Early the next morning.
I rented a carriage to travel to Abraxas’s Nest.
It turned out it wasn’t set up so that I could just go anywhere, flash the pass, and borrow a carriage.
Only a few merchant companies contracted with the imperial family would rent carriages out.
They said all I had to do was show the pass and they’d lend me one.
Thanks to that, I ended up going to some random place and asking to borrow a carriage, only to land myself in an awkward situation.
The carriage I rented wasn’t all that large.
Strangely enough, it was exactly a two-seater.
I have no idea why a merchant company would have something like this.
It wasn’t some precious carriage, and from the look of it, it was basically a wagon you could use roughly in any situation.
But with wagons, isn’t it more profitable the more cargo you can load?
Or maybe the merchant company had made one in advance for people like me.
Since it would be a loss for them to hand over a carriage they normally used.
That was what merchants were like, wasn’t it?
A breed that couldn’t live with losses.
As if to confirm my guess, the horse pulling the carriage looked quite old too.
Honestly, even if I died halfway there or this carriage fell off a cliff somewhere, I had the feeling the merchant company wouldn’t care at all.
—Rustle. Rustle.
The well-dried fodder knocked against itself and crumbled apart.
I stroked the head of the horse that would be working hard for me and said,
“Eat a lot. Still, we’re not going terribly far. Just hang in there a little.”
“Neigh…!”
The horse nodded as if it understood.
It really did seem like animals that had interacted with humans for a long time understood human speech to some extent.
Of course, to understand anything complicated, it would probably have to be at least a spiritual beast,
but seeing that it understood human words did put me somewhat at ease.
A horse with plenty of experience might be able to judge for itself and get out of a crisis if something unexpected happened.
I’d heard that Easterners called this sort of thing laoma zhizhi—the wisdom of an old horse.
Everything had its pros and cons, I guess.
—Glug, glug, glug.
Next to the hay, I also filled up plenty of water for the horse to drink.
I planned to set off once I thought the horse had eaten enough.
If it collapsed from exhaustion halfway, I’d have to walk all the way to the dungeon when I needed to conserve my stamina as it was.
‘I’ve taken care of the horse, so now if I just check whether anything’s wrong with the carriage…’
I was carefully inspecting the wheels and condition of the carriage when,
“Um…”
A familiar voice came from behind me.
Somewhat startled, I quickly turned my head.
Standing there was the woman who, for some reason, kept flickering through my mind.
“Bell…? How did you find me all the way here?”
“Ah… well… I ended up selling herbs to this merchant company!”
“Really? That’s great!”
“Ahaha…”
Bell laughed awkwardly.
Well, maybe she felt embarrassed being praised for something like this.
Every time I’d seen her recently, she had a basket full of herbs, so it seemed not only the quantity but also the quality of the herbs must have been excellent.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to supply herbs to a merchant company contracted with the imperial family, of all things.
“Um, are you… going somewhere?”
Bell asked me cautiously.
“Ah, I have some business for a bit. Mercenaries have to move around more often than you’d think.”
“I see…”
“It’s a place called Gidson Village, about a day south from here.”
Bell thought for a moment after hearing my words.
“Would it be all right if I went with you?”
“Pardon?”
“Ahh…! It’s just… I feel like I’ve only been going around near Roten!! I wanted to see if there are any useful herbs in other places…! Since if the environment is different, the types of herbs would be different too!!”
“Hmm…”
Personally, I did think it would be best if she only worked near Roten.
Roten was a large city, so the Church of Lunia took care to manage it,
and though they weren’t exactly thorough, soldiers did patrol the area, the roads were well laid out in every direction, and there were plenty of people passing by.
Even if an ordinary woman who didn’t know how to fight wandered around alone, there probably wouldn’t be much of a problem.
But Gidson Village was a little different.
That place was definitely a rural area with few signs of people.
As for just how few people went around there,
the reason Abraxas’s Nest had become a dungeon on the higher end of intermediate difficulty was simply because there were no people passing nearby, so it was discovered late.
The Church of Lunia usually paid more attention to places like that… but, well, when you’re working, gaps can appear.
To begin with, it was impossible for the Order alone to perfectly manage this vast land.
In any case, unlike Roten, the area around Gidson Village could be quite dangerous if something happened.
I told her what I was thinking.
“Ah… then could I wait until you finish your work and have you help me afterward? I know it’s rude to ask…”
“Hmm…”
Seeing me hesitate, she startled and waved her hands in denial.
“A-Ahh!! If it’s too much trouble, it’s fine!!!! It’s not like I absolutely have to go!!!”
I calmed her down and said evenly,
“If that’s the case, I think it should be fine. But you must not leave the village until I return.”
At my words, her face lit up like a child who had been given candy as a present.
“Really!? Thank you so much!”
“Not at all. It’s nothing.”
I hadn’t said anything in particular, but for some reason, I felt proud.
***
And so, we headed to Gidson Village together.
Bell rode in the cargo area in the back, and I drove the horse from the front.
But the cargo area and the driver’s seat weren’t really separated, and the space between them was wide open.
Normally, I would have driven the horse through a bleak atmosphere without thinking about anything,
“So what I said to Philip back then was…”
“Pfft, hahaha, really?”
but now, with Bell here, it was different.
There had been plenty of times before when I traveled while talking to someone.
But those people hadn’t been Bell; they were usually older men.
They were mercenaries from the same mercenary corps, after all.
This was the first time I’d traveled while chatting like this with someone of the opposite sex around my age.
It did make me wonder if humans were creatures whose quality of life rose to some degree when they spent time with the opposite sex…
‘Evan. When a woman starts looking all right to you, or you feel happy being with her, that’s the most dangerous moment. At times like that, you need to know how to take a step back and cool your head. Got it?’
The advice that the married mercenary uncles had all given me came to mind, so for now, I decided to stay still.
They hadn’t told me the reason in particular, but the look in their eyes, as if they were recalling some terribly distant past and genuinely regretting it, remained in my memory.
The way a fistful of hair seemed to fall out every time they talked about it had also been left far… too deeply etched in my mind.
***
“Oh! Over there!!!”
Bell pointed ahead from behind me.
“I think we’ve arrived!!”
Fortunately, the carriage reached Gidson Village without any accidents.
It felt like we’d arrived faster than I’d expected.
The road was probably somewhat different from what I’d looked up.
The information booklet I’d read had been written almost immediately after Abraxas’s Nest was discovered, so it was certainly possible.
If people wanted to go back and forth to the dungeon easily, the road had to be convenient.
“Brrr. Brrr.”
“Yeah, yeah. Good work.”
I stroked the horse and stopped the carriage at the village entrance.
Then someone who looked like a villager approached me cautiously, wary of me.
“State your identity! What business brings you to our village?”
It was a natural reaction, but it did feel a little exaggerated.
Like they weren’t used to situations like this.
Judging purely by their spirit, they seemed capable of wrapping up and devouring a dungeon break all on their own.
In reality, though, I had the feeling they wouldn’t be able to catch so much as a bear if one crawled down into the village, let alone a demonic beast.
I calmly took out the request document bearing Marquis Roten’s seal from my pocket.
“I came to scout Abraxas’s Nest. The person behind me is an herbalist who came to gather herbs near the village, and she’ll only be staying in the village until I come out of the dungeon.”
They took my request document and read it carefully, then looked at one another, nodded, and asked about Bell.
“Who will vouch for that person’s identity?”
“I will.”
“Understood.”
—Clop, clop.
I climbed back into the carriage and drove it to a suitable spot inside the village.
“Phew… Are you all right, Bell?”
“Thanks to you. It was fun on the way here.”
“I’m glad.”
I wasn’t a knight, but I took Bell’s hand and escorted her down from the carriage, then looked for an inn where Bell could stay.
“I think you can wait here. I don’t know how long it’ll take, but if I don’t return for more than three days, please go back to Roten and report it.”
After giving her that request, I turned around,
—Squeeze.
“M-Miss Bell?”
“That won’t happen.”
Bell suddenly took my hand, looked up at me, and said,
“Please be careful, Sir Evan. I’ll be waiting.”
At that sight, I cleared my throat and answered,
“Ahem… Understood. I’ll be back soon.”
And with Bell seeing me off, I headed toward the dungeon.
***
“Water’s sufficient… food is… fine too.”
I had set down a bag as big as my own body and was doing one final check in front of the dungeon.
Normally, there should have been a noncombatant to carry the bag for me… but since I was scouting alone, it couldn’t be helped.
‘By the way, as expected, there’s no joining up with the Hero’s party or anything like that.’
Usually, when scouting a dungeon like this, the assault team that would clear the dungeon waited outside in most cases.
That way, as soon as the scouting was finished, they could proceed with the raid while the information was still intact.
Scouting with a gap before the Hero’s party actually attacked like this could end up being completely meaningless if luck wasn’t on their side.
‘Of course, they’ll probably check one last time just in case, to prevent any unexpected situations…’
It was a part that showed very clearly just how much the imperial family wanted to prevent contact between me and the Hero’s party.
Still, well, I’d do as I was told.
If the information was wrong, the Hero’s party would handle it on their own,
and to begin with, that was something the imperial side needed to take care of, not something I had to worry about.
They must have confidence in themselves to have made a plan like this, right?
“Now then… shall I start heading in?”
I should hurry back and go around looking for herbs with Bell.
It’ll probably end without anything happening.
As long as I do my part, there shouldn’t be any problem.
It’s a little nerve-racking since this is my first time scouting alone, but…
‘There’s no one here to troll me, so that’s actually better!’
I decided to just think positively.