Chapter 100: Visages of a Spirit?

On this trip, we plan to generally avoid camping as much as possible. This is because Lotto and Lyra are able to pull our carriage much faster than horses could, so we can get to towns that are normally unreachable within a day. In addition, I was also told that it would be bad for the household’s reputation if a carriage bearing the crest of the White Peer is seen camping out with no proper convoy. The so-called adult circumstances and stuff.

With that, we traveled on, only stopping for a lunch break, and arrived at the town of Mihaqari. It’s a town with no dungeons nearby and was built to serve as a relay point between Gateskeep and a town called Sysorus. The territory from Motsi to Mihaqari makes up the Iglesio dominion that the Iglesio household governs.

It’s a pretty big territory, but the Iglesio household is the house of the White Peer. Since their authority is second only to the royal family in the kingdom’s ruling system, they’re probably equivalent to a duke. Considering that, the large land area and the number of dungeons in the territory make sense.

The carriage passes through the tall gates. The towns in the kingdom are usually like fortified cities, with walls surrounding the perimeter. This is a countermeasure for monsters and magic beasts, since a sturdy rampart is necessary to defend from packs of attacking monsters.

Without being stopped by the guards stationed at the gates, our carriage safely entered town. No guards here would stop a carriage bearing the crest of the Iglesio household. But since Sysorus and the royal capital are in a different territory, we’ll naturally have to go through some ‌inspection next time around.

「This town’s pretty different from Motsi and Gateskeep.」 「Nn, Mihaqari is the town of travelers. Everybody is here to replenish traveling supplies.」

Mihaqari was constructed as a lodging town, and even now it seems like many people stop by here to take a break and rest their horses. For this reason, more than half of this town makes up for inns, while the other half comprises stall shops run by traveling merchants. It’s necessary to file a request to open a stall, but since it only takes a night to get the permission, many merchants file their requests as soon as they arrive here so they can open up in the morning.

「My lady, might I request that we head directly to the inn?」 「Right, the dragons probably need some rest‌, let’s do that.」 「Certainly.」

We headed straight for our inn for today. As I looked around the town from the windows, I just can’t help but feel like we’re catching people’s attention. The crest of the white lion, glass-fitted windows, and the muscular raptors. Yeah, it’d probably catch my attention too. After all, I would also see all the various magic packed in this carriage if I was an onlooker.

Getting the urge to check on the magic I loaded in the carriage, I switched my 【Magic Sight】 on. The various magical tools and the “Protect” cast on the windows and the carriage as a whole sparkle like it’s emitting light. Seeing everything working with no issues, I felt relieved. While I was confident when I applied these magics, there are many problems that can’t be observed until after things ‌get moving, so seeing everything working in order feels like a weight off my chest.

「Hm?」 「Is there something wrong, Lily?」 「No, just now-….」

There was, like, something that flew by the corner of my eye1…… As I was about to say that, the carriage stopped and Hans spoke to us.

「Thank you for waiting. We have arrived at our inn for today.」 「Nn, thank you too, Hans…… Lily?」 「Hm? O-oh. Hans, you can take a break after leaving the dragons where they need to be.」 「Understood. Please inform me if you plan to tour the town.」 「Sure.」

After he helped us off the carriage, I thanked Hans and watched him as he went back to the driver’s seat to park the carriage. Hans has a tendency to overwork himself, like with how he’s working as both a driver and a butler, so it’s necessary to tell him to rest whenever we have break times.

For a moment, there seemed to be something out of place with the driver’s seat, so I strained my eyes for a closer look.

「Ah! Hans, wait!」 「? Might there be a problem?」 「That, there’s less of it now……」

To my surprise, the snacks sitting next to Hans decreased by half of the amount it had as we left. While it’s not like I constantly watched Hans during our entire trip, Hans ate nothing during the times I had my eyes on him.

「Ahh, when I took my eyes off of the basket, the snacks suddenly disappeared. It seems that the spirits have accompanied us on our trip. Considering that we have had no encounters with monsters, nor was there any sign of bandits near us today, it’s likely that the spirits have protected us.」

Hans has no reason to lie at all, much less hide something as small as snacking in secret. So if he says that it just suddenly disappeared, then it’s probably true. If that’s the case, then the thing I saw earlier, was that a spirit?

I felt no trace of life essence, and it seems like Urania’s keen sense of smell noticed nothing as well. However, maybe my 【Magic Sight】 can capture the spirit in action. In this case, I’d love to have the spirit continue to accompany us on our trip, and see how ‌a spirit looks.

Still, whether a spirit would come with us is probably a matter of luck. After all, Mihaqari is a lodging town, many carriages arrive and depart from this town every day. In other words, only the spirits know which carriage it will be with next.

Anyway, I decided to at least buy offerings, the most expensive snacks my personal allowance can get2, as I entered the inn with Urania and Est.