(Just where are we heading, anyway?)
Maomao
and
Xiaohong,
along with the female bodyguard, had been wandering about for several days. They traveled by covered wagon, taking breaks along the way, and staying at inns in villages and towns.
Without any landmarks—just endless grasslands in every direction—it was impossible to tell whether they were going in circles or making progress. But whenever Maomao checked the position of the sun, they seemed to be heading roughly west.
"May I ask where we're headed?"
Maomao asked the female bodyguard.
"If I told you the name of the settlement, would it mean anything to you?"
She received a reply that left her utterly speechless.
"I imagine you've already figured it out, but we're heading west. The wife's family home is in the second-largest city in Xuxi Province. The husband's business took a hit from the locust plague. Thinking they couldn't go on like this, the naive wife and children scraped together what little money they had and hired a bodyguard to deliver word of their hardship to the wife's parents. That's the story we're going with."
"I see."
In other words, their destination was the second-largest city, or perhaps a point just before it.
(How rude, calling someone "naive.")
That was what Maomao thought, but opportunities to venture further into the interior of Xuxi Province were few and far between. She couldn't help her eyes lighting up at the occasional glimpses of unfamiliar food, drink, and crafts.
At first, Xiaohong had been withdrawn after being separated from her uncle, but the curiosity of a young child was still there. She had enough composure to peer into market stalls alongside Maomao.
(This child is remarkably well-behaved, isn't she?)
Maomao reflected on this sincerely. Most children would whine and throw tantrums. Maomao didn't like children—in fact, she actively disliked them. She often resorted to a firm smack when kids wouldn't listen, but she felt no such impulse toward Xiaohong. If anything, the girl had an air of constantly watching the adults for cues about how to behave. It made Maomao imagine what kind of environment Xiaohong had grown up in.
Just as the female bodyguard had intended, no one found it strange to think of Maomao and Xiaohong as mother and daughter. Maomao's skin was on the ruddier side, and as usual, she had enhanced the spots around her eyes to look like freckles. Xiaohong had light-colored hair, so it was entirely believable that a foreign husband's blood had run strong enough that the child didn't resemble the mother. Adding the cover story of trading work made it all the more convincing.
"You don't seem very rattled."
The female bodyguard remarked this at a small eatery. The place had about nine four-person tables, with the second floor doubling as lodging. They even looked after the horses.
"Rattled? There's hardly ever an opportunity to travel through the interior."
Whether she was nervous or not, since they were all on the same road anyway, she figured she might as well take it easy until they actually ran into a problem. Maomao—
bread
It was served with a lamb soup on the side. The meat had absorbed plenty of flavor, but the salt was used sparingly. There were some root vegetables and
chives
—not much else. Water was precious here, so most drinks were alcoholic. Maomao ordered water separately for Xiaohong at some extra cost.
The inn was run-down. It had originally been set up as a waypoint for trade. The food shortage from the locust plague was bad enough, but you could tell the real blow was to trade, the heart of the local economy.
Maybe that was why the atmosphere among the other patrons at the eatery felt so unpleasant.
(At first glance,
I couldn't spot any obvious ruffians,
but still)
There was a customer in the corner of the shop, sipping at his drink. He had been glancing in Maomao's group's direction for a while now.
(Are they sizing up who to target?)
At Maomao's table there were only three women. The two drivers doubled as guards, but they ate at staggered times.
It was practically an open invitation to be attacked.
"Won't you hire additional escorts?"
"The guards we can trust should be waiting in the next town."
In other words, they had no intention of hiring anyone of unknown background.
"Won't the drivers eat together, even one at a time?"
It would make a difference if even one man was sitting with them.
"In Jūsei Province, many people consider it improper for a woman to share a table with a man who isn't family."
So she was saying it would create a contradiction in their cover story.
"I'm going to prepare for departure to the next town, but I'll leave one guard here at the inn—please don't leave your room."
"Understood."
Maomao wanted to explore the town, but she obediently listened to the female escort's instructions.
"I know you'll probably be bored, but please just do some reading or something."
(Reading, huh.)
The only thing Maomao had on hand was a tome she'd found in the room where she'd been held captive. It had somehow ended up in the covered wagon, so Xiaohong or someone must have brought it along.
Maomao had no interest in the book whatsoever, but since there was nothing else to do, she had no choice but to read.
The female escort returned
about
an hour later. It seemed she had done the shopping as well, since she was carrying a large bag, but her expression was somewhat subdued.
Maomao had grown tired of reading and was playing with Xiaohong. Though "playing" was generous — they were doing things like playing jacks with shells and pebbles, and cat's cradle, which were really nothing more than time-wasters.
"Sounds like you didn't get much good news."
"No. We were supposed to meet up in the next town, but it seems to be off the trade route currently, so there was no information to be had."
The female escort set the large bag down in front of Maomao.
"Off the trade route?"
Maomao repeated the question as she opened the bag. Inside were dried meat and other preserved foods, furs for warmth, and various medicinal herbs. Maomao's eyes lit up.
"Yes. There are many bandits on the highway along the way, so the merchants have been avoiding it. Bandits were already common, but the locust plague caused food shortages, and the economic downturn on top of that has left many people without work. It's safer to push through that dangerous road and head straight to the next town."
"Oh."
Even if people were desperate, if they took everything by force, eventually there would be nothing left to take.
"But wasn't there a reliable escort agency in the next town?"
Maomao said with a grin, lining up the medicinal herbs.
"She said there were guards, not escorts."
"Ah."
She had indeed never said "escorts." Maomao sniffed the herbs one by one, satisfied. Xiaohong tried to copy her, but the herbs were so pungent that she held her nose and turned away.
"Honestly, I think it's about time we headed back to the Western Capital."
"I can't make that judgment just yet. My role is to send you home once it's been determined that the danger has completely passed."
The female escort spoke plainly. Maomao didn't know what ulterior motives she might have for dragging them around. But there didn't seem to be any lies in those words.
"However, if we don't make contact at the next town, we won't even know what to do from there. So I'm thinking we should head that way while accepting a certain degree of risk. What do you think?"
Maomao groaned as she checked how dry the herbs were.
"When you put it that way, I don't really have the right to refuse. Besides, if we just wander aimlessly around Xuxi Province, we'll run out of travel funds."
"That's somewhat reassuring to hear."
The female escort drew a small vial from inside her robe. It was smaller than a palm, its surface carefully coated with glaze.
"What's this?"
Maomao set down the herbal medicine and narrowed her eyes.
"It's a neurotoxin. It's sensitive to heat, so please don't warm it up too much."
"If it were snake venom, I could've helped with that."
Maomao took the vial and gave it a light shake. A faint sloshing sound could be heard. How many snakes must they have caught to collect this much? Snake venom was far less stable than mineral poisons and lost its toxicity easily. It was especially vulnerable to heat. Not only was this written in the texts, but it matched Maomao's own experience as well.
"You can tell it's snake? You'd be surprised how easy it is to collect at a butcher's shop."
"Don't you have any scorpion venom?"
"There's a little mixed in."
Maomao realized the woman was not joking.
"And this too."
She handed Maomao a cloth with needles tucked into it. The needles were secured in place, and when you rolled the cloth up, they could be carried without anyone getting pricked.
"If anything happens, prioritize your own life above all else."
(No matter what, survive.)
The female escort had said that, even if it meant killing someone in the worst case.