Following that encounter, their journey was peaceful.
(I thought there would be more insects.)
Grasslands would have them by nature. However, it wasn’t to the point of an outbreak, just sightings of them hopping around every now and then.
(Was it needless anxiety?)
There wasn’t a locust outbreak in the western capital. If so, Maomao could heave a sigh of relief.
When they arrived at their next rest stop, they met up with Rahan’s older brother who had gone on ahead.
“WHAT! Something like that happened?”
Rahan’s older brother blanched with horror when he heard about the incident.
(That’s the normal reaction.)
That was Maomao’s true feelings after seeing Chue, who had been unruffled with the idea of being assaulted by bandits. The other woman’s reaction had to have come from either experience or expectancy.
The group that went on ahead consisted of one wagon, Rahan’s older brother, two escort-like military officials, three farmers that seemed to be helpers and two local guides.
Though Maomao had no idea if the number of people was appropriate, she felt that two guides were a lot.
(Wasn’t it supposed to be a single guide?)
Which reminded her, she lost the chance to ask about their lack of guides.
When the second rest stop ended, they soon reached the farming village. She could see houses at the centre of a flowing stream, which was surrounded by fields and trees. Behind it, were rolling hills. It was different to the hills Maomao knew, closer to mounds that swelled up from the grassland.
The white dots she could see had to be sheep. The blackish ones might be cattle.
From the number of houses, the population had to be around three hundred people at most.
As they approached, the baas of sheep greeted them. There were fluffy sheep and thin sheep that had already been shorn. They must be in the middle of the shearing season.
It seemed the children had been put to work too. They were picking up sheep droppings and placing them in baskets.
“What’s that?” Basen asked.
“Sheep manure is a fuel. When you spread it over the floor, it’s warm.”
He was giving it an odd look so Maomao added a bit more.
“With manure?!”
“Hehh, you didn’t know about that? Little brother, oh you…”
Chue wouldn’t forget about riling up Basen. Moreover, it seems she would use “Little brother” when doing so.
The village was surrounded by a ditch and a brick outer wall. Seeing how bandits had appeared just then, they must show up from time to time.
Basen was speaking at the entrance of the village. They were let in as if they already got the message.
But.
It seems Chue had called over one of the two guides. The woman was grinning for some reason, and the guide’s complexion quickly got worse.
The threatening atmosphere was even spread to the people around them. Behind Chue, stood the escorting military officials. Chue was beaming and the guide was also meek, but no matter how you look at it, it seems like she was dragging him away.
(I see~)
Maomao crossed her arms as she confirmed where the guide was taken to.
“Hey, what was that about?” The straight man, uh, Rahan’s older brother had noticed it with his sharp eyes.
“I think they want to negotiate a discount, probably. Since bandits came even though we were informed that it’s a safe route,” Maomao answered.
“Ahh, but wouldn’t that be a false accusation?”
“It might be, but we were specifically told that it was completely safe, and even paid more for it.”
“No way? Rather, the route was all grassland. Being told that we were cheated, they’re being cheated too, aren’t they?”
Exactly so. Maomao was saying whatever came to mind, so it was all nonsense.
As they were chatting, footsteps approached them.
“The village chief will be guiding us to our lodgings for the night.”
It was Basen.
“Understood,” Maomao said.
“Please treat me well.” Rahan’s older brother was courteous. Although he was treated roughly, he was originally the eldest son of a good family, so he would have to have manners.
“Got it. By the way…” Basen looked at Rahan’s older brother. “How should I call you?”
Looks like Basen didn’t know his name either.
“Ohh!” Rahan’s older brother’s face was filled with anticipation.
“Rahan’s older brother is fine,” Maomao immediately replied.
“Hey!” Rahan’s older brother slapped her shoulders.
“Got it. Rahan’s older brother is fine, okay.”
“Wai–, YOU!” Rahan’s older brother yelled at Basen, forgetting his manners.
“Yes. Just as his name suggests, he is Rahan’s older brother. I think you know about Rahan, but he’s not as quirky. He’s a normal person so there’s no harm. He’s an expert in farming, so we can leave it to him,” Maomao said.
“WHO’S THE NORMAL ONE? WHO’S THE FARMER?”
If you’re not a farmer then what are you? He should be a little prouder since he was helping out at such a large potato field
“Got it. Since he’s Rahan-sama’s relative, I’ll treat him courteously.”
(He has a favourable impression on that part.)
Speaking of what part, Basen’s treatment of Maomao was quite rough.
“Umm…” The village chief nervously spoke out to them. “May I guide?”
“Yeah, my bad. Please do.”
Looking relieved, the village chief guided them to the public square in the middle of the village.
“Then, please use these houses.”
They were travelling tents like those used by the pastoral folk.
“These tents were used by those who had settled in the village a couple of years back, but they still work and are warm inside. The women may use the small tent beside it.”
She looked inside; it was certainly warm. The frame, assembled like a net, was covered in felt. A rug was spread out inside with a hearth in the centre. The air seemed bad from the lack of windows, but there was a cylindrical tube above the fireplace for ventilation. Was the pile beside the hearth the sheep manure the children had gathered a short while ago?
The rug was a flashy carefully woven item, a show of consideration towards the visitors of the farming village.
“It was just put up before so it saved the trouble,” the village chief whispered.
(He must be talking about Rikuson.)
That man should have come here a few days ago. What on earth was he doing here?
The village chief looked elderly with his tanned skin, but his limbs were sturdy. As the sun in the countryside was strong, it might be easy to age physically. Otherwise, being pastoral folk, even though they have settled down, might have contributed to their strong legs.
“It’s already late today, so eat up and rest up. We’ll station guards in front of the tent. That won’t be a problem, will it?”
“Yes, that’s fine.”
Maomao picked up her belongings and moved to the small tent. She took off her shoes and climbed up into soft flooring. There seemed to be layers of felt underneath the rug. She took off her overcoat, then stretched out on the bed.
(Ah, I can’t.)
It was warm in the tent. The bed was warm. She jolted from her drowsiness and slapped her cheeks.
When she sprang up, Chue returned.
“Maomao-san, doesn’t this look comfortable? Chue-san will also roll around.” The woman collapsed over her bed and squinted into a smile.
“Chue-san, may I check something with you?” Maomao consolidated everything that happened today in her mind. While she did so, she sat on her knees with her back ramrod straight. Chue also did the same, facing her.
“Yes, yes, what is it, Maomao-san?” Chue responded in her usual manner.
“The one who baited the bandits. It was Chue-san, wasn’t it?”
At Maomao’s question, Chue’s expression didn’t change.
“What do you mean, Maomao-san?”
“My phrasing was off. If I were to rephrase it, you had hypothesised that there would be bandits, so you directed the bandits to us who departed later to mitigate the actual damage.”
Chue’s expression didn’t change. “What is your basis?”
The woman wasn’t putting Maomao on the spot. She was simply asking out of amusement.
“Yes, firstly. Why we were separated into two groups. It might be so we can travel with the least amount of time possible, for my sake. I can also assume that from the comfortable saddle Ji—, the prince of the moon had prepared. But even if we had split up the party, I found it odd that even though we had two guides, none of them was with us.”
“Hoho.”
It seems Chue was proficient at map reading, but it would be best to have guides in a place you’re in for the first time. It seemed like the guide was purposely not brought along with them.
“Secondly, this overcoat.”
“You don’t like it?”
“It was superbly warm and useful. But, would the one thing that I’m bothered about be how flashy it is?”
“Flashy?”
Maomao looked at the overcoat Chue was wearing. “Chue-san, you like flashy things, so I thought you would pick the flashier overcoat out of two options. But the relatively plainer one was what you picked.”
“That’s true, but Chue-san is aware of her place, at the very least,” Chue joked.
“Yes, if Chue-san gave me the better item, I would think that it was something given by the prince of the moon. You talked about the comfortable saddle, so I gathered that the overcoat had to be from the prince of the moon too. But, that’s not the case.” Maomao ran her fingers along the good overcoat. The delicate embroidery made it clear that it was quite a quality product. “If I were to wear something this nice, it will advertise to the bandits that I am an easy mark. Chue-san’s slightly plainer overcoat would indicate that you are the easy mark’s attendant.”
“Fufufu. From the start, Chue-san’s position is like Maomao-san’s attendant. Then, are you saying that I purposely made Maomao wear the nice overcoat so you will be assaulted, and separated the party into two groups as well?”
“Rather than making me the target, I felt that I was focused as the target to mitigate the actual damage?”
Chue blinked in surprise.
Maomao continued. “Heading to the farming village together with a wagon would make a huge mark. The military officials would increase fighting power, but there are people who are not used to being targeted by bandits. They wouldn’t want to disrupt the work that follows if they get scared, and the chance of hostages wouldn’t be low either.”
The normal-looking Rahan’s older brother looked fit, but he didn’t appear to be familiar with skirmishes. He would probably be easily frightened like an ordinary person.
“Hypothetically, if the party was split into the two groups and you gave people the impression that there were people who are worth money in the smaller group, the bandits would probably target that. Two women and one man. Basen-sama is honestly a monster with his true strength, but he has a babyface, and as a military official, you can’t say he has that large of a physique.”
The bandits, too, wouldn’t believe that if they were to flip the cover, they would find a bear in human skin.
“But Maomao-san, assuming that your hypothesis is correct, why could Chue-san bait the bandits? Even if Maomao-san was wearing a nice overcoat, wasn’t it too convenient that they were lying in wait for an ambush?” Chue said.
“That’s why. You were speaking to one of the guides just now. Thirdly, when Chue-san reached the village, you only spoke to one guide.” Maomao recalled the guide with the pale face. “Before the advance party left, Chue-san must have spoken to the two guides about different things. About which water hole the late departure party will be using. You show them the map, pretending to check for places that are good to rest at, so the other party would know the site you will be using.”
She had no idea how the guide communicated, but there would have to be several means of information sharing for bandits.
“Yes. From the start, we had employed suspicious people that seemed to be connected to bandits as our guide. Chue-san told them different rest spots and checked where we can be ambushed. To ascertain whether the guide was innocent or not. There’s also the case where two of them could be guilty, though,” Maomao said.
“It was just one of the two. The other guide was someone whose identity we’ve already verified.” Chue didn’t deny Maomao’s words.
“Was it the prince of the moon’s orders?” Maomao had told Jinshi to use her as a tool. So it wasn’t that she hadn’t thought that she would be used like this.
“No. I was the one who prepared the overcoat,” Chue said.
“Is that so?”
Then Maomao was wrong.
“Maomao is smart, so Chue-san is troubled.”
“I don’t know what Chue-san is thinking, so I’m also troubled.”
Both of them sighed.
“Maomao-san, I have two requests,” Chue said.
“What is it?”
“Chue-san is cheerful and fun, so please treat Chue-san as you normally would,” she said, taking out a flag.
“…I don’t understand but okay.” Maomao took the flag and dangled it off her fingers, not knowing what to do with it.
“Maomao-san, Chue-san has another request. May I ask a question?”
“What is it?”
“Why did you think the flashy high-quality overcoat wasn’t something gifted by the prince of the moon?”
It seems Chue had a genuine question.
“If that person were to give me gifts, it would be within my means, comfortable, but also practical and not excessive with decoration,” Maomao answered.
“Is that how it is?”
“That’s how it came to be.”
Chue looked at her with an inexplicable expression and suddenly lifted her gaze.
“My sincere apologies.”
They heard a woman’s voice coming from outside the tent.
“Please open it,” Maomao said, and the felt cloth at the entrance was pushed aside.
“Excuse me.” A middle-aged woman peered inside. She was carrying reins. “I have prepared three goats as you have asked. What shall it be?”
“Yes, yes, thank you very much. Here’s the fee.” Chue put money into the woman’s hand. It seems she had requested it before returning to the tent.
(Goat. To bring back?)
If the animals were for eating, it would be cheaper to have them slaughtered first. They didn’t need three either.
Chue, with the goat reins in her hands, fished through her belongings. She took out a heavy-looking bag.
“What’s that?” Maomao asked.
“It’s salt. In this area, you can’t get rock salt as there’s no ocean. Salt is a valuable resource. Mountain goats also like salt.”
“Then what are you planning with that?” Maomao couldn’t read her intentions.
Chue grinned. “Negotiations. Chue-san is a pacifist, so it’ll be the most peaceful option within our means. Maomao-san, please rest your tired body.”
The woman turned her back to Maomao, and led the goats away.
