They left the village the next morning.
Not because anything went wrong—nothing did—but because staying would mean repeating the same conversations with different villagers, and I refuse to write that.
The road curved east, toward a town with a name that would matter later. For now, it was simply the next one.
Kazuto walked in front, sword at his side. Lira followed, alert but relaxed. Selene trailed behind, clutching her staff with both hands, her thick glasses catching the light and obscuring her eyes almost entirely.
She nearly tripped over a rock.
"I'm fine," she said immediately.
She was not fine, I noted. But we're letting it go.
"So," Kazuto said, breaking the silence, "we're… adventurers now?"
"Yes," Lira said. "Functionally."
Selene nodded. "Temporarily."
Kazuto frowned. "Temporarily?"
Selene adjusted her glasses. "Until the narrative clarifies my role."
At least she's honest, I said.
They encountered a signpost.
One arrow pointed forward.
Another pointed back.
A third pointed off into the woods and had clearly been added later, reading:
⚠ DANGER — STRONG MONSTERS — DO NOT GO
Kazuto slowed. "…That seems important."
"It's a warning," Lira said. "Which means it's optional."
Selene peered at it, squinting. "I can't read it from here."
Kazuto read it aloud.
"Oh," Selene said. "Then we definitely shouldn't go that way."
They did not go that way.
See? Progress, I said. Good decisions can happen.
By midday, they reached a crossroads with a small outpost—barely a town, more like a place pretending to be one. A notice board stood near the well.
Kazuto scanned it.
No missing cats.
No slimes.
One notice remained.
Escort Requested — Merchant Caravan — To Westbridge
"That's new," Kazuto said.
Lira nodded. "Escort quests mean travel. Travel means plot movement."
Selene tilted her head. "It also means ambush probability."
"Yes," Lira said. "But predictable ones."
Kazuto hesitated. "Is that… good?"
Predictable danger is the only kind you survive long-term, I said.
They accepted the job.
The merchant was exactly what you'd expect.
Middle-aged. Anxious. Already talking too much.
"You'll protect us, yes? Bandits have been active lately. Monsters too. And last week—"
"Yes," Lira said firmly.
The caravan set out.
Nothing attacked them.
Not in the first hour.
Not in the second.
Kazuto relaxed slightly.
Don't, I warned.
"I didn't say anything," he muttered.
Selene suddenly cleared her throat. "If something does happen, I'll need time."
"Yes," Kazuto said. "We know."
"Several seconds," she added.
"…We know."
"And quiet."
Lira smiled. "We'll handle it."
Selene nodded, reassured.
She trusts you far too much, I observed.
Near dusk, the road narrowed.
The bushes rustled.
Kazuto tensed.
A figure stepped out.
Just one.
A bandit, poorly armed, visibly uncertain.
He looked at the caravan.
At Kazuto.
At Lira.
At Selene, who was already whispering the opening clause of a spell under her breath.
"…Nope," the bandit said, and ran.
Silence followed.
"…Was that it?" Kazuto asked.
"Yes," Lira said. "That was it."
Selene stopped whispering. "Oh. I was on line three."
Tragic, I said. Truly.
They reached Westbridge after dark.
Lights. Walls. A real town.
Kazuto exhaled. "We made it."
"Yes," Lira said. "We progressed."
Selene nodded. "Geographically."
And that's enough for one chapter, I decided.