“Ungler City? We’re actually heading to Alvester for the Winter Hunt, and that route is right on the way! Why don’t we…”
Miss Lien was saying enthusiastically, but before she could finish her sentence, Vimiya gave her a sharp pinch.
“I’m so sorry… I truly apologize. This one’s brain is acting up again…”
Vimiya forced an awkward smile, her face plastered with apology.
With that, she quickly pulled Miss Lien aside and lowered her voice for a private chat. However, Renith had sharp ears, and every word of their whispered conversation landed clearly in her hearing.
“Have you lost your mind?! Last time we gave a ride to a thief, he made off with all our travel funds! You never learn from your mistakes, do you?”
Vimiya scolded in a hushed tone, her voice laced with irritation.
“Besides! Look at her—she’s probably from around Senodell City. They’ve got much more convenient trains over there. Wouldn’t it be faster and easier for her to just take the train straight to Ungler City?”
Vimiya continued her analysis, a glint of caution flashing in her eyes.
“I’ll bet she’s hiding some kind of secret she doesn’t want to share. We’d be better off not getting tangled up with her…”
“Shouldn’t we at least go ask her?”
Miss Lien thought there might still be a chance to sway things—after all, having a pretty woman along for the ride would be a whole lot better than spending the entire trip staring at that old hag Vimiya.
And so she acted on it!
Miss Lien was just about to open her mouth when Vimiya beat her to it.
“Um…”
Vimiya stepped forward, sidled up to Renith, and tried to make her tone as warm as possible, asking softly:
“This place is pretty desolate, and driving alone out here is way too dangerous… I mean, why would Miss Anna choose to travel solo through the wilderness?”
Renith had already prepared her excuse and backstory.
She gave a faint smile and replied calmly:
“I’m sort of an off-road enthusiast on the side. My main gig is geology-related research—can’t go into too much detail. I find train rides way too dull, so I decided to take a spontaneous off-road adventure and really soak in the beauty of nature.”
“Also, between you and me…”
Renith leaned in closer to Vimiya, close enough that Vimiya could catch the faint, elusive scent of orchids on her. Vimiya’s cheeks flushed slightly, and she unconsciously dropped her gaze.
“To be honest, taking the regular roads is just way too expensive! There’s a checkpoint every few steps, and each one charges a fee. I really didn’t want to throw my money away, so I chose to go off-road instead.”
Renith let out a resigned sigh.
Hearing that, Vimiya looked up in surprise, a spark of recognition flashing in her eyes.
Because… they were in the same boat.
The cost of taking the official route to Alvester was just too high. Not only were the goods they carried restricted, but there was also a lot of it.
Every checkpoint cost over a dozen silver coins—no small sum for them.
They weren’t nobles, after all. They didn’t have that kind of cash to burn!
“Might as well spend that money on a few extra cans of fuel, stick to the back roads, and drive all the way to Alvester. It’s cheaper and freer that way.”
Vimiya mused, feeling as though she’d found a kindred spirit.
“See, Miss Lien? I told you Miss Anna is—”
Before Vimiya could finish, this time it was Miss Lien who yanked her aside, over to the village chief’s doorstep.
“Weren’t you the one saying no just a moment ago? What’s with the sudden change of heart?”
“But Miss Anna loves off-roading! Anyone who loves off-roading has to be a good person, and her reasoning makes total sense.”
Vimiya explained, trying to convince Miss Lien.
So she repeated Renith’s words verbatim.
“Hmm… that’s not entirely unreasonable.”
Miss Lien rubbed her chin, lost in thought.
“Wait a minute!”
Miss Lien suddenly snapped back to reality.
“Even so, we shouldn’t let a stranger into our car. Like you said earlier—last time, yes, last time! We had all our money stolen by some rotten thief, and that was no picnic!”
Miss Lien’s anger still simmered at the memory.
“We can’t afford to make that same stupid mistake twice! Absolutely not!”
Miss Lien seemed dead set on rejecting Renith’s request for a ride.
“But… Miss Anna’s a woman, so she’s definitely a good person, right?”
By the dim moonlight and the faint glow of the oil lamp hanging at the village entrance, Miss Lien took a closer look at Renith’s delicate skin beneath her hood and couldn’t help but admire:
She’s definitely a beauty.
“I think she’s a good person too.”
Miss Lien’s carefully built defenses crumbled in an instant. In her mind, there was probably nothing better than having a pretty young woman along for the journey.
Of course, that old hag Vimiya didn’t count.
“So… is it settled, then?”
Vimiya asked tentatively.
“Fine!”
Miss Lien nodded in agreement.
And so, Miss Lien composed herself and extended the invitation to Renith:
“Miss Anna, we’re heading to Alvester for the Winter Hunt, and it’s right on your way. Would you like to join us? That way, we can look out for each other on the road.”
Since they’d come to her on their own, Renith had no reason to refuse.
Earlier, she’d asked the village chief if there were any fuel stations nearby. His response was:
“Gasoline? What’s that? Sounds vaguely familiar…”
Renith knew right then that the chief was a dead end. But thinking it over, it made sense—gasoline had only recently appeared; how could it have reached this backwater already?
The fuel left in her tank wouldn’t get her to Ungler City. She couldn’t exactly fly for four days and nights using magic, could she?
Even though her mana had grown denser recently, she couldn’t afford to drain that much energy and focus just for travel.
Even if Miss Lien and Vimiya hadn’t approached her, Renith would have gone to see them the next morning to ask for a ride to Ungler City. Once there, she could refuel or catch a train.
Oh, right—
One more thing. Because of the wanted notice, Renith had deliberately taken the most desolate routes to shake off those annoying bounty hunters—so remote that not even a train could be spotted.
Running into Vimiya and Miss Lien out here in the middle of nowhere was actually pretty lucky. Otherwise, she really would have had to fly for four days straight.
“Then I’m very grateful,” Renith said with a slight bow.
“It’s nothing, nothing at all… Oh, by the way, Miss Anna—tomorrow, could you sit in the passenger seat next to me?”
Vimiya suddenly blurted out, a glimmer of hope in her eyes.
“Um… is there a reason for that?”
Renith was puzzled, utterly confused.
But Miss Lien knew exactly what Vimiya was getting at. She grabbed Vimiya by the collar and dragged her into the room, muttering:
“Oh, I see how it is, Vimiya! The moment you find someone you like, you’re ready to leave me out in the cold to catch the wind?!”
Vimiya shot back:
“Like you’re any different! You can’t walk past a woman without gawking. If you could drive, you’d leave me in the dust too!”
“You have no proof!”
Miss Lien tossed Vimiya onto the bed.
“You’re just being unreasonable!”
Vimiya grabbed a pillow and hurled it back.
“Damn it, I swear you’re—”
Miss Lien grabbed the pillow, slammed the door behind her, and kept grumbling under her breath.
As for what happened after that, Renith couldn’t hear clearly. All she could guess was that some wicked demon had pierced her eardrums with evil magic. In any case, the arguing stopped, replaced only by the creaking of the bed and the occasional soft murmur.
Renith returned to her room, set up a protective array, and fell into a peaceful sleep.
A night passed~
Maybe it was because she was getting older, but Renith woke up not long after sunrise. The exhaustion that had built up over the past six months seemed to have been wiped clean by a single night’s rest. She felt completely refreshed.
To her surprise, Miss Lien was already awake. Despite the morning chill, she sat bare-chested on the wooden steps in front of the village chief’s house, rolling tobacco in cigarette paper and lighting it with a lighter.
She took a deep drag, slowly exhaled a ring of smoke, and wore a look of pure contentment on her face.
“Ah~ what a delightful night. Morning, Miss Anna.”
Miss Lien spotted Renith awake, threw on a jacket, and greeted her. On her face was a mix of fifty percent satisfaction, thirty percent worry, and twenty percent fatigue.
“Good morning,” Renith replied with a smile.
After a night of hard-fought battles, Miss Lien had lost the restless excitement she’d felt upon seeing a beautiful woman the night before. She now gazed idly at the children gathering on the wasteland in the distance.
One of the kids was holding a blackened football caked in sand, a beaming smile plastered across his face.
“Those little ones are full of energy… If I save up enough money and settle down someday, I’d like to have a kid too—preferably a girl.”
“But…”
Miss Lien sighed, her smile fading, replaced by a trace of worry.
“These are troubled times. Voices of resistance keep rising, and the crown’s inaction is only adding fuel to the fire. It’s tough…”
Miss Lien shook her head helplessly.
“It’ll end eventually, won’t it? That’s how history works—only by resolving the conflicts can things settle down.”
Renith offered her consolation.
Miss Lien glanced at her, thought her words made a lot of sense, and gained even more respect for her—she’s a scholar, after all.
“Oh, the match is starting,” Miss Lien said, pointing into the distance.
Out on the sandy field, once all the kids had gathered, they began splitting into teams.
There were twelve children in total, six per team. They seemed to be regular playmates, so the teams were divided casually.
As for telling the two sides apart—it was simple: one team wore coarse ropes and wooden tags on their wrists.
The boy serving as the tagged team’s forward and kick-off player gave an encouraging pre-match pep talk to his teammates, raising his arm and shouting. After his speech, he stood at the front and hurled the ball forward with all his might. Both forwards shot ahead like arrows released from a bow.
As the serving team’s forward, the boy with the wooden tag had the edge—he seized the ball in an instant, nimbly dodged the oncoming players from both sides, and charged straight toward the defenders and the goalkeeper.
