The journey to the Magic Tower was not easy from the start.
To begin with, the destination was in another kingdom—and a peculiar land called Gradran, where the Yellow Magic Tower stood—so simply leaving the kingdom we were currently in was the first obstacle.
Even traveling by carriage, it would take a good two weeks just to reach the border.
Naturally, there were more than a few cities and villages we had to stop at along the way.
As we slowly made our way southeast along the route marked on the map, each day was exhausting and long.
“Looks like we’ll reach a village soon?”
Sairun said, fluttering the cloak draped over him as he pointed at the map.
Baldik, who had been dozing in the front seat, half-opened his eyes and grumbled at that.
“Ugh... really? How many days has it been?”
“Exactly four days. Including the day we got stuck because the cart wheel came off.”
“...It’s only been four days?”
Baldik lowered his head again and clutched his forehead.
Despite the warm blankets and gentle sunlight, the inside of the carriage was a wearying space.
I looked out the window and muttered inwardly.
‘We really have come a long way.’
Just as Sairun had said, before the sun set, we were able to arrive safely at the village.
The place we arrived at was a small village on the outskirts of the kingdom.
This time, too, our goal was supplies and rest—nothing more, nothing less.
“Maybe we’ll finally sleep in a bed after so long.”
But the closer we got to the village entrance, the stranger the atmosphere became.
Since it was a small village, I’d assumed the guards would be leisurely yawning at their posts.
“...What’s with this mood?”
At the village boundary stood villagers holding weapons instead of soldiers in armor.
They held axes, sickles, even hoes, and were keeping watch as if a real war had broken out.
Near the entrance, a makeshift barricade crudely woven from wood had been set up, and a few outsiders were standing in line in front of it.
One of them—a man with a sword at his waist—approached us.
He didn’t seem to be a soldier, but his face was set hard.
“You folks outsiders, then? Sorry, but we can’t let anyone in without checking right now. Over the last few days, a body turned up near the mountain. It was so badly mutilated you could hardly tell what it was.”
At that, Baldik narrowed his eyes and asked,
“So the villagers are keeping watch themselves?”
“Our village guards alone ain’t near enough. So we gathered all the able-bodied men. Any stranger’s gotta be checked before they go in. And if you saw anything up by the mountain, you’d best say so now.”
I quietly glanced toward the back of the carriage.
Sairun gave a small flinch and muttered,
“Ah, looks like we’ve gotten mixed up in something really annoying...”
“Shouldn’t we turn back?”
“Turning back here would look even more suspicious. Let’s just go in.”
Sairun was right.
If we turned back for no reason here, we’d only draw more attention. Besides, it would take another full day to reach the next village.
There was no reason to take that kind of risk.
The line was long, but as expected of a small village, we didn’t have to wait long.
After giving our names and purpose a few times in a perfunctory manner, the inspection was quickly over.
There weren’t any tall walls to begin with; at most, there was a stone wall about waist-high. Rather than strict security, it was closer to simply “an atmosphere of caution.”
Of course, because we were armed, some of the villagers’ gazes toward us were far from friendly.
Eyes full of wariness, children slightly shrinking back.
Still, they’re not telling us to disarm. Well, it doesn’t matter much to me either way.
Once we entered the village, it looked exactly as it had from outside.
A few houses, a tiny square, and beyond a secluded alley, a single inn.
It was truly the kind of village where “people passing through might stay for one night.”
It might not be bad for a short stay.
That was our purpose, after all.
After entering the village, we headed straight for the inn.
Even from the outside, its old appearance didn’t inspire much trust, but it wasn’t as if we had another option.
When we opened the door and stepped inside, the damp, musty smell peculiar to wet wood struck my nose all at once.
The floor was damp in patches, and in the corners, faint traces of dust clumped and dried in place could be seen.
A hanging candlestick on the ceiling was belching smoke and producing soot, while dead insects were piled like sand by the window.
Fortunately, however, I couldn’t see any mold on the floor or crawling pests.
That was the “highest standard of hygiene” one could expect from an inn in this village.
Only after taking a breath did I adjust to it.
‘This is probably the average level of hygiene in this world.’
Even if I had gotten used to it, there were still moments when I missed modern standards of sanitation.
As we entered, a middle-aged man leaning against the wall beside the entrance raised his head.
Seeing the dishcloth tucked into his waistband, he seemed to be the owner, running both the kitchen and the inn.
“Well now, unfamiliar faces. Travelers?”
Unlike his rough voice, his eyes didn’t look unkind.
“Yes. We’d like to stay for one night.”
When I answered, he slowly rose from his seat and asked,
“How many?”
“Three.”
“You brought horses too, I take it?”
“Yes. And one carriage.”
“You can put them in the shed. One room for three, or two rooms?”
I glanced back at Baldik and Sairun.
Baldik silently nodded, and Sairun had already planted his rear on a chair.
“One will be enough.”
“Good. One silver coin per person, dinner included. Say separately if you want breakfast.”
It was a fairly reasonable price.
In a city, they would have added a few more copper coins.
I took out three silver coins and handed them over. He pressed them down one by one as he counted them, then gave a small nod.
Then he took out a crude key and placed it on the table with a thud.
“Last room on the second floor. There are plenty of empty rooms today, so it’ll be quiet.”
“Thank you.”
And so, with the key to our inn room in hand, we decided to unpack for a while.
It’s been a long time since we slept under a real roof.
Sairun was already excitedly talking about the bed.
After we finished registering the number of people and even the horses, we were assigned a single room.
It was a small, damp room, but as long as the wooden floor wasn’t slanted, that alone was something to be grateful for.
After throwing down our luggage and coming back downstairs, dinner preparations were just getting underway.
“If you’re eating, take a seat.”
The owner said it as if tossing the words out, then disappeared back into the kitchen.
We took seats at an empty table in the corner.
A few villagers were already eating dinner, but they paid us no particular attention.
A short while later, a plain wooden tray was brought out, carrying well-cooked soup, thick pieces of bread, and thinly sliced salted meat.
It wasn’t exactly a meal to look forward to, but after spending days camping like beggars, a warm meal wasn’t bad.
“Whew, I finally feel alive again.”
After swallowing a spoonful of soup, Sairun let out a heartfelt sigh.
Baldik also nodded silently as he tore off a piece of bread.
I pulled my bowl closer as well, scooped up a deep spoonful, and thought,
‘If possible, I’d like this one day to pass without trouble.’
The owner approached with a bottle of liquor.
The scent from the wooden bottle, as if it had been aged for a decent while, tickled my nose.
“It’s been put away for a bit. Cheap stuff, but it’s one of the better things in this village.”
Just as he set down the cups with a clatter and was about to pour, Baldik casually asked,
“By the way, the atmosphere here seems a little strange. The security’s tight too... Did something happen?”
The owner’s hand stopped while pouring the liquor.
“...Nothing much. Just had one troublesome matter.”
“A troublesome matter?”
“A few days ago, a body turned up near the northern forest. Its face was ruined beyond recognition. And according to those who saw it, there was talk that it looked a bit strange to be the work of human hands.”
Sairun reacted immediately.
“So it wasn’t torn apart by a beast, and it wasn’t done by a person either?”
“Who knows. Can’t just believe everything the villagers say, but...”
The owner continued as he poured the liquor.
“You know how it is sometimes. Things you can’t explain. Something like that happened here too.”
I looked at the cup and asked,
“That body—was it not a villager?”
“That’s the stranger part. Its clothes didn’t look like a traveler’s at all. They said the person was wearing an overcoat without a speck of dust on it, and neat low shoes too. Not the look of someone who’d been wandering near the village for days.”
“Then someone of the upper class...?”
“If that were the case, there ought to have been something to prove their identity. But they said there was nothing of the sort.”
As he poured our drinks, he added in a low voice,
“Just why someone like that, dressed like that, came to this backwater and ended up in such a state... That’s what didn’t sit right with everyone.”
Only after he finished pouring did the owner look at us with calm eyes.
“So, where are you folks headed?”
“...Toward the Yellow Magic Tower.”
The owner’s eyebrows twitched slightly.
But soon, as if it were nothing, he quietly set down the cup and said,
“That way... I hope nothing happens.”
Leaving those words behind, the owner quietly returned to the rear kitchen.
We sipped our drinks while mulling over the story he had left us with.
“Well, bodies turn up often enough, don’t they?”
“Exactly. Probably some prisoner who got caught by a monster or wild beast while running away.”
Everyone in our party was a mercenary. We belonged to a profession dulled to the word corpse.
Unless we saw it ourselves, most deaths didn’t stir much emotion.
Of course, the people here were probably more accustomed to death than modern people, but that didn’t mean they would welcome it.
“But they said the clothes were neat.”
“Clothes? He probably stole them somewhere.”
“Is that so... hmm.”
Sairun tilted his head, but soon turned his gaze back to his cup.
Something about it felt unpleasant, but it wasn’t our business to get involved.
We only had to stay one night, replenish some supplies, and pass through quietly.
After finishing our meal, we each decided to go around the village to restock our travel supplies.
Sairun and Baldik decided to focus mainly on food, while I... didn’t really have an assigned role.
Lately, I’d begun to feel it little by little, but when it came to these domestic matters—buying things, choosing things, bargaining—I had the sense that I was gradually being excluded without anyone quite saying it.
It seemed everyone had realized it implicitly.
That I was completely hopeless at this sort of thing.
I wasn’t ashamed.
But... I did feel a little awkward.
Feeling like I should do something, I diligently walked around the village, but a small village was still just a small village.
Any place that could be called a shop seemed to have already been visited by Baldik and the others, and all that remained were private homes where people lived.
I gained absolutely nothing.
I had simply wasted time, pointlessly coming up empty-handed like some idle loafer.
Only after spending time like that in a vague, aimless way did I turn back toward the inn.
At some point, the sun had completely gone down, and the surroundings had grown dark.
It seemed much darker than usual, so I looked up at the sky and saw thick, dark clouds filling my view.
Was it going to rain? For some reason, my mood felt strangely unsettled, almost lifted.
When I arrived in front of the inn, I saw Baldik and Sairun moving luggage.
After quietly approaching and subtly helping carry the baggage, the things we had to do in the village were more or less finished.
“Did you buy everything?”
“No. I wanted to buy a few bottles of maintenance oil, but they didn’t have any. Other than that, we got everything.”
“That’s a relief, at least.”
We could somehow manage without firewood. Still, it would have been nice to have spares.
“Did you find anything?”
“No. There wasn’t anything in the village. I just went around in circles for nothing.”
At my words, Baldik nodded.
“That’s how small villages are. As long as there’s one inn that serves decent food, that’s enough.”
“That’s true.”
With nothing in particular to do in the village, we gathered again in the inn’s dining area.
Still, it seemed there weren’t no travelers at all; I noticed a few people filling the scarce seats.
Among them, one person was dressed cleanly, without any particular wrinkles in his clothes, and looked like a merchant or a noble of some sort.
There was no way a noble would come to a remote village like this, so he was most likely a merchant.
Sairun seemed to have noticed as well, and whispered in a subtly low voice.
“Looks like those people are trying to cross the border too.”
“Really? How can you tell?”
Sairun gave a slight nod and indicated the other party with his eyes.
“They had a map spread out beside their luggage and were calculating something. It was obviously near the border.”
At that, I discreetly shifted my gaze and looked at the merchant-like figure again.
Sure enough, a small scroll map was spread out on the table, and he was quietly conversing with his companion while pointing at something with his finger.
It wasn’t anything suspicious, but it was a scene that needlessly bothered me.
I could only hope their destination didn’t overlap with ours.
“Hm?”
Damn it. Of all moments, our eyes met right then.
He looked at us closely, then soon exchanged a few short words with his companions.
Then, without hesitation, he rose from his seat and began walking straight toward us.
“Uh, huh? He’s really coming over.”
Sairun muttered softly, hunching his shoulders.
I slowly turned my head and met his gaze.
It wasn’t as if we could run away, and avoiding him for no reason would only look more suspicious.
He approached with an expressionless face and gave a light bow in front of our table.
“Excuse me. You appear to be traveling. Might I have a brief word with you?”