We Departed for the Fenrir Forest
Right outside of the mansion entrance, were the four horses that the guards would ride, and the carriage.
Once again, Sebastian would be our driver, and I, Ms. Claire, and Ms. Lyra would ride in the back.
All of our belongings were stored in the drawers under the seats.
You could fit quite a lot in there…
But as it wasn’t the biggest carriage, it felt a little cramped to have three people sitting in the back.
The sitting order was me, Ms. Lyra and then Ms. Claire.
“…Hey, Ms. Lyra…don’t push me so much…”
I muttered quietly so that the others wouldn’t hear, and tried to sit without taking up much space.
My face grew a little hot, but I pretended to be unbothered as we set off.
But Leo looked at me and seemed to notice my dilemma, as she let out a sigh.
…It can’t be helped… It’s not every day that I ride …
Both Ms. Claire and Ms. Lyra was very beautiful… If anything, Ms. Lyra was a little more…plump and…I would say no more.
It might become obvious, and was also quite rude.
“And now, we will head to the forest!”
Sebastian shook the reins as the horses began to trot.
Leo also barked and started to run alongside the carriage.
As for the guards, one stayed on our right and one on the left, and there was one in the back and one lead in the front.
Now that I thought about it, how long would it take us to reach the forest?
“Mr. Sebastian. How long will it take us to reach the forest by carriage?”
“Indeed…approximately three hours, I should say.”
“Is there a problem, Mr. Takumi?”
“No… But I’m not used to riding carriages for long hours, so I’m a little worried.”
I was actually more concerned about being pressed against someone for so long, but they did not need to know that.
Until I came to this world, I had never ridden a carriage, let alone a horse. I had only seen them in pictures and videos.
“But how did you travel then? You did say that Leo only grew to this size after you came to this world.”
“Hmm… How should I say this… There were carriages, but you normally wouldn’t ride on them. Instead, there were automatic machines made of iron.”
I didn’t know how to explain cars to them…
Obviously, it wasn’t a living creature, but I doubted they had vehicles made of metal in this world…
“What are they like!? An automatic machine… Does that mean they do not need horses to pull them? You did say that there is no magic in your world… But how does such a thing move…?”
Surprisingly, Ms. Claire was very interested in this.
Ms. Lyra was also looking at me with deep curiosity…but her face was so close…
And while Sebastian was facing ahead, as he was the driver, he kept glancing back as if interested in what I was going to say.
…How should I explain it…
“Uh…well…it’s not magic. We just use a kind of liquid fuel instead of firewood to make them run.”
“Liquid fuel… Such a thing exists?”
“Yes. However, firewood is much better for securing warmth. But liquid fuel burns very well, and so the technology to turn it into energy has developed a lot.”
“Burning energy… You said that it was made of iron, which would make it very heavy. …And yet it still moves?”
“The theory behind it… Well, it’s outside of my expertise, so I don’t know the details…but, yes. They do move.”
“They must have have amazing technology where you come from, Mr. Takumi.”
“Well, since we don’t have magic, technology was used to make our lives richer, I suppose.”
I remember reading something in a book once. Something about how highly developed technology was no different from magic.
After all, for someone who did not understand how they worked, phones, tvs and the internet could seem like magic…
And so I continued to talk about the differences between my world and this world as the carriage drove closer to the forest.
Thanks to all of this conversation, I got used to the close proximity of Lyra’s face.
Which was good, because I was able to concentrate on what I was saying.
…And if I didn’t concentrate, I would not have been able to offer much explanation to Ms. Claire’s various questions regarding science.
“We will take a short break here.”
Sebastian said to us as he stopped the carriage under a lone tree.
One of the reasons was that I, Ms. Lyra and Ms. Claire would like to take a break after being cramped in the back for so long, but they also wanted to let the horses rest as well.
But as Leo had not been running at full speed, she showed no signs of being tired.
As Sebastian gave water to the horses, we got out of the carriage and stretched our limbs.
“Hmm. It is quite cramped in there.”
“Indeed. I feel quite stiff now and uh… Mmm.”
Ms. Claire was raising her arms and stretching, just like I was.
Though, she seemed to be slightly embarrassed about doing it, and so her movements were more modest.
Ms. Lyra brought out a bowl and some milk and gave it to Leo.
While Leo wasn’t tired, she must have been thirsty, as she lapped it up hungrily.
“Mr. Sebastian. How much farther until we reach the forest?”
“This is the road that is the closest to the forest. I suppose you can say that we’re just past the halfway point from the mansion. We will now leave the main road and head towards the forest… I think we should arrive in about an hour.”
“I see. In that case, could I ride on Leo the remainder of the way?”
“Yes. …Uh…can I tell you something?”
I moved closer to Sebastian and whispered.
“It’s just that…the carriage is very small…and so I’m pressed a little close to the others…”
“Oh, I see… Hohoho. Well, you are still young. But is it such a bad thing?”
It’s because they were very pretty.
It was what made it quite embarrassing for me!
…I wasn’t saying that it was bad. Yes.
It was actually nice…but I also didn’t want them to see me looking embarrassed.
“…In any case, I shall ride on Leo for the remainder of the journey.”
“If you insist. …I do not really understand your reasoning…but it cannot be helped.”
This guy…was pretty…uh, interesting…