Mezametara Chikashitsu!? ~Tensei Shoujo no Yume no Saki~ Chapter 24

After that, we departed towards the Dianes Republic.
The ride was smooth as we haven’t encountered any monsters or bandits.
I was bothered by the outside and looked out of the carriage, I saw Robert driving the carriage, and recalling the uncomfortable feeling I had when I first saw the carriage, I tilted my head.
Because I was accustomed to cars from my previous world, I completely forgot.

「U~n?」

「Is something the matter, Feli?」

「You see, the wagon in front is pulled by a horse, right? But, how is this carriage moving?」

「Eh? I wonder how?」

Because Al didn’t seem to understand too, we turned towards Lewis which made Evan angry.

「Why are you not looking at me, but at Lewis!」

「「…… Somehow?」」

Evan drops his shoulders when we answer, and Lewis answers our question while laughing.

「Fufu…… this carriage is special, you know? First, the coachman in front is holding a magic tool. Then, there’s a pair of magic tools installed in the center of this carriage, which are pulled with great care by the magic tool in front…… there are currently only a few of them」

「Hee~ that’s amazing」

「They didn’t have something like that when I lived in the human country」

「Oh…… Fearfal has lived in a human country?」

「I did, I was just killing time, though. That was…… about 300 years ago if I’m not mistaken」

「…… Is that so?」

While having such discussion, the town could be seen in the distance and Robert called out.

「Everyone, we will be arriving very soon」

When Al and I look outside, what we see is about ten stories high wall.
There’s a gate at the end of the road, and many people and carriages are lined up.

「Fue~ that’s so big…… it appears lining up will take up a long of time, Al」

「Really」

「You don’t have to worry. We are entering through the small gate on the right side」

Being told so by Evan, I look to the right and indeed see a smaller gate.

「We don’t have to line up?」

「That’s right. People of my standing enter through the small gate」

「Standing…… is Evan-san a great person?」

To my question, Evan opened his eyes wide and looked at Al.

「You haven’t told her!?」

「N?…… Yeah, I forgot. Feli, Evan is you see…… umm, he works at the royal castle」

「Hee~ So Evan-san is an amazing person, huh」

「Wait a moment, Fearfal! While that may not be wrong, wha――」

Evan who tried to plunge into Al’s answer was stopped by Lewis.

「There, there, Evan-sama…… Fearfal is considerate that Felice’s doesn’t get frightened off. Please, follow up on the story」

「Gu…… alright」

We seemed to arrive at the gate while talking as an unfamiliar voice reached my ears.

「h.e.l.lo! Please show me your identification papers!」

「h.e.l.lo. Yes, here are the papers」

「I will check it……… Confirmed. The wagon is loaded with merchandise, I see. The carriage in the back?」

「The ‘Guest’ is behind」

「I understand! Please, pa.s.s!」

Having the permission to enter, Robert moves the carriage.

「They don’t examine the inside?」

「The ‘Guest’ Malaika Company’s Robert spoke about is a signal that ‘I’ am inside, so there’s no need to check」

Evan said proudly, but he was instantly silenced by Al’s next words.

「Hee~ That must mean that Evan is coming in and out quite frequently, doesn’t it…… is it fine not to be working? You are an important person after all」

「Gu………」

Austin who saw the exchange laughed loudly.

「Ha ha ha! You’ve been had, Elder Brother」

「d.a.m.n……」

I look at Evan who was feeling bitter as he dropped his shoulders in discouragement because of Al’s words.

「What? Did I say something strange?」

「Unaware, huh…… Oh well, Fearfal, Felice, this is the first town of the Dianes Republic, Forsus. It’s just about time for lunch, but we will guide you to the capital where you will stay first, so is lunch good after that? Or――」

Evan has asked, but the two couldn’t understand him well, so they didn’t have an answer.

「「………？」」

Lewis who noticed stopped Evan.

「Wait a moment Evan-sama. The two are not following you」

「N? Why?」

「Those words are not enough, you know…… seriously. You two must be surely thinking ‘Capital cities should generally be at the center of the country, but is the capital of this country close to the first town?’」

Though tired out by Evan, Lewis turned towards us and asked if that was what we were thinking.

「Yes」「Un」

「As I thought…… the capital of this country is also properly at the center. It takes ten days to get from this town to the capital by carriage」

「Then, why are we going to ‘have a lunch’ in the capital?」

Lewis gave an answer to my question in admiration.

「As I thought, Felice is smart. Normally, you would move by carriage or on foot, but we have an urgent matter this time, so we are specially using a ‘Teleport Gate’ to get to the capital」

「I see…… that would certainly be fast. By ‘specially’ you mean that you don’t usually use it?」

「Yeah…… teleporting uses an enormous amount of magical power. It uses up two A Grade magic stones at once」

「「Hee~」」

A Grade magic stones is obtained from Cla.s.s A monsters.
While Lewis was giving an easy to understand explanation, a heavy atmosphere leaked from somewhere, and when I looked there, I saw Evan muttering about something.

「He plainly spoke about the teleport gate…… even though I wanted to say it…… why is it just Lewis……」

「Elder Brother…… Kuku」

Austin lightly tapped on Evan’s shoulder to comfort him, but his face was grinning.
Other people also tried to contain their laughter, making their shoulders shake.
At that time, the carriage stopped, and Robert addressed us.

「Everyone, we have arrived at the teleport gate. Austin-sama, please take care of it」

「Got it…… Fearfal and Felice cover your faces just in case」

I looked with a troubled expression at Al.

「I have a good, but Al……」

「You’re right…… but it’s all right Feli, if I do this!」

Al who said that got wrapped in light making everyone unconsciously close their eyes.
When the light subsided, and I looked at the place Al was sitting―――a little dog was sitting there instead.

「Wow~ so cute…… Al!」

When I said so and embraced the puppy, Evan and others cried out in surprise.

「「「「「Eh!?」」」」」

Austin who came to his senses asked while pointing at the puppy.

「Felice…… is that Al?」

「That’s correct. Right! Al」

｛Why are you so surprised?｝

「A voice…… telepathy!?」

｛As expected, I’m unable to speak in this form｝

「Ryuu can become something other than a human……」

｛Sure we can, but there aren’t many who can do that. By the way, why are we concealing our faces? If we shouldn’t be seen, I can make our figures disappear too｝

「No, it would be better if your figures were seen. Anyhow, I will be getting off, so ask Lewis for more proper explanation」´

Saying such, Austin got off the carriage and Evan looked at him as if receiving a shock.

「Even you Austin…… is Lewis better than me……」

However, Austin got off without turning back, leaving Angela to comfort Evan who hung his head down.

「Now then, let’s ignore Evan-sama and explain」

(He’s ignoring him…… well, Angela-san is here, so it’s fine?)

「As I have told before, the teleport gate has restricted use to emergencies and special circ.u.mstances. Among us, only Evan-sama and Austin are S rank」

「Is that why Austin-san went outside?」

「That’s right. It’s not necessary at the gate to the town, but that’s not the case at the teleport gate, so it’s necessary to verify the user. This time, it’s not like Evan-sama who’s not supposed to be here could go out」

｛Why is it that Austin told us to conceal ourselves?｝

「Teleport gates are installed at important spots around the country. In order for the gate not to be usable for criminals, there’s a magic tool that records magical power, the gatekeeper then confirms ident.i.ty and the number of people, fits a magic stone together with the magic tool into the gate and activates it. Those rejected by the magical power recording magic tool won’t be able to pa.s.s through the gate」

｛Then, disappearing with magic would be meaningless…… even if the magical power were recorded by those who are visible, it doesn’t have a meaning when the gatekeeper verifies the numbers directly…… rather, if you did something like that……｝

「Yeah, you would be under suspicion and arrested」

「Lewis-san, wouldn’t it be better for Al to be in a human form then?」

「No, it doesn’t check your face, only the magical power will be recorded. But, the two of you have your circ.u.mstances, so it would be better if your faces wouldn’t be shown for now」

｛I see…… then, I will remain as I am｝

Lewis explanation finishes, and when I stroke Al’s fur, Blake spoke to me.

「You seem to be having quite a lot of fun, Felice. Do you like dogs?」

「Ehehe, not just dogs, but I love everything that’s mofumofuable!」

「It was just that, huh……」

「What is it?」

Because Blade nodded in consent, Meison told me when I asked what it was about?

「You have not noticed!? Your gaze fixes on Blake’s tail every time it moves, you know?」

「Eh!? Even though I did my best not to look……」

「No, you look quite frequently」

I was interested in Blake’s tail, but I did my best not to stare because I thought it would be rude, so Meison’s words caused me a shock.

「That can’t be…… I’m sorry, Blake-san」

「No…… I thought you found beastmen unusual at first, but I was just curious about the reason after hearing from Fearfal that you saved the beastmen from the Empire. Don’t mind it」

「Thank you very much」

After apologizing to Blake, Austin returned.

「I kept you waiting. The gatekeeper will now be checking the inside, so…… Elder Brother, conceal your eternally sad face. You better conceal yourself too, Angela」

「Well…… you make me blush」

「What Austin, are you jealous?」

Even though he was ignored just a little while ago, Evan grinned at Austin in ridicule, making a vein pop up on Austin’s forehead, but Lewis stopped them.

「Calm down Austin…… Evan-sama too, don’t speak nonsense and put on your hood」

「Yeah, yeah」

「Fun!」

Evan gave a careless reply while putting on his hood and Austin sat next to Angela while acting like a spoiled child.
At that time, a voice was heard from outside, and the curtain at the entrance was rolled up.

「Excuse me…… My name is Gale, and I’m the gatekeeper of Forsus’ teleport gate. Right now, I will verify the numbers and record your magical power. The number is seven people and one animal, I see. Then, this is the magic tool with which I will record your magical power」

Blake received the gla.s.s board-like magic tool, then handed it to Meison, Lewis, Evan, Angela in turns, and then Austin who was last taught us what to do.

「Look, you will place your hand like this on the board, and it will automatically perceive your magical power. When the board shines, it means it finished recording」

「Hee~」

｛Fu~n｝

Because I put my hand on the board handed over to me by Austin, I placed it in front of Al.
Because it shined in the same way when Al put his forepaws on it, I returned the magic tool to the gatekeeper.

「Thank you very much. Well then, I will make the preparations for the transfer, so please wait for a moment」

The gatekeeper went away, and about ten minutes later, the carriage started moving towards the teleport gate.
When Al and I stealthily look out of the window, we could see an elaborately decorated gate.

「I wonder if that’s the teleport gate? Al」

｛Seems like it｝

「Both of you sit properly please. If you fall off in the middle, you will be left in the loophole」

「Yes…… is Robert-san who’s outside fine? The horse too」

「It’s fine. Both Robert and the horse are fixed to the carriage.」

When I return to my seat, Austin taught me while patting my head.
That way of patting was similar to Foster Father from my previous life, so it was a bit painful.
Al who noticed such me asked with telepathy in a way that only I could hear.

｛Feli…… are you okay?｝

｛Un…… I just recalled my previous life a bit…… I’m fine｝

｛Don’t overstrain yourself, talk to me in difficult times, okay?｝

｛Thank you｝

When I say thanks to Al who was worried about me, the carriage stopped.

「Well then, we will now commence the transfer」