After a while of looking through the window, Nem started wondering what Lana's reaction would be once she read his "letter".
The truth was that he really wrote this with the best of intentions, thinking that since she was so much like a fantasy hero, he would help her avoid the "betrayal arc".
She was different than the other orphans since Nem thought that she could become a Blessed rather easily. Once she became one, she would be able to take care of herself for sure, especially since such a God of War and Disasters wouldn't have a corresponding weak power in battle.
It was a bit out of character for Nem to reveal his plan to someone else. Still, he felt he had to take the risk, and that even if Lana revealed herself to way more fanatical towards the Church of Peace and exposed him, he wouldn't risk much.
'They completely see me as a kid that can be manipulated, they probably wouldn't even think much of it. The only problem is the fact that I gave the scroll itself, since they could figure out that I became a Cursed, but it would be too sad to just keep it to myself where it's useless. Sigh, I guess I became too soft on the kids...'
As for what would happen if Lana stayed in the Church of Peace, Nem could imagine it based on his own understanding of the monks. First, the fact that she was selected so easily to go on a mission even though she didn't do anything against the rules was a bad sign.
Nem estimated that they would keep her because of her potential for a while before she inevitably came across something she shouldn't. After that, the situation would definitely become grim. Nem didn't expect them to be as benevolent towards young adults as they were towards children.
As for the last sentence, it didn't really mean anything, Nem just really wanted to write a post-scriptum.
A bit stiff from staring outside the window, he started stretching and exercising a bit.
'I wonder if we're ever going to stop or if I'm gonna have to eat and do everything in there. Wait, are there toilets somewhere in this carriage ?'
The carriage started to slow down when Nem started to grow worried. The environment was still the same composed of mountains and woods, as beautiful as ever. He opened the door of his room, sat and let his legs hang from there.
'Traveling feels pretty good with these guys' power. It doesn't even need any awful highway roads and there isn't heavy traffic. It makes one wonder how this worlds' technology is going to develop, perhaps there won't even ruin the environment for themselves.'
The other travelers started getting out of the carriage, and one announced :
"OK guys, we eat and stretch our legs for 30 minutes and then start again." He turned jokingly towards Nem. "Don't go to far or we'll just go without you."
'Well that would make things easier if you really did that...' Nem thought while the others chuckled without much enthusiasm. He started reflexively looking for ways to escape in this small clearing beside the road. On one side was a cliff and on the other was the opposite : a steep hill. Nem almost laughed out loud.
'How could I even go far in this situation ? Well whatever, I'm still too close to the monastery anyway, I don't want to leave so early anyways.'
The rest of the 30 minutes was spent eating and talking with the people of the Church of Darkness, whose name he didn't know. They didn't ask for his name either, only casually making conversation to pass the time.
Nem asked an old man with a thick mustache :
"Do you know Lunhart ? I want to learn more about the town."
He laughed : "Do I know it ? Haha what city do I not know ?" The man took a proud expression. "Lunhart is the kind of place that wants to be what it isn't. The city is close to the jungle, and not only physically, but in nature also." He shook his head. "Everyone there wants to act like they're rich and cultured people from Alario, but they can't cut their roots so easily."
Another man seemed to disagree.
"Well it's not like there isn't that sort of thing in the Red Empire, it's just that they are better hidden."
The old man was going to reply, but Nem spoke faster :
"What sort of thing is that ?"
They looked towards that 10-year-old boy in front of them and shook their heads.
"It's better if you don't know, this isn't the sort of thing a kid should be involved in. Just stay away from isolated places." He got up before Nem could add anything. "It's time, we're starting again."
In the end, the conversation was cut short, leaving Nem without much actual information, only an uneasy feeling.
'I wonder if my mission will have anything to do with what they talked about... I guess it probably will, only I won't get the detailed information. Sigh, it would really be better if I could just leave right now.'
'Also, I should really hurry because of the scroll I gave to Lana, the more I wait, the more chances there are that they figure out my plan and deny me the chance to leave...'
No matter how much time Nem spent planning in the monastery, and despite everything working out so well until now, one wouldn't really know what to expect until they actually started the plan.
By giving that scroll, he had not only given a better chance to Lana but also increased the difficulty of his own task, one that he didn't even know. After hearing the men talk just now, Nem couldn't help but wonder if he had made the right choice.
Normally, he would just chase that hesitation out of his mind with the all-powerful "it's already done anyways", but he just happened to have too much time on his hands.
As the boy became more and more immersed in his thoughts, the mountains, trees and rocks outside kept passing by, and time as well.
Soon, it was sunset, and Nem was so bored he couldn't sleep. In fact, he was even considering climbing the carriage from his window and spend the night up there, just to make it more exciting.
He sighed.
'At least I don't feel completely obligated to do it, it's definitely a great upgrade from before, I don't even know what I would do if I was still like this... At least, I never had trouble sleeping when I was mentally ill. That was probably because I was always tired, thought.'
As he considered the question, the carriage stopped for the third time, as they had to eat a few hours ago again. Nem suddenly remembered the space in the carriage that was made for horses. Curious, he completely opened the door to observe.
Two men, each with a horse's reins in hand, looked towards him and smiled.
"We aren't called the Church of Darkness for nothing, you will see. Even without these guys, we will go much faster during the night. Also, they have to rest sometimes as well, after working so much." He then added with a disappointed face. "The roads here are not straight enough, so we can only go at about a third of the maximum speed, but we will get out of the mountains tomorrow night, you'll really be impressed then."
As the night gradually fell on the Kingdom of Sydai, the moon showed itself, much bigger than on Earth and milky white in color. The only reason why the night wasn't much brighter than in Nem's original world was that only a small crescent was visible most of the time.
There were only two days in a year when the moon was full in this world. On the nights of the Bright Moon, nobody would sleep and various festivities would take over the towns. Nem could remember it from Tom's memories, but he wasn't sure if it had anything to do with the Church of the Moon, which was a bit strange.
As Nem didn't have many opportunities to see the moon since he came to this world, he became a bit immersed in it, and got taken by surprise when the carriage started again, completely on its own this time.
This time, the sensation was different. It didn't seem like was sliding but more like its' wheels had found tracks on the ground and followed them precisely.
'This is... like a train ! But what exactly is it that acts as propulsion ?'
The speed kept rising, much slower than with the horses, but for a way longer time. Soon, Nem felt like he was in a car, but it was hard to determine the speed accurately in the dark.
'I hope these guys have night vision or something, because if they don't and there is an obstacle on the road, the carriage might just get destroyed.'
Satisfied with the stimulation, Nem finally fell asleep on the small bed, soothed by the rocking of the potentially fatal carriage.