Chapter 38 – Setback
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Kei and Aileen advanced silently under a gloomy layer of gray that painted the sky.
Neither sat on their horse. Instead, they were walking with dejected expressions as they dragged the reins behind them. The two appeared to be completely worn out, but the two horses — Sasuke and Suzuka, were in an even worse state. Their heads hanging, they panted heavily with their tongues exposed. To anyone looking, they looked like they would collapse any moment.
“Hang in there, we’re almost there…”
Kei encouraged Sasuke who was heaving violently, breathing like a broken record. Those words weren’t just directed at his steed, but also served to motivate himself as he readjusted the luggage on his back.
Originally Suzuka had been carrying their luggage, but Kei had to relieve her of that burden as she wouldn’t be able to last otherwise in her already weakened state. Walking behind him, Aileen was also carrying some of the luggage, her eyes dead.
Their cheerfulness from when they had first set foot into Northland was by now gone without a trace. Currently only irritation and exhaustion spurred them to trudge onwards. Kei wiped the sweat off his forehead, his face screwed up in annoyance, and reflexively reached for the flask at his waist. His walking gait had been causing it to sway, but it was far too light and quiet.
In other words, it was empty. He had long since drained it for the last droplet. At this point, it was meaningless to even talk about his scorching thirst, and thus he restricted himself to intentionally producing saliva in an attempt to deceive his thirst.
“……”
But as expected, it didn’t do much good and so he focused on moving his legs instead.
They had absolutely no idea for how long they had been walking like this. On their way they had passed grooves, went through plains, and crossed a hill—
“…Ohh.”
The scenery sprawling out beyond the peak caused Kei to reflexively stop.
“We’ve arrived! I can see it, Aileen!”
“…Seriously?!”
Kei pointed towards the end of the road. Aileen’s eyes regained some of their light and she quickly lifted her face.
“I’ve never been more serious. We’re finally there.”
“……Hicc.” Aileen teared up slightly, overcome with emotions. “H-Hiccc, I’m so glaaad…!”
“Yeah, now we can finally…”
The two let their emotions free rein.
“Refill water…!!”
Sasuke and Suzuka also neighed what sounded like a sigh.
“Just a bit longer, Sasuke.”
“Suzuka, just hold out a little bit longer! You’ll be able to drink water very soon!”
Kei clapped Sasuke’s neck while Aileen brushed Suzuka’s mane as they resumed walking.
At the end of the road, as if stuck between the mountains, there was a stone-walled city—
—Buffer City Dilan’niren.
“We somehow managed to get back…”
Those words, filled with deep feelings, left Kei’s mouth.
Three days had passed since they stepped into Northland.
The two followed the Yegor Highway back, returning back to Dilan’niren.
†††
Starting with the conclusion, the eastbound Yegor Highway was surrounded by an environment that was completely unsuited for traveling.
The two had been attacked in one of the villages they passed during their sleep, but at that point, the idea of turning around wasn’t on the table. They had Aileen’s alarm and their abilities, so it should’ve been fine to camp out while avoiding contact with locals as much as possible.
Believing in themselves like that, the two decided to push on through the unsafe eastern region.
But alas.
Already on the very next day they had been confronted with a grave problem.
Water shortage. They were seriously lacking water for Sasuke and Suzuka, not to mention themselves.
During their journey through the duchy so far, the two had constantly traveled along rivers, so they never even thought about the importance of “procuring water for the horses.” But in reality, a horse drank something between thirty and forty liters of water every day, and when it galloped and sweated, it’d need even more. They were forced to secure an amount of water an adult would need to carry with both their arms, but there were no rivers near the Yegor Highway, and the scarce, existent water sources would always lead them close to Snowlander settlements.
They wanted to avoid any contact, but on the other hand, they needed water. Still, whenever they tried to request a share of water from the locals, the difference between them and the locals in regards to values and the “importance of each drop of water” turned into a massive wall, blocking their way. The Snowlanders were anything but happy about the two entering their settlement, and as soon as Aileen asked for a replenishment of water, they were met with flat refusal.
According to them, it hadn’t rained in the eastern region as of late, resulting in the locals facing a water shortage themselves as well. Hence, whenever strangers appeared and asked for water — and not just for them, but for their horses as well — they couldn’t possibly accept it.
Thus the two finally realized the “wealth” of the duchy for having countless water sources where you could drink water at any time without even a need for sterilization. Coming from a modern world, where water came out of the tap at any moment you turned the knob, they understood the value of water intellectually, but not as a crucial element needed for survival. And because they had been blessed with such an environment until now, they failed to realize this fundamental fact.
In the end, their requests to “share water” were met with angry yelling and jeering. As such the two had no choice but to turn tail and flee the settlement.
They’d also try to negotiate for water in the next settlement, but there was no answer. They further added that they’d pay for it, taking out their valuables, but all they achieved was a sudden change in the residents’ expressions, followed by an attack. They immediately fought back and got out of it safe and sound, but some of the residents got injured, making any further approaches to the settlement impossible.
Given the residents’ poverty, they would never be able to afford proper treatment. Should the arrow wounds fester and get infected, it’d very likely lead to numerous deaths. The idea made Kei feel depressed.
Having said that, he couldn’t keep worrying about strangers. At this rate, they would have no means to handle their own situation.
Under these circumstances, the two were pressed to decide how they’d be able to obtain water, and whether they should continue or head back.
In the end, after considering their present location, weather, and other variables, they decided to turn back.
They hadn’t even covered a fifth of their route when they ran out of water, making a continuation while not knowing where to procure water a suicidal endeavor at best. Hence, they decided to return to Dilan’niren before it’d become too late for that, and then proceed along the Bratya Highway, where it’d be easier to obtain water, despite the risk of the mounted bandits.
However, they still had to think up a plan on how to secure water until Dilan’niren.
Believing that procuring water by normal means was bound to fail, the two resorted to their final idea, the “Evil Wizard” plan.
It was a rather simple plan. At night before dawn, the time period allowing for Aileen to use her magic, they would approach a settlement and negotiate to receive water. If it succeeded, great, but if not, she would scare the villagers with Kerstin’s shadows, threatening them with a high-handed attitude.
Kei would cover his face with a mask and lower his hood deeply into his face, silently standing next to Aileen like an ominous guardian, while Aileen would put on one of her spare coats and ornaments she kept for later conversion into money. She would even apply lipstick in order to give herself the image of a haughty magician.
The contrast between her white skin and crimson lips was highlighted by dusk. Aileen’s youthful and beautiful appearance was anything but how a normal “magician” looked like, and must’ve appeared very alien to the people of remote regions.
They came up with this plan based on their experience of having been attacked the other day, but it worked out unexpectedly well.
According to Aileen, people in this region were very pious — or perhaps superstitious would be a more fitting description — and with their lack of knowledge, they dreaded things like curses and magic like the plague. Kerstin’s “shadows” that couldn’t directly harm them certainly looked mysterious and thus were the perfect way to intimidate them.
Once she set the shadows on them, everyone, regardless of age and gender, trembled with fear and readily agreed to their demands. The two couldn’t deny that they got slightly carried away with this, and because of that, they felt somewhat guilty about resorting to such threats. They drew the line at paying for the water and limiting the threats to what was absolutely necessary to achieve the intended effect as they visited the villages on their way back, however…
Just before they reached Dilan’niren, a problem occurred.
The people of a certain village put up a fierce resistance despite fearing Aileen’s magic – maybe because they were quite desperate themselves. The two couldn’t exactly slaughter all of them, and if they caused a big ruckus, guards from the city might rush over too, so they decided to flee.
Having no other choice, they continued towards Dilan’niren without resupplying.
“Ahhh… I’m alive again…” Aileen sighed in delight after having grabbed the pitcher and emptied all the water within.
Currently they were in the backyard of an inn in Dilan’niren. Kei and Aileen were quenching their thirst next to Sasuke and Suzuka who were gulping down water from their buckets in the stable.
“Humans can’t live without water… I now fully understand that…”
Unlike Aileen, Kei was drinking the water from his flask in sips. He never thought water could be this delicious. The cool droplets of life continued permeating his whole body down the last corner as they pumped through his veins.
After having had their fill, the two remained stared blankly into empty air, still holding pitcher and flask, but then came back to their senses and looked at each other.
“…So, what do we do now?”
“…Right.”
They felt a strange sense of accomplishment, but this was only the beginning of their journey. Dilan’niren was no more than a waypoint, and their goal, the Haunted Forest lay at the edge of Northland.
“Even if we’ve set on following the Bratya Highway northwards…how should we go about it?”
“The mounted bandits, huh…? I wonder if anything happened with them in the last three days.” Aileen spoke while scratching her head.
They didn’t expect any dramatic changes in such a short time, but they decided to start with the most elementary basic of all, namely, gathering information.
They left Sasuke and Suzuka at the inn and headed out onto the streets. As always, Kei — someone who looked like a Grasslander — drew reproachful glares. Just as they did when they first arrived in Dilan’niren, Aileen went ahead to ask the Snowlanders. But, in the meantime, some violent men got involved with Kei, resulting in the guards also approaching him in suspicion. Ultimately the two were forced to act together.
“We can’t even walk around normally under these circumstances.”
“Hmm… So I guess this tells us that the situation isn’t good, if nothing else.”
Kei laughed cynically, appearing defiant, while Aileen frowned.
They didn’t make much progress with their information gathering. Kei’s presence clearly affected the pedestrians’ attitude towards Aileen negatively. Even when she talked to them with a smile, they only gave her suspicious looks and ignored her. As a result, she soon started to feel dejected. Kei remembered that she hated being excluded or neglected, so he didn’t feel good about it either.
After walking for some time, they arrived at a small square where a marketplace had been set up. Thinking the merchants would be more approachable than the normal residents out on the streets, the two asked around while buying minor things like packed meals at the stalls.
“Mounted bandits? Oh, yeah, it seems they are bringing a lot of harm as of late.”
“I heard they started appearing near the Bratya Highway too.”
“A larger caravan is being formed as a countermeasure, I hear…”
“That man isn’t a Grasslander, I hope? Oh, is that a ducal ID? …Sorry about that.”
Compared to the Snowlanders, the Plainsfolk — merchants originating from the duchy — weren’t as dismissive of Kei. At least not yet. Whenever they started to suspect him, he showed his Urvan ID, which had an immediate and powerful effect. Albeit just bits and pieces, they still managed to gradually gather some information.
“This is just great… So those mounted bandits have even shown up on the Bratya Highway…!” Aileen, looking devastated, snarled in a corner of the market after they had mostly finished asking around.
“Looks like the situation is only getting worse.” Kei commented.
“Goddamn it! If we knew this would happen, we’d have followed the Bratya Highway from the get-go!”
Aileen pulled on her ponytail in frustration. In situations like this one, it was very normal for Aileen to stomp her feet despite knowing that it’d serve no purpose. As always, Kei limited his reply to a stare full of gentle patience.
“So, what do we do, Aileen?”
“There was… something about a caravan. Should we join it?”
“It’d be great if we could do that.”
“…If, huh. Well, it’s also possible for us two to push our way through ourselves.”
“That’s something I was considering as well. We would have less load like that, and even if we encounter the bandits, we could outrun them if we use magic… but it still comes with risks, and we’d have to drop off our luggage if it comes to that.”
If they got attacked by the bandits, Suzuka’s speed would be far too low. It’d be necessary to dump most of their luggage to speed her up.
“Even if we pull through it, we’d be in a tough spot without our luggage…”
Aileen spoke with a distant look in her eyes. They learned the importance of supplies the hard way during their aimless journey on the Yegor Highway. The vicinity of the Bratya Highway had plenty of water sources, so finding water would be easy enough as long as you had a map, but losing their tent and food supplies would be a heavy blow. Moreover, if they even lost their “alarm,” their camping would become even more stressful.
“What do we do…?”
“Yeah…”
The two leaned on a wall at the corner of the plaza, gazing vacantly at the passersby. The sky above them was clear without a single cloud blemishing its azure canvas. People strolled the market as vendors touted their wares in loud voices. Still, all of them were stealing glances at the two.
It was mainly Kei’s fault. It was hard to tell who was observing who at this point.
If they had decided to tread the Bratya Highway on their own, standing around like this bore no meaning and could be counted as a waste of precious time. Yet, they couldn’t make up their minds. Then again, it was hard to blame them after what they had experienced on the Yegor Highway.
“Argh…I’m getting a headache.”
Aileen spoke with a sigh and massaged her forehead.
“What a coincidence. Same here.”
“Haha. Making a swift decision used to be our credo during the game, and yet here we are.”
Kei responded with a smile full of complex feelings at Aileen’s nostalgic reminiscence.
“Our lives are on the line now. So we can’t decide on things on a whim.”
“Yeah… Sorry about this, Kei. I ended up dragging you along…”
“I don’t really think that’s the case here.”
Kei denied waving a hand in panic in response to Aileen’s dispirited remark. That wasn’t what Kei was trying to suggest, after all.
“If anything, I’d willingly put several lives at risk for you, Aileen.”
Kei hit his chest proudly, blurting out such a corny line. He was quite aware that it must have sounded pretentious, so a faint layer of red shaded his cheeks. Aileen was stupefied for a moment, but unable to stand the atmosphere surrounding them, she burst into laughter.
“Hahaha, what was that?”
“U-Ugh…”
“…But, thanks.”
“…Sure.”
A Plainsfolk street vendor right next to them was glaring, cursing them for creating their own little world, but fortunately, the two didn’t notice.
“Phew. Anyway, there’s no point in standing around here all day. Kei.”
“Yeah?”
“Let’s first replenish our sugar levels. I saw some tasty-looking fried fruits being sold over there.”
“Wha-, hey!”
Aileen started to quickly walk off as soon as she finished her words, forcing Kei to chase after her in a hurry.
The stall was practically on the opposite side of the market. Underneath a simple tent consisting of four poles and a cloth spanning above a middle-aged man was selling dried fruits and sugar-preserved food. Sugar was quite valuable, unlike in the modern world, so it cost quite a bit to buy food preserved in sugar, but Kei considered them a charming alternative when it came to emergency rations.
“Hey, uncle, can we get these raisins? Enough to fill this bag.”
“Sure thing. They’re imported from the duchy, so they cost fifteen coppers.”
After the shopkeeper took the drawstring pouch and the coins from Aileen, he started to scoop out the raisins with a tablespoon. But then, his eyes fell on Kei and his expression turned stern.
“Hey! What the hell is a dirty barbarian doing here!?” He yelled abuses at Kei.
But Kei was already used to it, and thus didn’t even bother to respond with something like, “This again?”
Actually, this would only instigate the other party, so his best option was to simply ignore it altogether.
“Now, now. He looks like one, but he’s not a Grasslander.”
“…Huh, are you covering for him now!”
“My niece was killed by those fucking mounted bandits! I’ll never forgive those damn Grasslanders or those who side with them! Get the hell out of here, you slut! You’re a disgrace of a Snowlander!”
The storekeeper insulted her in mad fury, throwing the coins and her bag at Aileen’s face. She quickly dodged the coins, but the drawstring pouch that followed after hit her square in the face.
The raisins inside were scattered on the ground.
“—Hey.”
Kei stepped in between the two.
In situations like this, it was best to not make any rash moves, but it was a different story if the other party got violent. Kei silently glared at the shopkeeper with a grim expression.
“W-What…you lookin’ for a fight…?”
He rummaged around near his feet, just to pull out a club next. Kei couldn’t exactly draw his sword inside the city, so he quickly reached out for a fire hook leaning against a nearby pillar.
It was an iron hook with a length of around a meter. It looked quite well-made and sturdy. As he lightly swung it around, it gave off pleasant whooshes. It didn’t seem like it’d break from a slightly rougher treatment.
A crowd began to gather thanks to the uproar. The guards hadn’t been called as of yet, but Kei decided it was better to settle the situation before it escalated too much, and faced the shopkeeper once again.
The storekeeper was ready for a fight with his club, but he seemed discouraged after comparing the reach of the club with the hook. That said, Kei didn’t actually plan to hit him for real. People like these were mainly driven by emotions so they’d settle down once you scared them a bit.
Kei grabbed the middle of the hook with his right hand, and thrust it in front of the storekeeper. The man seemed unsure what Kei was planning, but ignoring him, Kei put strength into the hand holding the hook, resulting in the iron starting to creak.
Hearing and seeing that, the crowd stirred. The storekeeper could only stare stupefied as the hook got slowly twisted.
Before long, the hook was bent into a V-shape, and Kei threw it down in front of the storekeeper’s feet. The iron clattered across the stone paving.
“Should I twist you like this too?” Kei exaggeratedly cracked his fingers as he threatened him.
The storekeeper looked back and forth between him and the hook at his feet, quickly turning ghastly pale. Kei heard Aileen muttering, “It’s working, it’s working” behind him, almost causing him to burst into laughter, but with strenuous effort he managed to maintain his scary expression.
“—Hey you.”
But then, someone called out to him. Still wearing a scary expression, he glared to the side, just to spot a middle-aged crepe seller, whose stall was next to the dried fruit stall, standing there with his arms folded and anger written on his face.
He jerked his jaw at the bent hook and snarled, “That was mine, you know?”
“Huh?”
As he had said, the pillar the hook had used as support did belong to the crepe stall. Thinking calmly about it, it stood to reason that a dried fruit stall wouldn’t need a fire hook, so it’d make no sense to place it there.
“S-Sorry about that…! I thought it belonged to the dried fruit stall.”
Kei picked up the totally bent hook in panic, casting a dejected look at it.
“Can this even be returned to normal…? No, wait! Please give me a moment, old sir. I’ll do something about it.”
He grabbed the hook’s ends with both hands and started to bend them backward. Since he was using both hands, it twisted much smoother, but he ended up putting too much strength into it, inverting the bend this time. In dire distress, he clumsily fixed its shape.
“…Okay, how about this?”
“……”
Accepting the fire hook which still looked somewhat zigzaggy, the crepe seller answered with a bitter face, “…Well, I suppose it’s not unusable.”
He sighed and leaned the hook against a nearby pillar. Kei felt relieved while Aileen showed her amusement by giggling.
Meanwhile, the onlookers had apparently dispersed as well. The nearby vendors smiled wryly at that anticlimactic ending. The dried fruit seller turned the other way, feigning ignorance.
“So? I expect you’ll now buy something from me, right?”
The old man spoke while tapping the iron hotplate with the crepe rolling pin.
“O-Of course,” Kei could only nod with a cramped smile.
Kei bought ham and cheese crepe for a light meal, while Aileen asked for a sweeter one that used fruits and honey, while roughly explaining their circumstances to him.
“…I see, so you two wish to visit Sharistskoe, huh? Quite whimsical of you.”
When the old man heard the name of the small village closest to the Haunted Forest — Sharitskoe — he nodded, looking self-satisfied.
“Hmm, do you know about it, old man?”
“Yes. It’s close to Sharit where I was born. Things happened and I ended up drifting all the way here…”
Seemingly having remembered a distant past, the man sniffed with a sad expression, then rubbed the lower side of his nose with his right hand. Kei wished he wouldn’t use that hand to make crepes, but alas, his prayer reached no one. The old man proceeded to grab cheese and ham with practiced hand movements, wrapping them in the crepe dough. That appetite-waning scene made Kei sad too.
—But things like this were everyday occurrences in this world. When it came to restaurants and pubs, the sanitary situation was anything but good, and as such, it’d be endless if he started to worry about dirtiness all the time.
I have an enhanced body so it should be…should be alright, Kei kept telling himself and tried his best to not pay any attention to it.
“Here, cheese and ham crepe.”
“Thanks…”
“But still, we’re in a bit of a pinch too.” While Kei was absorbed in his own thoughts, Aileen had continued talking to the old man. “We want to go north along the Bratya Highway, but it looks like the place is infested by bandits now.”
“So it seems.”
The old man glanced at Kei for a moment and gave an impish smile.
“…I’ll say it again, it’s got nothing to do with me.”
“Oh, I was merely thinking it must be hard on you. Being from a different ethnic group makes life hard, doesn’t it?”
“So anyway, we wanna join the caravan, but we have no connections or means to do it…”
Aileen quickly continued before the conversation headed in a tricky direction.
“Old man, maybe you have some good advice for us? Something like an old man’s wisdom.”
“That was going a bit too far, little girl.”
The old man glared angrily at Aileen, and then started to ponder while making her honey crepe.
“I believe it was… the Gavrilov Company. I heard they are planning to set up a caravan tomorrow.”
“Ohh, really?! I wonder if we could join at the last minute?”
“I’m not sure about that. That company is known to be quite exclusive…”
“Huh? Well, I guess it’s worth a shot either way. Hey old man, do you know where that Gavrilov Company’s located at? And could you put in a good word for us?”
It was the usual thing, but seeing Aileen unleash all her social skills while going on the offensive, caused Kei to be torn between being impressed and exasperated. The old man presented the crepe to her and laughed heartily.
“Hahaha, asking so much after buying a single crepe, what a bold girl you are! But sorry, I can’t do anything as grand as recommending you. I do know where to find the company, though. Go straight on that street, then turn left at the third corner. You should see a small bronze lion statue on a small plaza at the end of the street. The company’s headquarters is right behind it. The building got a big signboard, so you’ll spot it right away.”
“Ohh, thanks, old man! Ah, right, I’m Aileen. What about you?”
“I am, Spartak. It was nice to meet you.”
The conversation stopped for a moment and the two’s gazes focused on Kei. He hurriedly gulped down his crepe, removed his leather helmet, and gave a bow to the old man — Spartak.
“I’m Kei. Thank you for the information, Mr. Spartak.”
“Hmph. Getting thanked by a guy doesn’t make me happy.”
Watching making a snappy comment while dusting the wheat fragments off the iron board, Kei couldn’t help but smile wryly.
With the crepes in hand, the two thanked Spartak once more and left the stand, following his instructions.
“Finally some progress after all this time. As expected of you, Aileen.”
“Hehehe, leave it to me… Ohh, this is delicious.”
She stuffed her cheeks with the crepe, narrowing her eyes in delight. Kei watched her with a gentle smile, but then he realized something about Spartak.
“Hey, Aileen.”
“Hmm?”
“Mr. Spartak spoke English quite fluently, didn’t he?”
Spartak looked like a Snowlander, but he was fluent in English and didn’t speak a word of Russian.
“Yeah. He somewhat let it shine through earlier, but looks like he’s a mixed person.”
“…Oh?”
Kei glanced back. The old man was baking crepes in a distant corner of the square.
—Being from a different ethnic group makes life hard, doesn’t it?
He felt like he’d heard similar words before.
†††
“So, then… What are we going to do? Do you think we should join the caravan?”
“Well, it depends on their conditions, but I think that’d be the smartest option.”
After they finished their crepes, they continued their discussion while walking.
“But well, according to Mr. Spartak’s words, it seems to be an exclusive company…”
“Hmm… I suppose we have to show that we have proper “value” to be taken along. Something that’d make them want to include us…”
Aileen pondered with a finger on her lips.
“…Okay, I’ll try to get in with my magic. With my spells and the “alarm,” we should get included in the caravan with no extra compensation to pay.”
“Oh, you’re going all out, huh?”
“Well, we have no other cards to play. Your Siv is also an option, but you can’t make use of her every day.”
“Yeah…”
Kei’s contracted Spirit, Wind Maiden Siv, was his trump card. Unlike Aileen, he couldn’t use her casually, and he wanted to keep her hidden until it was necessary to use her.
“If you show them magic, they should welcome you wholeheartedly no matter how exclusive they might be…but that leaves me. In the worst case, you join them while Sasuke and I move inde—”
“Absolutely not, Kei! Are you going to throw a frail maiden like me into a den of wild beasts?!”
Aileen put hands on her cheeks and acted coquettishly, but Kei only smiled, commenting, “You sure can say that with a straight face.”
Aileen was far stronger than him when it came to unarmed close combat.
“Well, in all seriousness, if they’re the kind of people who exclude you, it’ll be better to not join them anyway. If that happens, we’ll simply give up and go ahead by ourselves, okay? ….Hehehe.”
“What’s with that laugh? But I guess that wouldn’t be so bad either… I have to tout my bow skill, I guess. I hope my duchy ID will come in handy too.”
As they walked while joking around, they eventually reached the small square where a bronze lion statue had been set up.
“So that’s the Gavrilov Company, huh.”
Kei couldn’t read the Cyrillic letters on the signboard, but he immediately realized that it was the company in question. Directly opposite of the bronze statue was a Northland-styled, domed building. It looked quite flashy compared to the houses around it. Several Snowlanders were surrounding a small cart in front of the headquarters while discussing something.
Aileen looked up to the sky. It was evening, and the sun was already going down…
【—Kerstin.】
Aileen snapped her fingers and the shadow under her feet swayed faintly.
“Okay, this should do.”
“Right.”
The two looked at each other, smiling faintly.
“—Okay, let’s go have some negotiations.”
They faced the company headquarters and stepped forward.
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