Ninya looked at her sister, "Well, they see us."

  And by 'they' she of course meant the group of merchants and their hired mercenaries. She could tell that the person in charge was extremely wealthy just from the number of people protecting the caravan. If she and Tsuare could get in the good graces of this merchant, they would travel safely and comfortably until they reached the capital.

  Ninya waved towards the caravan. The armored person standing in front of it waved back. She turned to her sister as the caravan began moving again, "Well, looks like they're about to come to us. Are you okay?"

  Tsuare meekly nodded. It was in their luck that after reaching a fork in the path, a group of people just so happened to be passing as well. Now they didn't have to worry about encountering bandits or walking for another few hours. The only thing left to do was ask one of the carriages or wagons if they could hitch a ride, pay them, and then wait until they got to the capital proper.

  When the group reached them, Ninya took the time to inspect the armor, demeanor, and wealth of the more notable people. The servants weren't relevant other than to tell her that, again, the merchant that owns this is rich—something that she already knew, so it's redundant at best. The armored man that protected the group was pretty bulky, and although his armor was losing its sheen and starting to rust in some areas, Ninya could tell that this did not diminish his strength at all.

  Other mercenaries, this time only wearing leather armor and carrying weaponry such as crossbows and short swords, sat around the edges of the caravan, waiting for something to attack or maybe hoping that the trip was danger-free so that they got an easy payout.

  Either way, she and Tsuare were outnumbered.

  The wagons and carriages didn't look like much. Most of the wagons had an appearance that showed they were old but well maintained and were made of high-quality wood and further reinforced with iron beams.

  The only two carriages were more luxurious. These had fresh wood topped with resin and painted bck. The windows were tinted, and the supporting metal beams, while protective in their own right, also served as a way to express the vehicle's beauty by being pced in a way that they curved and went over the carriage's body.

  "Hello!" Ninya bit her lip. Did she sound too energetic just now? She waved at the armored man in front of her. "Uhm, me and my sister are looking for a ride and I was wondering if we could come with you guys?" She took out her pouch and dropped a few gold coins into her palm. "We can pay?"

  "Wayward nobles?" The knight hummed as he regarded the two girls. "Where did you two come from?"

  "Nowhere," Ninya narrowed her eyes. She shook her head at Tsuare. Her sister couldn't tell them about their actual origins right now. "What's it to you?"

  "You..." The knight nodded. "I'll respect your decision. Let me talk to my boss and we'll see what we can do. Stay here."

  Ninya met Tsuare's gaze. "We'll be fine," she reassured her sister while looking around. Every single mercenary present seemed to be wary of the two of them now. "They're not gonna hurt us, right? As long as we don't do anything stupid, okay?"

  "Okay." Tsuare held her hand. "I trust you."

  "You know you didn't need to come with me, right?" Ninya rubbed her neck. "You're not cut out for being an adventurer. I mean, look at you!" Ninya gestured at her shaking sister before sighing. "You should have just stayed back."

  "But then you'd be alone," Tsuare told her.

  "I know that already. You think I left without thinking about this?" Ninya didn’t want to admit she wanted Tsuare to come with her. It feels like she’ll lose the argument if she does. "I'm ready. I know this."

  Tsuare sighed and a look of comprehension crossed her face before she rubbed Ninya's head. She smiled softly when Ninya spped her hand away. "You still need someone to take care of you. Let me stay by your side for now, okay?"

  "Fine." Ninya looked away, pouting. What was Tsuare hiding from her that she didn’t understand? "Just be careful."

  Her sister nodded before facing the now-opened carriage. A man stepped out. He was old, with a graying head of hair and a beardless face. He had on his person a fashionable vest and a pair of pants. He didn't feel like a threat, but the intelligent glow behind the man's eyes made Ninya feel like she was being read like a book.

  "Hello," the man greeted. "I am the head of this caravan. You can call me Orkell."

  The introduction was blunt enough that Ninya could tell the man didn't really favor the two of them and wasn't chasing any kind of prestige for helping two "wayward nobles" on the way to Re-Estize's capital. Ninya decided to reply with a bluntness to her tone simir to that of the man.

  "I'm Ninya... Anti-kit." Ninya nodded. That sounded like a good enough fake st name, she supposed. She just hoped that Lord Antikythera wouldn't mind it. "I'm Ninya Antikit." She pointed at her sister. "This is Tsuare, my sister." Tsuare awkwardly waved. "We're not here to hurt you. We just want to ride with you to the capital."

  "W-we'll pay you as well, of course." Tsuare looked at Ninya for confirmation. She nodded. "Right, my younger sister will pay you for helping us."

  "No need to pay," Orkell waved them off. He began making his way back to the caravan and Ninya followed after him. Orkell gestured for the men wielding the crossbows to stand down and slowly, the mercenaries found their calm. "I've never seen that kind of outfit before. It looks expensive. The material alone feels like it would bankrupt me. Can I ask where you found them?"

  "This was made specifically for me," Ninya said with pride. Yeah, she was proud of that fact. What about it? "You can't really find this anywhere else."

  "And your staff?" Orkell eyed the weapon Ninya was carrying. "I'm guessing you're a mage?"

  "Something like that," she nodded. "My sister can't really fight, but she has a weapon that's easy enough to use to defend herself with, so don't think of trying anything."

  "Ninya!" Tsuare chided.

  "What? It's true!" Ninya gred at her sister. "And I'm just pointing it out, you know?"

  "A weapon, you say?" Orkell chuckled rather than be offended by Ninya's comments. "Can I see it?"

  "H-here," Tsuare took out the handgun Lord Antikythera gave her and held it out. Orkell's eyebrows raised upon seeing this, and he narrowed his eyes at Tsuare. "I'm not gonna hand it over because it's powerful but uhm... Yeah."

  "Can you use it?" Orkell asked suddenly. He stopped moving, and Ninya felt the skepticism coloring his voice as he eyed the two of them. "I feel like I've seen something like this before."

  Ninya shook her head and stepped in. "Tsuare can't really use it well, so I'll demonstrate with my own handgun." She also didn’t know how to use her weapon, but it looked easy enough. She took out the handgun from its holster and changed its ammo type to detonation rounds. "Stand back," she told the armored man a few meters away.

  Orkell silently gestured for his guard to do as told, and the knight stepped away. Ninya pointed at the furthest spot she could and then pulled the trigger. A scream came out of the gun's muzzle followed by a red-colored projectile that flew through the air before nding on the ground and exploding into a powerful wave of heat and fire that consumed the surrounding nd. Ninya fired again to the same effect, then again, and then she stopped at the fourth shot.

  Ninya holstered her handgun and looked at the shocked Orkell. "I'm not really experienced at using it myself."

  "You called that thing a handgun?" Orkell eyed her with a strangely serious look. Before Ninya could answer, he said another thing, "Can you fire those explosive rounds as many times as you want?"

  "Yeah?" Ninya tilted her head. "Why? Is there something wrong?"

  "No, not at all." He shook his head. "I've heard that Princess Renner has gotten her hands on that type of weaponry as well. I bought one myself—" a servant came to hand him a rifle as he finished, "but it isn't as small or powerful as yours. Where did you get that?"

  "It's none of your business," Ninya shook her head.

  "Of course," Orkell nodded. "You're both welcome to join me and my caravan to the capital. Come. There's food in my carriage."