21 Divine cat Mii-chan becomes friends with the Grass Dragon.

We arrived at the second cart, as instructed by Zeph.

To my surprise, the cart was pulled not by a horse, but by a large lizard-like creature, currently lying down.

“Is this your first time seeing a Bam?” asked the driver, who seemed to be in charge of this cart.

“Yes. They don’t attack people?”

“Heh, no way! Bams are herbivores. Look at those gentle eyes. Do they seem like the kind of creature that would attack?”

The Bam had a round face, quite different from the sharp, snake-like visage I had imagined. It looked more friendly.

Mii-chan jumped from my arms and sniffed at Bam’s face before they gently touched noses.

“Haha, that kitty understands better than most,” the driver chuckled.

Mii-chan then climbed up Bam’s body and perched herself on its head. Impressive, Mii-chan!

“I’m Nero, and that’s Mii-chan sitting on Bam’s head,” I introduced us.

“I’m Ban, the driver of this cart. Nice to meet you, kid.”

Just as I was about to correct him about my name, a high-pitched whistle echoed through the area.

“Hop on, kid,” Ban said, as the other hunters boarded the cart. I followed his instructions and took a seat beside him. At Ban’s command, Bam stood up with Mii-chan still perched on its head. It was a bit nerve-wracking, but Mii-chan seemed to enjoy the ride.

Mii-chan looked back at me, tilting her head as if to say, “Don’t worry, I’m fine,” before settling down on Bam’s head, facing forward.

As the caravan started moving towards the gate, the sight of Mii-chan sitting proudly on Bam’s head was strangely majestic and even divine. As expected of a divine beast’s companion.

When the caravan reached the gate, Mii-chan seemed to have had enough of her elevated position. She hopped down from Bam’s head and back along its back, finally settling on my lap, curling up and falling asleep.

The pace of the cart was a little faster than a walking person. I took in the new sights and smells of the world outside the city.

“Ban, do monsters appear often?” I asked.

“Hmm, not so much on the first day. We’re still close to the city. The real concern starts tomorrow.”

It seemed that as long as we were near the city, monster attacks were less frequent. However, after the village where we would be staying tonight, we’d enter a monster territory where attacks could become more common. Ban mentioned that the third cart, carrying the most food, would likely be a prime target for monsters.

“Are there any bandits around here?”

“Bandits? There aren’t any around here with that kind of nerve.”

“What does nerve have to do with it?”

“Think about it. If there were bandits, where would they live?”

“Maybe they’d set up a hideout somewhere?”

“Even a fortified city like Quart gets attacked by monsters and suffers damage. If they set up a hideout, how long do you think they’d last?”

I see. The biggest threat to bandits is also monsters. The risk of being a bandit is too high, so there aren’t many who’d take that risk.

“But that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. It’s just that there aren’t any around here.”

Ah, so there are places where bandits do exist. It turns out there are even large bandit groups capable of fighting monsters. These groups are almost like mercenaries for hire during large-scale monster hunts.

“It’s strange to think that a large bandit group would be officially recognized.”

“Yeah, it’s because they can deal with monsters. Where they operate, there are fewer monster attacks. People figure it’s safer to deal with bandits than monsters since you might survive a ransom situation. Plus, these bandits get hired as mercenaries for big monster hunts.”

It’s an unusual situation, but it makes a sort of sense. Some countries seem to tolerate these large bandit groups because of their usefulness.

As we continued our conversation, time flew by, and it was already past noon. How did I know? Because Mii-chan started giving me those “I’m hungry” looks.

I asked Ban-san what we should do for lunch, and he said we don’t stop to eat, so everyone eats individually. Looking behind me, I noticed the hunters were already eating something. Ban-san took out some hard bread from his bag and started munching on it.

Pamiru-san had insisted that I bring preserved food, and now I understand why.

First, I fed Mii-chan. Since the cart was shaking, I started with a can of cat food. After she finished eating, I poured mineral water into a dish for her to drink, which was quite a challenge to keep from spilling.

Once Mii-chan was satisfied, I opened the lunch the landlady had packed for me. It was a hot sandwich, with one type filled with eggs and another with vegetables and meat. Both had ketchup and were delicious. I drank some mineral water and felt refreshed.

Feeling refreshed was important because sitting on the wooden platform of the cart made my backside sore. It’s something I’ll have to get used to, I suppose. Also, just riding along can make you drowsy, and I didn’t want to embarrass myself by falling off the cart.

As the day went on, Ban-san and I kept talking to pass the time, and before sunset, we arrived at our destination village.

“We’ll be staying here for the night. The village has kindly allowed us to use their well, so feel free to help yourselves. There’s no lodging available, so please set up camp near the carts,” Zeff-san explained.

But it’s just an open field near the village’s wooden fence…

Ban-san and the others took the bams (the large lizards pulling the carts) outside the village to graze.

I decided to set up my tent near the carts but close enough to the village’s wooden wall. It was quite a challenge, struggling through the setup with the instructions. By the time I finished, it was already dark.

I couldn’t stretch out completely, but I could curl up and sleep. I laid down a spare blanket, and when I set Mii-chan down, she started rolling around on it. It seemed like she liked it.

“Mii~”