Sister-in-law of the Heroine in a Childcare Novel - Chapter 151

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 151

I’m thrilled! A long journey! And luxuriously appointed at that!
I gazed around the carriage interior with barely contained excitement. My last southern journey had been different—I’d suffered through various hardships in the beginning, felt awkward under Cleo’s watchful retinue, rarely ventured outside the carriage, and the carriage itself had been rather shabby. But this trip, backed by the Castrain Ducal House, was something else entirely. While it felt burdensome to receive such lavish contributions—practically as if they were donating an entire treasure vault—I was genuinely pleased with the level of comfort and luxury I could now enjoy. I murmured to myself as I took in my carriage.
“Wow. There’s an actual bed in here.”
And not even a small one!
What was it called again? In my past life, I’d heard that overseas night trains had sleeper cars, but what I’d seen in movies and what I was actually riding in—this Royal Carriage—were worlds apart. It wasn’t quite at the level of those fantasy films where an ordinary-looking tent conceals an entire mansion inside, but it felt as though they’d somehow squeezed a luxury hotel suite into the space of a carriage…
—Remarkably high-level magic at work here, interior expansion? Hmm, at this level of skill, quite impressive indeed (ಠ_ಠ)…
Even the emoticon that had been evaluating every bit of magic I encountered in daily life since meeting Pan seemed to admire the carriage’s interior, if quietly. As I continued peering around, Bibi spoke to me shyly.
“I asked them to pay attention to lots of little details besides the bed. I hope you like it!”
“I absolutely love it! Completely!”
This is far better than the renovated Rose Palace interior! Actually, it makes sense—there’s no comparison between the budget-constrained Imperial Palace and the Castrain Family, which spends money openly.
Seeing my reaction, Bibi beamed with satisfaction and began introducing the carriage’s amenities one by one, wiggling her small hands.
“Okay, so here’s the storage with Preservation Magic for desserts and food that shouldn’t spoil. This side is the wardrobe. And…”
“There really is everything.”
“Well, we’ll probably spend most of our time on the road… and in case of trouble, we might need to fortify the carriage itself, you know?”
“F-fortify?”
“Yes. Since Bibi wasn’t born and raised in the Castrain Family, I haven’t experienced much of this, but Lucy told me about it.”
Bibi’s explanation went as follows: The carriage we were riding in was a VIP model, and there were more Supply Carriages with slightly fewer amenities but greater passenger capacity. Those carriages were built so that if Magic Beasts attacked and we became isolated, they could serve as temporary bases or fortified positions until reinforcements arrived. In other words, they were designed to be usable for combat.
“My brother Lisianthus once got stranded during a winter avalanche and actually held out in one of these carriages for two months, just the three of them. Fortunately, each carriage is stocked with enough preserved rations that they managed to avoid starvation, but if they hadn’t been, they would have died, he said.”
“…So despite this luxurious carriage, you’re lying on the roof instead?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah.”
Given the status of our traveling companions, each person had been assigned an essentially private carriage.
Lisianthus and Raymond shared theirs with what appeared to be their aides, and Bibi shared hers with her escort knight (though her brothers had apparently objected to having a man in her carriage, she’d laughed them off) and Lucy.
Yet despite such comfortable arrangements, Lisianthus was sprawled across my carriage roof like some sun-baked sloth.
I clicked my tongue at the sight and peered through the open window to see Lisianthus grumble in response.
“Ah, what? I’m still Titania’s escort knight, aren’t I? I’m just performing my duties. The carriage is simply too stuffy.”
A faint light dimmed in Bibi’s blue eyes. I felt a twinge of sympathy for her.
We were traveling along a well-maintained road toward a major city with the fastest Warp Tunnel, away from the public eye. Whatever bloodline those horses were—though magic certainly helped—we moved with unified speed far exceeding an ordinary carriage, and we’d covered considerable distance relative to our travel time.
The journey meant there were no ordinary citizens to witness his pathetic display, but still… how should I put this…
Wait, more importantly: why were they gathering in my carriage when each of them had their own?
I sighed softly as I watched Raymond through the window, the only one remaining outside the carriage proper—riding alongside us on horseback, seemingly escorting our convoy.
The carriage was layered with an extraordinary amount of Protection Magic, and there were plenty of guards. The Castrain Family wouldn’t assign personnel carelessly when transporting their precious children, so even if enemies attacked suddenly, we’d have time to escape or organize a response.
“…Sir Raymond, you don’t have to stay outside like that. Why not come inside and stay with your sibling… and the others?”
“I’ve been assigned as the overall commander of this expedition. I’m doing this of my own will, so please don’t concern yourself.”
…I really do get anxious when everyone else is working while I’m playing…
Especially on a day like this, when the sun is so oppressively hot and bright. Watching Raymond ride in the blazing sunlight while the carriage interior remained pleasantly cool and well-controlled, I found my gaze drawn to him helplessly.
Black hair, black clothes. No matter how much I think Raymond’s aesthetic doesn’t suit pastel tones, what is this?
A recipe for getting fried in the sun? Seeing my pupils quiver, Bibi shrugged.
“That’s just how my big brother is. He’s completely obsessed with duty. He thinks as long as he stays alert twenty-four hours a day, me and you will be safe. The way things are going, I doubt he’s even sleeping at night.”
At Bibi’s blunt words, Raymond objected.
“Bibi, I am getting a minimum amount of sleep. And this is outdoors where anything could happen…”
“But still, even our little brother—the one with instincts like a beast—is hanging around like some earthworm out there. Doesn’t that mean this area is relatively safe?”
Bibi pointed an accusing finger at Lisianthus, who was draped across my carriage roof like a mollusk. He immediately protested.
“Hold on, Bibi! I’m not ‘hanging around like an earthworm’—this is what relaxation and enjoying leisure look like, and it’s quite dignified, thank you very much.”
“…I think Bibi probably wishes she had an older sister instead of brothers.”
Bibi heaved a long sigh, then nestled into my arms and rubbed her forehead against my shoulder. I reflexively stroked her brown hair. She was the very picture of a youngest daughter driven to exasperation by her hopeless older brothers.
Hmm, now that I think about it, the Castrain Family really was a deeply stubborn lot… though Bibi had managed to save them.
“Bibi, how much farther do we need to go today?”
“Even if we push it, we’ll have to camp outdoors tonight. Then tomorrow we’ll pass through a small village, and the day after we should reach the city…”
As Bibi continued, her eyes went wide.
Tap-tap.
Something resembling a small bat flew up and gently knocked on the side of the carriage with its tiny fingertips, as if rapping politely. After we noticed it, it fluttered in through the open window and spat out a Rolled Paper Message from its mouth directly to Bibi.
Bibi unfurled the paper and checked its contents. Then she tilted her head in confusion as if unable to understand what was written.
“…Huh?”
I, who had been twirling the ends of Bibi’s brown hair, noticed her reaction and spoke up.
“What is it, Bibi? What does it say?”
“Nabira is warning us to be careful about… something along the route we’re taking…”
“The warning seems to have arrived rather late.”
The moment Raymond’s heavy voice fell, Lisianthus sprang up from the roof like a compressed spring releasing.
The escort troops tightened their formation with a sharpness like drawn blades. I could see unfamiliar figures blocking the road directly in front of our carriages.
As everyone slowly placed their hands on sword hilts and tensed, the carriage began to slow its pace, and people started to…
“Please, save us!”
…cling to the carriage.
As figures that looked like shambling zombies rushed toward us barehanded, Bibi’s eyes widened. Her escort knight pushed her away from the window frame, and Lucy immediately shut it.
“Oh, please, honored ones! Won’t you help us?”
“We’re all going to die if this continues!”
Raymond’s aide clicked his tongue and tried to drive the people back. Fortunately—or unfortunately—they all appeared to be ordinary folk without weapons.
Their clothes were shabby, their bodies covered in dust, their cheeks hollow…
“Now, now, you all need to explain your situation properly! Stop clinging to the carriage!”
“Oh, oh dear…”
Unarmed and showing no killing intent, the escort troops couldn’t unsheathe their weapons against mere civilians. They managed to peel the crowd away from the carriage by other means.
Raymond’s aide gathered the people and listened to their story, then approached Raymond with a troubled expression.
“Sir, I thought there were no villages in this area, but… apparently a settlement of Bandits has sprung up in the foothills of that small mountain we can see.”
People who fled their original territories and lived by robbing passersby. People who cleared the hillside through Slash-and-burn Agriculture to eke out their livelihood.
Larger Bandit groups were usually exterminated by nearby lords, but smaller, mobile Bandit bands like this were difficult to catch.
In any case, these were people who lived by plundering honest residents, hardly respectable—but the reason they’d deliberately blocked the Castrain convoy was simple.
“A mad Magic Beast has appeared in the mountains, abducting people.”
A Magic Beast had emerged, and they wanted it eliminated.
I merely laughed at this commotion that had erupted on our first day of travel.
It seemed, after all, that this journey wasn’t going to be smooth either…

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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