Chapter 209: Fire Drips, Pantile Gets Wet 3
*
The next day, we left the fortress.
Along with fifty-odd refugees.
Telling the refugees to prepare to move to the city in just one day was quite harsh, though.
The reality was, the fortress’s food supplies were running out, and the original mission of the Knights Order stationed there was to search for the Bandit Brigade.
It was also true that we needed to hurry as much as possible.
When I told Jen that Oscalonia had asked us to escort the refugees to the city.
Naturally, my dear friend agreed to the request to escort the refugees.
“Returning with an empty freight wagon is a merchant’s shame, you know.”
As Jen said this, loading children and the elderly onto the carriage with a smile, a smile inadvertently escaped my lips too.
Yuunou-san, whom I’d put in charge of the front of the column, called out asking if we could depart, and shouting back my reply, we set off towards Loakum.
“So, my friend,”
Jen started talking shortly after we departed.
“Isn’t there something you want to ask me?”
The refugees were moving in an unexpectedly orderly fashion, so we had some leeway.
Not that I was letting my guard down, but a little idle chat probably wouldn’t hurt.
“Not particularly.”
“You don’t?”
For some reason, Jen looked hurt.
“The moment I received your letter in Loakum, I pretty much figured it out.”
At my answer, Jen muttered an intrigued “Hoh.”
Stop it, Jen. Stop with the ‘Hoh’. It makes me uneasy for some reason.
“It’s that, isn’t it? You anticipated the large-scale reconstruction in Hecate and planned to do business there, right?”
Ignoring Jen, who nodded along with a “Hmm, hmm,” as if prompting me to continue, I went on.
“And while you were at it, you figured you’d meet up with a friend, so you named me, right?”
“Amazing, you’re mostly right. Just as expected of my friend.”
Mostly…? Mostly, huh…
“But you should wonder. For a Pantile, known for hasty decisions and jumping the gun, wasn’t my action a bit too slow?”
A minor disaster occurred in a city in a neighboring country; grasping that information and seeing a business opportunity, you took action. Your initiative is already at an absurdly ‘too fast’ level.
I swallowed the exasperation that almost escaped my lips.
“It’s because you rushed off without any consultation or thought. I, on the other hand, was busy gathering all the information I could.”
Otherwise, I would have become your next-door neighbor the week after you arrived in Hecate.
Jen casually said something terrifying. And knowing her, it probably would have happened.
“Make sure you graduate from the academy properly.”
“The academy without you is simply boring. It’s torture.”
Jen said this while vaguely gazing at the line of refugees ahead.
“You say some pretty nice things.”
“It’s merely a statement of fact.”
“Anyway,” Jen said, making a strange face.
“What are those two doing?”
I followed Jen’s gaze as she looked back.
Shara and Beardy were walking along, letting out spirited cries of “Uooooh!”. While wearing white masks.
“Apparently, after seeing Erica and me shatter masks without using our hands, they’re trying hard, thinking they should be able to do it too.”
“Huh.”
They were exhausted yesterday after repairing the collapsed fortress walls with Erica using Earth Magic, yet they’re still full of energy.
Incidentally, I was chased away and told to go gather information because I wasn’t useful.
“By the way, the Sister is a Church-Recognized Saint-sama.”
“Huh.”
Jen averted her gaze, looking as if she’d seen something she shouldn’t have.
Those two are amazing; they made Jen give up on understanding them because they were too incomprehensible. That Jen.
“Including that,”
Jen brought the topic back as if nothing had happened.
Amazing, my friend.
“Isn’t there something you want to ask me?”
In other words, she was asking, ‘Isn’t there anything you want to ask me, who gathered information on Faltar for my friend who disappeared suddenly without consultation?’ That must be it.
“I’d love to hear some fun travel stories, though…”
Jen looked displeased at my inadvertently revealed true feelings.
“Have I ever told you an unpleasant story? No, I haven’t.”
Where does that confidence come from?
Seeing my friend’s boastful expression, a sight I hadn’t seen in a while, I shrugged, just as I always did.
*
Erica Longdagger—Erica Longdagger, who now even used the Longdagger name when referring to herself internally—was feeling utterly frustrated.
What is with that woman? Isn’t she too close? That woman.
She watched the back of the woman walking beside Shin, chatting amiably.
No, not ‘that woman’. Jenniferlin Pantile.
The Pantiles, a family obsessed with possibilities, geniuses of commerce, investment, and spending.
Among them, the once-in-a-century Pantile.
The Pantile of Pantiles.
The woman who thrusts her hand into the fiercest flames, grabs coins with a smile, and ultimately uses those coins to obtain the most valuable prize.
The true untouchable of the academy: Pantile.
The woman from the noble house that even the Solntzaris—who would discipline the Royal Family with fists if necessary—were forbidden to contend with.
That Jenniferlin was talking cheerfully with Shin. With a Shin who spoke about topics she didn’t know, using tones and expressions she didn’t know.
What is with that Shin?
Isn’t he completely unguarded?
Despite both being nobles, aren’t they talking like true friends who can speak their minds completely freely?
The bond between them is equivalent to the friendship between herself and the Maiden of Light.
Even though they’re both nobles!
If she had met Shin during their academy days, perhaps she could have been like that too.
Thinking that, Erica felt like flattening mountains out of regret for what she had missed.
This is bad, Erica thought.
Unlike with that prince (idiot), she felt a more pressing and concrete sense of crisis.
Somehow, she understood.
Shin surely wouldn’t refuse a request from Jenniferlin.
Even unreasonable requests that involved life-threatening danger, the kind he would surely refuse as impossible if she asked.
If she asked, Shin wouldn’t refuse; she felt he would likely accept with a wry smile.
No, Erica was certain of it.
That expression proves it. The person making that face is like that.
This frustration! This frustration in my chest!
Erica grew irritated by these incomprehensible emotions.
She got angry imagining Shin refusing a request she hadn’t even made.
Why couldn’t he just say ‘yes’, even in her imagination?
Erica fumed.
It was the fury of a maiden.
＊＊＊Author’s Note＊＊＊
Thank you always for the likes, comments, ratings, etc.
They are the source of the author’s motivation.
The other day, my humble work “My Adventurer Life with the Exiled Marquise” became searchable on Kadokawa-sama’s website.
The release date will be May 20th.
It seems pre-orders are already available on Amazon and other sites.
It might be late to say, but I’m thrilled thinking, ‘Finally!’
Once I can introduce things like the cover illustration.
I’d like to write about what was added for the book version in my activity reports or similar.
I’m quite confident in praising my own work, saying it’s a powered-up version compared to the web novel, so as the author, I’d be incredibly grateful if you could pick up a copy.
I’ll cry tears of joy, seriously.
By the way, using my author privileges, I’ve already been allowed to see things like rough sketches of the cover illustration and character designs.
Shara-san was seriously Shara-san.