Chastity-Reversed Hard Mode: Surviving as a Steel-Minded Adventurer in Another World - Chapter 17: Enduring the Carriage Ride with a Steel Mentality

Chapter 17: Enduring the Carriage Ride with a Steel Mentality

Clatter, clatter, clatter.

“Eugenee, you hungry? I bought some apples for a snack~ let’s eat together. Really, you’re hopeless with a knife. Want me to peel it for you? Heh, I’m pretty good at this, you know. Think you can handle one by yourself? Or should I feed you~ say ahh?”

Pressed right up against my right side, Ursna kept chattering away without pause.

I nodded vaguely, chewing on the apple she’d offered me. A little sour, but crisp, juicy, and full of water.

Clatter, clatter, clatter.

Across from me, Irene sat glaring with narrowed eyes, her expression radiating irritation.

The instant I lifted my gaze, she whipped her head away, refusing to look at me.

“Ugh, laying it on that thick… pathetic.”

“Oh? What’s this? You picking a fight? Maybe it’s about time we settled who’s on top once and for all.”

“Hmph. Typical. When words fail, idiots always turn to fists. Honestly, being a thug in the slums would suit you far better than calling yourself an adventurer. Shall I put in a recommendation?”

As sparks practically crackled between them, Deabolica—seated directly across from me—never lifted her eyes from the book in her hands. Her calm voice cut through the tension.

“That’s enough. I didn’t hire you to bicker like children. If you insist on making trouble, then you can step off this carriage and walk.”

At the Guildmaster’s words, Ursna and Irene both gave sharp little snorts and turned their faces away from each other.

The other companions riding in the carriage let out long, weary sighs.

Deabolica tapped a gloved fingertip lightly against her temple.

“Sigh… Honestly, if I’d known you two hated each other this much, I never would’ve brought you along.”

“They’re usually not this bad. Truly strange, isn’t it?”

Irene’s team leader offered that excuse, but it didn’t sound the least bit convincing.

It had been about two weeks since that uproar over my healing.

Now we were back on the road, riding by carriage.

And no, this wasn’t some carefree adventurer road trip.

Apparently, one of Deabolica’s noble acquaintances had fallen gravely ill, and she wanted me to handle the treatment.

From the sound of it, my life for the foreseeable future was going to be one long tug-along—dragged from place to place at her whim.

A traveling lifestyle, sure, but one with solid pay.

Three gold coins for every treatment.

That worked out to three hundred silver per job.

The exact same fee her family’s hired physicians charged per patient.

I couldn’t help but wonder—if she was just paying me the same as the doctors, wasn’t she losing out?

But Deabolica only smiled coolly and said,

“Don’t concern yourself. I’ll be making plenty of profit through other means. Just be sure you feel properly indebted to such a generous employer.”

Since sly old Deabolica spoke with that kind of confidence, I figured I probably didn’t need to worry about it.

“Take care! Bring back some fun stories, okay?”

Wes waved at us all the way to the castle gate. I waved back—and just like that, I set out on my very first journey in this other world.

The ride to our destination would take about half a day by carriage.

Turns out, carriages aren’t nearly as fast as people like to imagine. Horses can’t be pushed too hard, so the pace ends up being about the same as a person jogging.

If I had to guess, maybe one-fifth the speed of a car doing 60 km/h.

So around 12 km/h. Leave at sunrise, arrive at sunset—that’s a ten-hour trip. Do the math, and you get roughly 120 kilometers.

For comparison, that’s about the same distance as Tokyo to Karuizawa or Nikko. Tokyo to Mount Fuji is around 100 km, so yeah, this was even farther.

Pretty far, honestly.

Since she’d said, “a city where I have acquaintances,” I had assumed it would be more like somewhere within the Tokyo 23 wards.

After all, Deabolica was just the third daughter of a local lord. Even if she managed the Adventurers’ Guild, she wasn’t the heir or anything. Could someone like her really have close ties with nobles living in a city that far away?

It felt about as odd as some low-ranking retainer of the Satomi clan in Sengoku Japan being best buddies with Imagawa Yoshimoto.

How would they even meet in the first place?

Not that I cared much about her social connections anyway.

Since it was a long trip, Deabolica decided to hire two adventurer parties from the guild as escorts.

And the ones who volunteered? Irene’s party and Ursna’s party.

That honestly caught me off guard.

See, jobs like this—escort missions instead of monster hunts—pay decently enough, but they don’t exactly boost your adventurer record.

I always thought both Irene and Ursna were the ambitious type, chasing achievements and promotions. Maybe this was just their idea of a break?

Either way, both of them somehow ended up stuck to me.

Ursna, who had been sulking not too long ago, was now in high spirits—like someone had flipped a switch. She kept throwing conversation topics my way one after another.

Honestly, I’m a bit on the introverted side, so her constant sunshine energy could get a little overwhelming. Still, having someone keep the chatter going wasn’t bad at all. Perfect for passing time on a long ride.

Irene, meanwhile, was in a foul mood.

Granted, she’d always been quick with a snide remark whenever our eyes met. But now, most of her hostility seemed aimed squarely at Ursna.

Strangely enough, she wasn’t taking many shots at me this time. It was like she’d redirected all her aggro toward her instead.

Ursna just laughed it off with a grin, or shot back with playful barbs of her own—but it was clear she didn’t think much of her either.

I couldn’t figure it out.

Guess they just didn’t mesh well—classic clash of personalities.

Meanwhile, the other adventurers from both parties seemed to be deliberately keeping their distance from me.

Almost like they were making a conscious effort not to get too close.

So yeah—I may be a transmigrator, but wow, the carriage atmosphere was terrible.

Thanks to my [Mental Resistance], I didn’t actually feel stressed, even with the tension thick enough to choke on. Still… wouldn’t it be nicer if things were a bit more cheerful?

Of course, this was work.

If we got so caught up chatting that we missed an enemy ambush, that’d be downright unprofessional.

I leaned toward the leader of Irene’s party, who was sitting beside me, and whispered,

“…So, what’s the deal with those two? Rivals or something?”

“Mm. Yeah, they’re rivals. Hardcore rivals.”

“Ohh, like racing to see who can slay the bigger monster first?”

“Nope. It’s romance.”

“Romance…?”

For a moment, I pictured rival tribes of Iroquois warriors battling it out.

“Leader!”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Irene snapped, cheeks puffed up, while her leader only shrugged.

…Okay, fine. I play the dense idiot sometimes, but I’m not actually deaf.

I can pick up on things.

Ursna had been glued to my side for ages now. So if you told me Irene was her rival in love, well… yeah, that tracked.

“Irene… do you like me?”

“!?”

My sudden direct shot turned her face scarlet.

“W-Who would ever like you!”

“Uh-huh. …Oh—carriage bump.”

I casually reached out and pressed a hand against Ursna’s stomach. She jolted with a startled, “Ahh… ♥” as her cheeks flushed red.

Huh? I’d pegged her as the smooth, playboy type—but that reaction?

Surprisingly innocent.

“Ahhh!”

Irene shot up from her seat, nearly knocking it over—then quickly realized what she was doing and flopped back down with a sulky pout.

Oh ho. Well, well, well.

…Honestly, back when she used to mock me after every single hunt result, I thought she was the most irritating woman alive.

“She’s kinda cute, isn’t she?”

I pointed at Irene while whispering to her leader. She gave a solemn little nod.

“Of course. Our Irene is cute.”

“C-Cute…!?”

“Ow!”

A sharp pinch to my side made me yelp.

Ursna, cheeks puffed out, was glaring at me with narrowed eyes.

Thanks to [Pain Resistance], I could endure it just fine—but having my brain constantly spammed with pain signals was still annoying. So I caught her hand to make her stop.

Wait… Ursna gets jealous too?

I had her pegged as the smooth, cocky playboy type, the kind of girl I could tease like a buddy. But this reaction? Doesn’t really fit the image.

Here I was, getting all hyped that maybe I’d finally entered my “popular phase,” but both of them were giving me reactions I didn’t expect at all.

Irene was acting more like a flustered little critter, and Ursna… honestly came off a lot heavier in the feelings department than I’d thought.

Especially Irene—her way of talking had even shifted.

“Behold! Right before your eyes—a sly little creature! She puffed herself up, acting all tough and cocky in front of the guy she likes… but the moment she realized she couldn’t compete with Ursna’s effortless tomboy charm, she slipped right back into her natural way of speaking. Adorable, isn’t she?”

“S-Shut up already!”

Ah, so the leader’s hobby was teasing Irene…

Come to think of it, her tone reminded me a little of Deabolica too.

Though in her case, that terrifying “monster-bird screech” she’d unleashed while pouncing on me probably revealed more of her true personality.

“…You have something to say?”

“Nope, nothing at all.”

I quickly averted my gaze from the noble gangster pretending to be an intellectual.

Since she’d already shown me her true colors once, she probably figured it was fine to point that murderous aura my way whenever she felt like it…

Yeah, not exactly pleasant company. Time to steer the conversation elsewhere.

“Anyway, this carriage doesn’t shake nearly as much as I expected. I’d heard the vibrations were so bad you couldn’t even sit still.”

That’s kind of a classic isekai trope, right?

The protagonist suffers through a ride that rattles your spine to pieces—then uses cheat knowledge to invent suspension. I’d always been a little curious about just how bad it really was.

“Ah, this carriage is built differently. The seats are suspended with leather straps, like a gondola. That way the vibrations from the wheels don’t transfer directly—it’s much gentler on your backside. Belongs to the Adventurers’ Guild, actually. Cost a small fortune too.”

“Heh, I see.”

So this one was already upgraded.

If I remembered right, suspension improvements like that were what eventually led to the invention of automobiles and trains.

Which meant this world’s tech level might be somewhere around the late Middle Ages.

Though, it wasn’t like I could assume this world’s history followed ours one-to-one.

“You know, horses actually have thicker, sturdier legs than I expected. I always pictured them as slimmer and more elegant-looking.”

Deabolica let out a soft chuckle, clearly amused.

“Ah, you must be thinking of the sleek, thin-legged breeds—those are for racing or light riding. But harness them to a heavy carriage like this, and their legs would snap in no time. For pulling loads, you need these strong, stocky workhorses. Honestly, not even knowing that… you must come from a very backward corner of the world.”

…Excuse me? Backward? Carriages are ancient history where I come from! We’ve got the Reiwa era!

God, I’d love to drag her onto a Shinkansen or a jet plane and watch her jaw hit the floor.

“You Brishav nobles sure love looking down on other countries, don’t you?”

Seriously, not a great habit.

Though, to be fair, the only nobles I’d even met were Deabolica and Wes.

At my jab, Deabolica puffed out her chest proudly.

“Of course we do! The Great Brishav Empire is the most powerful nation in the world! From Indispice in the east to the Thirteen Colonies in the west, we rule across the seas—we are the empire on which the sun never sets! The greatest civilization in human history! One day, we will surpass even the legendary Loman Empire and lead the world forever!”

“Sure, the empire’s impressive—but you’re just a country bumpkin.”

“I’ll kill you, you wretch!?”

“Yaaay, long live the Empire.”

With both hands raised in a surrender pose, I praised the Empire.

But more importantly… Deabolica’s chest.

For someone who looked fairly slim in clothes, her breasts were straining against the frilly blouse, pushing the lace up in all the right places.

Her personality might’ve been garbage, but wow—she was carrying some top-tier assets.

I found myself staring, completely locked on, when—

“Ow—!”

Ursna pinched my side, while Irene stomped hard on my toes.

I winced. [Pain Resistance] or not, it still hurt.

“Pervert…!”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m a pervert, happy now?”

I hunched my shoulders at Irene’s jab.

And honestly? That sharp little attitude of hers felt oddly nostalgic—like something straight out of modern Japan.

In this twisted, gender-reversed world, it was almost refreshing. My favorability rating for Irene ticked up another notch. Please, don’t change. Stay just like that.

Still, it was strange.

Back in modern Japan, staring at a girl’s chest would earn you pure hatred. But here? Totally different vibe.

Even Deabolica, of all people, looked like she was showing them off with a bit of pride.

And when I flat-out admitted I was a pervert? Aside from Irene, no one even seemed to look down on me for it.

Weird world, huh.

≪Explanation Time!

Picture this: you’re on a road trip in a van full of guys, and there’s just one girl along for the ride. She casually goes, “Wow, you’ve got a pretty solid chest, huh,” and instantly the vibe shifts. No guy alive feels bad getting praised like that.

Now add her tossing in, “By the way, I’m kinda horny, y’know ♥”—and boom, the whole atmosphere takes on a faint pink glow.

As for Irene acting all cranky? That’s because she’s playing the classic “pure, uptight shota” role!

It’s like watching your beloved big-sis figure getting cozy with some other guy—fuming on the outside, while inside you’re all pent-up and flustered, caught in that innocent, jealous shota role.≫

And so, with the air buzzing in that weird restless way, our half-day journey rolled on.

We reached the destination city without a single incident.

“…Wait, what!? Where was the monster attack!? Isn’t this the part where bandits or beasts jump us on the road? That’s the cliché!”

“Monsters along the highway are exterminated regularly, of course. And we had four guards posted on the upper seats as lookouts. An ambush would’ve been impossible. What nonsense are you spouting?”

C’mon, couldn’t we have had a little more excitement!?

Then again, I had zero combat ability anyway. If it had come to a fight, all I could’ve done was curl up in the carriage and tremble. Watching the tough girls battle it out while the lone guy just cheers from the sidelines? Yeah… not exactly heroic.

Maybe a quiet, uneventful trip really was for the best.