A side path by the sea

Through the dense grass, the sound of hard metal and wood rubbing against each other echoes as it speeds forward.

Before it, two scenes stretch out in succession.

On the right, a steep hill rises sharply; on the other side lies the sea. A young woman leans so far forward from her carriage that she seems about to fall, gazing out at the ocean.

The carriage looked so grand that one would assume it was being pulled by equally magnificent horses, yet there was no sound of hooves striking the ground—nothing at all.

Instead, there was a rumbling noise unlike anything heard before, almost like the sound of wheels on a carriage?

Whatever it was, the carriage moved at an extraordinary speed, making that peculiar sound.

"That must be the legendary magi-tricycle... Smaller than I expected. But pulling such a large carriage behind it, it must have incredible power."

The soldiers on guard nearby watched the carriage pass by.

In their judgment, there was no obvious sign of combat intent. The vehicle was large, but likely carried only about three people.

That would make them the famed adventuring group.

The man serving as leader is a mage and extremely powerful.

However, he is unaware of his own strength and is somewhat careless. For some reason, he's been researching the legendary hero story from 400 years ago.

The other two travelers joined forces while journeying together through a desert town, and neither possesses notable combat abilities.

One of them has exceptional information-gathering skills and serves as support to the mage.

The other is young and said to specialize in recovery magic stones, but is considered to have no significant weaknesses in overall ability.

There are rumors that, given his fairly refined appearance, he might be a suitable partner for nighttime encounters.

However, when this soldier saw the woman's appearance at a glance, he realized the rumors were false.

It was because their appearance was very neat, and they weren't dressed in the typical way that people who do such things usually wear.

Honestly, I wish they wouldn't show up in such odd appearances during such a busy time... With all the trouble we're going through just to verify their safety...

Having judged that they posed no major threat, the soldier set off at full speed, riding day and night without rest.

The soldier thought:

It would be so much better if we had a way to communicate regardless of distance, in times like this...

Come to think of it, ever since I was a child, one of my friends has been working as a researcher in the main hall, hired by the master... Maybe I should try talking to him about how we could make something like that work...

Scene shifts. The usual group, moving a bit later than usual, because Rilka is gazing at the sea.

"Hey, Taro, isn't the noise coming from that wheel getting louder?"

The coil speaks from inside the carriage, facing us. Indeed, the sound of the axle rubbing against its supporting parts seems to be growing louder.

This model is an early version, with low-performance bearings that quickly wear down the axle, causing a loud noise.

It's about time for the next replacement... I vaguely began to think about the next scheduled maintenance.

This area is extremely safe, with no bandits or wild beasts around—regular magical scouting is sufficient.

A path does exist here, but hardly anyone uses it.

Taking this route to reach the next town is a detour.

There's no point in bandits appearing on a road so rarely traveled.

Still, I chose this path because it offers a view of the sea.

Lilka wanted to see the sea... so choosing this route was the right decision.

Since we're this far, maybe we should take a break somewhere.

Then again, there's no obvious place to replenish our water supply.

If we were traveling long-term in a large wagon, lacking such places would mean running short of water. But that's only true when relying on horses.

That's where we differ.

We're using the power of our magic-driven tri-wheeler to move at considerable speed, already nearing the city's edge.

That's likely why our parts are wearing out so quickly.

We'll need to stock up on supplies when we reach the next town... But money's running pretty thin... Looks like we'll have to take on more guild quests for a while.

Maybe it's because the quality isn't good enough... New problems keep popping up one after another.

The funds we earned from hunting monsters for Aras Auto have already gone toward parts and food, leaving us with barely any cushion.

Still, there really is nothing here. Based on past experience, I can tell when someone's been through, but there's no sign of that either. It's clear that no one has passed through this path in the past few days.

There was a reason for this.

The country we're heading to, the Nihon Federation, is isolated by a mysterious group known as the Tenshujin, who limit contact with foreign powers.

Why they do this isn't well known. Of course, we don't know either.

Historically, they've consistently followed this policy since ancient times. It might just be continued without any particular reason.

In just one more day, they'll likely enter the town.

Nothing particularly problematic occurred that day, and they progressed smoothly along their journey.