When we return to the tavern, the party members meet up for a light dinner and then retreat into their own rooms for the night. I can see it in Gram's eyes, he wants to drink some beer, but since we'll be continuing on our journey the next morning, he can't get himself drunk. I learned my lesson from last time and don't ever want to drink again. And I have to be a good role model for Kamii, since I don't want her to become a delinquent later on, who can quote my behavior as the sole example she had.

Thus, we're upstairs, in the quiet room. It's been seven nights since I last slept in a bed. As there's no concept of cold foam or springs in this world, taverns with older beds tend to have indented mattresses. But they're still preferable to sleeping somewhere with gravel under your blanket - and the occasional insect that crawls over your body.

This tavern doesn't have any bathtubs. The bathroom doesn't even have a sink, and obviously no running water either. It's less developed, as compared to Hovsgaerden - and especially the demon castle - but we could get a large wooden tub inside which one can sit to rinse down. My body doesn't seem to secrete any sweat, but I can still get dirty from dust and the dirt off the street. The same is true for Senka, who doesn't have any bodily functions and doesn't even need to eat.

Kamii is very normal in that regard, so I wash her whenever I get the chance. But out in the wilderness, you don't get the chance much. She's sitting in the tub, her crab arm with the silver chain wrapped around what I'd say is the wrist, stretched to the side. I'm wiping her down with a wet towel and notice again how smooth her dark purple skin is. Apparently elves don't easily get dirty either, but camping out and not being able to properly clean up out in the wilderness still takes its toll.

She looks up at me with her mesmerizing violet eyes. Ahhh, I could lose myself in them every time. There's a light in them that just pulls you in.

"Kuroeh?" She tilts her head questioningly. My hands have stopped and my face is really close to hers.

"It's nothing." I pet her head with a smile and continue.

When we're both finished washing up, we go to bed together. It's still quite early, so I can talk to Senka and Kamii a bit longer. Most specifically, I'm interested in the latter's fighting capabilities, and especially the strange power she displayed in the fight against the trolls.

"Kamii-chan, do you remember what you did under the mountain? When the trolls surrounded us?"

"Hm? I hit them." Alright...

"Hit me with your right arm." It's a gamble. If that strength stayed since then, I'd either be ripped apart or flung through the room. But I doubt that's the case, else her attack when I first met her couldn't have been that weak. If my theory is correct, that is.

"Hit... Kuroeh?" She looks confused, then shakes her head hard enough for her hair to whip around. "No, I will never do that again!" Aww, what a sweet child.

"It's a test, to see your strength." But she keeps shaking her head. Well, can't force her to hit me if she doesn't want to. "Then hit Senka." I point at the girl who's sitting on the other bed, watching us. The new target blinks her eyes for a moment, then her jaw drops.

"Wait, why me?"

"You said you're immortal, didn't you? So why not?"

"There's a huge difference between immortality and invulnerability!" Oh, she's actually angry. "I may be quite sturdy, but if my body gets blown into pieces, immortality is more like a curse at that point. I don't have a healing factor that can regrow lost limbs or regenerate my whole body, you know?"

"Che."

"Hey, you just clicked your tongue! Are you thinking that I'm lame now or something?" She's pretty mad actually. Yeah, I thought you were this indestructible murder doll that keeps coming back no matter how often it's destroyed...

"You just compared me to some supernatural possessed horror movie doll in your mind, didn't you?" I have no idea what you mean~

"Well, we can find out slowly, it's not that pressing right now. But it's good to know that you do have some fighting potential." I pet Kamii's hair as she eyes Senka weirdly. Wait, don't hit her now, she'll explode - in anger. "Let's go to sleep."

We lie down with Kamii. It's already become really natural for us to sleep together, as she nuzzles into me with her back towards me. This is called spooning, right? It's better for her, since she can stretch out her crab arm naturally this way.

"I must say, you do make a cute couple." Senka comments with a hard to grasp expression. I'll take it as sarcasm for now.

"She's just a child."

"So you see yourself as her mother then?"

"I'd prefer older sister... In any case, she's much better now, compared to when I first found her. If this closeness is the cause for that, I should be giving her more of it." I kiss Kamii's hair and whisper in her ear. "Good night, Kamii-chan."

"Good night, Kuroeh."

The next morning, we're on the move again. The bard has negotiated for a trade ship to take us on basically for free - with the condition for us to tell some stories of our journey. Well, we have stories to tell, so it's good if it can serve as payment. In either case, we have our means of transport now and the continued journey will be rather laid back.

The river isn't very wide and apparently also not very deep at this point, but still deep enough for Gram to be completely submerged, if he were to fall in. The boats that travel on this stretch to the first town are mostly ones with shallow drafts, and tree trunks are often floated downstream as they are, bound together using chains. We're on a small ship with a crew of seven. Since they just delivered their goods, the ship is mostly empty, save for a few barrels of beer they just bought, and food for the journey.

Apparently the first station will take us half the day to reach, where the traders will be taking on some goods to carry further downstream. Since this ship isn't going all the way to the capital, we'll have to switch to another one on the second day. In either case, there's not much to do and we enjoy the scenery as it passes us by rather quickly. The bard is playing his lute and telling the story of our journey through the mountain, slightly embellishing our exploits in the process.

I find Gram playing a game of dice with two sailors and watch them. It seems to be quite simple, but I can see that it's not as easy as it looks. Everyone has five dice and has to guess the amount of dice that have the same number of eyes in the whole game. Apparently it's a gambling game, but I'm not into that kind of thing. I can't understand the charm of playing something where you can lose a lot of money really quickly, even if the lucky can also win a lot in the same way. I haven't exactly been blessed with luck, so I won't try it.

"If only she knew..." Senka whispers to nobody in particular. Did she just read my mind?

The scenery remains mostly the same, and once out of the town of Norst, has been untamed nature again. An endless forest in which I would have lost my way long ago. I'm lucky to be with people, after all. I mean, I did kinda lose my sense of direction in the forest on the Dark Continent, although I did find a landmark - even if it was a moving creature the size of a mountain.

One thing I realize, now that I have the time to look around, is that we're generally moving in the direction of the sunrise, but judging from the map, it looked like we're supposed to be heading north. Wait, don't tell me I've been holding the map wrongly... I'll have to learn about the directions as they're called in this world, too. So much to learn. I feel like I'll forget about the things I want to look up if I don't take notes. For now, it's mostly about magic, but also some world history.

Wait, am I actually thinking about studying? This old me who preferred to run around in the streets wearing a white shirt and bloomers - describing my club activities badly - or play games whenever I'm home? Unthinkable. Well, my grades were in the lower average, reflecting that kind of behavior. Didn't matter too much to me, an athletic scholarship was pretty much guaranteed for me, since several marathon associations already came to scout me... ah, why am I thinking of my previous life again? One thing leads to another, I guess.

"Ahhh, peaceful is best, after all." I don't dislike a life filled with action, but when experiencing such peaceful times, I can only be grateful that I wasn't reincarnated into a war-torn country where I'm forced to participate in a war that will eventually turn into a world war. As a simple girl, I wouldn't have been able to survive, just as Senka said before.

We reach the first town, called Gravenborg. It's about the same size as Norst, but its walls are made of stone, although they aren't as thick as the ones in Hovsgaerden. I guess the closer we get to the capital, the better fortified the cities will be again. After all, one war or another must have led to this specific city becoming the capital, and people tended to build walls especially in times of war during the middle ages.

The traders quickly finish their business and take us onto the next part of the journey, to the city of Skurso. This one is actually bigger than Hovsgaerden, and it's walls are actually better maintained, too. But the guards look like they don't seem particularly concerned about anything, either. It must be because of how close it is to the capital. The likelihood of bandit raids diminishes, the closer one gets to a powerful city, after all.

It's the early afternoon, but we won't be continuing anymore, since the traders whose ship we traveled on have finished their journey here. We're going to stay the night and continue first thing in morning. There's an adventurer guild here, so Rolan goes to visit it with Luna. Most likely to inform them about our journey through the mountain and the fact that the Bridge of Enleith is broken. I learn from the bard that this city is about a day's walk away from the capital - the same time it takes by ship - but it's less tiring that way.

As in the last city, we separate to buy various things for the journey. I don't have any money, so all I can do is go window-shopping with Kamii and Senka. This city is quite prosperous, since the people wear clothes of good quality and the roads, including even the alleyways, are properly paved. It's really clean, too. This is a preview of the capital, I guess.

One thing I noticed is that all towns we've passed through so far have a castle, although they differ in size and structures. It's really medieval after all, even though there's magic that can blast holes into walls. I guess not all mages have that kind of capability, but it feels counterintuitive to build large structures that are basically huge immobile targets. The same is true for the demon king castle, but I guess the surrounding cities of these fortresses act as the first barrier to be overcome.

We spend a night in Skurso, before moving on the next morning. This time, the ship taking us on is a large freighter that's hauling many different goods, and we have to pay for being allowed on board. It's a non-stop journey to the capital now, which we'll reach by early afternoon, according to the captain. Of course, it's a stout old man with a white beard and wearing a cap pulled deep into his face, covering his eyes in its shade.

The journey ever since we started traveling by the river has been quite relaxing, as we watch the scenery pass us by, the forest being replaced by rolling plains as the elevation changes to that of flatland. A lot of it is used as farmland now and I can spot windmills and farmhouses from afar. There are many small villages, although none are built near the large river. Maybe it experiences seasonal floods?

"We should be able to see it now." The bard says to me as he passes by me.

"See what?" I follow him towards the bow of the ship. We walk up the set of stairs and the view opens up before me. A magnificent wall and a sprawling city beyond it stands in the distance. It's impressive, even when compared to the city I saw from the window of the demon castle, although it is much smaller. A beautiful white castle towers above the rest of the city from atop a manmade hill.

"The capital of the Kingdom of Lares, Kongenssoevn."