A Journey for Two

9. A Journey for Two

The clatter of a horse-drawn carriage echoed as it made its way through the rolling hills.

It was a peaceful, idyllic landscape, with greenery stretching as far as the eye could see. On the distant hills, there were many small black dots; if one squinted, they seemed to be moving.

Sitting in the back of the carriage, Shia pricked her triangular ears up inside her hood and pointed toward the black dots on the hills.

"Tori, what are those?"

"It's dangerous to lean out too far, Shia. Those are probably sheep or cows."

"Whoa..."

Everything was a sight she was seeing for the first time—even the carriage itself—and Shia gazed at it all with wide, curious eyes. Sitting beside her, Tori let a small smile play on his lips.

They had intended to take a long-distance carriage from Radnea toward the border of the neighboring country, Bratival, but it seemed a large-scale landslide had occurred, causing all such carriages to be suspended.

They were left with two choices: wait for repairs, not knowing when they would be finished, or take a detour toward the border town.

After discussing it, the two had chosen the latter.

And so, about eight days had passed since they left Lete.

The pleasant sound of the wheels came to a halt at the edge of the hills. The man, who had kindly driven them this far, spoke to the white-haired traveler—Tori—as he stepped down from the carriage.

"Are you really going on ahead? There aren't any villages for a while from here. Why not stay at my place and head out tomorrow?"

"Thank you. But the sun is still high, so I think we'll go as far as we can. We have everything we need for camping."

"Hmm... is that alright with the little lady, too?"

Caught off guard by the sudden question, Shia flinched for a moment before giving a small nod.

"I see. ...Well, I won't try to stop you too much; that'd just be bothersome. Oh, and one more thing—you'll see ordinary beasts around here, but no magic beasts. However, once you cross the pass, you'll be in Landbull territory, so keep your wits about you."

With that, the man turned the carriage around, waved to the two of them, and headed back the way he came.

As they watched the carriage grow smaller in the distance, Shia felt a gaze on her. Looking up, she saw Tori looking down at her with a somewhat complicated expression.

"Tori?"

"Hmm, no... I was just thinking that everyone clearly sees Shia as a girl."

"? Shia has always been a girl."

"Yeah, when you put it that way, you're right..."

Muttering under his breath, Tori let out a light sigh and hoisted the luggage he had placed on the road.

"Well, regardless, let's move on. If we dawdle too much, we won't reach our destination on schedule."

"Destination? Have you been through here before, Tori?"

"I've traveled to many different places for quite a while now. I happen to know a fair bit of useless information."

"Whoa, that's amazing."

Tori gave a wry smile at Shia's honest praise, and the two of them set off.

Once they left the village behind, the road gradually faded into nothing more than a faint footpath. After traversing a stretch of plains covered in low-growing grass, they came upon an area of ​​rocks and trees, which eventually gave way to a sparse, open forest.

Shia gave a soft sniff.

She couldn't see any water, nor could she hear the sound of it. And yet, she could feel moisture in the air.

"Tori, is there water nearby?"

"Water? ...Ah, you really do have a keen nose, Shia. There's a wetland up ahead. That's probably why."

"Wet-land?"

"It's land that's very watery, does that make sense? It can be dangerous if you fall in, so make sure you stay right behind me and follow my footsteps."

"Mm, okay."

Following Tori's instructions, she stayed close behind him. Inside the forest, which had grown dimmer as the trees thickened, there was a narrow path that rose like a small embankment. Tori walked only upon that path.

Most of the surrounding area was overgrown with vegetation, and where the ground was visible, it looked dark with puddles scattered here and there.

In short, as long as she didn't stray from the path, she would be fine. But what did he mean by "dangerous"?

"What happens if I fall?"

"The surroundings are almost entirely mud, so you'll sink."

"Sink..."

"Exactly. And unlike water, mud is heavy, and some parts are very deep, so if you sink, you won't be able to get out. On top of that, these places are full of snakes."

"Snakes? Shia isn't afraid of snakes. I can even catch them."

Tori stopped and turned around, his brow dipping slightly. "If they're ordinary snakes, sure."

"But if it's a Serpent, you're the one who'll be caught, Shia."

"Serpent?"

"A magic beast."

"Magic beast..."

Shia tilted her head.

It was the same word the man in the carriage had used.

"I'll explain that to you later. —Now, we're almost there."

Prompted by his words, they walked a bit further, and suddenly the forest opened up.

Spreading out before them was a relatively large spring filled with clear, blue water. The transparency was so high that as Shia peered in, she could see fish swimming at the bottom.

Tori gave a small laugh at the sight of Shia intently staring into the depths, and he headed toward a large tree by the edge of the spring. He placed the luggage at its roots and called out to her.

"Shia, this is our campsite for today."

"Should I start the fire? Or set up the tent?"

Shia ran over to Tori, her voice bouncy with excitement.

After eight days, she had grown accustomed to the routine and could now help with starting the fire and assembling the tent. That said, excluding the days they spent in inns, she had only done it about three times; if anything, she was currently in that joyful, motivated phase of practicing.

However, Tori simply smiled and shook his head.

"We'll start a fire, but we don't need a tent today."

"Eh?"

As Shia tilted her head in confusion, Tori pointed upward. At the end of his finger, there were only the lush, spreading branches of the canopy, wide enough to hide the sky.

Looking up, Shia tilted her head once more.

"?"

"Heh-heh, we're sleeping in the tree today."

"What?"

"We'll stretch a bed between the branches. It's called a hammock."

"Whoa, amazing!"

"Yeah, I thought I'd let you experience one."

Saying so, Tori took a rope from the luggage, threw it up to entangle it around a thick branch overhead, and used it to glide up into the branches. His voice soon called down from above.

"Shia, attach that rope ladder to the end of the rope—"

"Mm."

Grabbing the other rope-like object Tori had prepared, Shia leaped toward the trunk of the great tree. Using the indentations as footholds, she bounded up two or three times and reached the spot where Tori was.

"There, is this okay?"

"...Ha... you're... amazing, Shia."

"...? Shia is amazing?"

"Yeah. As expected of a beastkin. You're nimble... your movements are completely different from ours."

"Different..."

Reacting to the word "different," Shia's face clouded over instantly. Tori hurriedly waved his hands.

"Ah, I didn't mean that in a bad way at all! I just mean your athletic ability is outstanding and amazing!"

"......Shia... is amazing?"

"Yes."

Shia immediately cheered up, her tail swaying back and forth. Tori thought that if she had whiskers, they would probably be twitching with pride. Such clear emotional shifts were a characteristic of beastkin.

"Anyway, the ladder is easier for me, so let's leave this hanging."

After securing the rope ladder to the branch, Tori told her, "Wait here," and descended once to retrieve a small piece of luggage before climbing back up.

"This is a hammock."

What he unfolded was a mesh-like weave—made of rope, as expected. His uses for rope were truly endless.

Up in the tree, several thick branches diverged, providing a relatively wide footing. "Like this..." Tori muttered as he stretched the rope between two branches, sat in the center, and rolled himself back.

"Waaaah...!"

Shia let out a cry of admiration. Tori's body was enveloped by the mesh of ropes, floating in mid-air.

What is this? It looks like fun!

As she watched with sparkling eyes, Tori swapped places with her, and Shia eagerly tried lying down.

Because her body was floating, she felt a bit unstable, but it was more comfortable than she expected. And, as she thought, it was fun.

"Looks like you like it."

"Mm-hmm!"

As she rocked herself back and forth, Tori spoke, and Shia nodded vigorously.

"Right. I'm glad you're having fun, but there is actually a practical reason for this, too."

"For the... um... hammock?"

"Not just the hammock, but the fact that other animals come to the water. We sleep in the trees to avoid them. The hammock is mostly just to make sure you don't roll off. And fortunately, there aren't any beasts around here suited for the canopy, so they won't be able to climb up as nimbly as you, Shia."

"Beasts... magic beasts?"

"Hmm? Ah, this is more of a precaution against ordinary beasts. ...Right, we should start the fire soon, so let's head down and talk about that."

"That" likely referred to the "magic beasts." Since he had said he would explain later, it must be an important conversation.

(But we could just talk while staying up here.)

Having taken a liking to the hammock bed, Shia reluctantly got up and followed Tori, who had already descended.

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