“It looks like there are no carriages from here on.”

“Huh?”

It happened on the morning of the fifth day.

As Ziel sluggishly got up from the bed at the inn, Klaha, already dressed neatly, stood in front of the room. Before Ziel could even feel guilty about oversleeping, she spoke.

“No carriages…”

Ziel tilted his head, wondering if he remembered wrong.

The town they were headed to was a place he had stayed in for some time before. He was fairly certain that carriages used to run normally within the town.

But trusting his memory when it came to geography was probably a mistake to begin with, and just as he was convincing himself of that, Klaha shook her head.

“Technically, they ‘used to’ be available, but right now, they’re ‘suspended.’”

“…Is taking breaks trending in the Eastern countries or something?”

“Apparently, it's because magical beasts have been appearing along the route.”

“Magical beasts, huh…” Ziel muttered, adjusting his glasses.

“Well, yeah, they do appear in this area now and then. The whole place is surrounded by mountains. But still, suspending operations entirely seems a bit extreme.”

“What should we do? They have no plans to resume operations anytime soon.”

“Can’t we just walk there from here?”

“Hmm… let’s see. If we leave now…”

Klaha placed a hand over her mouth, her gaze shifting as she did the calculations.

“By the time the sun sets… we might end up walking a little into the night, but as long as there are no accidents, we should be able to reach it on foot within today.”

“I see. Then, would you mind leading the way?”

“Of course!”

With a bright smile, Klaha turned and entered the room next door to prepare.

Ziel watched her go, murmuring a quiet “Thanks” before heading back into his own room.

Just as he did, his stomach let out a low growl.

…If possible, he’d like to eat something before they left.

He never imagined a day would come when walking down a road would feel so reassuring.

“Basically, we just need to follow this north-northwest highway in a straight path. There are some ups and downs, but it’s not an animal trail or anything, so it shouldn’t be too difficult. Once we pass through the mountains, there’s a bamboo forest acting as a buffer zone, and beyond that, we should gradually see the town—at least, that’s what the map suggests.”

Ziel nodded along.

That meant all he had to do was follow Klaha.

As long as he didn’t lose sight of her, everything would be fine.

Because of that, he was able to walk in an unusually relaxed state.

With no need to be on constant alert, his field of vision expanded.

He glanced around at the mountains, occasionally having his sleeve tugged with a, “Mr. Ziel, that’s not the road,” before he noticed something.

“The mountain flowers haven’t bloomed yet this year.”

“Huh?” Klaha, who had been absorbed in the map, lifted her head.

“Oh, now that you mention it…”

It wasn’t that the mountains were barren.

The trees were thick with foliage, and just a little off the main road, the word “dense” wouldn’t even begin to describe the scenery.

And yet—

“These species should be blooming around this time of year…”

“It looks like there are buds, but I wonder if the winter was too harsh.”

Strangely, not a single flower was in full bloom.

“Klaha, are you knowledgeable about plants?”

“Not particularly… I’ve just seen them in books.”

Ziel had spent enough time with her by now to understand the subtext in her words.

She meant, “I have a general grasp of everything that can be found in commercially available books.”

“I see. Then, do you happen to know what kind of mushroom that is?”

“Y-Yes! I’ve seen it before…”

Standing beside her, Ziel pointed to a mushroom with small protrusions on its cap.

“Does the book say anything about it? That one—”

“It’s poisonous. A single bite could be fatal. Mountain squirrels have a resistance to the toxin and eat it regularly, which sometimes leads to lost travelers mistakenly thinking it’s safe.”

“……Huh. I see…”

“…Oh! I’m sorry for interrupting!”

“No, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

“But, um, you were about to say something, weren’t you?”

After a brief back-and-forth, Ziel finally gave in and muttered a single phrase:

“—That mushroom… It causes mouth ulcers and a slight fever, but it’s actually quite delicious.”

“……What?”

“Never mind, let’s just go. It’s good that we talked about this now because otherwise, this could have ended in a disaster. I’m never bringing up food trivia again—”

“Wait, no! I’m interested in food trivia! Could it be a different variety from the one in the book? Is local knowledge more reliable after all?”

“Stop. No. I’m just weird. Come to think of it, the last time I was seriously sick was seven years ago when I ate a bunch of dirt—”

With that chaotic exchange behind them, they took one long lunch break and paused for water three times.

The sky began to take on the hues of dusk, yet there were still no magical beasts in sight.

“Ah!”

It was Klaha who raised her voice this time.

“What is it?” Ziel asked.

Looking apologetic, she replied,

“I—I was so focused on calculating our route that I forgot to arrange accommodations.”

She lowered her head, adding, “We may have to wait a bit after we arrive.”

Ziel thought she didn’t need to bow over something like that.

Having a roof and walls was nice, but they weren’t essential for survival.

Still, the angle at which Klaha was bowing was so extreme it resembled a parched drinking bird after a week of dancing in the desert.

Communicating via facial expression seemed impossible, so he simply said,

“It’s fine! Actually, I already have a place to stay lined up.”

“…Oh. Could it be someone you know?”

“That’s right.”

Ziel had explained their destination to Klaha over ten days ago, obtaining her agreement.

Since they were about to arrive and she’d soon meet them, he figured it was worth going over it again.

“It was around seven or eight generations ago. A single swordsman took in two disciples, each of whom founded a school. One of them was, of course, my own—”

“And the other was the founder of the ‘dojo’ we’re heading to?”

“Exactly.”

Ziel nodded.

But just as he was about to continue—

He suddenly grabbed Klaha’s shoulder and stopped her.

“—Wait. Something’s there.”

His gaze locked onto the dense forest ahead.

Something…

Something was moving within the thicket.