Chapter 61

During the night, Carrot and I decided to take turns keeping watch.

Since Haru had to work as the driver tomorrow, I let her go to sleep first.

Of course, I didn’t forget the purification that served as a bath.

Carrot was to take the first watch, so Haru and I would rest on the wagon’s cargo area, covered in blankets.

Of course, no funny business.

We couldn’t tire Haru out, and besides, this place was completely visible from the outside.

The wagon was spacious enough that we could sleep apart without the tension of the night before.

I asked Carrot to wake me when the moon passed directly above the southern tree.

Carrot probably thought she had to take more of the watch because she was a slave, and I didn’t want to leave her alone on watch. After discussing it, we agreed on this arrangement.

By the way, I told her that if she broke the agreement, I would take the watch alone from now on.

"It’s time to switch, Ichino-sama."

Carrot came to wake me up.

It was time to switch.

Indeed, the moon was directly above the tree.

Rubbing my sleepy eyes, I sat on the stone by the fire.

As I yawned, Carrot sat down next to me.

"Can I talk, Ichino-sama?"

"Sure, but don’t complain if you’re tired tomorrow."

"I won’t be tired. Carrot is the daughter of a merchant, after all. I’m used to this."

Even if she was the daughter of a merchant, her parents would have put her to bed at night.

But, well, Carrot could sleep in the wagon, so it was fine.

"The stars are beautiful, Ichino-sama."

"Yeah, they’re really beautiful."

Where in Japan could you see such a beautiful sky?

Maybe on a deserted island in the south, I thought.

"I thought I’d never see the stars again."

"…Right, that’s true."

When Carrot was a succubus, she couldn’t go outside at night due to her innate skill, which emitted pheromones that attracted monsters.

"Quince-sama was kind to me, and it’s rare for a slave to have a private room. Still, I was lonely at night. So, I was very happy to sleep in the same bed as you the day before yesterday."

"I see."

"Even yesterday, despite what happened, I was happy."

"Uh, let’s forget about that."

I really want to forget about that too.

I don’t want her to repeat the same mistake.

And,

"I’m very happy to be able to talk with you like this today, Ichino-sama."

"…I see."

"Yes."

"I see—okay."

I patted Carrot’s head.

Her purple hair became tousled.

She’s so cute.

I tousled her hair and let her lean on my shoulder.

Her purple hair was illuminated by the firelight.

"Carrot, don’t you need to sleep yet?"

"Just a little longer—can I stay like this?"

"Ah…"

The stars were shining beautifully.

A beautiful full moon hung above them.

No matter how long I looked, I couldn’t see the rabbit pattern on the moon.

※※※

The next morning.

There was no anticlimactic ending where we both fell asleep, and no mistake like forgetting to put the mana grass, which we had dried before dawn, into the item bag.

If I had to say, the fruit we found yesterday wasn’t edible, so we had a simple breakfast with what was in the item bag.

We crossed the mountains, so it’s fine to have a dawn without any anticlimax or meaning.

I definitely don’t want an 801 development.

That said, I don’t need to use half of my fully recovered MP for alchemy.

So, today’s task is to think of a name for the horse, which I’ve been putting off.

Hmm, a white horse. I’m not familiar with horse racing, but the only name I know is Oguri Cap, and that’s a stallion.

I should give it an original name.

White—snow…male.

How about Yukinobu?

No, that name doesn’t fit the fantasy world.

"Snow…Horse…Horseno, but ‘Horse’ is unnecessary, isn’t it?"

Then, how about thinking of a name based on Haru’s name?

It’s attached to Haru.

Since it’s white, a seasonal name like Fuyu would fit.

"Okay, Fuyun. It’s easy to remember."

I peeked out from the driver’s seat of the wagon to check on the white horse.

The white horse glared at me and snorted—so it seemed.

No, I’m not imagining things. It definitely looked down on me.

…Should I turn this horse into horse sashimi and eat it?

"I think it’s a good name. How about it, Fuyun?"

When Haru asked the horse, it neighed happily.

Yeah, I’ll eat it someday.

※※※

We successfully decided on a name for the horse and continued south.

By evening, we could see a town.

Beyond the town, a large river was visible.

"This is a border town. Should we enter Dacat today or wait until morning? It takes about 30 minutes to go through the border procedures."

"If we can, let’s enter today. I want information on Dacat, so it would be more convenient to cross the border."

"Of course, Ichino-sama. You have foresight."

Haru praised me, but anyone would think of that.

"By the way, if Haru and Carrot are registered as commoners and I pay the tax, will we get experience points like when we defeat monsters, with half going to me and the other half distributed among the three of us, since we’re a party?"

"No, only the one who pays the tax will receive experience points."

I see. It doesn’t work that well.

Okay, let’s enter Dacat.

I took out more than half of the iron ore, which had become pure iron, and some pepper from the item bag, and we entered the border town to enter the unknown country.

I left this as a scheduled post. I’m 55 minutes late, sorry.

Due to the story’s flow, I’ll shift the Jofeli interlude to tomorrow…or rather, today’s update.

It was a very tiring and sleepless trip.