Published: August 10, 2026
Lizel was alone, sitting leisurely on a bench in the waiting area for carriages.
He held a letter in his hand. Smiling gently as he looked over its contents, Lizel was watched from a distance by the idle coachmen around him at midday. The reason for their slight murmuring was the suspicion that "maybe he always rides a private carriage, so he doesn't know how to use a shared one..."
Though that suspicion had already been cleared up thanks to a coachman who had once carried Lizel on his carriage.
"(It should be about time...)"
Lizel lifted his gaze from the paper and looked past the large open gate.
A blue sky dotted with a fair number of clouds. A carriage ride on a day like this would feel pleasant indeed. The letter in his hand was from Judge, and it said, "I'll be going in three days." The three days from the date written on the letter was today.
It had said they would depart after closing the shop, so if they were arriving with camping in between, then they should be here soon. Since Stud was accompanying him as well, there was no doubt they would make it to Sars without incident.
"(They came sooner than I expected.)"
A faint smile slipped onto his face.
It had not been that long since Lizel had moved to Sars. Unlike Astarnia, it was a country one could reach without camping depending on when one set out. Perhaps they had come with the same feeling as taking a little trip.
The sound of a carriage drew closer. It was the third sound Lizel had heard since arriving at the waiting area.
He looked over in the same way he had the first and second times, and this time, unlike before, he stood with a smile. Watching the coachman exchange familiar words with the gate guard, Lizel then saw a familiar face appear from the back of the carriage.
The man stared straight at him, then approached with steady, unbroken steps. His confident stride caused an alarmed voice to rise from the driver's seat, while the gate guard simply stood dumbfounded as necessary checks were recited to him in a calm, unwavering stream.
And then, as if the formalities were finished, the man stood boldly before him. Lizel's eyes softened in welcome.
"Welcome to your carriage journey, Stud-kun."
"Long time no see."
"W-wait, Stud, hold on... Long time no see, Lizel-san!"
Apparently the transit permission had been granted without issue, because Judge, who had come leading the horse himself, also smiled happily at the reunion.
After Judge, who had come in his shop's carriage rather than a shared one, handed over the horse and carriage.
Since it was midday, the three of them walked toward a restaurant where they could have a meal. Judge and Stud, walking through the city, seemed to have visited Sars several times already and showed no particular curiosity. If anything, Judge knew Sars's shops far better than Lizel did, and the restaurant they were heading to had been his suggestion.
"Are you tired from sitting in a carriage all the time?"
"No, we had camping too. Half a day is fine."
"Judge-kun is used to carriage travel, after all. How about you, Stud-kun?"
"I'm not tired at all."
Judge was smiling shyly and a bit bashfully, while Stud spoke without emotion, both in casual clothes.
Lizel let his own lips soften as well, feeling that it was fresh and lovely to see them so obviously here to have fun. He had spent time like this in the Capital City too, but spending time with the two of them in another country felt surprisingly new.
Following Judge's lead, they stepped over the cobblestones. The sound of the three pairs of shoes fell into the waterway.
"By the way, Insai-san came the other day."
"Huh? To see you, Lizel-san... no, that's not it, right...?"
"I think it was business. I happened to be there too, and he was with a gentlemanly elderly man."
"Oh, right."
Judge sounded like he understood.
It seemed he knew the Elder Gentleman as well. Of course he did. He was the old man who had conducted proper business with Insai. Lizel had never asked the Elder Gentleman anything about it, but he was surely the head of one of the great trading companies that represented Sars.