Chapter 154: Locomotive
At night, inside an inn at the port of Rilan principality―
「Fuuh… it was a really hard day I guess.」
「Nya~~~n.」
Aria brushed Tama’s head as they lay in their bed. Tama replied with an adorable purr as he brushed his head back toward his master.
After Aria and co. had saved the passenger ship that had been attacked by the demon race’s pirates, the local police had cross-examined their accounts even before their ship was docked on the port. Later on, the group was invited to a drinking party held by the passengers and sailors of the ship they had saved; the party was a token of gratitude toward Aria and co.
As of now, Lily and Faeri had already fallen asleep due to exhaustion, while Vulcan, Cedric, and Arnold were still having a drinking bout with the locals.
「Well then, good night, Tama.」
「NYAAA~~!」
Just like that, Aria fell asleep while embracing Tama.
The same happened with Tama. He also entered dreamland soon after…
◆
One week later―
Aria and co. arrived in an area surrounded by mist.
「UWAAAAAA~!」
「Uwaa, it’s so whi~~te!!」
Lily and Faeri spoke with excited voices on top of the deck, which was surrounded by a white mist.
The land of the ogre race, Ryuudou, was famous for always being covered in mist.
As evidence, the sailors couldn’t see any scenery at all, yet none of them lost their cool. The calm looks on their faces was evidence that they were used to this phenomenon.
After the ship advanced for a while inside the mist―
Bit by bit, the sunlight finally shone through the mist.
Moreover, the group also saw a port-like place far away in front of the ship.
「Thank you very much for participating in this long voyage. The port in front of us is Ryuudou’s port city, 〝Ganryuu?!」
With bright smiles, the sailors informed Aria and co.
「There are so many unique buildings.」
Aria looked at the port city, Ganryuu, from the deck of the ship. The architectural style in the city was completely different from the one she was used to seeing in Leuwin.
「Ryuudou strongly inherited the tradition of a peculiar place called Japan in another world after all. It’s only natural for you to feel unfamiliar with it.」
Cedric explained to Aria, who had a curious look on her face, as she looked at the refreshing scenery. He also looked at the scenery with a somewhat melancholic expression.
「Uhm? Are they the ogre race?」
Stella looked around and asked while tilting her head in puzzlement. At the end of her line of sight were people with something resembling a pair of horns growing from their heads.
「That’s correct, Stella-chan?」
「They are wearing strange attires too.」
Arnold was about to answer Stella’s question, but Stella’s interest moved from their horns to the clothes they had worn.
「That’s a 〝Yukata?, their native dress. It’s a dress style from another world too, their ancestor’s homeland.」
This time, Cedric was the one who did the explanation for the curious Stella.
Just as Cedric had said, most of the ogre race people walking on the port were wearing that dress from another world, Yukata, and a pair of getas on their feet.
The ship docked on the pier as Aria and co had such banter.
Although they were itching to get a taste of this country’s native cuisine, they decided to postpone it and chose to go to the royal capital first.
The journey toward the royal capital would take around four to five days with a coach. However, Aria and co. used another traveling method.
It had been a while since they started walking in the port city while enjoying the nostalgic salty wind aroma when…
「Uwaa!? What the hell is that!」
「Monste~r!?」
Lily and Faeri let out lively screams. The reason for their reactions was the gigantic, jet-black object in front of them…
（Uhm, so this is the rumored 〝Locomotive?, huh.）
Tama, who was stowed in between Aria’s twin melons like usual, stared at the gigantic object with awe.
Yes, the object in front of them was a locomotive. This was another thing handed down in this country since a long time ago, a vehicle uniquely developed in this country.
「If I’m not wrong, it’s a vehicle that’s supposed to move with steam-something. Does that mean the engineer of this country remodeled it so that it can move with mana?」
「Hee… Quite detailed information you got there, Aria-san.」
「I mean, it will take only two and half hours to reach the royal capital if we travel with this? Things will be more convenient if Leuwin has this too.」
Cedric, who was quite familiar with the matters of the other world, and Arnold, who had some degree of knowledge in that regard as well, replied to Aria’s question.
It was just as Arnold had said. Things would be far more convenient if such a vehicle spread to another city too, but unfortunately, the engine was designed in such a way that it could move with only the ogre race’s mana. And since the ogre race people themselves rarely left their home country, the implementation of the vehicle anywhere outside was pretty much impossible.
「Oh! Look at the time! it’s about time for our departure.」
「Yeah, Cedric-sama. Let’s get into the vehicle after securing tickets.」
Seeing the people boarding the vehicle, Aria went toward the ticket counter while conversing with Cedric.
Naturally, the one who manned the ticket counter was an ogre wearing a yukata.
「How many tickets do you want, Dear passenger?」
Contrary to the name of their race, the ogre who manned the ticket counter had a soft and polite voice.
After paying for the number of tickets they needed, Aria and co. quickly boarded the vehicle.
『Dear passengers, the vehicle is about to depart! Please sit in your seats!』
The moment that announcement resounded in the vehicle, Aria lightly smiled as she looked at Stella, Lily, and Faeri, who were sitting in their seats with undisguised, excited looks on their faces.
The announcement seemed to have come from the crystals installed in the ceiling of the vehicle. It might be a communication-type magic tool.
「NNYA!? IT MEOWVED!」
The locomotive started moving slowly on top of its tracks. Vulcan was unable to hide her excitement any longer.
The locomotive slowly picked up speed along with the high-pitched steam whistle!