Chapter 46: Traveling by Carriage

A week had passed since the arrival of full-fledged winter.

During this time, I had been relentlessly practicing with my sword. With the help of Lime, Mash, and even Sheila, I worked on refining my combat skills.

Thanks to all that effort, I had improved to at least a level slightly beyond an amateur. Now, I felt confident that I was ready for whenever Ren and the others arrived.

Just as I had started thinking that—it happened. Ren and Mika showed up right on cue to pick us up.

“Satou-san! As promised, we’ve come to guide you through the dungeon.”

“It’s freezing! Hurry up and come outside!”

I had just finished breakfast and was relaxing with a cup of coffee when I heard their voices calling from outside.

Rushing out to greet them, I saw Ren and Mika standing there, lightly dusted with snow.

“You really came all this way in the snow? Thank you so much.”

“We promised to show you the way, didn’t we? We’ve parked the carriage nearby, so come as soon as you’re ready!”

“Understood. I’ll get ready right away and head over.”

A carriage, in this snow…?

The thought crossed my mind, but there was no point in overthinking it. Instead, I hurried to prepare.

Since I had already packed my things in advance, all I needed to do was change clothes. I gathered Sheila, Lime, and Mash, and we stepped outside.

After making sure the house was securely locked, I felt reassured—probably.

The only lingering worry was whether I had forgotten anything, but since we weren’t planning on an extended stay, it should be fine.

As for Thread, he would be staying behind this time due to his weakness in bright conditions.

Since dungeons were usually dark, he would have been useful for combat. But getting him there in the first place would be too much trouble.

Instead, he would watch over the house while we were away.

“Whoa… This is… not exactly a carriage, is it?”

“Sato-san, is this your first time seeing one? This is a Snow deer, a monster specialized for travel in snowy conditions.”

“It’s technically a type of ‘Deer,’ just like Fang deer, then. I’ve never seen one before.”

Sheila gave me a brief explanation, but the monster pulling the so-called carriage was no horse—it was a massive beast with magnificent antlers.

Apparently, it was a type of “Deer,” but much like the Fang deer I had seen in the mountains, it looked nothing like an actual deer.

“Come on, hop in! We’re leaving soon!”

“You sure you haven’t forgotten anything? Once we depart, there’s no going back.”

“I’m all set. We can leave anytime.”

“Alright! Let’s go!”

With Mika’s energetic shout, the carriage began moving slowly.

To my surprise, the inside of the carriage was warm and quite comfortable.

That was what I thought at first. But as the speed increased, I could feel the jolts and bumps intensify.

I couldn’t see outside, so I couldn’t be sure of our exact speed, but we were definitely moving several times faster than a regular carriage.

“Th-This is really fast, isn’t it? Are we going to be okay?”

“No worries! This speed is what makes Snow deer special! They’re pretty expensive, too, you know?”

“Sato-san, your reactions are always so fresh and amusing.”

“Sheila, are you used to this?”

“Of course. Winter travel is usually done with Snow deer carriages. Even Lime and Mash seem to be enjoying themselves.”

Glancing over, I saw Lime and Mash acting like excited children.

I had never really thought about it before, but maybe I was more cowardly than I realized.

“I wish I could enjoy this as much as they do… By the way, where are Yui and Shoji?”

“They’re waiting at the dungeon. If all four of us came to pick you up, it would’ve been cramped, so Mika and I came alone.”

“I see. If they had come too, we would have needed two carriages.”

“Exactly! Those two really wanted to come, though!”

We chatted casually inside the carriage, rocking along the journey for about two hours.

Finally, we came to a stop.

The royal capital was about thirty minutes away by a regular carriage.

Since this Snow deer carriage was moving at over twice the speed of a normal one, the fact that it took us more than two hours meant that we hadn’t arrived at the capital.

I assumed we had traveled straight to the dungeon.

I had seen dungeons countless times in games and anime.

But what did they look like in this world?

Excited to find out, I stepped out of the carriage—

And before me was not the dungeon itself, but a small town.

Despite the blanket of snow covering everything, the place was bustling with people, full of life and activity.

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