Chapter 51: Oasis Town,Maija

Shortly after, Claris-san completely regained consciousness.

She was able to get her breathing in order and there were no issues with her memories when we talked to her.

Seems like not much time has passed since she lost consciousness.

「...As expected, isn't this too convenient? This timing...」 (Tobi)

「...Don't say it. It's probably set by the game...」 (Hind)

While Tobi and I were whispering between each other, she was currently gulping down the water we had given her.

I heard that it's dangerous to drink water really fast while you are dehydrated though...but since she hasn't lost consciousness for long, it's probably fine.

Just in case, I had put some salt into it.

「Puhah, thank you very much...Hind-sama.」 (Claris)

「So, what happened? Why were you alone here?」 (Hind)

「That's...」 (Claris)

From what Claris-san told us, it seems like she was heading towards a town in the desert with a certain caravan.

However, they were attacked by a large number of monsters in the middle of their journey and the caravan dispersed.

Since Claris-san wasn't used to riding on top of a camel, she fell off her camel while trying to run away and lost consciousness.

Given that we can't see her camel anywhere, it probably ran away.

「That is unfortunate.」 (Hind)

「I'm glad that I wasn't attacked by monsters while I had lost consciousness. I'm really grateful, everyone.」 (Claris)

「Don't worry about it! Right, Hind!?」 (Yumir)

「Ah, yup. Claris-san definitely has good luck.」 (Hind)

The monsters that attacked the caravan were snakes that had a deadly poison called 「Horn viper」.

Though according to Claris-san, they are monsters that you don't normally see around this area...

「I heard that they failed to kill their leader this year, but to think that they would appear as a group in the Yabilga desert.

「At this rate, it will be difficult to get to the royal capital Waaha...」 (Claris)

O-Oh!? Seems like important information is coming out from Claris-san's mouth.

This is weird.

Even though there were rumours that NPCs had restrictions on the information they gave.

I thought that they would basically not tell the names of towns you haven't reached yet...but she said royal capital Waaha?

「By the way Claris-san, what's the name of the town closest to here?」 (Hind)

「Yes? It's Maija, there's an oasis there.

「Aren't you all heading there now?」 (Claris)

「O-Oh...Claris-san, excuse us for a moment.

「We have something to discuss so take a moment to relax over there.」 (Hind)

「Eh? I-I understand...」 (Claris)

We gathered while facing away from Claris-san.

Given the conversation just now, everyone had already noticed how peculiar she was.

First off, Riizu opened her menu and checked the map.

「...Right after she mentioned the name, the name is being displayed on the map now.

「Seems like the system takes proper action when we obtain information from her.」 (Riizu)

「...What I can think of is that one of the reasons is because she's an NPC that travels long distances.

「Other than that, there's the possibility of it being because her job is peddler.」 (Hind)

「There's one more! She has affection for Hind...

「...In other words, Hind's likability with her is higher than with other NPCs!」 (Yumir)

「Yumir-dono is giving a decent opinion...!?」 (Tobi)

「It's true that Claris-san only calls Hind-kun by his name.」 (Selene)

Because Tobi had said something unnecessary, Yumir drew her sword and was currently chasing him, but let's leave that aside for now.

We are still not sure if we are right, but since we are already at this point, we thought that it would be better to hear more.

「Sorry to keep you waiting, Claris-san.

「We'll accompany you to Maija.」 (Hind)

「Really!? Please do so.

「Even though it's a short distance from here, I'm really bad at fighting.」 (Claris)

「In that case, please use my camel.

「I'll take care of the reins so it's fine if you just get on it.」 (Hind)

「Eh? But in that case Hind-sama will have to walk...」 (Claris)

「It's fine. It's not that far from here after all.」 (Hind)

「Yes...」 (Claris)

The rest of the party were already riding theirs.

There wasn't enough space in the camel so I carried her big backpack myself.

I pushed Claris-san's back and helped her get on the camel-

「In that case, let's ride it together! That will be fine!」 (Claris)

「Huh?」 (Hind)

Having decided that, she was being quite pushy about it yet her manner of speaking was cunning.

She didn't let me argue against her and before I noticed, I was riding the camel with Claris-san.

This is so weird...oddly enough, I don't think I can win against her words.

It's even at the point where I can't say anything back.

I wonder why it's like that? Claris-san, who was sitting in front of me, leaned her weight on me as if she was relieved.

The camel continued walking as if there was no difference in the weight it was carrying on its back.

You, you are quite strong...

「Like this, we won't fall behind the others in speed, right!?」 (Claris)

「Y-You are right...haha...」 (Hind)

I'm so scared that I'm unable to turn around.

I can still feel their presence behind me, but no one has uttered a word for some time now.

They were all silent and the air around us turned heavy.

Now that I think about it, this game doesn't have a chat log.

There's no party chat, guild chat and even personal chat doesn't exist.

Since this is a VR game, the intention was to make use of this chance to have people speak directly with each other.

That is why for long distance communication or when you don't want others to hear what you are talking about, these are done through mails.

Basically, what I want to say is that...shortly after I got on top of the camel with Claris-san, I've been hearing the ringtone of mails.

I might get a headache from this *piropiropiro* sound.

The culprits are probably Yumir and Riizu.

I get the feeling they are being at least considerate enough to not hurt the likability I have with Claris-san, but I might lose it before that happens.

Even though this should be a happy situation where I'm riding the camel with a beautiful woman, but somehow the journey was far more painful.

『Oasis town, Maija』 seems to be the name of this town.

Like the name indicates, it was a town that spread out with a rich oasis at its center.

It seems like it was developed as a stopping point for travellers to stay in while they transported their merchandise...that was what Claris-san explained.

The houses were made of earth and bricks and the flames illuminating the place gave it a calm atmosphere.

By the time we reached the town it had turned completely dark.

「...Ah!? Hey, lady from the empire! Over here! I'm glad that you are safe!」

「Ah, Amin-san! Hind-sama, that person is the leader of the caravan I was travelling with.」 (Claris)

Soon after we got off our camels in the entrance, someone talked to Claris-san.

The owner of the voice was a man with a good physique and he came closer to us while having armed women and men guarding him.

From his looks, I guess he's a merchant...a wealthy one at that.

I wanted to go and let the camels drink some water so I told Claris-san that we would split here.

If we are lucky, we'll probably see her again.

I gave her luggage back and grasped the reins to make the camel head towards the oasis.

「Please wait, Hind-sama! Everyone too! I want to thank you all for saving me, so can you all come to the inn called Desert's Owl Pavillion later?」 (Claris)

「Ah, eh...」 (Hind)

「Hind-kun.」 (Selene)

「...Yes. We'll visit the place later.」 (Hind)

「Really!? In that case, I'll wait for you in the inn!」 (Claris)

Because of my reply, Claris-san sends us off with a delighted face.

The way Selene-san talked to me implied she was trying to say that 「It's better if you take her up on her offer」.

It's true that I was unable to get much information because I was being bombarded by mail and the chances of a quest happening if we keep in touch is higher.

Though I think it would be a bit shameless since we only picked her up and no monsters appeared in the middle of our journey.

Leaving that aside, the biggest problem I have right now is-

「「...」」 (Riizu and Yumir)

「So scary...ah, I didn't say anything! I'm begging you, please don't look at me like that!」 (Tobi)

Dealing with Riizu and Yumir who were currently glaring at me.