We were traveling east in a horse-drawn wagon, with Jacob driving while I sat beside him, watching the scenery.
Since this wagon was meant for transporting cargo, only the front and back were uncovered—the sides were wrapped in waterproof cloth. Sitting inside meant you couldn't see the scenery at all.
Grace, Ethefelis, and Alice were sitting quietly inside the wagon without saying a single word. Honestly, they were all teammates and all girls—how could they not chat at all? I found this unbearably boring.
I wasn't sure how much time had passed, so I took out my pocket watch. It was already 9:07 a.m.
Lina and Lani should have woken up by now and eaten breakfast. They probably saw my letter. That last line I wrote—I hoped it would clear up Lina's misunderstanding and make her believe in my promise.
I had to return to Lina and Lani as soon as possible. The first step was talking to Jacob beside me.
"Jacob, do you think we can reach the border by tonight?"
"The border?! You're rushing way too much. At our current pace, it'll take at least 6 days."
My words clearly shocked him. I guess I was too used to motorcycles and cars—this wagon felt painfully slow, and my butt hurt too.
Still, 6 days was way too long. If we pushed the horses harder, would it cut the time in half?
"What if we speed up? How much time could we save?"
"If the horses don't rest, maybe 4 days."
Even without rest, it only shaved off two days. The speed increase wasn't impressive at all—might as well spare my backside. I told Jacob,
"Then make the horses go faster. Let them run as far as they can today, and release them tonight."
We'd push them without rest today, squeezing out every last bit of strength. Tomorrow, we'd spend the day teaching Alice how to ride a bicycle.
"Release them? Isn't riding a wagon better?"
Jacob looked at me like someone who really didn't want to exercise. I replied flatly,
"I told you before—you need to build up your stamina."
"...Fine."
Jacob reluctantly agreed and sped up.
"Mr. Karen, what were you talking about?"
Alice tapped my shoulder. Annoyed, I turned around.
"That we won't be riding the wagon tomorrow. I'll teach you how to ride a bicycle."
"You mean that thing with two wheels?"
"Yeah."
"I'll work hard to learn!"
Alice clenched her fists, striking a pose like she was determined to study seriously. I was more afraid we'd end up stuck in the same place all day tomorrow.
Then Grace raised a question.
"Mr. Karen, why not keep riding the wagon?"
"Do you remember why we said we wouldn't ride horses before? Same reason."
I didn't have the time or interest to take care of two animals I couldn't even talk to—not their moods, not their physical condition.
"But our public mission is to protect a merchant. Wouldn't riding a wagon make more sense?"
Merchants had storage magic—who really needed a wagon? And honestly, as long as we didn't say anything, no one would be able to tell it was an escort mission anyway.
More importantly, we had to consider dangerous situations, so I answered,
"No. A wagon is too clumsy. We can't escape quickly."
"What do you mean?"
"If we run into a group of bandits, I'd have the non-combatants turn around and retreat first. We'd regroup later. Now tell me—how long would it take for us to get off the wagon and turn it around?"
Forests and mountains were bound to have bandit groups—people who didn't want to work and chose robbery instead. When they blocked the road, a fight would be unavoidable.
But no matter how strong we were, protect non-combatants meant giving the enemy opportunities. Letting the non-combatants retreat first was the best option—then I could fight without worries.
Turning a wagon around, though, was difficult—just like a car on a narrow road. You'd have to steer, back up, move forward, adjust slowly. That took time.
Bandits would use encirclement tactics. By the time we finished turning around, we'd already be surrounded. A car could just ram through—but a wagon would probably break after one hit.
"Uh…"
"That's hard…"
Grace and Alice both looked deep in thought. I didn't understand why they can't understand. After a few seconds, Jacob spoke up.
"Are you really trying to calculate it? Anyway, it just takes a lot of time."
"...I still don't get it."
"Mr. Karen, I need an explanation."
What exactly didn't they understand? Fine, I'd explain.
"Think about it. A wagon is about three meters long, and the road isn't wide. Doesn't that make turning harder? And doesn't doing something harder take more time?"
"That's true. Ah, I get it now."
"...I don't."
Grace was clearly smarter. Alice, not so much.
"Alice, which do you think looks lighter—a wagon or a bicycle?"
"A bicycle."
"Right. You can just lift a bicycle and turn it around. A wagon, though, needs you to pull the reins and wait for the horse to respond. That takes more time."
A bicycle was an inanimate object—it moved exactly how I wanted it to. A horse wasn't. It wouldn't always act the way I expected.
Even if a bicycle wasn't faster than a horse, but what mattered was preparation time.
"M-my head hurts…"
Alice clutched her head in pain, like what I said was impossibly difficult. Explaining something so obvious was starting to irritate me.
"Is this really that hard to understand? Ethefelis, do you get it?"
"I do."
She answered expressionlessly. I wasn't completely sure she truly understood, but I trusted her. She was a capable kid.
"Alice, you don't think very often, do you? Talking to Karen requires thinking to keep up."
Jacob asked a painfully accurate question. I couldn't help nodding.
Still, needing to think during a conversation was normal, right? Why did he make it sound like talking to me required advanced reasoning? My explanations were simple and clear.
Alice snapped angrily at Jacob.
"That's so rude! I think all the time!"
"Then what do you usually think about?"
"I think about when the Brave will appear, and whether he'll be handsome and brave."
All of us were stunned by her answer. That wasn't thinking—that was longing. Incredibly pointless longing at that. Did Alice even know what thinking meant?
I saw Jacob staring ahead, his mouth opening and closing slightly, unsure what to say. After a pause, he asked,
"...Don't you have anything else to think about?"
"No."
"Alright, confirmed. Alice can't think."
Jacob concluded decisively. Alice really was an airhead—the kind with flowers growing in her brain.
"That's so rude! Mr. Karen, you believe me, right?"
"I don't. And that's called desire, not thinking."
"H-how could you…?! Ms. Grace, Ms. Eis—do you believe me?"
"I agree with Mr. Karen."
"Same."
"I really do thinking…"
Alice muttered dejectedly after being rejected by everyone, though there wasn't an ounce of persuasion in her words. Still, she'd just called Ethefelis "Eis." Ethefelis herself had used that nickname before—so it really was a shortened name.
But when did Alice ever get Ethefelis's permission? They didn't seem to have spoken at all, did they?
"Alice, why do you call Ethefelis "Eis"?"
"Because Ethefelis is too long to say, so I shortened it."
Of course—Alice acting on her own again.
"Did you get Ethefelis's approval?"
Alice froze for a few seconds before realizing what I meant. She quickly turned to Ethefelis.
"I'm sorry, Ms. Eis. May I call you that?"
"Can."
Ethefelis agreed without hesitation. She didn't look displeased at all—if anything, she seemed faintly happy.
"Then, Ms. Ethefelis, may I call you Eis as well?"
Grace was the next to ask. For some reason, she sounded unusually eager.
"Can."
After receiving Ethefelis's consent, Grace immediately took her hand and said happily,
"That's wonderful! Miss Ace, since I spend most of my time in a knight order filled almost entirely with men, I've always wanted a close female friend."
A duke's daughter with no female friends?! Just how obsessed with swordsmanship does Grace have to be to not have a single noble lady friend?
"Ms. Grace… what about me?"
Alice looked like an abandoned puppy. She shyly pressed her two index fingers together, her eyes shimmering with tears as she asked. Being excluded despite being another woman must have really hurt her.
Grace quickly reached out and took Alice's hand as well, stacking all three of their hands together.
"Of course you count. Miss Alice, you're my friend too."
"That's great! I've always wanted friends!"
Relieved that she wasn't rejected, Alice beamed with joy, almost like a child. She was someone without friends too… it honestly made me want to cry.
So Alice really had no friends in the temple. If there had been someone she could call a friend back then, would she have turned out a little less foolish?
After that, the three of them started chatting—though to be precise, it was mostly just two of them. Ethefelis still didn't speak much on her own.
"Then what about me?"
Jacob tried to join in at that moment, but a women's gathering wasn't exactly the place for a man, so I brushed him aside.
"Jacob, men aren't suited for this. Just focus on driving the carriage."
"Alright…"
Why does he sound so disappointed? Did he really want someone to talk to? I'm sitting right next to him, you know. Is talking to me really that boring?
…That hurts.
Fine. I'll just quietly enjoy the scenery instead.