221 Departure And A Promise (3)

Hey, Shun here!

Demons Lords, monsters, magic, cold weapons, and etc, those have always been a staple when it comes to other worlds with fantasy world settings. There may be some variations where there's no such things but majority of them have these things.

I've always known that those aforementioned things might cause problems in my fantasy journey but, it seems like the long months of relaxation has made me lower down my guard.

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(Shun's POV)

*clack-clack* *clack-clack*

*clack-clack* *clack-clack*

The repetitive and synchronized sounds of two horses' hooves galloping slowly through a slightly developed, two-way road kept on resounding as I mindlessly looked forward without looking anywhere else.  Occasionally, the wheels of the carriage would run over a lump of rock or an uneven section of the road but I never felt the rocking sensation carriage drivers — or even those who rides carriages in general — would feel when traveling at these underdeveloped roads.

"Haaaa~!" I involuntarily let out a yawn so, out of reflex, my body wanted to cover my mouth. Unfortunately, I couldn't do so currently because both my hands are preoccupied.

We have been traveling for a full week now but the repetitive sight before me never bored the heck out of me.

To me, it's not that repetitive. There would sometimes be a forestry, a hill, many large boulders just lying on the side of the road, or even the occasional plains where some wild goats and cows could occasionally be seen grazing under the warm rays of the sun.

"Haaa… What a nice weather. It's partly cloudy, the heat from the sun is not too harsh or too hot, and there's the constant cool wind breeze that makes me want to just relax and take a short nap." I muttered to myself as I took a deep breath before inhaling the extremely fresh air from the surroundings.

The reason why I'm being so quiet today was not because I got sucked into this extremely laid-back atmosphere but because no else is awake at the moment but me. Everyone else is currently dozing off either with me, who's sitting at the driver's seat, or inside the carriage.

Liza is probably awake but I suspect that she's currently too preoccupied in guarding the rear end of our covered carriage diligently. She's been there ever since our journey started and has not left her 'post' since.

I have to say, she's really too earnest.

Kaede-san and the others was talking to me, Pochi, Tama, and Tsuka a few minutes ago but, because of the nice weather, combined with the fact that we just finished eating some snacks and drinking some fruit juice, they slowly drifted into their dream world. This is what they call siesta, isn't it?

You know? That drowsiness that you would feel right after lunch, around two noon or so?

Pochi and Tama became sad ever since we left Seiryuu City so I had no choice but to let them do as they please. Because of that, they constantly insist that they would ride next to me at the driver's seat.

Thankfully, this carriage is something that I bought from the [Dimensional Shop]. It's complete with its own suspension system that could negate the shaking that traveling on these uneven roads could bring.

Although it's a little more expensive than a normal carriage, the fact that we didn't have to worry about our bottoms receiving a severe beating is very much welcome. To be doubly sure though, I also brought out numerous cushions from my [Storage], which could be used to cover the wooden parts of the carriage where we will all be sitting on.

As I was thinking of such a thing, the 'thing' on top of my head slipped slightly, almost sliding off of my head. Thankfully, Tsuka, my trusty Vorpal Bunny companion, managed to stabilize herself.

Our journey continued just like that and eventually, I had to park the carriage on the roadside since dawn is approaching. The horses should be already tired and we still need to set up camp.

After finally managing to extricate myself out of the three; Pochi, Tama, and Tsuka, I got down from the carriage before stretching my body. Since there's really no danger around currently, I have been on my real form three days after we left Seiryuu City.

Whilst feeling the power of my [NWO] avatar is good, as expected, remaining in the form where I'm most comfortable in is the way to go. Once I was done doing some series of stretches, I finally began searching for a suitable place to build our tent.

It was then that I heard an incoming carriage coming from the direction of where we are heading.

"Hmm? A carriage who's still traveling at this time of the day? Aren't these guys afraid of monsters attacking them?"

We're quite far away from the Seiryuu City already and the knights who cleans up the monsters around the vicinity of the Seiryuu City do not make their rounds around this place. While the monsters around here are not really that dangerous, there's also the fact that their horses would be very tired.

Whilst I was wondering who the idiot is who's not really thinking about his own safety, I saw the carriage approaching closer fast until they passed by us. That moment, my eyes landed on a black haired girl with Asian features, as well as a cute looking purple haired girl.

The reason why they caught my interest was because the two of them are looking at me with their eyes wide open. Of course, that eye contact didn't last for long as the carriage sped past me before gradually disappearing from the horizon.

"This is the second time I'm seeing someone who looks like an Asian in this world…" Remembering that sudden encounter the other day, I heard someone talk to me from behind.

"Morniiiiing~…"

"Good morning, Master [Admin-sensei] nanodesu!"

"Oh, you two are already awake?"

At the same moment that Pochi and Tama greeted me, I heard the rustling of the cover of the carriage, followed by the sounds of someone's footsteps. Right after that, Tsuka also showed signs of waking up from her nap.

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Whilst the girls were busy saying their goodbyes to their friends in front of the gate entrance of Seiryuu City, I waited for them inside the carriage. The guards are still symbolically inspecting our luggage so it would still take time before we could leave anyway.

I say 'symbolically inspecting' our luggage since they were just checking it out slightly and doing a once over on all of them. I see that they're not so strict when it comes to checking the items that the people who are going in and out of their city bring.

'You guys aren't worried about guys bringing contrabands or something?'

I wanted to ask that but, on further thought, they have those [Rewards & Punishments] in their status sheets so… I think their crimes would show up.

Why do I know this, you ask? Well, it's in our current IDs. Using that ID, we could track our levels, titles, skills, and etc. It's really convenient.

As one of the knights was rummaging through our luggage, another knight approached him and patted his shoulders.

"Yo, brother. Are you done with the inspection? I want to go inspect the vicinity later so I'm looking for someone to accompany me."

"You're too enthusiastic with work, Jamie. Let me finish things in here first before going."

"Sure, sure." I thought the knight named Jamie would finally go silent but it seems like he's the talkative type of person.

After getting silent for a few seconds, he finally gave up, as he began to talk once again.

"I'm really getting a little anxious about our surroundings these days. The Demon Lord season is approaching so it's really unsettling…"

The moment I heard his words, I have but one question in mind, 'What the heck is Demon Lord season?'

Is it like the harvest season or mating season of animals? Heck, I didn't know there's a season for Demon Lords.

Since I was curious, I couldn't help but ask Knight Jamie about this. In the end, after his long chattering that got redirected at me for interjecting on their conversation, I finally got my answer.

"The Demon Lord season is what we call the season when the Demon Lord attacks after around a 66 years cycle." So it's a reoccurring phenomenon huh. I see…

He further explained that it's a kind of pattern ever since but, since the last Demon Lord appeared 132 years ago, it wouldn't be a surprise if one appears any time soon. He then eyed us all one by one, as if he's inspecting us all but, after a few seconds, he shook his head and shut his mouth. 

Finally, after that long drawn chat with the chatterbox Knight Jamie, Pochi, Tama, Touka-san, Kaede-san, Ritsu, Yukiko-san, Liza, and Rinka-san joined me inside the carriage. They all have quite the depressing atmosphere around them, which is understandably so.

This is especially true for Pochi and Tama who are quite attached to their two friends, Martha and Yuni. The moment they got on the carriage, they immediately took the seat next to me and Tsuka before hugging me on both sides.

Even though their sobbing expressions are really cute, it's also heart wrenching to see them so sad.

"Don't cry. Didn't you promise to them that you'll meet again in the future? Tsuka and I will help in sending your letters while we're here so don't be so sad." I wiped their tears with the towel I have on hand.

"Can't we *sob*… give them smaphones nanodesu?"

"Invite *sob* them booooth~?"

The two said in between sobs. Pochi's idea is out of the question since there no signal in this world. As for Tama's suggestion, her and Kaede-san have their [Group Invite Coupons] so I think it's doable.

I'll leave that decision to them though. I think Kaede-san wants to save hers for her best friend so, only Pochi could use hers on either Martha or Yuni.

"Do you want to invite them now? You're missing one invite though?" At my question, the two went silent before looking back at me with a resolute expression.

"Then, we'll invite them together next time, nanodesu!"

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※~To be continued~※

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Author's Remarks:

※ It's been a while since I touched my phone. I feel like a dead fish inside for a few days as I waited for inspiration to strike me again xD. I feel like I could update one more chapter so wait for it guys!