The road grew a little quieter after parting ways with Fel.
There were still people heading south, but now that he no longer had to match a wagon’s pace, traveling was much easier. Leon urged his horse a little faster, then looked back.
Matthias was keeping up better than expected.
Just as Leon had told him earlier, he wasn’t gripping the reins too tightly, and his body was swaying less than before.
He remembers things well enough once you tell him.
“Doing okay?” “Yes.” “Your legs?”
Matthias glanced down at his thighs.
“Better than before.” “Tell me if it hurts.” “I will.”
Leon looked ahead again.
At this speed, they could reach the next village before sunset. If he let the horses rest there and rented a room, the first day would be over.
Normally, it was close enough that he could follow the main road without giving it much thought.
It was a five-day escort, after all.
There was no reason to make the route more difficult than it had to be.
After another two hours or so heading south, a small stone marker appeared beside the road.
The southern main road continued straight ahead, while a narrow road branched off to the right.
Leon was about to give the marker a cursory glance and pass it by when he slowed his horse.
A new wooden board had been attached beneath it.
[Southern stone bridge damaged] [Wagons cannot pass] [Use the road on the right]
Matthias stopped behind him as well.
“Do we need to change roads?” “Looks like it.”
Leon looked at the wooden board once.
The writing was crooked, as if it had been scrawled in a hurry, and the nails were new.
Bridges collapsing wasn’t particularly unusual.
With the war having just ended, there were probably plenty of roads that hadn’t been properly repaired yet.
Leon looked at the road on the right.
Several sets of wagon-wheel tracks ran along it.
It looked like everyone had gone around that way.
“Let’s go.”
Just as he was turning his horse around, he heard a wagon approaching from behind.
A small freight wagon was coming down from the north. The driver looked at the wooden board and swore first thing.
“Have to go around again?”
Leon asked him,
“When did the bridge collapse?”
The driver pulled on the reins and looked at Leon.
“The bridge?” “That one.”
Leon pointed to the wooden board.
The driver read the writing for a while, then frowned.
“What are you talking about? I crossed it this morning.”
Leon’s hand stopped on the reins.
“This morning?” “Yeah. It was fine.”
The driver gave one of the empty barrels in the back a tap.
“I dropped off oil at the southern market and went back up, and now I’m heading down again. If the bridge had collapsed, would I be here?”
He had a point.
“When did you pass through?” “Not long after sunrise.”
The driver looked at the board again.
“Someone playing a joke?”
He drove his wagon straight toward the main road.
“I’m going through.”
Leon watched his back for a moment.
Matthias asked,
“Should we follow him?” “Wait.”
Leon dismounted.
He approached the board and examined where it had been nailed in place. The board looked like a plank from an old shed, but the nail marks showed that this wasn’t the first time it had been put up. There were traces beside it where it had been pulled out and nailed back in.
There were plenty of footprints in the dirt beneath it.
The problem was their direction.
There were wagon tracks branching off toward the farm road, but most of them were about the same depth. On the other hand, fresh hoofprints and wheel tracks from today continued along the main road as well.
So the road isn’t blocked.
“What’s strange?”
Matthias asked from horseback.
“They say the bridge is fine.” “Couldn’t that man have been lying?”
Leon looked at Matthias.
“He could have.” “Then what do we do?”
Good question.
Leon looked back and forth between the main road and the farm road.
The main road ran straight south. There were more people on it, and it would get them to the village faster.
The road on the right was narrow, but wide enough for wagons. It probably looped around the low hills to the right before heading south again.
He didn’t know who had put up the board.
It could have been a prank, a farmer trying to collect a toll, or a genuine problem with the bridge that had appeared after the morning.
But one thing was certain.
There was one more thing they didn’t know now.
“We’re taking the right.” “But the bridge might be fine.” “Yeah.”
Leon mounted his horse again.
“But we don’t know who put up that board.”
Matthias looked at the wooden board for a moment.
“Are we avoiding it because it’s dangerous?” “We don’t know if it’s dangerous yet.”
The road on the right was in better shape than expected.
It was narrow, but it continued between fields on either side, and there were signs that wagons had passed through not long before. It had more bends than the main road, though, so their speed was definitely slower.
Matthias called from behind him,
“At this rate, won’t we miss the village today?” “We’ll be a little late.” “What about lodging?” “We can sleep somewhere else.” “Outside?” “Maybe.”
Matthias didn’t answer.
When Leon looked back, the boy was checking the position of his small bag.
“You don’t like that?” “Sleeping outside?” “Yeah.”
Matthias thought for a moment.
“It’s not ideal.”
Honest, at least.
“But if I have to sleep, I will.” “Then that settles it.”
A little farther on, an old man working in the fields came out to the roadside.
Leon stopped his horse.
“Does this road lead back to the southern main road?”
The old man rested the hoe in his hands on his shoulder.
“Where are you going?” “South.” “That doesn’t tell me anything.”
He has a point.
Leon asked more specifically,
“We’re trying to get back to the main road after the bridge.” “The stone bridge?” “Yes.” “That’s fine.”
That was the second time he’d heard it.
Leon’s gaze briefly shifted toward the road behind him.
“You saw it this morning?” “What do you mean, this morning? My son crossed it with a wagon before lunch.”
The old man looked Matthias and Leon over.
“Why?” “There’s a board up ahead saying it collapsed.” “Who put it up?”
The old man’s expression turned strange.
“I was asking because I don’t know.” “We didn’t put up anything like that.”
The old man lowered his hoe.
“If it had been put up by the village, I would’ve heard about it.”
Leon nodded.
“Where does this road lead if we keep going?” “Go a long way and you’ll find a mill. Turn left there, and you’ll come out south of the stone bridge. It’s the fastest way to reach the main road.”
At the mention of the mill, Leon glanced briefly in the direction the old man had pointed.
“There’s a mill?” “There is.” “Is it big?”
The old man looked at him as if wondering why he had suddenly asked that.
Matthias looked at Leon from beside him as well.
“Just curious.” “It’s small. An old married couple runs it.” “Does it do well?” “Hey.”
The old man laughed.
“Weren’t you asking for directions?” “I was.”
Leon scratched his neck for no particular reason.
“You said to turn left?” “Left after the mill.” “Thank you.”
As they started moving, Matthias asked from behind him,
“Why did you ask about the mill?” “Just because.” “You asked if it was doing well, too.” “I was just curious.”
Matthias was quiet for a moment.
“You really are thinking about running a mill.”
Leon glanced back at him.
“You thought I was joking?” “A little.”
What’s the problem?
The mill the old man had mentioned appeared in less than an hour.
A small building stood beside a narrow stream, and its waterwheel was turning slowly but properly.
Leon turned his head briefly as they passed.
The building’s walls were old, and one side of the roof showed signs of recent repairs. Six grain sacks and an empty wagon sat out front.
Is that considered small?
It looked like there was more work than he’d expected.
Matthias said,
“Are you going to stop?” “No.” “You’ve been looking at it this whole time.”
Leon turned his gaze away.
“Let’s go.” “Yes.”
After they passed the mill, the road split in two again.
As the old man had said, taking the left would bring them out south of the stone bridge.
Leon stopped his horse instead of turning onto it immediately.
There were several hoofprints in the middle of the dirt road.
Nothing else about them was unusual.
Except that four or five horses had come from the same direction, then turned back.
They went down the left road,
then came back here and headed north again.
Matthias waited beside him.
“What is it?” “Wait.”
Leon went to the side of the road and examined one of the hoofprints.
Its edges hadn’t crumbled yet.
It wasn’t old.
There was also a mark where someone had stepped on and put out a cigarette. Most of the ash had blown away, but the tip of the leaf was still black.
A few hours, maybe.
That wasn’t enough to tell him anything.
A few horses could have taken the wrong road and turned back.
But he remembered the wooden board from earlier.
Making a perfectly good bridge look blocked to divert people onto the road on the right,
then waiting here for a while.
It could be a coincidence.
Leon stared down the left road for a long time.
“Matthias.” “Yes.” “We’re not sleeping in a village tonight.”
Before the boy could ask why, he nodded.
“Understood.”
Leon looked at Matthias.
“You’re not going to ask?” “You must have a reason.”
Did I?
Leon looked at the road on the right.
It curved a little farther away from the main road, but connected the small villages beneath the mountain. It would shorten the distance they covered today.
The horses would need more rest, too.
Even so, it was the better option for now.
“We’re taking the right.” “Yes.”
After they changed direction, Matthias asked a beat later,
“But…” “What?” “Is this because of me?”
Leon didn’t answer right away.
One wooden board.
A perfectly sound bridge.
A few horses that had waited for a while, then turned back.
That wasn’t enough to conclude it was because of Matthias.
“I don’t know yet.” “I see.” “Yeah.”
Leon urged his horse a little faster.
“So until we know for sure, we’ll avoid it.”
Matthias kept pace with him.
This time, he didn’t grip the reins too tightly.