was glad they were still asleep when she said that, even though she said it quietly.

“Hahaha, you guys seem really intimate.” Hayuna is smiling while looking at us.

“Today, they seem extra attached.” I respond to her amused words.

Since some time ago, Arisa and Mia are sitting by my sides and leaning against me. At first, it was only Arisa, but midway, Mia joined in as well.

My conversation with Arisa moves on to when she had been captured by the thieves.

Apparently, they were caught three days ago.

“I didn’t think that we would make it out alive--the merchant who was driving, was killed, and the 5 mercenaries that we had hired escaped as soon as they saw the thieves.”

“That was harsh. Even though there were a high number of thieves, the ones in this area aren’t that strong.”

“We may have insulted the mercenaries, calling them ‘betrayers’ and ‘cowards’ at that time, but it would have been too reckless for 5 people to challenge 30--”

Normally, you wouldn’t know how strong your opponent is until you actually fight them--so it can’t be helped.

 

“Even so, it’s good that you made it out safe.”

 

“Yes, Toruma used a self-protection scroll to cast a defensive Magic.”

 

“Huh, that’s amazing--what kind of Magic was it?”

 

“It was really amazing, after the Magic was used, a wall of light appeared and covered the carriage--the thieves weren’t even able to get close.”

So, the Magic he used was the Shelter scroll, which Arisa found in the hideout. Which means that the Remote Arrow scroll that came together with it might also belong to Toruma.

Well, I don’t really intend to give it back.

According to Arisa and Liza, the things recovered from eliminating thieves, is to be divided among the people who participate in the elimination.

“Why didn’t you try to escape after putting up the wall of light?”

“The Magic didn’t allow us to escape from that place, so we had a staring contest with the thieves for two hours.”

They survived because they had used that time to frantically persuade the thieves.

When they said, “You can get a lot of ransom money!”, they were accepted as prisoners--and Toruma’s pleading, saying that Hayuna unarmed would allow them to get more money, is the only thing that saved her from the usual treatment that bandits give attractive females.

“Ransom money?”

“Yes, Toruma’s parents are nobles, so Toruma wrote a letter asking for a ransom, and gave it to the thieves, along with his ID.

“That reminds me, when you were held hostage, you didn’t call to the knights for help; why not?”

“The thieves threatened to kill our daughter if we uttered even one word.”

However, I don’t understand why they brought Toruma along--they should have made the delicate-looking men, who stayed in the hideout, do it.

While we are talking--Toruma wakes up.

“Ha-Hayuna!” He shouts as he looks carefully at her, making sure she isn’t wounded.

“Toruma, you’ve woken up. It’s alright now! Look, Mayuna is also safe.”

“I’m so glad, I’m so glad, Hayuna, Mayuna--”

Sheesh, please give more thought into naming your children, if you have another.

I can feel a strange dampness on both my shoulders--Arisa and Mia have tears in their eyes as they clutch my hands tightly, watching the husband and wife.

Their happy reunion scene continues until Hayuna’s baby bursts out crying.