As I looked up at the night sky, I thought about this world.
The next day, we bid farewell to the Centaurs and set our sights on the deep forest that lay ahead.
“Are you leaving already? Well, if you keep going straight ahead, you’ll see the end of the desert. As I’ve told you before, we don’t know what lurks in the deep forest, so be very careful.”
Vee said this and handed me a small bag of coins.
“Huh? Is it really okay?”
“It’s not much, but travel costs money for various things. That’s because someone didn’t properly say thank you. Well then, be careful.”
Everyone in the herd, except for one person who was still pouting, said thank you in their own way and waved goodbye. Cor and his new friend Es were also waving.
“See you later! Come back again!”
I smiled and waved back, but I really didn’t want to return to the desert. We began pushing the wagon again, advancing through the vast sea of sand.
We said goodbye to them and walked all day, but we still hadn’t seen a single tree. I spread out the map and confirmed our location.
“It should be soon, but more importantly, where are we now?”
I held it up to the red light of the bonfire so as not to damage it. There were no landmarks, so I couldn’t even tell where we were.
“How long is ‘going straight ahead’?”
Philiana replied, taking a sip of tea. We needed to reach the next town immediately, or we would run out of water. Just because we found the deep forest doesn’t mean there’s a town there, and we don’t know if they’ll accept us. They might even be hostile. No one said anything, but the anxiety we all felt was the same.
Cecilia’s frustration, in particular, seemed to be getting worse day by day. That was understandable; anyone would be angry on such an unstable, day-to-day journey. But for now, we had no choice but to believe the information we had been given and push forward.
The next day, we continued walking again. We had run out of things to say, and the silence was as profound as the desert. We didn’t even see any animals, unlike before. I gazed at my own shadow as I pushed the back of the wagon.
“Hey, Arisugawa, look forward.”
Feeling the sweat trickle down my face, I slowly raised my head. Through the blurry vision and the wavering mirage, a vague green color appeared in the distance. Trees were gradually emerging from behind a small thicket.
“We’ve finally arrived,” Philiana said, wiping the sweat from her forehead as she turned around. Everyone’s footsteps seemed a little lighter, as if by chance. We had finally reached our destination, the deep forest. The sand thinned, and tree roots began to appear. We immediately replaced the wheels and entered the new area.
