Chapter intermission 9
"Captain! There's someone in a forest nearby!"
"Hm? Is it someone who hasn't taken refuge yet?"
I look through the Farsight Pipe after hearing my subordinate's report .
True enough, I could see a lizardkin and a catkin girls in the thicket near a forest .
They probably didn't hear about the evacuation order since they were living deep in the mountain .
I nod once and look at the surroundings .
Looks like there's no one else .
"No choice, let's go help them . "
"Yes sire! Bring on additional two horses . "
The adjutant gave an order following mine .
Four horsemen descended the hill, heading to the forest .
"Haa, the glorious Seventh Knight Company babysitting lost children . "
"Careful with your mouth . This is a Royal Order just you know . "
After receiving the notice about Divine Punishment, we, the Kingdom's Seventh Knight Company have been encamped at the southern mountains .
In order to evacuate the kingdom's populace and hold down the Monster Stampede here .
『Liza, knight people are coming~?』
『That appears to be the case . 』
From afar, the lizardkin and catkin girls stopped plucking grass and looked at us .
They said something but we couldn't hear them from this distance .
They're probably frightened from a sudden appearance of fully armed knights .
"You must be people from a nearby village . By the Royal Order, the populace is too evacuate to a nearby town . You two also have to evacuate, however we cannot send guards just to escort you to the bottom . Wait in the encampment until the army carriage goes to the town . "
I told the necessary info to the girls who couldn't say anything all out of surprise .
I don't know how much the ignorants are informed of, but we cannot take them away like criminals without telling them anything .
"Encampment?"
"It's at the pass over there . "
I pointed at a mountain pass with a fort to show the lizardkin girl .
"If we go now, we should arrive just at the right time for meals . "
"Meat~?"
"That's right, today we're having stew with meat . "
"Oh, great~?"
"Hahaha, you'll get your shares too, eat and grow big . "
"Aye!"
I heard my subordinates talking with the catkin kid .
I saw the kid jumping in delight when she heard about the meat stew .
She must be very happy about the meat .
If they've been living deep in the mountain, I'm sure they never ate meat unless their village elder shared some from the hunters . I really understand the kid's joy .
"So what were you two doing in the forest?"
"Master asked us to pick some medicinal herbs . "
Master?
Are these girls slaves?
However, they're wearing some good clothes for slaves .
Since there's probably no one eccentric enough to have a lizardkin as a love slave, these girls must be a kind of freed slaves .
There's many cases of freed slaves calling their former master, "Master", in the northern part of the kingdom .
"Looks like you haven't got much success in your herb gathering, however, we cannot allow you to go back to the forest now . "
"I understand . "
The lizardkin girl nodded unwillingly .
Judging from their small bags, they mustn't have gathered enough .
◇
"What's this? Did you kidnap some demi-human kids?"
I heard a sarcastic voice when we entered the fort gate .
Four men wearing white armor .
If the one saying that was a member of the Knights, I would have dropped my fist on them, but I can't do that against these people .
After all-- .
"Shiga Eight Sword Candidates-sama have quite the imagination . "
Their expressions turned sours when I emphasized the candidate part .
In order to fill the vacant seats, I heard they were holding selections to be a Shiga Eight Swords member among four candidates .
The loudest rumor said that those seats would be quickly filled once Viscount Pendragon and his companions who enliven the royal capital the other day returned .
That's why these guys went to this dangerous front line in order to raise a meritorious deed .
Since they currently only ever fought wolf packs and wyverns, they must be fretting now .
"You went out for a reconnaissance right? Did you meet any monster?"
"No, there was no monster around the forest, it was as if someone went ahead and swept them out . "
"Hmph, you're useless . "
Shiga Eight Swords candidatess went back into the fort after leaving an irritating line .
"Still--"
Although I've heard that the monsters around this area are culled out once a year, this is the first time it's been so monster less .
"--What's wrong?"
Lizardkin and catkin girls averted their eyes while looking awkward .
"No, it's nothing . "
"Uy uy~ . Tama doesn't know no overhunting~?"
"Tama . "
Scolded by the lizardkin girl, the catkin girl made a strange move of hand moving over her lips .
It's probably some kind of charm handed down in this area .
Right after, the catkin girl's stomach growled and we went to the courtyard where the outdoor dining room was with smiles on our faces .
◇
"Now, have a go at the Seventh Knight Company hodgepodge stew . "
"Wa~y?"
"Thank you . "
They've started distributing food at the encampment just as I guessed .
Since the inside of the fort is cramped, we, knights have arranged tables in the courtyard .
"Geh, today's meat is wyvern huh . . . "
I'm sorry for having raised the demi-human girls' expectation, but today's stew is an extremely rare miss in recent days .
Head chef Kozun of this fort is quite a skillful cook, but there's nothing that can be done with the hopelessly tough wyvern meat .
"Delish~"
"This is good . "
I heard those voices nearby .
I thought they were being considerate to us, but I realized that they were being honest when I saw their expressions .
Looks like they got an eating habit so horrible such that even this tough sinewy meat tasted good for them .
"Oy oy, you serious . "
"This tough smelly meat, good?"
"Tougood~?"
"It has been prepared quite thoroughly . The one who cooks this must hold everyone here dear . "
The lizardkin girl had a way with words like she wasn't a freed slave .
"Hou, the girls brought by the Third Patrol sure said some good things . "
"Ge geh, old man Kozun . "
Head chef Kozun appeared .
Looks like he's loitering around in the courtyard after he's done with the cooking .
"Who's your old man . You brat . "
"But ya know, no matter how thoroughly prepared it is, this gamey smell is just really bad . "
"Try eating it along with this herb . It will weaken the smell . "
"Ha? Like eating that grass will--geh, for real . "
"Really--wa, ooh . "
I tried the herb I got from the lizardkin girl .
--It's true .
As someone who grew up in a gourmet house, I couldn't say that this is tasty, however, it smells better now .
Now this isn't something not edible .
"But, y'know, wyvern is still wyvern . "
One of my subordinates blurted out unnecessarily .
Even if that's the truth, you shouldn't have said it here .
"Then, go and fetch a better tasting animal or monster next time . "
"I'll go get it for you if there's a wild boar around . "
Someone reacts to the conversation between head chef Kozun and my subordinate .
The lizardkin and catkin girls .
"No wild boars~?"
"Right, I saw a Serpent Dragon (Naga) flying around, although it's a bit far away . That thing is tasty . "
"Naga? If it's similar to snake, it should be good made into hodgepodge or stew . "
"They're tastier grilled than stewed . The intestines are poisonous, please be careful . "
"Hou, you sure know your stuff . Do you often eat them?"
"I-It's not too often . "
Oy, wait .
Wait a minute .
She saw a Naga?
"Naga huh~, might as well have a taste on the legendary 『Feathered Serpent (Kukulcan)』 . "
"Tasty~?"
"Is that good?"
"According to an old tale, it's so good that dragons scrambled for one and sank a continent . "
"Oh, jeezuz~?"
"That sounds promising . "
Fools, if a Feathered Serpent (Kukulcan) really comes out, all of us will be killed in an instant .
No, not that .
Now's not the time to retort that .
"Oy, you two . When did you saw that Naga?"
"This morning~?"
"From the summit of a mountain, we saw three of them in a mountain at the seaward side . "
"I'm amazed you could see them . "
"We have a Farsight Pipe . "
Then it's understandable .
I said my thanks to the girls and went to the commander to report it .
I don't know what kind of talk was held between the fort commanders, but after a while, a birdman scout flew to the eastern sky .
◇
"Gale Wolves have come out of the forest!"
A soldier at the watchtower shouted out loud .
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