Ch. 155
Anyway, the only thing left was to clean up the scattered corpses around the rest stop.
If the place wasn’t cleaned, travelers passing through later might be terrified, or monsters might pick up the scent and come, so it was something that ‘had’ to be done.
“And I just had a great idea. Let’s have ‘them’ do the cleanup.”
I pointed at the bandits. Only now did I start to feel like sparing a few of them was the right call after all.
“Are you serious?”
“What, I gotta bury the guys I killed, too?”
“…Miss Geenie.”
“I know my own name.”
And Geenie Crowell doesn’t listen to people weaker than her!
—
Dragging the bandits along really slowed us down. Even though we pushed the horses, it still took three hours longer than expected to reach the city.
“I can see the city gates!”
“Phew, good thing we made it before they closed.”
The city of Daniz, located between Koran and Heidrike, was—oddly enough—a city under Elan’s territory.
Fitting for a city bordering Koran, a nation 80% made of mountains and jungles, it was full of lush greenery. Its most famous specialty? Tea leaves.
They primarily produced high-quality tea leaves for nobles, but they were also well known for flowers and herbs.
Because of that, flowers bloomed year-round, and they frequently held festivals centered around them. It was a tourist city.
I remembered Master Yael once naming it as one of the cities she wanted to visit someday.
Maybe I should buy her some tea leaves and send them along. She should’ve met up with Annie by now.
“I’m going on ahead!”
Every city was different, but most of them closed their gates at midnight. I spurred my horse forward.
Once the gates closed, only messengers or nobles could get them opened again. Regular travelers who arrived late were stuck sleeping outside the walls.
Ash and Chad had to drag the bandits along, so they were much slower. I easily pulled ahead and reached the gate first.
A guard blocked my path with a spear. His tone was firm and his voice businesslike.
“Welcome to Daniz.”
“How long until the gates close?”
“Since it’s festival season, we’re open all night.”
“Well, that’s convenient.”
“Please show your ID badge or travel papers.”
I didn’t have much travel experience, but I’d gotten used to these security checks.
From the saddlebag, I pulled out a silver ID badge and handed it over to the guard. It was a semi-noble grade ID with a verified identity.
“Name?”
“Koku.”
“Occupation?”
“Wizard.”
“Place of origin: Kikura, in Dmitri?”
I nodded and got off the horse.
The guard looked back and forth between me and Rai before stamping my badge with ink and handing it back.
The ID contained all the information he’d just confirmed—along with my gender.
Of course, the ID wasn’t mine.
I needed one to travel, so I’d borrowed it from that palace mage who helped with communications. I couldn’t borrow Hansen’s—his was male-only.
“Thank you for your cooperation. Please ensure your dog doesn’t roam freely in the city.”
“Sure.”
“Are those people with you?”
As I received the ID back, I glanced behind me and saw Ash’s group nearly at the gate. They were shouting toward me in desperation for some reason.
“Let’s go together!”
“Hey! I told you not to go off on your own!”
“Run!”
“Tch, noisy.”
“Your companions seem very loyal, worrying about you like that.”
Seems like this guard misunderstood. Guess he didn’t hear Lox yelling for me to run.
“Well… sure, let’s say that.”
“Daniz is a safe city. You can relax. Enjoy your stay.”
The guard’s attention then turned to Ash’s group.
Looked like he’d spotted the line of bandits tied up behind their horses, and I casually strolled into the city while hearing Ash yell “Over here!”
Turning in the bandits would clearly take time, so I figured I’d go enjoy the festival first.
No one can stop me!
—
Despite the bad memories of being kidnapped during a festival, I still liked festivals.
All the delicious food easily beat the trauma.
Kidnapping is kidnapping, but food is food.
This festival wasn’t as massive as the one in Elan I once visited, but it was decent.
Maybe because there were so many dressed-up women, or maybe because flowers were sold on every corner—but the whole city smelled amazing. That was probably this festival’s charm.
Surrounded by sweet aromas, I somehow managed to sniff out the scent of meat and headed that way.
We’d missed lunch because of the bandits, and I was ‘very’ hungry. That bowl of soup earlier didn’t count as a proper meal.
Didn’t take long for my primal instincts to lead me straight to the food stalls.
[‘Master, you’re not really bad with directions, are you?’]
“It’s more like instinct? Instinct for food.”
The stalls were packed with skewers, fried foods, simple breads, and honeyed fruits.
There were more skewered items than I could count—fish, grilled scorpions, fruit…
It was so glorious I felt a little dizzy. I stopped by the closest stall, tossed the owner a silver coin, and started devouring whatever I could grab.
After stuffing myself for a while, I remembered Ash and the others were probably hungry too.
“Can you wrap up everything from here to here?”
“Huh? ‘All’ of this?”
“All of it!”
With an armful of yellow paper bags packed with skewers, I happily skipped toward the city patrol. I felt so good I was even humming.
It had been almost an hour since I entered the city when I spotted the three of them emerging from the checkpoint, shoulders slumped.
They must’ve just finished handing over the bandits. Good thing I ditched early!
I rushed up to them.
“Yoohoo!”
“You! You wretched woman!”
“Whaaat, don’t be mad. Did you get the bounty?”
Chad looked furious.
Even though I’m this cute and adorabl— correction, devastatingly charming.
“Miss Geenie! Where on earth did you disappear to?”
“She probably ran off because she didn’t want to deal with the paperwork!”
“You!”
“What!”
“Correct!”
Here, have a skewer as a prize.
I handed Chad a chicken skewer, which he still took—even though he was clearly mad. Guess he was hungry.
“Haa… I was worried, you know.”
I passed Ash a skewer too, raising an eyebrow.
“Worried about who? Me? Or the townspeople?”
“…Both.”
“At least you’re honest. Don’t worry! I don’t mess with regular civilians. Probably?”
“You shouldn’t end that with a question mark…”
Guess I was just as honest.
I handed the last skewer to Lox, and the four of us stood side by side, munching away peacefully.
With the bandit handover done, I felt completely refreshed.
Like we’d just climbed another little mountain. I figured this was what travel was all about—one hassle after another.
“Turns out those bandits were pretty infamous. They were notorious for ambushing travelers at that rest stop. Big bounty on their heads.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, we didn’t get anything for the corpses, but the leader alone had a five-gold bounty.”
“…What the—did I just kill 5 gold?!”
“If that’s what you regret…”
“Wait! We ‘could’ve’ brought the bodies? I thought killing them meant no reward!”
Ash, are you avoiding my gaze right now?
I ‘trusted’ you! How could you do this to me?!
Just as I was about to explode in rage, Ash took my hand.
Well, technically, he gave me a pouch. He lifted my skewer-less hand and gently placed it in my palm, and the touch of his skin lingered oddly.
“It’s easier to get paid when they’re alive. Identification and all. So it wasn’t a total lie.”
“Why are you giving this to me? Use it for the inn.”
“You’re the one who caught them, Miss Geenie.”
“Well, yeah, but… I think we should share it. Because…”
He probably thought I was being a team player.
Ash started to look touched, so I hurried to clarify.
Wouldn’t want any misunderstandings.
“Because ‘you’ were the bait.”
—
“What did you just say?”
“I—I mean…”
I’d never heard such horrifying news in my life.
Maybe my face twisted too viciously, because Lox started trembling, clutching his throat and glancing nervously at me.
“The city… because of the festival… all the inns are… full…”
“So you’re telling me I have to sleep ‘outside’ again?!”
“Eek!”
“Do you want to die?!”
“Hey! Calm down! It’s not Lox’s fault the inns are full!”
Chad was unusually polite. Suspicious.
“Tell the truth. You couldn’t find one either, huh?”
“…Sleeping inside the city walls is better than in the forest, right? At least it’s safe!”
“Are you ‘seriously’ saying that?! Ugh, useless! Can’t even kill them all!”
I offered to cover the inn fees, and in return, the three guys were supposed to find a place for us to stay—but all I got were excuses.
Normally, it’s not ‘this’ hard to find a room.
“When you say things like that, it actually sounds serious! Stop saying that when you actually ‘do’ kill people!”
“What’s your problem! I ‘kill with principles!’”
“That’s the worst kind of villain!”
“Villain?! I’m the ‘saint’ of this city, thank you very much—!”
“…Saint?”
“A ‘sassy’ saint, maybe?”
Ash had probably figured out that the famous Saint Geenie Crowell was actually me, thanks to all my hints.
Lox seemed to have unintentionally realized it too, but was still in denial.
Chad, meanwhile, was totally clueless—probably because of his adorably empty brain.
Unless I told him directly, he’d never even guess.
That was probably his one redeeming quality.
“There you are!”
We were gathered beneath a scraggly tree at the edge of the plaza when we saw Ash waving at us through the crowd.
The city was so packed, walking the streets was nearly impossible.
The restaurants, the streets—everywhere was overflowing with people, even now with the moon high in the sky.
We definitely underestimated the festival crowds.
Slumping against a wall in defeat, I looked up as Ash rushed toward us, shouting before he’d even caught his breath.
“Good news! I found an inn with vacancies!”
“Really?!”
“Yes! I did!”
Ash always spoke formally when addressing me, but his smile was childlike and bright.
I liked that smile more than I expected.
“Kyaa, Ash! You’re the best!”
I could finally sleep in a real bed!
Overcome with joy, I jumped into his arms—and he froze like he’d seen a Medusa.
He was great and all, but way too stiff.
I’d told him he could speak casually, but he never listened. Even now, his arms were frozen awkwardly as he gently tried to push me off.
This world doesn’t even have strict gender roles or anything…