âAre you really showing respect?â
âOf course.â
Bart and the Prince had been having a pointless argument since morning. Apparently, someone tried to break into the inn. Their purpose was probably to kidnap me.
âNo matter how profitable it may be, I still canât believe that they would try to attack somewhere the prince is staying. And they even tried at night. Hollows may not appear much here because weâre far from the mountains, but theyâre risking their lives.â Bart turned his head. He caught me when Iâd just entered the dining room and lifted me up high. I laughed in delight while swinging my legs.
âI know that Lei is cute, but do they want her that much that they would take that risk?â
Itâs true that Iâm only an infant even if I have magic.
âTheyâve failed so many times. Donât they want to recover their expenses? Theyâve exposed themselves, risked their lives and even pretended to be messengers,â Kyaro said as if it was bothersome. It really is annoying. They could have worked a regular job and lived a normal life. Bart gently lowered me down.
Dory took me as soon as I woke up this morning and washed me, changed my clothes and fed me breakfast. Alistair had breakfast with everyone on the first floor. I also wanted to have breakfast with everyone, but I thought that we should get used to living separate lives when I looked at Alistair, so I let Dory take me without complaining.
Dory is over 40, she is slender and has good posture. It feels as if her whole family have always been maids. Actually, she has children too, and that was why she became the Princeâs wet nurse. It was also the reason sheâd come this far with him. She is quick but kind to me.
Still, it is challenging for me to âdo things by myselfâ because nobles are rigid in their thinking and believe things should be done in a certain way. They canât believe that Iâm used to living life as a commoner, and things got more and more enjoyable.
I also had a wet nurse, but she only fed me milk, and Hannah was young, so she didnât fuss about noble customs. I feel that Dory is endearing when I think that someone like her would also be with me if mother were alive.
âWell, itâs not something you can change into by yourself.â
âIâll wipe your hands!â
âAh, youâre holding the spoon by yourself. Ah, itâs spilling!â
She doesnât have to do these things, after all.
From today, I canât afford to waste time like on the first day. There arenât many big towns, so we have to get to the next town before nightfall. And weâll be late if we donât act fast and there are people who canât ride Rug Dragons by themselves like Dory and me.
The Prince personally checked my pockets and took my grass whistles. Still, it was fun to go out and travel.
It was troublesome to prepare a rug for me to sit on every time, but they always got it ready for me along with snacks and water because Iâm a child. It was pleasant. And unlike last time, we were taking the seaside road to stay as far away from Hollows as possible. We didnât go directly to the sea, but I could see it far off in the distance from the dragonâs basket and sometimes, I could see the sun shimmering in the sea.
They set up a flexible plan since they had a small child with them, but things were going smoothly because I didnât complain and didnât get sick. A guard told me that we were going at the same pace as when normal adults travel.
âItâs because Lei-sama is smart. But, starting from tomorrow, the next three days will be the biggest challenge.â
âWhy?â
âWeâll be in a tough spot. Mm, the Wellington Mountains spread all the way out to the sea, and the passage will be narrower.â
Was there such a place when I travelled before? I looked at Bart, âWe passed it. The passage is as big as a small town even if itâs narrow, so it probably didnât look that way.â
It had already been almost two weeks since we left Lentforce when I was told this. After two weeks passed everyone had gotten used to our journey, and they also talked to me. It was established that they would be calling me Lei-sama.
âWeâll reach Kaylie in a week if we get past that place. Itâll take another week to get to the capital of Wester. Weâre about half-way there,â Bart explained as he prepared for the tough spot in the town right before it.
âWe stayed in our tents with the barrier box, right? Thatâs why we didnât have much trouble, but itâs too close to Wellington Mountains to build a town. Actually, they could build a town near there, but people probably donât want to live in a place littered with Hollows. But, peddles will definitely pass through here. Thatâs why there are big huts built everywhere so that travellers can use them freely.â
Those huts were built so that Hollows canât enter them, in the same way as the houses in town. I wondered how big the huts could get and what Bart said next in a whisper shocked me, âListen, Lei, you have to stay close to us for the next two weeks. Apparently, the kidnappers didnât bring a lot of people, but the guardsâ first priority is the Prince and then Alistair. I can tell that if youâre the only one who got kidnapped, they might search for you, but they wonât be able to find you because theyâre not familiar with this place. So theyâll give up after a few days.â
Bart continued while pretending that he was talking about the tough spot, âIt didnât seem like they stayed in town, so they probably have a barrier box. And theyâre moving around with a small number of people. This might be a tough spot, but those with barrier boxes can move around freely. None of the Princeâs people seemed to realise this.â
He crouched down and gently gripped my shoulders while looking at me, âWeâre hunters who specialise in Hollows. We canât kill people with Rhodolite swords. Be careful not to be alone.â
âAi,â I agreed firmly. I had already tasted the bitter experience of being kidnapped.
The large huts, which were made for travellers, didnât have any beds and people huddled together to sleep. Around 10 people could stay in one hut. There were five of them built away from the sea.
âThere are three places like that, and there are a few huts built for evacuation along the way, but thatâs it.â
âWhath if thhereâsh a woth of peopwe?â
âPeople donât usually travel in large groups.â
Really?
âItâs hard to maintain them. Instead, people from towns on both sides of that place make money by lending out Rug Dragons.â
If people prepare sleeping bags and cooking utensils just for that tough spot, then theyâll have too much luggage. So, they load a Rug Dragon with sleeping bags, cooking utensils, lamps, and ingredients in the town before the spot, and return the dragon in the town beyond the tough spot. That was the system, but it cost as much as staying in an inn.
But people, who cross over this spot, would usually do this, so the towns in the area make a lot of money.
Itâs interesting because itâs like a rental car. We got an extra Rug Dragon and departed for the tough spot.