Martina and the other two were lifted onto their horses, and soon the horses began to move. The main road leading out of the city was under traffic control by the Department of Administration, so there were no issues, and the procession could easily leave the city.
“From here on, the speed will increase. Hold onto the saddle and my body tightly,” said Lambert.
“Understood,” replied Martina.
“Then, let’s go.”
The next three days were harsh for Martina, Roland, and Sylvan . Their muscles screamed in pain, their buttocks ached terribly, and their sense of balance became distorted from the constant jarring.
However, despite the discomfort, they had no choice but to keep riding as they couldn’t reach their destination without the horses. The three endured with all their strength.
On the last day, they clung to their horses purely by willpower… and by the afternoon of the third day after leaving the royal capital, the procession arrived near a rural town in the Cadour Count’s territory.
“Ugh…”
“Three days of riding… I never thought it would be this tough.”
“……”
The three of them got off their horses, not caring about the dirt on their clothes, and collapsed onto the short grass that had grown on the meadow.
“Roland, are you alive…?”
“Just barely…”
“Sylvan , are you okay?”
“…There’s no way I’m okay.”
Perhaps due to extreme fatigue, Sylvan spoke without the usual sharpness in his voice, answering Martina’s question honestly.
“Are you three all right? A few knights are going on a reconnaissance mission in the town, so it would be good for you to rest in the meantime.”
Lambert, showing almost no signs of fatigue, was concerned about the three of them. Martina, Roland, and Sylvan looked at him with a sense of awe.
“The knights are like superhumans.”
“If they let amateurs like us ride, it must be even harder for them. And yet, they can still move around like it’s nothing…”
“Unbelievable.”
In response to their gazes and words, Lambert smiled wryly and handed them the water he had prepared.
“We do this for work. Even several knights and non-light-element mages are all collapsed just like you.”
“That makes sense…”
Still sitting on the ground, the three of them managed to sit up enough to take the water and glance around to check their surroundings.
“The town is still far, isn’t it?”
“Reports have come in saying the town is overrun by monsters, so getting too close would be dangerous. Even here, we’ve already encountered many more monsters than usual.”
“I see… Are they mostly Ant-type monsters?”
“Yes, that’s as reported. But so far, the only monsters we’ve encountered are Big Ants and Small Ants, which usually inhabit forests.”
At Lambert’s words, Martina nodded and took another sip of water when suddenly a knight shouted from somewhere.
“Monsters are coming! They’re Ant-type, but their color is yellow, and their type is unknown!”
Hearing that, Martina quickly looked up and jumped to her feet. Lambert, instantly understanding that Martina’s knowledge was needed, lifted her back onto her horse so she could see the monsters.
“Can you see them?”
“Yes. Those are definitely Acid Ants. I’ve seen them in the Monster Encyclopedia and in a few historical books. Their weapon is a potent acid. It dissolves anything it touches. According to the history books, Acid Ants were used to destroy evidence in places where they live. They have a pouch in their throat where they store acid and spit it out from their mouth, so never stand directly in front of them. Also, don’t damage the pouch. Their only real threat is the acid and their speed. There’s nothing else to fear. If we fight carefully, we should be able to take them down quickly.”
As she spoke rapidly while staring at the distant Acid Ants, Lambert nodded and then dismounted to let Martina ride.
“Thanks. I’ll relay that information to the others. You three stay here and don’t move.”
Once Lambert had left, the first to speak was Sylvan .
“…Why are you so good at remembering things?”
Martina was surprised by the fact that Sylvan had acknowledged her excellent memory and looked at his face intently.
“…What’s wrong? Is there something on my face?”
“No, I… I’m just a bit surprised… My memory is something I was born with.”
Martina hurriedly explained, and Sylvan furrowed his brow in response.
“Born with it… even though you’re a commoner, huh?”
Sylvan ‘s murmured words reached both of their ears, and Roland, who had been scratching his head with a deep sigh, stared into Sylvan ’s eyes.
“Abilities don’t depend on whether you’re a commoner or a noble, right? It seems like you don’t like it when a commoner steps into noble territory, but think about how things would’ve gone if Martina’s abilities had remained hidden?”
“That’s…”
“If Martina hadn’t been here, we might not have even known that the black mist was a noxious cloud. The whole reason this country started moving toward reducing discrimination against commoners was to give talented people among them a chance, right? I don’t get why you’re against it.”
At Roland’s words, Sylvan seemed at a loss for an answer and cast his gaze downward. His face showed frustration as he quietly spoke.
“Nobles should stand above commoners, and the country works better with clear distinctions of status…”
“Didn’t the king change his policy because it became clear that system wasn’t working?”
Raised in a household that upheld noble supremacy, Sylvan was shaken by the possibility that the values he had been taught were wrong. He clenched his fists.
Just as he was about to speak again, Lambert returned riding his horse.
