Elm had been carefully considering their plan of action before, but once he’d heard what the drivers had to say, he made up his mind quickly.
“We’ll use one of our carriages. After you rest, could you take one of these carriages back to the lord’s mansion in Gardenia? I’d like you to explain the situation to him.”
“Got it.”
That solved the issue of the people who’d just come down the mountain.
“As for the people still on the mountain...”
“I’ll go.” Sara raised her hand right away.
“Won’t it be hard for you to carry that old woman back, though? Oh...”
Elm realized something and Sara grinned.
“I can make stretchers with my barrier, remember? I can take the old woman and all the luggage back.”
“I’ll go too.” Kuntz was the next to raise his hand. “I’ll go with Sara and see what the damage to the road is like.”
Allen stood silently as well.
“Sounds good. The three of you will handle that.”
“I’ll...”
“I’ll...”
Ann and Haruto spoke up at once, then exchanged a glance.
“...run to the lord’s mansion,” they both finished.
They were thinking the same thing, it seemed.
“No, just stay here for now, Ann, Haruto.”
“Why? I’m way faster than a carriage,” Haruto protested with some frustration. He must have been desperate to do something.
“Listen, Haruto. If you go, they’ll want to use your power as an Invited, and you’ll be stuck here for a while. And if Ann goes, they’ll want her to stay home because it’s dangerous.”
They both gasped.
“If no one’s life is in danger, it doesn’t matter if the news gets to them a little bit later. You should stay here for now.”
It seemed Sara had gotten through to Elm. Haruto and Ann sat down reluctantly and Sara, Kuntz, and Allen gave them a look before hurrying up the mountain.
“Even with the road all messed up, we should be fine walking.”
The ground was bumpy, but they could walk just fine if they were careful. No carriages were getting through here, though, and anyone with weak legs would be exhausted right away.
“There’s no landslides or anything, so they might actually be able to repair the road pretty quickly.”
The cotton sheep didn’t want to fall off the mountain either, of course, so the edges of the road were more or less intact.
Along the way, the three of them got used to the uneven road and sped up, so they were able to make it to the site of the carriages in less than half a day.
“Whoa, they’re in splinters!”
Not just the parts that were made of wood. Even the metal parts were bent and warped.
“Excuse me!”
A woman around fifty years of age stood and called out to them. Next to her were some storage boxes and bags, and an old woman perched on one of the boxes.
“We heard from the drivers and came to help.”
“Oh, thank goodness. Umm, did you come in a carriage?”
The only rescuers in sight were three young people who’d come to help, and one was a woman. The daughter realized right away that they had no carriage with them, so she didn’t wait for their answer.
“I can walk, so could one of you please carry my mother?”
“Of course. You’ll be fine now, it’s only a few hours down to the base of the mountain. Just wait one second...”
The luggage was all together in one place, so she slid a thin barrier underneath it all and solidified it. Then she covered it all with another barrier and lifted it up. In other words, she just made her stretcher big enough to fit all of it inside.
“Here we go. Yeah, I can do it.”
Sara lifted the luggage and then looked at the woman who was shocked to see the items floating beside her.
“I’ll make another stretcher to carry you two. Hmm, it might be hard to make it down that rough road controlling two barriers, though. I know!”
If they sat on storage boxes like the old woman was doing before, she could carry them all at once in one barrier. Sara gently set the luggage back down on the ground.
“Umm, I can carry you all at once, so could you both sit on storage boxes like before?”
“Err... All right.”
Though they had no idea what she was doing, the old woman and her daughter sat on storage boxes, and Sara put her barrier around them once again, this time coloring it on the bottom for their peace of mind. She made it brown so it might feel like they were riding in a carriage.
She moved back and forth a little to make sure the barrier followed her, and the people and luggage inside trailed after her just like she was hoping they would.
“Is it steady?”
“Yes. Though the scenery is moving a little strangely...”
“If it becomes difficult to take, go ahead and tell me at any time.”
It was pretty late in the afternoon at this point. She wanted to get back quickly.
“I’ll lead the way and make sure the road’s still safe.”
“And I’ll keep watch from behind.”
Kuntz led the way, hopping down the path before them. They managed to make it before it got too dark to see where they were going, much to Sara’s relief. Of course, she could use magic to make light, but she wasn’t confident she could concentrate on that and carrying the people and luggage all at the same time.
Sara turned around and carefully lowered the luggage, the old woman, and her daughter to the ground.
“Th-Thank you.”
“Thank you, dear.”
They both stood up somewhat shakily—though Sara wasn’t sure if it was because they’d been sitting this whole time or because of the swaying scenery—and thanked her sincerely.
“It’s already late, so we’ll send you on your way in this carriage tomorrow. You’ll have to camp out here tonight,” Elm explained to the women, taking charge of the scene.
Just as he’d said, the next day, the carriages left early in the morning for the lord’s manor. Remaining there were Ann, Elm, Sara, Haruto, Allen, and Kuntz.
“We just ended up with one more than we came with, huh?”
Sara laughed. She’d been so surprised when they’d set out for Gardenia on foot, and now they were heading to the capital in the same way.
“Umm, I...”
Ann was still hesitating, so Elm turned to Sara, looking exasperated.
“She won’t be convinced, it seems. Can you say something to her, Sara?”
“Huh? Me?”
Now that she thought about it, it had been her plan to proceed on foot.
“Well, umm...” How could she explain?
“Listen.” While Sara was thinking, Allen spoke up. “I’ve been with Sara for a long time, so I know the Invited aren’t just powerful, they’re all softies. If you help out because of simple goodwill, they’ll just take advantage of you.”
As far as Sara was concerned, he was exaggerating. She’d only helped of her own volition up until now.
“That’s why two years ago, Sara was used by the lord and lady of Gardenia, and she was hurt.”
“Oh...” Ann went silent, likely remembering how Lati had acted the year before last. She hung her head, dejected.
Ann and Nelly had both stood up for Sara then. They’d even taught Lati how to better control her emotions, so Sara wasn’t holding a grudge about that or anything. She was about to say so, but Allen held a hand up to stop her.
“Haruto and Bradley are the same. That’s why they holed up on the Dark Mountain for a bit.”
“Yeah, I guess so. Then I left, since I’ve reflected on letting myself be used like that.”
Haruto had always been like this. He didn’t blame the people who had used him, instead making an effort to change himself.
“I guess I kinda ran around trying to help out again this time, so I reflected on that a bit too. I wondered what it is that makes me feel like I always have to be doing something for someone or otherwise be useful.”
It seemed he’d done some thinking when he was left behind with Ann earlier.
After Haruto, Allen continued, “Sometimes when you help someone, it robs them of the ability to do things themselves. Listen, Ann...”
Ann must have realized that Allen, who didn’t often interact with her, was giving her some serious advice, so though she still looked dejected, she listened carefully.
“It’s more normal for there not to be any Invited in Trilgaia. Trilgaia needs to be able to function without Invited, and it’s done so just fine in the past. Do you get it?”
“Yes.” Ann nodded and Elm shrugged exasperatedly.
“And Lati needs to learn to let you go. Don’t take that opportunity away from her.”
Everyone tried to convince her in their own ways, but that ended up being the clincher.
“I didn’t even get to say anything in the end.”
She’d been brought along as someone for Ann to talk to, but Sara got the feeling Elm might have been perfectly fine on his own.
“Ha ha ha. Okay, let’s go. If it’s just us, I bet we can cross the mountains in less than a day.”
Allen was already facing the road.
“Now, let’s get to the capital.”
They were finally moving on.