Chapter 30
The caravan is traveling smoothly towards the citadel city Marsfield .
The beginning of the line is Ellis’s carriage .
Next is the marvelous and decorated carriage that belongs to Maria .
There are two carriages carrying toilets and showers behind that with a carriage carrying the horse feed and supplies taking up the rear .
Ellis is riding a Magical horse and running parallel to Maria’s carriage with the other members of her party in similar positions .
In brief, they are acting as Maria’s escorts and are running a defensive perimeter .
Maria’s carriage holds Maria, Maria’s mysterious guest, and the merchant guild receptionist Nicole . It seems Nicole is acting as an attendant for the two ladies .
All the other carriages are unmanned except for the driver, so with the three passengers, the five members of Warren’s Jewelry Box, and the five Muscle Brothers, there are a total of thirteen people in this caravan .
As the journey progresses, Frau, a proud member of the adventurer guild who is used to dealing with all kinds, becomes the first to become acquainted with the Muscle Brothers .
Frau is usually running as an escort on her Magical horse as well, but she must regularly return to the carriage to prepare meals .
At one time when Frau was preparing the soup stock, the driver Goro mentioned the ingredients of the soup .
“Huh, is that shrimp head? It smells good . ”
As a chef, Frau was interested in Goro who was able to pick out the shrimp simply from the fragrance of the soup .
“You are familiar with it?”
“Cooking is one of our specialties, and we love to try out the local cuisines when we travel . ”
Today’s lunch is risotto cooked with shrimp soup .
Whenever the caravan takes a break, the five girls will return to their carriage . Reeve and Katie will prepare the dining sets while Ellis and Claire extend the tent mounted on the side of the carriage .
“Thanks for waiting . ”
A fun lunch begins when Frau brings out the pot .
For some reason, Maria doesn’t leave the carriage .
Perhaps it is just another precaution .
There are some delicious smells coming from their carriage, so their is no need to worry about them eating .
Meanwhile, the Muscle Brothers sit on the seat of a different carriage and are eating something in their hands .
“What is that?”
Frau had already built up an immunity to the brothers’ strangeness and looked at their meal with interest .
They were eating large rice balls and something similar to dried vegetables .
The rice ball looks like it is made with just plain white rice .
Though the dried vegetable looked plain, their luster was beautiful, and they made a crunchy sound when the men bit into them .
Frau became interested in those vegetables and walked up to Goro from behind who she had become familiar with .
“What is that dried food?”
Despite being suddenly spoken to from behind, Goro did not jump . Perhaps he was already aware that Frau was behind him .
“These are tsukemono . ”¹
“Tsukemono?” This was the first time Frau had ever heard of it .
“It is a type of preserved vegetable that you see mostly in the east . ”
A preserved vegetable .
Frau was becoming more and more interested in this tsukemono .
Probably aware of such a situation, Goro broke off a part of the tsukemono and stabbed a toothpick into it before presenting it to Frau . ”
“Would you like some?”
“Thank you . ”
It was surprising to see that Frau did not even hesitate to take a bite .
A complex taste spread through her mouth, and she could not tell if it tasted salty, crispy, sour, or sweet .
This would be absolutely perfect for rice dishes!
“Thank you Goro . ”
“Thanks are unnecessary . ”
After lowering her head in thanks to Goro, Frau returned to Ellis with a satisfied expression .
By the time the sun was about to set, Frau had started preparing dinner .
“Is that saffron?”
Again Goro was able to pick out the splendid aroma .
Tonight’s dinner was boiled beef and vegetable stew with a little scented saffron .
The five girls are talking to each other and enjoying their stew with bread, but Frau was also once again interested in the brothers’ meal .
Frau left her seat and snuck up behind the Muscle Brother’s gathering to take a quick peep at what food they were eating right now, and she saw that they were eating the same rice balls and tsukemono as they were during lunch . Frau wondered why such gourmets would eat the same type of food so much .
“Goro, why are you eating the same thing as you were for lunch?”
Goro laughed at Frau’s question and answered with a carefree smile . “Because we are men . It takes time and effort to move food during transit, so it is more convenient to have portable meals of rice and tsukemono because they last awhile and are filling . ”
“Does that mean that this will be your meal until we reach Marsfield?”
“Of course . ”
Frau began to think .
Her dissatisfaction with the brothers had already dissipated, and the words that Goro said about their meal bothered her .
And those tsukemono were really good .
She made her decision .
“Say Goro, if you guys give me ten rice balls with tsukemono, I will prepare you all a hot breakfast and lunch tomorrow . ”
“Mu . Is that alright?”
“I will use your rice balls for lunch . ”
And then the next morning .
Frau delivered some plates of spare meat and vegetables with cooked beans seasoned with garlic along with a few side dishes to the muscle brothers .
“Thank you for the rice balls and tsukemono yesterday . It would be fine to return the pots and dishes once you’re finished . ”
Four of the brothers couldn’t hide their surprise from Frau’s sudden offer .
“Mu . ”
“Mumu . ”
“Mumumu . ”
“Mumumumu . ”
Only Goro, who knew about the circumstances beforehand, received the food gratefully and fully enjoyed the smell of the cooked food .
“Thank you . ”
The five brothers scarfed down the food, enjoying a warm meal after a long absence .
Meanwhile, Frau’s actions cause Ellis and the three others to frown .
Next is lunch .
Frau finely minced the pickles she picked up from Goro and sautéd the rice balls that were washed and loosened in advance . Another pan was already prepared with some clear soup and chicken bones .
Once everything was prepared, Frau called over the muscle brothers .
“Everyone please come here . ”
Ellis’s four jumped at Frau’s sudden call .
“Frau! What are you thinking?”
Reeve was the most vocal of her objection out of all of them, but Frau refuted her with just a smile .
“These guys aren’t bad people . ”
With Goro in the lead, the brothers look apologetic as they walked into the tent .
“Please sit here . ”
Frau sets up a spare table next to the one where the girls are already sitting and directs the men to take a seat . She then continues to pass out bowls containing fried rice and chicken to everyone . Incidentally, the portions of the brothers’ meal is just as large as everyone else’s .
After everyone had received their bowl, Frau poured out the soup broth onto the dish .
“Please enjoy . ”
“Mu . ”
“Mumu . ”
“Mumumu . ”
“Mumumumu . ”
While his brothers were busy devouring the delicious meal in front of them, Goro made sure to give their impressions to Frau . ”
“Frau, it is delicious as expected . ”
Ellis ate her rice without saying a word .
The sweet and sour vegetables tickled her teeth while her tongue lapped up the crispy and soft fried rice . Furthermore, the boiled chicken meat and the delicious taste of the soup complimented the rice perfectly making a tender and gentle meal .
Ellis-Eiji enjoyed the taste of the tsukemono after a long time .
I see, there are tsukemono in this world too?
Moreover, I think these are actually more delicious than the ones that I had when I had ordered in soup .
“Frau, this is delicious!
“It’s really tasty!”
“Yummy!”
It was a meal that was popular among everyone .
Frau stuck her chest out with pride .
For dinner of that day, everyone had sandwiches and rice balls that they made themselves . All ten of them sat in a circle trading their own creations and drinking a cup of hot soup .
Even Claire who had a preexisting condition of being frightened of large men came to recognize these muscular Dharma as kind gentlemen . That goes for Reeve and Katie as well .
Now it is evening, the day has gone, and everyone has gone to sleep in their carriage .
Ellis was quiet on the first night, but there really isn’t any reason for her to have to endure and hold back . So after the lights were turned off, Ellis suddenly left her bed, and she climbed into Frau’s without making a sound .
“Huh?”
“Shh . ”
Ellis put a finger to Frau’s lips . She whispered into Frau’s ear loud enough that the other three could hear .
“Thank you for today Frau . ”
“That’s not… . ”
“So I will give you a reward . ”
“… . Really?”
And so Frau enjoyed being treated as a pig woman for the first time in two days .
The other three listened in from their beds with heated cheeks, but they didn’t say anything .
They understood .
If Ellis doesn’t visit one person, she won’t visit anyone, and if she visits one person, she will visit everyone .
The other three quietly waited for their turn .
The next morning came around .
Five people woke up feeling more refreshed than they had the day before .
“Hoh . It looks like you also enjoyed your night . ”
While ignoring Ichiro’s needless comment, Ellis’s group enjoyed their breakfast together with the gentlemen .
After everyone was done eating, they mounted their Magical horses and continued their escort job by running parallel with Maria’s carriage .
Shortly after their departure, Nicole popped out of the carriage’s window and beckoned Ellis over .
“If the everything goes well, we will arrive at Marsfield by evening today, but from here on out is the real trip . ”
Today is the last day .
If everything goes well, we will be sleeping in Marsfield tonight .
Suddenly a cold chill ran up Ellis’s spine .
“Frau, sorry! Raise your maul to the sky!”
Following Ellis’s instructions without question, Frau pulled out her crimson maul and pointed it to the heavens .
Immediately after, a lightning bolt came crashing down from the sky and struck her maul . It was originally heading for Maria’s carriage, but Frau’s maul acted as a lightning rod and diverted the bolt’s direction .
Ellis immediately casted Full Recovery on Frau before looking to Reeve for directions .
Claire has already loaded a {Lightning Shower} spell into her boiler suit .
Katie is guiding her Magical horse around to be able to charge at any direction .
“Enemies at 10 o’clock!”
Once Reeve located the presence of the assailants and shouted out their location, Ellis turned her Magical horse in that direction and got ready to charge .
“Muscle group, wait here!”
Meanwhile the group of magicians who had cast the spell had yet to adapt to the battle’s sudden development .
“What!? {Thunder} has diverted off target!”
A beastman magician with the head of a dog cried out in surprise .
The ones who attacked were a group of Anubis-like beastmen .
The {Lightning Shower} that Claire had stored was released upon the would-be assassins .
As the static shock paralyzed them, Katie charged into the group, jumping off her Magical horse into the center of the five . With one strike, Katie dug her claws into one of their chests, killing him . The other four all ended up with a cut, and they were rendered unable to move again because of the effect of Stupor .
“Keep one of them alive!” Ellis yelled that as she shoved her estoc up from beneath one of the assailants, going through his bottom jaw and entering his brain .
“It’s too late!”
“That’s impossible!”
By that time, Reeve had already decapitated another assassin while Frau’s maul had rendered the fourth one’s head into a scrambled egg .
“All of you are so impatient . ” Claire switched from an {Explosion} spell and switched her chant to {Bind} .
Ellis’s group bound and gagged the only surviving member . Thus the Anubis’s attack was successfully put to an end .
The title of this chapter is originally Gachi Gachi Hello . Gachi being Japanese slang that I translated to Super last chapter with the brothers being gachihomo .
1 . Japanese preserved vegetables . Similar to pickled vegetables .
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