Reunion in the Lakeside Town
In the middle of the vast plain was a highway stretching far to the North. Although it was called a highway, it was actually just ground without weeds since it had been treaded on so many times, thus it naturally became a road. Since there’s no such thing as a suspension in carriages of this world, the carriage crew would surely have sore butts by the time they reached their destination.
Suddenly, a shadow ran through the uneven road at an unbelievable speed. On its black body were two wheels advancing forward on the uneven road, carrying silhouettes of three people.
They are Hajime, Yue, and Shia. They moved on the highway at a speed incomparable to the time when they were at the bottom of the Raisen Grand Canyon. It might be more than 80km/h. Because there was nothing to obstruct his magic, the magic-driven two-wheeler’s original specs could be displayed. Their seating order was just as usual: Yue between Hajime’s arms, and Shia at his back. Shia’s rabbit ears were pata pata, fluttering in the wind.
Warm sunlight poured down because of the good weather, and with Yue using her magic to adjust the wind pressure, it could be said it was good weather for touring. In fact, Yue and Shia were feeling the warm sunlight and comfortable wind with their entire bodies, closing their eyes because it felt pleasant.
“Hau~, it’s niice~, Yue-saa~n. We should exchange places when we retuurn~”
“… … That won’t do. This is my spot.”
“Eh~, don’t say that, let us change our places~, it’s nice in the back~”
Shia demanded to Yue that they exchange their seats with a slackened and stretched tone. With an unpleasant face, Hajime looked at Shia’s relaxed face over his shoulder and answered in Yue’s stead.
“You know, you can’t sit in front, right? Also, you’ll only obstruct me. Especially those rabbit ears. They’ll hit my eyes when the wind blows.”
“Ah~, that’s riight~”
“… … It’s not good, she’s almost asleep.”
Apparently, Shia was half-asleep because of how comfortable it was. She laid her head on Hajime’s shoulder with all of her weight. She was also half-asleep when she was talking to Yue before.
“Well, with this pace we only need one day. I’ll go non-stop, so let’s rest when it’s time to rest.”
Just as Hajime had said, Hajime and his party were going to a town only one day away; the town closest to the northern mountain range area where Will’s party undertook the investigation request. They had advanced as is without taking a break, so they would probably arrive at sunset and start searching after a night’s stay in town. The reason they were in a hurry was, of course, the fact that as more time passed, Will’s party’s odds of survival decreased. But because Hajime was being proactive for another person’s sake, Yue was glancing upward with doubt on her face.
Hajime let out a wry smile when he saw Yue adorably incline her neck in between his arms.
“… … Proactive?”
“Aa, it’s better if he’s alive. If it’s like that, he will truly be grateful. After all, problems from the Kingdom and Church are waiting ahead of us. So, isn’t it better to have more support? I don’t want to take care of them one by one, after all.”
“… … I see.”
In fact, he didn’t know what could possibly be done with Ilwa’s support. If anything, the possibility of him being a type of useless support was bigger. But, if it could be acquired with little work, then the work might not be regrettable.
“I have also heard that our destination, the lakeside town, has plenty of rivers. That’s why the town’s outskirts are the continent’s number one rice-producing area.”