My Reincarnation Skills Are “Playing With Dolls” and “Playing With Clay”, but What Am I Supposed to Do With These? C130

Episode 130 Road to Parthea

We decided to leave Damascus at dawn, but there was a long line at the gate heading inland. Like Osmarf, it seems that merchants like the merchant guild have learned that the road will soon be closed and are scrambling to leave. 

The Damascene Road is truly the main artery of the east, running from the archipelago to the Parthean Empire and beyond, to the Gandria Principality, and if it changes course south along the way, it will lead to Ishtar, which is a party to this conflict. That's it. 

Everyone wants to pass before it becomes a hassle. 

As a result, many wagons lined up on the highway, and even though they had reduced their load and made it lighter, they were unable to move forward very quickly. 

From Damascus, the carriage of Osmarf, who had the most knowledge of the area, would take the lead. In the middle was Natasia and Mikula's covered wagon, and at the end was Old Man Heybar and Hout's covered wagon, the order being reversed from that in Elzark. 

And even though we reduced the load, the two large covered wagons were originally heavier than Osmarf's wagon, so we decided to change the place where our guards would ride. 

Me, Carmilla, and Nolte were on Osmarf's carriage, guarding the area ahead and around us. 

Then, Lucien alone takes Lina and places her in Heybar's carriage at the end, keeping an eye on the rear. 

In terms of weight, the speeds of the three carriages are now roughly the same. That's fine, but there's one problem: Osmarf's carriage doesn't have a hood, so it's exposed to strong sunlight. 

Even in the Elzark Kingdom, the temperature around Scutari was higher than modern Japan, but to be honest, this is a tropical country. 

Even though it was only late March, I was already sweating just being rocked by the carriage. Moreover, there isn't a single cloud in the sky. 

There is no forest like in the west, and the scenery is a wasteland with reddish-brown bare soil and rolling stones, making it even hotter due to the sunlight. 

So, together with Osmarf, we made a simple sunshade by setting up four wooden poles and covering the driver's stand and around it with cloth. Yes, this alone is quite different. 

And everyone is not consuming enough drinking water. 

Everyone drank all the water they had in their leather bags on the first day. 

Of course, in my case, there are three people who can use water magic, so it's not a problem. 

At first, the merchants drank water packed in large quantities in barrels, as is customary for traveling merchants, but we, the guards, used Lina's ``magic enhancement'' and my ``thermal control'' to create cold water with ice. When I saw him drinking water, he started asking me to sell him some water. 

Even though he is an employer, his stance of paying compensation if he is burdened with work other than guard work gives me a sense of the merchant's pride in a sense. 

For the time being, a cup of chilled water would cost one copper coin, or ice water would cost two coins, so we offered it to them many times along the way, and it was well received. 

Also, I sometimes gave water to the draft horses as a service and gave them water to drink. 

You're doing the most difficult job. 

There were dozens of wagons and their own guards moving in line along the road, so the first day's camping trip was not particularly dangerous. 

　

Around noon on the second day, I passed by a small oasis and the village that had formed around it. 

It seems that all the merchant caravans without wizards are stopping here to replenish water and take a break, and about twenty wagons have already stopped. 

However, since we didn't have to worry about water, we decided to get out in front of the crowd, so we hurried ahead without stopping the horse. 

It might be dangerous to be in the front, but it's better to go to the front than in a crowded place, and we can pick up the pace and take a break when it's convenient for us. 

Then, I repeated the process of resting the horse for a while and giving it water and fodder about every two hours, and at dusk on the second day, I entered an area with a few rocks. 

"It's finally Galatia Canyon. Monsters will appear from around here, so let's proceed carefully."

According to Osmarf, if you pass through this gorge, you will enter the territory of the Parthean Empire. 

We left our party together and each used our skills to explore our surroundings. 

There are two caravans ahead of us, and about five cars behind us are plotted on the map, but this is because there is a restriction on the range that can be seen, and there are caravans that are further ahead. There probably are. 

Fortunately, so far, there are no red spots of light that indicate monsters or criminals. 

At dusk, when the merchant caravan in front of us stopped moving, we informed the merchants. 

"That's right, it's about time for us to set up camp. Shall we go and park near the commercial caravan in front?"

When a total of seven wagons came into view, we stopped the wagons, Carmilla and I followed Osmarf, and went to greet the merchant caravan in front of us. 

Apparently, the rule is that the person who comes later should ask if they can camp in the same place. 

A large merchant named Vargas didn't seem very welcoming, but he answered in a few words that he didn't mind camping next to him. I don't know why, but to be honest, he doesn't seem friendly. 

I waved to Nolte, who was in the carriage I had left behind, and then sent a message to Lina, who was in the carriage behind me, and three carriages slowly approached me. 

Nolte is driving Osmarf's carriage. When I told him that he had coachmanship skills, Osmarf was happy to teach me how to handle my horse, and we changed hands from time to time along the way. 

Nolte, who has a strong desire to improve, was happy to do this and said, ``This will also be an experience.''

"Since we were a small number and didn't have any strong-looking guards, they seemed to think we were trying to parasitize the larger group."

Osmarf told me while looking for a place where the carriage could easily be parked. 

Vargas and his friends are a merchant caravan that came from the Duchy of Garis, which is further west than the Elzark Kingdom, and they seem to be fairly well-known as traders. 

Well, I guess it's okay if we're being fooled. In fact, it's probably a little safer to travel with a large group. 

When I greeted Vargas, the sharp-eyed man who looked like the leader of the guard standing next to me was a LV19 adventurer, so when he saw me at LV15 and Carmilla at 14, he probably thought we were inferior, and in fact he was stronger than my party. Maybe. 

In that situation, it might be a little difficult to get to know the members by eating together, but I'm not good at things like that, so I'd rather take it easy. 

And, perhaps because of their large numbers, there were no night attacks that night. 

However, in the middle of the night, I was woken up by the clay dog, Wan, and when I sensed my surroundings, I noticed that there were many small red dots surrounding the group of carriages, so it seemed like there was someone targeting them. 

Since we were far away, I didn't think there was any need to intervene, and the group in front of us didn't seem to react, whether they noticed it or not. 

When I contacted Lina in the women's tent using telepathy,

(Lucien and Carmilla said, ``It's not a very strong monster, and there's no sign of it trying to attack us at the moment.'')

I received a reply, so I sent out Lina, Wang, and the golem Taro to be on guard, and we decided to go back to sleep. 

The next morning, Osmarf casually went to talk to the previous caravan, and his impression was that they did not seem to realize that they were surrounded by enemies, and quite blatantly said that they were in a hurry and would leave first. It seems like he had a "don't follow me" attitude. Are you OK. 

That's why the commercial caravan in front of us departed during the twilight before dawn, and we ate breakfast and then started moving as the sun rose. 

We entered the gorge in earnest and the surrounding area turned into a steep rocky area. 

According to Osmarf, the original road was recently buried by a landslide, so Parthea and Damascus jointly built a new road to make a slight detour. 

I'm grateful that they've created a path that weaves through the rocky areas, but since visibility isn't working in front of me, even my map skill can only display about 100 meters ahead. 

Sometimes I fly the wizard Lina into the sky or teleport to the top of a rocky mountain to expand my field of view, but thanks to that, I was a little doubtful that I would be able to cross the border today. 

In such a situation, the first commercial caravan no longer appears on the map, and there is a gap of several kilometers between us and the white dot that seems to be the commercial caravan behind us. 

It was about two hours after we left that we noticed something strange, and we were about to take a second break. 

For the umpteenth time, I flew Lina into the sky to widen my field of vision, and for the first time in a while, I saw a large number of light points, perhaps 2 or 3 km ahead, using my map skill. 

I told Osmarf, stopped the carriage, and asked everyone to gather. 

There were many small red dots, surrounded by white dots that were probably the caravan of Vargas and his friends who had gone ahead. 

I wonder if it's the guys from last night, but unlike last night, they're clearly already in battle. 

Some of the red dots and white dots are tangled together. 

However, I'm concerned that there are some strangely large red dots among them. I think this is something you didn't see last night. 

Of course, the merchants first checked to make sure we were safe. 

“Are there no people trying to attack us?”

"Right now, there aren't any around us at all, and they're all gathered around the seven cars in front of us. There's probably a few merchant caravans behind us, so we targeted those who were isolated at the front. I guess so.”

"There's no reason to help, but we also want to get through the ravine by the end of the day, so there's no guarantee that they'll leave if we wait, right?"

"But is it someone you can beat? If it's dangerous, let's wait until the merchant caravan behind us arrives."

It's natural for Osmarf and Natasia to be concerned about their opponent's strength. a lot. There are probably 20 or 30, or about that much if you just look at their skills. 

However, the small red dot means that the level is not that high... 

"One or two are strong?...The rest are weak, about the kobolds. But they have different smells."

"Well...this area is a wasteland and there aren't many spirits, but I'll ask about it..."

Following Carmilla's report, Lucien closed his eyes for about ten seconds and listened carefully. 

"...Yes. I think it's probably a goblin or a small humanoid monster. What I'm worried about is that there seem to be two large creatures whose presence is unclear."

"If it's a goblin, then just be careful and you'll be fine."

Osmarf let out a voice of relief at Lucien's answer, and Haybar and Natasia also felt like they should move on. 

I haven't come across one yet, but goblins are the lowest-ranking humanoid monsters in RPGs. 

If you're lower than a kobold, or at most the same level, you won't be able to get hit if you don't let your guard down. Just be careful of projectiles. 

Then, I carefully proceeded with the carriage again. 

Because the road was bad, I was walking as fast as I could. So we, the guards, got off the carriage and kept our surroundings as alert as possible. 

Fortunately, there are no red dots near here. 

　

However, the battle ahead also took an unexpected turn. 

The information provided by the map skill cannot be said to be accurate at such a distance, but once the many small red dots gave up on the attack and gradually moved away, as if they were running away, they were replaced by several white dots. It seemed like Dot had followed up. 

However, for some reason, during that time, another red dot appeared near the carriage, and the white dots gradually decreased. 

When we arrived, what we saw was a destroyed carriage and a completely destroyed merchant caravan.