Volume 4 Chapter 19 Modest Triumph
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Once past the wolf forest, the view suddenly opened up.
In the vast barley field, a lone tent stood out. The white dot moving near it must be Ms. Joa. Feels like her eyesight’s gotten as sharp as a telescope. She’s been training hard, after all.
The sun was already setting. Too bad, even if I asked Ms. Joa to run with the Dragon God’s Herb, we won’t make it to Toyata village before nightfall.
The area around the village gets dangerous at night, so the gates close when the sun sets. Should we leave at dawn tomorrow? Damn, the little rascals have ruined our plans.
The two misfit heroes, now slaves due to their misdeeds, were ordered to head towards Toyata village via the capital route. Can’t take them through the wolf forest.
Soon enough, Ms. Claire noticed Ms. Joa too. White as she is, a centaur’s eyesight is still pretty sharp.
She seemed to have spotted us as well, the white dot zooming in fast. Hey now, don’t waste your energy. But she’s quick, might actually make it to the village before sunset.
”Good, you’re safe, Claire.”
Seems like Ms. Joa wasn’t worried about me. No matter. My super radar scan shows no real threats near Toyata village for now. I guess it’s safe to let her go alone.
Better safe than sorry, so I’ll summon P-chan and Salamander for escort. These guys are light, so they won’t burden Ms. Joa, and they can fly on their own. P-chan can store mana for Salamander to use attack magic, so they should be able to wipe out any nearby bandits with ease.
Ms. Joa was surprised by the sudden appearance of the pixies and Salamander, but once she got the Dragon God’s Herb, she dashed towards the village without a second thought. Good thing Ms. Nina explained the situation in detail.
Now my job here is done. I feel like a big weight just fell off my shoulders. I did everything I could. The rest is up to fate. The exhaustion from the march through the wolf forest hit me hard. I was just riding Ms. Claire, but it was still tough. My legs are sore. I walk slowly toward the tent. There are other big tents set up, not just mine. Looks like a nice camp is here. Did they borrow the tents from the village head, Mr. Laken?
Looks like Ms. Aqua on guard saw us. She immediately poked her head out of her tent.
”Welcome back. You got here pretty fast.”
After years, maybe decades, of waiting, she says that so casually. Well, for Ms. Nina, it might only have been a few days.
”Come on, Ms. Nina, I worked really hard, you know.”
”Looks like it. Good job. Have you grown more mature all of a sudden?”
Do I really look different? Maybe the tough training made my face sharper. I touch my face with my hand. Is it a little slimmer?
Ms. Aqua hands me a dagger, polished like a mirror. It looks a bit warped, but it’s good enough as a makeshift mirror.
”Whoa, what is this?”
I see my face reflected in the curved blade. My skin looks pale, maybe because I wasn’t in the sunlight. Even though my cheekbones are deep, I don’t look very strong.
”You’ve changed too much. The villagers will definitely be surprised.”
”I was surprised myself. Isn’t this hairstyle strange?”
When my hair gets too long, I cut it with a knife.
It made me look like a wild jungle king. But now I look like a fallen warrior. If my skin was darker, I think I’d look pretty cool.
”Until sunset, all we can do is pray for Joa’s safety. So, I’ll give you a haircut.”
”Can a princess even get a haircut?”
”Oh, I was used to practicing on my own hair because I’m a princess.”
Ms. Nina happily takes out small scissors. I wonder what happened to the people she cut their hair. Her skill is a mystery, but I have to trust her.
Ms. Claire looked worried, but the Antfolk trio shrugged and returned to their posts, uninterested.
Guess the Antfolk, with their wigs, don’t really care about hairstyles.
* * *
Using Ultra Radar Scan, I tracked Ms. Joa until she safely reached Toyata Village just before sunset. Perfect. Sent Peachy and the Salamander back before any villagers spotted them. Wouldn’t want some idiot provoking them and getting the whole village torched.
Ms. Ann prepared dinner, but my stomach rejected the food after so long. Ended up sucking on sugar and calling it a night. Ms. Nina looked concerned, but I’ll be fine. My stomach will stretch back to normal soon enough.
With two tents now, I’m sleeping solo, as expected.
The big tent was a loan from Mr. Zenom—pretty impressive.
Besides the tent, there’s a ton of supplies (luckily). Better to have extra food than run out mid-trip, but feels a bit overkill. Did they even think about how much work it’ll be to pack this up? There’s a sturdy stone stove and even a well, like they’re planning for a siege.
Wait—checking the map in my head. This campsite could be a useful midpoint when heading to the puppeteer’s dungeon, like Uno mentioned.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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