Chapter 48

The Ortem trolley broke down and I thought this would be the end already, but I should be able to get to the city if I could get the wagon to take me there .

I dont have any money, but I do have some food supplies .

If I asked for help, I might be able to get to it somehow .

I run-up to the wagon and turn my attention to the green-haired man sitting on the drivers seat .

I can see a thin, unshaven beard on his cheek . The man is probably in his early 20s .

My name is Abel . Well, my means of transportation is broken . Can you take me to some city? Really, any city is fine .

You can call me James . It must be hard for you to be in the middle of the woods . Id love it if you ride .

Thank God .

I had just half given up on the idea of having to return to the village .

I didnt think Id get nine lives in this way .

Thank you very much! It really, really helped!

Its just well, whats the broken mode of transportation?

Thats what Im talking about .

I pointed to the Ortem Trolley .

James looked at the Ortem Trolley and then rubbed his eyes .

It was as if he couldnt believe what he saw .

Well did you have a demonic beast strapped to that thing?

No, its powered by magic . Like this, clank clank clank .

Eh, I see

Thats right! That, I think I can fix that when we get to the city, but in return

what? Oh, I dont have much space, so Id like you to leave it behind if you can . Youll have to give up your luggage and anything too bulky, or else its a bit

I look at the loading dock .

There is a mountain of burlap sacks piled up, and there is certainly no time to load the Ortem Trolley .

Its not like Im going to ask them to dump the luggage down .

And somehow, the way Jamess eyes look at the Ortem trolley is quizzical .

Ive been living as a Marren for so long that Ive become numb to the idea, but some things about Ortems face are pretty creepy .

Its not something that would be accepted by the general public .

Oh, I see

Im sorry, but I have to say goodbye to Ortem Trolley here .

I patted Ortem Trolleys head and cut a cross with my hand .

Im sorry . Its because I was pathetic that Ive been had by my sisters trap

I used my wooden carving knife to carve at the Ortem Trolley that says Ive given a ride in the wagon . Im sorry, but I wont be returning for a while .

If I didnt return after I had broken down the Ortem trolley, Gizel would think I had run out of steam and come looking for me .

If she still didnt find me, she might think that I had gotten lost in the woods and died .

Ill follow up with this much at least .

I take out a sack with a bunch of incense leaves from the Ortem trolley and let them move it to the back of the cart .

My eyes met with the sheep-horn girl who was lying on the back of the cart, rubbing against the burlap sack .

This person is going to be my traveling companion too . Ill say hello to her .

The sheep girl doesnt respond to my greeting but turns her attention to the green-haired man on the drivers seat .

Hey James-san, are you going to let this guy ride? Geez, I dont want this, geez, and Mea wanted to take it easy

The sheep girl who calls herself Mea, her voice is a little bouncy as she says this .

Gingerly, she pulls the burlap sack over to the edge of the cart .

I thought for a moment that I wasnt welcome, but that doesnt seem to be the case . Im a little relieved .

Come on, hurry . You can get in so pass it to me

Then, please .

Mea looks about my age, or maybe a little younger .

It doesnt have to be a respectful term .

She might be a few hundred years old, depending on her race .

Whats in this?

As she says it, Mea hits the bag with a bang .

There is the sound of incense leaves shattering inside .

Oh, hey, dont hit it too much! Its one of my few assets

What a girl, Im starting to get a little nervous .

I looked at James and he looked away . He looks like hes having a hard time with a lot of things, too .

He goes back to the Ortem Trolley again and carries this and that .

Whats this book? Ive never seen these letters before, but . . Uhh, the illustrations are creepy . Your hobbies are a little bad .

Its borrowed! Oh, dont crease it! Just like that, slowly put it down! Because the Chief is going to get at me!

Whats this juice?

If you drink one bottle, it would allow you to move around for a week with no sleep or rest, and it would make you feel like youre being rushed into something . With my special drink that makes you work terribly hard hey, wait, dont throw it away . !

How will you hold me responsible if I drink this stuff by mistake?

Dont treat it like poison!

You still have luggage? Oh, thats some delicious dried meat . What kind of meat is that?

Greater Bear .

eh?

Greater Bear .

As such, I managed to finish carrying most of my stuff .

However, there are still two more Ortem bodies left . If I force them onto it, the rest of the luggage will overflow .

This Ortem is my masterpiece and the first Autem that Gizel carved . I dont want to throw it away as much as possible .

And maybe, just maybe, Gizel will come here .

Im sure Gizel would be saddened if her carved Ortem was thrown away in such a haphazard manner .

Maybe its not something that I should be worried about now that I ran away before the wedding, but thats why I dont want to do something that would make her feel trapped .

I hold the two Ortem bodies in my arms and stagger closer to the wagon .

Hey well this

Uwa, what is that creepy doll? We dont have room for that anymore . And if youre riding along with them, you might be cursed . Throw it away!

Do you think you could stuff it and?

My bags are overflowing and spilling out while were running . I dont really care about it from Meas point of view, but James-san is going to cry .

So why dont I unload that bag of mine and my dried meat and

As I reached for the bundle of dried meat, Mea took it first and quickly moved it away from me .

No, I dont want to! I wont give you my precious protein .

no, its mine .

But surely, unloading dried meat isnt enough at all . .

Well then lets just do it this way, Im going to ride anymore but this Ortem alone is going to town .

Well, Mea doesnt care about it, but wont you lose it there?

After much deliberation, I decided to incinerate the two Ortem bodies .

Rather than slowly decaying in nature, there is still some relief in destroying them with my own hands .

That Ortem will never come back . But even so, the totem can be carved again .

If you burn it this way, Gizel wont be sad to find the discarded Ortem later on .

. .

I sat on the ground, staring at the smoke as it climbed to the sky .

I couldnt stop crying .

I felt nauseous and I held it in my mouth .

Sniff Sniff Sniff

Somehow, Im sorry I told you to get rid of that . Come on, lets get out of here . It must be hard to watch .

I watched the fire on the Ortem until it was extinguished, and then I climbed into the wagon .