We left the underground waterway.
Seras, who had gone ahead, came running over.
"There do not seem to be any people around. If we proceed through that grove, we should be able to hide ourselves for now."
"…Do you think the horses are safe?"
"I believe they are."
We had prepared horses in advance.
However, they were currently tied in the grove without anyone watching them.
If they were stolen, it could not be helped.
We had managed to prepare two horses.
If we had paid more, we could have prepared a carriage as well.
But we might have to leave it behind before entering the demon zone.
Thinking of it as disposable made it too expensive.
Above all, horses were less conspicuous and more maneuverable.
I looked back.
"What did you tell those two about us?"
"Before you joined us, I gave them a brief explanation."
Seras quickly explained the information she had given.
The selection of what she disclosed seemed appropriate.
Seras was excellent in this regard as well.
I spoke to the two behind me.
"We have horses prepared in the grove. One of them is for you and Liz, Eve."
"Understood. Sorry… they were originally meant for the two of you, one each, right?"
"No, that is not the case."
"Hm?"
One of the horses had been prepared specifically for Eve.
I had prepared it in anticipation that Eve would join us.
"I have no riding skills. That is why Seras and I will ride together."
Riding double would reduce our speed, but it could not be helped.
It was still better than walking.
▽
Outside the wall protecting the royal capital stretched a grove.
We advanced through that grove.
We walked while taking care not to make noise.
Right now Eve was wrapped in the cloak I had bought.
Her conspicuous leopard head was covered by the hood.
Leopard people were a rare race.
They were not a species one saw every day.
In short, Eve stood out.
Until we entered the demon zone, she would need to hide her appearance like this.
"It would be nice if you could transform into a human form."
Seras's transformation power could only be used on herself…
"May I ask something?"
Eve spoke to me.
Liz was talking with Seras a little behind us.
The two seemed to have already warmed up to each other.
"You have a lot of things you want to ask or talk about, right?"
"Yes."
"So, what do you want to ask first?"
"I intend to tell you the location of the Forbidden Witch. However, before that, there is something I want to confirm."
I recalled Eve's words.
"With conditions, but I intend to tell you the witch's location."
So it was about those conditions.
"What I want to ask is your purpose in meeting the Forbidden Witch."
"I have a spell book written in difficult-to-decipher ancient characters… I am looking for someone who can read those characters. I thought that if it is the Forbidden Witch, she might know something."
From what I had heard, the Forbidden Witch seemed to be considered "someone who knew too much."
Forbidden spells banned by the goddess.
Someone who knew that information.
For the shitty goddess, that would be a risk.
That was why the witch had hidden in the demon zone to escape the goddess's reach…
That seemed entirely possible.
"You are not planning to capture the witch? Nor to harm her?"
"Not if she has no hostile intent toward me."
Through the branches and leaves, the night sky was visible.
The moon was sometimes covered by clouds, sometimes showing its face.
When the clouds blocked the moonlight, the darkness of the grove deepened all at once.
There were no streetlights.
However, Eve's steps were steady.
Her gait showed no hesitation.
I thought I was used to darkness too.
But Eve's walking seemed to "see" even more than mine.
"Can you see well in the dark?"
"To some extent."
Good hearing.
Night vision.
Eve's traits might prove useful in the future as well.
"You also walk without hesitation in the dark. Most humans fear the dark."
"I have gotten used to darkness for various reasons."
"What about Seras Ashrain?"
"She can create a light source, but…"
From this position, a light might be visible from the watchtowers on the outer wall.
Right now we wanted to stay hidden in the darkness.
We did not know when it would be discovered that Eve had left the royal capital.
Once it was discovered, pursuers would surely be sent.
In that case, I wanted to eliminate as many clues as possible.
Naturally, that meant we could not use the glowing leather pouch either.
It was at that moment.
"I am a simple woman."
Still staring straight ahead, Eve suddenly said that.
"I cannot see several steps ahead like you can. Deep thinking is not my strong suit either… Because I am simple, my field of vision narrows and I sometimes make foolish choices. That may be why I was used so easily by that Duke Zuan. I could not even see through the true nature of that shopkeeper woman."
"I am not able to see through everything either. Besides, the fact that you can analyze yourself makes you better than most."
Eve paused for a beat and then said,
"I want to entrust this body of mine to you."
"Hm?"
"From now on, I want you to command me on how I should move. I will act according to your orders."
"That is quite a lot of trust."
"I saw how you interacted with Ashrain and thought it would be better to move according to your instructions."
Eve stopped walking.
"Above all… right now, I have no choice but to trust you. To be honest, I do not know how far I can trust others anymore. But—"
Eve looked back toward Liz.
"I believe I can trust you."
"That is flattering, but… what is the basis for thinking that?"
"You could have used far more ruthless methods to obtain information about the Forbidden Witch from me."
Eve shifted her gaze from Liz back to me.
"You could have kidnapped me while I was paralyzed and tortured me. You could have used that child to threaten me. Yet you did not do any of that."
"…"
It is not that I am not as clever as she makes me sound.
Eve spoke in a slightly lowered voice.
"Liz would be a burden."
"…"
"You must understand that. The place we are heading to is that Golden Demon Zone."
Liz was a non-combatant.
Moreover, she was a child.
Protecting her while fighting in a nest of monsters would certainly be exhausting.
At times, one person would inevitably have to focus entirely on defense.
Eve's words just now were also true.
"Yet even so, you still allowed Liz to come with us. I can understand that you took the child's feelings into consideration… that also became one of the reasons I decided to trust you."
There was no need to take Liz if she would not survive in the demon zone anyway.
Once I got the necessary information from Eve, Liz would become unnecessary.
If Liz were killed by a monster in the demon zone, Eve would have no choice but to accept it.
Taking her with the premise that she would die.
To make Eve cooperative…
"…"
Would Eve not think of something like that?
Of course, I intended to protect Liz with all my strength.
That child would survive no matter what.
"You are a good person."
"There is also such a thing as goodwill that is actually calculated self-interest."
"Fufu, this is strangely enough…"
Eve let a small smile slip.
"Even if there is calculation involved, I feel I can trust you."
"But weren't you the one who said you couldn't trust someone you only met yesterday or the day before?"
"Muu… whether I can trust a person cannot be measured only by the time we have spent together… through this incident, I feel I have learned that."
An uneasy atmosphere emanated from Eve.
From under the hood, she glanced at me.
"Is that… too convenient…?"
"Earlier you called me soft-hearted."
The words Eve had said to me when we first met at the tavern.
"You are soft-hearted."
I snorted.
"You are far more soft-hearted than I am."
▽
We arrived at the place where we had tied the horses.
Fortunately, the horses were safe.
We quickly tied our luggage onto the horses.
Eve, already mounted, reached down and offered her hand to Liz.
Eve seated Liz in front of her.
I stood beside the other horse.
"Give me your hand."
Seras reached down from the horse and offered her hand.
I took it.
"Could you hold on a little more firmly?"
"…Yeah."
With that, she helped me mount the horse.
I had no riding experience.
This was my first time.
...
So this was what it felt like to be on a horse.
It felt strange.
Seras called back to me from in front.
"Please hold on tightly from behind so you do not fall off."
"Is that all right?"
Seras faced forward.
"It is necessary, and it is you, so…"
"Understood."
I wrapped my arms around her slender waist.
Then I hugged her just below the chest with both arms.
Squeeze.
Seras's body twitched.
"Am I holding on too tightly?"
"…"
"Seras?"
"It is fine."
Hm?
"Are you okay?"
Along with Seras's scent, I felt something else.
A rise in body temperature.
"You seem to be sweating a little."
"—Let us go."
Without answering, Seras started the horse moving.
She seemed accustomed to handling horses.
It did not look like she was tense from a long break in riding.
"…"
Well, most people would feel something when pressed this closely against someone of the opposite sex.
It could not be helped.
"I do not know which meaning of tension you are feeling, but bear with it. I will try not to be too conscious of it either."
"U-understood."
Once, Seras lightly slapped both her cheeks with her own hands.
It looked like she was injecting spirit into herself.
Seras turned toward Eve and called out.
"Then let us go."
"Mm."
Eve, mounted on the horse, looked back at me.
"I also have something I want to ask."
I turned around.
"What is it?"
"I intend to tell you the location of the Forbidden Witch. However, before that, there is something I want to confirm."
I recalled Eve's words.
"With conditions, but I intend to tell you the witch's location."
So it was about those conditions.
"What I want to ask is your purpose in meeting the Forbidden Witch."
"I have a spell book written in difficult-to-decipher ancient characters… I am looking for someone who can read those characters. I thought that if it is the Forbidden Witch, she might know something."
From what I had heard, the Forbidden Witch seemed to be considered "someone who knew too much."
Forbidden spells banned by the goddess.
Someone who knew that information.
For the shitty goddess, that would be a risk.
That was why the witch had hidden in the demon zone to escape the goddess's reach…
That seemed entirely possible.
"You are not planning to capture the witch? Nor to harm her?"
"Not if she has no hostile intent toward me."
Through the branches and leaves, the night sky was visible.
The moon was sometimes covered by clouds, sometimes showing its face.
When the clouds blocked the moonlight, the darkness of the grove deepened all at once.
There were no streetlights.
However, Eve's steps were steady.
Her gait showed no hesitation.
I thought I was used to darkness too.
But Eve's walking seemed to "see" even more than mine.
"Can you see well in the dark?"
"To some extent."
Good hearing.
Night vision.
Eve's traits might prove useful in the future as well.
"You also walk without hesitation in the dark. Most humans fear the dark."
"I have gotten used to darkness for various reasons."
"What about Seras Ashrain?"
"She can create a light source, but…"
From this position, a light might be visible from the watchtowers on the outer wall.
Right now we wanted to stay hidden in the darkness.
We did not know when it would be discovered that Eve had left the royal capital.
Once it was discovered, pursuers would surely be sent.
In that case, I wanted to eliminate as many clues as possible.
Naturally, that meant we could not use the glowing leather pouch either.
It was at that moment.
"I am a simple woman."
Still staring straight ahead, Eve suddenly said that.
"I cannot see several steps ahead like you can. Deep thinking is not my strong suit either… Because I am simple, my field of vision narrows and I sometimes make foolish choices. That may be why I was used so easily by that Duke Zuan. I could not even see through the true nature of that shopkeeper woman."
"I am not able to see through everything either. Besides, the fact that you can analyze yourself makes you better than most."
Eve paused for a beat and then said,
"I want to entrust this body of mine to you."
"Hm?"
"From now on, I want you to command me on how I should move. I will act according to your orders."
"That is quite a lot of trust."
"I saw how you interacted with Ashrain and thought it would be better to move according to your instructions."
Eve stopped walking.
"Above all… right now, I have no choice but to trust you. To be honest, I do not know how far I can trust others anymore. But—"
Eve looked back toward Liz.
"I believe I can trust you."
"That is flattering, but… what is the basis for thinking that?"
"You could have used far more ruthless methods to obtain information about the Forbidden Witch from me."
Eve shifted her gaze from Liz back to me.
"You could have kidnapped me while I was paralyzed and tortured me. You could have used that child to threaten me. Yet you did not do any of that."
"…"
It is not that I am not as clever as she makes me sound.
Eve spoke in a slightly lowered voice.
"Liz would be a burden."
"…"
"You must understand that. The place we are heading to is that Golden Demon Zone."
Liz was a non-combatant.
Moreover, she was a child.
Protecting her while fighting in a nest of monsters would certainly be exhausting.
At times, one person would inevitably have to focus entirely on defense.
Eve's words just now were also true.
"Yet even so, you still allowed Liz to come with us. I can understand that you took the child's feelings into consideration… that also became one of the reasons I decided to trust you."
There was no need to take Liz if she would not survive in the demon zone anyway.
Once I got the necessary information from Eve, Liz would become unnecessary.
If Liz were killed by a monster in the demon zone, Eve would have no choice but to accept it.
Taking her with the premise that she would die.
To make Eve cooperative…
"…"
Would Eve not think of something like that?
Of course, I intended to protect Liz with all my strength.
That child would survive no matter what.
"You are a good person."
"There is also such a thing as goodwill that is actually calculated self-interest."
"Fufu, this is strangely enough…"
Eve let a small smile slip.
"Even if there is calculation involved, I feel I can trust you."
"But weren't you the one who said you couldn't trust someone you only met yesterday or the day before?"
"Muu… whether I can trust a person cannot be measured only by the time we have spent together… through this incident, I feel I have learned that."
An uneasy atmosphere emanated from Eve.
From under the hood, she glanced at me.
"Is that… too convenient…?"
"Earlier you called me soft-hearted."
The words Eve had said to me when we first met at the tavern.
"You are soft-hearted."
I snorted.
"You are far more soft-hearted than I am."
▽
We arrived at the place where we had tied the horses.
Fortunately, the horses were safe.
We quickly tied our luggage onto the horses.
Eve, already mounted, reached down and offered her hand to Liz.
Eve seated Liz in front of her.
I stood beside the other horse.
"Give me your hand."
Seras reached down from the horse and offered her hand.
I took it.
"Could you hold on a little more firmly?"
"…Yeah."
With that, she helped me mount the horse.
I had no riding experience.
This was my first time.
...
So this was what it felt like to be on a horse.
It felt strange.
Seras called back to me from in front.
"Please hold on tightly from behind so you do not fall off."
"Is that all right?"
Seras faced forward.
"It is necessary, and it is you, so…"
"Understood."
I wrapped my arms around her slender waist.
Then I hugged her just below the chest with both arms.
Squeeze.
Seras's body twitched.
"Am I holding on too tightly?"
"…"
"Seras?"
"It is fine."
Hm?
"Are you okay?"
Along with Seras's scent, I felt something else.
A rise in body temperature.
"You seem to be sweating a little."
"—Let us go."
Without answering, Seras started the horse moving.
She seemed accustomed to handling horses.
It did not look like she was tense from a long break in riding.
"…"
Well, most people would feel something when pressed this closely against someone of the opposite sex.
It could not be helped.
"I do not know which meaning of tension you are feeling, but bear with it. I will try not to be too conscious of it either."
"U-understood."
Once, Seras lightly slapped both her cheeks with her own hands.
It looked like she was injecting spirit into herself.
Seras turned toward Eve and called out.
"Then let us go."
"Mm."