Hello everyone! As I've said before, I have entered into a rather busy time of the year. As such, I'm afraid I shall have to limit the chapters to once a week until such time as my schedule is more free.

------------------------------------------------

“Are you sure this is going to work?” Laura breathed into Briar’s ear. At the moment, they were sitting in a rather cramped position side-by-side.

“What? Did you have a better idea?” Briar asked, a rather lop-sided grin on her face.

“No, but I would have never imagined such an…unusual mode of transport.” Laura replied.

“That’s good. If a not-so-normal person like you or Helen can’t imagine anyone doing such a thing, that means this will work for the general populace as well.” Briar said with a straight face.

Laura was about to retort, when Briar put a finger to her lips. “Shh! They’re here.”

“Ah, so these are the barrels, then?” A male voice asked.

“Yes! Uncle was ordered to make certain the shipment arrived on time. The person who asked was someone he couldn’t say no to. I tried asking, but he wouldn’t tell me who it was!” Helen replied, sounding sulky.

“But, Uncle is too busy at this time of year to leave town, which is why he thought that maybe you could do it in his place.”

A rustle of paper sounded as Helen took out an envelope. “Here. This should be the money and instructions.”

There was another rustle of paper and a clink of coins as the man took the envelope with money. A tearing sound let Briar know that he had opened it.

“Two gold for a delivery like this? Good grief! It looks like someone’s going to have a right good party tonight. And? Little missy, your face says that’s not everything.” The man said pleasantly.

Briar frowned. In the plan, there had been nothing more, and Helen should have gone back to the inn. Was she going to tell on them!? Briar waited in the barrel, a hard look entering her eye.

“Well… if it’s not too much trouble, I was hoping to go visit my aunt in that city as well. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen her, and Uncle says it’s too dangerous to travel alone…so I-so I was wondering if-I-could-ride-with-you-to-the-city!” Helen sped through that last part as if she were afraid of being refused.

“Here! I’ve even got some money to pay you with!” She added, with another rustle of paper.

Oy oy! What are you thinking, Helen? Are you planning to betray us when we get to the city? Briar was on alert, but, being inside a barrel, there was a limit to what she could do. It’s not like she could just pop up from the barrel and tell Helen off.

“Your aunt, eh? Haha, no need to pay me for that, little missy. You’re so small, that I’ll just consider you a part of tha delivery. Besides, it’s a long ride to the city, so having someone to talk to would be a nice change. Ah, but ferst, I should get these barrels into tha cart, shouldn’t I?” he replied with a chuckle.

It seems you can still find that sort of person in the countryside places, huh? Briar noticed.

Her plan was nothing too complicated, just a simple vanishing trick. First, she and Laura did up their beds so that it looked like they were asleep. Then Briar made an ‘order’ for two barrels of cider, with instructions to bring it to the next town, placing money inside the envelope.

Then, the two girls slipped out of Laura’s window, and made their way to the shed where the empty barrels were. Briar handed the envelope with the order inside it to Helen, who was to find a suitable deliveryman. Laura and Briar got inside one of the larger barrels, and Helen closed the lid on them.

This way, they would leave town unseen, and the next day, it would seem as if they vanished.

Up to that point, Helen’s role was finished. For her to volunteer to travel along with them was definitely not in the original plan! What are you aiming for, Helen? Briar wondered.

Laura glanced at Briar, clearly alarmed.

After considering things for a minute, Briar decided to let things go and simply see how things unfolded from there. Obviously, she would be on her guard until they arrived in the city. But, for now, Helen’s presence was neither a good nor a bad thing.

Briar placed a finger to her lips and winked, indicating that it was fine.

Thinking about it -aside from Helen, who was a small eight year old child- Briar hadn’t seen a single woman in this town. That either meant that they had been kidnapped, like what almost happened to Laura, or this place…wasn’t what it seemed to be.

The barrel was suddenly pushed over onto its side, and Thera made sure to keep as quiet as possible while being squished by Laura, who had landed on Briar when the barrel had been tipped over.

While the barrel was rolled up a ramp made of two wooden staves, Briar made sure that they didn’t make any noise using a sound barrier inside the barrel. By the time they were in the cart, Laura was thoroughly dizzy, and began to look slightly ill.

The barrel was placed right side up, thankfully. Sometimes, inexperienced deliverymen placed it upside-down, and the cork would come slightly undone, losing near half their load before it was discovered.

“Oy, are you all right?” Briar asked Laura, who was trying to hold in retching sounds. After all, once the sound barrier was up, no one would hear a single sound coming from the barrel.

“I’m-urgh! I’m fine. I-I’ll be fine in a bit.” Laura replied, looking seriously ill.

“Sorry, sorry! Remind me never to take you to an amusement park.” Briar joked. She could easily see her getting ill from the merry-go-round and the spinning cup ride.

“…As I thought, I can’t understand what you’re thinking at all.” Laura replied, bluntly. “What on earth is an amusement park?”

“I should think it would be rather obvious from its title.” Briar replied. “An amusement park is a park somewhere where one goes…to be amused-urk! Ouch!” Briar rubbed her side, which had been spitefully elbowed.

“As I thought, you’ve stuffed your head full of ridiculous stuff at Madam Rothema’s place, haven’t you? Wouldn’t that mean that every park is an amusement kind of park?” Laura misunderstood.

“Well, she has taught me an awful lot. I’m grateful to her for that.” Briar replied. “However, not all parks are amusement parks~”

“Why? What sets them apart?” Laura asked. They both felt the cart lurch as it started forward on its trip to the city.

“Hmm…” Briar replied scratching her head as she thought about how to explain them. “Well, a regular park is an enclosed space with lots of flowers and trees and the beauty of nature, right?

“But amusement parks don’t necessarily have any of those things. An amusement park is a specific place set aside for things that one goes to be amused. So, for example, an amusement park would have fun things gathered inside it, like a festival that goes on every day. It has games and food and fun things to watch and do.”

“Oh, I see! As expected of Madam Rothema’s education!” Laura clapped an appreciative applause.

But, I didn’t learn this from Madam Rothema~tehepero! Briar withheld this last part. It would be too troublesome to tell Laura where she had gotten that information from. And Laura was too sharp to let an opportunity to cross-analyze Briar pass by.

“So, what does that have to do with this?” Laura asked.

“Well, in some amusement parks, barrel rolling contests were considered a fun thing to do.” Briar replied.

Of course, the parks she was referring to had all been in the early 1900s. Nearly all of them had disappeared since then.

Laura’s face took on an extra green tinge. “Ah…I see.” She then fell silent as she thought on what Briar had said.

“So? What about Helen, then? Are we just going to let things be?” Laura asked.

“Call it intuition, but I believe that child has no intentions of harming us.” Briar replied calmly. “And, even if she does, it’s not a big deal.”

“Why?”

Briar glanced over at Laura. “Because she’s an eight year old girl, a mere child. Even should she betray us, she would not realize the extent of the consequences of her own actions. Therefore, her culpability is minimized.”

Laura didn’t understand Briar. A betrayal was a betrayal. What did it matter if the betrayer was an adult or a child? Briar sensed Laura’s confusion.

“It’s like this: imagine a baby comes across a shiny dagger on the floor and picks it up, pointing it upwards, but at that moment, the baby’s brother trips nearby and falls upon the dagger, dying. Would you say it was the baby’s fault?”

“No, but that was an accident. We are talking about a betrayal, here.” Laura replied.

“Then, let’s say that the babe had seen the father doing some sword exercises and tried to copy them with the dagger, except, it stabs its sibling and kills them. Would you say the baby was at fault?” Briar asked again.

“Wouldn’t it be the fault of the person who left the dagger out? Oh!” Laura’s face took on an enlightened expression.

“Yes. It is still an unfortunate accident, but the baby is not the one to blame. Instead, the neglectful one who left the dagger on the floor is mainly responsible. Just so, children do not realize what they are doing, and therefore cannot be held responsible for the consequences.” Briar confirmed.

“Heh! You’re strange. If that was the case, then why are there so many child beggars and thieves being judged and death sentenced?” Laura asked.

“Is it the child’s fault that it is hungry even when it does not have any food?” Briar asked in return.

Laura opened her mouth, and then shut it. She had never really thought of that before. If she herself had been born an orphan with no money, even she couldn’t live without food. With a raging hunger and a desire to live, perhaps even she would resort to thievery.

The orphans weren’t at fault. They were simply unfortunate to be born into such a situation.

“Well? Whose fault is it that beggars and orphans resort to thievery to live? I’m waiting for an answer.” Briar asked again.

Laura’s answer came out slowly.

“The person in charge of them is responsible. As a noble, who bears a responsibility towards the commoners on their own lands, they would also –invariably- be held responsible for the orphans and beggars within their own lands as well…therefore…the creation of child beggars and thieves is the nobility’s fault? That can’t be right!”

“That is why so many nobles have orphanages within their lands.” Briar said. “Therefore, in this context, whose fault would it be if Helen suddenly decided to betray us?”

“The person who is in charge of her--wait, who would that be? The barkeeper? Helen’s aunt? The local noble?” Laura’s eyes started to spin as she tried to figure it out.

“In the end, it doesn’t really matter much.” Briar said. “The guilty party will stand out. That’s why I say it doesn’t matter much if Helen decides to double-cross us.” Briar glanced sideways at Laura. “Besides, even shut inside a barrel, we won’t be caught that easily.”

It looks like she’s gotten over her motion sickness. Briar noted. But still, no matter what may happen in the future, I will never do anything that will lead to the death of a child.

“They are protected by their own innocence. Perhaps that is why, in a certain language, children themselves are mainly referred to as innocents.” She muttered to herself.