After leaving Salju, we head to Messer through Fairin.
There’s a forest to our right when we leave Fairin. Is that where the stampede started? Looking at it on Map, I see it’s pretty big.
As I stare at the forest, I notice Mia’s eyes are on it too. I see mixed feelings on her face, probably because she’s remembering what happened that time.
◇ ◇ ◇
“Are you all right, Mia?”
It’s probably stuff she doesn’t want to remember.
“I am. And… It wasn’t all bad.”
I don’t really understand what she means, but her face looks pretty clear when she says it.
When we’re two days away from the Holy City, Kotori contacts me. Just as we’re finishing our meal.
Incidentally, this meal was made by Hikari and Mia, under my supervision. Mostly just so Hikari doesn’t go overboard with the seasonings.
But they’re actually good, and make tasty food if they don’t try anything weird. Yes, as long as they don’t do anything weird.
“Hikari can cook nice stuff too now.”
Says Sera, and Hikari nods with a happy expression.
“Next time, I’m going to try something original.”
That sounds kind of threatening. I need to stop it. I look at the others, and we all silently nod.
But getting back to Kotori. First, she says they made it to the Holy City safely.
“And how are you all doing?”
“We should be reaching Messer soon.”
“Really? We just got here yesterday!”
According to Kotori, they walked alongside wagons they were escorting.
Some of these quests let adventurers ride the wagons too, but with others, they have to walk. And the ones they accepted this time were the latter.
“Argo’s party was there too, but also other adventurers we don’t know. It was a problem, especially with Shun…”
Then Kotori starts grumbling. The escorting quest on the way to Fairin went without issue, the problems started when they accepted a quest to go from Fairin to Messer. There was a big merchant caravan, so there were many adventurers.
As I listen to her, I remember the first escorting quest I accepted in Elesya’s capital.
I heard about the other adventurers’ dreams, we were attacked by a tigerwolf… I wonder how those adventurers are doing now.
“Hum, are you listening?”
Kotori’s voice brings me back to the present.
She says the escorting quest to Messer was the worst.
The scale meant there were a lot of adventurers, and apparently a lot resented them because they were just promoted to D rank. Especially since they accepted the quest with Argo’s A rank party, because they started saying Kotori’s party was just tagging along with them.
It sounds like Kotori and the others figured there was nothing they could do about it, because they’re newbies, but the problems began when those adventurers startedmaking moves on Kaede and Miharu.
“Kaede acted maturely and did a good job dealing with them, but Miharu panicked. And then Shun got mad and started a fight…”
And it turned into a grapple with multiple adventurers.
“Well, Shun is actually strong, so he knocked them down easily.”
But then Argo’s party scolded Shun, and the mood was cold for a few days, so it was mentally tiring. And as the girls hear this story…
“Nice going Shun.”
“He can be a gentleman.”
“Yes, it was great.”
They give him high praise.
His stock went up with Mia and the others for stepping in to protect Miharu.
“I’ll tell Argo and the others you’re near.”
At some point, Mia and the others joined the conversation too, but this is where it ends.
It’s like once they got going, they couldn’t be stopped… It drained a lot of magic energy.
And if even I feel that, I wonder if Kotori is all right. I assume she is, because the call didn’t cut off abruptly due to her running out of magic energy, but still…
We rest like this, as always, and two days later, we reach Messer.
It’s Rurika and Chris’ first time here, so they’re a little surprised.
The city is pretty much all white. I also stopped and stared the first time I came here. Although it felt more festive back then, because of the advent festival.
“Should we go to Dan’s… To Yor’s house first? Or get an inn?”
It’s daytime, so Dan is probably working in the main church. If we go there, people there are bound to recognize Mia.
So I ask what we should do, and we decide to go to Yor’s first.
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Thanks for the treat.