Episode 46: Homecoming Greetings
Using Spatial Jump, I teleported near the capital of the territory. However, I don’t really know many sparsely populated areas, so I linked to a spot near a village and moved from there.
“Getting too close to the village would be bad, huh?”
The villagers are sharp when it comes to sensing presences, so I need to be far enough away. It’s tricky, but I connected the Spatial Jump gate there for now, probed the surrounding area for any signs of trouble, and then moved.
“Alright, nobody’s around.”
Ideally, I’d move at night, but teleporting near the village is too dangerous at night. After all, the Black Forest is nearby, and there are quite a few strong monsters that have fled from it.
Since someone might come, I’ll put on my Cloak of Invisibility and start moving.
I headed towards the capital, keeping away from the main road.
It might seem easy, but traversing uncharted paths takes time. I had to be mindful of the monsters while trying to move quickly.
I avoided engaging with the monsters as much as possible. In a way, I’m an intruder this time, and I’m not acting with the purpose of subjugation. Still, I have to defeat any who attack, so I used my magic handgun, the Slug TCC-06, with a silencer attached as an option to shoot them dead.
The further I got from the village, the weaker the monsters became, so this level of weapon was more than enough to deal with them. I tossed the defeated enemies into my Hakoniwa.
At night, I holed up in the Hakoniwa and rested in the container house. While inside, I couldn’t erase the Hakoniwa’s entrance, so I hung a Monster Repellent Sachet on a nearby tree.
“I can see it.”
The capital, or rather, its outer walls, came into view. But this is the village side. I had to sneak around and move to the Royal Capital side. I used Spatial Jump to move discreetly.
Then, I showed my face on the main road and casually joined the flow of people heading to the Royal Capital.
“Will they let me in like this, I wonder?”
I showed the soldiers the Inro engraved with the Cybarossa House crest, and they nodded and let me through the gate.
“Has anything changed in the capital?”
“Ah, not here, but apparently a Dungeon appeared in the territory. They say it’s already been conquered.”
“A Dungeon?”
Now that he mentions it, I think Mr. Volks mentioned it before.
“Well, that’s about it. Oh, and there’s been a Running Wheat outbreak, which is causing quite a stir.”
“Sounds peaceful enough.”
Running Wheat are low-level monsters. You get a lot of wheat when you defeat them. They smack you with their heads, or rather, their ears of wheat, so it hurts a bit, but even children can defeat them.
While chatting, I went to the Knights Order garrison first.
“Hello!”
“Huh? Oh, Claffy, you’re back.”
“Yes. Can I change? I’m going to the mansion.”
“I don’t think you needed to bother.”
“There’s someone who’s strict about etiquette. And I want to clean up.”
“I suppose so. Understood.”
“Oh, here’s a souvenir. Please, everyone, enjoy.”
I dropped a sake barrel from my Magic Bag with a thud.
“Oh? Huh? A Magic Bag!”
“I got it in the north.”
I was told that I received a large-scale joint request. There were a lot of movements of people and things there, so I decided to carry it around, following Raise-san’s advice to say that I got it there.
It’s a genuine, handmade Magic Bag that doesn’t go through my Spatial Storage.
“You got a good thing there. But it’s in the way if it’s left here. Take it to the cafeteria.”
“Ah, that’s right.”
“The room you used before is still empty, so you can use it for your luggage… though you probably don’t have any. Well, for changing clothes and such.”
“Thank you.”
It is definitely in the way.
I moved the sake barrel to the place I was told, and then I went to my room. I changed from my travel clothes into my Knight Uniform and headed to Master’s mansion.
“Cladfield-kun, I’m sorry. I’m glad you’re safe.”
“Ah, really. I caused you trouble.”
“Ah, no. Eh?”
When I arrived at the mansion, Master and the Young Lady took me to the noble reception room. And there, I was being apologized to.
Why?
“…We shouldn’t have sent a child like you to the battlefield. You’re Aria-chan’s guard, not a Knight. I heard you had combat experience with the Black Ant, and Volks seemed to think that others wouldn’t be enough, but we shouldn’t have counted you as part of our forces in the first place.”
“I knew you were strong and I always relied on you, so I just… I should have stopped it, apparently. I’m really sorry.”
“No, it’s fine, you know? But, yes. I accept your apology. So it’s okay now.”
It’s very awkward to have my employer, a noble, the Lord, and his daughter, all important people, bowing their heads to me.
“Is that so? Ah, this is an additional reward. Please accept it. I’ll give you more if it’s not enough.”
“This is plenty. And I gained a lot from it too.”
The Magic Bag was unlocked, and I connected with Adventurers like Grams and the others. And the existence of Barbatos and Beatrice is significant.
“Is that so? What kind of battle was it? I also went to subjugate a horde of monsters as a member of the nobility on behalf of the country in the past, but the opponents are different.”
“Ah, I don’t have a Queen-class, but I brought several of the other class ants, so I’ll provide them if you need them. Mr. Volks told me to do so on site.”
“You departed separately from Volks, right? Were you able to meet him on site?”
I answered the Young Lady’s question.
“Yes, several times. He was safe until the day I left.”
“Is that so? And you said various classes, but do you have Soldier-class, Warrior-class… even Royal Guard-class?”
“Yes. Freshly dead ones with the Magic Stones still intact.”
This is a world where wild monsters and Dungeons are rampant. Many nobles are putting effort into researching the ecology of monsters. I didn’t know, but I was told that there’s a monster research facility in the Cybarossa Territory, and since they’re monsters that I don’t know if they’ve handled before, they’d be happy if I brought them.
Since I had unlocked the Magic Bag, I was told to bring them if I could.
“You went into the Nest!”
“Yes. This one is an individual that tried to escape from the Nest after the Queen was defeated.”
When the Queen-class is defeated, the command structure collapses, so some of the Black Ant inside the Nest start acting freely. The Royal Guard-class are originally responsible for protecting the Queen inside the Nest, but some individuals come out after the Queen dies.
“Wonderful. We’ll buy those as well.”
“Thank you. Only Magic Stones were worth money on site, you see.”
Although I was bought for a fairly high price.
“Ah, speaking of money, there’s also the matter of the Hair Cleansing Liquid. I’m sorry that we only communicated by letter. It seems like that will become a major project in our territory.”
“For me, it was a desperate measure. Oil was easy to get in the village, so.”
“Hahahaha, well, thanks to you, we’re being helped. The manufacturing method was also solid, which is good.”
“I didn’t think it was suitable for mass production, though.”
That’s a lie. I had the formulation researched to make it that way. And I used materials that could be obtained at the level that the Cybarossa House could provide.
“Now, we intend to continue our contract with you in the future. But there won’t be any academy or guard work until after summer, right?”
“Ah, is that so?”
“Normal guard duty is a Knight’s job. While you’re in the territory, they’re your guards. You can spend time with the Knights Order, you know? It’ll be good training.”
Well, guarding is an adult’s job.
“If there are no problems, I’m thinking of going back to the village.”
“Come to think of it, you’re from that village. We were taken care of the other day.”
“I wonder if the people from our village conquered the Dungeon after all…”
“I, the Knights, and the Adventurers in the territory participated. It’s much easier when you guys are around. I don’t want to rely on you too much, but when it comes to large-scale Dungeons, it’s unavoidable.”
“Well, isn’t it fine? It’s like a festival.”
“Hahaha, that’s how it’s treated in your village, huh? As expected.”
Because they buy a lot of things and come back.
“I’ll guide you to the research facility later. You’ll be resting today, right? Should I prepare a room?”
“Ah, the Knight’s dormitory is fine. I feel more comfortable in the room I used to use.”
“Then I’ll issue a notice to leave the room as it is.”
“Thank you.”
After this, I was bombarded with questions from Master. About the battle with the Black Ant, what kind of arrangement the soldiers and Knights were in at that time. The scale of the enemy and measures against other monsters, and so on. There were many things that I didn’t grasp either, but I answered as much as possible.
He said that he would understand the contents himself so that he could deal with similar cases in his own territory, and leave them as records to be left for posterity.
He’s quite serious.
The Young Lady was also listening seriously and sometimes asked questions.
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