Chapter 533: Report from the Horse Country
“I think it was buried because it was a horse.”
At Kanum’s House, we hold card games irregularly, but not too far apart. At first, we usually share updates on our lives, so it’s a light game or a meal.
The members are Retze, Dinoss, the Butler, Haulon, and Karn. Karn tends to listen more than participate in the games. He seems to enjoy games that use pieces like chess, though.
Today, we’re playing Reversi. It’s me and Retze against Haulon and Dinoss, while Karn and the Butler watch. There’s another set of pieces available, but due to the table space, we’re keeping it to one side. We gather initially to chat.
And now, the summary of today’s adventure.
“……”
Karn is pinching the bridge of his nose with two fingers.
“……”
Haulon is pressing his forehead down, looking dejected.
“……”
Dinoss is looking up while covering his eyes.
“……”
The Butler remains silent, a smile on his face.
“Are you making a pun, or is your way of summarizing just terrible? Did you pick up that staff?” Retze asks while flipping a black piece to white.
It’s fine; I’ve managed to take the corner this time! I flip a white piece to black.
“I buried it.” I returned it to its original spot.
“Don’t say it like a dog dug a hole and buried the ‘King’s Branch’!” Dinoss shouts.
“Well, technically, the leader of the herd seems to have taken over as king,” I reply, even though the horses don’t do anything.
If we’re talking about that, I haven’t done anything with the Ex-Staff either.
“The horse… didn’t become the third ‘King’s Branch’…” Haulon seems to be struggling to gather his thoughts.
“You avoided a brute-force contract with the branch,” Karn states.
“It’s not like I’m collecting ‘King’s Branches’ or anything. I prefer a staff that’s easier to grip and handle, something like this.” I try to explain, but it’s hard to articulate. It’s the kind that often falls in the Demon Forest. Something like this—
“Stop that hand gesture! Don’t compare the ‘King’s Branch’ to some random stick, let alone put it below that!” Haulon protests.
“Is that place where the horses are being targeted by a great nation?” I ask.
“If humans invade that area, they’ll probably turn the grasslands into wheat fields, but where there are no horses, it seems the Black Spirits start to take over,” I answer Retze, who snaps a black piece to white.
That grassland exists solely for the horses. And with more than half of the ‘King’s Branches’ decayed, the Black Spirits begin to spawn.
I burned the decayed ‘King’s Branch’—Kenta apparently ate it—so the spawning rate should be slower than before, but if we drive the horses away, the remaining parts will turn completely black. I wonder what will happen?
I thought Kenta and the mushroom Black Spirits couldn’t stray too far from their main body or preferred the shade, but since the ‘King’s Branch’ protecting the horses is still intact, they couldn’t come out to the grasslands without any interference.
All I did was intrude on their home and cause a ruckus.
Once I break one or two oaths, the Black Spirits start to gather, and when all oaths are on the verge of breaking, the ‘King’s Branch’ becomes sick and turns black.
I’ve learned my lesson, so I’ll be careful not to let the Ex-Staff turn black. I poked a lot of mushrooms, and since it’s a four-centimeter body, I think it’ll be fine.
“Ah—!” The game board is all white.
“I took all four corners!”
“That’s because you were only aiming for the corners.”
I lost to Retze while I was lost in thought. Even if I hadn’t been, I would have lost! I thought I could win this time!
“Ugh. The atmosphere feels more important than the victory over the ‘King’s Branch’… It’s a serious matter, a serious matter…” Haulon mumbles, still looking down.
“Note, are you alive? …Nope, he’s frozen.” Dinoss waves a handkerchief in front of the Butler, who remains smiling and unmoving.
When it comes to the ‘King’s Branch,’ Note reacts even worse than Haulon.
“Retze, don’t you care about the ‘King’s Branch’? How can you stay so calm?”
“It’s not my branch. As long as there’s peace far away, that’s all that matters,” Retze replies, straightening up and taking a sip of wine.
Dry Retze. But I feel the same way.
“Yeah. I’d be concerned if something terrible happened after I got involved, but if it’s peaceful, that’s good enough.” Just a vague memory of a place that existed.
After that, we caught up on everyone’s recent happenings, had dinner, played games, and drank wine.
Tina was proposed to by the butcher’s son, which made Dinoss curse, and I listened to Retze talk about requests from the Adventurer’s Guild.
Oh, and I asked for mangoes and papayas to be sent to Karn’s Country.