Chapter 11: On the Road... On "On" the Road(?)

The town gates of Thidono creaked open as the morning bustle spilled into the dirt road. Merchants shouted, children darted past, and the chilly air still carried the smell of fresh bread. It would’ve been peaceful, if a certain white-coated woman weren’t standing smack in the center of the road, laughing like a natural disaster waiting to happen.

"GHAHAHAHHAHAA-Ghk?!"

She got magic chopped on the head by Elira. Serah picked her up by the neck. And Kestrel was poking her as if making sure she was still alive.

Disaster averted? 

Sei stood at the stables, speaking softly with the stablemaster. Her smile was gentle, her posture graceful, but the poor old man looked like he might collapse under the pressure of having the Saint herself request transportation.

The stableyard was half-empty. Gaps where carriages should’ve been left the place looking oddly gutted.

I adjusted the mountain of supplies strapped to my back. The leather bit into my shoulders no matter how I shifted, and every movement made the load creak, tents, rope, potions, spare blades, food packs. Everything heavy ended up on me. As always.

I stepped closer, close enough to overhear Sei and the stablemaster.

“We only have one carriage left, Saint-sama,” the old man said, voice trembling from nerves or age, maybe both. “T-The garrison took most of the others three days ago. Military requisition. There’s also a rise in goblin sighting in the past week.”

“… I see.” Sei nodded, expression serene but eyes hard with concern. “Thank you for informing us. It must be difficult for your family.”

“Aye… and we’ve lost two merchant wagons this week alone. No bodies found. No horses either. Just blood and splinters…” The old man swallowed. “If you’re heading southeast, please… be careful.”

“We will.” She said in soft reassurance.

“They’re short today because of goblin trouble?” Elaister muttered behind her visor, far too entertained. “Ghahah… It’ll be fun.” Her gaze flicked to me just for a second.

‘I don’t like that look. She’s planning something…’

Kestrel was the first to break from the group and step forward.

“Our next objective is a dungeon. It lies two hours southeast of Thidono by carriage,” she reported. “Last documented as low-level. It’s Classified as ‘Sealed’ for approximately one hundred and twelve years.”

She spoke like she was quoting directly from a military report.

Because she was. Kestrel handled all kingdom intel. The Black Hands kept the party tethered to the throne, even out here.

Elira brushed her hair behind her ear with a sigh. “If it’s that far, we should preserve our strength. Walking there would be… inefficient.”

“Sealed, my ass,” Elaister scoffed, hands on hips. “That’s just code for we’re planning to aged it for a while so the loot would become high quality.’ A dungeon left untouched for a hundred years? Ghahahahah! The materials inside must be immaculate! Corpses unmarred! Mana pressurized. Isolated ecosytem of monsters and specimens waiting to break out…” She suddenly raised both of her arm aside. “Paradise!”

Serah pinched the bridge of her nose. “We’re not there for your dangerous hobbies. The order is to locate and shut down the core.”

Kestrel nodded once. “Correct. The Elf War is escalating faster than projected. The Demon Lord’s awakening is already less than a year. This dungeon sits squarely in human territory. If its core breaks, or if it’s sabotaged, this region will be first to fall.”

“Speaking of dungeons,” Elaister spun toward the group with childlike glee, clearly not caring about the details, “how many of you have done monster harvesting?”

Silence.

Serah lifted her chin. “…I have not.”

“Me neither,” Elira said.

Hiroto offered his warm, practiced smile. “Never needed to. The kingdom funds us. And I can get anything I want without selling organs.”

Kestrel raised her hand half-way. “I only had harvested humans.”

Elasiter lost her smile, “Oh of course. You’re the Hero Party, not an adventurer party. Why do I expect anything useful…”

I stared at the ground. My voice came out small, so only Elaister could hear me. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting from this but…

“I… I’ve harvested crops back home.”

Elaister turned toward me.

For a moment, I thought, maybe, she’d say something encouraging.

“At least someone here does something useful, donkey!”

‘Does that count?’

I sighed inside, I honestly had no idea how to feel about her.

Hiroto didn’t respond. He was just watching the girls again, Serah, Elira, Kestrel, and now Elaister, his gentle smile flicking between them.

Finally, Sei returned.

Beside her walked a young woman, barely older than me. Dusty from morning work, hair tied under a simple headband. She led a single carriage, worn but functional.

“The carriage is ready,” Sei announced. “But… only one was available.”

The girl stepped forward and bowed nervously. “M-My name’s Anna. I’ll be your driver today. I’m sorry, normally we rent out more, but with the goblins and the garrison’s orders…” Her voice trembled. “My father said I should take you myself, honored h-hero party.”

The carriage was not exactly spacious.

Too few seats. Too many of us.

And everyone already knew exactly who wasn’t getting one.

A while into the ride, the carriage settled into a steady rattling rhythm, wooden wheels crunching over the dirt road. Inside, the air was dim and cramped, smelling faintly of leather, steel, and the faint floral soap Anna must’ve used when she prepared the carriage.

The heavy bag, the one I’d carried from the inn, sat neatly on one of the seats.

And I was placed on the floor instead.

A certain woman’s boots found her natural resting place.

My back.

“Absolute footrest.” she announced proudly, as if unveiling a scientific breakthrough.

I tensed as her boots dug into my spine, feeling the weight of her, light, but deliberate. The carriage lurched forward a heartbeat later, and her boots pressed harder. I gritted my teeth. But I didn’t complain.

It never helped.

Outside the window, sunlight spilled across the road. Ahead of us, Hiroto rode on horseback, reins held loosely, posture easy and elegant. Sei sat behind him, arms wrapped gently around his waist. Her expression was serene, saintly… but the way her fingers clutched at his coat said everything.

Serah watched them with a frown pinching her brow.

Elira watched with a cool, calculating stare, tapping her finger against the lower edge of the window frame.

Kestrel watched with the vague irritation of someone forced to witness something distasteful.

Jealousy simmered quietly in the cramped carriage, thick as humidity.

Elaister tapped her boots lightly against my back. “Hey, donkey. Comfortable down there?”

“…I’m fine,” I said, voice muffled against the floorboards.

“You don’t sound fine.”

“I’m used to it.”

A small, humorless sound came from Kestel. “He is. I’ve seen him. He doesn’t break.”

Elaister leaned forward, visor glinting with curiosity. “That so? Impressive. Maybe I should test your limit.”

Serah didn’t even look up from adjusting her gauntlet. “You might as well break him for all the trouble he’s caused us.”

Elaister clicked her tongue sharply. “Oh? And who’ll carry your armor when he’s in pieces? You?”

Serah stiffened, jaw clenching, but she didn’t answer.

Elira let out a calm, elegant sigh. “Just don’t break the porter before the dungeon. He’s carrying all our gear.”

I stayed quiet.

What was there to say?

The wheels clattered along, vibrating through the wooden boards and into my bones. Outside, birds scattered from the treeline as we passed, their wings flashing in and out of view through the window.

Ah, sometimes I wondered what would been life if I were a bird.

Up front, Anna, the young driver, sat perched on the wooden seat. Her knuckles were white around the reins, and every so often she glanced nervously over her shoulder, eyes lingering on all of them, and then on me, confusion and worry flickering across her face.

She probably wasn’t used to carrying the kingdom’s chosen heroes. Much less seeing one of them used as furniture.

The carriage rattled steadily beneath us, each jolt sending a dull throb through my ribs where the boards dug into me. Elaister’s boots tapped against my back, restless, impatient taps that made the ache spread between my shoulder blades. I tried shifting an inch to the left. Bad idea. She pressed harder, like she thought I was trying to escape.

Moments into the ride, her tapping grew more frequent.

“Oi, Caramel,” Elaister called lazily.

Above me, Kestrel’s voice answered with her usual dispassionate hum. “Hmm?”

“Could you get out and check that goblin nest?”

A beat of silence followed.

“…Why would I do that?” Kestrel asked, flat.

“I thought you were the intel gatherer in this party? Why are you sitting in here anyway?” Elaister kicked her heel lightly against me as she spoke, making my breath hitch.

“Elira is on detection shift right now,” Kestrel replied. “We won’t be ambushed.”

“Eh…” Elaister dragged the sound out, clearly displeased.

A different voice chimed in, Serah’s, sharp and suspicious. “What are you planning, exactly?”

“I want to teach you bunch the basics of monster harvesting,” Elaister declared, as if announcing something noble.

Serah responded without hesitation. “Like I said before, our objective is not materials. And we are not delaying this journey.”

“Eeeeh…” Elaister whined. “Then it’s up to me.”

Something shifted above me. Cloth rustled. Metal clinked. The faint mechanical hum of her Pandora device vibrated through the carriage floor.

Elaister was pulling something out.

“What are you planning with that?” Kestrel’s voice sharpened.

A second later, Elira shrieked, actually shrieked.

AAAAH! GET THAT THING AWAY FROM ME!”

Serah’s reaction came swiftly, armor scraping as she moved. “As expected from an elf, you’re trying to sabotage us!”

My face pressed against the wooden boards. My heart jumped into my throat.

What in the world did she pull out? I can’t see anything from this position…

Elaister’s tone was far too cheerful for how panicked the others sounded. “Don’t worry, this one isn’t armed, so it won’t explode. Elira, seriously, is this thing that traumatic for you?”

'WHAT DO YOU MEAN EXPLODE?!' My thoughts screeched.

Then.

“Catch.” Elaister voice. Light.

A thud. A yelp. Then a scream

“GYAAAAAAAAAAAAA!” Elira screamed, far less dignified this time.

“It’s just a tracker, geez.” Elaister groaned. “Me and the mule are going out. Ah, I'll borrow one of these swords.”

Huh?

A metallic disk, a plate, glowing faint violet with runic lines, the one I distinctly remember Elaister gave me on yesterday’s breakfast, floated down through the cramped carriage space. It hovered for a moment before settling squarely across my chest with a soft magnetic hum.

I didn’t even have time to react.

The plate surged upward.

My stomach dropped as my body was lifted clean off the carriage floor, out of the opening on the back.

“W–WAIT!”

The roof flashed past me as I was carried out, sunlight slamming into my eyes like a physical blow. Warm air whipped across my face. My limbs dangled uselessly as the disk held me steady beneath my ribs.

I was floating.

Flying considerably high above the ground.

“A-A-AAAAAH-?!”

“Yo, donkey.”

Her voice came from behind, then the disk rotated me effortlessly until I faced her.

Elaister hovered in the air like she was born to defy gravity, one disk clamped under each foot. Another rested under her right hand, stabilizing her posture. Her coat fluttered dramatically in the wind, her purple visor gleaming like twin burning dots.

It would’ve been impressive.

If I wasn’t seconds away from vomiting.

“It’s time for your initiation,” she declared.

“M-My what?” My voice cracked.

Elaister shifted her weight. The plate under her hand detached and glided down to join the ones beneath her boots, creating a triangle of violet-lit support. With her other hand, she pulled out a sword from her Pandora, one I distinctly remembered packing myself.

The morning sunlight swallowed the sky in brightness, but in front of me, her silhouette eclipses it like a razor. Her visor threw back the light, turning her expression unreadable, almost predatory.

“You have been wonderfully useful, passively. Like being my chair, footrest, and all that.”

She said that like being a furniture for her was…Appreciated?

“But It’s time to teach you how to be actively useful mule,” she said, far too excited. “You’ll kill. You’ll harvest. You’ll carry.”

The shadow she cast stretched over me, long and sharp.

She extended the sword toward me.

I tried to grab it, but the disk under my chest wobbled. My fingers missed entirely. I immediately tilted sideways, flailing helplessly. The height, the unstable support, the sheer absurdity-

Made my whole body shook.

“Don’t piss yourself~”

“I–I’m not!” My voice cracked. “C-Can you… maybe give me more plates? Just… another…Something?!”

“Nope.”

“W-Why not?!”

“I’m quite limited,” she said, tone dripping with annoyance. “My plate auto-crafter got destroyed by a certain blonde knight.”

Her visor tilted pointedly toward where Serah presumably rode inside the carriage.

“But I guess I could rearrange things”

Before I could plead for my life a second time, my disk jerked sharply forward.

“A-AAAH-!”

I shot toward her like a panicked balloon. She reached out, grabbed my wrist with a firm snap of motion. The plate under my chest detached, leaving me suspended for a horrifying half-second in nothing but air.

Gravity hit me like a punch.

“E-ELAISTER-SAN!? D-DON’T L-LET GO!”

The disk behind me zipped into place, slamming onto my back between my shoulder blades. My whole body lurched as it stabilized me, forcing me upright like a puppet yanked onto its strings.

“See?” Elaister said, completely unfazed. “You only need one.”

She placed the sword into my trembling hands with the same casualness someone might use to hand out a broom.

My instinct screamed at me to argue.

So why do YOU get three?! WHY do I only get one?! You could at least TELL me to prepare for that manuver!

But I swallowed it down. My grip tightened on the hilt instead, knuckles whitening. Deep breath…

Then the air hummed. Pandora stirred.

From the cube, eight new disks ignited into existence. They shot outward in a perfect burst formation, splitting across the sky with mechanical precision, four to the cardinal directions, four to the ordinal.

Within seconds, each plate vanished behind distant treelines, diving toward the forest.

Elaister placed a hand on her hip. “There should be at least three nests if goblins are suddenly causing this much trouble. I’ll handle two of them later. You, need to grow, so I’m giving you one.”

My throat tightened.

Me…?

I stared down at the sword. My reflection, warped by the steel, stared back, pale, shaking, eyes wide.

'But I’m weak. I’ll get myself killed. I’ll always just be a porter…'

Even so...

'I want to be useful.'

That was the only way I could put what I was feeling into words, but I could feel it was more than being useful.

My fingers found the cloth at my hip and began wiping the blade, more out of instinct than thought. Habitual. Pointless. My hands quivered with every movement.

Elaister drifted past me, then suddenly tilted her head. Pandora seemed to detect something.

“Oho?” she hummed. “What do we have here…”

The purple sheen across her visor brightened.

“Demon touched goblin nest?”

A cold spike of fear shot up my spine. My body stiffened automatically, I didn’t even realize I’d stopped breathing until my lungs burned.

I looked at her.
She looked at me.

Her posture changed subtly. Her voice dropped. Her visor’s glow sharpened. She had noticed my fear. And she didn’t look concerned.

Instead-

“Aye! We’ve got our farmland,” she said, tone darkly satisfied.

The floating plate on my back vibratated, as I, unwilingly, begin to descend.

つづく