About ten minutes after departure.
The dining room at the front of the Skia Coffin El.
On the level below, a black oval table was placed sideways across the room.
A white sofa surrounded it in a ring.
Ten people could sit comfortably.
The system kitchen and storage were on the left side.
"So, how does it move?"
Mineha asked from her seat across from the witch. She wasn't in fairial form, by the way.
She'd taken off her armor too, dressed casually.
The witch took a sip of the tea Annakreuz had brewed before answering.
"There's a monster called the Shadow Horse — a mid-tier gold-rank dungeon creature. Above that, there's the Dark Horse. I fused those two, the Shadow and the Dark, using a slime, and what I got was the Skia Horse El. It's got the Relics of shadow and darkness, so it's very, very convenient."
Saying something outrageous as though it were nothing.
Both Mineha and Bidd were dumbfounded. Can't blame them. I felt the same way.
For the record, the ones listening to the witch's explanation were me, Mineha, and Bidd.
Hoss was happily picking out ingredients in the storage, with Annakreuz helping.
Shardina and Daga were on an "inspection," which was really just exploring.
Does the witch even know the second-floor workshop is off-limits because it's dangerous?
"So, is that thing safe?"
"Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. I see, I see. That's fair, but you don't need to worry about that, y'see."
"How should I put it?"
"Oh my, oh my. Hmm, hmm. It's a tricky definition, but that one, let's see. You could say it's because it's legendary."
"A living legendary!?"
"Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. That's one way to put it, y'see."
"No way."
"Well now, if a living OOPArt can exist, then there's no reason a living legendary can't, is there?"
"By that logic, wouldn't a living Relic be possible too?"
The witch laughs.
"Oh, yes, yes. I like that. I like that. A living Relic might exist too, y'see."
"So… what did you embed in it?"
"That, that — it's a transmission stone."
"A stone?"
"There's something called the driver's cabin at the front of the second floor, and the master transmission stone is kept in there."
"Wait — are you telling me it moves by voice command?"
"It understands words?"
"Seems like it. Right now it's following the route."
"Well, there you have it. So settle in and take it easy, y'see."
"…There are no reins at the back, though."
"Oh, oh, that's because it's a shadow. It extends part of its body from the axle at the bottom and moves it directly. Simply put, it's more like it's attached."
Something only possible because it's a shadow. Convenient.
"No need for reins. Actually, there's hardly any swaying — no, none at all."
"Mm-hmm. It accounts for that sort of thing too. So, Miss Mineha. Feeling less uneasy now?"
"You're right. I'm sorry for saying nothing but harsh things."
Mineha apologized to the witch.
"Oh my, oh my, nothing to apologize for. Being the first to ask the difficult questions for everyone's sake — that's no easy thing to do, you know."
"It's nothing like that. I just couldn't trust you, is all."
Mineha narrowed her eyes and flashed a fearless grin.
"Heh heh. Let's just go with that, shall we?"
"You're not very honest, are you."
"Shut up."
Mineha puffed her cheeks. Probably just hiding her embarrassment.
Well, that's just like her.
She said she was oddly tired and headed off to the bathhouse.
Bid sipped his tea and asked the witch.
"So what's that route like?"
"Let's see, let's see. Ah, yes. I believe I have a map — here it is."
The witch pulled a map from her pouch and spread it across the table.
A map of the surrounding area.
The trading city of Heizen lay on the shores of Lake Riev, to the north.
Getting there overland was nearly impossible — they'd have to stop at a port town along the way and travel up the Riev River.
Heizen is hemmed in on all sides by steep, rocky mountains — and that's no metaphor.
Barren walls of sheer rock in every direction, and beyond them, a vast forest.
The Heizen Great Forest is a treasure trove of dungeon monsters.
No one has ever reached its innermost depths.
All that's known is that the forest gives way to a sprawling mountain range.
That much has been confirmed, but the details remain a complete mystery.
And this great forest is where Heizen's delvers earn their keep.
In Heizen, delvers go by a local colloquial name.
"Slayers," they're called.
In other words, the trading city of Heizen conducts its trade by sea, not by land.
Heizen is a critical relay point on the sea routes.
Lake Riev connects to the Cladia Sea, but there are no port towns with docking facilities in the vicinity.
It also marks the terminus of the chain of port towns stretching along the Riev River.
But... looking at this map... a thought crossed my mind.
This terrain — Heizen ringed by walls of rock — it's a crater.
The reason Lake Riev is circular, too, is that water flowed into and pooled within the remnants of one.
You'd normally assume a meteorite impact, but this continent has no shortage of craters like this.
"Well, we'll head straight into the caravan route from here. Pass through the first village without stopping, then halt for the night. Sleep, set out at dawn — something like that."
"So we're basically skipping villages and towns?"
"More or less. Our supplies are plenty, so there's not much reason to. We'd stop if there was somewhere we wanted to visit, but... there probably won't be."
"Is there a reason not to stop by?"
"Well, well — to brag a little, Kondatsu stands out quite a bit, you know. And Skia Coffin Ele is pretty conspicuous too. Warding off bugs is such a chore, after all."
"I... see."
"Oh, Mineha forgot to ask earlier, but do we need a night watch or anything like that?"
Now that she mentioned it, she was right to ask. But there was no way the witch had overlooked something like that.
"At night, Skia Horse Ele will set up a shield to keep guard."
"How strong is Skia Horse Ele, as a monster?"
I asked the question. One of the originals had been upper Gold-rank.
The witch gave a faint, wry smile, closed one eye in what looked like a wink, and pressed a finger to her lips with a soft "shh."
"Secret, secret. Just barely short of Jewel-rank, that's all."
"That means—!?"
"Whoa..."
Bid was speechless, and I groaned. That was way beyond anything we could handle.
Anna Kreutzen, who had been listening in, smiled gently as well.
With that, nighttime safety was as good as perfectly guaranteed.
"Hey. You lot. Hungry yet?"
Hoss set down the ingredients and asked.
"A little!"
"Come to think of it, we skipped breakfast, didn't we?"
"Just a little, just a little — getting a bit peckish."
"If you want, I'll whip something up quick, y'know."
Hoss started cooking.
Annakreuze moved about, following instructions.
Before long, what we had was: fried eggs smothered in cheese and rich sauce.
Spinach and bacon stir-fry. White and black bread-beans, lightly seared on the surface.
And a soup made with onions and potatoes.
"This is killer! The spinach and bacon stir-fry — the oil is incredible!"
"Just used a tiny bit of vegetable oil, y'know. Bacon fat and the natural oils from the spinach are honestly plenty on their own, but I went ahead and tossed in a little extra for that extra something, y'know."
"Fried eggs with cheese and rich sauce — that sounds like something that should exist but somehow doesn't."
You'd think something like that would exist in America or somewhere.
Pretty sure there was one with orange sauce, chicken, and raspberry.
"At our place, we'd also serve it with smashed potato, y'know."
"What's that?"
"Steam the potatoes and then mash 'em up, y'know."
Oh — mashed potato.
"Oho. Mmhmm. Com prefers this onion and potato soup, huh."
The witch stirred the soup with her spoon. The onions had melted down to a silky consistency.
"Aaah, you guys are eating something that looks super good, desu!"
"Nya!"
Shaldina and Dagaa came charging in.
Hoss prepared the same dish on two plates. "Take your time," he said, or something to that effect.
When I finished eating, I drank the tea Anna Kreutzen had made for me.
Relaxing. Ah, this is the life — traveling.
Chilling out. Mineha had come up from the bath and was enjoying the same light meal.
The women were apparently heading to take their baths next.
Hoss had said he was going to check the ingredients in storage.
I went to the room that had been assigned to me.
I cracked the window facing forward just a bit and flopped onto the bed.
Not a bad bed at all.
This trip was turning out more comfortable than I'd expected. I let out a dry little laugh at the thought that I was really doing this — traveling.
I could feel a slight rocking. But there was hardly any noise.
I closed my eyes lightly, and my consciousness began to drift.
I fell asleep. Zzz.