Chapter 102: Be Cautious of Suspicious Carriages

「Hans, halt.」 「My lady?」

To my order, Hans replied with a confused tone. The saying “Compassion for this life is as important as a company for the road” probably wouldn’t work in this world. If it’s someone you can’t trust, then there’s no need to force yourself to accompany them, and if you are too compassionate, people might just suck you dry.

Here, for example, since it’s not particularly an emergency, people would generally mind their own business and go on with their day. In actuality, if we, some strangers bearing a crest of a noble, help them with the wheel repairs, they’d probably feel uncomfortably awkward instead. Even so, I had Hans stop the carriage. I know it’s not my job to do this, but I can’t just let this pass by.

「Urania.」 「Nn, I know.」

As expected of Urania. She also felt the same weirdness I felt. But in the first place, since I can sense life essence, and since Urania has a sharp sense of smell, it’s understandably hard to explain to Hans and Est since they can’t do things similar to what we can.

Hearing our exchange, Hans likely realized that I’m not just being whimsical and stopped the carriage.

「How do you do? Quite mischievous of Lady Luck to cause a breakdown under this blessed fair sky, don’t you agree?」 「Ummm…… F-forgive me. We are but humble merchants who deal with the red folk, we’re not educated in the talking etiquette……」 「I don’t particularly mind. I am the one being unreasonable here, after all. Hans, assist them.」

I tried talking with them with the Lady Mode I’ll be using at the academy.1 They seemed pretty wary as we approached them, but as a girl, me, appeared from the carriage, their vigilance slightly faded. Still, what seems like a tinge of fear appeared in its place.

「The two of you are…… Ahh…… Pardon my manners, I haven’t introduced myself yet. My name is Lily. I am under the patronage of the Iglesio household.」 「Ah, um, I’m Mily. This is my husband Jao.」 「Mrs. Mily and Mr. Jao, is it. Are the two of you merchants from Sysorus?」

I started a casual chat to waste time as we waited for the carriage repairs to finish.

「My lady.」 「Is it done?」 「Yes. Fortunately, they have carried with them a spare, so it was only a simple replacement job.」

Without taking much time, Hans finished the repairs and came back. Yup, if he can change the wheels this fast, then there shouldn’t be any problems, even in the unlikely event that the custom carriage breaks down. After all, we also have spares of every part, not just the wheel.

「That’s splendid. Mrs. Mily?」 「Yes?」 「You’re worried, correct? About your baby.」

Hearing my words, I see her face freeze up. Ahh, I didn’t really mean to condemn or threaten her in particular.2 I have some idea of what’s going on now. There doesn’t seem to be anything that could have damaged their rear-wheel nearby. And while it might have been damaged by the natural wear and tear, are there even merchants that would overlook that most basic part of maintenance?

Well, in the first place, the only reason I’ve taken notice of these subtle details is because I’ve sensed the life essence of three grown men and a baby inside their carriage.

「No need to be worried, there won’t be any issues. Everything is already dealt with.」 「Eh?」 「Nn, hostage secured. The baby seems to have been drugged to sleep, so Lily, it’s all yours.」 「I see. Thank you, Urania.」

Just as I finished speaking, Urania exited the parked carriage and spoke to us. In her arm is a baby quietly sleeping in peace. The dagger in her opposite hand contrasting the baby really gives the scene an air of degeneracy.3

「No abnormality in life essence. The temperature and pulse seem to be normal‌. Here, your baby should be fine. But just in case, I’ll cast “Heal” and “Cure”.」 「A-Ah. Thank you, thank you so much.」

As I handed the mother her baby, I made sure to use recovery magic. With this, even if the drug they used to make the baby sleep was too strong, the baby should be fine now.

This is just my guess, but this family was unluckily attacked by bandits as they were on their way home from Mihaqari to Sysorus. During that, their rear wheel was damaged, making it impossible for them to escape, and they were probably in the middle of handing over their luggage in exchange for their lives. It’s quite questionable if the bandits would ‌comply with this negotiation, but they’d be killed if they resisted, so they probably had no other choice anyway.

And while that was happening, we passed by them. No idiot would attack a carriage being guarded by raptors and bearing the crest of a noble. More so when they’ve already made a successful robbery.

And with that, the bandits put on a little show. With the couple’s child as a hostage, they thought of having the couple act like the damage was from an accident and to have us ignore them as a result. After all, any regular carriage transporting a noble would likely do exactly that. In fact, Hans was just about to do the same, so it would have been the perfect course of action.

But, well, the carriage that passed by wasn’t just any regular carriage. Specifically, Urania and I were on it. So first, I talked to the couple from the front to attract the attention of the bandits hiding in the carriage. As I did, I had Hans approach the carriage, under the pretext of repairs, and further attracted the bandit’s focus there.

Urania then silently exited from the window of our carriage, and sneakily drew close to the damaged carriage while making a big detour. So after that, she immediately suppressed the bandits using capture-use magical tools and successfully recovered the baby.4

The reason that a tinge of fear appeared on the face of the couple when we approached them wasn’t because they were afraid of us, but ‌because they were anxious that the bandits in the carriage might either kill the baby or attack us. After all, from their perspective, we’re nobles and they’re ‌commoners. It’s easy to imagine whose life would be prioritised if anything happened.

Anyway, with this, Mission Accomplished. And as a bonus, their carriage has been repaired, so we can now move forward with no worries.

As we happily headed back to our carriage, I suddenly realized…

「Ahh!?」 「What is it!?」 「We got duped……!」

The assortment of snacks by the driver’s seat. The most expensive ones I could get in Mihaqari. Specifically, costing as much as a small jewel… has now disappeared.5