Chapter 4
The Beginning
(4) Is This What Traveling Feels Like?
I walked along while asking the three adventurers all sorts of questions.
Apparently, this country is called the Gasmannia Empire, located in the southern part of a large continent with the sea nearby.
Until a few years ago, it had been at war, but now it’s ruled by a newly crowned emperor who ended the conflict. The people respect and take pride in him for that.
Of course, only nobles who live in the imperial capital—or servants working in the royal castle—ever get to see his face in person.
Yeah, makes sense.
The town we’re heading to lies on the outskirts of the Empire.
What I thought was just a forest turned out to be a thick windbreak grove.
Beyond the trees runs a highway, and farther out—past the grassy plains—you can glimpse the sea.
The trees protect the road from sea winds and sand.
However, the grove hasn’t received maintenance funding in decades, so it’s growing wild and slowly turning into a forest.
Because of that, wild animals and magic beasts have started to increase, troubling travelers who use the road.
“That’s where we adventurers come in,” said Urisa.
“We hunt the beasts and monsters that appear in these overgrown areas.”
Wouldn’t it be easier just to maintain the grove properly? I wondered.
“Thanks to that, we can get meat or sell the monster materials,”
Goda added with a grin.
Ah, I see. They’re benefitting from it. Makes sense.
We were riding in a horse-drawn cart—more like a small wagon—pulled by a single horse.
When we passed through the trees, a dirt road appeared, and there was the open cart waiting.
They offered me a seat, which made me happy since I’d braced myself to walk for hours.
Goda took the reins.
Then Urisa showed me something from her pocket—
a rough, yellow, translucent stone about the size of a ping-pong ball.
“This is a magic stone.”
A magic stone! Yes! Classic fantasy element—finally here!
I screamed inwardly but kept my face calm.
“It came from the Forest Boar we killed earlier.
It’s an E-rank magic beast—not much more than a big boar that can only charge.”
“Still, the fact that it produces a magic stone means it had magic power inside its body.”
Magic power… So that really exists here.
This world actually has magic.
Oh man, I’m starting to get excited.
“So that’s a magic stone,” I said.
“Not just that—it’s good eating, too,” Arisa added cheerfully.
“But when we took it down, a Gyon suddenly jumped out nearby,” Goda said.
“Sorry about that,” Urisa apologized.
“No, it’s fine! I wasn’t hurt,”
I said with the best polite smile I could muster—Japanese reflexes in action.
“Still, for someone your size, taking out that Gyon in one shot was impressive,” Urisa said.
“Yeah, you’re so cute but so brave,” Arisa added—
and suddenly hugged me, ruffling my hair.
“Ah—wah—”
Her patting was way too enthusiastic. Please stop. Aah—
“Ah! Shunsuke! Wait—your…”
My hood slipped off.
“You’re an elf!”
…Huh? I’m an elf? Really?
That line—the one I’ve heard a thousand times in fantasy stories—is actually being said to me.
“Hey, Arisa,” Urisa scolded. “He probably had a reason for keeping that hood up.
You should’ve noticed from his eye color.”
“Ah—yeah, sorry, Shunsuke.”
“No, it’s okay. You’re all really kind people.”
“Kind, huh? That’s the first time anyone’s called me that,” Goda muttered.
Well, yeah… he doesn’t exactly look the part. Poor guy.
“Shunsuke, it takes time to really trust people,” Urisa said gently.
“For now, keep those ears hidden.”
Arisa pulled my hood back up for me.
So I really do need to hide them, huh?
“Are elves rare around here?”
“In this country, yes,” Urisa replied.
“And my eye color too?”
“Yeah, no one here has such light-colored irises,” Goda said.
“People with colored eyes exist, but they’re usually darker tones.”
I see.
Even if I hide my ears, my eyes could still stand out.
Wait—don’t I still have my glasses?
I took my near-sighted glasses from my waist pouch and put them on.
“Ugh—my eyes hurt.”
The prescription didn’t match anymore.
I dug through my pouch again.
Apparently, the inventory panel visible only to me didn’t appear to others.
Ah—there they were.
A pair of colored contact lenses that turned black eyes hazel.
Wait a sec—didn’t my mom have hazel eyes?
Then what’s the point of using these?
Still, I disinfected my fingers, took out a pair, and used my phone’s selfie camera to put them in.
I know it’s probably not okay, but—man, putting something into your eye when you’re in a kid’s body is terrifying!
“There. Feels a bit scratchy, but whatever.”
While I was fidgeting with the lenses, Arisa had fallen asleep beside me.
“Urisa, how’s this?” I asked.
She turned from talking to Goda at the front. The sun was low but still bright.
“Huh. Your eye color changed. Did you use witch’s eyedrops?”
“No, just a tool I happened to have. Does it look okay?”
“Yeah, that’ll get you through the town gates.”
“Thank goodness.”
“If you got separated from your mother, you probably don’t have any ID, right?”
Well, I do have a student ID and a scooter license—but the faces look nothing like me now.
“Right, I don’t.”
She patted my head.
“Don’t worry. Leave it to me and this guy here.”
Urisa’s tone had softened even more.
He was the dependable big-brother type after all.
As an only child, I couldn’t help but feel a little envious.
