Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody, Vol. 5

by Hiro Ainana

  “Master, this runosaur is an excellent steed. Its movements are quite agile.”

  “And it turns sooo quickly, meow.”

  Liza and Tama were impressed with the runosaur. Oddly, Tama appended a meow to her sentence, which was probably Arisa’s doing.

  Unable to see around the runosaur’s neck while seated, Tama was standing on the saddle to operate the reins. The creature was quite docile, despite its carnivorous appearance.

  Before we boarded the dullalkosaur-drawn carriage, I handed Mr. Tolma a mithril dagger and luggage bag I’d found in the hideout.

  “Oh-ho! It’s my dagger with the family crest on it!”

  “So it does belong to you, then.”

  Because the AR display confirmed it as such, I returned it to him.

  “I truly appreciate all you’ve done. This will surely help me save face when I return to my brother. Thank you, Sir Pendragon, thank you!”

  “You can just call me Satou.”

  “Very well, Sir Satou. I’ll be sure to repay you in the old capital!” Mr. Tolma paused for a moment and then continued a little awkwardly. “Unlike my dear brother, I have relatively little funds to give, but…I am still a man of good renown in high society. I’m sure I can be of some use to you.”

  I didn’t really want to make my debut in high society anyway, so I asked Mr. Tolma to tell me about the old capital on the road.

  Better yet, during the journey, he promised me a tour of the scroll workshop.

  “Well, if you’re a scroll collector, how do these strike you? These two have already been used, but this Remote Arrow scroll is still brand-new.”

  “Are you sure it’s all right if I take it?”

  “Of course, by all means! It’s not nearly as valuable as the dagger you returned, but if it pleases you, I’m happy to give it.”

  I gratefully accepted the scroll that Mr. Tolma produced from his luggage.

  When I registered Remote Arrow to the magic menu later and tested it out, it was fairly similar in function to Magic Arrow, but its homing ability seemed pretty handy.

  True to its name, the dullalkosaur was about as fast as a donkey, so we made it back to Lulu and the others before the temple knight Heath returned with reinforcements.

  Sir Heath brought thirty of the viceroy’s knights and yeomen.

  Twenty-four of them set off into the mountains to hunt down the remaining criminals.

  “Well, I’ll leave the rest to you.”

  “Yes, sir! We shall guard the thieves with our lives!”

  The honest-looking older yeoman took on the task with a dependable smile.

  He led five other knights and yeomen in transporting the prisoners. Supposedly, they would rope the thieves—quite literally—into pulling the carriage over areas where the slow dullalkosaur couldn’t.

  Back on Earth, they’d probably be sued for abuse of prisoners, but in this world the prisoners didn’t have any rights. They meekly accepted their lot—and if they refused, they’d be beheaded on the spot, so I guess I couldn’t blame them.

  Anyway, I cleared my mind of thoughts about comeuppance and headed back to my own carriage.

  Tama and Pochi were riding the runosaur, while Liza, Nana, and Mia were on horseback.

  Pochi, Tama, and Mia kept peeking inside the carriage, seemingly fascinated by the baby.

  The temple knights, having celebrated their safe reunion, were on standby on their horses as well.

  “Master! Look what Liza gave us, sir.”

  Noticing me, Pochi grinned proudly from atop the runosaur.

  It seemed Liza preferred to keep her favorite horse.

  “Master, Arisa and the others are inside the carriage.”

  Lulu gave a report from the coachman’s stand, so I nodded and got in as well.

  “Let’s head out, Lulu.”

  “Yes, master.”

  Lulu’s technique as a coachman had been improving lately; when we started moving, we didn’t accelerate more than necessary.

  “I’ve never ridden in such a fine carriage…”

  “Mm-hmm. It’s so fluffy!”

  “Nice, isn’t it? We finally got these comfy seats not long ago.”

  Across from Arisa and me, the villager sisters we’d rescued were getting excited.

  “Heavens, what a comfortable ride! It’s just as good as our carriage at home.”

  “I’m honored to hear you say that.”

  Mr. Tolma, who was sitting in one of the spare seats in the back, was examining the interior with great interest.

  “Wasn’t this awfully expensive?”

  “Tolma, don’t be rude.”

  Seated at his side, Miss Hayuna scolded her husband for his rather indelicate question.

  Little Mayuna, who’d been quiet up until now, began wailing.

  The AR indicated that she was hungry. Miss Hayuna was starting to open her shirt, so I quickly turned my gaze away.

  With the crying baby in the background, we continued along the highway next to the great river.

  I was tempted to keep us moving until we arrived in Gururian City, but at the temple knight pair’s recommendation, we stopped in a village along the way for the night.

  They told me the road was dangerous after dark thanks to monsters from the river.

  I didn’t see anything of the sort on my map, so it was probably just superstition.

  “Hey, sorry to just show up with so many people out of nowhere.”

  “N-no, it’s no trouble in the slightest.”

  The village headman responded to Mr. Tolma’s friendly remark with a slight screech.

  I couldn’t blame him for that reaction, given that the likes of a high-ranking noble from the old capital and some temple knights had suddenly shown up on his doorstep.

  On the map, many of the village girls were hiding in a barn far away from the village headman’s home.

  Maybe they thought we might be here to look for women. I didn’t know whether to be insulted or just apologetic for frightening them.

  At any rate, I would have to give them some money and goods as thanks for hosting us before we left tomorrow.

  “I’m terribly sorry to put you up in such an unbecoming place…”

  “Is this a meeting hall?”

  “Yes, I’m afraid it’s the only room spacious enough to accommodate a party this large.”

  The anxious village headman had guided us to a one-story house across from his home.

  The enormous room was more than a hundred and fifty square feet. A group of elderly women were already at work preparing a banquet.

  Just as Pochi’s and Tama’s stomachs started announcing themselves, the finished dinner finally arrived.

  Each person received a dish containing a soup of beans, dried sardines, and mushrooms, along with a plate holding a savory mushroom and herb pancake and a small grilled fish.

  “Wow, what a feast! Isn’t it amazing, big sis?”

  “I-it’s like a banquet…”

  I had assumed this was a standard meal for the farming village, but their comments suggested it was exceptional to ordinary villagers like the sisters we’d rescued.

  It was just the right size for the likes of Lulu, Mia, and me, but it might not be enough for the beastfolk girls.

  In fact, Tama and Pochi were already looking around for more.

  “Um, Mister Satou…”

  “What is it?”

  The elder sister tugged on my sleeve nervously.

  “We don’t have enough money to pay for all this food.”

  “Don’t worry about that. It’s my treat, all right? Just relax and eat.”

  “O-oh, okay…”

  I encouraged the worried young girl to go back to her seat.

  Mr. Tolma and the temple knights didn’t seem to have any problem with the presence of commoners or demi-humans.

  “Heavens, what a humble-looking meal…”

  “It’s not so bad to eat like the poor once in a while. As l
ong as it’s edible, what’s the problem?”

  “Tolma! Don’t insult the good people who made this for us!” Miss Hayuna hastened to scold her husband for his rude remarks.

  The village headman and the old women who had prepared the meal stiffened, so I quickly covered for him.

  “Please pardon my fellow traveler. We’d like to thank you for your kindness from the bottom of our hearts.”

  “O-oh, there’s no need for that, sir…”

  Maybe it was my imagination, but I was starting to suspect that the village headman thought I was the noble from the old capital.

  Tolma and his wife were wearing normal traveling clothes, so my finely tailored robe probably helped me pass for an aristocrat.

  In fact, I was the only one with an extra plate. I’d have to share it with whoever wanted some later.

  “Well? Let’s eat!”

  Despite Mr. Tolma’s comments about the food, he was the first to rub his hands together greedily and dig in.

  He was as fast as a schoolboy who’d missed lunch, but the nobleman’s manner of eating was still impeccable.

  Hayuna and the village girls followed suit and started eating. They were pretty speedy, too.

  “““Thanks for the food!”””

  My kids all chorused along with Arisa, then started on their meals.

  It was a bit plainer than our usual fare, but none of the girls complained. Mia and Tama even traded fish and vegetables.

  For the most part, the meal proceeded as normal, but Pochi and Tama were acting a bit strange.

  I was glad to see them eating more slowly—there was less food than usual—but when they’d finished about half their meals, their eyes started shifting between their plates and Miss Hayuna and her baby.

  Then, they got out of their chairs and carried their plates over to her.

  What’s going on?

  “We’ll shaaare?”

  “You can have half, ma’am.”

  The pair held their dishes out to Miss Hayuna.

  For some reason, they looked quite serious, even a little pained.

  “C’mon now. There might not be much food, but we’re still not gonna eat scraps from some demi-human slaves!”

  Mr. Tolma’s insult wasn’t particularly loud, but it was poorly timed so that it echoed through the otherwise silent room.

  On hearing that, Tama’s and Pochi’s ears flattened.

  “Tolma! How many times must I tell you to think about who you’re speaking to before you run your mouth?!”

  Miss Hayuna rose from her chair and raged at her husband for his misstep. The next thing I knew, her hand was shooting out.

  After getting a firm smack on the head, Mr. Tolma looked up at Miss Hayuna miserably.

  I wanted to give him a piece of my mind myself, but Miss Hayuna had already scolded him thoroughly. I elected not to try to follow her act.

  Given the enormous wealth gap between the rich and the poor in this kingdom, it might have seemed like a natural reaction for Tolma, but to my mind that was no excuse for lashing out at the well-intentioned girls.

  From now on, I’m just going to call him Jackass, at least mentally.

  Oh, but forget about Jackass. I had to take care of Tama and Pochi.

  “What’s the matter?”

  “Babies have to eat a lot, or they’ll diiie?”

  “Babies cry when they can’t have nipples, sir.”

  I didn’t quite follow their meaning, but maybe this was why they were acting so strangely.

  Come to think of it, what if they thought the baby was starving because she cried the whole way here?

  “Master, when we were with our previous owner, there was a leopard-woman who had a child. She was unable to produce breast milk, perhaps because we had so little to eat, and the baby was on the verge of starving to death. So we demi-human slaves all shared half our food with the mother and child. I imagine that’s what they’re referring to now.”

  “I see. Well, Tama and Pochi, that was very kind of you. But don’t worry—the baby is just fine. So you can eat the rest yourselves, all right?”

  Liza’s explanation made the girls’ reasoning clear. Their former master had indeed seemed cruel enough to do such a thing.

  Miss Hayuna patted the girls’ heads. “Thank you for worrying about us.” Meanwhile, her jackass husband scratched his head and complained about the lack of beer.

  The villagers appeared to hear Jackass’s demands, but none of them moved to respond.

  Once Miss Hayuna and I had spoken to them, Tama and Pochi nodded meekly and returned to their seats.

  Then, after the meal…

  “I am so, so sorry about my husband.”

  “Ouch! I take it back, Hayuna, just please stop yanking on my ear!”

  “I think not. I won’t forgive you until you apologize to these children.”

  Still smiling away, Miss Hayuna dragged her husband over to apologize.

  “Sir Satou, I’m sorry for rejecting your slaves’ kindness.”

  “Shouldn’t you be apologizing to someone else?”

  “No, this is considered proper between nobles! Besides, it’s like I said… Lots of demi-human slaves are unclean, y’know. What if you share food with them and get some strange illness? I can’t have my wife and daughter sick!”

  So he was worried about the baby’s weak immune system? That did make sense, I suppose.

  “Please don’t argue any longer. Sir Tolma, I accept your apology. Let us put this matter to rest.”

  “Really? Well, I appreciate it.”

  We would be traveling with this jackass to Gururian City.

  I was absolutely going to use this connection to see the scroll workshop, but I’d have to be careful to keep him from interacting with my kids in the future.

  I want to raise them right, after all!

  Trouble in Gururian City

  Satou here. I like both Western and traditional Japanese sweets, but my favorites are Japanese ones that incorporate Western flavors. I think it’s important to carry on traditions while also continuing to evolve.

  “When we get to Gururian City, you gotta eat Gururian cakes! But it won’t be easy, ’cause they’re one copper apiece.”

  “What kind of pastry is it?”

  “Lemme see… It’s, like, made out of white grains with sweet black grains on the outside, kinda.”

  While I was talking to the commoner sisters about the city’s famous cakes, Lulu reported from the coachman’s stand that the walls of Gururian City had come into view. Meanwhile, the sisters continued chattering.

  “You’ve never even eaten one!”

  The elder sister turned to me and explained the origin of her younger sister’s story.

  “A merchant who came to the village was going on about them, so now she thinks she’s had one herself.”

  “Hmph! When I get a job that pays, it’s the first thing I’m gonna eat!”

  “It’ll be years before you can get paid, dummy.”

  The sisters were going to Gururian City to apprentice at a mercantile.

  Until they came of age, children were provided with food, clothing, and shelter in place of actual wages. Given the lack of initial investment, maybe this kind of servitude made for more economic labor than slaves.

  Finally, we arrived at the entrance to Gururian City.

  There was a line to enter, but the temple knight led us around to the front of it.

  At the gate, some young nobles were giving an address to the merchants waiting to get inside.

  “Merchants visiting Gururian City! We are seeking a Magic Sword. If any of you can provide us with one, we’ll guarantee you an exclusive deal with the government in the future!”

  The young men addressing the crowd were mostly in their twenties and dressed in fashionable knight-style clothing.

  Naturally, no one answered them. They were probably affiliated with the similar young noble I saw back in Bolehart City.

  “H
ey, big sis, he says he’ll make us government merchants if we give him a Magic Sword! Isn’t that amazing?”

  “It certainly is. But we don’t have anything like a Magic Sword, so it doesn’t matter.”

  “…You girls won’t last a minute if you let every sleazebag on the street fool you like that, you know!” Concerned by the sisters’ remarks, Arisa clearly couldn’t resist sticking her nose in. “You know what that actually means, right? He’s saying, ‘We don’t have money, but we still want a Magic Sword. Please give us one for free. Then, if we manage to have a successful career in the future, we’ll give you special treatment. Don’t complain if that never happens, though.’ They’re all full of hot air.”

  “Wow, really? I had no idea.”

  “Gosh, Arisa, you’re smart for someone so little!”

  As I listened idly to their conversation, I opened the window and looked outside.

  The young noblemen were staring greedily at Liza’s magic spear, but they weren’t quite stupid enough to approach a cart with an escort of temple knights, so they were keeping their distance.

  Once we entered the gate, we had to let the sisters off.

  As commoners, they needed to go through certain procedures to enter the city.

  Fortunately, the gatekeeper seemed to be a friend of Sir Heath, so he promised to finish their paperwork quickly and even offered to guide them to the mercantile. What a kind gatekeeper.

  “Thanks, Mister Satou!”

  “Really, thank you so much. You rescued us from those thieves, then you took such good care of us…”

  “You don’t need to worry about that.”

  “I do! Listen, we’re gonna be working at a hardware store called the Green Shop, so please come see us if you need anything, okay? We can’t give you a discount or nothin’, but we’ll make sure you get all the best stuff!”

  I imagined the girls would be doing only menial chores at the shop, but I thanked them nonetheless for their kind offer.

  After parting ways with the village girls, we continued through the city. There were a lot of people about, making me wonder if there was a festival going on or something.