Chapter 125 - Encounter during Travel (1/2)

Ch. 125: Encounter during Travel

Everything was peaceful for a while after they left Kauffa.

They would eventually have to get off the road to get to Rose’s village, but while they were on the road, with soldiers patrolling around it, there was no danger to them.

It was so peaceful that Loren thought that out of the four days it took to get to the village, they probably didn’t need guarding for the first two.

Loren felt that the spending the night was quite comfortable as well.

Among Rose and her villagers as well as Loren and Klaus’ party, the two of them were the only men, so Loren thought it would be quite uncomfortable, but when it came to work, as well as when keeping watch, which the two parties took turns doing, Lapis was the only one he was with, so things were as usual.

“Can we do something about tying up Klaus at night?”

“Loren, are you saying we should let a wolf loose inside a pack of sheep?”

It was very so, since all the people other than Loren and Klaus were women, and Loren sighed as he watched Klaus be tied up from shoulder to knees and thrown into a one-person tent.

The food was like none other than he had seen before.

They had agreed to eat what they had brought instead of sharing what Rose had brought, but it was because Klaus had their expenses, and Lapis didn’t hold back.

Of course, since they needed the food to last the whole job, there wasn’t anything over the head, but what came out was still way better than the provisions that they were used to, and that caused the girls to treat Klaus even harsher, but Lapis paid no attention and enjoyed the luxurious meal.

“With enough money, even dried meat tastes different.”

“How much did this cost…”

“That’s a secret. It’s free, anyway. Loren, do you want a drink? Believe it or not, it’s wine that isn’t thinned in water. I had it poured into a vintage wineskin as well.”

“What are you doing? I mean, I’ll take it though.”

He knew it wasn’t something he should drink during the middle of a job, but he wasn’t someone to make something that tastes good into something that doesn’t taste as good.

Wine thinned with water was something that was drank by adventurers instead of water, and Loren had drunk it before as well, but of course, it wasn’t something that tasted that good.

“The bread is pure flour as well, and the cheese is good quality as well, so if you put it on top of the bread and sear it…it tastes so good. It goes so well with the wine.”

“You’re enjoying yourself to the fullest, aren’t you…?”

“Maybe put some pieces of dried meat on it as well. Too bad we don’t have any vegetables. They don’t last a few days.”

“Didn’t you throw potatoes in the campfire earlier?”

“I’m going to retrieve them later and put butter on them. It tastes good you know. You’re going to have some, right?”

“…Yeah.”

Rose and the villagers had pots they used to stew their ingredients so they were doing okay, but Klaus and his party were eating hard brown bread and dried meat that looked like the soles of a boot, and were drinking either wine thinned in water or just water.

With Lapis eating her delicious meal next to them, of course their morale would be low.

Loren would’ve suggested sharing if he could, but there wasn’t enough for everyone, and he didn’t want to give them his share of the food either, so he just sat there and ate the great meal with Lapis.

That was how the first two days went, but things changed from the third day.

It was because they went off the main road and went onto the path that led to Rose’s village.

Although it was a path that led to a village, it wasn’t one that many people used.

It was only used when the villagers transported supplies or merchants went from village to village, so it wasn’t maintained too well.

The carriages shook as they rolled on the uneven ground, slowing their progress, and with no soldiers on patrol, there was more risk for danger, so as bodyguards, all their senses were on alert.

“This is a harder job than I thought it would be.”

As Lapis looked around, Loren was pulling one of the wheels of a carriage out of a hole in the path.

With only women, it would’ve been possible if the carriage was empty, but since it was full of supplies and the weight was near its limit, it was quite the feat to get it out of the hole, which Loren managed to do.

“That should do it.”

He put his hands on the carriage, and without even grunting, he lifted it up slightly.

At the same time, one of the villagers lightly whipped the donkeys, which caused them to move forward, and the carriage finally slipped out of the hole.

Loren brushed the dust off his hands, watched the company move once more, and followed, looking around them as Lapis was doing.

Their surroundings were a simple plain with nothing but grass, so their outlook was good, but it was the same for anyone looking at them, so with nowhere to hide, Loren couldn’t help but feel danger.

“It won’t be hard to see something coming, but there’s nowhere to hide.”

“That’s why we hired adventurers like you to protect us.”

Rose was the one who responded to his words.

Seeing Klaus’ face starting to loosen up at her glossy voice, but immediately tightening back up as he felt Ange and the other girls’ glares on him, Loren said something that could be taken as a warning as well as a complaint.

“Then you should put more thought in the payment. No one would take your job with the current one.”

“But there’s people like you who took it.”

As Rose replied with a smile, Loren just snorted, not giving her a reply.

It seems that Rose had put bodyguard jobs up with similar conditions as the current one.

As Loren was impressed that she managed to find people to take the job every time, Rose leaned forward slightly and said in a whispery voice.