Up until Manitoba, it was decided that Kimishima, Spellsess, Mainui, and I would go.
Spellsess, the sage, like me in the Celestials, had a knight escort. Mainui came to Dudur Valley just for training, but apparently, she was officially Spellsess’s knight.
Therefore, when Spellsess attended the ceremony, Mainui would accompany him.
“Will Yazzak-san not be attending?”
“I suppose Durham State’s interim government only has one representative. It seems they lack suitable candidates for such formal ceremonies… Other states probably have more participants.”
“I see, it must be difficult to leave it unattended.”
“Yes, indeed.”
Although Durham State didn’t share borders with other countries due to its location, it suffered relatively frequent monster attacks compared to other cities. Therefore, thinning out monsters remained a crucial ongoing task.
Nishina and Sakuragi had received permission to go to Spelt State, with Vito joining them. Vito, originally from Spelt State, hadn’t visited the capital much and was looking forward to it. They planned to buy cooking utensils and tableware since they were currently short of those.
Nishina and Sakuragi were financially comfortable since they had been delivering quite a number of monster hearts, which had recently increased in value.
And unbeknownst to me, my income had become quite precarious.
I had been receiving something akin to a pension from the Wilbrand Church each month just for being a Celestial. On top of that, being in the military as a Celestial meant a considerable salary.
Originally, I had wanted to buy history books of this world, but when I asked Spellsess about how to obtain books, he said it was difficult to find desired books unless one was in a capital or major city, and they were quite expensive too.
Though this world had paper and printing technology, the culture of leisurely writing and publishing books might not have taken root deeply. Publication numbers were not high, especially for scholarly works.
Nevertheless, I planned to look for books in Kapto, the capital of Spelt State, and Manitoba, the federal capital. Personally, that was what I was most looking forward to.
Kimishima, Sakuragi, and Nishina seemed interested in buying clothes. They said their current attire and armor were all second-hand. Certainly, if that were the case, they would want new clothes.
Sakuragi’s eagerness to visit the city likely had something to do with that as well.
Then there was Vito’s clothes. I had previously thought of Vito as a boy and hadn’t noticed at all. Kimishima and Sakuragi were determined to dress Vito in cute outfits.
“Traveling~. Traveling~”
Sakuragi’s excitement reached its peak. Even when out hunting, she couldn’t contain her joy and was smiling all the time.
Despite the four of us being together like this, we still felt starved for excitement in our quiet countryside. I wondered how Ikeda and Kohinata, who usually kept to themselves, were doing now.
On the day of departure, it was unusually raining. State Army transport vehicles were basically open carts, similar to pickup truck beds, not designed with roofs for people. It was tough when it rained, despite having benches on the sides like seats.
Poles were set up on all sides, and rainproofed monster hides were tied with oil to repel water. However, they couldn’t handle sideways flooding if the wind was strong.
“My cushion is getting wet.”
“There’s nothing we can do. Just be grateful we’re getting a ride in these carts.”
“Oh, my maiden peach bottom…”
“Maiden, huh…”
“Oh, don’t deny my peach bottom~”
“…Peach bottom, huh…”
“Hey!”
Bad weather naturally dampened our spirits. Even the usual banter between Nishina and Sakuragi felt off.
“Vito, if you stay in the corner, you’ll get wet. Come closer.”
“O-okay.”
“Kimishima… aren’t you getting a bit too close?”
“I’m just trying to stay dry…”
“I see…”
Well, despite the rain, we set off as planned for Dudur Valley. Mainui was handling the reins, alternating with us along the way. Everyone was getting more used to driving the carts.
“Was it really good for me to come along?”
“It’s definitely good. It’s good for Vito to experience something outside.”
“Yeah.”
“And besides, I’m a bit worried leaving just Nishina and Sakuragi alone from Spelt State. We need Vito to keep an eye on them.”
“Aww. Sensei, don’t you trust us?”
“You guys seem like you might do something reckless.”
“Ugh. But let’s all have fun together, Vito.”
“Yeah.”
But still, it was raining. The sound of raindrops hitting the makeshift canopy of hides continued to echo. Suddenly, as if remembering something, Kimishima infused magic into her plant ring. Vines began to grow and wrapped around the corners of the poles, protecting us from the sideways rain and wind.
“Wow, Senpai, amazing!”
“Yeah, yeah, now the rain isn’t coming in.”
Everyone rejoiced at Kimishima’s idea, which improved the quality of our journey in rainy weather.
“Oh, Mainui-san…”
Glancing ahead, I noticed Mainui sitting alone on the driver’s seat, getting wet behind the leaves.
“Oh…”
“I’m fine. I’m wearing rain gear.”
Kimishima also noticed, but Mainui assured her she was fine. Still, to prevent herself from getting too cold, she promised to change drivers promptly and let us lounging in the cart pass the time until then.
And so, under overcast skies occasionally interrupted by rain, we continued on to the first town of our journey, Vadzul. Along the way, we passed villages recaptured from monster parades, smaller in scale than Dudur Valley and sparse with returning villagers, leaving a lonely atmosphere.
For Nishina and Sakuragi, it had been a long time since they had visited Vadzul, and for Kimishima and me, it was our first time visiting a town that had survived a monster parade, still lively from those times.
