On the Road

The next day, a young peddler showed up with a covered wagon.

"P-p-p-pleased to meet you. Looking forward to working with you."

"Yeah, likewise."

The wagon and its cargo had apparently been arranged by our usual Merchant-san.

There was at least enough space inside for us to sit.

…

"Y'know, if we stash some of this stuff in Inventory, wouldn't we have enough room to lounge around?"

"It's decoy cargo, so we gotta keep it loaded or it won't look legit, yo."

"A little should be fine, right?"

For this trip, I was going as Miitei-chan, Alto was going as Alto-chan, and Penpen was going in Gin-chan's body.

In my case, since the Home belonged to Miitei-chan, she needed to come along for us to warp with it.

Alto was there for her guns, making sure no bandits could get away.

As for Penpen, Gin-chan's build was better suited for combat, and Penpen-chan was the one who owned their Home.

Those were the reasons, more or less.

"… Tria wanted to come too."

"W-we're on house-sitting duty, huh. Tria-chan, Nika-chan."

"That's right, Penpen-chan. Spirit-sama, have a safe trip."

And so, seen off by the three of them, we climbed into the wagon and set off.

The wagon was more cramped than expected, so we immediately stowed some of the cargo in Inventory.

Say what you will, comfort comes first.

With a cat-eared beastkin slime (me), a fox-eared maid (Gin-chan), and a black-haired twintail girl (Alto) packed inside, the wagon became just roomy enough for us to use the remaining cargo as seats and relax.

In a wagon like this, even the vertical space was precious real estate.

"… Y'know, with Inventory we could haul way more cargo and still have room to spare, yo."

"And if we used Home, the shipping distance would basically be zero."

"Ahaha, if we could do this IRL, it'd be more than a logistics revolution. Free shipping to Mars, even."

"True that, yo. Then no real need to bother with it now, yo."

We lounged around inside the wagon as it rumbled along. Since it was a proper main road, the ride wasn't too bumpy.

Meanwhile, the young merchant at the reins had a stiff expression the whole time… What was he so nervous about? Oh, maybe it was because we were a bunch of pretty girls?

I wondered if he'd loosen up by the end of this trip.

"Oh, I'll switch to slime form. I can shrink down that way."

"Whoa, now that I think about it, Miitei-chan in slime form is pretty rare! All jiggly and cute!"

"Ooh ooh, can you extend tentacles like that, yo? The naughty kind?"

"Not the naughty kind. Ethics Filter, remember?"

I shifted into a bun-shaped slime… Oh, right. I just figured out why the young merchant looked so tense.

"Hey, Merchant-san."

"Eek! A-ah, y-yes? What is it? Is something not to your liking…?"

"Nah, I just realized that seat's the dangerous one, right? Come on back here. We'll handle the driving. You can just give us directions from inside the wagon."

Right. The driver's seat was the most likely spot to get targeted by bandits first, putting whoever sat there in mortal danger!

Man, Merchant-san had warned us all about that and I'd completely forgotten. Of course you'd be tense if your life was on the line.

"Hm? But won't the Halo blow the decoy cover, yo?"

"Nah, split bodies don't get a Halo. You're up, Miitei-chan."

"Okay～! I'll do my best, Spirit-sama!"

"Ooh, that's handy!"

"Huh, so Fission has uses beyond just having her wait on you hand and foot, yo!"

I had Miitei-chan take the driver's seat. Now then, time to switch out, good sir.

"Eeeek!? U-um, I-I'm fine, really! I d-don't mind staying here!"

"Huh? Spirit-sama's telling you to get inside the wagon. You're not gonna listen? Then maybe you're an enemy? Maybe I should gobble you up?"

"He's not an enemy, so play nice, Miitei-chan."

"If Spirit-sama says so, then I'll be nice! … Hey, teach me how to handle the horses? If I learn, I can be even more useful to Spirit-sama, right?"

"Y-yes… I'll teach you."

The first impression might've been terrible, but hey, that just means things can only go up from here!

"… They will go up, right?"

"I'm betting it goes even further down, yo!"

"Nah, Miitei-chan's so cute he'll totally come around! That's my vote!"

"Don't go making bets about my kid… Oh well, I'm betting on improvement too. If things improve, how about you treat me to a Reward Pancake?"

"Whoa, an SP item!? Gimme a break, yo! Home comes first, yo!"

Fair enough, so the stakes were downgraded to minor items.

Just a little wager for fun.

"… Hmm?"

"U-um. Miss?"

"Oh, it's nothing! I was just thinking how nice it is that all the Spirit-samas get along! … Hey, let's be friends too, okay?"

"Y-yes."

"Hey. You're gonna make Spirit-sama win the bet, so if you end up hating me… I won't forgive you, got it?"

"Hieee!"

Miitei-chan, that's having the opposite effect, you know?

Hmm, looks like this could turn into a heated bet. What a great way to kill time.