Risky, but looks convenient.

Karkassa is a town that exists out in the wilderness. I'm one of the gate guards here.

Karkassa has a dungeon. No, it's more accurate to say there's nothing here but the dungeon, and that the town sprang up because the dungeon was here. At first there were just traveling merchants setting up stalls; then inns and shops appeared, and eventually it developed into a town.

Because of that history, Karkassa gets a lot of merchant traffic and a lot of types trying to make dirty money. Inspections at the gate, both in and out, are fairly strict.

Today in particular we have the regular caravan — the system where individuals who want to travel from town to town band together and jointly hire guards to keep costs down, which runs on a regular schedule — so there are many people to screen for entry.

 

 

"Next, please."

"Yee～es."

The next group to step up is a party of three. A busty traveling merchant woman, an elven kid whose E-rank makes him look a bit unreliable for an adventurer bodyguard, and a slave apprentice tagging along… Ah, so the elf is a boy. Yeah, without checking his identification, that would have been hard to tell.

I check her Merchants' Guild Card and… hmm? The dates are strange. It does say she came from Solasidor, but she hasn't passed through any intermediate towns, and then there's the number of days.

She made it here from Solasidor to Karkassa in just five days?

If she used the regular caravan, it should take at least a month from Solasidor. And there's no way they wouldn't go through the towns along the way.

… Which means these three didn't use the regular caravan and instead came straight here to Karkassa.

Could a group of nothing but women and children, hauling these big loads on their backs with no resupply at a town, really move that fast? No, that's impossible. Even if they negotiated with merchants at makeshift camps along the way to restock, it still doesn't add up.

If they ignored fatigue entirely, did body reinforcement, marched without sleep, and never once had a fight along the way… could they maybe make it in five days?

But even if they insist on that kind of forced march, they're obviously spotless…

In any case, it's suspicious.

"Uh, about this…"

"We used a special vehicle, so we got here super fast! It's special, so we even bypassed all the towns on the way!"

Just as I was about to press them on it, the merchant cut me off with that answer. They must have known in advance that this point would look suspicious.

"A special vehicle? I don't see any carriage. Don't tell me you took turns pulling it yourselves?"

"It's faster if you see it for yourself. Want a look?"

"… Show me."

Surely she doesn't mean they came riding on a dragon's back. With that thought, I leave the desk to another guard and accompany them outside.

"So where is this vehicle?"

"Right here… Wake up!"

When the merchant woman spoke the spell, the toy on her palm grew huge and turned into a wagon.

No, is that really a wagon? The shape is a little odd. It's like a barrel with a door on the side. There's a window in the front. I can see a single wheel sticking out.

"Apparently it's a prototype magic tool that a really amazing mage called 'Healer' lent us. You can change its size like this, so it's really convenient to carry."

"What about a horse? Don't tell me you three took turns pulling it?"

"It's a magic tool, so it runs on its own. It's a bit dangerous, though."

It moves on its own? There's a magic tool like that?

"Think of it like a Golem."

"Ah, a Golem. I see."

Now that she mentions it, Golems can carry people inside and walk. This is similar enough.

… This is convenient. It's basically a little hut; if they can rest inside, that's less work setting up camp and makes night watch a lot easier.

And if it can move as-is, then their spotless state is understandable too.

That just leaves the matter of how many days the trip took.

"So is this thing really that fast?"

"Oh, absolutely. But it burns through Golem-grade magic stones like crazy, so there's no way it ever pays for itself."

"… You're a merchant, right? Why would you use something like that?"

"The Healer person who lent it to us also gave us the magic stones, asking us to report on how it handles. If it were my own money, I don't think I'd ever buy one."

I see. If she's not the one paying, then using it doesn't hurt her purse.

"Can you show me how it runs?"

"Sure thing. It's dangerous if you're not used to it, so I'll ride alone… Stand back a bit. I'll go to that big rock over there and come back."

"Right."

While getting into the magic tool, the merchant woman points at a boulder quite some distance away.

It's a few hundred meters out.

"Okay, here I go～!"

"Ah—"

The very next moment after I tried to answer, whoosh! The magic tool shot forward faster than a veteran mage's Fire Lance. It reached the target rock at incredible speed, made a huge turn, and then came back at that same speed—… Wait, is she going to stop?! H-hey!

I braced myself, but like a horse being yanked to a halt, it ground to a stop, leaving marks gouged in the earth.

S-so it can stop. Good.

"And that's how it runs. Once it really gets up to speed, it's even faster."

"I see, I see. So that's how you managed it in five days."

"Yes, yes, exactly, Mr. Gate Guard."

It covered that distance literally in the blink of an eye. With that much speed, it would be easy to shake off monsters and just barrel through, and they could even cut across the wilderness as a shortcut, leaving the highway.

Still, five days, huh…

"… At that speed, it could probably be sold to the kingdom as a means for emergency dispatch, couldn't it?"

"Ah, no. Just a collision is enough to kill you. We almost died a few times ourselves, so I don't think it'll be ready for sale any time soon."

"… You're lucky to be alive, then."

"Once we get used to it, I think we could travel even faster."

Come to think of it, if you crashed into a rock at that speed, it would be catastrophic. For simple messages, it'd be safer to have a Tamer send a bird.

When the merchant says "Shut down!", the vehicle magic tool shrinks. She picks it up and slips it into a pocket on her backpack.

I see. It's dangerous, but it looks awfully convenient.

Dangerous, but convenient.

"So, will there be any problem?"

"No. I don't see any. I'll check the rest of your luggage."

"Sure. It's mostly just honey after that."

"… Those jars survived?"

"Fueh!? Ah, ah, yes, we had them protected with magic. By Mr. Healer! And we were protected too, or we'd have died three times over by now."

That magic tool maker called Healer seems to be one terrifying mage as well.

No, if he couldn't do at least that much, he'd probably die testing a magic tool like this long before he finished it. Yeah.

This is how I was shown a rare vehicle. Since there were no issues with the rest of their cargo, I granted them ordinary permission to enter.

And thus another day of work ended without incident.