X - Final Leg to Boramgar [End of Arc One]

The morning mist still hung low over the damp meadows surrounding the stage station.

Dewdrops glittered on the fence posts, and from the stables out back came the soft whinnying of horses waiting to be fed.

Haku sat on a bench outside the station, her sword resting across her knees.

With calm, practiced movements, she drew the whetstone along the silver blade.

Shhhk. Shhhk. Shhhk.

Occasionally, she looked up at Pan, who was struggling to say goodbye to Sabbel.

The little girl and her father were continuing on to a different destination, and their connecting coach was already waiting in front of the station.

But Sabbel clung stubbornly to Pan, batting away every attempt she made to return the stuffed rabbit.

After watching them for a while, Haku turned back to her sword with a gentle smile.

Shhhk. Shhhk. Shhhk.

At last, the station door creaked open, and out stepped the coachman.

He sat down beside Haku and pulled out a pipe, which he began to fill without taking his eyes off the other coach.

“We’ll be ready to leave soon, too,” he said. “I asked the postmaster to let the fresh horses have another drink once they’re harnessed. Can’t be too careful in temperatures like these.”

“Mhm.”

Haku continued sharpening her blade.

Eventually, the other stagecoach was ready to depart.

Sabbel’s father gently pried her away from Pan and led her aboard.

A few moments later, the driver cracked his reins, and the coach began to roll away from the station.

Sabbel leaned out the window one last time, waving the stuffed rabbit at Pan until the coach disappeared down the road.

Pan braced her hands against her knees and let out an exhausted sigh.

“It truly is a stroke of luck to have adventurers like you as my passengers,” the coachman continued as he took the first few puffs from his pipe. “I don’t think we would’ve made it here without you.”

“Is the road to Boramgar always this dangerous?” Haku asked.

The coachman considered the question.

“Stagecoach work has never exactly been the safest trade in these parts. But these past few years...” He shook his head. “It’s been getting worse.”

He gestured toward the flat countryside with his pipe.

“Monsters. Bandits. Attacks are becoming more frequent. And after decades of war, Vadonia has neither the resources nor the will to make the roads safer. So us postillions are mostly left to fend for ourselves.”

Haku looked up.

“But what about the Adventurers’ Guild? Couldn’t you just hire escorts?”

“We’ve tried. Problem is, you never know what might attack you out here. Could be dire wolves. Could be a dragon. The Guild has to rank the quest for the worst reasonable possibility, which means hiring adventurers most coach services could never afford.”

He sighed and took another puff from his pipe.

“That’s one of the reasons fares have gotten so expensive.”

His gaze drifted to the triskelion pin Haku wore.

“Come to think of it, I believe this is the first time I’ve ever met a Diamond rank. May I ask who you are? What brings you to Boramgar?”

The scraping stopped abruptly, the whetstone resting motionless against her sword.

Haku put the stone away and ran a cloth along the sword before raising it to study her own reflection in the polished blade.

“My name is Hakucho. I’m traveling east to aid the Great Heroine in her battle against the Demon Emperor.”

The coachman lowered his pipe.

“Demon... Emperor? In the east?”

Haku nodded.

“So that’s how it is...” The coachman shook his head grimly. “Seems like this world simply can’t find peace. One war ends here, and another breaks out in some other land...”

With a sharp shiiing, Haku’s sword slid into its sheath.

She rose and smiled at the coachman.

“Don’t worry. This world, too, will come to know an age of peace. The Great Heroine will see to that.”

“The Great Heroine?” the coachman repeated, following her gaze. “You don’t mean...?”

Just then, the door opened again and the postmaster stepped outside: a huge, broad-shouldered man with arms like tree trunks and a bald head gleaming in the morning sun.

A warm, yeasty aroma wafted out through the open door behind him.

“So the stagecoach to Fjornhelm has already left? Damn it. I’ve only just finished a fresh batch of my famous pepperbites...”

His gaze fell on Haku, then on the coachman.

“What about you, Angulf? You and your passengers fancy a bite before you head on?”

Angulf considered it only briefly before shaking his head.

“We’re already running late as it is, and we shouldn’t fall any further behind schedule. So...”

“Is it free, mm?!”

No one had noticed Pan approaching, yet somehow she was suddenly standing right in their midst.

“How did she...?” Angulf muttered, while the postmaster gave Pan a quick once-over.

“For passengers with a valid ticket it’s free. But...”

Before he could finish, Pan had already slipped past him and darted into the station.

“Don’t mmph-worry!” Pan called back, her mouth already full. “I’ve got a mmph-ticket!”

Almost simultaneously, every head turned toward Haku.

She gave them a sheepish smile and quietly unfolded her map, studying it without any apparent hurry.

“Seems our departure may be delayed a little longer...”

***

Two days later, they departed the last stage station for the final leg of their journey.

By now, Haku and Pan were the only passengers left and had the entire stagecoach to themselves.

Pan took full advantage of the extra space, stretching out along the bench with her head resting comfortably in Haku’s lap.

“Finally I can stretch out...” she murmured.

Her eyes drifted shut.

Within minutes, her breathing had become soft and even.

But her nap came to an abrupt end when the coach jolted violently.

With a whump, Pan tumbled off the bench.

“Ughn... what was that? Another attack, mm?”

Before she could get up, the coach jolted again.

“My apologies!” Angulf called from the driver’s bench. “The road gets a little rougher from here on out!”

“A little rougher?!” Pan groaned as she dragged herself back up. “I’m about to lose my breakfast, mm!”

Even Haku was struggling now. Each time she tried to trace their route on the map, another jolt sent her finger sliding somewhere else entirely.

Curious, the two of them poked their heads out.

The battered road carried them through a harsh valley hemmed in by rugged mountains.

Beyond a few stubborn shrubs and ferns clinging to the roadside, there was little but dry earth, bare rock, and scree.

“This place is a complete wasteland. I wonder what the people here even eat? Doesn’t look like much grows around here...”

“In similar places I’ve visited, the inhabitants generally relied on animal products where fertile land was scarce,” Haku replied.

Pan wrinkled her nose.

“Is there actually anything you haven’t seen?”

Haku rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

“Hmm. Let me think...”

Then, as they rounded the next bend, her eyes suddenly lit up.

“That.”

Pan followed her gaze.

Haku leaned a little farther out the window.

“I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

Pan’s eyes widened.

“Wow...” she breathed.

A city lay before them.

It had been built into the face of a colossal cliff that rose several hundred paces above the valley. Walls, towers, and broad terraces followed the natural shape of the rock, making it difficult to tell which parts had been carved from the mountain and which had been built onto it.

Slender towers with copper spires rose above domes tiled in turquoise and dark blue. Wide stairways connected the different levels, passing beneath arches and between heavy stone pillars.

But unlike the barren land around it, the city was green.

Gardens filled the larger terraces, some of them wide enough for groves of trees. Below, narrow fields climbed the lower slopes in tiers supported by low stone walls.

After hours of traveling through rock and dust, the sight seemed almost unreal.

“Guess we won’t have to go without vegetables after all, mm...” Pan remarked, looking at the gardens.

Water flowed through open channels beside the streets and emerged again on the levels below. Bronze pipes carried it across gaps in the rock, while narrow waterfalls spilled from terrace to terrace.

“Incredible...” Haku murmured.

For some reason, seeing that look of genuine wonder on Haku’s face made Pan smile.

So there really are things she hasn’t seen before.

As the coach rattled onward, Boramgar grew larger with every turn of the wheels.

At last, the enormous main gate came into view.

Their coach slowed and joined the long line of wagons waiting to enter.

Angulf glanced back at them with a smile.

“Well then, here we are. Welcome to Boramgar!”