"Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho..."

Cherry dashed sideways along the mountain slope with absurd cries. It was ridiculous, but Erica insisted he do it if he wanted to fill their stomachs.

"Cherry-sama, you're doing great!" Erica's encouraging voice reached him from afar.

"Erica" was Elsula's new name. She had chosen it for their journey ahead, a fresh start. It wasn't exactly an alias; it seemed to be Erica's birth name. Apparently, she had been using a false name while serving Asuka, but now she decided to revert to her original name.

As for Cherry, he had comfortable chosen "Cherry" as his new alias instead of his real name, Ichiro. It was a simple moniker given to him by Erica during his time of imprisonment but Erica praised him, saying it was a common girls name found everywhere, and Asuka's pursuers wouldn't recognize it. In fact, since they started traveling together, Erica had been praising him excessively for everything he did.

It was a little embarrassing.

In any case, "Erica" and "Cherry" were their new names. Officially, Cherry was the master, and Erica was his sex slave and attendant. However, when it came to deciding their route, securing food, preparing their sleeping arrangements, or anything else, Cherry couldn't give any instructions and was completely useless.

He simply followed Erica's lead.

And what he was doing now was running sideways along the mountain slope, letting out silly cries.

Erica, meanwhile, was positioned a short distance away on the lower slope, her small bow drawn.

Just as he was starting to feel a bit desperate in his running, Erica's voice called out from below, instructing him to come down. Cherry slowly descended the slope.

About half a month had passed since they escaped the Lourdes Forest.

Cherry and Erica were now in a forested area known as the Natal Forest Region.

They were quite far from Asuka Castle, where Cherry had been summoned to this world. To avoid Asuka's pursuit, they had taken paths less traveled, avoiding areas close to Asuka Castle, and keeping the Kes River, a large river, on their right as they headed east. They were now near the territory of a large country called the Halondor Kingdom.

Their destination was that very kingdom.

It was a multi-racial nation inhabited not only by the three main races of this world - humans, elves, and dwarves - but also by various minority demi-human races. The kingdom also welcomed many immigrants, such as adventurers and mercenaries.

That's where they were headed.

It was a large country with a sizable population. Erica believed that Cherry and she would easily blend into the sea of people there, effectively hiding from Asuka's pursuit.

To their relief, there had been no sign of Asuka's pursuers during this past half month, as they had initially feared. It seemed likely that they would be able to enter Halondor without any problems.

However, there was one problem.

It seemed that they had to pay an entry tax to enter Halondor.

Not only that, but as they traveled within the kingdom's territory, they would also need to pay tolls at checkpoints along the main roads. Entering castles would incur a head tax. Staying at inns would require money. And to become adventurers, which seemed like the easiest way for immigrants to earn a living, they would need to pay membership fees to the Adventurers' Guild.

In short, they needed money.

But they had none.

Both Cherry and Erica had literally fled from Asuka with nothing but the clothes on their backs. They had only the clothes, minimal equipment, and weapons Yggdra had given them when they left the Lourdes Forest.

Therefore, they had to somehow acquire some money before entering the Halondor Kingdom.

Their only valuable possession was Erica's long, golden hair, which she had discarded along with her name, Elsula. As part of their escape from Asuka, Erica had cut off her waist-length hair at shoulder level to change her appearance as much as possible.

Cherry had been surprised, but Erica had laughed it off, saying that it was easier to move around and felt refreshing.

Erica with short hair looked quite different, but she was still remarkably beautiful and adorable. When he told her so, she blushed so deeply that he was taken aback, but then she wore a happy expression.

Anyway, that cut hair was still in their luggage, as it could be sold to a merchant for some money.

However, they hadn't encountered any peddlers or the like yet. In fact, they had been avoiding human settlements throughout their journey, so they hadn't met any humans at all.

Until now, their priority had been to avoid Asuka's pursuit, but now they had to start venturing into human settlements and find ways to secure travel funds.

Erica seemed to have a plan for that.

Cherry descended the slope and arrived at the spot where Erica was waiting. It was a small clearing with few trees.

Erica had already built a bonfire there.

Two rabbits had been skinned and were skewered on branches, already roasting over the flames.

She must be using magic, but her swift and skillful movements were truly befitting of a hunting elf. Her dexterity was simply astounding.

Her small bow, along with their other belongings, was placed next to the bonfire.

"As always, you're amazing, Erica. Rabbit tonight, huh?" Cherry exclaimed.

"Since childhood, we elves are thoroughly trained in hunting. Through that, we hone our skills with bows, swords, and magic. Hunting rabbits is one of the first hunting techniques we learn as children. Today, since Cherry-sama was with me, I used the method I learned as a child for the first time in a while," Erica said, stopping momentarily in her rounds around the bonfire and smiling at Cherry as he approached.

Erica was currently using magic to spread a scent that repelled wild animals throughout the area. At night, beasts that might attack humans could appear. This was to prevent that.

She seemed to have also set up some sort of magical trap that would alert them in advance if there were any unnatural magical movements in the vicinity.

Otherwise, Erica would have to stay awake all night to keep watch.

In any case, it seemed that she had taken magical measures to ensure that any attackers, wild animals, or the like couldn't easily approach them, no matter what form they took. At least, Erica was confident that as long as they remained stationary, even Asuka wouldn't be able to find them easily.

Magic for avoiding humans and beasts was apparently Erica's specialty.

Well, if Erica said it was alright, then it probably was.

Cherry had no doubts about her abilities.

Also, while Erica had initially spoken to him informally, she had recently started addressing him with polite language. Cherry had told her that it was fine to speak normally, but Erica said she felt uncomfortable doing so and that using polite language was easier for her.

So, he let it be.

"You learn to hunt rabbits as a child?" Cherry asked as he sat down on the stone seat that Erica had prepared.

There were other preparations to be made for their camp, but there was nothing Cherry could do.

He was practically useless when it came to securing food, gathering firewood to keep the fire going, fetching drinking water, or even preparing their sleeping arrangements. The only thing he could do was toss the firewood Erica had prepared into the bonfire.

"Hunting rabbits isn't difficult. Even though they can run quickly, their short front legs make it hard for them to run downhill. They become slow, so you can easily shoot them with a bow. That's why they're good for children's practice," Erica replied, calling out to Cherry from a distance as she circled the surrounding trees.

"I see, so I was running around like an idiot to drive the rabbits in their burrows down the slope," Cherry said.

"It was helpful. Thank you, Cherry-sama," Erica said, returning and turning the skewers with the roasting rabbits. Then, she started gathering fallen leaves to make their bed next to the fire.

Their backpack currently contained a large cloth, which she would spread over the gathered leaves. Then, they would use another cloth as a blanket and sleep side by side.

Since it was a warm season, that was enough.

If they were traveling through a colder region or during winter, it seemed they would have to prepare a tent and other things, which would be quite a hassle.

"There was a spring at the bottom of the cliff, so I'll go fetch some water. I've finished setting up the protection against attackers, so it should be alright, but if anything approaches, please shout loudly. Thank you," Erica said and disappeared from sight in an instant.

Cherry had a special ability called the "Evil Eye."

He could accurately detect the approach of any being with a certain level of intelligence, whether it was a human or an animal.

During their ten-day journey so far, they hadn't encountered any "humans" even once. This was because Erica had chosen their route accordingly, and Cherry's Evil Eye ability allowed them to hide and avoid any humans they might have come across.

However, after discussing it last night, they had decided to finally head towards a human settlement.

They should be far enough away from Asuka's reach by now.

While they had initially been concerned about Asuka personally pursuing them or putting a bounty on their heads, they no longer needed to worry about that once they were far enough away from the Three Kingdoms near Asuka Castle.

Erica seemed to have something in mind for that.

With Erica gone, Cherry spread out the simple map of this world that she had drawn for him on a piece of parchment, the only one they had found in the Lourdes Forest. It was a convenient map, as Erica had used magic to make their approximate location move along with them.

 

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