"Let’s shake it off and take a carriage from here."

Having sold some of our spoils at the Adventurer’s Guild and recouped part of our earlier loss, I suggested the idea to Rio. At this point, people were starting to get used to me pulling things out of the dimensional storage, but the surprise hadn’t completely worn off.

"Yay!"

Rio’s excitement was evident, likely because we never got a chance to ride a carriage back in the kingdom. Truth be told, I was a bit excited too.

The carriage boarding area was bustling, as one would expect from a border town. Carriages headed east, west, and south from here, providing plenty of options.

According to the intel we’d gathered at the guild, heading south was the quickest way to reach the sea. Along the way, there was a village famous for its mushrooms, but beyond that, the route offered little in terms of sightseeing.

While our destination was the sea, we weren’t in a rush. Exploring the other routes sounded interesting, but the mushrooms intrigued me. A place called Fenrir Village producing something called Fenrir Mushrooms? The connection between wolves and fungi made no sense, but it felt like a must-see.

"Two more passengers! We’ll depart once we’re full!"

"Two, please."

I informed the driver and handed over the fare—200 flons for both of us.

"Alright, let’s go!"

Startled by the driver’s booming voice, we climbed aboard. The interior was set up with benches for five passengers facing each other. Sharing the space were a mother and daughter, a group of four beastfolk adventurers—two men and two women—and a merchant with two bodyguards sitting in the back.

All eyes turned toward us as we entered, but compared to the stares we usually got walking into guilds, this was nothing.

"It’s roomier than I thought," Rio remarked.

We took the two empty seats near the front and exchanged polite greetings with the mother-daughter duo and the adventurers.

"The seats are a bit hard, though," I muttered, testing the firm bench beneath me.

The carriage began to move slowly, and I noticed the merchant and his bodyguards had cushions on their seats. I discreetly pulled out our own cushions from my bag, which doubled as pillows, and placed them beneath us.

"When will we reach the next town again?"

"Tomorrow evening, idiot."

"Can you at least remember the schedule?"

"Geez, get it together, leader."

The adventurers next to us were clearly having fun teasing their leader. From what I could tell, he was being blamed for something trivial, though I couldn’t judge since we’d joined this ride solely for the mushrooms without much of a plan.

"So, we’ll be camping out tonight," Rio concluded.

"Looks like it. A day and a half to the next town, so about three days on foot?"

"Probably."

"I wonder how camping works on a shared carriage," I mused, glancing at the mother and daughter, who didn’t seem equipped for overnight travel.

"Ahaha, is this your first time camping with a shared carriage?"

The mother spoke up, apparently catching on to our curiosity.

"Uh, yeah, actually," I admitted sheepishly, offering an awkward smile.

"Don’t worry, dear. Once we remove the benches, there’s plenty of space to sleep inside!"

Her daughter chimed in cheerfully, "So you don’t have to worry about where to sleep!"

Being reassured by a child left me momentarily speechless, but Rio thanked them gracefully.

"Hahaha! First-timers, huh? Our party will pitch tents outside, so you can use the carriage," the adventurer leader added, overhearing our conversation.

"Really? Thank you, mister!"

"M-Mister…?"

The leader froze at the girl’s address, then turned to glare at me for some reason, as if it were my fault.

The young man, with sharp features and spiky hair framing his bear ears, was likely in his late twenties. But to a child, he was probably an "uncle."

His female companions burst into laughter.

"Just accept it; you’re obviously the oldest here," one said.

"Don’t mind him. Our leader might look a bit intimidating, but he’s harmless," another teased.

"…Hmph."

The leader scowled and looked away, leaving one of the female adventurers to lean forward and address us. She was a lithe, orange-haired catfolk, likely the scout of their group.

"You’ve camped before, though, right?"

"Of course," Rio reassured her with a smile.

Perhaps our minimal luggage had given the wrong impression.

"We won’t be sleeping in the carriage either," I added. "Feel free to use it as you see fit."

I figured it’d be more comfortable to use earth magic to create our usual shelter, leaving more room for the others.

"Interesting…"

The comment came from the quiet swordsman of the group, a stoic canine beastfolk who seemed intrigued but didn’t say more.

"Good to hear! If anything happens, we’ll count on your help," the catfolk adventurer said.

"Of course, we’ll help if needed."

With the atmosphere relaxed and amicable, the shared carriage rolled out of the town and into the countryside.