小嫂子的味道

My eyes gazed upon the beautiful green grass that was fluttering in the air due to the wind in the long, never-ending fields. Connected to the entrance gate was a leveled path of dirt that went forward along with the planes.

Multiple wagons and people were entering and exiting the city through them; some were adventured clad in armor, some were trades riding in their wagons which were stuffed with goods, and some were normal citizens who were either leaving the city for work purposes or for other reasons.

I took the same path and started walking down it. However, I won\'t be able to reach where I wanted if I went on foot like this, night was also starting to cover the sky hence after going on for a bit more, booked the wagon.

A few more people were sitting inside but there was enough space for me—and Challes also.

"Where\'d you like to go?" the driver asked as I got inside the wagon.

"Gannett town," I replied.

"Oh, there? I think you\'re aware of this but it\'ll take a lot of time to reach there. We\'ll have to stop by someone to spend the night, you know that? The money required to go there will also be high considering the distance and the other man with you. You look quite young to me, do you have that kind of money on you?" he queried.

"Yeah, I know that. And there isn\'t any problem, I have money on me."

"Well, telling you was my job. If you\'re fine then I don\'t have any problem."

With that, the wagon moved. I was sitting on the left side near the back hence I was able to get a view of the outside—and Challes was sitting on the floor instead of a seat. There\'s no way I\'ll pay the cost of a seat for this bastard.

As time flowed, the sky was soon fully covered in the blanket of the night and twinkling stars.

If talk about the atmosphere inside the wagon, here I was getting some stares from the people now and then.

There were 3 people other than me—one girl and two boys. They seemed to be your typical adventures since both the boys were clad in metal armor and the girl was holding onto a staff so probably she was a mage.

One of the guys who was sitting right in front of me had brown hair and a well-built muscular body. He also had a beard of the same color and was wearing grey iron armor and had a sword with him.

The other guy beside him was also wearing an armor of the same color but it was a little lighter than his—by light I mean it was not covering his full body and looked like it was not made out of heavy material, however, the color of his hair was green and he had a clean face with no facial hair and a normal boy—neither skinny nor muscular.

And he was carrying a bow and a quiver full of arrows with him, so I\'m guessing he was an archer.

\'That explains the armor.\'

The girl sitting next to me seemed to be the quiet type to me since while the two guys were occasionally talking to each other, she wasn\'t saying anything.

She was wearing armor like the other two but it was a leather one, not metal. Her sleek hair was shining black and she was clenching a wooden staff.

If I had to explain it simply, they were just your normal stereotypical adventurers.

Since we were sitting in a closed space there weren\'t able to completely ignore Challes even if they wanted to, and well, a 15 years old teenager having a grown man as a slave was not normal even in this world.

I was looking outside and not paying attention to them but I don\'t know what Challes was thinking right now. I took a glance at him and saw him staring down at his shoes—basically, he had his face buried in his legs and sitting in very less space.

\'Embracement must be killing him I guess? Or is he just fallen asleep? I don\'t know?\'

I\'d gotten some free relaxing time like this after a very long while and I don\'t want to waste it thinking useless things—heck even I can\'t keep working without rest!

I was resting my face on my hand and gazing at the beautiful night sky as the cold but comforting breeze kept embracing me.

"So, what\'s your name?" one of the boys sitting in front of me asked.

\'Sigh! Guess I won\'t be resting anytime soon. And seriously, what\'s with this? Can\'t you see that I have an unspoken "do not disturb" sign hanging on my neck?!\'

"What\'s your name?" I replied, or rather it was more of a reverse question.

"Me? I\'m Spene. He\'s Favian, and she\'s Xara," the guy said with a smile on his face.

\'Dude you just revealed the names of all your teammates! Even for a fool, this was too much!\'

"I\'m Ichigo, nice to meet you," I said and greeted him back with a smile as I raised my hand forward.

"Nice to meet you too," he replied and shook my hand.

The other two also greeted me afterward and so did I. The guy who started the conversation was I don\'t know why how happy now that we\'d exchanged.

"Where are you headed?" he appealed.

\'Didn\'t I already say that when I was talking to the driver?\'

"The Gannett town, as I said."

"Ah, then I guess we\'ll be seeing each other for a long time. As for we also have the same destination," he said proudly, though I don\'t know what was the thing to be proud about in this.

I replied with a smile and didn\'t say anything after that. The atmosphere was good and comfy, the seat I was sitting on was not really comfortable but before I realized it, I fell asleep.