To prevent misunderstandings or unexpected violence due to us having Lica in tow, I opted not to stop at Dasota town. Instead, we stopped the carriage about half a kilometer away while Amber walked into town to buy some food and necessities for the road, while I led the horses towards the riverbank so they could drink up. I told her to tell the townsfolk I had a contagious non-lethal disease in case they were to ask why I wasn't with her.

Once Amber returned, we continued on to reach Suva town shortly before midnight. I felt bad for the horses once we arrived, since we made them travel for almost an entire day. I also felt bad about myself for making the two girls steer the carriage the whole day, too, even though I didn't request them to do so. In fact, the two of them noticed how poor my skill behind the reins was, and they kept insisting that I sat down in the back for fear that I might accidentally steer us into the deep river instead.

One thing that bothered me was how Amber was so willing to let Lica help out with steering the carriage, or just the fact that Amber trusted Lica more than me in this aspect. I, for one, would definitely not trust someone who threatened to take my life two weeks prior. After all, what if she still held a grudge? Was she really just a simple-minded glutton who didn't mind what happened in the past? Then again, what I consider as common sense probably differs from what the people of Badoth consider to be common sense, considering how I grew up on the other side of the border.

I suppose I'd best just take things for granted.

Considering how late it was, there was no time for us to explore our options, so we chose to lodge ourselves at the inn we stayed in two weeks prior, since it was the only one we knew about. The innkeeper was surprised to see us since the festival in town was long over, and I felt like he was hoping we weren't going to ask to stay for free. To relieve him of such thoughts, I immediately told him we had more than enough money left over to book a large room, and he happily accepted my payment. The innkeeper asked Amber to fill in the guest register book, then quickly went to the back to wake up some employees to take care of our carriage and luggage on board.

"Are you in a rush to go to Mitana city?"

"Not really. The person I want to meet won't be there until at least a day and a half from now, so I'm probably going to wait until noon to depart from here."

"Is that so…"

"Is something wrong?"

"Ah, nothing serious. I wanted to ask you to help deliver a letter for me."

"A letter?"

"Yes, a letter. Postage is expensive because of the low demand here, and there won't be any trader caravans going to Mitana city for another three days."

"Alright, I'll help you deliver your letter, then."

"Great! I'll give you the letter shortly before you leave tomorrow."

"Okay."

After that brief request, I said goodnight and headed upstairs to the room that was assigned to us. It would probably be strange if I requested a separate room for myself and had the two girls in another room, so I requested a large room with four beds instead.

Nothing out of the ordinary happened after we went to sleep, but is it considered weird how I was expecting something unsightly to happen? Maybe I started becoming slightly paranoid after having all kinds of nonsense happen to me late at night. In any case, it was probably because we were all too tired after being on the road for so long that we just passed out right away without any idle talk before then.

* * * * *

It was probably around half past nine when I woke up, and just like usual, I was the earliest riser in our group. Looking at the other beds, Amber was still snoring, and Lica was mumbling incomprehensible things while drooling. We weren't planning on leaving for Mitana city until noon, so I figured I didn't need to wake the two up unless they were still sleeping two hours from now. There was nothing for me to do in our room, so I headed downstairs after freshening myself up.

"Ah, esteemed guest, good morning!"

"Good morning. I'm going to go for a walk around town, then come back in an hour for an early lunch."

"Are you fond of any particular races in this town?"

"Hm?"

"Which do you like more, minotaurs or satyrs?"

I was tempted to say minotaurs because the innkeeper was one, but I couldn't tell if he was asking me a trick question or not.

"Neither, I guess. I don't have any specific preferences."

"Good. Be careful out there."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You'll see it if you keep walking down the main street. It's very hard to miss."

"Eh…"

"As long as you don't have any racial preferences, you'll be safe."

What the innkeeper said really bothered me, but he wouldn't give me any more details about what was happening on the streets. There weren't any other guests lodging in this inn, nor were there any patrons in the inn's bar and diner, so there wasn't any way for me to kill time indoors. I guess I'll just have to go out on the streets and find out what was going on. If anything bad happens, I'll just shift the blame to the innkeeper.

The townsfolk seemed to have done a good job at cleaning up the collapsed building after the stampede incident, as what used to be piles upon piles of debris were now clean, empty lots, some of which had foundations for new buildings already constructed. Oddly enough, among the buildings that were still standing, several had broken windows or damaged walls, and piles of stones and wooden splinters scattered in front of them, as if a small storm had just passed by. Unlike the scene I saw two weeks prior where people were diligently sweeping the streets clean, the main street right now was completely empty, and the buildings along it had their doors completely shut, with some having boarded up windows.

As I walked further down the street, I began hearing some unintelligible shouting in the distance, then saw the figures of the townsfolk. Moving closer, it seemed as if half the town was now gathered in one place. They didn't seem to be moving anywhere, so it was probably unlikely that there was another stampede going on. The innkeeper didn't mention any festivals or events, so I couldn't help but wonder why so many people were out here.

"Spill the beans!"

"Make them talk!"

"Just lynch them all!"

…Well, this definitely isn't a joyous occasion.

What stood out the most about the angry mob in front of me was that they were all minotaurs or other bovine-like demihumans. Many of them were holding pitchforks and blunt weapons, and they were all directing their gazes further down the street. After squeezing my way through these townsfolk, I could see that on the other side was a large crowd consisting of entirely satyrs and other caprine-like demihumans.

Seeing this racial divide going on, I quickly understood why the innkeeper asked if I had any preferences earlier. I tried to ask what this gathering was for, but the townsfolk were so busy shouting at the other group that they either didn't bother answering me, or just gave vague answers that didn't help me grasp the situation.

I considered running over to the satyrs to ask what was going on, but I felt like I might end up getting beaten up if they noticed me running over from the side they were shouting at, so I decided to head back to the inn. The innkeeper seemed to be a reasonable enough person that I could probably get information out of.

* * * * *

"A few people in town fell ill about a week after you left."

"How bad was it?"

"They had trouble moving around, got headaches and hallucinations, and developed anxiety."

"That sounds a lot like a case I saw in Dasota town."

"Oh? Was someone able to find a cure?"

"No, but I can give instructions on how to brew an herbal tea that might relieve symptoms."

"That would be splendid! Hopefully the townsfolk can calm down with that…"

"In any case, how did this lead to the shouting on the streets?"

"Ah, right, back to talking about what happened… After the first few cases, more and more people in town also fell ill."

"Did people suspect mass poisoning or something?"

"Yes. More specifically, they noticed that all those who fell ill were the minotaurs."

"And that let them towards suspecting the satyrs in town for being behind this?"

"That's right."

"What if it was just a coincidence?"

"That's what everyone thought at first, but then some folks pointed out how only the cattle in the town's ranches had similar diseases, leading the others to think that someone was specifically targeting bovines for poisoning."

"Would someone even be stupid enough to do something so obvious? I feel like it's more reasonable to think that this is a disease that only affects bovines…"

"Things have already escalated to the point where changing everyone's thoughts is impossible now."

"Well, I hope things settle down soon…"

I don't have any attachment towards this town, so I'm not obliged to stay and help mediate or improve the situation. I'm rather thankful that we were going to leave this place soon.

"It should, after you deliver this letter."

The innkeeper took out a sealed envelope and gave it to me.

"Could I ask who and what the letter is for?"

"Please deliver it to any of the military commanders in that city. I'm requesting them to send some officers over to help maintain the order in town."

"I don't mind helping with that, but would they even be willing to send soldiers over to help?"

"They should be. I'm the vice-chief of this town, after all."

"Eh? You're the vice-chief?"

"I may not look like it, but yes. I don't have any actual power in this town, but my position at least allows me to request military interventions."

"Is that so…"

General Denato did give me an introduction letter, so it probably won't be difficult to meet with any of the high ranking officers in Mitana city. I took the letter and headed upstairs to tell the girls to wake up and get ready to depart.

Noon came shortly after we had a light meal, and the streets became clearer as most of the townsfolk retired to lunch. The three of us promptly got on our carriage and headed out of the town as quickly as possible.

Trade carriages between Suva and Mitana didn't run that often, but for some reason there was a wide, stone paved, flat road connecting the two places that was called the "southwestern highway". Perhaps they occasionally delivered the over-sized cattle here whole, otherwise there was no point in having such a wide road.

Regardless of the actual reason, the highway allowed us to travel a lot faster than normal.