Chapter 44: Problems

Problems? White-haired spoke about problems. Complications, he had said, to be more specific. "From now on there might be certain complications on the road. It is likely. But we should be fine following the main path. Maybe." That was precisely what he said. So far, so good. Our journey had been going smoothly without any complications whatsoever.

The carriage hadn't encountered any problem either. The elf worried about its durability, but the creaky box could still go all right. The wheels were still spinning around. And the atmosphere was just calm. Oh, that might not be entirely true, however.

"Aargh!" "Hyah!" And many other cries. Those sounds White-haired had branded 'shouts'. "Fus roh dah!" Yes. Shouts.

The shouts were heard coming from deep through the woods. People were still battling, remarked White-haired. The elf was a sharp man when it came to judging things and situations right. His appraisal was that the war was still raging after so long due to two reasons: The late Elven Kingdom became a land of no laws after the defeat they suffered.

And also, word was that a conflict between a neighboring human kingdom and a little country of demi-humans - the cursed races according to some human dogma - had finally hatched. That conflict was just at our border. Naturally then, the conflict extended a little throughout the forest.

People are still battling, I thought. Battle, huh. Battling sounds like fun. I want to battle too. Though I can't. White-haired says I can't fight. That I'm just stuck and trapped in his sorry little chariot. And that there was no escape for me. That's too bad, really.

Of course fighting was fun. When you fought, you affirmed your might against your enemies. And what was might again? It was one's right to live. To live and to do whatever one wanted, really. Thinking I'd just have to ask the old man to take me to a fight or something when we met back, I decided to be patient.

The shouts wouldn't stop. Aside from these shouts that we could faintly hear, far away in the distance every now and then, it was pretty much calm though. Our chariot was calm too. I mean, the horses were. As they knew what they were doing, the horses, as long as they weren't afraid, the passage was totally safe. Probably.

They sure were silent, however. Just like the carriage too. Was my chariot hushing its creaky whispers because it was afraid? That didn't bode well! And as it didn't bode well, we were sure to be caught up in the fight then, I reflected. That was good news to me. But well, maybe those were only my fantasies, you know. Maybe the carriage hushed his creaking thanks to the road here. Unlike the others so far, this one path was neat and well-kept. White-haired called it one of the main roads. The path wasn't bumpy and messy around here. The creaky chariot didn't creak and squeak, then.

Traveling upon that main road was different from what we had had up until now. "Following that path," White-haired had said, "we will be nearing the Forest's core quicker. After reaching it, we will have to travel on foot, due to the traditions, until we reach the Forest's Guardians, may the Forest protect them." The Dryads were referred to as Guardians. When mentioning their great name, it was always deemed good to send peace their way. 'May the Forest protect them,' or something, people would say. These Forest's Sisters; we were nearing them. They were probably the final goal (of the quest) so it was good news.

Today, I lost the count. Was it five or six days? Today, I was around one-week-old. From day one to this day, approximately seven suns had shone down on me. As I mentioned, White-haired spoke of complications along the road. We were going through the forest, and the battling shouts never stopped and always rang. Over and over again. In quick little successions, like they were all part of a bigger chorus following precise orders from the chorister, neither straying from the intended symphony nor daring to stop the singing.

They didn't grow weaker either. Quite the contrary, let me tell you. The chorus was enchanted by its own voice. So much so that the shouts of the sorrowful symphony only grew stronger and nearer. The two elves were on edge. And I stuck my head out the window, neatly scrutinizing the wasteland for warriors and action. The horses kept strolling along the road as they gave me more forest to observe. I wasn't all that bored, all things considered. And with these shouts ringing out, I so much wanted to get a sight of what was happening out here. Like I said, to me the monster, war sure was fun and exciting.

This is where I was born and belonged. People were obviously cutting other people down out there, but I wanted to see it with my own two eyes. Mana Perception couldn't help me with that, unfortunately. I mean, it could, but I would NOT drop my guards around these two. If I spaced out, who knew what they would pull? I was especially concerned about Hideous. At any rate, I consoled myself thinking I wanted to see the battle through my eyes and not any other means. It could only feel real through eyes.

Oh, but, I thought. The cries I was hearing just now though... why did they stop? Hmm. I can only be wary of that. That's... suspicious, to say the least. And so they stopped? How utterly boring.

Though I was against it—oh so firmly against it—the war's symphony was brought to an end. Both the elves sighed in relief. I couldn't do anything to make the shouts not stop, so I didn't blame myself for it. They just stopped anyway. Losing any hope of seeing some super-entertaining and powerful battle movements performed right in front of my eyes, I sat my butt back on my seat. White-haired sat in front of me. Seeing I was disappointed, he tried to cheer me up with a smile. Ever since said cries of war were audible for us to hear, he was stressed. That was natural. "No more shouts, huh," I uttered. "Bummer."

Yes, it was boring. Dull. Annoying. Overly monotonous. Lacking interest. Just like most of the traveling we accomplished with the two elves. I thought of it that way. It had been days now, and it was as long as ever. And I could only complain about the dull monotony of a peaceful life because... I didn't know what was about to happen.

Did I? I did absolutely not. As unfortunate or lucky as it may have been, I was wrong about it being monotonous. So, in the end, it wasn't all that boring. The atmosphere was so calm and dull. Some super cool stuff was about to go down. Mr. Creaky Chariot and the elves had no way of knowing what would happen. We were all equally ignorant, here. But Mr. Creaky was different. Mr. Creaky was ignorant, too, but he wouldn't also come out of this in one piece. Mr. Creaky was about to die. He was directly on the frontline—

"Aaargh!" "Wooo!" From either side of the road, two groups of people rushed out of their hiding places. The bushes ruffled and shook as the two groups were leaping at each other's throats. "B-Battling shouts!" My eyes lit up and sparkled. "Th-They came back!" A beaming slime washed over my face. As hurriedly as excitedly, I tried to get a look at them. Both groups didn't stop. A second ago they were facing each other, but right now the two clouds of warriors blended together into a bigger stormy cloud. Thunderous roars resonated. The sight was awesome.

The shouts didn't stop, then. That was really exhilarating, but it wasn't all. The live fighting taking place a demi-dozen meters away was now so real I could see it. The elves reacted slower than I'd have thought. It was only then that White-haired barked at Hideous to hold on to the horses tight. We had to stop, and quickly. It seemed to me I was the only guy hyped about the fight in my group.