Rest, having accepted Urla's request, set off toward the eastern side of the plains together with Yuri.
They boarded the carriage prepared by House Lavender, circumventing the wetlands by taking a northern route as they made their way east.
"......"
"......"
"......"
The carriage ride was enveloped in a strange silence.
Inside the boxy cabin, the seats faced each other. On one side sat Urla and her female attendant.
And on the opposite seats, facing them, sat Rest and Yuri.
"......"
(...I'm being stared at way too hard, but what's with the pressure of that gaze?)
Rest shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
Urla was staring directly at him from the front.
Without saying a word, she gazed at Rest through the curtain of her long bangs.
Because of those bangs, he couldn't see her eyes... but he could clearly feel that her mysterious intensity was directed at him.
"...Urla, do you need something from me?"
"Hafuu"
"She collapsed!?"
Rest attempted communication... but when addressed, Urla suddenly got a nosebleed and collapsed onto her seat.
The attendant beside her supported Urla's shoulders and cast healing magic.
"Are— are you all right?"
"She's fine. It seems the young lady has developed symptoms of poisoning from overconsumption."
"O-overconsumption...!?"
Upon hearing the attendant's explanation, Rest let out a baffled voice.
What exactly had she overconsumed?
Urla hadn't appeared to eat or drink anything.
"Urla... could she perhaps be... physically weak...?"
"...Count Clover, I am truly grateful to you from the bottom of my heart."
Rest was voicing her doubts, but the attendant offered words that were anything but an answer.
"When the master went missing, and the mistress left behind her child and vanished... there was no one left in that household who cared for the young lady's wellbeing. Her heart was chipped away at day by day until she lost all her emotions... but ever since coming to this land, her expressions have become so much more vibrant."
"More vibrant...?"
To Rest's eyes, Urla appeared nearly expressionless.
If this was what counted as vibrant, just how devoid of emotion was the usual Urla?
"Oh, there's a herd of deer running over there... they look delicious, Rest."
Meanwhile, Yuri was leaning out the carriage window, speaking in a cheerful voice.
He was doing his own thing as always.
Even though they weren't headed out for fun, he seemed to be having a wonderful time.
"Shall I go hunt a couple for tonight's dinner? I could carry a deer and catch right back up in no time?"
"...Don't bother. The carriage would reek of blood."
Rest let out a sigh as she admonished her carefree friend.
"More than that... let's talk business. Is one worm in the marshlands enough?"
"My lady, Count Clover is asking, you know?"
"That's right, that's right."
"That's an affirmative, it seems. Just as my lady said... only one has been confirmed."
"............"
Talking through an intermediary was just creating extra work.
She would have preferred to have the maid explain things from the start.
"Worms... dragons. But... there's mud. A pair."
"Dragons have low reproductive capacity, so they tend to act individually or in small groups. However, since worms make their homes in the mud of the marshlands, there may very well be a pair simply hiding out of sight."
"Barrier... active..."
"It seems the monster-repelling barrier has made them more active. We'll need to be cautious."
"Worms... thick... strong, that's right."
"My lady... no matter how excited you may be, a lady should not say such vulgar things to a gentleman."
"That was vulgar!?"
That she would slip something crude into the middle of a conversation—perhaps she was actually a more interesting girl than one might think.
The more he learned, the deeper the mystery of this girl, Urla Lavender, became.
It wasn't that he didn't find her intriguing... but at the same time, he felt a strange sense of danger, as though he were peering into a bottomless abyss.
"Ah, there are wild boar too. What a waste—they've gotten nice and fat and look delicious."
Without joining any of that conversation, Yuri alone was peacefully gazing out the window.