Kamisama Shop de Cheat no Kaori

Chapter 123. Three Companion And Elegant Journey

The camper van is equipped with a separate air conditioner for the cabin in addition to the one for the driver’s seat. You could almost think of it as a home air conditioner. Apparently, the young lady really liked this air conditioner, as she threw herself onto the sofa and relaxed in the cool air.

Somehow, she even pulled out a bottle of wine from who knows where and brought it to her lips. Strangely enough, despite the car bouncing up and down, neither the wine glass nor the bottle showed any signs of flying off the table. Could it be that she used glue?

She really is a mysterious girl.

Or should I say, a mysterious woman?

Yaralai is also sitting on the ceiling of this wildly bouncing car as if nothing were amiss, so maybe this is nothing unusual for them.

I decided to stop overthinking and focus on driving.

As usual, Hagg bombarded me with questions about how to drive and how the car works, so I wasn’t bored. I don’t dislike casual conversation, after all. Nodding along to the same repeated story from a boss every time isn’t what I’d call a casual chat.

Occasionally, we’d pass by someone who looked like a merchant. They would all turn their faces towards us and widen their eyes. Some even stepped off the road and bowed their heads. Apparently, they were mistaking us for some noble’s carriage. At times like that, I’d wave and smile from the window, and they’d wave back, looking like they couldn’t believe their eyes. It was a little amusing.

I felt a bit tense when we passed a large caravan. They usually had guards with spears, who were clearly wary of us. You could almost call it hostility.

When I tried waving and smiling at them, Hagg scolded me, saying it was counterproductive. Apparently, normal merchants either nod slightly or engage in deep conversation. From then on, I decided just to nod slightly.

Though most of the travelers on the road were humans, occasionally, we’d see non-humans too.

…It sounds odd, but in this world, if you walk on two legs and can speak, you’re considered “human.” You’ll have to get used to it.

When we passed a group of cat-eared travelers in traveling gear, I couldn’t help but think how chaotic it would be if they were in Akihabara. I’ve been too influenced by my boss.

We also passed lizard-like Lizardmen and small Halflings. While humans often used carriages, donkeys, or sometimes even zebras, these folks mostly traveled on foot. I wonder if there’s a reason for that.

After passing by several small settlements, something terrifying happened.

Yaralai suddenly appeared upside down, with his upper body hanging down from above the windshield.

“Whoa! What the—?!”

Instinctively, I yanked the steering wheel hard. The high-riding vehicle swayed and nearly tipped over. I managed to correct the steering with a counter, barely stabilizing it. Ignoring my panic, Yaralai remained stuck to the window with a blank expression. Damn it. I’ll have to punch him later. Not that I actually can.

The camper van skidded to a sudden stop, creating a long, S-shaped dust trail. I had just been enjoying a straight stretch where I could really pick up speed, so this was extremely frustrating.

I jumped out of the car and shouted angrily.

“That was dangerous! What the hell are you doing?!”

But Yaralai, with a cool expression, jumped down in front of me and pointed ahead on the road.

“Something’s strange.”

I was about to continue complaining, but Yaralai’s serious expression made me swallow my words. I extended my gaze in the direction he was pointing, but all I saw was the road continuing.

“I was finally on a straightaway…”

“Approach cautiously.”

“Got it.”

I called out to Hagg and Faff, and Hagg grabbed her warhammer in the passenger seat, while Faff moved over to the passenger side as well.

“Ha! Someone’s running towards us. They seem to be in a panic.”

“In a panic?”

I carefully adjusted the throttle and approached cautiously. This would be the worst time to go off the road. Given my nearly 100% trouble rate, I want to keep my options open.

Hagg narrowed his eyes at the horizon, and after a while, he seemed to confirm what he was seeing. He told me that many people were running toward us.

“Does it look bad?”

“Not a very pleasant situation, it seems.”

Hagg answered, gripping his warhammer tightly. It seemed like this wouldn’t be a pleasant situation.

Even though I said we were moving slowly, we were still in a car, so I soon got a good look at what was going on. It looked like about ten humans were running.

“Ha! I thought it might be a wild griffon, but it’s just goblins.”

“What? Hmm…”

As Hagg squinted at the horizon, Yaralai stuck his head out of the side door. Upside down. His dreads smacked against my face, which was pretty annoying.

“Goblins, five of them.”

“Hmm… yes, indeed.”

Hagg confirmed it soon after, but Yaralai seemed to be a bit smug about it. Meanwhile, Hagg glared at Yaralai sideways.

Please don’t start a fight, you two.

As we got closer, I pulled the car off the road and stopped.

The ones running were all young humans.

“R-Run! The beasts! The beasts are coming!”

A young woman at the front, gasping for breath, shouted. She was the only one in traveling gear, while the rest, a dozen or so young men and women, were in simple clothes.

“Yeah. Goblins, right? Are there just the five of them, or are there more?”

Hagg asked, resting his warhammer on his shoulder.

“A Dwarf? …Wait, an Elf??”

The young woman in traveling gear, drenched in sweat as if she’d taken a shower fully clothed, raised her trembling face and noticed Hagg and Yaralai. Was it really that unusual to see them together?

“Um… I…”

“Forget the details. Just tell me if there are only five of them or if there are more. If it’s just five, nod.”

“Ah…”

After staring at Hagg’s face for a while, she nodded vigorously.

“Ha! Now, what are we going to do about those beasts?”

Faff asked with a mischievous grin. It seemed he had no intention of helping.

“Hmph. I could crush them myself, but…”

Hagg glanced at Yaralai. That was rare.

Yaralai silently nodded in response.

…I have a really bad feeling about this.

My foolproof danger sense was going off at full blast.

“What about weapons?”

“For that level, bare hands are enough.”

“Well, that’s true.”

Wait, don’t tell me…

“Alright, Akira, go take care of them.”

“What?!”

My foolish shout echoed across the wilderness…