Translator: Nox

Chapter 50

056 Oz is Dorothy’s Horn

056 Oz is Dorothy’s Horn

Clatter, clatter, clatter, clatter… The noise was constant. It was distracting. Why did it keep making that sound?

But that wasn’t what mattered right now. Hiding was more urgent.

Dorothy was playing hide-and-seek with Sinbad on top of a giant fish.

She quickly climbed a tree and spotted Sinbad looking for her. Good, now was the chance—she would pounce and surprise him.

Dorothy jumped from the tree. Her body soared into the air. Oz flew right beside her, his ears flapping.

The tail attached to her hat began to wag up and down vigorously. It was flapping like a wing.

But then she remembered.

’Oh, right! Dorothy’s hat only has one tail!’

In that moment, she suddenly began to plummet from the air toward the ground.

That was it. Birds have two wings. You can’t fly with only one. Oh no! Dorothy is falling!

“What do I do! Oz, help me!”

She screamed at the top of her lungs, but Oz didn’t seem to hear her. He flapped his ears and flew far away on his own.

The wind whistled past her face and ears. Waaaah! I don’t know what to do. As she sobbed, someone woke her up.

“Dorothy, Dorothy, wake up. It’s a dream.”

When she snapped her eyes open, her mom was looking at her with a startled expression.

What a relief. It was a dream. As she clung to her mother and cried, a sound came from her stomach. Gurgle, rumble, growl. It was very loud.

“There must be a hunger bug living in Dorothy’s tummy,” her mom said with a smile.

‘A bug?’

That wasn’t good. If something like that lived there, she’d end up like an earthworm eaten by bugs. There were many earthworms like that in the mountains. They would wriggle around while bugs ate their insides.

Startled, she looked down at her belly, and her mom laughed again. Tears began to fall. Lij must hate Dorothy now. She said a bug lived in her, and then she laughed.

“Oh my, Dorothy!”

Startled, her mother pulled Dorothy into a hug.

“Mom, do you hate Dorothy now?”

“I’m sorry. That’s not it at all.”

But she was smiling. Her mom kept smiling.

When Dorothy let out a wail, her mother reached out and pulled a basket from the corner of the carriage.

The basket was covered with a cloth, and a delicious smell wafted from inside. Dorothy sniffed the air, and her mother giggled.

“It’s meat!”

When her mother pulled back the cloth, there was bread and meat in the basket. And next to the bread were some small, black, wrinkled things.

“I know what those are.”

They were raisins. They were very expensive, but her dad had bought them. He said they were delicious. Her mom hadn’t wanted to buy them because they were pricey, but her dad insisted because he wanted to see her eat them. He said something about buying them as an emergency snack to recover energy quickly when they felt weak.

“Mom, can I eat these?”

When Dorothy asked, Lij put on a slightly stern face.

“After you eat your meal first.”

“Okay!”

The meat was good, too. Dorothy took a big bite of the meat her mother gave her.

“Oh.”

Her eyes went wide. It was incredibly delicious. This meat was bought at the market, and it was a little tastier than the meat her mom made.

When they bought it, the merchant said it had other things in it besides salt. That was why it was a bit more expensive. When her dad saw it, he said it had herbs that were used in his hometown.

Hearing that, her mom kept saying how expensive it was and cried a little while buying it. It was a bit funny because her mom cried just like Dorothy. When asked why she was crying, she said it was because it was too expensive. Both Dorothy and her dad laughed.

They also bought something that looked like leaves in a small container.

Her mom didn’t want to buy those either because of the price, but the merchant said they were for the meat. He said they were used in this meat to make it delicious, so after thinking about it for a long time, her mom bought one.

While Dorothy was busily eating her meat, she shared a little with Oz when her mom stepped away to talk to her dad on the driver’s seat.

Oz quickly took the meat in his mouth and went behind her back. He tucked his head against her hip and started eating. Don’t get caught by Mom, Oz.

Mom is a bit of a stingy-pants; she scolds if you give away meat. She only wants to give Oz yucky straw and grass. So Dorothy has to give him a little bit in secret every time she eats. Otherwise, Oz will be hungry.

While her mom was still talking to her dad, Oz nudged Dorothy’s back with his head, asking for more.

‘There’s not much left, though.’

Dorothy let the meat she was chewing fall into her palm. When she reached her hand back slightly, Oz quickly snatched it. He tucked his head behind her back again to eat.

As she chewed the very last piece of meat, a tiny tear pricked her eye. Now the meat was all gone. Oz took it all.

But Dorothy would be brave. Because Dorothy is Oz’s big sister.

“….”

Tears began to drip down.

Her mother came back, saw Dorothy, and gave her permission to have the raisins. Then she sighed and said that if she was going to cry that much, she wouldn’t have given them to her.

“Mom, you’re amazing. How did you see? Do you have eyes in the back of your head?”

When Dorothy gasped in surprise, her mother laughed as if she couldn’t help it.

She didn’t like it when Mom sighed, but she liked it when Mom laughed.

She put one black, wrinkled raisin in her mouth and chewed; it was sweet, so sweet, and then—oh, what was it?—a strange taste that made her eyes squeeze shut zapped all across her mouth.

“What is this! It’s so good!”

She popped one into her mother’s mouth, and her mother’s eyes went wide as she said it was sweet and sour. Right, sour. I remember now!

Dorothy jumped up and ran toward the opening to the driver’s seat.

Clatter, clatter, the carriage rattled. Her body swayed with it. Ah, this was it.

The sound she heard in her dream. Yes, this was it.

Thinking that, Dorothy thrust her hand holding a raisin through the opening to the driver’s seat.

“Dad, this is super delicious.”

Her dad smiled and turned his head just enough to open his mouth. To make sure the delicious raisin didn’t fall, Dorothy put both her finger and the raisin into her dad’s mouth together.

“It’s salty.”

Her dad said something silly.

“Dad, raisins are sweet and sour!”

“Right, it’s the taste I remember from before.”

“But why is it salty?”

“Because of Dorothy’s finger.”

“Does Dorothy taste salty?”

Her dad laughed, haha. But it was strange. Why is Dorothy salty? Dorothy is a person, so she shouldn’t have a taste.

Dorothy stood up abruptly. The carriage rattled, making her stumble slightly.

Hearing her dad tell her to be careful, she quickly ran to Oz, who was sitting in front of her mom.

Hup! She put her finger in her mouth, but it wasn’t salty. It was just full of fur.

“Oz tastes like fur.”

Her mom laughed.

Oz tapped the floor of the carriage with his feet, thump-thump-thump-thump. He seemed angry.

Maybe he tasted like fur because his hands were stuck to the floor like feet. If his hands were up high like Dorothy’s, he would have been salty.

“Poor Oz. Dorothy is salty, though.”

He seemed upset about tasting like fur. He flattened his ears to the side and nudged Dorothy’s body with his head. Once, twice, he kept pushing.

“Stop it, Oz!”

Because Oz kept pushing, Dorothy was forced into a corner. She was pushed all the way to where the luggage was. Even so, he didn’t stop and kept nudging Dorothy with his head.

“Are you going to be a bad rabbit?”

When she said that, Oz stopped moving for a moment. But then he pushed his head against Dorothy again. She was about to say he’d become a bad rabbit when her hand brushed his forehead. It was hard. Strange.

“Oz, did something grow on your forehead?”

“….”

When Dorothy asked, Oz tilted his face up proudly.

“No, not that. Sometimes things grow on faces, but that’s not something to show off. It makes your face look weird. And it hurts, too.”

As she spoke, she brought her face close to Oz’s forehead.

“Huh?”

She saw something small and pointy between the fur.

“A horn?”

When she touched it, there was indeed a pointy bit poking up. The horn that had been hidden under the skin was now coming out. It was still the same height as his fur, so it wasn’t easy to see, but if you looked closely, a tiny horn had emerged.

“Oz! You have a horn! Mom, Oz has a horn!”

Her mother, who had been sitting near the driver’s seat talking to her dad, looked back. Oz held his head high.

“Oh my, Oz, you really were a Horned Rabbit.”

She came closer to look at Oz’s horn. Oz tilted his face up as if bragging.

Dorothy was happy, too. She was really glad Oz had a horn. But…

“….”

Her head drooped slightly.

Her mother went back toward the driver’s seat. In a very surprised voice, she told her dad that Oz had a horn, and her dad sounded just as shocked.

“A horn is really growing?”

“It seems so. It’s truly amazing.”

“Impressive. He really was a Horned Rabbit.”

She could hear her mom and dad talking. Her head drooped lower and lower.

“Dorothy wants a horn, too.”

As she muttered that, her parents must have heard because they both laughed loudly.

“Pee-ee.”

Oz came closer and looked up at her face. His mottled fur twitched.

“Lucky Oz. Having a horn.”

“…Pee-ee.”

Oz thumped the floor with his feet, twitched his ears, and hopped right onto Dorothy’s head. Then he sat there quietly.

Her mother watched with a smile and said, “Since Oz is up there, he looks just like Dorothy’s horn.”

Her dad also peered inside the carriage from the driver’s seat and added, “Oz can just be Dorothy’s horn then.”

Oh? Really? She rolled her eyes upward as far as they could go, but she couldn’t see him. But since her dad and mom said Oz looked like a horn, maybe it was true. She felt a little bit better.

Oz lightly tapped her head with his feet, tap-tap-tap-tap. Don’t worry, I’m your horn. It felt like Oz was saying that.

“…Mom, can I have more raisins?”

She had to stay strong now that she had a horn. By eating raisins.

---

They had estimated a day and a half, but catching up to the merchant caravan took a little longer. If they had traveled for just another hour or two in the evening, it might have been enough.

However, as the sun began to set, the Red Sword party stopped the wagons immediately. All night travel was dangerous, but they said it was an absolute taboo in winter.

Torches weren’t enough to spot the dangers lurking on the ground, and winter was especially rife with hungry beasts and Magical Beasts. Even those that usually lived deep in the forest were said to come down to the lowlands in search of food during winter.

For two days, they hurried to gather wood and light a fire before it got completely dark, taking turns standing watch every few hours.

There were no set rules for deciding the watch order. If several adventurers formed a single party, they would simply take turns fairly.

However, when two or more parties traveled together, they said there were a few different ways.

If the number of people was similar and there were no special conditions, the parties would take turns handling the watch.

The other party would not interfere with how the internal rotation worked within a party. In the extreme, it wouldn’t matter if one person stood watch for an entire month.

However, if there was a difference in numbers or a lack of capability, and one party had to stand watch more often, that unfairness had to be compensated for elsewhere.

It might seem like a small thing, but if the side standing watch didn’t receive some form of benefit, it would eventually lead to conflict. They were warned to be careful, as such issues could spiral out of control once they started.

The methods varied—adding a bit more to their share of income or providing convenience in other tasks. One just had to be careful not to go overboard.

In any matter, it was vital not to reward too much or accept too little. In both cases, there was a high probability that things would continue to flow that way in the future.

It is human nature to act strong when the opponent is weak, and to demand more when the opponent is soft and generous.

The Red Sword party warned them repeatedly to be careful, as adventurers tended to have that inclination even more. It sounded as if they were speaking from personal experience.

This time, the two parties took turns standing watch. The members of Red Sword rotated one by one, while Juhwan handled it continuously on his side.

Lij offered to do it as well, but he stopped her. If a civilian with no experience overexerted themselves by driving the carriage during the day and standing watch at night, they would collapse within a few days. It would only end up being a burden.

Perhaps feeling guilty about that, Lij drove the carriage excessively during the day. Eventually, her arm and leg muscles cramped so badly that she had to stay inside the carriage for a while. It was likely also due to the strain of driving the carriage for several days straight.

Despite those minor incidents, the atmosphere was generally peaceful.

Even the members of Red Sword, who used to pick fights at every turn, were relatively well-behaved.

Meals and necessary travel supplies were all covered by each party’s own stock. They had been told it wasn’t good to offer pointless favors to the other side.

This wasn’t just about Red Sword. They said it was a rule that applied to all adventurers.

Grudges or debts of gratitude—if you give something, you must receive something of similar value. They were told that if they considered that an ironclad rule, they wouldn’t go wrong. It was a surprisingly simple and easy-to-understand rule.

“Is it really not a problem even if you kill the other person?”

When Juhwan asked for confirmation, Marie, the youngest of the Red Sword party, answered with a slightly weary face.

“It might be a problem if you killed an adventurer who was just minding their own business or if you stole their things, but if it happens during a fight, it’s not a big deal. It’s the same even if the other person picks the fight first.”

The Guild does not intervene in minor disputes between adventurers. However, they said that if someone was excessively vile or deviated from social norms, the Guild would not stand by.

While they didn’t have judicial power, the Guild had several ways to impose sanctions, and those were almost equivalent to social death. That was why even rough adventurers followed their own set of rules.

“Ah, but if you were guarding someone together with the person you killed, or if the opponent was working under someone else, that relationship could cause problems. Or the dead person’s comrades or family might come for revenge. That sort of thing is a headache, so it’s best not to go too far.”

Hmm, I see. He had worried the whole world might be a lawless land, but it was just a world that was convenient for those with power. It was similar to Earth during the days when Juhwan was acting out. The only difference was whether or not you went to prison for killing someone.

‘This world will certainly be hard for a woman to live in.’

Juhwan glanced at Red Sword, then turned his gaze to Lij. She was looking at him with a worried expression.

Juhwan gave Lij a gentle smile. It was okay; he had a feel for how to survive now.

Around noon on the third day after their departure, Juhwan’s group finally caught up with the merchant caravan.