Returning to the elven village, I encountered Lenore hanging out by the entrance, seemingly waiting for someone.

Probably me.

I hope they haven't allowed Willow to escape again, though if they did, I suspect they would be out looking instead of standing here.

My guess is confirmed when she walks up to me casually.

"You're back! I see you've finished up whatever you needed to finish up at home." She noted as she stared at my back, as I nodded.

On my back are some of the things I gained from looting the bodies that remained. Not all of it, of course, but enough to avoid suspicion.

It's possible that they managed to trace me without my own awareness, but considering I was convening with a god, there's little chance they managed to trail me without Anubis himself noticing them.

So, I'm pretty sure that I managed to do my thing without them noticing.

Good.

----------------------------------------

After that, another few days passed by quickly before the carriage was fully stocked.

I couldn't help but notice there was no horseman, something that admittedly I probably should've noticed earlier.

And once Lenore hopped onto the front of the carriage, I picked up quickly that Lenore was the one leading the carriage.

The horses were monsters.

Horsetail stallions, a D-rank monster, considered weaker relatives of other plant-based horse monsters such as kelpie, they're considered a commodity amongst nobles and common people, much like many horse type monsters viable as carriage pullers.

Their horsetails are made of horsetail. Well, that and their manes are made of horsetail, and they happen to be healing type monsters, often traveling in herds or even joining other herd type monsters as well, the types that travel across the land, regardless of mana density.

It may not seem that grand when one considers them merely as D-ranks, but what they must be seen as, instead, is a rare commodity since familiars are rare amongst adventurers, and especially so amongst the average people.

It's an expensive expenditure to raise and strengthen horse monsters to merely increase their speed and stamina, when one considers the fact that they must hire adventurers who they have to trust will not get the horses killed, take them for the black market, or be remotely competent.

It's the kind of thing only the influential can do, though I wonder why the elven royal family didn't send something stronger.

Perhaps to avoid attention? If that was the case, then why place the royal emblem on the carriage.

Wonder if it's a case of sabotage and purposeful misdistribution of resources.

No point in overthinking it, since I likely won't be able to guess the situation by pure guesswork and poor intel.

Getting up into the carriage was a minor task, which involved me climbing into the carriage by way of vines.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

The royal carriage was much more befitting of the title, as it was one of those spatially compressed carriages, which was a far more expensive item than a spatial pouch.

I can see a kitchen as well as three beds, and a bathroom, all magic stone powered, of which I assume are higher class magical stones, or even cores. Whatever the case was, it didn't look cheap.

There's even a painting made by Ludith here, one of the greatest artists of the last century. I remember seeing that one bid for platinum coins. It was an intense bidding session.

Wow.

At least I won't have to worry about a bumpy ride, given that spatially compressed carriages like this one are also known for the fact that there is no recoil to the riders

There wasn't that much fanfare as we left, which makes sense, given that the arrival of this carriage was followed by a wave of monsters, which was then revealed to be orchestrated by a group of elves seeking to kill the person who had come in the carriage. It doesn't take much to suspect the monster wave was unnatural, and that they had been caught up in the matters of nobility.

The kids aren't here either, seemingly having gone off elsewhere, which is weird, given I thought at least Leon would try giving Holly a good sendoff.

Nonetheless, I left them a basket of fruits and instructions on how to eat them so the kids could enjoy them. I wrote it both in basic elvic and the empire's main language to make sure they can eat it without problem.

It was fun playing with kids again, something I didn't get to do often as a noble, with all the work I had to do.

Now that I'm not a noble anymore, I guess I'll be able to do a lot more stuff in my free time.

What a refreshing concept!

To this thought, Earl departed Snowsberry village with renewed expectations about how much fun this trip around the empire would be.

----------------------------------------

Just as Earl had expected, the ride inside the carriage was a smooth ride.

What he hadn't expected, however, was a stowaway.

A very familiar stowaway, in fact.

One with a red bandanna.

Yes, somehow Leon had stowed onboard the carriage, and that... sounds like trouble.

Looking at the stowaway I couldn't help but feel sorry for the village. I was wondering where the kids went.

Perhaps they went in search for their missing leader.

Who had managed to sneak onboard the carriage somehow.

We found him at some point when he fell out of an ingredients box, hiding amongst the radishes.

Honest to the god of truths, apparently neither Lenore nor Servante had noticed the elven child sneaking onto their carriage.

Servante, I get. His nose is buried in books and notes most of the time, and I can see him closing his mind off to the sorroundings. ANd he's a mage, mages are known to be less instinctual and reactive.

Fine.

But Lenore?

She's a B-rank swordsman! How did the child sneak by!

Her response?

"I don't know."

That's all she had to say for herself. Frustrating.

Noticing my face, Lenore couldn't help but pout and complain.

"What about you, huh!? How did you miss the child? Huh?"

Well, I'm a turtle.

But I was a noble, who always had one ear open though.

Damn it! I feel so embarrassed right now! Even if they don't know, I know that I was a full-blown human and an actual warrior, so for me to miss them as well really does feel bad.

Sigh

Ah, well, putting that aside, what do we do now?

Obviously, we'll have to go back and inform the village, since a kid has run off, and we don't want them thinking the kid died.

It's only been a few hours, so going back to inform them shouldn't take long.

Servante seems pretty dead set on sending the kid back. "We don't need any more luggage tagging along." He deadpanned, and the kid's ears drooped.

Mean.

Lenore seemed more hesitant, and honestly, so am I.

I think Willow could use a companion for this trip, and honestly, from what I can tell, Lenore and Servante make good guards, but not good guardians, if you catch my drift.

And I may be here, but I'm also a turtle. I suspect that's not the same as a friend, and with most children likely to eschew the child, Leon seems like a good choice.

Can I, a monster and an adult, really fulfill the role of a friend for this child?

Maybe that's why Lenore's hesitant to say no.

Perhaps she thinks Leon could be a good companion to Holly.

Hmmm...

And I mean, while we're out here, I could take him out with me to train some, and he could even go back with me after this whole trip is over.

But it's also going to be dangerous, accompanying a high elf child.

However, the world has always been dangerous, and the boy already dreamed of being an adventurer, so perhaps getting him started now would be better than later.

Well, we have to go back either way, so I suppose I'll have time to think about the choice I'll make.

Should we take Leon with us, or return him to the village?