Diana brought the letter. Well, in this world, there’s no such thing as the crime of opening someone else’s letter like in the previous world. Just in case, there is no emblem on the wax seal. I opened the envelope with a knife.
“Camilo-dono, I think you know the general situation of what is happening in the Capital so I addressed this to you.”
That’s how the beginning of the letter was written. The things I heard from Diana earlier was also written in its content. And towards the end,
“For that, I want to leave my sister, Diana, to a certain person. I don’t know where he lives but he is the blacksmith who crafted my sword. I heard that he lives in a remote place. It would be better to hide at his place. He said that he sells merchandise to you so can you please keep my sister until he comes?”
So that’s how it is. There’s a little continuation after that but reading it till there is good enough for the time being.
“With this, it’s confirmed. Marius intended to leave Diana to us so we saved one effort.”
Furthermore, the fact that Diana doesn’t have to go to Camilo makes it harder for them to trace her, so this may have been just right. By the time they noticed that the pursuers were annihilated, her traces have already disappeared.
Everyone nods when they heard my words.
“In that sense, I’ll have Diana-san stay here for a while. Since there are no trees around the house, it’s okay for you to hang around there alone. But if it’s farther than that, take me or Samia with you. Otherwise you will be eaten by the wolves.”
“Understood.”
“If it’s difficult to talk to a man, talk to Samia or Rike.”
“Please treat me well.”
Diana bows towards Samia and Rike.
“Yeah, don’t hesitate to ask.”
Samia replied with a smile.
“Ah right, I’m sorry to ask you this. Diana-san, why do you treat ordinary people like us that politely? I’m not saying it’s not good but since you’re a noble, you can be less formal to us you know?”
I asked her what I was curious about. Though that’s preposterous of me, I’ll just play innocent.
“Because you guys are my lifesaver…?”
“Uhm… From now on, you’ll live here and maybe you’ll even stay longer so you can act less formally! If possible, it would be better if you act casually. I think that way, we can live comfortably and smoothly….”
“I understand… no, I see. Since you said so, I’ll do so.”
“Yeah, do that.”
Good grief! This made me feel like I’m getting a little closer to a laid-back life. I don’t think that I can relax since I gave shelter to a petite refugee though.
“All right then, today was tiring, right? Let’s go to sleep now.”
“Ye-s.”
“Yeah.”
“Yes.”
I get a reply from the three people. In this way, today’s event was finally over.
The next morning, the first person who got up was me as I’ll go fetch water. Rike once tried to say, “That’s a disciple’s job”. She tried to do it but I felt like I wouldn’t move much without doing that, besides I’ve been doing it all the time. It’s about half an hour going and coming back from there. On the way back, the two jars will be filled with water so it will be a decent exercise.
When I came back, Samia and Rike were already awake. It was normal for the three of us to wash our faces with the water I had drawn. But from today, with Diana joining us, four people wash their face and brush their teeth together. Then the women did the laundry while I’m preparing the breakfast. Since it is impossible to cook egg dishes while baking bread in the toaster (just like the ones in the previous world), they can do enough laundry during that preparation period.
The detergent is made by saving the ash from the burned charcoal and putting it in a special bottle with water. It seems that it was also used as a detergent in the previous world, and yeah, it makes sense in its own way. If I look for it, there should also be a soapberry-like plants that contains active substance used to manufacture soap here. But, looking for it is a matter for the future.
Our breakfast is barley porridge and salted meat soup. I made a generous amount of this soup so that we have more portion for our lunch and supper. This will also reduce the effort on cooking as much as possible. While the three people (four people for a while from today) have a boisterous meal, setting the schedule for the day is also one of the important parts during breakfast.
From this day, I decided to make short swords and longswords for 3 days. In this is the case, Samia can teach Diana. While Samia teaches her, the two of them can make molds by applying some clay to the wooden molds.
I may have to buy or find clay soon. If there is a lake and water spring here, it means that there is an impermeable layer, so if we dig till we have the clay layer, we could use it. Even if it feels like a soil mixed with clay, it is sufficient enough for its purpose. Well anyway, this is also postponed for now.
The subsequent process does not change. It’s just that with Diana here, the number of assistant has increased. Samia and Diana will do the deburring. Diana even has a good aptitude in swinging the hammer despite being a noble’s daughter.
When she ran away, she was wearing a breastplate and she managed to defend against her pursuers alone until we rushed to help her in the first place so I think that she has confidence in her swordsmanship. After that, me and Rike will finish it. Meanwhile, Samia and Diana are ready for the next one.
The result of this day was quite good. It’s as efficient as before but there’s nothing wrong with that because there’s one person who is not used to it. Diana was interested in the newly made longsword so I allowed her to try swinging it. It seems to fall behind compared with my cheat, but she has learned swordsmanship well so it starts to look appropriate.
“You’re quite good.”
“Thank you, but I still don’t feel like I can beat the Eizou at that time.”
She was referring to that time when I helped her.
“Eizou looks like this but he’s strong…”
Samia joins in.
“The “looks like this” part is unnecessary you know?”
I opened my mouth and argued but,
“But Boss, you won’t usually think that blacksmiths are so strong, right?”
When Rike’s supporting statement went to Samia, I deliberately dropped my shoulders and I laughed together with everyone.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
After I avoided Pero’s fist, I immediately followed up a foot sweep move. Pero avoided it by doing a cartwheel then he shot a roundhouse kick.
“Ugh!?”
Although I defended with my arm, I was blown away by the heavy impact. As expected from this body, it seems that it won’t be killed by a werewolf’s kick.
“That’s enough.”
When the clone announced the end of the match, me and Pero bowed to each other.
“Father is strong!”
“Pero did a good job too. In this case, you might be able to fight an orc alone you know.”
After I said that, the me, who was of the same height as Pero approached my main body. When I held hands with my main body, assimilation gradually started and I was absorbed completely.
“This division skill is not bad.”
It was my clone who was fighting Pero earlier. I can use this division skill to create a young child. However, I can’t create the clothes, so the problem is that my clone is naked. Besides, the number of my clone is limited to one, so I can’t say that it is easy to use yet.
“I’m home—”
Erna is back with her rucksack on her back. I made her go to the city alone but it seems that there was no problem with it.
“How is Rodman doing?”
“It seems that he’s in the studio hitting your sword. His son was the one who gave me an appraisal instead.”
She threw the empty rucksack to the ground and lay down on the grass. I always accompanied her but today, she went alone so she’s pretty tired.
“In the meantime, show me how much it worth.”
“It did not fetch that much.”
The amount she handed over was three silver coins. Not many weapons and armors were collected at the disposal site so this price is as expected.
It may be about time we find a new place to search after all…
“All right, we’ll aim for the 30th floor after we have our lunch.”
“Eeh!? Are we really going!?”
“Of course. It’s hard to say that we are still living a stable life.”
“But, is there really another disposal site?”
I’m not that confident whether there’s really one. However, I can’t really tell if there is one or none unless we look for it. Besides, we won’t get started even if we discuss it in this place anyway. Well, there is a reason why I said that we should aim for the 30th floor. The disposal site we are currently using is almost exhausted, weapons and armors cannot be recovered unless new corpses are added.
Then from there, I noticed something.
Not only beginner level adventurers but also those with good equipment such as intermediate and advanced level adventurers went here in Mohed’s Great Dungeon in the past. If they died, their equipment should also be in the disposal site.
However, only the equipments from beginner and intermediate level adventurers fall over on the disposal site we are currently using. In that sense, it means that there is another disposal site somewhere and there is a possibility that such equipments from advanced level adventurers may be accumulated there.
The map left by the great mage Moore also described a mysterious space on the thirtieth level. At least I’m sure that there’s something on the 30th floor.
“I’ll serve you a delicious food, so show that you’re full of spirit.”
“Delicious food you say…”
I can’t feel even a slight enthusiasm from Erna. If I cook a special dish, her feelings will surely change.
First, I draw a magic circle on the ground and add a fire magic stone to create a certain amount of heat. Then with a knife, I make a cut in the meat that has been cut into large pieces. Next, I put oil in a pan and heat it up. In the meantime, I also soak the meat in the beaten egg and then toss it into the bread crumbs. When the oil was properly heated, I add the meat and wait for a while until it turns golden.
When the fragrant scent spread out, Erna, who was lying down, gets up. Pero was already drooling and shaking his tail. When the meat was fried, I chopped the vegetables and sandwiched them in the bread. Finally, I added the sauce sold at the seasoning store and it’s done.
“Is that Shinichi’s special burger?”
Erna and Pero grab the burger that was served and bite on it.
“Hn~!! It’s delicious!”
“Father, it’s so delicious! It’s my first time eating something like this!”
They both like the burger. Even so, I’m still not used to Pero’s fluent speaking. It’s only been a few days since he was taught of the language here but he has an incredible growth. As for his training, his skill has remarkably levelled up and if it is only about agility, it is already beyond the limit.
I used appraisal on Pero.
【Appraisal Result: Pero Tanaka: Werewolf who became a sacred beast. He thinks of Shinichi Tanaka as his father and he’s trying hard to be as strong as his father. He’s currently captivated by the special burger: Rarity S】
【Status】 Name: Pero Tanaka Age: 5 years old Race: Saint Werewolf Occupation: Adventurer Magic attribute: Wind (Holy) Magic: Air ball, Air arrow Skills: Gale Attack (Beginner), Taijutsu A (Intermediate), Taijutsu B (Beginner), Body Strengthening (Intermediate), Claw Strengthening (Intermediate), Intelligence (Intermediate) Intimidating (Beginner)
It’s quite a growth he has there.
I’m particularly concerned about the gale attack. This is an attack skill along with my skill, thread bomb. Skills include assistance and strengthening, but attack skills are relatively rare. It is a skill that can be called as a trump card.
I’m looking forward on seeing how strong my son will become.
◇
“Ahead of us is the 20th floor.”
Erna pointed to the stairs while looking at the map. Starting from the hideout, we finally arrived at this stairs. From this point onward, it is an area unknown to me.
“Both of you, are you’re equipments ready?”
“Yeah. I only bring out my cane, I’ll take the bow out of the bangle in case of emergency.”
“I’ll also be fine because I have the knuckles that father bought for me.”
Both of them seem to be well prepared. However, I’m a little surprised that the special burger motivated them so much. I said that if this search is successful, I’ll make it again and it seems that it is very effective.
“Let’s go.”
We then went down the stairs.
“…Looks normal…”
I agree with Erna’s words. There was no particular change in the 20th floor and only a brick-like passageway continued in the area.
“Ugaaaaaaa!”
As soon as an orc appear, Pero rushes forward and hit it hard. It feels good to see that such a small body scares a large orc. Pero quickly approached the orc that took a pratfall and he slits its neck with his claws.
“It’s true that he can overwhelm that orc alone huh.”
“Pero is a sacred beast you know, that’s normal you see.”
I understand what Erna wants to say, but orcs are by no means weak. Even an intermediate adventurer can barely win against it. It was a miracle that I won when I first came to this world. I stored the orc’s corpse in the bangle and we proceed by following the map.
“What is on the 20th floor?”
“It’s not written, but it looks like there’s a Temple of Teleportation here.”
“Then, should we go to the temple?”
It is a big advantage if you have a transfer point as you can go to that level at any time. It’s a hassle, but it will be useful later. We continued walking for about four hours then we arrived at a dome-shaped room.
The Temple of Teleportation is in the center of the room, with a black stone plate placed at the center. I touched the stone plate without any hesitation.
【Welcome to the Temple of Teleportation. Shinichi Tanaka’s transfer point has been added.】
Now I can go to the 20th floor at any time. Considering that there are temples on every five floor, the next temple will be on the 25th floor.
After a short break, we started walking towards the stairs again.
There are not many magical beasts on the 20th floor, but the encounter rate with orcs is high. There may be a lair somewhere from here. After walking for another 3 hours, we found the next stairs. We went down without hesitation.
“What’s this!?”
The 21st floor was a wetland. A lot of grass grows and the muddy ground tries to sink my legs. Perhaps this floor is a large room as the wall on the other side is not visible and the horizon is far away.
“Goro-goro”
When I heard that sound and looked at the ground, a big frog, about the size of a kagami mochi, is looking at me. When it realized that I’m dangerous, it jumps away using its big legs.
“Is there an orcs lair here…?”
There’s abundant food in this large space, it’s a good environment to feed the orcs. And also, from here they can go to the 20th and 19th floor. As evidence, we saw three orcs already running to us.
“Apparently it’s my turn.”
Erna holds out her cane. A large space is perfect for using magic. The moment the Flame Burst was used in a narrow passage, no matter how many lives you have, it will not be enough.
“Flame burst!”
A roaring sound echoed out and the three orcs disappeared. Pieces of meat scattered in the swamp, and a frog, about the size of a puppy, picks it up with its tongue and swallows it.
“Apparently, they heard that sound.”
I held Erna and Pero’s hands and used my stealth skill. The orcs rushed to look around and tilted their heads in confusion and left to go somewhere.
“Well, shall we hurry ahead?”
Then we walk in the swamp while still under stealth. When we followed the map to the place where the stairs were, I wanted to hold my head in frustration. The staircase is in the middle of the swamp, but an orc settlement was built around the staircase!
Houses made of grass are lined up, reminding me of the Jomon period.
“What should we do? As expected, I think we will get exposed…”
“Well, this is Stealth (Special grade). Hopefully we can get through them.”
“Is that true?”
Erna doubts the power of my stealth. Well, we did not really turn invisible, it just erases our presence. Since the effect does not include erasing our smell and sound, I can understand her anxiety.
“We’re going.”
We hold hands and enter the village. We keep a certain distance while avoiding the passing orcs then we go to the inner part. When we arrived at the center of the village, the staircase is also in the center. However, the stairs are blocked by wooden boards and it seems that it is not easy to get it off.
Somehow, I felt that they are scared of something that’s coming from below.
“We can’t go down at this rate.”
“All right, shoot flame bomb towards the stairs.”
“Is that okay? We’ll definitely be found out!”
“Don’t worry. I’ll do something about it.”
Erna points her cane at the stairs and shoots a flame bomb. Immediately after that, an explosion occurs. The wood that was blocking the stairs was blown away, and the orcs who were caught off guard tumbled down.
“Thread bomb!”
I shot thread bombs in a turbulent manner. A sticky thread covered the village, and the orcs were also entwined with threads. I can’t stop grinning at how easy it was to get rid of the orcs.
“Okay, I’ll annihilate the orcs just like this.”
“Father, there’s something there!”
When I looked back after Pero called out, an orc, one size larger than the others appeared as it pushed its way out of the thread. The color of its body is mustard, and it has this different atmosphere around him. If the orcs so far were ordinary people, the one in front of me felt like a warrior.
【Appraisal Result: Orc fighter: As the orc evolved, it got a stronger body. Its delivered punch is enough to crush the bones of its opponent with a single blow. The longed target of orcs: Rarity C】
It seems to be a high-ranking race of orcs, but its status is also quite good. I especially want to strengthen my arms.
“Guugauuu”
When the orc fighter holds its fist, it provokes me to come at him with its left hand. It looks like a boxer type though it has a body like sumo wrestler. Interesting.
“Fine with me.”
I take off my upper body clothes. The battle between men does not require clothes. The orc fighter and I keep an eye on each other and determine the other party’s appearance. Meanwhile, Erna and Pero are also eradicating the orcs entwined in the thread.
“What’s wrong? If you don’t defeat me quickly, your friends will die you know?”
“Fugagaga!”
He was laughing. It probably doesn’t think of its companions as friends. Or rather, I wonder if it really understood my words.
“Humph!”
“Gauu!”
The fight has begun. I narrowly dodged its fist and I also countered a punch. I hit its face, but he didn’t bulge. This time its punch digs into my abdomen. It’s a heavy punch, but not that unbearable. After hitting each other at close range over and over again, the orc fighter finally slump his knee on the ground by the tenth shot.
“It’s my win.”
I hit its head with my fist seriously. I heard the sound of its skull crushing. I still had some spare energy but it was quite an opponent.
Orc Fighter, I’ll never forget you.
With the Skill Picking, I acquired smell strengthening, arm strengthening, and indomitable spirit. I then confirmed the situation of the other two. Apparently, the two of them had already cleaned up the orcs while I was fighting.
“Father, why didn’t you avoid it?”
Pero approaches me and asked that question. Certainly, I could do that if I wanted to avoid the fighter’s attack. Rather, it was easier to win that match unscathed.
“It’s a man’s romance you see.”
“A man’s romance?”
“Uhm, sometimes it’s necessary for a man to exchange blows.”
After I said that, Pero’s eyes shined. Erna seems to be amazed too. After recovering the corpses of the orcs we killed, we decided to go down the stairs.
Why were the orcs blocking the stairs anyway?
When we went down to the 22nd floor, I understood why.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
If Noin use her magic to support us, the dark spirit will immediately take her life. It means that she can’t use magic until she undoes her bond with the dark spirit.
Noin’s fog can cover the entire fort. If only she could work with me… No, that idea is not good from the start.
In addition, there’s an issue on whether I can really succeed in the treatment of that dark spirit. If it fails, though Astina-denka has some power to go against the dark spirit, the three knights (Raquel-san and the others) are at risk.
A dark spirit is not a boon to living creatures, it is a curse itself. In accordance with that contract, it was bonded to Noin while having some constraints. It would indiscriminately attack anything that hinders it –there is a record that one village has been destroyed just because that person made a mistake in dealing with the dark spirit. As a result, it became forbidden. It was said that there was a book sealed in the back of the school’s library that describes the dark spirits but it is not something that ordinary students can see.
However, Noin actually contains a dark spirit inside her. It only suggests that some of the books in the Academy could be read and exploit.
Even in the Academy… not all of them are on our side. It is unlikely that my stepsister knows about this and overlooks it –I want to think that she, the headmaster of the Academy, doesn’t even know the entire Academy’s staff and the court magicians, what more of their personal connections.
“…Grass, are you worried about Millenia?”
“Uh…S-Sorry. Right now… this case is…”
“Headmaster Millenia Weed has nothing to do with me. I’m merely the tip of it so I can’t say for sure… But, I haven’t heard of any conspiracy where she’s been involved in since she was in the military though. On the contrary, she has been asking for a proper report about the status of the student’s who became a court magician.”
Did my stepsister know that some of the court magicians were making some suspicious move? Or did she ask for it to show the success of the students that the Academy produced to encourage the juniors?
―Considering the character of Millenia Weed that I know of, I think it’s both.
“If the Headmaster is really an “ally of the Kingdom”, there’s nothing wrong with it… If possible, I don’t want her to be an enemy.”
In case the Academy is under a pressure and they were forced to turn against Astina-denka… I will eventually have to fight the magicians who learned in the same school as me, and of course those court magicians who are much more capable than Noin.
“If our attack on Zirconia is relayed to the capital, those from the opposition in the Royal family may move because we violated the decree. No… they will surely try to capture me. Their aim is for my loss and maybe, to imprison me.”
If Her Highness suffers a major defeat in the battle, she will be blamed for it while using that as a weakness. Those in the Capital, whom should have been our ally, will try their best to drive her out.
But even with such situation, I think it was still a good fight. So far, though she was walking on a thin ice, she has led the Knights up to this point so she cannot be punished for her actions to protect her subordinates and the people.
“Your Highness…I have something I want to talk to you right now. It’s about Your Highness’ mother the first Queen… her son, the first prince and your sister, the second princess.”
“Noin, if you say that, your life will be at risk. For now, give priority to yourself first.”
In reality, she really wants to know about it right away. However, Her Highness refused to do so without showing any regret.
We escaped from the path we used to invade and went outside the commander’s lodging. Baile, who’s still unconscious, was lifted by the plant’s vines and brought out of the window –using the same vines, we went out and join the three people (Raquel-san and the others) who were hiding in the material shed.
“Is this man…Your Highness, is he a prisoner?”
Upon seeing the commander’s badge on Baile’s shoulder, Raquel-san immediately perceived things out. Her Highness nodded then I summoned Arlaune and made Baile inhale her pollen.
“Uh…”
“You’ll have to accompany us from here on. I will not allow you to go against us.”
“……I understand……”
His eyes are out of focus but the hypnosis worked well. This will prevent Baile from interfering in our moves.
“You will lead us to the warship’s location. Is there a hidden doorway?”
“……This way……”
Baile initially wobbled but he gradually became steady and guided us to a pier next to the river by a route that was out of sight of the lookouts.
There are two access gates from the fort to the dock, but only one of them is guarded by the guards, and one seems to be watched from the turret. But with the use of hypnotic air balls, they could be easily incapacitated.
There are also lookouts in the pier ―but since we came this far, it wouldn’t be that hard to get rid of enemy troops that weren’t even that skilled. Hiding in the blind spots of those lookouts, we hold their breath and let them fall one by one.
The last one was guarding the area on the pier for boarding the warship, but Baile showed up to attract his attention then Presha-san, who went around behind him, hit him with the spear handle and knocked him down.
“I’m afraid it’s going too well…”
“Yes… but, the direction of the wind isn’t very good after all. If this goes on, we can’t get out of the canal as we will be washed away to the Zirconia’s side.”
“If we can use the water spirit’s magic, we can move the ship at will…. But in this headwind, we can only expect the direction of the wind to change.”
Dite-san says so while holding down her fluttering hair while Noin could only give out a bitter smile. I didn’t think she would have that kind of look, that was unexpected.
“We have to deal not only with the wind, but also with the flow of the river. The only way to get this warship to the canal in the current weather is with the “water’s cooperation”.”
“…Spirit’s magic is terrifying after all. But at the same time, it’s reliable.”
Dite-san looks at me as she says that. It’s like she’s saying, “I’m counting on you, but trusting Noin is risky.”
The reason I decided to pull Noin into our side was because I witnessed it –my responsibility would be heavy but my experience as a doctor tells me that Noin is not lying.
“…Wait! What is that sound…? This…. Is it a horn…?”
As Raquel said that, we too heard the sounds coming from the west –a group of enemy soldiers are approaching this fort while treading on the grass.
“Don’t tell me… No, it’s not you. You’re eyes are already determined.”
“…Alejandro should have sensed my betrayal. So if he sent troops after me… they would step inside this fort and try to find me.”
“We don’t have time to waver… Everyone, please board the warship. I’ll “purify” Noin’s dark spirit here.”
“Grass-nii, I can also attend the ritual. I can draw magic circles for the spirit too.”
“All right… Leslie, I’ll leave it to you. Noin, I’ll hypnotize you a little.”
If the dark spirit responds to her “will to resist her restraint”, it would be dangerous just to have it watch the progress of the ritual.
“Ugh… Summoner-sama, this person can resist my children.”
“…I’ll try to weaken the resistance. I’m sorry, I’m a magician you see… ugh…”
Combat magicians appear to be training to respond and defend against enemy’s magic that affects the mind. Noin weakened her defense with her own will.
When the hypnosis begin, Noin’s eyes appeared to be intoxicated and her body weakens. At her feet, Leslie drew up a magic circle using a paint that allows magic to pass through.
“Grass-nii, this is…?”
“What we are trying to purify is the “dark spirit”… we need to use the “spirit wedge method”. If we are to purify a normal spirit, we don’t need to use a “wedge”.”
The current Noin was forced to contract with the dark spirit. In order to revoke that contract, another spirit, a third Spirit, must intervene between the water spirit that Noin originally contracted and the dark spirit then play the role of a “wedge” as it is necessary to let the “third spirit” take over the contract temporarily.
What happens if we do this? ―Since Yuserish will temporarily take over the dark spirit’s contract, that would mean that she can have a power over Noin.
However, there would be no problem in that because Yuserish would not threaten Noin’s life. The question is, to transfer the contract, can my power seal the dark spirit that will soon be revealed?
“…All right. Leslie, together with Laune, please stay further away.”
“Grass-nii… Be careful. Don’t overdo it.”
There is no time to waver. Leslie understands that, so as I instructed her to hold Arlaune, they approached the rope ladder for boarding the warship.
With me left on the pier, I drink the extract of a “cluster pine” to control my tension. I had Raquel-san drink it before but I know its effect best because I was the one who made it –my idle thoughts before disappeared and my vision becomes clear.
“Noin, tell me the name of the water spirit you originally contracted.”
“…Water and sky… Apsaras…”
Even in the book about elemental spirits, it’s a high-ranking spirit belonging to water element –as expected, Noin’s ability is considerable. The names often mentioned are “Undine” and “Nereid”, although these spirits are elemental spirits, they do not have the power to cause natural disasters.
Apsaras has the appearance of a beautiful woman. Now that a dark spirit is also contained inside her, what kind of state is it in?
I must get rid of this disease as quickly as possible. I made up my mind and began to chant with the help of the sacred tree’s power.
“You, the spirit from the realm of the dead who dwells inside Noin Flores, transfer that contract to my spirit and return to where you should be!”
I chanted out and pressed my hands on the ground. At that moment, a sinister presence coiled around the spirit mark engraved on Noin’s chest appeared as if it was torn off from her body.
“…Grass-nii…!”
“Don’t come here Leslie!”
Black Snake ―an enemy of water spirits, it’s a water spirit from the realm of the dead. It absorbed Noin’s magical power and forcibly manifested itself, it wrapped around Apsaras’ whole body and tightened its grip.
Her contracted spirit was weakened, the fact that it’s on the verge of dying means that the magician’s life force was undermined. The black snake that bites on Apsaras neck sucked up the pure magical power of the water spirit and fattened its sluggish body.
Is this the disease…? Can it be sealed by my power? No, I’ll seal it…!
The moment I swore that, grass sprouted rapidly on the borderline of the magic circle, it became a vine, it then stretched on the ground and spread out, forming a huge cage that enclosed me and Noin.
This is the barrier-weaved by the sacred trees’ familiar. It was created by Yuserish to contain the dark spirit and prevent it from getting away.
Now I don’t need to fear on getting everyone involved. However, Noin’s life force is still being sucked up by the black snake ―all of that power must be returned to the owner!
“…I want you to disappear from here. It’s not your place…!”
The black snake separates its fangs from Apsaras’ neck. The next moment, the snake’s jaw opened wide and attacked at a speed that I can’t even follow with my eyes ―but,
“Summoner-sama, it doesn’t matter even if it’s a tainted water! If it’s the sacred tree…!”
“Uh…!”
Yes ―the result was already decided. The sacred tree’s familiar rooted at Noin’s feet immediately entwined her body with vines.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
Hi guys, I’m so sorry for only posting now. I’m doing fine it’s just that my internet connection is having some problems again so my translation came into a halt T_T. Hopefully this would work well now.
I undressed and boiled water for four people. After we freshened up in our own rooms, we head to the dining room for dinner. Our supper is salted boneless rib meat (wild boar), lentil-like bean soup, unfermented bread and wine. Well, that’s because there’s a lot of people at home right now.
But,will it suit Diana’s taste?
“I’m sorry I only have this much. I hope it suits your taste.”
I thought she would timidly put it into her mouth but Diana put it in her mouth without hesitation.
“…How is it?”
Seeing that, rather than her, I was the one who got nervous.
“It’s delicious!”
Diana replied with her amber eyes shining. But, perhaps she noticed that the people around her were surprised,
“Ah, S-Sorry …”
She looked dejected right away.
“N-No, it’s good if it fits your taste. We were just worried whether it would fit young lady’s taste.”
“That sort of… calling me young lady is a bit…”
“Err… Well, it’s best to eat delicious food. If the food is bad, you won’t feel like doing anything, you see.”
I told the truth. Even when I had a hard time working in the previous world, it would have been better if I could eat delicious food.
“Eizou, have you ever eaten something like that too?”
Samia gets on this topic.
“Well yeah, many times.”
“Is that so? I thought that Eizou had only eaten delicious food all this time.”
“That’s not really the case. For example…”
I started talking about the previous world without realizing it. In this way, our dinner today was lively with the topic of “what were the unpalatable foods we’ve eaten”. Diana also heard that there’s a “delicacy” and ate it without knowing what the meat was, she was excited to talk about how bad it was.
At the end of such a fun dinner, I started the conversation. I was a little hesitant whether or not to ask her about the details, but it will be better if I ask here.
“Well then, can you tell us why Diana-san was forced to leave the city?”
Diana was a little hesitant, but soon,
“I understand. Then…”
She talked about it haltingly.
Diana (and Marius-shi’s) parents’ home is around the territory next to ours. Count Eimurl governs that territory including the area around the town we goes to. Count Eimurl has three sons and one daughter (of course Diana). The three sons are Rion, the eldest brother, Karel, the second elder brother, and Marius, the third son.
Naturally, it was supposed to be the eldest brother, Rion, who will succeed the Count’s reign. About a month ago, Count Eimurl and Rion went out with their private troops to subdue a swarm of monsters that allegedly appeared near the border.
Originally, Rion aside, even the Count didn’t have to leave but it seems that the Count was going to retire completely and let Rion take over all of his authority. And it seems that some demonstration would be meaningful. Putting it the other way around, they must have assumed that the subjugation of the monsters that appeared would not be a big deal even if the army was not moved out and only the private soldiers with the Count and the successor himself went out…
However, such expectation was completely betrayed. Both the Count and Rion were killed, and the private army was also annihilated and some fled. According to the information of the one who barely escaped alive, “a strong monster has defeated everyone”. However, when Marius returned after receiving the bad news, there were some suspicious points. From the perspective of Marius, who has seen numerous “hacked” bodies as a guard, neither the Count nor Rion seem to have suffered any claws or fangs, and in the first place, “Was the monster outbreak itself true?”. From that point of view, Marius judged that there’s something fishy.
On top of that, Karel is the most suspicious one when that happened, but of course he won’t show his true color that easily. If they kept still, the right to succeed the family would naturally go to Karel… However, there is a big problem. Examining the records, Karel and Marius had a reverse order on the succession. Since Karel is concubine-born and Marius is a child from the main wife, the order of succession changed when Marius was born. The fact was recorded by a registrar, but all four were raised as children of the main wife in the house because the woman who was Karel’s mother died when she gave birth. Since it became like that, Karel tried to lay the blame on this and that on Marius in order for him to have the right to succeed. But, of course, Marius was a guard in another town before and after that.
It would be very difficult for him to take command if there is such scheme. So for now, their standoff continues, and the current situation in the Capital is that Karel sometimes makes a mess with Marius. However, if this takes too long and if the Count of Eimurl is absent for a long time, that title will be deprived. Well that’s probably it so it seems that it is about time for one of them to start moving.
Diana was targeted because she is also a child of the main wife, so if for example, she takes a nobleman from somewhere to become their son-in-law. Her inheritance rights may change at that point so it seems that the plan is to eliminate that now. So Marius (probably) left her to me. He tried to keep her safe until he managed to get rid of Karel but it was just that when he sent her out, Karel sensed that so he also sent someone to attack her. Well, that’s the gist of all of this.
“Hmm…”
I thought about it. With that being the case, keeping Diana here will not only be a week or two. It’s fine with me but I wonder if Diana can bear it. Both Marius and Diana are members of the Count family after all. However, now I understand why Marius-shi has skilful judgement for a mere guard and as to why he is familiar with the inner workings inside the city walls.
“Capital huh… How should I put it? Uhm, I understand Marius-san and Diana-san’s situation. Furthermore, it’s okay to keep Diana in my house but, will that be okay for Diana-san?”
Since I knew that she is a noble, normally, it might be better to lower my back but it’s too late to change my posture now so I’ll leave it as it is.
“What do you mean by if it’s okay with me?”
“Ah no. After this matter is over, if they found out that you, the daughter who is of a right age is at a blacksmith’s house, even though there are other women who come to live with you, wouldn’t that be inappropriate for a noble?”
“My brother handles that area well, so Eizou-san don’t need to worry about that.”
“Well, after that, this lifestyle may last for a week or two, would that be okay?”
“Even in such a very short time, I came to know that both Samia and Rike are good people so I’m not worried. Of course, Eizou-san too.”
“Hmm…”
In that case, she doesn’t mind being kept in the house huh.
“Then, the rest would be if you’ll really be fine to be kept at home.”
“I realized that when I came here. I don’t think that there is a better place to hide than here though, so there’s no mistake about it.”
“Well, in that case, tentatively then.”
It’s not that I’m unwilling but, if it’s in a different place, it’s almost the same as kidnapping.
“If only there was something we could know…”
I murmured that then Diana responded to my words.
“Ah, by the way, I was keeping a letter for Camilo-san.”
“If we read it, will we understand…?”
“Yes, maybe.”
“But I don’t want to look into a letter addressed to others.”
“No, it’s about me, so it’s fine. I’ll go get it.”
Diana-san quickly stands up and goes to the guest room. As I look at it, I thought that she might like the life here and so on.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
“That “someone” that your older brother told you is probably me.”
“Eeh!?”
Diana had a dubious look. Well, that’s to be expected. The person who helped her was actually the person she was looking for, there is no such convenient story after all. If I were to be in the same situation, I wouldn’t say “Oh, is that so? That’s convenient!”
But there’s no mistake, that’s certainly the case so it can’t be helped.
“Our house is inside this black forest. They won’t come here unless it’s quite necessary. Since Diana-san is running away, it’s probably the best place to hide.”
“To meet that man, my brother told me that I should first rely on a merchant called Camilo.”
“There’s no doubt about it then. I’m the only one who wholesale merchandize to Camilo here. Besides, only Camilo and one other person know my place.”
Actually, Helen came to us directly and knew our exact location, so if it came from her, it would be a different story. Speaking of that, I don’t think she’s that kind of person who would divulge it. I could only think of the two of them though.
“Can you tell me your name?”
Diana said while staring at me. Well yeah, having said that, I haven’t introduced my name yet.
“Ah, I’m sorry. I am Eizou. This beastman is Samia and this dwarf is Rike.”
Samia and Rike bowed slightly. I did not introduce Tanya alongside my name for now.
“Eizou-san…”
Diana repeats my name. I wonder if she’s pondering whether she knows me or if she’s trying to remember? Well, I won’t understand it just by looking at her.
“For the time being, since we were able to beat those pursuers, you earned about two days time right? In that case, why don’t you come to my house for one day?”
I urged Diana. It doesn’t matter that were dawdling here. It’s not that impossible to explain the situation when the patrol comes but it’s a hassle to do so in the first place. And I’m pretty certain that if something goes wrong, we will fall into an unforeseen situation.
“…I understand. Thank you for your help today.”
“All right. Well then, Samia be on your guard in the surrounding area. Me and Rike will pull the cart. Diana-san, if possible, watch the surrounding area with Samia.”
“I understand. Please take good care of me, Samia-san.”
“Okay”
Thus like that, we start moving. As expected, we couldn’t enter the forest from here as it is so we entered the forest after going on about 15 more minutes than the usual place we enter. Then after about half an hour since we entered the forest, I called out to everyone.
“Should we take a break for a moment?”
“Okay”
“Yes”
“Understood”
The three people replied back. I gave Diana some water, then I called Samia.
“Samia, come here for a second.”
“Hn? What is it?”
Samia came right away.
“Do you know if we are being followed? I don’t feel anything you see.”
I talked to Samia in a soft voice.
“Hmm… No, it’s unlikely. There is no smell or presence.”
Samia immediately replied back. As Samia said that, she was concentrating and her nose was even sniffing the area.
“Is that so? That’s good.”
I was wondering what to do if there is a guy who was watching us from a distance and we are being followed but apparently, that was not the case. Even though we have a large number of people and cart with us, with the obstructed view inside this forest, I think it’s going to be quite difficult to follow us but there’s no harm in being extremely cautious.
Then after that, we still proceeded with caution so it took 1.5 times as much than the usual time we get back home.
“Diana-san, I’m sorry but, let me unload our luggage first.”
“Of course, I don’t mind. Uhm, shall I also help?”
“Uhm…”
Well, though she’s a guest, she’s not a customer so this much should be fine, right? I won’t let her do some blacksmithing work either, it’s just like the saying, those who don’t work should not eat.
“I’ll ask for your help then. I’ll tell you where to take it.”
“Yes”
So with Diana’s help, we brought the iron ores and charcoal to the workshop, then the salt and other things inside the house. Perhaps due to Diana’s help, I sorted it out a little faster than usual. I then place each bedding on the beds that has no beddings yet. Now all the beds can be used. Samia and Rike then carried their bedroom luggage into their room. Otherwise I can’t move to the bedroom and I can’t let Diana have the guest room.
While watching such scene,
“It’s a small house, but please be patient with it for a while.”
I said to Diana.
“N-No. There was such a place in the Black Forest huh…”
She replied while being impressed.
“Well, as your brother had said, I’ve just recently settled in here though… It seems like they’re done with it so let me show you the guest room.”
“Yes”
I then guide her to the guest room (former study). The bed has a headboard with built-in drawer so it looks a little nice. I’m glad I put it on.
“It’s not such a luxurious room. Well originally, I didn’t expect to have a guest in such manner. I’d appreciate it if you think it’s comfortable considering it’s a blacksmith’s house.”
“No, that’s not the case. I think it’s more than a splendid room.”
“For the time being, it’s a good idea to take off your equipment and remove the dust from your trip. I’ll have Samia and Rike bring some hot water for you later.”
“I’m sorry, I appreciate that.”
I waved my hand and left the room.
Well then, what should I do from here on? I need to ask Diana a little more about it, but once I did that, I can’t probably go back. After listening to the story, Diana looks like a noble lady, but I’m worried as even to a blacksmith like me, she is low-profile and polite. Her older brother –Marius-shi…
Was it just because I talked to him?Even so, she was also polite when she talked to Samia…
Anyway, I have to ask Diana about it after the dinner is over. I then head to my new bedroom where I had to clean off the dust.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Please read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
I asked Samia after we run towards her and the woman.
“Ah, no. Neither I nor this person is injured.”
“That’s good.”
I’m relieved and looked at the woman. In spite of saving her, it’s possible that this woman did something bad and the men that we had defeated were someone like the authorities.
Did I just kill? For the first time, I used the ones I made myself according to the meaning of what they were really made for. Naturally, I don’t have any experience in killing people in the previous world. Before I slashed them, I was worried that I would have some conflicting emotions but maybe with the help of the ability I got from the cheat, I could easily slash them.
Well, there’s surely something dull and heavy in my heart, but it’s not regret or fear. On the contrary, it just feels weird. If you don’t know what your action is for, there would be some blaming if someone got hurt afterwards.
“What’s wrong, Eizou? Did you get hurt?”
Samia looks into my face with concern.
I…
“No, I’m not injured either. Thank you.”
I returned an awkward smile.
“Well then young lady…”
I asked the woman who was attacked. She didn’t have anything on her shiny golden hair. I didn’t look at it carefully so it looked like an ordinary travel clothes at first glance. It was hard to notice it with her cloak on but she wore a breast plate, chain mails and even shin guards. No, she probably only have the minimum equipments to make it look like she’s going on a normal trip. If she closes the front of her cloak, the armoured parts are hardly seen.
“Young lady, can you tell me who are you and as to why you were attacked?”
“….”
“Uhm, I know you have your own circumstances… Though I don’t know why you don’t want to talk about it, but if there is no reason for this number of people to be crossed, we will be in trouble if we are cross-examined by the guards. So, if it could help us, can you tell me about it?”
The woman stared into my eyes. It was a pair of beautiful amber eyes. She has a striking facial features, for me and probably even for the others in this world, she can be called as a beautiful woman.
However, her looks felt familiar... Was it an actress of a Western movie in my previous world?
“First of all, thank you for your help.”
Perhaps the woman decided to speak so after a little while, she start talking.
“I’m Diana Eimurl. I lived in the Capital, but due to so many things, I decided to go to the place of a certain person. However, when I arrived here, those pursuers strongly hunted me down. You know what would have happened if you didn’t rush here.”
She has a family name huh. If so, is this one of the various things that might be caused by the high-ranking noble that has Camilo said? If this young lady is lying… I then glanced at Samia but she shook her head. Apparently, she was not lying.
“I see. I understand the situation. Then, what should we do with this?”
I looked at the corpses which are left a little further away. If we are to hide them, we should do it now. If we dawdle here, the patrol will come. On the other hand, if we were to inform them, we have to wait for the patrol to come. I’m a little scared of myself as I can think calmly here but I can’t stay still either.
“Let’s hide them.”
As I am hesitating, the woman ―Diana, said so.
“Will that be okay? Well, they are not ordinary bandits…”
“Right. They are after me so they can be driven back for now and I can earn time to identify that person.”
“You mean… you should be able to go to that certain person’s place in the meantime huh…?”
“Yes.”
Then, her pursuers are not limited to those bad guys. But since they came to this point, were they also in the ship she got on?
“Okay, let’s put them inside the forest. Rike, sorry but, please pull the cart for the meantime.”
“Understood.”
I instructed Rike to do that, but I won’t put the corpse in the cart in particular. While Rike is going to get the cart, we will also bring the corpse into the forest.
“Samia, give us a hand too.”
“Okay.”
“I’m sorry.”
“What are you saying? It’s too late for that, you know?”
Alongside with Diana, we only hold the arm of the corpse and drag it inside the forest. That way it would be hard to tell if it’s the work of the wolves and we won’t get stained with blood either. Well, I did not expect that we will be doing the very thing that I just talked about a while ago though.
As we drag it with all our might, it didn’t take that long. About half an hour later, it’s now in the state that we witnessed two weeks ago. It was just in the border but it was still inside the forest. The patrol guards won’t even look into it. And by that time, Rike also came back while pulling the cart.
“All right, let’s go home then. But before that, Diana-san, can you tell me about that person? I may be able to help, you see.”
When I said so, Diana looked hesitant. Well, even though I saved her life, it’s not like she can easily tell it to a man she does not know. But eventually, she opened her mouth.
“That person was referred by my brother but he lives in a remote place.”
Hohoh-. There are other people like me huh.
“Recently, I heard that he was close to this area.”
Heh~, isn’t that a situation similar to mine? That person piqued my interest a little.
“He’s a very good blacksmith…”
Hn?
“My brother’s favorite knife and sword were forged by that person’s hand you see. When the current matter is solved, he said that he will ask him to adjust them.”
“That…. Uhm, Diana-san… Is your older brother perhaps a guard in the town ahead? Is he called Marius?”
I reflexively asked in a polite tone.
“Yes. Marius Albert Eimurl is my brother, why? Do you know him?”
Diana replied with a dazed look.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Please read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com
For their own desire, many are willing to die. All of this is for the fall of Isle Rose Fortress and the death of Astina-denka―.
However, if I try to ask Noin who arranged this entire plot or who put that dark spirit inside her, her vitality will be sucked up by that dark spirit. Her skin is already pale and her white hands are covered with her own blood.
“…Even if you live in this place and side with us, you still have no future. You are just an enemy to us. Even for that purpose, I don’t think that we should help.”
At first, I thought those words were to thrust her aside. Well, I also thought that’s what we ought to do.
Her Highness pulls out her sword then she slashed it down towards Noin. ―Even if the sword flashed twice, Noin is still alive. The blade does not even reach her body.
“If you betray us again, I’ll swing this sword once more. I’m not tied to emotions you see. But the time to avenge those who have twisted your will, I decided that I could give it to you. From now on, with all your heart, you just have to fight for Lezenia and save many people, more than the number of people who have died.”
A lost life cannot be returned. Her Highness knew that but she still chose to keep Noin alive.
If Noin could get back the time before she had that dark spirit, she wouldn’t have to endure this much ―I couldn’t help thinking so.
…How can I get her out of this dark stagnation? For Her Highness, everyone in the Knights’ Order and the people of the Western Territories, how can Itakethem away from battle…
I knew there was only one answer.
Break the will of Zirconia to keep fighting. Turn Baile, whom General Alejandro entrusted to command the fort into a prisoner of war, take over their warship and make Noin, the enemy’s trumped card, move to our side.
No ―it shouldn’t end with just changing to our side. This magician, who was the top student in our time, has a big job to do.What should I do for her to be able to do that?
As a “spirit doctor”, I was challenged by this disease called “Dark Spirit”.
“…Since Her Highness said so, I can’t let you die like this.”
“But…with the current her, even if we take her out, she won’t last long with such condition. Telling her to live…It’s irresponsible to say this but…”
“Your Highness, leave it to me. Since Your Highness kept her life, I’ll keep her alive as well. That’s the duty of the military doctor.”
“Will you do anything as long as it’s a military doctors duty?” or that, “Did you even understand what Noin had done?” –I was prepared to be told that.
But I wasn’t questioned. Even if she did not agree with my judgment, Presha-san, who felt the most anger towards Noin, did not blame me. I thought she behaves like a spoiled child. Yet given my opinion, Presha-san did not object –in fact, she doesn’t repeat that kind of reliance.
“Noin… I know that if you use the water spirit’s magic, you should be able to move a warship regardless of the wind direction. But if you follow my instructions and use magic, you will gnaw your life force.”
Even with just saying her will to resist, Noin’s life force is fading. In that case, the treatment should be performed when we board the warship. Even if the soldiers in this fort notice, we could get through it if we could earn time for the preliminary arrangements.
“Don’t worry about me. To counter Zirconia’s warships, you’ll need a ship from here as well. If my life is exhausted by resisting the coercion of the dark spirits, flush my remains into the canal. That’s my last…”
“I don’t want you to die on the way. Until we can safely bring the warship near our fortress… And if possible, I’d like you to cooperate with us until we fight Alejandro’s warship. For that reason, Noin should “get better”.”
Ever since I became a doctor, it’s my first time to say something like a push to a patient. I always have to think from the patient’s perspective and respect their will. But now, she must not give up her will to live. Noin, who is trying to end her life for revenge, must have the will to live. No matter how painful it brings, she must survive.
“If this continues as it is, you would have died. No… You will die once and come back to life. You should have experienced that kind of suffering, right?”
“…I can’t come back to life. I don’t think you’ll be able to tear off the spirit that lives in me.”
“We won’t know unless we try it. It does not suit my nature to give up before trying it out.”
Noin says nothing, she just stared at me. It’s as if she’s asking, “Why are you so motivated to treat a criminal?”
“The present Grass is different from the one you know. No… For some reason, there is a problem with the spirit selection at the Academy of Magic in this Kingdom. Noin, it’s my personal opinion but, I don’t think that Grass is not better than all of you.”
Even though Her Highness made that statement, Noin did not deny it.
At the Academy, there was an absolute difference between those “students with whom they can have a great expectation for the future” and “students whom they don’t have any expectation at all”.
However, going into the outside world does not mean that our position has been reversed. In an environment where she is not bound by the dark spirit and can easily harness the power of water spirits, she’ll be able to pull off the things that I can’t do.
“…The most respected spirits in the history of the kingdom are none of the earth, water, fire and wind elements. If you know that, no one would think that elemental spirits are unconditionally excellent. If a scholar understands that, even more so if you are a court magician.”
“That’s right… The magicians in this kingdom seemed to be tied down after all huh. They were tied to the old custom that continued even before we were born.”
Her Highness is probably thinking of the reason why her “spirit selection ceremony” had been interrupted. Because some of them thought that she should not become a royal shrine maiden, the fact that she has the aptitude for a magician was suppressed.
The reason Her Highness doesn’t remember that is probably because some people have closed her memory. However, now that she is connected to the sacred tree, Her Highness will be able to use her power to bring out the memories that she could not bring out by her own will before.
—The sacred tree has long been staring at the history of this kingdom too.
Noin also knows the darkness of the court magicians. Who is the one who wants Her Highness to fall? Now it’s no longer a guess based on circumstantial evidence but it’s time to get a confirmation for it.
I remembered what Her Highness had said during the sunset before. She questioned His Majesty’s will –but if His Majesty, the King is on the side of those trying to incline the Kingdom towards their own purpose…
What can we do to protect the Western territories that are about to be cut off from the Capital and the knights at Isle Rose Fortress?
If the sacred tree, who can look into the future, knows the answer for that, I would like to know it. —Even if I know that I’ll depend on Yuserish’ power for it.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Please read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com
“We have to harvest mushrooms soon or we will run out of stock.”
While checking inside the storage room, I think on what to do today. The vegetables are well harvested. And since there is a large amount of meat caught on the ground, we should be able to spend a month without starving.
With that in mind, it wouldn’t be a problem without mushrooms but that’s not enough for a gourmet like me. To put it more luxuriously, I want to eat rice and even seafood.
“I haven’t eaten rice for months…”
I want to eat TKG (Tamago Kake Gohan).
In fact, I have been searching for rice since I came to this world. I searched for rice in the Capital as well as in Mana City and talked to people in the market. However, as a result of the survey, I concluded that there is nothing like the rice I knew in this Kingdom. Though there are similar plants instead.
There are white grains that look like rice and it resembles wheat when being harvested. However, unlike rice, it’s too fragile, when you pinch it with your fingers, it breaks quickly. Many people here make use of them to make bread.
However, I still bought it and try to boil it. I had a slight expectation that it might become rice if I smashed it but what I was able to make was a sticky soup that could hardly be called as rice porridge.
“If there is a plant that looks like rice, then, there must be rice too. I don’t have to give up.”
I motivated myself.
I can never give up rice.
◇This is translated by Yume Neiji. Please read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com
“Hyah~, there’s a lot of them as usual.”
“A lot of mushrooms.”
Erna and Pero’s surprised voice echoed at the third miniature garden.
Well, that’s to be expected because this is a mushroom paradise, no matter where you look at, you can see mushrooms. Mushrooms are growing densely on dead trees and even if you look at the ground, you can see many mushrooms sticking out of the grass.
“Today’s quota is to harvest ten pieces of cure mushrooms per person. All you have to do is pick the mushrooms you like.”
“Yes!”
“Woof!”
The two of them run to the forest while carrying a large basket. There are many magical beasts living in this miniature garden but they never come close to me.
Perhaps they even memorized my scent. And similarly, they are also wary of my companions. So, even if Erna and Pero act independently here, they will not be attacked as much as possible. Besides both of them are pretty strong, so I don’t have to worry about it.
“All right. With this, I’ve achieved my 10 cure mushrooms.”
I threw the cure mushroom into the basket on my back. Basically, adventurers use herbs to treat wounds. Well, it seems that if there is a magician who uses water magic, you can ask him to heal you with recovery magic.
However, we don’t have to rely on such things since we can get the expensive cure mushroom here. The downside is that we could only harvest the amount we would use.
“Hn? What is this scent…?”
I sniffed a pleasant scent. I smelled it somewhere, but I can’t remember what it is.
“It’s different from Matsutake…”
When I walk in the direction where the scent comes from, I noticed that the smell came from the ground. I decided to dig the ground with both hands for the time being.
A black lump came out which was about as big as a bouncy ball. I sniffed it with my nose close on it then I smelled a strong scent like perfume.
“What is this?”
I then used appraisal.
【Appraisal Result: Truffleton: A type of mushroom that grows underground. It has a strong scent and is often used in high-quality dishes. Because it is rare, it is traded at a high price among Nobles. Rarity: C】
Oh, I see, I finally remembered what this was. This is what we called truffle on earth. I used to eat it at a high-class restaurant when I was a president but I forgot about it completely.
……Hn?
The was an unfamiliar display on the appraisal results. Rarity should not have existed until now. But it may have been added because my appraisal skill became a special grade. It’s nice to know how rare something is, but it’s hard to tell if C is amazing because it’s unclear where the ranking goes from.
Then after that, I find many truffletons relying on the scent. By the way, white truffleton seem to be more valuable than the black ones. The rarity was B, which was one level higher than the black ones.
I then went deeper inside the forest while looking for more rare mushrooms. Humans are such curious creatures, when they are notified of rarity, they try to find something even rarer.
“I have reached the end of the miniature garden huh.”
After walking for some time, I finally reached the wall of the miniature garden. The concrete-like wall extends far up to the ceiling. Looking again, it turns out that this place is made by something beyond the technology of Earthlings.
This dungeon is a strange place no matter how many times I look at it. When I moved my gaze back to the ground, I found an unfamiliar mushroom near the wall. Its umbrella is about a bowl size but the color is golden.
Let’s use appraisal.
【Appraisal Result: Golden Mushroom: A rare mushroom that is said to be discovered only once in a hundred years. Those who eat it will be cured of all disease and regain a healthy body. Rarity: A】
I immediately pull out the golden mushroom and store it in the bangle. Rarity A is a big harvest. It was written that its efficacy is too wonderful and it could only be found once in a hundred years. It would be strange if I don’t get excited about it. I decided to return to Erna and Pero while humming a song.
“You’re in a good mood huh.”
Erna said so after I joined them. We are now on the way back to the hideout but it seems that I was still humming.
“Look at this.”
I took out a truffleton from the basket and gave it to them.
“Don’t tell me… t-this is…”
“Yes, it’s a truffleton.”
“Whoa, isn’t that amazing!? Cure mushrooms are rare, but Truffletons are just as rare!”
I didn’t delve into it, but cure mushrooms and truffletons are of the same rarity?
Cure mushrooms seems to be higher in value as much as it can help you recover, but yeah, truffletons also appears to be on demand among nobles.
“Oh, it smells really good.”
Erna is excited about the scent. Pero also smelled it but he snorted and shook his head. I remembered seeing such expression.
From the start, truffles are not so attractive to the Japanese. The reason is that Japanese prefers matsutake-like scents and truffles are preferred by those white men. I also sniffed a lump of truffle when I was a president, but to be clear, it stinks.
Each person has their own unique senses, but it feels like it’s easier with a Japanese nose. However, right now, I feel that it has a nice scent. Well, the evolution may have made me feel different from when I was a Japanese.
“Yeah. Oh, I also found something like this.”
I then took out the golden mushroom out of the bangle.
“What is that?”
Erna had a puzzled looked on her face as she pondered on what it is. It can’t be helped if she doesn’t know about it as it’s a phantom mushroom.
Then, I’ll be the one to inform her… Kukuku.
“This is a golden mushroom.”
“Golden mushroom? What is that?”
“It’s a phantom mushroom that cures all illnesses. It’s so rare that it can only be seen once in a hundred years.”
“A hundred years!?”
Erna unblinkingly stared at the golden mushroom and immediately grinned afterwards. She’s probably thinking that we could get a lot of money if we sold it.
“I won’t sell it, you know?”
“E-Eh!? You won’t sell it? If you sell this, you can get a lot of money and I can buy a lot of clothes!”
“I won’t buy you clothes even if we get a lot of money. Instead of that, this would save us someday. It’s wiser to keep it.”
“Mumumu…”
Hmm, there seems to be no objection.
Well, even if there is, I’m definitely not going to sell it.
◇This is translated by Yume Neiji. Please read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com
After harvesting mushrooms, we went to the disposal site to loot the dead bodies. We hadn’t come here for a while so new corpses were added and the mountains were higher.
“All right then, shall we collect the things we are interested in?”
In the meantime, we put the basket containing mushrooms on the floor then the three of us start to loot the mountain of corpses. I was wondering if I should give Pero a hand, but I decided that it would be better to teach him properly in case I died. Well, that’s also partly because I don’t know when I’ll die in this world.
“I found two gold coins!”
Erna shouted.
It looks like we have a good harvest today huh.
“Father this!”
Pero brought something to me. I received it and carefully observed the item.
“It looks like a tiara…”
Gemstones such as diamonds and emeralds are abundantly used to form it and a large pink sapphire is embedded in the center. My intuition is whispering that this is of considerable value.This is translated by Yume Neiji. Please read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com
I then used appraisal.
【Appraisal Result: Tiara of the Naji Royal family: This item is used by the succeeding Empress who married into the Naji family. It’s a national treasure whose historical value, rarity value and artistic value does not go down to fifty pure silver coins. Currently stolen and now in the hands of Shinichi Tanaka. Rarity: A】
My body suddenly stiffened.
T-Tiara of the Naji Royal family…?
Moreover, if you say fifty pure silver coins, it is about five billion Japanese yen! Since it turns out to be a national treasure, my hands can’t help but tremble.
“Father, what’s wrong?”
Pero looked doubtful seeing my reaction.
“Pero, where did you find this?”
“It was there.”
Then Pero starts running so I also chase after him.
The most recently added corpses were lying around the location where I was guided to. The corpse looks like a man, but he has a brown tail on the lower back hips and a dog-like ears on its head. His heart was gorged out and he has a big hole in his chest.
“This person had it.”
“I see. You found it so well. That’s remarkable.”
As I stroke Pero’s head, he closed his eyes as if saying it makes him feel good. I praised him, but no matter how I looked at it, this tiara would invite trouble. However, it can’t be thrown away either so I decided to store it in the bangle for the time being.
“What are you guys doing?”
When Erna approached us, I pointed the man’s body.
“He looks like a mixed of a beast and human, what type of person is he?”
“He’s a beastman. If you go east from Rogas Kingdom, there is a country called the Naji Republic, most of the people there seem to be beastman. But it’s rare to see beastman in this kingdom though.”
“Beastman huh…”
There are really various races in this world. I want to visit Naji Republic someday.
“By the way, what’s wrong with this beastman?”
Erna asked as if she noticed something. I don’t want to show the tiara if possible so I decided to deceive her.
“It was a rare race so I was just curious.”
“Hmm…”
She stared at me with an inquiring look. If I show Erna the expensive tiara, she’ll probably want it. When that happens, it may be difficult to return it to the owner. Though I feel bad for her, I’ll keep it as a secret.
“…Well, fine. Let’s quickly finish the collection.”
“Okay.”
When Erna leaves, I just gestured to Pero not to say anything. I felt guilty as I made my son lie but there is no other way for us to avoid trouble.
In this way, we resumed looting the corpses. Though after that, we are not able to recover any outstanding ones.This is translated by Yume Neiji. Please read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com
The tip of the dagger that Noin is holding leaves a thin line on the neck of the man who seems to be the Commander. Then I realized ―even if the man was injured by a sword or by grappling, it’s not like he can’t move.
His hair and even the bed… water is dripping from them flowing to the floor. The voice full of pain that I heard before meant one thing, he was drowned in the water “in this room”.
“Are you planning to fight me? Your magic has some advantage over me, but I will be in a bind if you think that you can win, you know?”
“It’s a suicidal act to provoke our Grass-sensei. If you were a water magician on Zirconia’s side, I feel that I would kill you right away.”
As she says those words, Presha-san took a stance so she can pull out her spear at any time. Noin also felt that Presha-san wasn’t the only one ready to move, the smile on her face disappeared.
―In fact, she looks pale. As I have seen various patients, I can sense the patient’s mental condition to some extent based from their breathing and slight trembling.
“…Presha, please hold back. If this magician is trying to deceive us, with the current me, I can perceive that already.”
Astina-denka says as a matter-of-fact but those words were cold―like an ice blade. As a General who leads an army, Her Highness feels guilty for losing many knights. She might be thinking that killing Noin here will be a reward for the dead knights.
I think so too.
Why did she have to betray the Kingdom and help Zirconia in invading? Without Noin, the knights would not have died.
“I feel magical power from the Princess… did you teach her magic…?”
“I can’t answer that question now. You and I were in different class, there was no particular contact points either… It’s just that we were in the same Academy, that’s all. Though for what you have done, I can’t just leave you alone. Since you betrayed the Kingdom, you should pay for your sins.”
Noin did not speak and just listened to me. Then she moved ―she dropped the dagger in her hand and put both her hands up.
“…At that time, I had no choice but to do that. If it sounds like an excuse, I don’t mind being killed by your blades here.”
“Tsk! ….For someone who betrayed the kingdom, you sure know how to talk!”
In response to Presha-san’s fierce anger, Noin turns away as if she could not stand it. Without a moment of delay, Astina-denka puts her hand on the sword and faces Noin. In front of the two strong women, Noin had to be careful on moving even one fingertip.
“…Your treatment is to be decided by Her Highness. I can’t sympathize with your situation though. Even if you were ordered by someone you couldn’t oppose to sneak to Zirconia… you opted to cooperate with Zirconia or else your position will be compromised, right?”
“No matter what your circumstance is, it’s still a betrayal since you helped Zirconia.”
Presha-san said while suppressing her anger. She still seemed to think that she has to defeat Noin here. In front of such bloodlust, Noin closed her eyes ―her expression has the feeling of resignation.
“When somebody invaded this fort and I found out that it was a magician, I knew there was someone from Lezenia. I was originally called by this man… Baile, General Alejandro’s adjutant―”
“…Are you going to start making excuses?”
When asked by Presha-san, Nein laughs faintly and shook her head a little.
“Guu…!”
No one here would have imagined what happened the next moment. Noin covered her mouth and coughed up blood. Then I noticed―at the moment she tried to talk, part of her body had magical power that was not hers.
“No way… you were sent to Zirconia because you possess a 『Dark Spirit』…?”
“…It’s a funny story… To leave such record in the Academy, I was only looking at how much “they” could be used. I didn’t realize it at that time and when I finally realized it, I became a great enemy of my own Kingdom.”
After she finished saying that, Noin coughed blood again. A terrifying magical power can be felt from her chest―it’s different from a “spirit” that contracts with a magician to lend power, this “dark spirit” exists to curse and destroy human beings.
Dark spirits lives not in the spirit world but in another world, the dark spirit’s world. Currently, at Silvana Magic Academy, learning the magic circles for summoning dark spirits and spirit marks for them to dwell on humans are strictly forbidden. Books about the dark spirits are banned and were kept in the sealed library.
Sacred tree Yuserish is also cautious on the existence of the dark spirits as they are the enemy of all other spirits. She warns us that there is a being that is harmful to living creatures that resides in Noin’s body in front of us.
“…Because you don’t want to die, you sided with the enemy? If you think that it can’t be helped, I… I can’t forgive you after all.”
“When all of it is done, you are free to kill me. I’ll never run away… In the end I… I want to die the way I want. Alejandro, Baile too, for those who only saw me as a “woman” who listens to anything they say, I’ll let them know that I am not a tool!”
Who sent Noin to Zirconia?
―If there was someone who put a dark spirit in her who became a court magician…
Then the “Court Magician” that I longed for were no longer groups of men who served the Royal Family and used magic to protect the kingdom, but those who chose any means to achieve their purpose.This is translated by Yume Neiji. Please read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com
Apart from that, I had a little talk with Camilo before we left Camilo’s store. So for today, just like that, we’re now going back home. Marius-shi’s case doesn’t look like to be something I can help with. Well, I’m only a blacksmith.
I had everything I needed to replenish at Camilo’s store so I didn’t have to buy anything else. Buying seeds or something to sow in the field would be done once the field is already suitable.
It’s been two weeks since I came here so I thought that the iron ores would be for two weeks worth. But considering that we’ll only do blacksmithing for a week, the iron stones and charcoals loaded in the cart are only for a week’s worth. As he had forethought such things, Camilo may have been successful as a merchant because of that.
When we left the town, the guard there was the one I saw in the morning. Well, it’s only normal to say that because it hasn’t been that long since I went to Camilo’s store. We pass by while slightly bowing to him. After going out on the main road, the route we took is the same as usual but we are still being careful. The wind that blows on the prairie that extends as far as the eye can see, feels good as it is hot while we are pulling the cart. It makes me feel like I want to rest, but there’s no point in doing that.
“When you feel good like this, you want to rest, right?”
When I said so,
“If it’s safe, it’s a nice day to have picnic too.”
“Yeah, I can see that Eizou feel relaxed.”
Both Rike and Samya agreed. Well, that’s right. However, it’s hard to say that we can have a leisurely lunch here. At least, let’s go on while enjoying the pleasant weather.
Then, when we were about to enter the forest, Samia stopped. From the appearance of her round ears, it seems that she can hear something as they were busy twitching. I then speak to Samia.
“Is it a bandit?”
“I don’t know. It sounds like they are fighting though. It’s just a little bit ahead…”
Samia quickly glanced at us as she said so. It’s as if she’s wondering if she should go or not.
“All right, Samia go ahead and look at what’s happening there. If bandits or wolves are attacking someone, don’t hesitate to help them. We’ll catch up as soon as possible. If it’s dangerous, please escape over here.”
“Understood.”
Samia nods, she takes off her boots and starts running. As a tiger beastman, she can demonstrate her true potential with that. She’s fast and there’s almost no sound.
“Now then, we’ll hurry too.”
“Yes!”
Rike and I pull the cart with all our might. The vibration will increase but not that much where the balance is lost and the vehicle will roll over. It was good that we’re on the main road. If this was inside the forest or in an unmaintained road, we would not have been able to achieve this speed. Since the cargo is basically tied together, I believe that it is okay to speed up.
It feels like a ridiculously long time to me although it’s only a few minutes. Then my ears can now also hear the sound of multiple people fighting fiercely. Oh, well…
“Rike, let’s leave this here temporarily. Follow me.”
“Yes!”
“However, when we arrive at the scene, stay a little further away, okay?”
“Understood!”
Since she’s just here on a journey, Rike can do something to protect herself, but beyond that, she would find it tough. Regardless of having my custom model knife, she couldn’t cut someone unless she hits him so I ask her not to be directly involved in the battle. We parked the cart then Rike and I started running towards the sound.
Shortly after we started running, I saw the scene. About three men are attacking Samia and a woman. Samia is using her bow and arrow, while the woman is using a long sword as she fights against the men. However, I can see that the woman’s movements are getting slow and she is about to receive a blow. I then pull out the short sword on my waist.
“What are you doing, you lots!!?”
I shouted at the top of my voice. Then the men’s line of sight turn towards me.
“Hey, get rid of him!”
One of the men said and one of them rushed towards me. I did my best to slash him from an overhead position. The man received my sword with his own sword, but I think the impact is more than he had expected as he couldn’t return it back and he stopped moving for a moment. I didn’t miss that opening and used that momentum to slash him. My second strike was aimed at the man’s torso. The blade sinks into the middle of the man’s torso as he was not able to respond to it. With a “Guu”, the man spits up blood from his mouth.
I pulled the sword out of the man’s torso and aimed my sword towards the two remaining ones without checking if the man died or not. If the other two tries to escape, they can run away. Their numerical advantage has been reversed so that’s what one would normally do.
“Shit!”
However, the other two didn’t run away and one of them just cursed then rushed towards me. The women are already exhausted, even though she’s a tiger beastman, Samia, is also a woman. I think that if I get rid of one, they can still manage.
I pulled out the knife with one hand while the other person was closing in on me. A short sword in one hand and a knife in the other. The opponent didn’t seem to be wary of the knife that I had pulled out, and without warning, he sweep sideways so I took my knife a little away from my body so that the blade is at the right angle.
No, it is a little misleading to say that I received it. The opponent’s sword is cut off completely from the point where it touches my knife. Thanks to that, it’s an empty swing and I didn’t receive any impact. And just like the first man, I swing my short sword and the blade slashed into the middle of his torso. Now, only one person remains.
With a thud, I heard the sound of something that has fallen. The last one tried to escape but Samia shot an arrow, the released arrow pierced his body and the last one also fell to the ground. That wouldn’t be normal, but that arrowhead is my specially made product.
I focused my consciousness, but I can’t feel any other presence. It would be troublesome if there were others who remained but it seems that there is no such thing. I patted my chest in relief and called Rike then we ran towards Samia and the woman.This is translated by Yume Neiji (yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com)
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