kscans

Chapter 54 - Mizuki's Feelings and the Wanderers

The journey by wagon continues. The season should be heading towards summer, but the temperature has dropped compared to when we were in Richel. It seems we're gradually gaining altitude. We'll be camping out tonight. If nothing happens, we should arrive at a town about the size of Richel tomorrow. Our destination, Miglutt, is still far in the distance. A bird with its wings spread is circling in the blue sky. The sunlight is harsh, but the wind is pleasant. It's comfortable under the wagon's canopy. Right now, Mizuki and I are on rearguard duty. We were sitting side by side at the back of the wagon. Nothing's changed. We continue to travel along a road through a forest. I was thinking how boring it was when a yawn escaped me.

"Hmph."

Mizuki glared at me.

"Wh-what is it?"

"Take this seriously."

"I am being serious. I can't help yawning."

It was because I had fought with Famu from dusk till dawn. Mizuki probably had a vague idea. She sighed.

"And what was with this morning? I'll apologize for secretly asking Avea to train you, but please stop saying lewd things in front of everyone. Save it for when we're alone!"

It seems I had gone too far this morning.

"...So it's okay if we're alone?"

I made a breast-groping gesture in front of her.

"...If that's what you want to do."

She swatted my hands away.

"Then now's the time."

"Are you serious? Are you really thinking about lewd things all the time? Don't you get tired?"

"The most fun I have is when I'm simulating how to make you come in my head."

"...So that's why you were crying when you lost to Avea and couldn't do anything lewd."

That's what she thought? I was just frustrated that I lost. But that's less embarrassing, so I'll keep quiet.

"You think about it enough to masturbate every day, right, Mizuki?"

"I'm not doing it now!"

"Really?"

That was a shock.

"Yeah, ever since I started having sex with you, I haven't had to. I'm really grateful for that."

A high school girl, Mizuki, being grateful for having lewd things done to her by an old man.

"...I would think masturbating is better than being assaulted."

"I felt so guilty, I was constantly apologizing to my mom and dad in my head. One time, my mom caught me and got really mad. But I couldn't stop, and I couldn't talk to anyone about it. I thought I was the only one, so it was really tough."

What would be better, a daughter addicted to masturbation, or one doing lewd things with an old man?

"I wonder what your parents would think if they knew about our current situation."

"Hmph, that's your responsibility, Mash. When we get back to our original world, you're going to properly greet my parents and get their permission to date me!"

"...Are you serious?"

"I'll ask with you."

There was no way I could imagine her parents allowing me to date Mizuki. I wanted to return to our original world even less now.

"So that's why I'm not doing it by myself now."

"Is that how it is? I'd be fine with it, and I wouldn't stop you. In fact, I'd encourage it."

"I'm sure you would, Mash, but... ugh. I just want to have a normal conversation."

Mizuki sighed. The wagon lurched as a wheel hit a stone. The road was still muddy from yesterday's rain. The wagon swayed every time it crossed a rut or got stuck in the mud. Fortunately, it hadn't gotten stuck and unable to move.

"In that case, can I ask you something that's hard to ask?"

"Yeah."

She nodded.

"Mizuki, what... what do you think about it?"

"...I can't answer anything with that."

"About people dying."

"About Ema?"

"That too, but it's only been about a month since we came to this world, yet I feel like I've been involved in a lot of people's deaths."

The settlement at the fort attacked by goblins, the members of Black Sky, the bandits. Up until now, I was able to come to terms with it by telling myself that these things happen normally in this world. As long as I didn't do it myself, as long as it wasn't one of my companions, it was fine. I was able to see it as someone else's problem. But Ema's death was different. Rylie's sobs wouldn't leave my mind, and I couldn't do that anymore.

"I try not to think about it, but am I the only one who's strange? Beers... I guess I can call him that. I can't forget. My head feels weird,"

Mizuki answered, as if muttering to herself.

"Me too."

"Isn't this the kind of thing an adult is supposed to teach you how to deal with?"

Mizuki pouted and nudged my side with her elbow.

"Impossible. I have no idea what to do either."

I'm sorry for being such a useless adult.

"From now on, we might have to fight other transmigrators, and that might really become a fight to the death. I don't want to kill, and I don't want to be killed. I want to go back to our original world."

Even if you're not a special being like a transmigrator, bandits and robbers are close by. Death is right around the corner. I remembered when I met Famu, and my chest tightened.

"Our original world is the same. Especially the country we lived in, it's just hard to see because everyone hides it. I don't want to kill either, and I don't want to be killed either."

Thinking back now, death was hidden in our original world so that we wouldn't feel it directly. You couldn't do that with family, but if it was a stranger, you could just close your eyes and not see. But in this world, everything is laid bare.

"In this world, there comes a time when you have to make a choice yourself. What will you do then, Mash?"

"I don't know. But I especially don't want Famu and you to be involved."

"Because you're an adult?"

"Yes, I'm an adult. It's like with alcohol."

We live with weapons in our hands. That day will surely come. But I keep putting off that resolution. Do I have to make up my mind? If I do, I'm afraid I'll go to an extreme. I don't know what will become of me. Mizuki leaned against me. She rested her head on my shoulder.

"Whatever choice you make, Mash, I'll be with you. We can make it in this world, as long as we're together, right?"

"Yeah, as long as it's the two of us, we'll be fine."

I wrapped an arm around Mizuki's waist. I have to protect her.

"I wish days like this, just peacefully swaying in the wagon, could last forever."

Mizuki's soft-looking lips were close. Forgetting about my watch duty, I was drawn to her lips. Just then, Cecily, on horseback, came back to the rear where we were.

"Hmph,"

I said out loud again.

"What is it with the 'hmph'?"

Cecily's expression turned stern.

"No, it was just a bug flying by. Do you like bugs, Cecily?"

"...I don't particularly like or dislike them."

"I see. I was thinking of going to catch some stag beetles later. Want to come?"

"...What are you going to do with them?"

Cecily asked. Mizuki was listening silently, looking embarrassed. She was probably flustered because she was seen clinging to me.

"Sell them to the kids in town."

"Who's going to buy them? You'll have leftovers."

She said the same thing as Aira. As I thought, the residents of this world weren't interested in rhino or stag beetles.

"If I have leftovers, I'll give them to Aira."

"Eh? To Aira? This is the first I've heard that she likes stag beetles."

Good, now if Cecily finds a stag beetle, she'll bring it to Aira. A small punishment for interrupting my quiet time with Mizuki, following Myra.

"That's right. I have a message from Avea,"

Cecily said.

"...That's ominous."

I had a bad feeling about this.

"I don't know. It seems a group of wagons is stopped up ahead, blocking the road. We don't know what's going on, so she said to prepare for a fight."

"Prepare for a fight..."

"I'll go tell Famu and the others."

Mizuki went inside the canopy to tell Famu and the others who were waiting in the wagon. The inside and outside of the wagon were only separated by the canopy, but the vibrations of the wagon and the sound of the wheels made it hard to hear outside sounds.

"Did you see them, Cecily?"

"Yes, I saw the wagon canopies through the trees. It wasn't just one."

If bandits were waiting for us, would they set up an ambush in a place where they could be seen from here? Mizuki returned from inside the canopy. She had a tense expression, probably because of what we had just talked about. The wagon stopped. Cecily urged her horse forward to check on the situation at the front.

"Cecily, wait. Let's all go together."

"Yes, alright."

Cecily nodded. Mizuki and I got off the wagon, and Famu and the others came out from inside as well.

"Well then, shall we go?"

Everyone nodded. I started walking towards the front of the caravan.

There were about twenty wagons stopped there. There were also a few goats. There were people dressed in clothes I had never seen before. Nearly twenty of them were out of their wagons. The men wore short vests with colorful embroidery and draped short pants with sashes. The women wore short vests and long skirts. They also used brightly colored fabric with embroidered decorations. I hadn't seen people walking around with their stomachs exposed like them in the towns.

"They're people who live on the road in their wagons. They're called wanderers,"

Avea called out to me. Come to think of it, there was another woman with an exposed stomach right here. Were wanderers treated the same as freemen?

"They're not nomads? They're wandering around in a forest like this? Are there a lot of them?"

When I think of nomads, I imagine them striding leisurely across a vast grassland.

"No, they don't make a living from herding, so they're not nomads. It's true that you see them more often in the grasslands south of here."

"Is that so? So, what are they doing?"

"It looks like a wagon got stuck in the mud."

It seemed we didn't have to worry about a fight. I relaxed.

"I'll go help. Everyone else can rest."

I headed towards the stuck wagon. For some reason, Famu and Mizuki followed me. When we got closer, we saw that about a third of the wagon's wheel was sunk in the mud. It seemed about four wagons had managed to pass through safely, but the road got worse each time, leading to this situation. The axle connecting the wheels also seemed to be broken. The whole thing looked tilted. Men were pushing while horses pulled, but the wagon wouldn't move forward and looked like it was about to tip over.

"Mizuki, what should we do in a situation like this?"

"We should leave it to the experts,"

Mizuki said decisively.

"...That's true, but can't we use our knowledge from our original world to be amazing?"

"It's not knowledge from our world, but can't we remove the moisture from the mud?"

"I see. Famu, go get Cecily for me."

Famu nodded and went to get Cecily.

"Can you use Water Magic to remove the moisture from the mud?"

"Alright. I'll give it a try."

Cecily raised her staff. She activated Water Magic and used the moisture from the mud to create a water sphere. When the ground had hardened sufficiently, they had the horses pull the wagon again. The wagon started to move, and cheers erupted.

"Cecily, that was amazing!"

I called out to her, and she hit me with the water sphere. I was soaked.

"Cecily... why would you do that?"

"I found a stag beetle earlier. When I took it to Aira, she got really mad at me!"

It was the seed I had sown.