The next morning.
"Gwah!"
The moment we arrived,
"Wait, is your body already adult-sized?"
Somehow... she seemed like she'd grown by about a head compared to yesterday. But it was hard to say for sure.
"Roughly this size is about average, I think."
"Now that you mention it, you're right."
She looked nearly identical to the Filolials you'd see around
Her color was white... with a slight tint of cherry blossom pink mixed in.
A beautiful shade, honestly.
That Slave Merchant — he really did a fine job, didn't he?
"Are you not hungry this morning?"
"Gwah?"
Filo tilted her head and chirped.
Yeah — she was probably past her growth spurt.
Bikii...
As always, that strange sound echoed from somewhere.
Well, whatever.
After that, we finished breakfast and sat around thinking about what to do next. That was when— "Gwah..."
Filo was staring longingly at a wooden cart being pushed through the village.
"So you really do want to pull one of those, huh?"
"I suppose so."
"What's the matter, Hero?"
When I pointed at the cart and chatted with Raphtalia about it, a village man came over and asked.
"Yeah, my Filolial was staring at the cart, so we were talking about whether she wanted to pull one."
"Well... Filolials do have that sort of instinct, don't they."
The man nodded as if that made perfect sense and turned to look at my Filolial.
"Right now, this village is in the middle of rebuilding, and we're short on hands. Hero, how about this — I'll give you a cart if you help us out?"
"Hmm..."
Not a bad deal. I'd gone to the trouble of getting a monster like this, so it would be a waste not to put her to work.
If things went well, I could get other work done during travel time.
"What do you need me to do?"
"We're cutting timber in the nearby forest. We'd like you to bring it back to the village."
"The forest, huh..."
Come to think of it, I hadn't been to that forest yet.
"Would it be all right if we came back late?"
"That would be fine."
"Alright. You've got yourself a deal."
And so, riding on the village folk's generosity, I was given a cart of our own.
The wheels and the flatbed were all made of wood. It was a little on the cheap side, but since it was free, I couldn't exactly complain.
It wasn't brand new, either — a bit worn around the edges.
"Gwah♪"
Given a cart of her very own, Filo was in high spirits and immediately pulled it out.
On top of that, the villagers even provided a set of reins. It looked the part, if nothing else — like a horse-drawn carriage.
"Alright! We're heading to the forest today!"
"Okay!"
"Gwah!"
I pointed in the direction we'd be going, and Filo cheerfully took off, pulling the cart behind her.
Clop clop clop!
Leisurely and...
CLOP CLOP CLOP! CLATTER CLATTER CLATTER CLATTER!
The wheels gradually began letting out an enormous racket, and just like yesterday, the scenery started flying past at high speed.
"Too fast! Too fast! Slow down!"
"Gwah..."
She slowed down, and Filo trotted along with an annoyed little mutter.
"Ngh... I'm starting to feel kind of sick..."
Raphtalia had apparently gotten motion sickness. She was lying limply in the back of the cart.
"You alright?"
"Yeah... but please don't shake it so much..."
"So Raphtalia gets motion sickness, huh?"
"...It seems so. Are you all right, Naofumi?"
"I've never gotten sick from riding anything, actually..."
Not from alcohol, and not from vehicles either. Back in elementary school, on a class trip, I'd been reading manga and light novels in my backpack on the bus, and the kid in the next seat kept staring at me saying he felt sick, which forced a seat swap.
There was also that trip to visit relatives — a roughly day-long boat ride where every single member of my family got seasick, and I just sat there playing handheld games the entire time.
"Just rest up for now. Filo and I will get us to where we need to go."
"I'll take you up on that... and rest..."
Raphtalia said listlessly from her spot lying across the cart.
And then, along the way... we ran into someone I'd rather not have seen.
"Pffha! What the hell is that?! Hahaha — oh man, that hits the spot! Bwahahahaha!"
The second he spotted me, he doubled over laughing. The bitch behind him was laughing along too.
I had no idea what had struck his funny bone, but being laughed at was more than enough to make my blood boil.
"Hey, out of nowhere, right? Motoyasu."
The moment Motoyasu — with that woman in tow — spotted us on the highway, he burst out laughing.
"B-because! That thing is so lame! It's not even a horse, it's a bird, and what's with that color — it's supposed to be white but there's this pale pink mixed in, and pure white is the standard! And it's so scrawny!"
"What's "standard," I wouldn't know..."
I couldn't make heads or tails of what he found so funny.
This was a waste of time. I should just ignore these idiots and move on.
Just as I was thinking that, Motoyasu pointed at Filo and started walking over.
And then— "Gwahhh!"
Filo reared up with her powerful legs and kicked Motoyasu square in the crotch.
I saw it all.
The way his grinning face twisted into a grotesque grimace from the impact before he went spinning backward in a corkscrew for about five meters.
"Ugh..."
"M-MOTOYASU!"
Haha — those eggs got scrambled good.
That was so satisfying. Just seeing that alone made buying Filo worth every penny.
That's my monster, alright. She took revenge on my behalf.
Filo, tonight I'm treating you to something extra delicious.
"Gwahhh!"
Flapping her wings wildly, Filo bolted forward at full speed.
In the blink of an eye, Motoyasu and his entourage disappeared from view.
Man... what a perfect moment. I never could have dreamed I'd witness something like this.
"Did... did something happen?"
Raphtalia, still looking peaky, lifted her head and asked.
"Hm? Nothing."
"...You say that, but you're looking more cheerful than I've ever seen before."
Oops — it showed on my face, didn't it.
Seriously, though, what incredible leg strength. To kick the Spear Hero flying like that...
"Um... could you maybe slow down a little?"
Raphtalia's voice didn't even register. I just kept running Filo forward with a bright, sunny feeling in my chest.
After that, Raphtalia threw up along the way, and by the time we reached the forest, she was at her limit.
"Ngh... ugh..."
Seeing her groaning with a green face, I realized I'd pushed her too far.
This was all Motoyasu's fault. If he hadn't been such a jackass, I wouldn't have been in such a good mood.
"Sorry."
"Gwah..."
Filo seemed to feel the same guilt, looking downcast and remorseful.
"I-I'm... fine..."
"You really don't look it. Wish there was somewhere we could rest..."
"Oh, Shield Hero, over here."
Near the edge of the forest there was a small cabin, and a villager who looked like a lumberjack stepped out from it.
"Yeah, the village folk asked me to come pick up some timber."
"Um... is your companion all right?"
"Honestly, probably not. I'd like to let her rest somewhere — is there anywhere nearby?"
"There's a bed in the cabin. Let's get her laid down."
The lumberjack led us to the cabin, and I carried Raphtalia by the shoulder and tucked her into bed.
"I think for today I'll just do light fighting against enemies within Filo's range and focus on hauling cargo."
Raphtalia apparently couldn't handle vehicles very well, so until she got used to it, I'd hold off on the cart's top speed.
"So that's the situation — sorry to trouble you, but could you load the timber onto the cart for me? I'll come back for it in a bit."
"Ah, sure thing."
Filo had unhitched herself from the cart and was watching us from outside the cabin.
"Let's get moving, then."
"Gwah!"
She'd kicked Motoyasu flying with ease — maybe her offensive power was more reliable than I'd thought.
I'd do a quick sweep through the forest.
Once inside, surprisingly, we didn't encounter a single monster.
I walked through the quiet forest with Filo.
People talked about forest bathing, but the air really did seem to feel purer here.
Come to think of it... since arriving in this world, I couldn't recall ever having strolled through a landscape like this at a leisurely pace.
What had changed?
Seeing that pained expression on Motoyasu's face had made everything feel weightless.
...No.
I think it was because Raphtalia had believed in me.
And now Raphtalia was out of commission from motion sickness.
Somehow, that felt lonely.
When I thought about it, we'd only been together half a month — maybe three weeks — and yet it already felt like the most natural thing in the world.
"It'd be nice if there was some kind of motion sickness medicine."
For now, I gathered whatever medicinal herbs I could find nearby.
"Seriously, though... not a single monster."
I kept walking for a while, but there was no sign of any monsters at all.
"Gwah."
"Hm?"
Suddenly Filo's voice sounded from further away.
I turned around just in time to see her pop something into her mouth.
...Was I imagining things? It had looked like some kind of Usapill-like creature.
Then she swallowed it with a gulp.
"Gwah!"
As if nothing had happened at all, Filo trotted back over to me.
Obtained 34 EXP.
...Best not to think about it.
After about an hour of exploring and gathering herbs, I returned to the lumberjack's cabin to find the cart fully loaded with timber.
Inside, Raphtalia was still lying there looking absolutely drained.
This was a real problem.
Filo's top speed was too much for Raphtalia to handle.
I might need to do some training first. If Raphtalia didn't get used to travel, I couldn't do any work on the road.
"For a while, I'm going to need to train her to get used to the cart."
"Ngh... ugh..."
At my words, Raphtalia let out a groan. Yeah, it was rough.
"Um... I've finished loading the timber."
"Oh, right. I'll head back to the village to drop it off — could you watch her for me?"
"Absolutely! I'd never let anything happen to a companion of the Shield Hero!"
I was a little uneasy, but sitting around doing nothing was something I simply couldn't stand.
"Alright then, I'll be back."
I climbed onto the cart and gave Filo the signal to move out.
"Gwah!"
With a spirited cry, Filo took off running.