I detected numerous hostile life signatures with my detection magic.
"Sir, stop the wagon."
"Why?"
"Monsters are approaching."
"What?! Are you serious?!"
"I am. Look over there."
I pointed ahead. As the wagon continued forward, we drew closer and closer to the monsters lying in wait until their appearances became unmistakably clear.
"W-What?! H-Hobgoblins...!"
The merchant slammed on the brakes the moment he confirmed they were real.
"Sir, get inside the wagon. I'll handle them."
But he didn't believe me. Panicking, he jumped down and hurriedly untied one of the two horses.
"Are you insane? It takes two adventurers to hunt down a single hobgoblin! There's a whole group of them! What can you possibly do by yourself?! I... I still want to live. Don't blame me for abandoning you!"
The merchant mounted the horse and immediately turned around, heartlessly leaving us behind.
But just as he passed the wagon and had only ridden a few more yards, two hobgoblins burst out from the roadside and smashed both him and the horse to death with their crude clubs.
"AAAAAHHHHH!!!"
The orange-haired woman let out a piercing scream at the sight of the merchant's death.
I jumped off the wagon and drew my sword. First, I killed the hobgoblins approaching the orange-haired woman with magic. Then, moving at incredible speed, I cut down every remaining hobgoblin with my blade.
Afterward, I looked at the orange-haired woman. His face had gone pale, his lips were colorless, and he stood there in a daze after witnessing the merchant's death.
For a moment, I wasn't sure how to comfort him.
Then I remembered—he claimed to be an optimist. Did he even need comforting?
So I simply told orange-haired woman to do what he were originally supposed to do.
"Hey. The hobgoblins are dead. It's over."
"...Henry, you're amazing."
It took orange-haired woman a long while to recover enough to speak. His expression still hadn't escaped the terror, yet his voice carried genuine admiration.
Still, an optimistic person should recover quickly, shouldn't they?
I pointed at the remaining horse.
"Time for you to be useful. Drive the wagon."
"W-Wait... I need to bury the merchant first."
The orange-haired woman climbed down with shaky legs and staggered toward the merchant. One glance at the corpse was enough to make them vomit up everything they'd eaten for breakfast.
Unfortunately, orange-haired woman even threw up on the merchant's body.
Poor guy.
Then orange-haired woman knelt beside him and started digging with his bare hands.
I couldn't bear to watch.
I walked over to a nearby tree and casually used earth magic to dig a large hole.
Then I returned, grabbed the merchant by his still-intact leg, and tossed him into the pit. I threw the horse in as well before filling the grave.
The orange-haired woman stared at me in surprise.
I simply said,
"Don't bury the dead in the middle of a road people use. It's bad luck. Let's go."
"...Oh. Okay."
Still looking absent-minded, orange-haired woman slowly got to his feet and walked back to the wagon.
I felt annoyed.
How could anyone bury a dead person in the middle of a road? That was no way to respect the deceased. People would be stepping over him every day. Sooner or later he'd become a restless spirit.
It was now 1:39 p.m.
I sat inside the wagon, enjoying the scenery while the orange-haired woman took the reins.
The rest of the journey passed in silence.
Or rather, he simply didn't feel like talking.
Whenever I tried to start a conversation about our surroundings, he answered with silence.
Then the road ahead curved.
But his hands never moved.
"Hey! Watch the road!"
My shout made orange-haired woman flinch, and he hurriedly yanked the reins to make the horse turn.
"Wah!"
The turn was far too sharp and too sudden.
The wagon leaned dangerously to one side, lifting its opposite wheels off the ground.
I immediately threw myself toward the raised side and forced it back down.
Thankfully, the wagon didn't overturn.
"...That was close."
The orange-haired womang asped for breath. After calming down from the panic, they simply muttered,
"...Thank goodness."
I couldn't entrust my life to someone driving while distracted.
So I made up my mind to learn how to drive the wagon myself.
"Stop the wagon. I'll drive."
"Why?"
"Do you realize how exhausted you look? Was that the first time you've seen someone killed right in front of you?"
I had intended to use "you need some rest" as an excuse to switch places.
But the moment he turned toward me, revealing their pale face, I immediately understood.
They were still dwelling on the merchant's death.
"N-No... I've seen people die before. But... I keep imagining that I could end up being killed like that too. It makes me feel depressed... and anxious."
"You said you were an optimist. Why are you suddenly being so negative?"
My question made him blink in confusion.
"Huh...? Why am I looking at it so negatively?"
"How should I know? Just go rest and calm yourself down. I'll drive."
"Do you even know how?"
"It can't be that hard. The reins are just for steering."
"...That doesn't make me feel any better."
"..."
I fell silent.
Can an optimist really become this pessimistic?
The orange-haired woman had shown this gloomy side several times already.
The only conclusion I could reach was that he was not truly optimistic.
They were simply avoidance.
Fortunately, I got the hang of driving the wagon pretty quickly.
When the horse needed a break, we stopped in a forest where the trees still had green leaves.
Oddly enough, after I took over the driving, the orange-haired woman returned to acting exactly like before, as though the incident at the turn had never happened.
What a strange person.
Just then, a faint voice drifted through the quiet forest.
"...Help...!"
"Henry, did you hear someone calling for help?"
"I did. Let's go take a look."
My detection magic had already detected numerous life signatures to the south.
If someone was crying for help, then they were obviously in danger.
Ignoring it would weigh on my conscience.
The orange-haired woman and I headed south.
Soon we spotted a group of short, green-skinned creatures with pointed ears, pointed noses, and crude weapons.
"Goblins."
I didn't even need to think about who was crying for help.
It had to be a woman.
If it had been a man, he wouldn't have had the chance to cry for help at all.
Just like the male knights lying nearby in pools of blood.
After all, goblins capture women alive so they can take them back to breed.
Since they were monsters, I was going to save the victims.
I had just pulled my metal staff from my storage space and was about to step in when the orange-haired woman suddenly shoved me from behind.
"Henry! There are people over there! Hurry and save them!"
That attitude really irritated me.
Still, I rushed out first.
There was no point wasting time because I was annoyed.
There were two people who needed saving.
The goblins had split into two groups.
One group formed a circle.
The other stood in a line.
The one surrounded by goblins was an adult woman.
Her clothes had already been torn apart, and several goblins were assaulting her while she was forced onto all fours.
Even so, between humiliating cries, she desperately shouted,
"Leave... the young lady alone! Do... whatever you want... to me instead!"
That brought my attention to the goblins standing in line.
Their target was a little girl who couldn't have been more than twelve years old.
She hadn't been assaulted yet.
The goblins were slowly running their filthy hands all over her body, savoring her terror.
There was no question about who I should save first.
Of course it had to be the girl who hadn't been violated yet.
"N-No... please...! Somebody help me...!"
The goblins apparently decided they'd played with her long enough.
They violently tore open her clothes.
In the next instant, I appeared beside the first goblin and kicked it flying.
The goblins waiting in line were immediately swept away as I swung my metal staff hard across their heads.
Then I rushed toward the adult woman while the orange-haired woman led the little girl away.
"Little girl, are you okay? Can you stand?"
"WAAAAAHHH! I'm so scared...!"
The moment she was rescued, all the fear she'd been holding back burst free.
The lingering terror needed an outlet.
She broke down into loud, uncontrollable sobs.
After killing the goblins assaulting the woman, I tossed her my old tiger-hide coat that I no longer needed so she could cover herself.
I told her to leave immediately.
Then I turned back toward the goblins, whose hostility had now shifted entirely onto me after I'd interrupted them.