The Apothecary Diaries: Volume 10 [Parts 1 to 7] by Natsu Hyuuga

Author:Natsu Hyuuga
Language: eng
Format: epub

Their journey was quiet after that.

I thought there might be more bugs. Oh well.

There were a few; they were traveling across the plains, after all. It was hardly a swarm, though; she just spotted a grasshopper popping through the grass now and then.

Maybe we didn’t have to worry about a plague after all? If there weren’t tons of grasshoppers in the western capital, well, nothing could be better.

About the time they reached the next resting point, they caught up with Lahan’s Brother and his potatoes. For reasons Maomao couldn’t guess, there was a duck atop the horse pulling the wagon, quacking out orders.

“Jofu! You’re here too?”

“Quack!”

The moment the duck saw Basen, it flapped down off the horse’s head. Its eyes seemed to sparkle, and Maomao would have sworn she saw a blizzard of flower petals behind it.

“I tried to leave it at the mansion, but it insisted on coming with,” Lahan’s Brother said. Maomao was the one who had originally foisted the duck on him, so she couldn’t really complain.

“I have to admit, I’ve grown quite fond of it,” Lahan’s Brother said, clearly smitten. “It’s very intelligent—and very helpful. It gladly eats bugs.”

“Sounds like you had a nice, quiet trip,” Maomao said. Some people obviously hadn’t encountered any bandits.

“What? You’ve always been peevish, but now you’re downright prickly.”

She took exception to Lahan’s Brother’s tone, but nonetheless she decided to indulge him with an explanation of what had happened. “We were attacked by bandits.”

“They really have those out here?” Lahan’s Brother asked, the blood draining from his face.

Ahh! Now that’s how a normal person would react. As she savored Lahan’s Brother’s response she looked at Chue, who had seemed unconcerned by the attack. Chue had seemed downright used to being threatened by criminals, or at the very least unsurprised. Like this was all somehow part of the plan.

Lahan’s Brother’s party consisted of one wagon full of cargo, Lahan’s Brother himself, two sturdy-looking soldiers for guards, three farmers probably there to help, as well as two local guides. And one duck.

Maomao was no logistician, but two guides seemed like one more than they needed. Maybe one of them was supposed to be with us? Come to think of it, Chue had dodged her question about having a local guide.

They set off again after this second break. It turned out the village was very close. Modest houses were arranged on either side of a river, the surrounding area peppered with trees and farm fields. There was a gently sloping mountain behind the village, but unlike the mountains Maomao knew, it looked as if the grassy plain had simply risen up into a hill. The little white spots she saw were probably sheep. The black ones, maybe oxen. Judging by the number of houses, there couldn’t be more than three hundred people in this village.

As they approached, they were greeted by lowing oxen. Some of the sheep were still fluffy, while others were recently shorn. It was right in the middle of shearing season.

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