"It’s nothing important."

He said it plainly, without explanation or apology, in the neutral tone of one who decided the discussion was over and was only stating the fact. He met Lissa’s gaze for a split second before she broke eye contact to look at the treeline again.

She didn’t press the issue.

Whether that was because she accepted the answer or simply stored it away under the label of suspicious for future analysis could not be discerned solely by the expression on her face.

Most likely the latter. Ash assumed she treated everything in life this way unless proven otherwise.

The carriage traveled onward.

"Where are we heading to?" he asked eventually when silence fell comfortably.

"A village named Miren," replied Rinna calmly. Her fingers were linked in her lap, and her speech betrayed no hint of uncertainty. "My sister and I are adventurers. We’re escorting Mister Bowen to Miren."

She tilted her head in the direction of the carriage’s front section. There, through the gap between the supports of the canopy, Ash could see the relaxed form of the old man guiding the carriage.

At his command, the horse walked steadily down the road, its hooves thumping lightly against the ground.

Almost on cue, the old man turned his head around.

"I am Bowen," he said calmly without taking his eyes off the road. "I’m a trader by profession. And if some time you get to Vaeltris, I will gladly serve you with whatever you want." He flashed a smile. "Come to my shop."

"Thank you, sir," Ash replied politely.

"Miren is a beautiful place," Bowen went on, his voice growing warmer with each phrase. "It will surely become your favorite place in the whole world. It’s my hometown after all." He paused. "Anyway, we’re already very close."

Ash nodded in silence.

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

Time went on smoothly. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

The road got narrower, the grasslands began to give way to a thicker tree line, the sunlight coming through the branches slowly changing to a darker amber hue as the two suns lowered towards the horizon.

Long shadows began spreading in all directions from the tree stumps as if trying to reach the road.

Through all this, the carriage moved on, wheels clicking steadily on the worn ground and the horse walking calmly.

Back inside, silence settled over them. Ash looked out of the window and reviewed his knowledge of the world - which amounted to pretty much nothing.

There was no demon lord; there was no ongoing war; there were no signs of catastrophe of any kind. This world seemed perfectly normal according to every account.

That either meant that whatever he had been ordered to stop wasn’t starting yet, or was simply concealed in a way he couldn’t yet perceive.

"Lissa..."

Rinna’s voice broke the silence unexpectedly. Ash turned to look at her.

Her eyes were closed.

"I sense something closing in on us," she said coolly, sounding both analytical and detached. "Something moving through the trees."

"Bandits?" Lissa said. She uncrossed her arms, though the air of alertness became a little more tangible about her.

"No." A pause. "Monsters."

Another pause, shorter.

"Fang wolves." Rinna opened her eyes. "And many of them."

Lissa took a deep breath.

"Fang wolves, again..." Lissa said and sighed through her nose with the particular exhaustion of someone encountering the same inconvenience twice in one day.

"Why do they keep appearing?" she muttered, not quite asking.

She straightened up and raised her voice toward the front part of the carriage.

"Mister, could you stop the carriage, please?"

Bowen tugged on the rope, and the horse obeyed. Soon, the carriage halted with a slight lurch as its wheels ran out of their momentum. The noise from the wooden framework ceased.

Lissa looked back at Ash.

"Hey, you." Nothing particularly elegant or polite in her speech. "You are a mage, right? Then make yourself useful and protect Mister Bowen."

Ash felt some irritated energy rising inside him. He let it die quietly.

Lissa and Rinna climbed down from the carriage. Ash did the same, stepping off and positioning himself next to the horse and Bowen.

The sisters walked in front - next to each other, forming a defensive wall in front of the carriage, both their weapons firmly in hand.

Soon enough, the fang wolves came.