Road trip

Ami yawned as we stood before the counter at the guild. "Why'd you wake me up so early, hag?"

"Because you two have been requested by name. You're both familiar with Duchess Twin D' Tal, yes?" Slavena smiled.

"From the perfume request?" I asked.

"Yes. It seems she wishes for you both to guard her as she travels to Sto to pitch her new perfume to the stores there."

"It didn't work out here?"

"You'll have to ask her the details yourself."

We both shrugged and followed Slavena to one of the backrooms where we were greeted by the duchess herself, seated comfortably on one of the room's two couches.

"Hello there. Please, make yourselves comfortable," Tal smiled.

Me and Ami plopped down on the couch across from her. "So how's the perfume going?"

"Mixed. My offer was rejected here in town, so I'm going to try going store by store, province by province to try and get it on the shelves," Tal sighed.

"Why'd it get rejected?"

"They said it was too similar to a new brand they just put out."

Ami slowly shifted her gaze away. It was probably her new grass perfume that did it.

"And so, I plan to go for the next big population center of Sto. However, as I'm but a single woman, I need to hire guards who I know are capable, and of course, that I can trust. You both fit the bill, so, care to take up this job as adventurers? I'll pay handsomely."

I turned to Ami. I wouldn't mind doing this, but we're a team now. We both gotta agree to it, otherwise, what's the point.

"Sure. In fact, I think I could get us to Sto in under 15 minutes maybe," Ami shrugged.

"Are you referring to flying? When you left my estate the other day, I saw a glimpse of you two flying... I'd kindly ask you to refrain from such acts," Tal smiled.

I nodded my head in agreement.

"I could make gems that prevent motion-"

"Ami, the client says, no," Slavena angrily smiled.

"Ugh, fine. Horse n' carriage it is!"

"Perfect. My wares are already loaded in a wagon out front. If you're both ready, we shall depart immediately."

Making our way outside, we were greeted with a simple wooden wagon with a door on the back and a large coach seat. I'm honestly surprised it's this small and basic-looking, but I'm not going to say that out loud. Considering what the Yenta sisters said happened to Tal's family, she's probably holding a lot on her shoulders.

"I apologize, but the interior of the wagon is packed to the brim with perfume as well as some of my other necessities. That means we'll all have to ride on the coach's seat," Tal smiled as she climbed up and took hold of the reins. 

"You're gonna drive?" I gasped. 

"Why yes, I don't have a single servant so naturally, I have to drive the horses, unless of course either of you two has more experience." 

I looked at Ami. "Tch, let's just hop on," she grumbled. 

A few minutes later, we had passed through Traditsye's east gate and on our way to Sto. 

"You sure you don't mind getting smushed between us here? I can just float alongside you or lounge atop the carriage," Ami shrugged.

"In the former, you'd be expending energy. In the latter, you'd risk collapsing the wagon's roof," Tal chuckled.

"Oi, I look heavy to you?"

"My apologies, I meant no offense, it's just I'm not sure how sturdy the wagon truly is, and don't feel like testing it now. For as I've stacked it full of perfume crates, even a slight sinking of the roof could break a bottle, which would lead to things getting rather messy inside."

Ami let out a sigh and leaned back. "At least the coach's seat can fit three thin girls."

"True. Though my dress does take up quite a bit of leg space. Are you both fine?"

"I'm managing," I nervously smiled as I held my legs together as tightly as I could.

With how dirty the bottoms of my sneakers were, the last thing I wanted was to get that dirt on Tal's dress.

"Don't tense up so much, LaNorne. She said it's fine so if you step on her dress-"

"Ah, my apologies, but I would prefer not to have my dress dirtied should we make stops along the way as it could effect my reputation," Tal nervously smiled.

Ami's smile vanished as she began squeezing her legs together just like I was. This was going to be a very awkward trip.

From what I can remember from the map Ami showed me, Sto is located at Blintz's north east edge, in the top middle of Loew Province. Aside from what Ami told me about it being the second most populous city in the country, all I've heard of Sto is that it's supposedly the golem capital of the nation, and even the origin point of the golem itself.

I'm kind of curious to see what it's like, but since it's about 3 hours away by carriage according to Ami, it's gonna be one long awkward trip if we're stuck scrunching up in order to keep Tal's dress clean.

"Ugh, I can't take this. How about I cast a spell on your dress to keep dirt off it?" Ami groaned.

"My apologies, but I want to make a good first impression when I meet with the shopkeepers, and if my dress were to be coated in magic, I feel that might give off the wrong impression," Tal smiled.

"How could-"

"I get it. Just thought I'd ask, since there's no way I can keep scrunching up my legs like this," Ami sighed.

"I do apologize for that. Oh, what if I were to slide to one of the far sides? I'll still be able to drive the horses, and it would give you two more leg room," Tal giggled.

"Well, hey, if you're offering..."

Tal nodded and cracked the reigns, brining the horses to a stop. "Though we haven't gone far, perhaps taking a little stretch break is in order. Shall we say... 10 minutes?"

"Don't you have an appointment?" I asked.

"Oh, not one on a strict timetable. My letter simply said I'd be arriving with my wares within the week. After all, if we encounter shops on the way, why not try and sell my wares to them too?"

"Talk about lenient. Welp, think I'll relax since I didn't get enough sleep," Ami yawned as she leapt of the coach's seat and hovered over to a nice patch of grass before laying down and pulling her hat over her face.

"Don't go to far now, if you decide to wander around," Tal smiled as I hopped down to the ground.

"No worries, think I might just lounge in the grass too," I smiled back.

Rumble!

"Uh, after a snack or too maybe."