Chapter 253: Interlude, even that is probably a peaceful journey (2) (1/2)

Chapter 253: Interlude, even that is probably a peaceful journey (2)

“Homph~nom, gulp gulp…”

For a girl, she was showing quite the wild way of eating that didn’t care about the eyes of her surroundings, and she is the person that is right in front of me.

One of the two adventurers that saved me that night.

Together with them, we were now in a small faraway town from Kannaoi.

Even if I say small, it is simply because I am comparing it with Kannaoi where I have been living in.

It is a place that is surrounded by an outer wall and has a higher than standard functionalities of a town.

…I don’t know the name of the place though.

It has been over half a day since then, and yet, we have moved pretty far.

“You are being bad mannered, Haku.”

“I ninum geth fu eath thif momning after all.” (Haku)

…

Uhm, I think she tried to say, ‘I didn’t get to eat this morning after all’.

“Seriously, you are a woman, so try to care about the gazes of the surroundings.”

“Gulp, at stage, I am properly paying mind to them, so that’s fine~~.” (Haku)

“Hah…sorry, Iroha-chan.”

“Don’t mind it! I have been saved by you two-na no desu. Just by letting me accompany is already saving me an incredible lot-desu!!” (Iroha)

I have never seen it before, but a woman wearing a priest-like outfit threw the conversation at me.

If I remember correctly, her name is Ginebia-san.

And the other one that is immersing herself eating is *Haku Mokuren*-san.

She wore an exotic dancer outfit that is high in the exposure rate.

She spoke about a stage just now, so she is probably a dancer.

Both of them are probably in their twenties.

The two are older and give me the feeling that of reliability.

“Once again, I am Ginebia. Leaving aside my denomination for now, I am a bishop. Right now I am the guild’s…no, that’s not it, I am a free adventurer.” (Ginebia)

“I am Haku Mokuren. Just as you see, I am a dancer. Together with Bia–Ginebia, we were travelling far away for a bit.” (Haku)

Adventurers…

“I am Osaka Iroha-desu. Uhm, as I was returning home, I was betrayed by adventurers…” (Iroha)

“That…” (Haku)

“Eh?”

“Is mostly a lie, right?” (Haku)

“?!”

W-Why?

Haku-san looked at my eyes and suddenly said something like that with a smile on her face.

“You have the scent of a runaway girl coming from all over you, Iroha-chan. Also, your reactions are sometimes dull when calling you Osaka. Iroha is your real name, but Osaka is a fake one, right?” (Haku)

I-It’s only been half a day, and yet, it was all exposed?!

“Since you were at that place, you definitely came out of Kannaoi, and when taking into account a name that’s close to Osaka, and a child that has the money to hire adventurers…you must be a child of the Osakabe household, right?” (Ginebia)

The supplementary information of Ginebia-san is also exactly right.

…Correct-na no desu.

As I thought, my journey was destined to end in failure-desu ne.

“Ah…I…” (Iroha)

Anything I say would be pointless now.

I know that, but it seems like my mouth wanted to try saying some sort of excuse.

“And? Where was Iroha-chan trying to go that it made you run away from home?”

“Eh?”

“Tell this Onee-san, hm~~?.” (Haku)

Haku-san moves aside the (many) piled up plates, and looks straight at me.

Eh? Wasn’t this the pattern where I get caught, brought back, and they get a finder’s fee?

Ginebia-san as well, she shrugged her shoulders a little, but looks like she intends to listen to what I have to say.

“A-Actually…” (Iroha)

And then, while nervous, I held a mysterious relief that maybe they will save me, and began telling my circumstances to the two adventurers, Ginebia and Haku.

Check the towns, investigate their actual life conditions, and have my father and the main family rethink their thoughts.

Ginebia-san and Haku-san had a gentle smile in their face from beginning to end, and listened to my story until the end.

“That’s why I left my house, and decided to leave to the outside on my own, but…” (Iroha)

Just as the result points, I have not been able to do anything.

“I see. It is important after all, your quest to find yourself. I understand that feeling!” (Haku)

Eh? Quest to find myself?

“Haku! What are you sympathizing for?! Don’t forget that as a result, Iroha-chan almost died!” (Ginebia)

“But you know, Bia, a girl that’s as reliable as her should study now, and in the future, it might bring prosperity to the country and the outside. It is true that Iroha-chan is currently naive. *Naive as a kasudosu*.” (Haku)

I have never heard of this ‘kasudosu’.

I can somewhat tell that it is a sweet food though.

“In that case, it would be best to have a proper talk with father to—” (Iroha)

“Nai~~ve!! This is serious, Bia. Her rebellious phase is on the level that she can leave home! With this naivety of yours, Iroha-chan, you won’t last long, but in this quest to find yourself, you should learn a lot of things by yourself!” (Haku)

“Haku, what are you getting hyped for…” (Ginebia)

“Isn’t that fine? We are using the Spirit path to move safely, and well, we won’t be able to bring her around to towns in order, but we can at least bring her with us till Mizuha, right?” (Haku)

“We are also not in a journey for fun, you know? Rokuya-san and Hitsuna are waiting for us after all.” (Ginebia)

“That’s why I’m saying we will do it while we are at it. Fortunately, Iroha-chan also has money, so we can have her go to Mizuha’s Adventurer Guild and place her together with trustworthy people. If we search for an inn as well, it will be fine.” (Haku)

“…Only in this kind of troublesome moments you have fast decision making.” (Ginebia)

“That’s why I love you, Bia~~!!” (Haku)

“I haven’t given you the ok yet, you know!” (Ginebia)

“Heheh~” (Haku)

Seeing a comedy-like conversation unfolding right in front of me, to my surprise, it was decided that they will accompany me to Mizuha, the city that is said to be the entrance of Lorel-na no desu.

I-It has turned into something incredible-desu.

“Uhm, it is only been half a day since I met the two of you, and even though I haven’t been able to reward you with anything, why is it that you are so kind with me?” (Iroha)

“In the world, there’s bad adventurers, and there’s the good adventurers as well. It is as simple as that.” (Haku)

“Aren’t you ashamed of calling yourself a good adventurer, Haku?” (Ginebia)

“But it is true! Without any reason at all, you two are doing so much for me…” (Iroha)

“So you want a reason to believe us, right? Hm hm, it is nice to be young. Well, putting it bluntly, it is because that inexperience of yours was nostalgic, but…” (Haku)

“Yes?”

“The thoughts that Iroha-chan currently considers as the correct way of a town, it kind of…doesn’t take proper form, I think. In that state, it will only stay as naive. That’s why, I felt like seeing a bit of that decision you will bring out.” (Haku)

“…”

The decision…I will bring out?

“Search unyieldingly for your ideal, and fall; or will you obtain the ability to gently deal with the situation, and at the same time, change your very own thoughts? Or maybe, you will continue single-mindedly with that sweet idealistic thinking of yours, and still possess something that will be able to change reality in some way…… just kidding.” (Haku)

“The third one is way too ominous, Haku. Don’t say things that might tempt others to make a pact with the devil.” (Ginebia)

“Yes~. And so, that’s how it is, Iroha-chan. The point is, I took an interest in you.” (Haku)

“…Yeah, in that point, I am also of the same sentiment. In that case, about the movements of the Osakabe household…” (Ginebia)

“Rokuya-san, right?” (Haku)

“Right. I will ask her of it in thought transmission. We are in an advantage since we don’t use normal paths, but if the other side were to use teleportation to close the distance, that would be it after all.” (Ginebia)

“E-Excuse me!” (Iroha)

Within the conversation that was quickly proceeding, I had something I wanted to tell the two no matter what, so I cut into their conversation.

“What is it?” (Ginebia)

“Was the food not enough?” (Haku)

“P-Please call me Iroha without any honorifics!!” (Iroha)

“…”

“…”

“Ginebia-san? Haku-san?” (Iroha)

The two of them fell silent and look at each other.

“Hey, Bia.”

“Right.”

“Isn’t she a cute girl? To the point that I want to bring her back to my guild.” (Haku)

“Can’t do.” (Ginebia)

“I kno~w.” (Haku)

“Self-restrain.” (Ginebia)

“Well then, Iroha, it will be a short journey that will last until tomorrow morning or noon but, pleasure being with you.” (Haku)

“Yeah. Also, about the matter of me opening the Spirit path we will be using now, I ask you to keep it a secret, okay Iroha?” (Ginebia)

“Yes!! Understood!” (Iroha)

How reliable and amazing women.

They also have feminine charm and flexible strength.

They are calling themselves adventurers, so they must definitely be strong.

Strong, huh. How would that feel?

After that, I continued to listen to these two trusty people as I imagine a bit about my own figure fighting bravely by gracefully controlling Hotarumaru.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

Spirit Path.

This unfamiliar name denotes the mysterious forest that Ginebia-san opens.

It is not a path, but a forest.

And that forest is warm, the sunlight filtering through the trees is bright, and it was a gentle forest like the ones that appear in fairy tales.

It is also a silent forest where we didn’t encounter a single mamono or demi-human.

Spirit Path, after walking for a while in this forest, and once again opening the path with Ginebia-san humming the aria, we arrive at a far away place. A mysterious spell-desu.

It is similar to teleportation, but we are walking, so it takes more time than teleporting.

But the spell-user, Ginebia-san, doesn’t seem to receive much of a burden, so this looks a lot better than teleportation.

It was truly a mysterious experience.

In the end, at noon of the next day, we arrived at the city of Mizuha.

‘Bia, I am already tired. Let’s just teleport until Mizuha, okay?’ (Haku)

‘If I teleport the three of us until there, I would be completely empty and won’t be able to move for 1 whole week. Now, do you want to teleport? Hey, do you want to?’ (Ginebia)

‘I-I was just kidding, Bia-sa~n.’ (Haku)

In the middle of the way, a conversation like that unfolded between the two.

How peaceful. It really soothed me.

One day… I want to become like the two of them, calm and unfaltering; a woman of composure. I wonder if I will be able to become like that.

I felt a bit of uneasiness towards my own future as well.

Also…Ginebia-san, even when she is supposed to be a priest, she is able to accomplish something like teleportation which surprised me too.

“This is Mizuha…” (Iroha)

I have only heard of it from word-of-mouth, the city that has the most amount of tourists in Lorel.

As the entrance of Lorel, there’s a lot of traffic from various places, and as a tourist location, it is the city that has the highest scale in Lorel.

But well, in terms of tourism, the grand labyrinth in Yaso-Katsui doesn’t fall so far off though.

The small information I had of Mizuha beforehand wasn’t that different from the real thing. It is a place that’s filled up with a variety of people.

The variety of people don’t reach this level in Kannaoi, but there are a decent amount of tourist customers that come purely for sightseeing.

Also, as a whole, I feel like I see more merchants than tourists and adventurers.

Maybe they have come here to buy the unique articles of Lorel Union.

The path is wide and there’s a lot of people too, and the number of carriages as well… Anyways, it is lively.

“This number of people, it is pretty numerous, right? First, let’s find people we can trust in the guild, and…Bia?” (Haku)

“…”

The moment Haku-san was trying to keep me company as I was overwhelmed by the energy of the city, Ginebia-san suddenly stood still and seemed to be surprised. And then, after furrowing her brows a little, I see, for the first time, an expression that let out a scary atmosphere.

Only doing a signal with her eyes, she maintains her silence and doesn’t answer the words of Haku-san.

“Acha, is it a report that’s not good?” (Haku)

“Report? Ah, thought transmission?” (Iroha)

“Yeah.” (Haku)

“…Hmm.” (Iroha)