This Hero is Sleeping!

A gust of wind swept through the windows as a giant four-wheeler tumbled from side to side. Going past the walls of Leunderk, the car's motor whirred and kicked up a trail of dust down the sandy paths that led away from the small town.

With the wheel in his hand, Puzo, the requester of the quest was the only one driving the vehicle as he donned the same coat as before. Next to him on the front seat was a bulky bald, and behind them were the three remaining adventurers. Skinny, wild, and weird.

"This car is pretty cool though, I didn't think I'll ever see one here."

"I know right? What does the engine work on?"

"Haha!" Puzo chuckled when he heard the two speak admirably. "Isn't it amazing? The car is one of a kind, you won't see this even with rich people."

"That's right," added the bald. "I've heard there is only a handful in Maris."

"The engine uses a magic stone to compress air in pistons, like a motor. It's a marvel of magical engineering! Isn't it crazy how fast it is?"

"It's slow," said Elric.

"S-slow…? Maybe a little slower than a horse, but it doesn't tire ever!"

"Nah, it's just slow."

"I agree."

Poor Puzo had no point to present at their persecution. Pacifying his pain, he proclaimed, "There have been reports of bandits in the shortcut I am planning to take, I hope you guys can take care of things then."

"Of course," the Kone members swooped in to the rescue. "That's why we're here, sir. Leave it to us!"

"Yeah! Not a scratch will fall on your car."

"Not the car, me."

"Your car will be untouched, sir!"

Capitalism was unchanging everywhere.

A few hours passed by in the quiet ride. When Elric stuck his head out of the window and somehow got deer chasing them remained a mystery as the sun went past overhead and started nearing night time.

Soon, the sky darkened and the group made a stop for the first day. After setting up tent on the side of the road near a clearing that could house the car, the group sat around a campfire.

"We should take the first shift," Kone said together. "You guys don't mind the second, right?"

"Of course," Claude nodded, biting into the skewered meat. Puzo seemed to want to speak, but decided not to. He was kind enough to want his companions rested and also smart enough to know he was paying them and that intervening would only hold them back.

Since there wasn't much to worry about in that field, Claude decided it time bring up an important issue.

"I've been wondering…"

At his low voice, everyone stopped except Elric who continued nibbling on a small piece of meat.

"Which one of you is Quamie and which is Jinton?"

"What?" Elric suddenly raised his head. "That's their names? How stupid."

Jamie and Quinton bit their lips, even if the wanted to speak out, Claude would just beat them up.

"How are you so late at this bit? Don't blame them, though. It's their parents' fault."

"You two must have been hated… was it tough?"

At that time, noticing their teary eyes, Puzo swooped in. "You two, aren't their names Jamie and Quinton?"

"They are!?"

The two nodded.

"What the hell? Why didn't you ever correct me?"

Jamie and Quinton lowered their heads.

"W-we were scared…"

"You'd beat us up…"

"I ought to now." Claude narrowed his gaze. Then, he sighed. "Don't worry, I wouldn't ever do it. Don't we owe you a lot?"

Elric nodded in unison with Claude's words and the Kone members expressed relief.

"So, who is who?"

"Isn't that obvious, Claude?" Elric said. "The buff baldy is Quinton, and Scrawny McBones is Jamie."

The three couldn't react to Elric's blatant insults. Claude, too, found it to be too rude and smacked the back of his head.

"It's the other way around…" Puzo muttered.

"Oh…"

Well, with no hiccups, the night passed well. Puzo stepped into his tent and as the song of the crickets grew louder with half the night gone, the two members of Kone went over to the wake up the other two adventurers that had postponed selecting a party name.

"Guys, it's your watch—"

"Oh, Quamie… Jinton… yes, sure. Thanks."

***

Claude had tossed Elric to a tree and now the two of them were up. Sitting slightly away from the camp, Claude narrowed his eyes and spoke to Elric.

"What do you think?"

"I was thinking that fast low bass in the background will go well with a soft slow melody. Like, 'Dun dun dun dun dun dun,' and 'na…na na na…na…'"

Claude was stumped. Never did he think the sound of night wind howling and the night cricket's screamings would be accompanied by the stupid sounds his friend was making.

"I am not talking about that. I mean Puzo and this quest."

"Well, talk about this. Don't you know how important my theme song is?"

"Just use crazy frog or something!"

"How can you!"

The two stared at each other with daggers in their eyes before sighing and looking away.

"The car is super rare. And even assuming he's rich enough to have one, why would he take a car along and worry about the safety of his 'items'?" Elric crossed his legs and rested his chin on his palm.

Claude was of the same opinion.

Something was fishy.

"We'll have to wait for him to slip up and show his intentions. Though, I doubt he wants to harm us."

Claude sighed. They had already had a bad experience with requesters once, second time and it won't be just a coincidence. "Can't you figure it out? Like you did last time?"

"My extreme wealth of knowledge says…"

"Says…?"

"He's a mecha."

"Just fuck off."

The night watch continued with a strange mood as Elric kept working on his theme song.

Soon enough, the second day passed over to and before they could reach Soleda on the third, the group came to a stop near the shortcut that Puzo planned to take.

Crouched on the road was Quinton, checking the tracks in the sandy path.

"There might be some trouble… We should go and scout, and then Claude can handle it."

Claude crossed his arms.

"Instead, I'll go with you. Let's take care of whatever we run into right away."

"Then here…"

"It's alright, Elric can protect Puzo and the car."