On the Road ~Nishina, Sakuragi~

The road, if you could even call it that, was far from straight, and it certainly didn't have marked lanes. It felt more like asphalt laid down in place of cobblestones. In the constantly swaying car, Sakuragi and I were holding on for dear life.

Initially, we thought we were heading to Dudur Valley, but it seemed we were mistaken. A bit before that, there was a city named Vadzul, the largest in Durham State, and it was said to be the headquarters of the Durham State Army.

Though it was considered large compared to the Spelt State capital we had visited, Vadzul had a special history. It was once a city symbolically defended by people against encroaching monsters.

"Peaks-san, how much longer until we arrive?"

"Hmm? Oh, well, I'd say around noon tomorrow. It'll be here before you know it."

"Huh? Tomorrow?"

"Yeah, we have to cross state lines, so it's not that close."

"I see... If possible, could we stop for lunch or something..."

"Sure, that's fine. After all this shaking in the cart, even food would go flying, right? Hahaha."

He was quite the character, easygoing and hearty. We managed to agree to stop at a nice place for lunch, but more than the meal, what we really wanted was to get out of the car and cool our sore bottoms. Sakuragi seemed to agree, her face displaying an indescribable expression.

It was hard to believe it would take two days. In the fantasy novels I'd read, they often depicted worlds without advanced transportation infrastructure, but the reality was that it did take this long.

I wondered about the speed of the magic car. It couldn't reach speeds like a car in Japan; at best, it probably reached around 40 to 50 kilometers per hour. After leaving the city of Spelt, we continued through grassy plains along the road.

"If monsters show up, blast them with your magic, alright?"

"Huh? Monsters might appear?"

"Well, they're not that common, but occasionally they do show up around here."

Monsters... considering the city was surrounded by walls like fortifications, it was possible there were monsters in the vicinity. However, looking at Peaks-san's nonchalant demeanor, it didn't seem like a significant concern.

"But even if I say I'll blast them with magic, I can't do it, and it's up to you, Sakuragi."

"Huh? Me?"

"Yeah, because you specialize in magic, right?"

"Well, yeah, but you're magically inclined too, right, Takato-san?"

"I'm more of a gentle, healing magic type. Attacking with magic is a bit beyond me."

"Booo. I'm starting to feel a bit worried."

"No need to worry; I'm counting on you."

I was apparently a spirit heavily focused on recovery magic, and it was suggested that I wouldn't be able to handle typical offensive magic. Even so, I could use some minor life magic, so it seemed I wouldn't have much trouble in daily life. Sitting beside me, Sakuragi was accompanied by a guardian spirit, who appeared to be quite powerful. This spirit, named Rukia, was referred to as a Tendai.

Rukia was a spirit that governed light attribute magic. Before we registered as divine citizens, there was a test to determine our attributes, and the way the orb reacted when Sakuragi touched it was quite astonishing. The priest conducting the test even let out a surprised exclamation. Although it was somewhat disconcerting that, like Domoto-senpai, Sakuragi's touch caused a dazzling light with any orb, it seemed that specializing in that attribute made her light more radiant than Domoto-senpai's Credor guardian.

Sakuragi possessed a magic spell called ‘Shining Arrow’, which allowed her to shoot arrows of light. Once she got used to it, there were various applications, but as someone without any attack magic, I was envious. In exchange, Sakuragi had only recently started kendo at high school, making her the only one of us who didn't have the "<Swordsmanship>" skill. If we were to fight monsters as a pair, I'd likely be the vanguard, and Sakuragi would be in the rear.

But I was a healer, after all.

I was tense about the possibility of monsters, but there wasn't anything noteworthy as we continued down the road, and the magic cart entered a village. We passed by a few things along the way, but in this world, transportation mainly relied on magic beast-drawn carriages and such, rather than horses.

Once we entered the village, there was a designated area with carriages and riding beasts, and we just parked our cart there.

"Well, let's take a break here."

"Oh, okay. Uh, Peaks-san, what about lunch?"

"You can eat at the village cafeteria. Your companions got bento, didn't they? You can have lunch in the cart."

"Thank you."

With that, Peaks-san didn't even bother locking the cart and just headed into the village. He mentioned we could go shopping if we wanted, but I wasn't sure if it was okay to leave the cart unattended.

"But everyone here is so kind."

"Hmm? Yeah, it seems that way."

“Takato-san thinks so too?”

"Haha, well, I'm a kind healing specialist, after all."

After we finished our meal, we decided to take a short walk through the village. The reason being our sore bottoms. If only we had cushions like Peaks-san.

"We might seem a bit inappropriate, being excited about this situation when we're supposed to be helping Sensei..."

"Yeah... but I think I know what you mean."

"It's kind of exciting, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

It was an entirely new world, an unfamiliar village, and it was smaller and less crowded than the Spelt State capital we had seen briefly. The mixture of different races in a world like this was somewhat exhilarating.

Millet-san from the Sky Temple had long, pointed ears, which initially made everyone exclaim, "It's an elf!" However, it seemed she was different from the elves we typically imagined in fantasy. She mentioned that her bloodline had a strong connection to "Elvis", a world from different from Earth. The pronunciation of Elvis was somewhat similar, so I couldn't help but see her as an elf in my mind.

There were various races in this world, some that could be considered like orcs, others resembling humans, and some as big as beer barrels. Different races were intermingled here, and it was indeed true that transmigrants from various worlds came here.

We visited a store selling cushions, and each of us bought one. Afterward, Sakuragi purchased snacks at an open-air stall that had items resembling dried fruits. We didn't do much other than that, but it did help change our mood.

When we returned to the cart, Peaks-san was already waiting for us.

"Sorry for keeping you waiting."

"It's alright. Hahaha. You got cushions, I see."

"Hahaha."

We spent the night in the village, and while the cushions did make it much more comfortable, our bottoms still felt sore. The village was small and didn't have an inn, but in such villages, you could stay in the village church.

Despite that, there was a small cafeteria, so we had dinner there and then slept at the church.

The next day, we left early and finally arrived in Vadzul around noon.

The city of Vadzul had a fortress-like appearance, which was quite evident. As we entered the city, it was clear that it had a different atmosphere compared to the villages we had passed through. Peaks-san mentioned that he would guide us to the State Army's headquarters.

"Here we are."

It was a robust building integrated into the city wall, and above the entrance, there was a large wooden board with the words "Dye the Land of Our Homeland with the Blood of Monsters" scrawled roughly on it.

Peaks-san knocked on the door, and after a short while, a short, bearded man peeked out.

"Hmm? What's this?"

"I'm Peaks from the Federal Army. We've brought new transmigrants. Is the General here?"

"Transmigrants? Kids, are they any use?"

The bearded old man gave us a suspicious look.

"It's a Tendai, isn't it? It's not even usable."

"Huh? T-Tendai??? Well...why are you here again?"

"Just get the General, please."

“Oh, alright."

In a hurry, the bearded man went inside and quickly returned, ushering us into the building.

Access 10 Chapters ahead of the Novelupdates release on our Patreon. <3