Metal wagon.
[Still Jean's POV?]
… Only four of us traveled in the horseless wagon.
Randall's empty gaze stayed on the horizon, while Hiyoshin enthusiastically munched on a cooked wolf's leg.
Meanwhile, Natasha, our guide, focused on creating magic circles. Her nonchalant mood contrasted greatly with Randall's.
'... I have to admit, she's not that bad with magic.'
She may not be a dragon, but she's doing fairly well, considering how elves are far slower when it comes to learning anything.
'Then again, that is a reason why they do live for a couple hundreds of years.'
Her head turned, and our eyes met. "Is there an issue?"
"No, not really," I voiced, causing her to return to practicing.
… Strangely enough, Randall hasn't shown much of a reaction to this, or anything that happened in the past few hours.
'Maybe it's because of the demons' sudden deaths overnight?'
We both were asleep at the time, so that might be the reason. 'It has to be. Considering his insistence on not killing anyone who isn't a monster…'
"… I think there are a few monsters nearby," muttered Hiyoshin, while chewing on the remaining meat of the leg.
"Where?" sharply questioned Randall.
She pointed with one hand towards a 3-monster group, composed mainly of brown skinned gorillas. Wordlessly, Randall vaulted out of the moving wagon.
With the trio running in his direction, he manifested a brown sledgehammer, and carried it with one hand. The head of the hammer dug deep in the ground, yet he kept moving slowly.
Its sheer size alone created a fairly impressive sight… And well, seeing it being carried with one hand could and would send shivers down anyone's spine.
The first gorilla reached him, and jumped, possibly aiming for an aerial attack. His reaction?
He swung the sledgehammer upwards, and hit the gorilla straight in the chest. Then…
The head and the monster both came down.
The impact shook the land near him, causing a small flock of birds from a nearby tree to fly away. Additionally, multiple spike-like rocks rose from the impact area, creating a massive, crown structure that impaled another of the running monsters.
As for the gorilla he was targeting… I'm pretty sure its remains had been splattered on the ground.
"He's quite good. He can even integrate magic into his attacks now," commented Natasha, who had stopped the metal wagon a while back.
'... No. Whatever he's doing, it shouldn't be possible.'
On its own, an Ego shouldn't be capable of kicking up the ground like that… Nor burning up a field with a single projectile.
Yet, he can do that.
… I must keep this a secret, at least for now. There'll be chaos if more people start to realize it.
"Mm. Truly impressive," I mouthed, pretending to be in the same boat as her.
Alas.
Sadly, I wasn't.
The remaining monster yelled, as it clumsily attempted to run away from Randall.
He caught up to it, and crushed its head by slamming it on the floor.
… Then, he looked at us from a distance, and carried back the headless corpse. The only one that remained.
Leaving the terraformed zone, formerly the plains, alone.
Now, a few sharp rocks made of hardened dirt rose from the grass. These surrounded the craters left behind by the "ground sledgehammer."
An appropriate name, considering how it looks like ground, and its interactions with it.
Wordlessly, he threw the body near the now unmoving wagon, catching Hiyoshin's attention.
Grinning, she jumped off the wagon, and got to… eating more.
She didn't forget to thank Randall, though. As she usually did.
"Hiyoshin."
A frigid, tense atmosphere constricted our bodies. Suppressing even our breathing… With sheer fear alone.
"Have you ever devoured a person?"
".... N-n-no."
Her reply took a while to appear.
".... Good. Keep it that way."
After muttering such words, he got on the wagon, and lied against one of the larger boxes. Right after, he closed his eyes, and fell asleep.
It took ten seconds or so for the ambient to go back to normal. For the most part.
Hiyoshin looked at him, somewhat afraid.
It was the first time he ever addressed her by her actual name. And somehow, I have the feeling we'll prefer her nickname from now on.
…
A few hours later, the sun had settled down.
We had our dinner a few minutes ago, so we're preparing for the night, under the watchful light of the moon.
During our trip towards Edelchia, we had to prepare night shifts and search for a safe spot, severely harming our travel time.
And bringing a conventional wagon wasn't a good idea, due to the nature of our mission. Which made itself apparent when we arrived.
But now? We have the "Mana Wagon", so we can just sleep here.
Of course, someone has to keep watch.
"I will, you three should rest up," vocalized Randall.
"Got it. By the way, Randall… If you don't mind me asking, would you be interested in coming back here again?" inquired Natasha, while eyeing him.
'Oh no, you're not snatching him away.'
Before I could jump at her, Randall gave her an answer.
"Would they be able to come?"
"Uh…"
"That's a no, then."
For the first time, she panicked, and attempted to negotiate with him.
"Say, Natasha, would you be interested in deserting the Elven army in order to come with us?"
That stopped her dead in her tracks.
"No."
He smirked.
Great. You're not poaching him away.
"Still, you'd have made a good addition to the team," he also commented.
"... I wouldn't mind teaming up with you three again, though."
Eh?
"I'd never serve under Fegendale's banner, due to the stance they have in regards to the monster hybrids as a whole..."
Hearing that, Hiyoshin looked away.
"But teaming up with you is no big deal. You two are skilled fighters. As for Gray, she surprisingly has some redeemable qualities."
'… what did I just hear?'
I didn't think I'd get to hear an elf praising a beastwoman in my lifetime, yet here I am. Hearing exactly that.
"Of course she does, I picked her," stated Randall, absolutely confident in his words.
"Pfft."
That almost made even Hiyo laugh.
"As humble as always." I couldn't keep the comment in, let alone the smaller chuckles.
"I'm always humble, Jean."
"I can tell…"
… Unknowingly, we ended up spending a rather long time talking like this.
I'm not sure about the exact amount, but… It was quite fun. Hiyoshin let herself loose, whereas Natasha and Randall acted a notch less rigidly.
We did end up taking notice of the time, though. And when that happened, we decided to sleep through whatever remained of the night.
Except for Randall, that is.