Since they had already decided that they would have to visit the town sooner or later, Arthur didn’t spend the next morning working on the house as usual.
Instead, after breakfast, he called everyone over to the table and brought up the problem they still hadn’t solved.
They did have some money.
They had even sorted and counted the different coins.
But knowing how many coins they had meant very little when they had no idea what anything cost.
How much was a sack of flour here?
What about salt?
Eggs, meat, seeds—how much did any of those cost?
They still had no idea.
The most straightforward way to find out was to visit the town themselves.
But before they could actually go, there was one very basic problem they needed to solve.
They didn’t even know exactly where the town was.
On their previous trips outside, they had only explored the nearby roads.
They knew there was a fork farther ahead, and they had noticed that one of the wider roads had wagon tracks on it.
But they still didn’t know where that road led or how far away the town actually was.
Arthur certainly wasn’t going to lead the entire family off in some unknown direction without knowing anything first, especially when three members of the family were currently stuck in three-year-old bodies.
If the town was nearby, that was fine.
But if they walked for several hours and still couldn’t find it, they might end up worrying about how to get three exhausted children home before they ever got the chance to learn what anything cost.
So after breakfast, Arthur quickly made a decision.
“We’ll go out again today.”
Lucas, who was drinking water, immediately looked up.
“To town?”
“To find the way first.”
Arthur glanced at him.
“We don’t even know which direction the town is in, and you’re already planning to go?”
Lucas put down his cup and thought about it.
“Doesn’t that wider road get used a lot?”
“People using it doesn’t necessarily mean it leads to town.”
“That’s true.”
Lucas accepted the answer easily and didn’t argue.
Clara had already guessed what Arthur intended to do.
“So if we run into someone today, we’ll ask?”
“Right.
But we’re not going to knock on people’s doors just to ask for directions.”
Arthur nodded.
“If we happen to meet someone on the road, we’ll ask.
As long as we can figure out the direction and roughly how far it is, that’s enough.”
After their encounter with the man who had recognized them last time, the family was at least a little more prepared for the possibility of meeting villagers.
Of course, if they had a choice, they still hoped whoever they met today wouldn’t know the Bennett family.
It was much easier to talk when they didn’t have to answer questions while secretly wondering who the other person was.
Helena cleared the table, then checked the children’s clothes to make sure everything was in order.
“We’re not going too far today.
Once we know the direction, we’re coming back.”
All three children nodded.
“Okay.”
Theo agreed quickly.
But before stepping outside, he still stopped at the doorway out of habit and inspected the ground.
It hadn’t rained last night, and several days of clear weather had dried the path considerably.
The darker patches of wet earth they’d seen before had faded until only faint traces remained.
It looked much easier to walk on than it had during their first trip outside.
Theo studied it seriously for a moment.
His expression visibly relaxed.
“Today is okay.”
Lucas, who was putting on his shoes, looked up.
“What’s okay?”
“The road.”
Lucas paused before realizing what he meant.
“You’re deciding whether the road is acceptable now?”
Theo saw nothing wrong with that.
“There’s less mud today.”
Lucas stared at him for two seconds and decided not to ask anything else.
If this continued, Theo might actually start rating every road in the area.
The family of five soon left the farmhouse.
After going out twice before, they no longer had to stop every few steps to make sure they were heading in the right direction.
They remembered the fork in the road, the distinctive tree beside it, and which parts of the path tended to collect water.
Arthur led the family back to the place where they’d seen the wagon tracks, then followed the wider road farther ahead.
The farther they went, the more obvious the signs of regular travel became.
Besides the dried wagon tracks, there were plenty of fresh footprints on the ground.
The fields along the road were also much neater than the overgrown land around their farmhouse.
Some had clearly been turned recently, the soil still dark and fresh.
Other fields had bundles of dried grass stacked together.
Farther away, they could make out a few scattered rooftops.
Clara paid close attention to the route as they walked.
She hadn’t brought any paper today, so she could only memorize what she saw and write everything down once they got home.
The family had walked a little farther when the sound of wooden wheels came from up ahead.
Arthur slowed.
“There’s a cart.”
The children looked up.
Before long, a small wooden cart appeared on the road ahead.
A brown horse pulled it at an easy pace.
Several sacks were piled in the back, along with two wooden crates tied down with rope.
An older man sat at the front wearing an old hat, the reins held loosely in his hands.
He didn’t seem to be in any hurry.
Arthur led his family slightly to the side of the road.
As the cart approached, the driver glanced at them.
All five of them waited.
The man didn’t call Arthur’s name.
He didn’t show any sign of recognizing them either.
He simply gave them an ordinary glance and seemed ready to continue on his way.
Arthur secretly relaxed.
Good.
This one didn’t know them.
At least they could ask for directions without worrying about accidentally saying something wrong.
When the cart drew level with them, Arthur spoke.
“Excuse me.”
The man gently pulled on the reins, slowing the horse.
“What is it?”
Arthur didn’t bother circling around the question.
He pointed down the road.
“Is this the way to town?”
The man followed the direction of his finger and quickly nodded.
“Yes.
Keep following this road.
Go through the village up ahead, then head south.
That’ll take you to town.”
Arthur finally felt more certain.
So the direction they’d found over the past few days hadn’t been wrong.
This wider road really did lead farther out.
Beside him, Clara firmly committed the word south to memory.
Arthur asked another question.
“Is it far from here?”
“Not really.”
The man’s answer was casual.
The entire family perked up slightly.
But Arthur quickly realized that not really was far too vague to be useful.
A distance that seemed short to an adult could feel completely different to three children in three-year-old bodies.
He looked down at Lucas and the others.
“What if we’re walking with three children?”
Only then did the man take a proper look at them.
His gaze moved from Lucas to Clara, then to Theo.
He looked surprised.
“They’re all this young?”
Arthur nodded.
“Three.”
The man looked at their short little legs, then glanced down the road and laughed.
“Then you’ll definitely be slower.
It’s nothing for an adult, but if those three walk the whole way themselves, they’ll probably be worn out by the time they reach town.”
Lucas’s expression stiffened.
He instinctively started to protest.
The words had barely left his mouth when he remembered what they’d agreed on before leaving the house.
Outside, they were supposed to behave as much like ordinary three-year-olds as possible.
He abruptly swallowed the rest.
The driver hadn’t heard him clearly.
“What was that?”
Lucas immediately shook his head.
“Nothing.”
Arthur suppressed the smile threatening to appear and continued,
“About how long does it take?”
The man thought seriously for a moment.
“From the village?
An adult walking at a normal pace takes about an hour.
From here, you’ll need to add a little more.”
Arthur quickly estimated the distance in his head.
If it were only him and Helena, that really wasn’t far.
An hour from the village to town, plus the distance from their farmhouse to the village—it was still perfectly manageable on foot.
The real problem was the children.
At Lucas, Clara, and Theo’s current pace, they obviously couldn’t use an adult’s walking time as a guide.
And even after reaching town, they would still have to walk around, look at things, and then make the entire trip back.
Whether the three of them had enough energy for that was another matter entirely.
Still, this was already much better than what Arthur had feared.
At least the town wasn’t so far away that they needed a horse or cart just to reach it.
Helena had clearly reached the same conclusion.
“Is the road easy to walk?”
“It’s all right lately,” the man replied.
“The northern road was terrible after the rain a few days ago.
If you’re heading to town, take the southern road.
It’s a little longer, but it’s flatter, and carts can get through.”
He patted the wooden cart beneath him.
“I came back from town that way today.”
Arthur instinctively looked at the sacks in the back.
So that explained it.
No wonder the man knew the road so well.
Lucas stared at the sacks too.
After a moment, curiosity got the better of him.
“What’s in there?”
The moment the question left his mouth, he paused.
Then he realized that this was exactly the kind of question a three-year-old child would ask.
The driver clearly didn’t find it strange.
He smiled.
“Flour.
And some salt.”
Lucas’s eyes brightened slightly.
Those happened to be the exact things their family had been most concerned about lately.
Arthur immediately paid closer attention too.
“You bought all of that in town?”
“Of course.”
The man nodded.
“If someone in the village needs something, that’s where they go.
There’s even more to choose from on market days, and sometimes things are cheaper too.
Just a lot more crowded.”
Arthur mentally added another useful piece of information to the list.
“How often is market day?”
“Once every seven days.”
The man thought for a moment.
“The next one’s still a few days away.
If you’re not in a hurry, you could wait until then.”
Arthur nodded.
“Got it.
Thank you.”
“It’s nothing.”
The man adjusted the reins and was about to move on when his gaze returned to the three children.
“If you’re really planning to bring all three of them, you’d better leave early.”
Arthur could already guess what was coming.
Sure enough, the man smiled.
“If they all start complaining that they’re tired halfway there, you won’t be able to carry three at once.”
Lucas: “…”
Clara: “…”
Theo: “…”
All three children looked up at Arthur at the same time.
Arthur looked down at them.
The driver didn’t notice anything unusual about the family’s sudden silence.
He simply waved and drove away.
As the sound of wooden wheels gradually faded, Lucas finally spoke.
“I can walk by myself.”
Arthur looked down at him.
“He’s already gone.”
“I’m telling you.”
“Oh.”
Arthur nodded solemnly.
“Then when we actually go to town, you can walk by yourself.”
Lucas answered without hesitation.
“No problem.”
Clara glanced at him.
“More than an hour.”
Lucas’s confidence faltered slightly.
Clara wasn’t finished.
“And that’s at an adult’s pace.
We walk slower.”
Lucas turned toward her.
“Whose side are you on?”
“Neither.
I’m just telling you the facts.”
“You weren’t walking any faster than me yesterday.”
“That’s why I didn’t say I could definitely do it.”
Lucas had nothing to say to that.
Theo hadn’t joined their argument at all.
He was still thinking about something else the man had said.
After a while, he looked up at Arthur.
“He said the southern road is flatter?”
“Yeah.”
Arthur nodded.
“That’s what he said.”
Theo thought about it.
“Does that mean there’s less mud?”
Arthur paused.
“He didn’t say.”
Theo’s little face immediately became more serious.
One look at his expression and Lucas knew exactly what he was worried about.
“We’re talking about walking for more than an hour, and the thing you’re most worried about is mud?”
Theo answered seriously.
“It’s important.”
“How is that important?”
“If there’s mud the whole way, my shoes will get dirty.”
Lucas stared at him.
“Have you considered that after walking for more than an hour, your shoes might not be the first thing you need to worry about?”
Theo frowned.
“Then what is?”
“Your legs.”
Theo instinctively looked down at his two short legs.
After several seconds of silence, he surprisingly didn’t argue.
Helena had been listening to the children and couldn’t help laughing.
“Which is why we’re not going to town today.”
Then she looked at Arthur.
“We’ll figure out the route first and prepare when we get home.”
That had been Arthur’s plan from the beginning.
Their only goal today had been to find the way.
Now they knew not only that the town was to the south, but also roughly how long it would take to get there.
There was no reason to head there immediately without preparing first.
Still, since the driver had said the village was just ahead and they’d already come this far, there was no harm in taking a quick look.
Sure enough, it wasn’t long before the scattered houses in the distance began appearing closer together.
More fences and cultivated plots appeared along the roadside, and thin trails of smoke rose from several rooftops.
Farther ahead, they could already see people working in their yards.
A few chickens darted past the fence of one house, while a cow stood tied nearby with its head lowered to the grass.
This was clearly the village the driver had mentioned.
Arthur didn’t lead the family any farther in.
He simply stood by the road and looked around for a while.
At least now they understood the route.
From the farmhouse, they would follow the wider road to the village.
Then they would pass through the village, head south, and walk for roughly another hour to reach town.
Clara silently repeated the route to herself.
Once she was certain she wouldn’t forget it, she looked at Arthur.
“Are we going back now?”
“Yeah.”
Arthur nodded.
“We know enough for today.”
They didn’t go any farther into the village.
Instead, the family turned around and followed the same road home.
They had walked farther today than on their previous outings, but since they hadn’t actually entered the village or continued toward town, Arthur and Helena weren’t particularly tired.
The three children were another matter.
At the beginning of the walk back, Lucas was still insisting that he would definitely be able to walk all the way to town.
Clara occasionally answered him.
But as the road home stretched on, all three children gradually became quieter.
By the time the farmhouse finally came into view, there was noticeably less conversation.
The moment they stepped inside, Lucas found a chair and sat down.
Arthur looked at him.
Lucas immediately noticed.
He straightened his back.
“I’m not tired.”
Arthur raised an eyebrow.
“I didn’t say anything.”
“Then why are you looking at me?”
“Just looking.”
Lucas was beginning to think his father had become increasingly annoying lately.
Clara didn’t bother pretending.
She sat down for a while and waited until her legs weren’t quite as sore before taking out the sheets of paper they’d been using for notes.
Then she carefully wrote down everything they’d learned.
The town is to the south.
From the farmhouse, go to the village first.
After passing through the village, follow the southern main road.
It takes an adult about an hour to walk from the village to town.
The southern road is flatter and wide enough for carts.
There is a market in town once every seven days.
When she finished, Clara read through everything again to make sure she hadn’t missed anything.
Lucas had already moved closer.
“Anything else?”
“That’s all for now.”
Lucas looked over the notes and quickly noticed one line.
“Why did you specifically write ‘an adult takes about an hour’?”
Clara looked up.
“What else should I write?”
“Just write one hour.”
“But we’re not adults.”
Lucas: “…”
He suddenly felt that the notes were somehow targeting him personally.
Arthur came over and read them too.
His attention quickly settled on the words an adult takes about an hour.
If it were only him and Helena, that distance really wouldn’t be a problem.
But with three children, the trip would definitely take longer.
And once they reached town, they would still need to walk around, look at things, and then make the entire journey home.
Whether the children could handle a full day like that was something they needed to think about beforehand.
Helena had clearly reached the same conclusion.
“Are all five of us really going?”
Arthur was quiet for a moment.
Leaving the three children at home by themselves was obviously out of the question.
They’d only been here for a few days.
They didn’t know the people nearby well enough, and there was no one they trusted enough to leave the children with.
Taking them along would be more troublesome, but it was still safer.
“We’ll have to go together,” Arthur said at last.
“We’ll leave early and take our time.
If anyone gets tired, we’ll stop and rest.”
Lucas immediately spoke.
“I won’t need to rest.”
Arthur turned toward him.
“I’m going to remember you said that.”
Lucas had sounded completely confident a second ago.
Now he suddenly regretted saying it.
Clara lowered her head, trying not to laugh.
Theo, meanwhile, had thought of another problem.
“Do we need to bring water?”
“Of course.”
Helena nodded.
“We should bring something to eat too.
We don’t know how long we’ll be in town the first time, so we can’t go completely unprepared.”
Arthur considered that for a moment.
“Then we’re not going tomorrow.”
Lucas immediately looked up.
“Why?”
“To prepare.”
Arthur pointed toward the coin pouch they’d counted the day before.
“We also need to decide how much money to bring.
The first trip is mainly to check prices, so don’t start buying things without thinking.”
That seemed to remind Lucas of something.
“Can we look at the meat?”
Arthur turned toward him.
“You’re still thinking about meat?”
“Just looking.”
Lucas explained with a perfectly serious expression.
“I didn’t say we had to buy it.”
Clara finally laughed.
Arthur didn’t object.
“Looking is fine.”
Lucas immediately looked satisfied.
“Good.”
Theo listened for a moment before asking,
“Should we bring an extra cloth?”
This time, everyone looked at him.
Arthur asked, “What for?”
“To wipe my shoes.”
Theo’s answer was completely matter-of-fact.
“What if the roads in town are muddy?”
Lucas dropped forward onto the table.
“Are you seriously planning to wipe your shoes the whole way?”
“What if I step in mud?”
“Clean them when we get home.”
“But we’ll be walking for a long time.”
Lucas closed his eyes.
He no longer wanted to discuss this.
Arthur looked at the three children and suddenly had a feeling that their actual trip to town wasn’t going to be nearly as simple as he’d imagined.
Still, no matter what happened, they had solved the most important problem today.
The town wasn’t impossibly far away.
All they had to do was walk from the farmhouse to the village, then continue along the southern road.
From the village, an adult could reach town in roughly an hour.
For the Bennett family, who had neither a horse nor a cart of their own, that was already very good news.
As for whether three three-year-olds could actually make the entire journey on their own two little legs—
Arthur glanced down at Lucas.
The boy who had confidently declared that he wouldn’t need a break was now leaning against the table and clearly didn’t feel like moving.
Arthur had a feeling they might not need to wait until the actual trip to town to know the answer.