Chapter 213
“All right, shall we get going?”
“Yes, let’s. We’ve bought a map, so first we’ll rest at a campsite about three hours away by carriage from here, then continue traveling until just before dusk. That plan works, right?”
“Yeah. According to the map, there’s a small grove around that area, so we can stop the carriage inside it, open a hole in the ground with magic, summon the bus there, and spend the night inside.”
“Oooh, that brrron thing again! It’s scary, so don’t make any noise this time, okay?”
“Of course. Then, Sheele, could you handle the reins?”
“Leave it to me. Now then… onward to the new continent. Our first destination is the deep-green village of Mouldarm.”
After finishing breakfast, we retrieved our carriage from the guild and finally began our adventure on the Riseark Continent.
Outside the city, wide highways were fully maintained, but the road we were taking wasn’t the grand one that led to the next city. Instead, it turned partway into nothing more than packed earth—a narrow coastal road running along the shore.
At some point, on roads with little foot traffic like this, I’ll need to practice driving the carriage more myself. I can’t just leave everything to Sheele forever.
After driving the carriage for an hour, we initially passed settlements and villages near the city, but soon the scenery turned pastoral—far removed from human activity, filled only with the sea breeze and the sound of waves.
I thought Melt might start complaining that she was bored—but—
“Melt, what are you doing?”
“Hm? I’m trimming and bundling the fur from my tail that came loose on the ship. When we get to a village, I’ll wash it with hot water, apply some medicine, and dry it. Do you think it’ll sell on this continent too?”
“I see… but you can earn money through other means now, right? You don’t really need to sell parts of your own body anymore. You could even use it yourself.”
“Hmmm… when you put it that way, you might be right. My tail fur is long and pretty, so I think it’d make some lovely fabric. Do you have anyone inside you who’s good at making things like that, Shizuma?”
“Well… there are people who are good at sewing and crafting, technically.”
At one point in the past, everyone except me had briefly become full production classes and learned how to do a bit of everything.
But doing proper sewing would require a character who hadn’t appeared at the Round Table since then—probably because they had only manifested for a moment.
That said, since Crafting can also produce cloth goods, Shijima could probably process it too—but if possible, I’d like to do it properly with a character specialized in Sewing.
“Either way, it might take a fair amount of time, so after you treat the fur, you should store it carefully.”
“Got it. It’d be nice if someday we could make something matching—for you, Sheele, and me.”
Maybe staying long-term in some town someday to make that wish come true wouldn’t be a bad idea.
Preferably a town near a dungeon that looks like it’ll take time to clear—if possible.
After that, we reached our first campsite. As expected, it was spacious but sparsely used, so after having a late lunch there, we returned to traveling by carriage.
As the sun began to sink, the sea stretching out to our right soon turned crimson.
Deciding that today’s travel would end here, we guided the carriage slightly off the road, crossed a grassy plain, and stopped within a small grove of mixed trees.
If there are places like this where we can stop discreetly—and where digging a hole won’t draw attention—then camping with the bus really is convenient.
We probably wouldn’t even need to stand guard all night.
“But when that isn’t possible, and we spend the night somewhere with good visibility, we’ll need to properly set up tents. In that case, I can use my field-formation skills to detect approaching enemies.”
“Oh, I see. Hunter skills really are handy.”
“Wow! Sheele, you’re pretty versatile, huh?”
“Hehe, that’s right. Hunters are actually a very practical profession for daily life.”
Indeed—skills for detecting enemies, proficiency with multipurpose knives, hunting with a bow, and with her sub-class as a Scholar, appraisal and attribute imbuement as well.
A real treasure trove of useful abilities.
“Then this time, let’s have Melt take the lead. I’ll draw the outline on the ground—could you dig a hole that size?”
“Ah, about the same size as last time, right? Leave it to me!”
In no time, a hole opened in the ground—though more accurately, the earth was compressed to create that space.
Because it was compacted, it wouldn’t collapse, forming a sturdy, massive pit.
Once again, we summoned the bus from the build menu and parked it there.
“It always surprises me how something this big just suddenly appears! I’ll shape the soil into steps again this time.”
“Please do. Shizuma, after that, let’s install adjustable lights around the bus. And maybe we can try building parts that require water too—magic in this world might be able to reproduce them.”
“I see… since there was even a unit bath, it would be convenient if it worked.”
If drained water simply vanished into nothingness, or if water or hot water flowed from faucets that weren’t connected to anything, it would be incredibly convenient—but it seemed that was asking too much.
Unfortunately, no water came from the taps, and there was no water for the toilet either, so we couldn’t use it.
But what if there were a water source nearby…? No, that would probably still be difficult.
“That’s a shame… If we could transfer to the build space in this world, we could spend the night much more comfortably.”
“That option’s greyed out. If it worked, it really would be amazing.”
“What’s this? Do you still have secrets, Shizuma?”
“Hmm… probably a power that doesn’t really apply in this world.”
You know—the kind of thing like a dedicated server just for enjoying building mechanics.
A personal space you could teleport to anytime from safe zones like cities.
Man, that brings back memories. I really went all out with my builds—referencing guide sites, making things like a hot-spring resort in my personal space.
“Okay… Shizuma, the light adjustments are done. Shall we rest inside the bus?”
“Thanks, Sheele. Then I’ll give the back seats to Melt again.”
“Yay! Sheele, wanna sleep together?”
“Hehe, sure.”
So I reclined all the seats to create a sort of flat space, then summoned futons—one of the build parts.
After laying them out for Melt and the others, I lay down myself and, though it was bad manners, took out the sandwiches we’d bought at the café that morning.
They were actually stocked properly as travel rations.
“This is kind of fun—spending the night in an unfamiliar place. Tomorrow we’ll be traveling all day, right?”
“Yes. Tomorrow we’ll follow the coastline the whole way. According to the map, the day after tomorrow we’ll reach a fork in the road. From there, we’ll head slightly inland and enter a deep forest.”
“It feels pretty close, but even with a carriage this fast, it still takes three days. How long will traveling through the forest take?”
“Once we enter the forest, it’ll take about half a day to reach Mouldarm. We’ll probably arrive just before sunset, so in the worst case, we may have to camp outside the village.”
“Got it. All right, we’re done eating, so I’ll dim the bus lights.”
“Okaaay.”
“The outside lights are still faintly on, so if they’re too bright, please let me know.”
And so, a night passed—too luxurious and comfortable to really be called camping.
Lacking in atmosphere? No, no. I’m sure we’ll get to enjoy that sort of thing eventually.
For now, resting comfortably and recovering from fatigue takes priority.
Good night, you two—
Morning.
Careful not to disturb the quiet breathing coming from the back seats, I silently slipped out of the bus.
It was a good thing it was a microbus that could be opened easily by hand without starting the engine.
Avoiding the faint lights illuminating the area around the bus, I climbed the earthen steps and emerged from the hole.
Pushing through the layer of plants covering it for camouflage, I found that the sun hadn’t risen yet.
Looking out beyond the trees, I saw the sea before sunrise faintly reflecting the stars.
If this had been the western coast, I wouldn’t have been able to see the sunrise.
“Good morning, Shizuma. Did you come out to watch the sunrise?”
“Oh, good morning, Sheele. Just a coincidence—I woke up and felt like looking at the sea.”
“I see… On the other hand, it will be quite a while before we can watch the sun set over the ocean again.”
“That’s true. Is Melt still inside the bus?”
“Yes. I was the only one who slipped out quietly.”
Bathed in the glow of the morning sky, Sheele looked just a little rosier than usual.
The impression of a frail, unfortunate beauty—or a cool, distant beauty—faded slightly, revealing a more direct, exposed kind of beauty.
…Being alone with her still makes me a little nervous.
“…Next time, let’s watch it together—the three of us.”
“Yeah.”
“…This really is happiness.”
Suddenly, Sheele leaned her head against my shoulder.
Her eyes closed, as if asleep.
Trying not to let her notice my racing heartbeat, I quietly drew in deep breaths, suppressing my presence as I took in more oxygen.
“Being able to stay like this with you, Shizuma. Traveling together with Melt. Sometimes, I feel guilty—like I’m the only one enjoying such luxury ahead of everyone else.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that. Everyone understands.”
“Even so…”
She lifted her head, gave a slightly troubled, bashful smile, then turned and returned to the bus.
…Perhaps along with her guilt, she was also feeling loneliness.
The reason she leaned her head on me—maybe she was thinking of everyone sleeping within me.
And so, after eating the sandwiches we’d bought that morning for breakfast, we resumed our journey once more. Without encountering monsters or trouble along the way, our travels continued smoothly.
Two days later, we finally reached a fork in the road.
Continuing along the coast would eventually take us to our original destination—the port town—but first, we turned onto the road leading inland, planning to clear a dungeon along the way.
From here, it would be another half day. By dusk, we were scheduled to arrive at the village of Mouldarm, located deep within the forest.
What kind of dungeon awaited us, what kind of requests the village would have, and what sort of place a village hidden in such a deep forest—somewhere we’d never been before—might be…
With anticipation, a hint of anxiety, and countless thoughts in our hearts, we continued down the forest road.
“This forest seems to have a lot of broadleaf trees. That’s probably why so much sunlight is blocked… And the trees themselves all look incredibly old. They’re magnificent.”
“They really are! The forest back home was impressive too, but this one’s even more so. I bet there are tons of forest resources here.”
“Yeah, just judging from the map, this forest is unbelievably huge. For a village this size, it’s an enormous stretch of land.”
“In that case, before being a blessing, the forest itself might pose a threat.”
“A threat? Like what?”
“Wild animals and monsters, as well as overgrown vegetation encroaching on the village. They might make a living from forestry—regularly cutting and selling lumber—but still.”
“I see. Then there’s a good chance the requests we’ll get in the village will be forest-related. Once we arrive, we should gather information about the dungeon and also ask around to see if anyone’s in trouble.”
And so, passing through the increasingly dense forest, where sunlight grew dimmer by the moment, we finally reached the village.
Wow… when we emerged from the forest and reached the outskirts of the village, it felt brighter—even though it was already night.
That forest really was deep.
“Hey! Stop that carriage!”
A young man—probably a village guard—stepped into our path, holding a crude spear that barely looked up to the task.
“What business do you have coming to our village at this hour?”
“We are an explorer party. We’ve come to stay in this village for a time and challenge a nearby dungeon. We arrived late and apologize for causing unnecessary alarm.”
At Sheele’s apologetic words from the driver’s seat, I could see through the window that the guard was visibly flustered.
As expected, Sheele was the least likely to put people on edge in situations like this.
Thinking back, when we first visited Lindblum with Sheele as our representative, we were treated quite leniently too.
“I-I understand! The inn is the building with the bed-shaped sign just inside the village!”
“Thank you very much.”
And thus, we finally arrived at our first destination—the deep-green village known as Mouldarm.