I watched as the carriage drew closer, seeing a man in the front driving it—or at least making the two horses pull it. From what I could see, the carriage itself didn’t seem to be moving quickly; in fact, it seemed to be moving quite slowly. But even with this in mind, the carriage looked to be moving faster than I could manage. And as a result, I probably only had one chance to get onto it.

Still, it was difficult to gauge a place to hop onto due to the horses blocking my view. I considered trying any possible steps into the entrance, but if there wasn’t one, then I probably wouldn’t have a chance to try again. It might be easier to just try to get onto the carriage first and work from there.

As the carriage drew closer, I noticed a little bar—next to the body of the carriage—that I could hop on. But unlike the ledges I had leaped onto prior, this was a moving target. I would have to time things just right if I wanted to get on.

I turned toward my front and remained still as the hooves continued to get louder. Then, I saw the first row of hooves pass by me, and a few seconds later, the second row followed. And when I saw the bar entering my periphery, I jumped.

Unfortunately, my jump turned out to be a little premature, as when I landed, I did so on the edge of the bar, causing me to begin to fall off. Thankfully, a backwards kick from one of the horses pushed me back upright. After all this, I looked toward the carriage driver looming in my periphery. I waited for a moment to see if he noticed my arrival. But if he had, then he wasn’t showing it, as his gaze remained turned toward the road ahead.

As the carriage began to cross the bridge, I thought about what to do next. Before, when that boy killed the dragon, I was helpless to do anything. But now I was in a position where I could actually do something, though the question remained as to what.

I looked toward my right and saw a step leading to a curtained entrance—one that was only a few leaps away. It would be so easy for me to just go in there, attack them, and die in the process. But at the same time, if I did that, what would actually change apart from my own demise? And as much as I wanted to die, I didn’t see much use in dying in vain.

Another option was to somehow get that carriage to fall off the bridge—or off one of the slopes. The impact would probably be enough to kill all of them, even from just a few meters above. But if I carried through with such an act—murder specifically—how would that make me any better than them? I paused, trying to clear my thoughts. Before I did anything too hasty, it would probably be a good idea to check if they were even on this carriage in the first place.

I hopped over to the step to listen in on whoever was inside. However, I was unable to hear anything inside the carriage other than muffled voices. Looking up at the curtain, I began to wonder if I should go inside to check. Doing so would be risky, but I reasoned that a little peak probably wouldn’t hurt.

I leaped up onto the ledge and carefully scooted through the curtain to see what was inside. Unfortunately, I was unable to see much. Most of the carriage’s interior was in a blind spot above me, and the tightness of the space certainly wasn’t helping either. However, I was able to make out the sound of voices, and it wasn’t long before I recognized who they belonged to. And sure enough, it was them.

“I can't believe we slept in for a whole day.” I heard the boy say.

“I know,” the elfgirl said from nearby. “It was nice.”

“Speak for yourself,” the demongirl muttered from behind them.

“What’s wrong?” The wide-eyed girl asked, also from behind.

“Did any of you feel like we were being watched?” The demongirl asked.

“Don’t be silly!” The wide-eyed girl replied. “Who would do that?”

“I don’t know,” the demongirl responded. “It’s just a feeling.”

“Why did we have to leave?” The elfgirl interjected. “The beds were comfy!”

“We stayed for long enough already.” The boy replied.

The elfgirl grumbled. “That was our only break in months.”

“But who would want a break from all the fun we’re having?” the wide-eyed girl responded.

“Yeah,” the elfgirl began to say. “Who would…”

“Exactly!” the boy declared in response.

“Just let me get some more sleep,” the elfgirl grumbled to the others. “Please don’t disturb me.”

I was about to head back out when I heard some shouting in the back. Immediately following this, I saw a blur of motion above in my periphery. And when it stopped, I saw part of a blue tail wagging above me. I groaned internally—they still had the kid with them. I had hoped that she had gotten free from their clutches beforehand, but that was clearly not the case. It was probably a good idea to get her out of harm's way before I did anything else. After all, this was a child, not old enough to know better, unlike the other members of that group. However, if I attempted to get her out, I ran the risk of alerting the rest of the group in the process.
I could also try to warn her from a distance, since her giant cat ears might be better at picking up sounds than the ears of the people she was with. On the other hand, I also remembered seeing what looked like a pair of human ears from behind that catgirl’s hair. Because of this, I was unsure as to which pair of ears was actually real, or even if both of them were real, but I digress.

Regardless, I had no guarantees that any warning I tried to put out wouldn’t also be heard by the rest of them. Because of this, it might be easier to use someone else as a liaison. I didn’t want to use any members of that group, for their hands were still drenched in blood, as far as I was concerned. However, I then recalled the carriage driver. And judging by what I had seen from him before, it was possible that he was sympathetic, though this was something I wasn’t sure of. Either way, it wouldn’t hurt to check.

I backed away, going underneath the curtain, until I was outside once again. At this point, I was just about level with the woods, probably a hundred meters or so from the bridge. I could see the bases of some trees, though not much beyond that. In fact, it looked like the trees were forming a wall of sorts, planted in such a way that it was difficult—if not impossible—to look past them.

Putting this aside, I hopped back to the area of the carriage that I started at. I turned toward him and thought about what to say. I wasn’t sure how he would react to me, but given the company that he was already harboring, as well as the world we were in, I doubted he would freak out too much.

At the same time, I couldn’t be sure that he’d even be receptive to what I was trying to do. If he was loyal to that group, he probably wouldn’t be sympathetic to my concerns. Additionally, since my vision was still covered in paint when I previously saw him, it was possible that I had seen signs that weren’t actually there. Still, there wasn’t any use in not trying, and it’s not like I had much to lose anyway.

I hopped over to a ledge that was level with where he was sitting. Unless I chose to jump onto him—in which case he’d most likely just shake me off—it didn’t look like I could go any higher. And as a result, I had to figure out another way to get his attention.

I considered making some noise, but the horses would likely drown out any sounds I could make. It might be a good idea to make the carriage stop first—that would probably quiet things down enough for me to speak with him. I wasn’t sure how I could, however. I probably couldn’t jump high enough to reach his eyes, and the horses were still far louder than me. If I jumped onto him, that could burn any bridges I wanted to build, and it would probably be ineffective.

But then I looked toward the ropes he was holding. It was low enough that I could jump to it, and it was high enough to potentially be within his eyeshot. And if I was heavy enough, that could certainly help as well. However, since the ropes were far apart, I would have to aim for just one. And when I landed, I would almost certainly fall due to my width. Furthermore, I had no guarantees that would be enough, even if I brought the rope down with me. And even so, that could very well backfire as well. This probably wasn’t the best option.

I paused to think about what to do. What to do, what to do. Should I wait until town?

While it seemed like a good idea on the surface, it probably wasn't the best idea. It was far easier to confront them when they were in a confined space like this. And as for the catgirl, though it would be far easier for her to hide from them in that town, from what I had seen, the people there seemed to be quite seedy. Probably not the best place to have a child running around.

I wasn’t sure what to do, so I paused for a moment, listening to the horses. Interestingly, they seemed to be moving in a rhythmic motion, like the marching band of a parade: One, two; One, two; One, two; and so on. Perhaps I could use that to my advantage. If I timed my jumps just right, maybe I could get him to hear me.

I leapt down onto the seat itself, next to where he was sitting physically. That way, when I jumped, I would be near his ears.

And after this, I listened to the horses and tried a test jump in the moment that the horses were silent. I leaped up, reaching his ear. But when I did, one of the horses was taking a step, which would probably be enough to block any sound I made. Subsequently, I fell back down, making an audible thump as I landed.

I suspected that the thump may have been loud enough for the driver to hear, and as I looked up, I saw him staring down at me. Was this my chance?

However, he subsequently moved the rope that was in one of his hands to the other. And the instant he did so, I leaped toward the floor. And as I was falling in that split second, I looked up and saw a hand swinging above me, its grip beginning to close. When I did land, there was another thump, and in that moment I looked for a place to hide. Unfortunately, I didn’t see a place I could go underneath; there was essentially just a wall there.

And so, I went back over to where I started, where I hoped that I was out of his range. However, as I looked back, it seemed that the carriage driver wasn’t giving me any more thought. Instead, he resumed holding the ropes with each of his hands while the horses continued to move forward.