Chapter 64: A Long Journey Begins in the Home Garden – Part 2

“This… where exactly is the ‘home garden’ part…?”

“Shh, Sarassa, don’t overthink it,” came the calm reply.

Now that I think about it, I had explained the whole concept to them yesterday, but this was the first time they were actually seeing the transportation in action.

“Is it okay if we pick up the pace?” I asked.

“Yes, that’s fine,” Shifa-san, the coachwoman, replied. She deftly adjusted the reins, signaling the horse to speed up.

The horse, which appeared to be pulling the carriage but was in fact pulling nothing at all, responded immediately, breaking into a graceful, effortless trot.

“At this speed, we might reach our destination in no time at all,” I remarked.

“Onii-chan’s amazing! This is revolutionary!” Sena clapped her hands with pure excitement.

“And the best part is, we can return home anytime. No worries about food or a place to sleep,” Sarassa chimed in.

“Yeah! So, let’s go home right away!”

“…Huh?”

“I’ll just be sleeping at home, so come wake me up when we arrive,” she added casually.

“Wait, wait a minute,” I muttered inwardly. What on earth was my sister thinking?

“Eh? There’s really no point in riding a carriage otherwise, right?” she said, grinning.

Well… she did have a point.

“As long as we have the coachwoman and you, brother, it should be fine. I can’t drive the carriage myself anyway.”

“Don’t think you can just leave everything to us! There might be monsters on the way. At the very least, try to stand guard.”

“If monsters come, we can just run home, right?”

…Of course she had to argue.

“This is a rare chance to travel like this. Why not at least enjoy the scenery a little? See, even though it’s called a carriage, there’s hardly any bumping. Isn’t it comfortable?”

I’d never ridden an ordinary carriage, but I’d heard the rumors—it was supposed to be terribly uncomfortable. Yet, with this method, there was virtually no jostling at all. The garden itself moved smoothly, carrying us along.

“Ugh, fine, fine… But wake me up if anything happens, okay?”

With that, Sena flopped down right then and there, curling up as if already asleep.

…She was really going to sleep.

◇ ◇ ◇

“All right, there it is—the carriage.”

“Hah… it’s just women and kids.”

“Don’t underestimate them. Even so, they’re capable adventurers.”

“Ha! With numbers like ours, surrounding them should be easy. By the way, you’ve prepared the reward, right?”

“Of course. And feel free to deal with everyone except the silver-haired girl however you like.”

“Whoa, that’s a nice bonus. All right, let’s move out, men!”

“““Yeahhhh!”””

After my plan using the Slave Bracelet had failed, I discovered that our target girl had accepted a certain job. I then made arrangements with the local mountain bandits, planning to ambush her along these hills.

The bandits numbered over fifty. In these monster-infested mountains, survival required considerable combat skill. While they might look like vagrants at first glance, these men were far more battle-hardened than most adventurers.

They should be unstoppable… or so I thought.

Hidden behind a gently sloping hill, the bandits suddenly surged forward, racing down the incline in perfect unison.

Their speed was astonishing—and no wonder. They rode large lizard-like creatures called Rydons, sometimes referred to as mount lizards. Their front legs were underdeveloped, so they ran solely on their muscular hind legs. Surprisingly, they were fairly tame and often used as mounts.

Though not ideal for long distances or heavy loads, they could reach speeds comparable to a horse over short stretches. Against a normal carriage, catching up should have been trivial.

…Or so it seemed.

“What the hell are you doing!? Cut them off and surround them!”

“W-We… we can’t catch up!” one of the bandits shouted in panic.

“Huh? How is that possible? It’s just a carriage!”

Even at full tilt, the Rydons failed to gain any ground. In fact, they were slowly falling behind.

“Hey, what’s going on here?! We’re not catching up—we’re being left behind!”

“That’s not the speed of a normal carriage!”

The rugged bandits were flustered, unable to understand. Despite the carriage carrying multiple passengers, the horse ran as if it felt no weight at all, its steps light and rhythmic.

Watching from behind on another Rydon, I couldn’t help but shout.

“What the hell is happening!? They’re getting away!”

“It’s no use! Our legs are shot!”

Exhausted, the Rydons began to slow drastically. In the end, the carriage escaped cleanly, leaving the bandits dumbfounded.

◇ ◇ ◇

“…Huh…”

“Anii? What is it?”

“Something’s coming this way,” Anii said, her face suddenly tense, eyes narrowing toward the right side of the carriage. I followed her gaze—but all I could see was the interior of the hood, shielding us from wind and rain.

Anii possessed the gift Hunter’s Instinct, allowing her to sense danger or approaching enemies faster than anyone else.

“Could it be a monster?” I asked.

“Not exactly,” she replied uncertainly.

Soon, the threat became visible behind us.

“Whoa… bandits!?”

Mounted on Rydons, savage-looking men surged forward, closing in on us. And there were quite a few of them.

“This… this is bad! Sena, now’s not the time to be sleeping!”

I tried to wake Sena, still lazily resting, but she interrupted me.

“…Wait,” she said.

“Huh?”

“We might actually be able to escape like this,” she murmured.

Looking more carefully, the bandit group wasn’t actually getting any closer. They were struggling to pursue, yet instead of catching up, they gradually fell behind.

Apparently, the Rydons carrying human riders simply couldn’t keep up with the nimble horse.

In the end, we managed to escape without a single scratch, leaving our pursuers far behind.