It had only been a day since their departure from the homeland, and they'd already run into some major trouble. The wood wagon with cloth overhead and curtains on both ends of the seating platform had seemed exceptionally sturdy at first, but while running through a rough road, one of its wheels had toppled over and sent everyone tumbling over each other on their left.
"Shit!" Cried Riley, pulling herself out of the mud puddle by the edge of the road.
However, upon realizing the toppled wagon behind her, she forgot her worries and jumped in to check on everyone else.
"Everyone okay?!" Grabbing the cloth overhead, she held herself straight while trying to make sure that nobody was injured.
"Like hell anything is okay!" Squeezing Stella in her arms for her safety, Fay shot an angry glare at Riley.
"This is the second time we've had a carriage topple over on a journey…" Asuka mumbled, her hands clutched tight on Haruki's body.
Even though everyone was dirtied by the mud, they didn't complain about it much and simply crawled out of the toppled wagon. And despite Haruki's body being heavier than expected, Asuka managed to get him out of the wagon with Lulu's help. Once they were all out, however, only Stella seemed amused by the mud sticking to her clothes.
"Stella, you're spreading the dirt on my clothes stop-" Before Fay could finish, a beaming smile from Stella made her stop. "Okay, okay, how can I say no if you look at me with those big guys, ahaha."
The small interaction between the two, lightened everyone's mood a little. Yet with their clothes, all dirtied and one of the wagon's wheels all crumbled up, they needed a way to refresh themselves before continuing on their journey.
"Riley, where are we?" Walking up beside Riley, Asuka asked.
Taking a glance around the path lined with tall grass on both sides, it was hard for them to tell if they were even on the right path.
"Should I fly and take a look?" Feeling a bit ashamed for being lost, Riley nervously scratched the back of her head.
"NO!" Fay exclaimed, making everyone jump in surprise even little Stella. "We're trying to lay low, remember? What if someone sees you flying? We're in an open grass with a straight path, anyone can follow us from a distance if they want."
With the news of their presence already announced by the emperor, it would be anything but wise to reveal yourself to be a demon. Heaving a sigh, Riley and Asuka both knew that Fay was right, and given her experience as a traveler it was best to trust her instincts instead of doing whatever they wanted.
"Fine, but we need to at least take a bath, we've been traveling without rest," Nodding to Asuka's suggestion even Fay agreed that they needed to get rid of the stench of sweat from their bodies.
"I can use water magic if that works-"
A rustle from the tall grass heightened their senses in an instant. Reaching to her hips, Riley took out a pair of sabers, ready to face whoever was spying on them three. Fay wasn't that far behind with a soul shield to protect everyone from a surprise attack from the grass.
"Who is it? Come out now!" Being the only one with only dark offensive skills, Asuka could only offer a warning without revealing her demonic nature.
"What?" A raspy baffled voice from within the grass.
'Wait…' As if the voice had clicked something inside her head, Fay moved her right hand in front of the other two. And slowly, as the rustling sound came closer she connected all the dots in her mind and realized why the voice sounded so familiar.
"Darwin, is that you?" She asked, still a bit cautious with her shield protecting them all.
Finally jumping out from the tuft of grass, came a shanty man half the size of Fay's body. Dressed in a leather jacket and boots, he peered up at Fay with a giant smile on his ginger bearded face.
"Haha! Who could've thought I'd run into you again?" He said in a voice that rumbled the ground itself.
"You scared us, you half-witted dwarf! What the hell are you doing in here anyways?" Dropping the shield, Fay squeezed both of her arms around Stella again.
Pridefully curling his mustache, he glanced around at Fay's companions before shooting her back a confused gaze.
"You became a tour guide or something?" He asked, moving further out toward the mud path. "And what happened to yer wagon? Did a blind bat draw it like an idiot?"
Although his insult made little sense, it still made Riley puff her cheeks up in annoyance and look away from the shanty dwarf.
"Fay, who is this man?" Done with trying to figure it out herself, Asuka finally asked Fay to clear it all up.
Shifting her attention to Asuka, Fay huffed up a defeated sight and made a soul chair under her to get a seat before explaining. Upon taking a seat, she noticed how Haruki's body was laid down on a pile of bedding on the side of the road.
"Darwin, is there any place nearby where we can get some rest?" Wanting to lay Haruki on a proper bed, Fay decided to get somewhere safer first.
Resting his finger under the chin, Darwin was just as confused as Fay's companion, however, given their favorable history together, he was inclined to help her first before dumping her with any more questions.
"Sure, there's a witch who runs an inn a bit further ahead, you guys can rest there if you want," the witch part of his statement raised many eyebrows, but as Fay got off the chair seeming ready to take the offer, neither Asuka nor Riley questioned her judgment.
'I've never explored much of our world, so what else can I do but trust her?' Despite her reluctance, Asuka placed her trust in Fay.
'A witch, huh? I wonder what they're like?' Having only ever read about witches, Riley unlike Asuka was looking a bit forward to meeting her.
"Leave your wagon here, I'll fix them later and bring it to the inn," taking Darwin's suggestion, the group rode the horses drew the wagon, and went off on their way to get to the witch's inn.
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