Travelling by ox is convenient, yet nauseating

As we weave through the narrow paths on the hills, the occasional pleasant swaying of the carriage has made way for bouncing and shaking. According to Henry, we will be stuck on this hellish ride for about five hours, then let the ox rest for an hour... And then we return to hell again. I sure as hell hope the five hours are almost over. My behind hurts from all the bouncing, and my stomach doesn't seem to enjoy the ride either.

We finally get to leave this place! I thought I was going to die in that wooden thing! I suppose it does make for a lot quicker movement than on foot. My injured quads would for sure hold us back a lot if we had to move on foot. I should be grateful to the ox for its service, yet I can't help feeling like the thing is intentionally going over every single piece of rock that sticks up out of the ground!

When I see the way Henry cares for his ox, I can't bring myself to actually believe it would intentionally cause us any discomfort. As he takes care of the ox, there's no way one could guess he has been keeping his eyes on the road for hours on end. He seems refreshed and is super energetic. He's talking to the one-ton beast as if it's a small lapdog, as Leo checks for injury.

"Good boy! I know these roads are a bit hard on you, so our friend Leo is gonna check all of your legs real quick, okay?"

"Can you ask him to raise his left front leg?"

"Come on, Clover, up!"
As Henry taps the leg, the bovine raises it, as if it understands human speech.

"All good, the knee looked a bit weird there, but I think it was just the angle."

Curiosity takes over. They seem to be right around finished with the examination of 'Clover', so I don't think I'm bothering them.
"Why is such a behemoth of a beast named after such a tiny plant?"

"It's honestly quite a simple story. I once forgot to tie this big boy to a tree when we went for one of our first hunts. When we returned, he was nowhere to be found. After looking for a couple of hours, we found him grazing on some clover in a nearby meadow. He really seems to like clover, so I decided to name him Clover."

Leo comes over to eat his dinner after finishing the examination, Henry takes a while longer to brush his ox after guiding Clover to a nearby creek.
It's astounding how careful and gentle he is with the beast, as if it were a child.

As Henry finally joins the rest of us on break, he eats his portion of seasonal soup and rice within ten minutes, then goes to sleep. The rest of the group soon follows suit. I might as well join. Because of the state of the road, I haven't been able to rest much while we were on the move.

After one more cycle of five hours on the road, we get to rest for a long time, traveling on uneven terrain in the dark is asking for trouble, more so if you're in a massive cart pulled by an ox.

The next day, we leave the hills for the lowland plains as we approach the river. The river is massive, but unlike the sea, I can see the other side clearly in the distance. The ox is at least as excited as I am to see the river. We can finally refill our waterskins again, we couldn't before because the stream we passed earlier was too shallow. Clover finally gets to drink properly as well. The more I look at the creature, the more I can see why Henry treats it like an oversized lapdog. The way it gets all excited over a river or a handful of clover is pretty endearing.

The journey next to the river was all smooth sailing, because there was no altitude difference. We're no longer bouncing against the ceiling, and Clover also doesn't have to rest as often.
We make it to our destination in no time, but we have to swing by the local lord's palace first. With fire or frost magic beasts, it is very easy to track them, as they leave clear signs, like entire fields being frozen or burnt. A creature using electricity does not really have as much of a footprint on the landscape, but the lord probably knows the location it was last seen, which will make it a lot easier to find something like hoof marks, damaged shrubs, or other things to start tracking.

Thomas taps me on the shoulder for a little talk before we leave the carriage and enter the mansion we parked in front of.

"Francis, remember how I told you to talk to us more casually? That only applies if it's just us. When there are other samurai or important government people around, you have to make sure not to interrupt them, and if they're important government officials, also bow when we enter, until they tell us to raise our heads."

"And this guy we're meeting is one of those important government officials?"

"Sort of, Mr. Wolfe's daughter managed to get married to a direct subject of the emperor, so he kind of thinks himself quite important, and being rude towards him could also effectively cause a bad impression of us within the top levels of society."

"Any chance I can just wait in the carriage?"

"That would be one way to anger him, giving him the impression that an audience with him is not important enough for all of us to go there."

"I see, I will do my best to behave adequately, but don't get your hopes up."

"You don't have to act like high society, if you at least give the impression of trying to speak respectfully towards him, as well as behave respectfully around him, that's all I can ask for."

August scoffs. I suppose he does not quite agree and thinks having me with them is bound to cause trouble.
I'll show him I can do at least half-decently. Thomas put his faith in me, and I don't plan on disappointing him anytime soon.