A Town With an Injured Hunter

The mules we'd taken from the bandits were well-trained and walked well.

They ate a little less grass than horses, though they drank more water.

The pair of mules pulled the wagon without complaint.

As always, Alexia smoothed the road ahead to make travel easier.

That probably had something to do with why the mules weren't tiring out.

"Normally, this kind of thing is done by lords who spend ages on it. Not that anyone's going to complain about it being done."

"An emperor once called building roads 'the King's Path,' didn't he. Not exactly something you do on a whim."

"But you can do it, right? Then what's the problem."

"You really do work us hard."

Yohane and Azu sat in the driver's seat.

The horses had brushed Azu off, but the mules seemed fond of her and followed her commands well.

… Had Azu grown a bit taller again? Just as expected during a growth spurt.

"What is it?"

"Nothing."

She'd caught me staring and asked, looking a little embarrassed.

I'd been watching too long.

She'd gotten much prettier since I first bought her.

Anyway, after about half a day of travel, we arrived at the destination town.

The cargo we'd been entrusted with turned out to be clothing, daily necessities, and letters.

We entered the town and headed for the delivery address.

It wasn't particularly large, but it wasn't run-down either.

Being not too far from the city, it served well as a waypoint.

An elderly woman was at the delivery address.

We handed over the cargo.

We chatted for a bit, and apparently the townspeople had pooled their money to place the request.

At half a day by wagon, it would take a full day on foot, and longer still while carrying goods.

You'd encounter monsters on the road too, so it made more sense to post it as a quest.

The cost was steep for one person, but splitting it among the townsfolk spread the burden.

Made sense to me.

Merchants did similar things among themselves.

For instance, bulk gold purchases could be profitable if handled right, but they required massive capital, and one mishap meant ruin.

But if several people cooperated, the profit was reduced, but so was the burden.

This was just human ingenuity at work.

The quest didn't end with the delivery.

We'd also taken on a monster culling job in the surrounding area.

For a town like this, protected only by a fence, even weak monsters were a threat.

The area needed regular thinning.

Apparently the town's hunter, who usually handled culling, had been injured, and things had piled up.

In exchange for handing over the materials to the town, the quest fee itself was a bit higher.

Still, it was too late in the day to start hunting; we'd run out of daylight.

We rented the town's only simple inn for the night.

With our group size, we ended up in a communal room. Couldn't be helped.

I sat down on a mat stuffed with nothing but raw cotton.

"Looks like this should wrap up without any trouble, Master."

"Seems that way. I'd rather not have a routine quest turn into a headache."

"Agreed."

Azu came and sat beside me, and we talked for a bit.

We'd killed a few monsters on the road, but she didn't look tired in the slightest.

"Say, what's your take on the labyrinths?"

"What do you mean?"

"Whether it'd be safe for me and Orleans to go in."

"Hmm…"

The question sent Azu into thought.

One way or another, I'd been making sure Azu gained experience as the party leader.

She'd cleared several labyrinths and been through her share of close calls.

"Lower-tier labyrinths should be fine. We have Elza-san's blessings and Alexia-san's detection magic, so…"

"Hm."

"But somewhere like the Wind Labyrinth…"

She trailed off.

Hard for a slave to be blunt with her master, I supposed.

I'd thought our trust had grown strong, but this was one of those things the relationship made unavoidable.

"Go ahead, say it."

"It would be difficult. We can't fight while protecting someone. If you could defend yourselves like Kazusa-chan, it'd be fine, but…"

Kazusa… right, the girl who'd joined the party as a porter in the Wind Labyrinth.

Porters didn't fight, but they needed at least some ability to look after themselves.

She must have known how to handle herself.

If I wanted Azu and the others to gain more experience and grow stronger, labyrinths were the way to go.

Tagging along for that would be difficult.

Yohane was a merchant, through and through. Azu and the others were adventurers.

Orleans was just an ordinary girl. Different roles entirely.

"Got it. But I'd like to see the inside of a labyrinth at least once, even a low-tier one. I'm counting on you for that."

"Understood. Leave it to me."

Azu looked pleased as she answered.

For dinner, we ate the town's local specialty: grilled fish.

Seemed to be grilled river fish, with light seasoning.

A sprinkle of salt made it quite good.

I noticed the stares gathering, so I shared the salt around.

Hoarding was bad manners, after all.

After the meal, we returned to the room and wiped down with warm water.

I filled several tubs, and Alexia heated the water.

Being able to produce both water and fire on demand really was convenient.

Buying Alexia had been the right call.

"Whenever it's something like this, I'm just the convenient woman, aren't I."

"That's not true. You'd want to wipe down too, right?"

"Well, yes."

In the communal room, everyone partially undressed.

Orleans didn't seem to mind showing skin.

Azu and the others were used to my presence by now and didn't pay it any mind.

Not that I was actively looking.

The cotton-stuffed mat was coarse and not the easiest to sleep on, but the drowsiness gradually won out.

Before long, I was asleep.