“Ah, so the departure is still a while away.”
“That’s right. But you should stay here from now on.”
“Indeed. Returning to the village and back would take about a week.”
That’s if we go on foot, though.
“Well, feel free to spend your time as you like for a while. But you’ll be joining me for training. Every day.”
“Understood.”
It seems Lady Arianna won’t be returning to the Royal Capital just yet. Did I come back a bit too early?
“Cladfield! Help me!”
“Young Lady?”
While I was having a meal with the Captain in the Knight’s dining hall, Lady Arianna rushed in. It’s close to the mansion, but is it okay for her to come here so often?
“Young Lady, where’s your escort?”
“I couldn’t be bothered to wait! More importantly, I need help!”
“What’s wrong?”
“It seems my mother is returning tomorrow.”
“Is that so? So she was out?”
The Madam was?
“The Madam went to the Royal Capital regarding the sales of the Hair Cleansing Liquid you brought. She even lived in the mansion with Lady Arianna for a while.”
“That’s right! But it seems that’s settled, so she’s coming back!”
“Is that so? Congratulations.”
“It’s not good!”
Lady Arianna slams the table with a bang!
“…Martha told her that my Dance performance isn’t up to par, apparently.”
“Did she receive a letter or something?”
“Yes! Just now!”
“Ah.”
Non-urgent letters are slow to arrive. It seems it arrived the day before her actual arrival.
“She’s going to check my Dance skills! She’s even bringing my teacher!”
“Ah, the one you hired at the mansion over there…”
“If my Dance skills have deteriorated, I’ll be stuck in Dance lessons until we return to the Royal Capital!”
“Judging by how you say that… they have deteriorated, haven’t they? Definitely.”
“But… because of the Northern problems, there was no social life or anything.”
‘There was no social life or anything’ is not an excuse.
“Could it be that you haven’t done any proper Dance for over two months?”
“Yes!”
Please don’t say it with such pride.
“What about Master?”
“I asked him for one song and he ran away!”
“What about your younger brothers?”
“They’re not at the Dance Lesson stage yet!”
“What about Shirley-san or someone?”
“There’s no way she can Dance!”
“Then I’ll be going now.”
“No way! If even Cladfield abandons me, I’ll be…”
“Please let go, I don’t remember it properly either!”
After a teacher was assigned at the mansion, I only Danced during school lessons.
Moreover, I’ve been to the North and the East, so I haven’t Danced as much as Lady Arianna.
“Please!”
“I don’t want to!”
“That’s an order!”
“I refuse!”
“No!”
“Yes, no.”
“Indeed, no.”
In an instant, I sensed people on either side of me.
“Huh!?”
These two are… the people who were my tutors!
“Now, let’s go.”
“We’ll take care of the music. Rest assured.”
“Christoph! Milia! Well done!”
“I don’t wanna!”
“Now, let’s go.”
I’m being dragged away by Lady Arianna, Dance is just not for me!
In the end, Lady Arianna was not only stuck in Dance lessons by the returning Madam but also had to relearn noble manners, court manners, and even conversation etiquette.
After spending such days, summer ended, and autumn arrived.
A notice came from the academy, and we received notification of the start date. In accordance with that, we’re moving to the Royal Capital.
This time, I’m going with Master. Because of the Northern situation, we could only sell the Hair Cleansing Liquid to some relatives and nobles of the same faction, so Master will be promoting sales in place of the Madam.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been to this mansion. It’s still more splendid than ours.”
“Dad, please don’t say that.”
Comparing the mansion in the Royal Capital with the mansion in the territory capital, anyone can see that the mansion in the Royal Capital is certainly more splendid, but it’s hard to agree.
“Welcome back, Lord Boild, Lady Arianna.”
Lady Martha and all the maids greeted us.
“Ah, I’m back. I’ll be in your care for a while.”
“Understood.”
It’s the start of the new semester.
However, the academy doesn’t start immediately, and there was plenty of time in the schedule, so I reported our return to the Guild.
“Hello, is Iserina-san here?”
“Ah, Claffy. Wait there.”
As usual, the burly receptionist asked Iserina-san to come out.
“She said to wait in the usual room.”
“Understood.”
I moved to the room as told. After a while, Iserina-san came in. She’s still a beautiful elf whose age is unknown.
“Welcome back.”
“I’m back. I’ll be in your care again for a while.”
“I’ve been waiting, hey, don’t you have any Drag Turtle medicinal sprouts?”
“That, I don’t have any stock of that…”
It’s a turtle Monster that grows herbs that are the source of fever reducers and antidotes on its back shell. The medicinal sprouts only grow in nature-rich, deep Forests, so they can’t be grown by humans.
They’re rare even in the village, so even if we’re lucky enough to get them, we immediately hand them over to the pharmacist or grandma.
“I see, that’s too bad.”
“I’ll collect them if I see them, but I’ll ask for them to be processed immediately. I also have something I want to ask, or rather, confirm, is that okay?”
“What is it?”
I took out two Adventurer’s Guild Cards from my Spatial Storage.
“Oh? Rank 10?”
“There are some circumstances. I had them issued in a town called Solva.”
“Solva. Sounds familiar? Ah! Nielson Territory!? You went there!?”
“Ah, so you do know about it.”
I wonder if there’s a connection between the Guilds.
“That’s amazing, you crossed Mount Faon’s Dragon nest? Alone?”
“No, with companions, we passed through the Black Forest ahead.”
“…That’s even more amazing.”
“It took quite a while. Well, our goal wasn’t to get through it, though.”
The goal was to investigate the ley lines and build a base. Now that the Magic Core can replenish Magical Power, there’s no need to save electricity, and the Hakoniwa has become much brighter with increased lighting.
“You were able to go without a guide.”
“Guide?”
“Yes, there are people who want to escape to the country beyond the mountains or vice versa. Well, there are hardly any people going from here to there.”
“Is that so?”
“Most people aim to escape from the kingdom. They choose to cross the desert or the sea. No one wants to go to the Dragon’s nest.”
“The Black Forest is…”
“That route isn’t even established in the first place. The types of Monsters change too much.”
I see.
“Oh? Then what about the sea?”
“I think you can go? Well, it’s a life-or-death situation. But isn’t there no merit in going back and forth by ship knowing it’s dangerous?”
Sea Monsters tend to be bigger and stronger compared to land Monsters, so it’s certainly a life-or-death situation.
“Anyway, it’s not good to have two Guild Cards. I’ll merge them, so lend them to me.”
“You can do that?”
“Yes. You can’t make any more, okay? The Guild doesn’t pry into personal matters unless you cause problems. But we have to manage the cards, so this is not allowed.”
Well, it’s an identification card.
“By the way, can you get through the Black Forest with people?”
“If they’re strong to a certain extent… like Dad?”
“Then it’s no good. If Claffy-kun could be a guide, I could have made you a Rank 3.”
That’s the so-called illegal immigration assistance business.
“So there are people after all. I didn’t even know there was a country beyond those mountains and the Black Forest.”
“There’s no diplomatic relations, and you can’t go back and forth easily. The Guild, as well as the country, are aware of it? Just aware of it, though.”
“Is that so?”
“Mount Faon is too vast to interfere. Merchants don’t go back and forth either.”
Mount Faon seems to be a nest of Dragons and Wyvern-type Monsters. It’s not a place where people can easily come and go. Rumor has it that there’s a super-large Dungeon where a Dragon is the Dungeon Master, and a wicked Dragon that will destroy the world is sleeping there… It’s not Toragrus-sama, is it?
“Even so, there are times when people who can’t enter the other side for some reason come here. At the risk of their lives.”
“Well, I guess so.”
They’re probably mostly criminals.
“It’s not something to hide, but it’s better not to talk about it too much. There will be people who will try to go out of curiosity.”
“Understood.”
After that, I had the Guild Cards merged, and they became one again.
…By the way, I was promoted to Rank 5.
“Also, even if it’s not a request, do you have any information on easy-to-handle Monsters? I want to please our Young Lady.”
“Let me see, there’s some breeding information that’s been uploaded.”
“What is it?”
“That is…”
Oh! I want that! Should I go now!
“But you’ve brought interesting information.”
“Well, I thought the Young Lady would want to stretch her wings a little before the academy starts.”
“Indeed!”
The Monster information I heard from Iserina-san, I first told Master, and Master also became enthusiastic.
Considering the long carriage journey and future social events, Master may have been looking for an opportunity to go out.
Including the escort members, we’re all moving on horseback this time. The destination is west of the Royal Capital, in Colamin Territory, one territory away.
“Oh, they’re here!”
There stood a massive, enormous bovine monster: a Red-Haired Great Bull. Herbivorous and generally docile, it was known to go berserk without warning, rampaging until utterly exhausted. Moreover, their boiling points varied from individual to individual, making it impossible to predict what might set them off.
Yeah. Judging by the incredible racket, several were already on a rampage.
“It’s been a while since our last hunt. Let’s enjoy ourselves, Aria-chan.”
“Yes!”
Master wielded a bow, while Young Lady had a saber instead of her usual rapier.
One of the Escort Knights provoked a Red-Haired Great Bull and began to lead it away.
“Hah!”
Master shot an arrow into the Red-Haired Great Bull’s leg. Excellent shot!
But unlike ordinary animals, monsters don’t stop with just that. Even wounded and slowed, its attention was fixed on the Escort Knight’s taunts, and it charged towards him.
…It’s not even angry after taking that much damage. Some individuals apparently get mad just from someone passing by.
“Haaah!”
Young Lady dashed in. With its movements slowed to that extent, Young Lady could certainly defeat it.
Indeed, she decapitated it with a single flash! She severed that thick neck.
“Magnificent work, both of you!”
The surrounding Escort Knights cheered.
I collected the Red-Haired Great Bull that Young Lady had defeated into my Magic Bag. Taking the head back, too.
“Alright, let’s keep going,”
Master must have decided that this hunt was going to be stable. He gave the order.
Now, I must fulfill my purpose as well.
“Cladfield, what are you doing?”
“Ah, there happened to be a female here.”
I surrounded it with a Barrier, immobilized its legs with telekinesis, cleaned its udders, and started milking.
“Is it good?”
“The flavor is quite rich. So it’s better suited for cheese than drinking.”
“I look forward to that!”
Yogurt would be good, too.
While talking, I steadily milked it. Since it’s so large, the amount of milk taken from one is substantial.
One bucket wasn’t enough, so I added another, and another.
“Would you like to try, Young Lady?”
“I will!”
“Pull lightly from the base. Be careful not to pull too hard, or it will go wild.”
If it starts to rampage, the telekinesis will be released, and milking will become impossible.
“The meat is delicious, too, making it the best monster.”
“Indeed! I’d like to keep one at the mansion!”
“Ahahaha.”
It’s impossible to know when or why it might go berserk, and once it does, its ferocity is incredible, so keeping one is difficult. It’s also large and strong.
I secured a large amount of meat and milk, and secretly secured my own share as well. I’ll leave the cheese-making to the Support Drone.
By the way, when I brought it to the kitchen back at the mansion, the chefs were not pleased. It’s too big, and they can’t butcher it, they said. Well, they’re not butchers. So I did it myself.