We’ve lost the unpleasant stares when we left 『The Abyssal Forest』. Although, since the moment we left the Dungeon we were showered with gazes of curiosity, it may have just gotten mixed in among them. But they’re probably watching us from inside the dungeon. For some reason, I just have that impression.

There’s a maintained highway between 『The Abyssal Forest』 and Motsi, and everyday a lot of adventurers come and go. Among the merchants, it’s even considered to be the 『safest highway』. Despite being well past sundown, there’s still wagons commuting through it. The monsters appearing near the highway have been completely hunted by adventurers for their daily income, and if any bandit tried their luck here, the adventurers here and there would come in to capture their new source of money.

And even if an adventurer thinks of assaulting merchants and other adventurers, this place is filled with adventurers, so even an idiot wouldn’t even attempt doing that kind of stuff. In reality, they say that the last time anyone died on this highway was more than ten years ago. There are people getting wounded more or less, but it seems that even among them, none have gotten injuries serious enough to have any after-effects.

「Nn~…? Mn~…?」 「What’s wrong?」 「Well… umm…… My, butt…」

Right now, we’re riding on one of the wagons going through the highway. Departing only three times a day, this coach travels back and forth between Motsi City and 『The Abyssal Forest』, it is the so called stagecoach. We didn’t make it earlier this morning so we couldn’t ride it, but on the way back we somehow managed to make it on time.Walking home is fine too, but since it’s here, I wanted to try riding one. By the way, since we’re riding because of my own whim, I’m shouldering the fees. In regards with money, after receiving my Guild Card yesterday, I had the guild buy off the bears and stuff that I hunted on the mountain where the bandits lived. It sold for quite the price, so frankly I’m a bit loaded right now. It was also at that time when my 【Dream Storage】 was seen, mistaken for Storage Magecraft, and caused rumors about me to spread out. But, well, I’ll just think of that as a necessary sacrifice.

I got a bit derailed. but well, for that reason, we’re riding on a stagecoach, but this wagon is super shaky. Though I say it’s a maintained road, it’s just a coach with neither rubber tires nor suspensions treading down on a more or less flattened road. That’s pretty natural. And although the coach does have proper seats, they’re just thick wooden boards. Which are obviously hard. And are obviously not cushions. It looks like Urania’s used to it, but my butt’s screaming in pain for a while now. Each time the coach shakes, the echoing vibration feels like my butt’s being slapped by tons of people.

「It’s amazing how you’re just fine, Urania.」 「It’s nothing if you’re used to it.」 「Is that how it works?」 「Isn’t it?」

Even if you tilt your head like that, your reply’s not helping me, you know? Rather, that gesture’s really too cute. With how I look now, won’t it look perfect on me?…… No, never mind. Before thinking about whether it’ll be cute or not, I can’t imagine who I’ll be doing it for. For now, if it’s for Urania, I might do it, but I really want Urania to do it for me. The one doing it and the one it’s being done for is really important, see. Then how about doing it to other people? You may ask, but first of all, men are out of the question. There’s really no point acting cute to some guy, right? So then the girls. Lysha’s out, since she does have a boyfriend. Arisa? Out of the question, okay? The Owner…… Nn~ maybe if she was ten years younger…. Ah, Petra. Right, if I get a chance, doing it to Petra might be good. From her appearance, she’s probably in her early twenties. From how she looks, she seems to be a human, so I can probably expect that her appearance isn’t any different from her mental age, right?

Ah, speaking about ages, it seems like people think I’m about twelve to thirteen years old. While it’s true that Lily has a baby-face, she does have some nice breasts, so that’s pretty much impossible. Is what I’d like to say, but… It seems like the reason I appear younger is my mannerism, or rather the way I speak. In Grimhart’s words, I look like 「A child imitating someone she’s intimate with, either her father or mentor’s masculine tone」. Knowing that the way I speak is the reason everybody’s looking at me with a pleasant expression, I ended up squirming in embarrassment for a while.

Well, I don’t really plan on changing the way I speak, though. It’s something that I finally got after revising it in the past after all, and a habit formed over the years is quite difficult to correct. When talking to someone older than me, I can talk polite-ishly to some extent, but I don’t like talking in a stiff tone too much. I do plan to at least follow the TPO1, though.

By the way, Urania, like my (established) age, is fifteen years old. Urania also looks pretty young for her age, but it seems like the reason for that is that she’s growing slower compared to her peers. Including the Dog Ear Tribe, it seems like all Demi-humans originating from animals basically mature early. At ten to twelve years old they start having strength no different from an adult, and at about fifteen to twenty their strength reaches its peak, being able to display the most power they can in their lifetime.

However, Urania was born prematurely, and even though she’s already fifteen years old, it seems that she can only exert strength comparable to a seven to eight year old child. That’s probably one of the reasons why she hasn’t joined a party until now, but I didn’t ask for the details. If Urania doesn’t want to talk about it, then I don’t see a reason to forcefully ask. Besides, in exchange for being physically weak and unable to play outside, she’s read a lot of books and built up her knowledge, making Urania the best partner for me.

「Nn, we’re arriving soon. Just endure it for a bit more.」 「Finally…」

Unable to endure the coach’s shaking, I spread out my palm under my butt and somehow mitigate the pain. Still, with this my palms are slowly starting to go numb. The next time we ride one, I’ll definitely bring a cushion. Promising so to myself, I stare at the slowly approaching Motsi.A japanese made acronym meaning Time, Place, Occasion. Sometimes used to draw attention to a situation or experiance that was inappropriate or worth noting.