A New Journey
Satou here. For every meeting, there is a parting to follow; that’s part of the charm of a journey. When letters were the primary form of contact, it didn’t take long for people to lose touch, but I think more people continue to communicate now that e-mail is widely available.
Now, it was about time to head over to where everyone else was waiting.
Remembering that I’d become barefoot, I took the Winged Shoes out of Storage. The boots I’d ruined earlier were the ones I’d been wearing for everyday use, so I hadn’t put these on in a while.
In order to move more easily, I used some scrap material from Storage to make a carrying rack to strap onto my back.
It came out pretty sturdy for something I’d just thrown together. To avoid any injuries to the unconscious Number 7 in the process, I wrapped her in a thick sheet before securing her in the carrying rack.
I got a running start to jump along the ridges of the bare mountain, making it back to the others much more quickly than expected.
The sun set partway through the journey, making it a bit more difficult, but I was able to keep running with the help of my “Night Vision” and “Off-Road Running” skills.
Despite the fact that it was the dead of night now, everyone was still awake.
They were camping out around a very bright bonfire. All around them were the corpses of crimson needle bees, with little animals no larger than puppies gathering to devour the remains.
I leaped over a few boulders and arrived in the meadow where everyone was camping.
Hearing the sound of my footsteps, Pochi and Tama rolled away from the bonfire and scrambled toward me.
But another shadow slipped between them and reached me first—surprisingly enough, it was Liza.
“Master!”
A flood of tears gushing from her eyes, Liza was choked with emotion as she rushed up to hug me tightly.
I lowered my center of gravity so that I wouldn’t be bowled over by her weight as I caught her. Liza was by no means heavy, but since I had the body of a young man again, I was a little light.
While I was still dazed by Liza’s uncharacteristic behavior, Tama and Pochi clambered into the fray to latch onto me on both sides.
“Welcome baaack!”
“Sir!”
The two didn’t seem to have the words to express their joy and relief, and instead they set about play-biting my head and shoulders before attempting to lick my face. Their enthusiasm matched that of any real dog or cat.
“Thanks. I’m sorry for worrying you.”
“I’m so glad you’re all right…”
Liza had been hugging me and weeping for a while, but when I spoke she managed to choke out a few tearful words before crying again.
After a while, she appeared to realize what she was doing and let go of me with embarrassment.
Once she’d done so, I lowered Pochi and Tama to the ground, ruffling their hair.
“We were worried, sir!”
“Are you huuurt?”
The pair anxiously looked up at me.
Arisa and Lulu rushed over after the beastfolk girls. The store manager was sitting behind them as well.
“Welcome back, sir,” Lulu said with a modest smile. Arisa hung back silently with her head hung low, so Lulu put her hands on her sister’s shoulders and pushed her forward.
Arisa took a deep breath and looked up, so I waited for her to speak.
Her wide eyes were filled with tears that threatened to spill over at any moment.
“…I—I was so worried! Promise you’ll never do anything so reckless again!!”
Her words were heartfelt and forceful enough that she was almost shouting at me.
I hugged her gently, apologizing and giving her a light pat on the back.
She gave way then and burst into tears, so I did my best to comfort her. Following her lead, Pochi and Tama started to cry, too.
I ended up apologizing over and over until everyone stopped crying. Seeing that everyone had worried about me to the point of shedding tears and scolding me warmed my somewhat stormy heart.
When I finally had a chance to speak to the store manager, I told him that it was all over. As usual, his reply was way too short.
Arisa still hadn’t stopped crying, so I carried her over to the bonfire and laid her next to Mia, the only person who hadn’t stirred since I’d arrived.
I put down the wooden rack that carried Number 7 in her bundle and went over to Mia.
“…Satou.”
“I’m back, Mia.”
“Kept your promise.”
“Yes, of course I did.”
Mia was trying to sit up, so I lent her a hand.
“Let me thank you again…”
Mia cleared her throat a little and spoke at length.
“I am the youngest elf of Bolenan Forest, Misanaria Bolenan, daughter of Lamisauya and Lilinatoa. Satou of the Shiga Kingdom, I give you my thanks.”
With those words, Mia pressed a kiss to my forehead.
Huh? So this “Aaze” person she’d mentioned before wasn’t her mother?
If it was her hot older sister, I hoped she’d introduce me.
> Title Acquired: Friend of the Elves
“By the way, what’s in this carrier? Don’t tell me you swiped some treasure as you were escaping from that enormous tree?”
Rubbing her reddened eyes, Arisa looked at the wrapped-up Number 7.
She was pretty rude for a former princess.
“This is a person I rescued.”
“A person? Are you planning to add another member to the harem?!”
Yeah, right. How is this a harem when all the would-be members are children? They’d need to be at least twenty years old.
I took up the carrier and brought it to a large boulder nearby.
The women I’d sent to escape along with Mia were there, tied to the boulder with what looked like ivy. They’d probably guessed the women were enemies, because of the title Zen’s Puppet.
Near the beautiful women, the red-helmeted ratman was on guard keeping a sharp eye out for monsters.
“This is one of the sisters who I rescued along with Mia.”
“Oh, these kids? I thought there were seven, but I guess there are eight now.”
Can you really call them “kids” if they’re homunculi?
Tilting my head uncertainly at Arisa’s words, I took Number 7 out of the carrier and laid her down next to the other women.
She must have gotten jostled around a little too much, because her status still read Fainted . Both her stamina and HP were a little low, so I unwrapped the protective sheet to check her physical condition.
Sadly, Liza ended up being the one to do the checking.
I was about to do it, but Arisa’s objections put a stop to that.
She was rather rude about it, but thinking about it rationally, it was true that there wouldn’t be much point in my checking when I had no medical experience.
When Number 7’s face peeked out from under the blanket, the other women gave a cry of joy.
It was very noisy, so once their excitement at the reunion had calmed a little, I shushed them.
As their representative, Number 1 thanked me.
“Sir Satou, not only did you spare our lives when we were your opponents, but you also saved Number 7 from certain death. There are no words to convey our gratitude.”
The other sisters followed up with a few words of thanks each. Apparently, the lower the number, the more fluent the speech of the homunculus.
They seemed to have gathered from the collapse of the Cradle that Zen had died. When they asked for my confirmation, I figured I should tell them the truth.
Before doing so, I had Arisa use the Psychic Magic spell Wake Up to bring Number 7 back to consciousness. I didn’t want to tell the same story twice.
“So, our master…”
“Yes, he’s passed on now.”
I wasn’t sure if they would understand this concept, but they seemed to accept it readily enough. Apparently, they used the term ascension for that sort of thing in this country.
The sisters talked quietly among themselves for a moment, then they all turned toward me at once.
What now?
“Master Satou. From now on, we shall obey you as our new master.”
I would certainly be happy to be waited on by a group of busty beauties, but this seemed like a few too many people.
And more importantly, I could feel Arisa and the others staring at me with bated breath.
I felt a little bad turning them down, but I wasn’t really looking to create a harem, either, so I searched for the appropriate words.
“However, before we serve by your side, we would like to request a brief period of leave. I know that this is far beyond a servant’s place to ask, but we would like to deliver something belonging to our previous master to the graveyard where his wife is laid to rest. Please, we beg of you most respectfully, forgive us this transgression.”
So they wanted to bring Zen’s effects to his wife’s grave? I had no reason to refuse, so I readily agreed.
Just out of curiosity, I asked what it might be…
“We plan to search the remains of the Cradle for it right away.”
…was the unfortunate answer.
They explained that what they were hoping to find was his wedding ring. Sure enough, when I checked my Storage, I found it in the spoils from the Cradle.
I reached into Storage via my pocket, pulled out the ring, and handed it to Number 1.
“This is…!”
“Zen entrusted it to me. Please make sure that it reaches his wife’s grave safely.”
“Even if it costs me my life, I shall!”
Number 1 pressed her hand to her chest and promised with a deathly serious expression.
Yikes, you don’t need to be that determined about it.
“With that being the case, we would like for you to please designate one of our number as a representative to be your personal attendant.”
I wouldn’t have a problem choosing a hostess at a hostess bar or something, but it was pretty difficult to choose from a group of eight beautiful women with identical faces.
“It’s all right if you all go to the graveyard together.”
“No, we can do no such thing.”
“Then I’ll let you choose among yourselves.”
Since my first suggestion was immediately rejected, I decided to just leave the decision to them. We already had five people in our group, not including me, so it shouldn’t be a big deal if we gained one more member.
The women were apparently deciding who would stay behind with a rock-paper-scissors tournament. The group of beautiful, chesty women playing rock-paper-scissors with very serious expressions was a pretty surreal sight.
In the end, Number 7 was the one who was chosen.
“Master, I look forward to serving you from now on, I do declare.”
“Sure, thanks.”
The seven women behind her gritted their teeth in vexation.
Apparently, Number 7 had won the right to be my attendant in the rock-paper-scissors game.
This surprised me, since I’d assumed that the loser would be the one who would stay behind with us.
It would be a pain to keep calling her Number 7, so I asked her to let me give her a nickname. It was meant to be only a temporary alias, but it actually changed her name in her status window.
“Okay. Let’s get along well, Nana.”
“Yes, master.”
The other women wanted me to give them all names, too, but it would be difficult to think of that many on the spot, so I put it off by saying I would give them names when they returned.
When Arisa heard the name I’d given her (which was really just seven in Japanese), she shot me a scolding look, but I couldn’t help that I didn’t have a good sense for naming.
Once I’d given Nana a name, her title changed from Zen’s Puppet to Satou’s Servant. Then, the other seven women’s titles all changed in the same way, as if responding.
In the end, Nana became part of our group as a sort of first payment in an installment plan.
I had no problem welcoming a large-chested beauty into the fold, but the problem was that her real age was technically…zero years old. Since Number 1 had been two years old, maybe Nana’s eccentric manner of speech would improve within two years?
Arisa and the others looked at us with expressions of thinly veiled dissatisfaction.
It would be hard to persuade them about this.
While we waited for the sun to rise, I tried suggesting to the store manager that we could take Mia to the elves’ village.
Mia herself wanted us to as well, so he gave permission more easily than I’d expected.
Their conversation went something like this.
“Yuya.”
“What.”
“Going home.”
“I’ll take you.”
“It’s fine.”
“You’ll be okay?”
“With Satou.”
“I see.”
I really wished they’d communicate in more complete sentences.
The store manager called out to me and clasped my hand. Arisa raised what sounded like a shriek of excitement.
“Will you?”
“Take Mia home, you mean? Yes, of course. I was already planning to go to the old capital, so that should be right nearby.”
“I see…”
Still holding on to my hand with both of his, the store manager looked at me steadily.
Um, please tell me this isn’t actually a boys’ love situation?
“I, Yusaratoya of Bolenan Forest, implore you, Satou of the Shiga Kingdom. Please take Misanaria, the child of Bolenan Forest, back to our hometown.”
“Sure, leave it to me.”
Whoa, that was the first long sentence I’ve heard from him.
I was going to suggest this plan anyway, so I readily agreed to his request.
Now after we went sightseeing in the old capital, we’d get to visit the elfin village, which was hidden by a secret veil.
Zen had said an earlier hero had been sent back home to the world he came from, so I could go sightseeing free of concern. Just as I’d planned, it looked like my itinerary of going to the Saga Empire after I finished my tour of the Shiga Kingdom would be a good way to go.
Once the sun rose, the store manager used his magic to transport us to a forest near Seiryuu City.
It would have been a fun fantasy scene to make our way through an overgrown forest while pushing aside branches, but all we actually had to do was walk along an “Elf Road” for ten minutes or so before we came out near the city.
I’d love to learn this kind of magic.
As usual, I got the “Forest Magic” skill the instant I stepped onto the Elf Road, but apparently, the incantation for using it was an elfin secret, so the store manager wouldn’t teach me.
We’d parted ways with the ratman before leaving the Cradle. The store manager had offered to transport him with Forest Magic, but he insisted on walking back to his village on foot. Of course, I remembered to return the magic hatchet I’d been holding on to for him.
Nana’s sisters came with us as far as the forest near Seiryuu City, then went off on their own.
Their simple miniskirt dresses had been a sight for sore eyes, but they were hardly suited to a long journey, so I gave them some of my and Liza’s spare clothes and overcoats. There were plenty of things in my most recent spoils that they might need for a journey, so I gave them as much as they could carry without too much trouble.
The girls’ race seemed like it might be a problem on their journey, but luckily there was a proper countermeasure to be found. Among the new loot I’d gotten was an item called the Amulet of Humanity, which could disguise the user’s race as “human” and even hide their race-specific abilities. This talisman was apparently what Zen had used to infiltrate the city and such.
It wouldn’t fool the original Yamato stone, but the replica Yamato stones like the ones placed at city entrances and general skills like “Status Check” couldn’t see through it.
There were plenty of them in my Storage, so I saved one for Nana and gave the rest to Number 1.
Now that we were back in Seiryuu City, there was still one thing we had to do before we could rest at the inn.
“…I see, so it was the spirit of an unknown sorcerer with a grudge against the Shiga Kingdom?”
“Yes, that’s what the six warriors who rescued us said.”
I described the situation to the knight Sir Thorne in the guardhouse by the gate. I gave the excuse that I’d been mistaken for the store manager and kidnapped.
Of course, this was a fabrication that I’d thought up with Arisa and the others the night before. The so-called “six warriors” were based on an organization of heroes from the Saga Empire that Arisa knew.
They clearly had some sort of reputation, though, because Sir Thorne declared that it must have been that brave group of heroes who’d helped us.
I also added that the tower the sorcerer had been using as a base had been destroyed and was now a pile of rubble.
Apparently, a Sorcerer’s Tower without a master was a hot spot for treasure hunting, so mentioning its destruction would discourage the count’s army from aggressively invading the gray ratmen’s territory.
I wasn’t going to give them the exact location, so I just said it was on the border between the Gray Rat Emirate and the Longhaired Rat Emirate.
“Wait, Zenacchi!”
“Yeah, slow down!”
“Let go of me—I have to help him!”
I heard a familiar voice from outside the station.
“Is the knight Sir Thorne here?”
I locked eyes with Iona as she entered the station, so I gave her a nod. She returned the nod and immediately turned on her heel to go back outside. Had I done something to make her hate me?
Anyway, if she was here, then the people making a fuss outside the station must be Zena, Lilio, and the other female escort whose name I couldn’t remember.
“S-Satou! You’re safe!”
Iona returned with Zena in tow, who seemed relieved that I’d returned safely.
“I apologize for worrying y—”
Zena’s sudden weeping drowned out the end of my sentence; she had sat down on the spot and burst into childlike wails.
I frantically tried to pacify her, apologizing up and down for causing her concern.
Lilio and the other woman tried to calm her, too, but Iona stopped them. That kind of concern wasn’t really necessary…
Thanks to Sir Thorne’s discretion, we were able to occupy one of the rooms at the station until Zena could settle down.
After a while, Zena calmed herself, looking small as she sat on a stool.
“I’m sorry, that was very childish…”
“No, no, I should apologize for worrying you.”
Turns out that after Zena returned to the barracks from her night shift and was changing clothes to go see me, Lilio and company informed her that I’d been kidnapped.
At that, she had immediately tried to borrow one of the army’s horses and rush out of the city to search for me, but Lilio and her friends had stopped her.
If I’d taken any longer, we might have just missed each other.
I’m grateful that you were worried about me, but you have to rein it in a little, Zena.
“Oh, that’s right. I forgot to give you this the other day after the whole ordeal with the monsters…”
“What…?”
I handed over the earrings that I’d bought for her back at the flea market.
We’d be leaving Seiryuu City in the next few days, so I thought it best to give them to her while I had the chance, since I didn’t know when we’d meet again. Right. It would be difficult to say it to Zena as she gazed happily at the earrings, but I should tell her that, too.
To leave without saying anything would do a disservice to her as a friend.
“Zena…”
“Y-yes?”
I looked into her eyes as I spoke, and I could see my face reflected there.
…It was hard to broach the subject with her staring at me like that.
“You see, I was asked to take the elf child who was kidnapped along with me back to her hometown. And since my kids are so talented, I can’t really take time off from being a peddler forever.”
Zena’s smile faded, and the light started to fade from her eyes.
I suddenly felt incredibly guilty somehow.
“Her hometown…?”
“It’s apparently south of the old capital.”
“A-are you not going to come back to Seiryuu City anymore?!”
Zena half leaped out of her seat.
Feeling overpowered by the desperate situation, I quickly responded.
“Of course I’ll come back.”
“…Thank goodness.”
Zena collapsed back into the chair as if drained of all her strength.
Once I’d seen the old capital and the royal capital and helped Arisa and the girls train in Labyrinth City, it might be good to come back to the west and Seiryuu City.
Then, once I’d made the rounds in the Shiga Kingdom and returned to my starting place of Seiryuu City, I could explore some other countries.
I’ve got big dreams now, huh?
“It might be a little while, since I’m going to have my kids train in Labyrinth City, but once we come back to Seiryuu City, I’ll be sure to tell you plenty of stories from my travels.”
“…Okay, it’s a promise.”
Just as I had with Arisa before, I made a pinkie promise with Zena. Seems it was a custom established by the ancestral king Yamato.
Zena smiled at me after our fingers parted, but…it wasn’t a bright smile like I’d seen before, but a stiff and somewhat forced one.
Since we were terribly sleep-deprived on the day we got back, we all ended up sleeping like logs until the next day.
Once we were rested, I gave everyone assignments to begin preparing for the journey.
We already had a carriage and horses, but we still needed a lot of goods to load onto the carriage. This included food and daily necessities for us, plus feed for the horses.
I asked Nadi to help with the arrangements, so she set us up with supplies.
Then we went around buying the belongings each of us would need.
I wanted to buy leather armor for Nana and the beastfolk girls, but the craftsmen all refused to make armor for demi-humans. For now, I was able to get armor and shields only for Nana and myself.
We didn’t have enough time before our departure to get the armor custom-made, so I bought ready-made goods that could be adjusted with belts instead. Its defensive power wouldn’t be quite as high, but this way Liza could also use mine.
I had the “Leather Crafting” skill, too, so if I bought the materials I could probably make armor for Pochi and Tama myself.
To serve as dummy trade goods, I purchased leather, a feltlike material, knitting wool, cotton, and other such supplies. Un-tanned skins were cheaper than leather, but I figured the process of tanning would probably produce a terrible smell, so I stuck with the processed type.
I didn’t have a commerce permit for the Shiga Kingdom, but when I paid a gold coin at the merchants’ guild, they were able to produce a membership card for me the same day, like a rental shop.
I had just gotten my visiting pass reissued at the government offices, so most of the formalities could be circumvented.
The permit I’d gotten was a low-level one that allowed me to buy and sell large amounts of goods at the merchants’ guild, not a high-level one that involved tax breaks when going in and out of the city.
Of course, this sort of permit wasn’t needed for small transactions, but it would be strange for someone to buy a lot of goods without having one, so I got it just in case.
In order to make good use of the materials I’d purchased, I also stopped at a bookstore to look for the appropriate manuals.
The saleswoman at the bookstore inside the wall was a woman almost as busty as Nana, so the visit was a huge success—I mean, there were at least seven large bookshelves with a wide variety of books, containing not only manuals but novels and even picture books.
They didn’t have any maps, though. Those could purportedly be purchased at a government office, but there was a time-consuming investigation process involved in addition to the high price.
As a rule, there were stone markers every mile or so along the main roads, so as long as we didn’t stray from those, we were unlikely to get lost.
I gave up on the map and asked the elderly manager to find a few manuals for me instead, then asked the saleswoman, Ms. Samone, to recommend some novels and picture books.
The manager offered me an intriguing and varied lineup, from practical books like Edible Plants on Your Journey, Encyclopedia of Medicinal Herbs, Carriage Repair, and so on, to guides for the more adventurous, like The Basics of Magic Items.
To be honest, I would’ve liked to buy up everything in the store, but I had to be patient. It would be selfish to monopolize all the books for myself in a parallel world with little distribution of goods.
I narrowed down the selection to about thirty essential books.
The cost of the books added up to a very high price of more than ten gold coins. Since we weren’t in a rush today, I managed to get the price down to ten on the dot with “Haggling” and “Negotiation.”
The book about magic items was particularly costly, but it was a necessary expense.
How could I resist the idea of making magic items of my own?
There was a magic shop next to the bookstore, so I stopped in there as well.
Unfortunately, noncitizens could purchase only the most basic spell books.
As for magic scrolls, one had to have permission from the count himself to purchase them, no matter what kind.
I guess I could understand that. Since all you needed for using a magic scroll was MP, it was basically a weapon. But still…
…there didn’t seem to be any such limitations on the buying and selling of swords, so it still seemed a little overly strict.
But there was no helping it, so I just bought one of the basic spell books. The price was pretty high, but it was in line with the market price my “Estimation” skill showed me, so I didn’t complain.
The shopkeeper here seemed uninterested in haggling, since he offered me the market price right away, so I bought it without trying to bargain with him.
The store also sold magic potions, so I purchased several intermediate healing potions and a few lesser mana potions.
Finally, I bought long staffs for Arisa and Mia and a short one for myself.
I thought it would be convenient to be able to make magic potions myself, so I asked if there were any tools or manuals for that, but I was informed rather rudely that I could buy those at an alchemy shop.
The proprietor of the alchemy shop must have thought I looked like an easy mark, because the beginner’s set he sold me was incredibly expensive.
That alone would have been fine, but I was nonplussed to see that the status of the all-important Transmutation Tablet read Broken .
Since its appearance gave no indication it was anything but a first-rate tablet, I couldn’t suddenly say it was defective and ask him to exchange it, so I just said I didn’t like the design so that he would give me a new one.
But the next Transmutation Tablet he brought out had the same problem, so I had to keep repeating the same technique until I finally got a working one.
However, my judgment must have been a little too precise, because the old gnome figured out that I had the “Analyze” skill, which admittedly made the rest of the transaction go more smoothly.
After that, though, I got taken in by his flattery and let him talk me into buying a large quantity of an antidote-making material called Dragon Stone. I would have to keep this waste a secret from Arisa and the others.
I’d have to be more careful of the honeyed words of gnomes from now on…
Incidentally, the fact that the other Transmutation Tablets had been bad was apparently the old shopkeeper’s way of testing his customers; he generally made them go through several exchanges so that they could learn better “Analysis” and “Negotiation” skills, he explained.
Thus, between shopping, attending a lecture from a veteran coachman with Lulu, and other errands, the busy days flew by until the day of our departure finally arrived.
“Master, the loading is complete.”
“All dooone!”
“It’s perfect, sir!”
“Great, go ahead and board the carriage, then.”
The beastfolk girls came back from checking on the state of the cargo to give me their report.
Pochi and Tama clambered into the coach seats, helped along by Liza, who pushed them up by their behinds.
“It’s high, sir!”
“Nice viewww!”
Pochi and Tama rollicked about on the seats.
It’s fine to stand on your tiptoes and look around, but don’t fall, please.
“If you are quite satisfied, please climb inside the carriage. I cannot get up.”
“’kay!”
“Yes, ma’am!”
Liza chided the two, then hopped aboard with a light jump.
She then proceeded to look around from the coachman’s seat in the same way she’d scolded the two girls for doing, but I pretended not to see it.
Lulu and Nana arrived with a freshly made box lunch from the proprietor of the Gatefront Inn, so they passed their things to Liza and got on board.
Half the carriage was full of luggage, so it seemed a little cramped.
Once we departed, we planned to relocate the items into my Garage Bag and Arisa’s Item Box. The reason we didn’t do this from the beginning was to keep the fact that we had those items and skills a secret from those around us.
There were at least ten people in the city who could use “Item Box,” but judging by the usefulness of the skill, most of those were probably nobles and wealthy merchants, not to mention that it was probably in high demand in the military.
I didn’t want someone to spot us using it and try to forcibly requisition Arisa or anything like that.
As for my kids, I could explain the Garage Bag to them after we departed.
“Satou.”
Mia had returned with Nadi and the store manager.
“I’m terribly sorry that I wasn’t able to find you a rental house in the end.”
“No, don’t be. It’s thanks to you that we were able to get this horse-drawn carriage, after all.”
Nadi had apparently come to apologize that she hadn’t gotten us the rental house I’d asked for before.
To be honest, I’d forgotten that I asked about it in the first place.
“This is a parting gift from the store manager and me.”
Nadi gave me a parcel of tea leaves and a simple hand-drawn map.
The map was something I’d asked Nadi for before; it showed the connected territories from Seiryuu County to the old capital and the names of major towns and cities in each.
Since I had my built-in map and my Search Entire Map spell, I had no fear of getting lost as long as I knew the connections of the territories.
“Take care of Mia.”
“I will; don’t worry.”
The store manager grasped my hands and looked at me intensely.
That was a longer statement than usual from him. I guess he was probably worried about entrusting a child from his village to someone of a different race.
However, a gross shriek from Arisa behind us completely ruined the moment. I’d have to scold her later.
“Mr. Satou, please do stay with us again if you come back to Seiryuu City.”
“Sure, I’ll be counting on you when that time comes.”
“Be careful on your way. We seldom have monsters or bandits thanks to the hard work of the count’s army, but I hear there are lots of thieves in the other territories.”
“Thank you for your concern. I’ll be careful.”
I bid farewell to Martha and her mother, then started to steer the carriage away.
Then a young voice interrupted me.
“Wait!”
“Yuniii?”
“It’s Yuni, sir!”
I told Lulu to stop the carriage, and I waited for Yuni to arrive.
“This is for Pochi and Tama.”
Once she ran up to us as fast as her little legs would carry her, Yuni gave me two necklaces made with string and a few small nuts. It was a very cute and childlike parting gift.
“Yuni, thaaanks!”
“Thank you, ma’am. We’ll eat them with love, ma’am!”
Uh, no, I don’t think you’re supposed to eat them.
At Pochi’s words, Yuni’s expression became confused, crying and smiling at once.
“They’re necklaces made with stonebloom nuts, so you’ll hurt your tummy if you eat them!”
“Too baaad.”
“Then we’ll wear them with love, ma’am!”
“Yay!”
Martha whispered into my ear to explain that stonebloom nuts were given as a lucky talisman to children who were adopted from the orphanage.
The three of them tightly embraced one another, reluctant to part. After what seemed like a suitable amount of time, Liza and Martha called out to them, so they said their good-byes.
“I’m gonna learn my letters so I can write to you!”
“Tama, toooo!”
“I will, too, ma’am!”
Wow, exchanging letters? How nostalgic. I know, I’ll give Yuni those study cards as a present so she can learn to write more easily.
I had learned most of the cards’ contents by now, so I could probably just make a new set for my kids. I had all the necessary skills for making them anyway.
“Yuni, you can have these cards.”
“Really?! Are you sure?”
I handed the study cards to the surprised and grateful Yuni.
“Sure. We have two sets, so you should take one.”
“Thank you very much! Now I can learn them super fast, maybe even in one day!”
“It’s a raaace!”
“I’ll learn so many that I can write a picture book, ma’am!”
I feel bad for separating the three, but we should probably get going.
Waving to everyone as they gathered to see us off, I instructed Lulu, our current coachman, to get us started on our journey.
I took one last look down Center Street, where I could see the castle on the other side.
I had told Zena that we would be leaving this morning, but it looked like she wouldn’t be coming. As far as I could tell from the map, she was still in the castle barracks.
More than four hours had already passed since dawn, so there was probably no point in waiting any longer.
After we passed through the gates of Seiryuu City, Arisa asked me a question.
“How far are we planning to travel today? I can’t imagine we’ll reach another city or major town leaving at this time of day, so will we be staying in a village near the highway?”
“We won’t be going to any villages. According to Nadi, discrimination against demi-humans is even worse in those places, so we’ll just camp out wherever we can find a good spot.”
As I answered Arisa, I expanded the range of the radar in the corner of my vision so that I could keep a cautious eye out.
Apparently, its max range went all the way up to one thousand feet.
“Campiiing?”
“We’ll make a bonfire in an open field somewhere, then set up cots around it and sleep.”
“Like in the labyrinth, sir?”
“That’s right.”
I nodded at Pochi and Tama, whose eyes started sparkling at my description.
“Yaaay!”
“Sir!”
For some reason, they were jumping up and down with excitement. The movement surprised the horses so much that they stopped moving.
As Liza scolded them, I asked the pair why they were so excited about camping.
“Being together is happyyy!”
“We get to sleep next to you, sir! We’re happy, sir!”
Both of them wore huge grins, so I patted their heads.
“Should we continue moving?”
“Yeah…”
I started to nod in response to Lulu’s question but stopped when I saw a dot of blue light appear on my radar.
Blue meant someone I’d previously marked on the map. In other words, someone I knew.
“Wait a minute.”
I was going to open the map to see who it was, but there was no need.
“Satoooooou!”
Looking back toward the main gate where someone was calling my name, I saw Zena riding toward us on a white horse.
Behind me, I heard Arisa mutter, “A counterattack from the local mistress?” but I ignored the comment.
So as not to block the road for other travelers and carriages, I had Lulu bring us to the side of the road.
“Satou!”
Brushing her windswept hair out of her face, Zena brought up her horse next to our carriage. She was wearing a blue dress that seemed ill suited to riding a horse. She was even wearing makeup, like she had for our date.
“I’m so glad I caught you in time!”
“Yes, I’m happy to see you again before I leave, too.”
I didn’t think she was going to try to betray her family and run away to follow me like an eloping couple or anything, but her dress and makeup made it hard to say for sure.
“…I’ve been thinking very hard about this.”
Overpowered by Zena’s intense seriousness, I simply waited for her to continue.
“I cannot abandon my family and run away to my true love’s side, like Princess Liltiena.”
That seemed natural, since she was raised in a society with such an emphasis on the importance of family.
Arisa looked a bit dissatisfied, but it didn’t seem like she was going to say anything foolish, so I focused on listening to Zena.
“And so, I cannot ask you to take me with you, Satou.”
“Come, toooo!”
“You should come with us, ma’am!”
Pochi and Tama brushed off the serious mood, inviting Zena to come along.
“Thank you. But I cannot come with you right now.”
Zena thanked the pair, then turned her gaze back to me.
…Was it just me, or had she emphasized the “right now” part of that sentence?
“In the spring, my brother will become an adult and take over as the head of our family. After that, I have his permission to do as I wish. So, when spring arrives…”
Zena paused for a moment, then continued as if shaking off a thought.
Her gaze was still locked on me.
“…I, too, will go to Labyrinth City!”
…Phew, I thought she was going to propose there for a second.
She seemed to have gotten embarrassed partway through, because her gaze shifted over to Arisa.
“Arisa, we’ll see who wins then!”
“Hee-hee! Do you really think you’ll stand a chance with such a late start? Don’t come crying to me if you arrive in Labyrinth City only to see my and my master’s children!”
…You know that’s not going to happen for a lot of reasons, right?
Arisa was getting carried away, cackling like an evil villain. I wished she would stop before the younger three started imitating her.
I promised Zena that I would send her a letter once we arrived in a big city.
Embarrassingly enough, I ended up having to make another pinkie promise with her. I hadn’t done this so many times since I was a child.
After we made the promise, Zena stared dreamily at our linked fingers for a moment before we said our farewells.
“Well, Zena, I look forward to the day that we meet again in the Labyrinth City Celivera.”
“Yes, Satou! Please wait for me until then!”
I was glad that this hadn’t turned into an unhappy parting.
Zena waved at me with a smile like the sun, and I waved back at her.
Now, that was a bright smile that suited this sunny day.
Trying not to notice the trickle of tears streaming down her cheeks, I kept on waving until she was out of sight.
“Don’t make that face. We’ll be together from now on.”
Arisa reached over the back of the coachman’s seat and patted my head a few times.
“Tummy aaache?”
“Are you in pain, sir?”
“Satou?”
Brushing Arisa aside, the younger girls looked up at me with concern, so I smiled at them. “I’m fine.”
“Master, according to my behavior library, it is good to cry into a woman’s chest when lonely.”
Gently, Nana started to hug me to her chest.
The soft sensation and gentle fragrance certainly did heal the slight loneliness I felt.
“E-excuse you! That’s unfair! Lulu, don’t just watch; make them stop!”
“Sorry, Arisa, I can’t. I have to watch the road while I’m driving.”
Arisa was outraged, so I pulled myself away from Nana’s healing space.
Liza handed me a container of fruit-flavored water, so I drank it down, washing away the sadness of saying farewell to a friend along with it.
Rattling and rumbling along, the carriage continued down the road.
Putting Tama in my lap and letting Pochi ride on my shoulders, I faced forward.
Now, time to enjoy this journey through a parallel world!
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