Chapter 38 (2/2)

Since he knew nothing good came out of sleep deprivation, he was fine with driving the caravan for a while, so he sat on the driver’s seat and took the reins from Lapis.

“If you’re going to sleep you should go inside.”

Loren didn’t think the driver’s seat was well suited for sleeping.

Although there was one that was injured and another that was sick, Loren thought that laying on the floor would be better, but Lapis shook her head and declined.

“No no, just lend me your shoulder. I like this better.”

Lapis didn’t even wait for Loren to respond as she rested her head on his shoulder and fell asleep almost immediately.

Loren was surprised at how quickly she fell asleep, but guessed that running away all night brought a lot of anxiousness and fatigue, and focused on keeping the caravan on the road, being careful not to move his body as much as he could.

“It would be really helpful if I knew where we are…”

He guessed that they were heading towards Hanza, but since he wasn’t certain that they were going the right way, it made him worry.

As he thought how nice it would be to know they were going the right way, something tugged at his back.

When he looked back, he saw Shayna pulling at the cloth that was wrapped around his great sword to get his attention. He turned back as far as he could without losing control of the reins.

“What’s wrong?”

“Onii-san…everyone else in the back…”

At Shayna’s worried tone, Loren looked past her and saw Layla and Roll collapsed on the floor.

He wondered why bad things kept getting worse, but even if he were to stop the caravan, there was no way for him to know what was going on.

“What’s happening…are we getting cursed or something?”

“What should we do Onii-san?”

“Don’t call me Onii-san, call me Loren. There’s nothing we can do right now. There’s no way for us to treat them right now. We’re going to have to get to a city first.”

“I think we’re getting close to Hanza, Loren Onii-san.”

“Are you sure?”

Shayna nodded and pointed at the forest and plains around them.

“I’ve walked around outside of Hanza a lot for my father’s job. I remember this view so I think we should see the city in a little bit.”

“That’s the best news I’ve heard in a while. Is our luck turning back?”

Since Shayna was from the area, what she said was very reliable.

If they could reach Hanza, there would be medical supplies as well as doctors, and there would be a higher chance saving the four in the back.

Loren saw the walls of the city shortly after Shayna told him that they were getting close.

Since it was the center of the city-state Hanza, the walls surrounding the city were tall and thick.

On one of the sides was a large gate, and whoever wanted to get into the city had to pa.s.s through there.

He was worried that the guards wouldn’t let them in since they were carrying one wounded and three unconscious members, but they should be able to call a doctor for them, and if he told them they brought the president’s daughter, they shouldn’t be able to treat them roughly. As he was thinking that, Lapis, who had been asleep leaning onto his shoulder, woke up and gave him a warning.

“Be careful Loren. Something isn’t right.”

“What do you mean?”

Loren couldn’t understand what she was talking about.

As they got closer to the gate, where usually there would be a line of people trying to get in, he couldn’t see anyone there.

But if there were lots of undead roaming around, of course people wouldn’t want to travel, so it didn’t seem like an unnatural sight to him.

But then he realized that there were no guards at the gate either.

Even if the number of people coming to the city decreased, it was hard to imagine that they had abandoned post.

As Loren realized that this was what Lapis was talking about, she softly took the reins from Loren’s hands.

“Please be ready to fight whenever.”

“Alright. But…the whole city?”

“I’m not sure. If the gates were closed I would’ve guessed they barricaded themselves inside, but the gates are wide open.”

It was unnatural that the gates were left open even though no one was there.

It pretty much told them that something had happened.

“What do we do?”

“Nothing other than going in. Even if no one’s inside there might still be supplies, or they might have moved the barricade inside the city.”

Either way, their goal was to take Shayna back to Hanza, so they had no choice but to go inside.

Plus, Ange had to be treated as soon as she could or she could die, and they couldn’t ignore the chance that Broas, Layla, and Roll, who had collapsed for an unknown reason, could become like the female adventurers that died the first day.

“I guess luck isn’t on our side after all.”

Even so, they didn’t have the option of turning back.

With their luck, Loren had the feeling that even if they did, they would again encounter the bone dragon that they tried so hard to run away from.

“It’ll work out somehow. Okay, let’s go.”

In contrast to Loren’s heavy thoughts, Lapis didn’t seem to think of the situation heavy at all, and sped up the horse slightly and started heading towards the entrance.

Loren had no way of stopping her, and could only watch as the entrance grew larger and larger.