CH 94

Chapter 94 – We Traveled Down The Main Road!

Currently, we were riding in a carriage on the main road that stretched up north.

As I held the reins from the driver’s seat, I heard Melk’s voice coming from the side.

“This is so convenient.”

She had been leaning out of the carriage and staring at the turning wheels. I suppose this was her first time seeing a horse-drawn carriage.

It was something I had just made with production magic.

The hood was made of Mope wool, and it was drawn by two horses.

There was enough space in the back for two people to lie down.

“Carriages really are fast in places like this. Though, we cannot go through the forest.”

As we couldn’t ride the carriage through the forest, I had made it only after we came out onto the road.

If it was just me, we wouldn’t have needed one at all.

Everything that I meant to sell was in magic workshop, and the things we bought could be put in there on our return as well.

However, since Iria and Melk were accompanying me, I decided to use a carriage.

Not only that, but it would take at least four days to reach the nearest town.

So considering that we would have to sleep in it, it was best to have a hooded carriage.

Iria looked at me with an apologetic expression.

“I’m sorry, Sir Joshua. I am not able to do anything.”

Apparently, Iria felt bad that I had to drive the carriage for such a long time.

“Don’t worry about it. Driving is something you do alone. But if you would like to try it, I can teach you.”

“Please do!”

“Very well. In that case, we can do it one we reach a place with a better view of the road.”

“Yes! I am looking forward to it!”

Iria said with a pleased expression.

Not only was this her first time in a carriage, But Iria had never been this far from her village before.

Melk was also wagging her tail, as she was in her wolf form all of this time.

It would have been nice to have Mette and Ecleshia here as well…

In fact, they had all said that they wanted to visit the human city.

However, humans hated demi-humans.

Even though they were similar in appearance, demi-humans often had certain physical features that drew attention, so it was easy to tell that they were demi-humans.

And so this time, I took the hornless Iria, and Melk, who could cover her dog-like ears and tail when in human form.

Melk muttered.

“I will buy delicious food for Asuha and the others. I heard that humans like sweet things called cake.”

“Ah, cake. You might only find them in large cities. But sweet bread is common enough. And I could freeze them and put them into magic workshop.”

As we talked about such things, I noticed that the sun had set quite a lot.

It would be evening soon, but we had made progress without any problems.

Currently, we had seen no signs of the Demon King Army or the Knights Order that had come close to Fendel before.

After all, Asuha had scouted to the north this morning. And there had been nothing of note. It was peace itself.

However, we soon entered territories that Asuha had not scouted.

And so I would have to be on my guard.

“In any case, we should start preparing for the night… Huh?”

I saw a dust cloud rising up ahead.

It was towards the left, where the road curved.

As I am able to detect magic energy, I could tell that something humanoid was fighting a beast.

Iria had been smiling a moment ago, but she now looked serious as she gripped the handle of her sword.

“The smell of blood and beast… Boars.”

“I agree. It might be attacking a human.”

Iria answered as she got down from the carriage.

Melk also turned into her human form and followed without hesitation.

The person could be a human…

And yet neither of them were bothered by that at all.

It was their nature to want to help someone regardless of their race.

I followed them as we ran in the direction of the commotion.

After going around the corner, I saw that it was indeed humans who were being attacked.

There was a group of five men and women in all. Their clothes were in tatters, and it looked like they had been running from some place. Nearby, there was a broken wagon, and fruits and wild grass was scattered about.

As for the beasts, it was an Armor Boar after all.

And we were used to hunting those.

However, they were still powerful enemies for ordinary humans. Even armed soldiers would die against them, and yet these people had nothing. It was completely hopeless.

Amidst all of this, a girl who must have been frantic while running, tripped and fell.

The Armor Boar turned towards her and kicked the dirt heavily with its hind legs.

“Ahhh!”

The girls let out a shriek, and then the Armor Boar lowered its head and charged.

It was too late…

That’s what I thought, but Iria moved at a speed that exceeded my expectations.

…Faster than an Armor Boar?

Before I knew it, Iria was standing behind the Armor Boar.

Her blade was no longer in its sheath, and it was pointing up at the sky.

And then a moment later, the Armor Boar lost all momentum, and crumbled to the ground.

“Huh?”

The girl who had tripped and the surrounding humans could not comprehend what had happened.

Iria… It seemed like she had become even faster again.

Perhaps the battle against the Minotaurs had helped improve her skill.

And so I called out to the humans.

“Are you alright? Wait there, I will cast some healing magic.”

The girl had a deep wound on her leg, and so I used healing magic on it.

“Th-thank you, mister! And you too, miss!”

Iria turned to look at the girl, and her expression became gentle.

“You are very welcome. And I hope the rest of you were not hurt?”

Iria sheathed her sword. The humans all looked a little relieved.

One young man answered her.

“Thank you. You saved us… We were gathering food in the area. And while we had heard about boar monsters living here, we didn’t think that we’d actually be attacked.”

“Do you live on these lands?”

I asked, and the man nodded sadly.

“Aye. In an old fortress that is northwest of here. Though, it has only been a week since we arrived.”

As the humans and Demon King army had warred for many years along this road, there were more than a few abandoned fortresses.

In fact, I built some fortresses myself.

And while they sometimes became bases for groups of bandits, these people did not look like bandits.

In that case, they must be…

“Did you escape from the south then?”

“Yes. Our city was taken by the Demon King Army. Those with nothing left gathered together to the north, in order to build a new place to live.”

Every city was harsh towards outsiders. Landlords did not want to accept refugees into their towns, and they did not have much money either.

The girl looked at their wagon with a sad expression.

“The wheel is broken… We’ll have to carry everything on our way back.”

And the man muttered.

“I would like to be able to thank you, but, as you can see…”

“Don’t worry about that. More importantly…”

I approached the wagon and then absorbed it into magic workshop.

It was so sudden that the humans around me were shocked.

However, they were even more surprised when the wagon reappeared, after I repaired it.

“It’s fixed!? Wh-what did you do just now!?”

“I repaired it with production magic. Now you can use it again.”

I answered, but the humans were still stunned.

“Production magic… I had someone repair farming tools once…but it was not nearly as fast.”

“Never mind that. The sun will be setting soon, so you should hurry up and retrieve everything.”

Melk said amidst the mutterings, and she began to pick up the food and plants and put them into the wagon.

“Ah, that is right. It will be over if we are attacked during the night. In any case, we must return to the fortress for now. You should all come with us! I would like to thank you.”

“You don’t need to thank us. However…it so happens that we are looking for a place to stay.”

“Then you should stay with us. There is plenty of room to sleep, and we have food. The general and the others will welcome you. It is a rather grand fortress.”

“In that case, I think we’ll accept. Is that alright, you two?”

I turned to Iria and Melk, and they nodded.

“I do not see why not. Let’s go!”

“There is a saying about travels and roads. I will go too.”

“Very well. Then we will stay there tonight.

And so we decided to head towards this human settlement.