Chapter 82

Maki and Chiharu sat in the back with the cargo . They dangled their feet down and watched the scenery .

“It’s been a while since we dressed like this . ”

“It’s a lot easier to move if I wear pants underneath this one-piece dress . But it’s a little hot . It’s perfect for flying, though . Still…”

Chiharu felt a little gloomy .

“How long were we in the sky? To be honest, wasn’t it just as long as crossing the sea?”

“Yes . I wouldn’t say anything to Sauro, but I bet it would only take 3 hours to fly to the dwarf territory from here . Also…”

Maki seemed hesitant to speak .

“Maybe he feels more confident now . ”

“Yeah . ”

The wind felt comfortable .

“Well, now they know that there are small children in Lowland that want to play with them . ”

“What a cute sacrifice . ”

“Ki-kids are fine . They always enjoy it . ”

Chiharu muttered as she looked to the side .

“Eventually, they’ll have a team of birdfolk in Lowland . People might train with them from childhood and be able to take messages to other places . ”

“‘Changes in the dwarven dungeon . Questing help immediately . ’ Like that?”

“Yes, yes . Because birdfolk messengers aren’t very reliable by themselves . ”

“Ahh . Yeah, they are too free . ”

Currently, it was probably Maki and Edwy who were able to fly with the birdfolk for the longest distance . Though, Chiharu wasn’t that bad either . The truth was that it was much more likely that Maki and Chiharu would be asked to work as messengers, rather than having some Lowland birfolk team set up .

The carriages started to go up a hill as they headed for the border town . A forest spread out at the bottom of the hill, and the carriage was moving down the road that winded through it . The dwarf lands had many ups and downs in the terrain, but the journey between Lowland and Highland was relatively gentle .

Flatlands stretched out on the other side of the forest, and beyond that, was a blue sea .

“Ahh, it feels so nice . ”

“It almost makes me forget why we are here . ”

“Hey, we’ll be arriving soon . ”

They heard Edwy shout from up ahead .

“This town is our first stop . ”

“I hope we can take a bath . ”

“I doubt it . ”

“But my muscles are so sore . ”

“Mine too . ”

But they wouldn’t expect such luxuries for a while . Maki and Chiharu continued to sit in the back and watch the town’s scenery as they traveled to the inn . The people here looked similar to the people who lived by the Lowland sea . But perhaps there were more people with dirty blonde hair . Just like Maki and Chiharu had now . Merchant carriages were not unusual . And so they just looked like a brother and sister who were enjoying themselves . And the people just smiled at them .

The carriages stopped slowly at the inn . Maki and Chiharu hopped out and walked to the driver’s seat .

“You two are really starting to look as if you are related . ”

“That’s no good, Edwy . ”

“What do you mean?”

“The way you talk . People will think it’s strange . ”

“I-I see . Uh, no . You are right . ”

Aaron chuckled as he saw Chiharu admonish Edwy .

“So, you’re the one who isn’t able to disguise himself at all . ”

“It’s not my fault . Well, maybe it is . I am so used to being around people that are older than me . ”

Edwy grumbled .

“We will stay at this inn tonight . As we will be leaving early in the morning, you should all get a good rest tonight . ”

“Can we explore the town a little after getting our room?”

“Well, it should be safe here . What about you, Edwy?”

“I told you to call me Ed . I’ll go with you, Chouze . ”

“Let’s go then! Ed!”

They took two rooms, as was expected .

This wasn’t the only town near Highland’s border . However, this was seen as a checkpoint for trading, and so it was quite prosperous . And many special products, such as dyed cloth, were sold here .

“Maybe I’ll buy something for Sera . Oh, wait . Nevermind . ”

“Is it because our journey just started?”

“No . But these are special items from the border town in Lowland . She will wonder why we have them when we were supposed to go to the elf lands . ‘I would never have imagined that you two would put yourselves in danger . What is that useless elf?’”

“You sound just like her, Maki-chan . ”

Chiharu was impressed . Even Edwy was holding his stomach and laughing next to them .

“So I can’t give anything that would be evidence . ”

“Ho ho . Alright, Maki-chan . ”

They looked at each other and laughed .

“Ah, that food over there looks interesting . ”

“Wait a minute, Chihaaru . ”

“Edwy, watch your mouth!”

“Ah, wait! Chouze!”

“Just a little!”

Chiharu and Edwy went running off . In the meantime…

“Mister! Please give me 4 of those small things . ”

“Aye, coming right up . Are you old enough to drink, boy?”

“It’s for my older brother . See, over there . ”

“Ah, that handsome man . ”

Edwy stuck out after all . Oh, well . In her heart, Maki was shaking her head .

“Also, what’s this?”

“You don’t know? It’s a kind of dried meat that is made by stretching out the meat and seasoning it . ”

“Alright, I’ll take these too . ”

“Thank you . ”

The man was quite happy that this merchant child was buying a lot .

“This is our first time traveling inland with our older brother . Have you ever been there?”

“Have I? Of course, it’s just right over there . In fact, they have much the same traditions as us . So don’t worry about that . ”

“Oh, thank you . ”

“Now that I think of it, we haven’t gotten any fish from inland recently . ”

“Fish? We’re going to the mirror lake in order to sell some Soluna oranges . ”

“Soluna oranges? Would you sell some of them to me too? My wife just loves them . ”

“I can bring a little bit if you like . ”

“Thank you . Still, we’ve never been unable to get fish before . There must be some serious shortages . If there are no fish, you might have trouble selling your oranges as well . ”

“If that happens, we’ll go to a different town . ”

“That’s a good idea . ”

“Okay, I’ll bring you some oranges then . ”

“Thank you!”

Maki hurriedly put the food into her bag and then ran to the others, who were walking towards her .

She delivered the oranges, and then they had dinner . Hot water was brought to their room so they were able to freshen up before bed .

“It’s too bad that these disguises mean we can’t drink out in the open . ”

Chiharu muttered . She was not happy that only Aaron and Edwy were allowed to have ale with their dinner .

“We had to drink water . Water! Though, it was good water . ”

It was cold water drawn from a well . It was the best thing to have in the summer .

“I knew you’d say that, Chiharu . So here!”

Maki said as she took out two small, pretty bottles from her bag .

“This…”

Chiharu gulped .

“Is it what I think it is?”

“Yes, it is . ”

Chiharu’s eyes shone .

“You’re so cool, Maki-chan!”

“Yes, and?”

“You’re so pretty . ”

“Hahaha!”

Maki looked over her should with a hand on her hip . And then she brushed her hair out of her face with her other hand .

“It comes with some dried meat as well . ”

“Maki-chan! You’re the best!”

“Well, save the rest . ”

And so they both sat down . Chiharu took out some sweet snacks from her bag and added them to the pile . Then they clinked their bottles together . Just then…

“Hey, you two…huh?”

“Eh?”

“No, Maki-chan, you’re supposed to scream . ”

Chiharu joked . Apparently, they had forgotten to lock the door .

The person who had come in without knocking was Aaron .