"Same amount, you say?" Zane eyes him suspiciously. The concept of getting a discount is very familiar to him. In fact, he has been scammed a few times in his own world too.
He turns his gaze toward that carriage once again. While the rest of the carriages are simple, with efficient decorations and healthy horses, this particular carriage’s decoration is a bit suspicious...
Instead of the normal bright coloring, it is adorned with black sheets draped over its windows and walls. Even its backsight has small gates covering whatever is inside it.
Turning back to Richard, he takes a deep breath and nods slowly, but not instantly. He takes a step toward that carriage and says while passing by Richard.
"Fair enough. But, let me hear about your situation first and also... I am interested in learning about your tastes in decorating the carriages."
Richard stares at his back briefly, stunned for a moment. Then, his grin returns, and he lets out a loud laugh before running after him.
"Heh... my tastes are definitely good, let me tell you about it..."
...
"So, you are saying that this carriage is delivering a package inside it and you want to earn extra by bringing a passenger with you too?"
Zane repeats the words that Richard just said to him moments ago. He stands leaning against the carriage, one hand casually supporting his weight against the gate.
Richard nods frantically and replies before clapping his hands hard, while already moving toward the driver’s seat.
"You understood it in one glance!? How smart! I rarely meet smart people like you."
A muscle twitches on Zane’s cheek at hearing that. He pushes himself forward and peeks inside the driver’s window at him.
"I am also smart enough to know that you are buttering me up right now. Come on, tell me about that package. You aren’t doing some shady work, right?"
Richard almost jumps in his seat and snaps his head toward him. He scans the area around them for any sign of eavesdroppers and then whispers nervously.
"Shh... Don’t say such things aloud. It’s not some shady work, it’s legitimate, I swear upon my life! Can we leave now? We shouldn’t be late, right?"
His explanations don’t yet satisfy Zane properly, but considering that at least the package is not something illegal, he can make it work somehow.
Hm... I just have to stay alert enough. What worse can happen anyways?
Finalizing his decision, he steps toward the door. A moment later, the door closes shut behind him.
...
After several minutes, his face is pressed against his hands. His expression is twisted into something regretful and annoyed as he murmurs.
"That bastard..."
The ride would’ve been pretty smooth if not for the package sitting on the floor between the seats. It’s big, taking up almost all the floor and even touching his feet despite him trying to pull away from it.
But its size is not the main problem here. Instead...
Why the fuck am I sitting in front of a corpse!?
His eyes flicker to the white-covered corpse, which lies almost peacefully on the floor. Though, while he respects the peace, it definitely doesn’t belong to this one.
Suddenly, he smacks his hand against the gate and yells, his voice directed toward the front of the carriage.
"Stop right here, you scammer! This isn’t just a package, it’s a fucking corpse! You should have disclosed this earlier. I cannot stare at it for hours!"
For a moment, there is no reply. Then, slowly, a small piece of wood creaks open to the side at the front wall, and Richard peeks through it with a sympathetic gaze, though Zane immediately recognizes it as a typical expression every scammer wears.
"Uh... sir, the carriage has been running for some time, so we have travelled some distance... If you want to stop it now, then you have to pay for the distance we covered until now..."
The vein on Zane’s hand finally pops out. Grabbing a worn-out pillow at his side, he throws it toward that small window, but the wood closes shut before it can hit him.
Ha... I fell into the trap.
Soon, the carriage falls into a rhythm, the continuous sounds of wheels rolling against the bricks and the gusts of air hitting against his face as if slapping him for his mistake.
Just as a particular gust of wind enters through the window, it shifts the fabric draped over the corpse slightly, revealing just a sliver of his closed eyelids. The threads which were tying the cloth loosen slightly at the top.
He notices the shift through his peripheral vision. His head turns down.
For a second, he just feels his earlier annoyance and leans down to cover the face again. But when his fingers brush the fabric, a faint sign of a dark purple bruise reveals itself on the cold skin beneath it.
He freezes. A chill runs down his spine as he flinches, his fingers digging into his knees as he stares at that bruise. The images form quickly in his mind—the dug-out eye sockets, the familiar bruises, and that face.
Leon... it’s that villager boy!
After tightening the fabric around the head again, he sits unusually stiff for a long moment. His mind struggles to rationalize the appearance of this body here, with the uncomfortable emotions swirling inside him.
The memory of the ghouls and then the death of Bram by their hands returns to him.
He realizes with a dreadful certainty that his ride in this carriage mightn’t pass peacefully as he had hoped. He has to live with these emotions for hours from now on.
The passing stores and houses, the cries and laughter of running children, and the structures that keep vanishing behind him as the carriage moves ahead.
These brief moments of normalcy keep him somewhat distracted from staring at the corpse, even if barely. But when an hour passes in a blur, the rhythm finally breaks.
He blinks, wondering why they stopped just after an hour.
Meanwhile, a pair of footsteps stops just outside his window, then the door opens. Richard gives a smile and points toward the food store.
"I am quite hungry. Can we stop for some time? You can also eat here too, the food is quite good here."
The food indeed seems good, since the smell of something tasty drifting toward Zane makes even his stomach growl for a second.
"Hm... okay, I might also need some fresh air."
...
Both of them sit at a table across from each other. A roasted chicken and two mugs of wine are placed between them.
He didn’t realize how hungry he was earlier. But the relief is real as he munches on the piece of meat.
"Heh... hungry, quite, aren’t you? Consider it as compensation for holding back the details about the corpse earlier. No hard feelings now." Richard speaks against the rim of his wine cup, gulping down large sips.
His words sour Zane’s mood for a moment, but he recovers quickly and keeps his attention on the food.
Seems like he planned doing this earlier... though, I am still confused about where he delivers the villager’s body...
The confusion bothers him because of what he saw in that village during the investigation. Leon’s mother was there in the village, so it doesn’t make sense to take the body away from his family. Then why...? He decides to ask it directly.
...
"Hm?" Richard considers his question for a moment, then nods once before explaining, "Well, the corpse is going to the Capital for investigation. Must be an unusual death, I guess? My task is only to deliver a letter and this package. I don’t know anything else."
"Why do you ask anyway?"
Zane exhales sharply and takes a large bite of the meat.
"Hm... nothing. I was just wondering about it, that’s all."
Investigation, huh?
The words that the lady from the task management hall said reappear in his mind.
She did talk about something related to the investigation... Though, still, I wonder what kind of investigation will happen at the kingdom.
...
Once again, he has taken his seat in the carriage. His journey companion still lies in front of him, as motionless as he had left it.
He just sighs and turns his head toward the window.
"Capital... Just appear quickly."
The carriage continues rolling forward, the sound of its wheels fading into the road behind them.
Zane watches the distant lights beyond the window for a moment before his eyes drift back toward the covered body.
Why does it feel like Leon’s death is following me all the way there...?