Published: August 2, 2025
Today, nine chapters were updated simultaneously.
This is the fifth chapter of the story.
After three days of being rocked by the horse-drawn carriage,
I mainly handled meal preparations and spent time learning how to manage the horses from Miseria-san and Miya-san.
Several times, magical beasts like Goblins attacked when we were away from Gimul, but they were quickly dealt with by Reipin-san’s magic. Even with their numbers, they never reached this carriage carrying first-class adventurers.
I hardly had any role to play. Without an assigned task, I had too much free time. Then I heard that mastering the carriage could be quite useful, so I asked around and was gladly taught.
That’s why I’m now learning how to handle a carriage—a skill I never experienced even in my previous life.
“It seems you’ve grasped the basics pretty well. Once you get used to it, there shouldn’t be any problems.”
Ah, Miseria-san, who had been watching beside me, just gave me her approval.
“Thank you very much, Miseria-san.”
But I can’t say it’s fully mastered yet. After this quest, I’ll have to practice or I’ll forget. Maybe I should buy a carriage when I return? …But it feels like a waste since I probably won’t use it often. It’s not just the carriage; I’d also need horses. I’ll think it over carefully before deciding.
About four hours later, we were told we were approaching the nearest town from our destination forest.
After another 20 minutes of travel, the town gates came into view.
Since there would be more people around here, Miseria-san swapped places with the coachman.
As I leisurely watched the gates and streets, this town seemed much smaller than Gimul, though it still had a decent bustle. All the buildings in town were wooden, and we often passed horse-drawn carts carrying lumber. Perhaps forestry is thriving here?
…While I was pondering this, we arrived at the inn. The three men and four women split into rooms, then headed to the Adventurers' Guild to gather information on recent treant sightings and prepare for tomorrow.
The next day.
“Are you all ready?”
At Asagi-san’s voice, we all nodded and stepped into the forest.
Miya-san and Miseria-san led the way, followed by Syria-san and Wellanna-san. Then me and Reipin-san, with Asagi-san bringing up the rear.
The forest was dark and dense. There are similar spots in Gana Forest, but something felt different here. The air seemed stagnant, almost suffocating...
“Hmm... There they are already. Miya, do you see the slightly thicker tree about 10 meters ahead?”
“That one, nya?”
“Yes, that one.”
Miya-san pointed to a tree. Its trunk was about 30 to 40 cm thick, around 4 meters tall, a coniferous tree. It looked just like the surrounding trees. It was only slightly bigger with longer branches—something you’d hardly notice without careful observation.
Reipin-san confirmed it was definitely a treant. After ensuring there were no others nearby, Miya-san and Miseria-san, armed with hand axes, approached. Since the enemy today was a treant, the women carried hatchets or small axes.
As they got closer, the branches of the pointed tree bent and whipped down at them like a whip.
They dodged lightly, but the branches, though seemingly stiff, bent surprisingly freely and tried to entangle Miseria-san.
Miseria-san quickly chopped the branch with her axe. The treant’s branch drooped slightly, and the trunk slowly tilted.
“All clear, nya!”
“Got it!”
They waved at me. Miya-san’s axe was embedded in the treant.
From where I stood in the shadows, I hadn’t seen it, but she had struck the treant’s head-like bump squarely, splitting its forehead cleanly in two.
“If you dodge the branches and hit like that, it’s a one-hit kill, nya.”
“If there’s only one, they’re pretty easy. Next time you find one alone, Ryoma-kun, you should try fighting it.”
“Thank you…?”
Beside the two giving advice, I noticed Reipin-san wearing a serious expression.
“Reipin-san, is something wrong?”