Although we managed to deal with the phoenix problem, the most important issue remained unresolved.
We were still lost.
"Don't worry. I can retrace our steps for sure. That's what witches do—we navigate forest paths all the time. I can find my way even with just a blade of grass or a single pebble," Tatiana said confidently, urging me to trust her.
Though I was somewhat skeptical, she actually managed to navigate us back in a surprisingly skillful way.
It seemed she mostly relied on the arrangement of plants and trees to determine the path.
Everything looked the same to me, but Tatiana kept pointing to one plant and then another, explaining the differences.
“Look at the tips—they’re slightly different, right? We passed a path where those plants were grouped on the right. Later, there were two clusters on the left.”
Tatiana seemed genuinely happy whenever she felt like she was being helpful. She wanted to explain exactly how she was finding the way.
“If you remember too many types of plants, it gets confusing, so you should choose one or two as a base. Choose the most common plant in the area and one that’s less frequent. That way, it’s easy to remember.”
I’m sorry.
I understand what you’re saying, but I just can’t tell those plants apart.
No matter how much you point out the difference between the sharp tips, or the broad arrow-shaped leaves versus the short arrow-shaped leaves, they all look the same to me.
Maybe she could see it on my face, because Tatiana flashed a bright smile.
“There’s no need to worry since you have me. If you see them often, one day you’ll recognize them too. Even for me, learning herbs was difficult at first, but now I know them all. I’ll teach you.”
It felt like she was even happier because I couldn’t tell the plants apart.
Despite her enthusiasm and good intentions, I had absolutely no interest in learning about plants. I’d rather just dig a hole in the ground every hundred steps as a marker.
‘Actually, maybe I should’ve done that,’ I thought.
While Tatiana was finding our way, I wandered around, looking at Rella and the phoenix, and even the field mice watching us warily from afar.
Whenever Tatiana shouted, “This way!” I’d walk a few steps in that direction.
Eventually, night would fall.
‘It’s slow.’
We were definitely moving in the right direction, but the pace was too slow.
Thankfully, we had found the feathers quickly. If not, it might’ve taken us an entire month just to return.
‘Sigh.’
Still, as long as you keep going, you eventually reach your destination.
We managed to find our way back to where we had originally gone off course and then used Jenny’s map to reach the village where the passenger carriage would stop.
As the village came into view, Tatiana’s shoulders finally dropped a little.
“…That took a while,” she murmured.
It seemed that the pressure of having to find the path had been weighing on her all this time.
With a sigh of relief, she relaxed a bit.
“Good job. I owe you,” I said.
When I patted her on the back, Tatiana looked up at me and smiled brightly.
She really was like a flower.
Feeling a bit awkward, I walked on ahead, leaving her behind.
“Wait up! We should go together!” Tatiana called out, her footsteps following behind me.
Rella, resting on top of my head, swayed gently as I walked.
It seemed she had tired herself out with all her energetic play over the past few days. Since about an hour ago, she’d been fast asleep, as if she had fainted on top of my head.
Her mother was nowhere to be seen.
She was probably watching us from somewhere nearby.
The mother phoenix often disappeared whenever Rella wasn’t around. Sometimes she would circle high above us in the sky, and at other times I would feel her gaze from a tall tree when I looked around.
I had been curious about how a bird would travel with its chick, but since Rella just ended up on my head like usual, I felt slightly disappointed.
Tatiana finally caught up to me, breathing heavily as she glanced around the village.
“It’s small,” she muttered under her breath.
Given that this village was a stop for the passenger carriage, I had expected it to be fairly large, but it was actually much smaller than I imagined.
The main road coming from outside led right through the village center.
It seemed likely that the village had been established because of the carriage route from the very beginning.
That would explain why it was so small, centered entirely around the road.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
I could hear sharp intakes of breath as Tatiana and I walked through the village.
I couldn’t tell if they were shocked by my appearance, thinking a barbarian had arrived, or if they were gasping in awe at Tatiana's beauty.
Maybe it was both.
A man sitting in front of what looked like an inn dropped the cup he was holding when he saw us.
He swallowed hard.
Ah, so this was because of Tatiana.
When the man caught my gaze, he quickly looked down.
The yellow liquid, probably beer, spilled out of the fallen cup, spreading across the ground.
A woman came out of the building and began yelling at the man.
It sounded like something along the lines of "You useless fool, always causing trouble and never earning money!" but she spoke too quickly for me to fully understand.
“Excuse me. I believe the passenger carriage stops here. Do you know when it will arrive?” I asked.
The man flinched as if scared, while the woman’s furious expression disappeared instantly, replaced by a smile.
“Oh dear, you’re a bit late, sir. The carriage just left. But it depends on where you’re headed... Where are you traveling to?”
“To somewhere near the capital.”
The woman’s face lit up.
“Ah! In that case, it will arrive just past noon tomorrow. Another carriage will come this afternoon, but it’s headed in a different direction. The one going towards the capital always arrives shortly after noon. We have the only inn in this village, so what would you like to do? We charge 3 Lira for a room, including dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow.”
Three Lira?
The inn recommended by the guild in Endes charged one Lira per night, including two meals.
I knew that place was cheaper than others, but hearing the price now, it still felt like my practical side couldn't accept it.
That was too expensive!
Involuntarily, I glanced up at the inn building.
It didn’t look impressive.
It seemed no better than the inns in Endes.
No matter the local market rates, charging 3 Lira for a room here seemed a bit extortionate.
But Tatiana didn’t seem surprised, as if she was used to staying in such inns.
Perhaps all inns in smaller villages charged this much.
The woman seemed accustomed to these kinds of reactions, as she kept glancing between Tatiana and me with an amused smile while waiting for my answer.
Her gaze felt a little sleazy.
I had never seen a woman look at me like that before.
She seemed like one of those lecherous, flirtatious old men.
“If you pay an extra coin, we can give you a slightly better room with a more comfortable bed. How about it?” she offered.
An extra coin was half a Lira.
Three Lira already seemed steep, and now she wanted more?
Tatiana suddenly interrupted.
“The bed doesn’t need to be that nice. I don’t mind.”
“Well, sir, the 3 Lira room comes with a rather small bed—it might be a bit tight for the two of you.”
The woman smiled suggestively as she looked between Tatiana and me.
I understood what she was implying, but that wasn’t going to happen.
Tatiana didn’t seem to understand why the woman was acting like this.
She spoke with a clear, innocent expression.
“It’s fine. I’ll sleep on the floor. Rafa, you can have the bed.”
“Uh…”
It seemed the woman finally realized we weren’t that kind of couple.
She looked at Tatiana and me with a bewildered expression.
Tatiana adjusted her slipping backpack, looking up at me.
“Oh, you don’t have to decline on my account. In these kinds of inns, the floor is usually narrower than the bed anyway. Heh, you might not be able to lie down at all, Rafa.”
I let out a sigh—though I wasn’t sure if it was me or the innkeeper.
“Let's take a look at the room first.”
The room the innkeeper showed us was small.
If I were about two heads shorter, I might have been able to sleep comfortably.
Even if I were just one head shorter, I could probably manage to sleep alone, albeit a bit uncomfortably.
But in this room, it just wasn't possible.
I couldn't fit by myself.
The innkeeper laughed awkwardly, bowing her head.
“Apologies, sir. The beds here are a bit small, you see.”
She was diplomatically saying that it was my fault for being too big.
I appreciated her polite tone, even if it was just business talk.
Being tall wasn’t something to be ashamed of, but it did feel slightly embarrassing when a bed that could fit everyone else was barely the size of a child’s bed for me.
She might have seemed greedy and a bit conniving, but perhaps she wasn't a terrible person.
In the end, even the slightly better bed in the other room was too small for me, so we rented a shared room and pushed the beds together.
The innkeeper seemed pleased since we paid for a multi-person room along with an extra charge for the beds.
We were served a generous dinner of stew, though it didn’t taste good.
The next day, the passenger carriage arrived about two hours later than the innkeeper had said.
Apparently, they had to take a detour because there were beasts along the original route.
The passenger carriage rested in the village for a while before setting off.
There was another passenger—a man heading to the capital.
He looked like he wanted to start a conversation with Tatiana, but upon seeing me standing next to her, he changed his mind and walked into the inn.
“We’ll be departing soon, so please hurry with your meal, sir!” the coachman shouted after him, but there was no response.
The coachman didn’t seem too concerned.
Most people grew timid or fearful in my presence, but for some reason, this coachman had a bright expression as he looked at me.
“Um, sir, are you an adventurer by any chance?” he asked.
“Yes, I am.”
The coachman let out a relieved sigh.
“Thank goodness. Lately, there have been so many monsters... It’s reassuring to have someone who can wield a weapon.”
He glanced at Tatiana, but unlike the other man, there was no hint of attraction.
Instead, he asked her the same type of question.
“Ma’am, are you capable of using any kind of weapon?”
“Well, I wouldn't say a weapon, exactly… I’m a mage,” Tatiana answered, a little shy.
It seemed a bit awkward for her to introduce herself as a mage rather than a witch.
“Well, isn’t that splendid!” The coachman’s face brightened even more.
A safe journey was more important to him than a beautiful woman.
“The other passenger is also a mage. He said he specializes in wind magic.”
“Huh. Rafa also uses wind magic.”
The coachman looked at me, surprised.
“The adventurer is also a mage? Is that true? Wow, you don’t say… I've driven carriages all my life, but it’s the first time I've had three mages as passengers.”
I was surprised too.
I’d heard that mages were quite rare, but if I kept running into them everywhere, maybe they weren’t as uncommon as I thought.
As the other passenger stepped out of the inn, the coachman hitched the horse back to the carriage.
“How far are you traveling?” he asked.
When I told him we were heading to a city near the capital, the coachman replied.
“That’s quite a distance. The fare from city to city is 2.5 Lira, and payment is always upfront.”
The fare was charged per journey from city to city.
To get all the way to the capital, we’d have to pay multiple times.
Meals had to be purchased separately at villages along the way, and if we encountered monsters or bandits, there would be no additional compensation for fighting.
After finishing his explanation, the coachman asked.
“If you’d prefer to travel in second-class, it’s possible. What do you think?”
“What is second-class?”
No matter how I looked at it, there didn’t seem to be any better seats on the carriage.
First-class or second-class, there were only seats where people sat facing each other.
“Ah, I see it’s your first time riding a passenger carriage. If you ride second-class, the fare drops to 2 Lira, but it means that, during uphill climbs or rough terrain, you’ll need to help push the carriage or assist in moving it.”
Ah, so that’s why it’s called second-class.
“If there are only first-class passengers, what happens then?” I asked, curious.
The coachman scratched his head.
“In that case, I do it all myself, somehow.”
"…."
As we spoke, the other passenger leaned his head out the window.
“What’s the holdup? Why aren’t we leaving?” he snapped, directing his irritation at the coachman instead of me.
When I glanced at him, he flinched and quickly looked away.
“My apologies, sir, my apologies,” the coachman shouted towards the inside, then turned to me and spoke quietly.
“Mages are used to special treatment, so please excuse him, sir.”
Tatiana entered the carriage first, and I followed, sitting across from the man.
As soon as we were seated, the carriage set off.
The man across from me kept sneaking glances at Tatiana, but each time our eyes met, he would jump and look away, only to turn back to her again after a while.
Judging by his behavior, this wasn’t going to be a pleasant journey.