Published: September 2, 2025
※8/16 Typo corrected.
4/21 Some descriptions revised.
This is Satou. There’s a saying that plans are never final, but if meticulous schedules always worked, death marches wouldn’t exist in this world.
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"Alright~ ten consecutive wins!"
"Arisa is so unfair~ Pochi wants to win too~"
"Tama wants to win as well~"
Voices of the young girls came from behind. For about two hours now, everyone except me had been playing with learning cards.
Since I couldn’t really look away, I didn’t know the details, but it seemed Arisa was winning in a very popular (though somewhat childish) way.
"Arisa, here’s a prize for your ten consecutive wins."
"What? A picture book?"
"If you can win that much, you should be able to read it soon, right?"
"Hmm~ I think I probably can."
"Then please read it to Pochi and Tama. Playing with the same learning cards all the time will get boring before they even learn the letters."
"Okay, okay."
At first, Arisa hesitated to take the picture book I offered, but soon she seemed convinced and spread it on the floor to start reading aloud.
Still, learning it in just two days is impressive.
Pochi and Tama, who were complaining a moment ago, quietly sat down and began listening once the story started.
With Arisa’s surprisingly practiced picture book narration as background music, the carriage moved forward along the road.
I wanted to check the map to decide where to camp today, so I asked someone to take over the coachman’s seat.
At first, I thought of asking Liza, but since she was listening carefully with a serious face to Arisa’s reading, I stopped and asked Lulu instead.
"Please take over as coachman for a while."
"Yes, Master."
I moved to the side of the coachman’s platform and welcomed Lulu. I handed over the reins and tried to focus on checking the map, but from Lulu’s perspective, her silent Master just sitting there looked a bit off.
I moved to the back of the carriage and sat facing away from the coachman’s seat.
Immediately, I started checking the map to select the campsite. Actually, I had some candidates in mind before we left, but unfortunately, the distance traveled was shorter than expected, so the planned spots were unusable.
We had about four hours until sunset.
If we kept going for three more hours through these hills, the mountains to the east and west would close in, forming a valley. In a travel book I bought at a bookstore titled "Journey to the Royal Capital," it said the upcoming valley was a difficult area, so I’d like to camp before reaching it.
From what I could see on the map, there were two possible camping spots. The closer one had a pond nearby—maybe we should choose that one?
In fantasy settings, bodies of water tend to attract water spirits or aquatic monsters, but according to the map, only giant frogs were present, so it seemed safe. Unlike the giant frogs we met in labyrinths, these giant frogs appeared to be normal amphibians, not monsters.
I wonder where the line is drawn between monsters and ordinary creatures?
◇
"Master."
Rarely, Lulu spoke to me.
Her voice sounded a little hesitant, so I moved the map aside to get a clearer view.
"What is it, Lulu?"
"Uh, um, please look at that."
Peeking past Lulu’s side, I followed her finger to the southeast mountain range, where a faint black mist hovered.
Still, it was quite far away. Lulu really had a sharp eye.
"Earlier, a lot of birds suddenly flew up from around that mountain, so I was curious and looked. Then that mist appeared."
"I wonder what that is?"
That area was outside the map’s range. I squinted to see better.
The AR display showed "Unidentified flying insect-type monster." Since this AR display seemed linked to the map, no detailed info was available.
Since appraisal magic didn’t activate, maybe it had a limited effective range.
"What’s going on? Did something happen~?"
"More Arisa~?"
"What is it?"
Arisa jumped on top of me, who was leaning over the coachman’s seat. Tama climbed on top of Arisa.
From their presence, I guessed Pochi intended to climb up too but slipped off.