Log Horizon - Volume 9 - Chapter 3.3

3 
Two days had passed. 
Over those two days, on the whole, the villagers had welcomed Leonardo’s group. 
In response to the villagers’ request, Elias had cleared away several thickets, helping to reclaim land. Coppélia gave blessings and treated injured people when asked, and Kanami’s natural charm made her hugely popular. KR himself absolutely refused to admit it, but half of the horses—and there were more horses than villagers—watched him with fervent eyes. 
However, unexpectedly, the one the children took the greatest liking to was Leonardo. 
Boy or girl, whenever the kids saw Leonardo, they seemed to get very excited and happy. 
What really irritated him was the fact that the kids always tried to climb him. The slightly older ones hung back, but they did so out of what little juvenile pride they had, and he could tell that what they really wanted was to put their sticky mitts all over him. 
To Leonardo, most of the younger boys and girls looked like babes in arms or little ones who’d just begun to walk, and they were far less shy about causing him trouble. In other words, they climbed on him, and if they were in a good mood, they’d smack his green mask. If they were in a bad mood, they’d throw tantrums and cry. 
Leonardo fled this way and that, trying to stick to places where there were as few children as possible. Even so, in this small village, there was no way to completely avoid them at meals and when he washed his face in the mornings and evenings. He ended up having to spend a lot of time dealing with children whom he couldn’t admonish. 
Because the mothers who lived in the village understood that Leonardo was an Adventurer and that his combat abilities were far greater than theirs, they bowed to him apologetically over and over. We’re terribly sorry our children are causing trouble for you, they said again and again. 
However, according to what Leonardo’s imagination told him, this was just for show, and the ladies enjoyed seeing the kids attack Leonardo as well. If that wasn’t the case, he couldn’t believe they’d let the little tyrants have this much freedom. 
As a result, while they waited for the caravan, Leonardo had to spend his days hiding from children. 
That huge boulder on the outskirts of town was a big help. It was two meters tall, and with an area about as big as a large room on top, it made for a perfect shelter. 
After meals, Leonardo scuttled away from the little ones, ran through the streets to lose any pursuers, then crept up to the top of the boulder and hid. 
Once he’d fled to the boulder, Leonardo spent most of the day up there, swinging his swords. It was the first serious training he’d done since the Catastrophe had brought him to this other world. 
Leonardo executed monotonous techniques over and over, checking every single one and progressing with slow steps, like a frog. He was an engineer by trade, and once he’d made up his mind about something, he was extremely tenacious. Most of the time, he achieved his objectives through perseverance and patience, using his instincts like a hunting dog to bring the problem to bay. Right now, he was using those two weapons to deduce the answer to a riddle. 
On the morning of their fourth day in the village, travelers arrived. 
Leonardo, who was up on the big boulder, saw them first, and he went out to a spot fifty meters from the village to meet them. 
They were a much smaller caravan than the caretaker Yagudo had said they would be. 
A middle-aged Person of the Earth led a horse loaded with cargo, and a woman wore scarred-up leather armor. Even though she was on foot, the woman, who wore a fur-trimmed mantle, was carrying on her back more cargo than the horse. It looked like they might have been journeying for a long time; there was pronounced fatigue in her expression. 
Leonardo confirmed that she was an Adventurer, and he knew she’d recognized him at very nearly the same time. 
“Are you an Adventurer, sir?” 
“That’s right. I’m Leonardo.” 
The woman bit her lip, clearly wary. She looked young, but her voice was calm, and most telling of all, her expression was experienced. 
In the world of Elder Tales, due to the influence of the game’s 3-D models, everyone tended to be good-looking. As a result, people who were middle-aged or older often ended up looking as if their youth had been restored. In terms of simple appearance, this woman seemed to be about twenty, but from her self-possession, it wouldn’t have been odd for her to be in her thirties. 
“My name is Chun Lu. I am a traveling guard affiliated with the Lelang Wolf Cavalry. My strength was insufficient to protect the other members of the caravan.” 
The middle-aged man was a merchant with black whiskers and strong-willed eyes. Introducing himself as Ju Ha, he asked to be taken to village chief Yagudo. 
Technically, Leonardo wasn’t in a position to take requests like that, and he didn’t have the authority to grant permission. However, Chun Lu seemed to think that he was an Adventurer who’d been hired to guard the village. Either way, he couldn’t just leave these two on the outskirts of town. Leonardo returned to Yagudo’s house, showing the pair the way. 
At the chieftain’s abode, the two travelers were given a warm welcome, and in the large hall, Chun Lu told them what had happened. 
The Lelang Wolf Cavalry had accepted a request to guard Ju Ha’s caravan. This sort of guard duty was routine for the Cavalry. There had been four members of the caravan and six guards from the guild. In the beginning, she said, the journey had gone smoothly. 
“However, on the eighth night, while we were southeast of this place, we encountered some gnolls. Lately, gnoll sightings in this region have grown more frequent. We had been watching for them, but…there were too many.” 
Chun Lu and Ju Ha, who’d been offered plain hot water by the villagers, spoke in leaden voices, but they told things just as they’d happened, with no apparent reluctance. 

“We couldn’t tell their exact numbers, but I think there were more than eighty of them. Since we are a guard unit, there is no meaning in simply winning battles. We have to save our clients. We defended, but there was no way for us to block that many gnolls completely. 
“Gnolls tend to attack Adventurers. Knowing this, we distanced ourselves from the caravan, but in the end, our efforts were in vain. My Adventurer companions were annihilated. After I’d managed to escape, I went around searching for the members of the caravan, but there was nothing to do but mourn their passing. Ju Ha was the only survivor I found.” 
Chun Lu’s face was grave, and the merchant she’d called Ju Ha seemed to be trying to comfort her. 
He was a virile man with chiseled features and black whiskers. Although his voice was tired, it was still firm. 
“Life on the road is always dangerous. That lot knew something like this could happen. The Wolf Cavalry risked their lives to protect us. They won’t hold a grudge against you.” 
“But—!” 
With so much force that she seemed in danger of biting through her lip, Chun Lu swallowed her words. Leonardo and the others knew what the rest of the sentence would have been as clearly as if she’d said it. 
But we’ll come back to life. We’re Adventurers. 
That was only natural. If Adventurers died every time a monster got them, it wouldn’t be much of a game. That was why they revived in the temple. However, this wasn’t true for the People of the Earth. 
People of the Earth died. 
Because they were NPCs. 
That was just as ordinary as it was for Adventurers to revive. However, even though Leonardo knew that death was natural, he was unable to accept it as such. 
Ridiculous… You know there’s no helping that. That’s just how it goes…isn’t it? 
The things KR had said rose in his mind. 
The symbiotic relationship between People of the Earth and Adventurers. He understood that. 
There were more People of the Earth in this world than Adventurers, and there was work that only they could do. Therefore, Adventurers couldn’t get by all on their own. In that case, why not just use the People of the Earth as servants and live that way? The way Plant Hwyaden—the guild from Minami that had come up in the conversation—did things was perfectly logical in this world. 
Even so, something just didn’t sit right with him, and Kanami, Elias, and even Coppélia were listening to Chun Lu as if that “something” was only natural. 
He’d never been good with this sort of dreary emotion. 
Leonardo was a genuine New Yorker, and as a city-dweller, he was a believer in dry, hard, urban survival. In New York, everyone had their hands full just trying to save themselves. Working to help yourself was the heart of liberalism. 
The weak died. That was simply how the world worked. 
However, by that same logic, Leonardo sensed nobility in this middle-aged merchant, Ju Ha. 
In the midst of this harsh battle for survival, they risked their most valuable asset—their lives—by trading in this dangerous wasteland. Ju Ha had survived, but his companions had lost their lives. On the whole, it was probably safe to say that the caravan had lost this bet. Ju Ha had been defeated, and he’d lost a lot of property and irreplaceable friends. However, that didn’t decrease his nobility in the slightest. After all, he’d tried. 
“So what are you planning to do now, Ju Ha and Chun Lu?” 
“Your companions are gone, and I doubt you’ll be able to travel any farther west.” 
It looked as if Ju Ha had already been thinking of the things Leonardo and Elias had said. He had only one horse left, and he’d lost most of his guards. Journeying farther would be difficult. 
Chun Lu had been about to say something, but she faltered and glanced at Ju Ha. Her employer’s wishes probably took priority. 
“You’re right. I’ll have to start all over again. I’m planning to sell off as much of my cargo as possible in this village, then return. If I make it to the City of Mare’s Milk, Dadu may be far, but I think I’ll be able to pull some people together and make a fresh start.” 
Chun Lu was a Cleric. That had probably helped them survive. The wounds both Chun Lu and Ju Ha had sustained when fleeing from the gnolls had healed already. If Ju Ha had been on his own, he would have had to stay in this village and recuperate, possibly for as long as six months, but fortunately, he could depart the very next day. 
His voice was stern, but it held the energy to move forward again. 
“My guild, the Lelang Wolf Cavalry, is planning a raid to wipe out the gnoll group. As a result, they don’t have the leeway to send additional guards for the journey home…” Chun Lu sounded apologetic. 
“That’s fine,” Kanami said. “We’re on our way east, too. We’ll be your traveling companions. The five of us… Or—no, I guess one of us is a horse. Anyway, with you, Chun Lu, that’s six. Perfect, right?” 
Just as she’d done when she picked up Leonardo and made him a traveling companion, Kanami settled the matter with a lightness that held no hint of sarcasm. 
Elias nodded, and Coppélia’s expression looked vaguely happy. This relieved Leonardo. He didn’t know why he felt that way, but Kanami’s decision seemed to have swept away the slight pain he’d felt.