No one knows what will happen on a journey.
It’s well within the realm of possibility to part ways with a companion and promise to meet again in the next city, only for that friend to fall ill a few days later and pass away. One may purchase plenty of goods, convinced that it will bring guaranteed profits right up until it becomes clear that demand already crashed, inviting bankruptcy instead of business. And perhaps a simple visit to a town for supplies leads to picking up a girl who desperately wishes to return to the north.
And so, who could blame a girl who set out on a journey of her own when she stopped sending letters home, despite how much worry it would cause her parents? As it turned out, that was reason enough to encourage the girl’s mother and father to descend from their hot spring village nestled deep in the mountains and see the world again.
In the course of retracing Myuri’s and Col’s footsteps, Lawrence and Holo found themselves inextricably drawn into world events. They met a squirrel spirit, reunited with old traveling friends, and even came close to becoming rulers of their own domain.
Though the matter of lordship had occupied Lawrence’s mind for a time, he ultimately chose easygoing travels with the self-proclaimed Wisewolf, along with her penchant for jerky and booze. Then they departed from the city of Salonia by boat and headed toward the open sea.
They headed downriver, sipping drinks and listening to the shanties.
Lawrence believed they would hear more about a certain rambunctious girl and her adoptive older brother in the next seaside city, but—
“Hmm…? What did you say?”
Puffy eyes peeked out from a messy mop of hair to peer at Lawrence.
He had not minded it so much in his sleep, but after waking up, leaving the room, washing his face at the well, preparing breakfast while collecting information from early-morning travelers, and then finally returning to the room, the strong smell of alcohol that still filled the air caused him to scrunch up his face.
“You’ve been drinking too much.”
Lawrence glanced briefly at Holo as she lay whining in bed before he threw open the windows and took a deep breath of fresh air.
“’Tis too bright…”
He might have felt inclined to shield a moss-laden forest spirit from the harsh rays of sunlight, but he felt no pity for the wisewolf who had been entranced by the musical performance of the tavern bards and ended up dancing the night away, drink in hand the entire time.
“Even the most boring parts of a journey are filled with delight when I travel with you”—she had just moved him with such touching words, and now this. Though Elsa was not around to scold him about it, he still felt like he really did spoil Holo a bit too much. Of course, it was a little late for that epiphany.
“Good grief. Well, you look like you regret being alive at the moment, so I’ve got great news for you. No boats are heading downstream right now.”
Lawrence sat in the chair, waiting for the fresh air from outside to replace the strong smell of ale as he bit into a piece of bread he had purchased.
“Mm… That smell…”
Holo, who would normally leap from bed at the first whiff of freshly baked bread, instead scrunched up her face and groaned. Lawrence had seen this sight so many times he was genuinely quite tired of it, but he knew it would be a massive pain to clean up if she vomited, and he also knew he might have to pay the inn an exorbitant amount if it turned out particularly badly. And so, with a sigh, he moved his chair away from Holo to avoid bothering her nose.
“Something’s going on in the port city downriver. I think we’ll be stuck here a while.”
“……”
Lawrence could usually tell when Holo was listening by watching her ears, but they did not so much as twitch.
He swallowed his sigh with a bite of bread and continued, “It looks like our options are either wait here for things to blow over or get a horse and cart to travel by land.”
Lawrence paused, wondering if he would get an answer, but he received none. Her typically beautiful tail was all ruffled and messy, reminding him of a stray dog that had been tragically run over by a wagon.
This was all her own fault to begin with.
“If we go by land, then we may as well head straight south to Kerube. It might be easier to find information on Myuri and Col there. It’s the busiest city in the area, so I know they’ll have lots of good food.”
The fur on her tail twitched at the words good food, so now he was sure he had her attention.
But even Lawrence could not tell if that meant she was not interested in talking about food right now or if she was hoping to be fed the moment she felt better.
“Well, we’re not in any rush, so you can rest. Travelers coming from downstream should be arriving in the afternoon, and they should have a better idea of what’s going on.”
Lawrence thought he heard Holo say something, but soon all he could hear were her deep, sleeping breaths. She was probably just mumbling in her sleep.
With a weary smile, he put the half-eaten bread into his mouth and pulled the blanket over his princess.