by Hiro Ainana
We were riding down the side road on six horses.
Nana and Liza each rode solo on the warhorses we’d confiscated from the thieves; Miss Karina rode on one of the horses I’d bought in Sedum City, since she was an experienced rider, while Arisa and I rode the other.
Finally, the two horses we’d first bought with the carriage in Seiryuu City carried Mia and Lulu on one and Tama and Pochi on the other.
Tama didn’t have much riding experience, but Effie and Rye, the carriage horses, were strangely intelligent. They followed her orders carefully, crossing fallen trees and avoiding ruts as if their riders were veteran jockeys.
“There are rather more obstacles and inclines than I expected.”
“Normal.”
Mia responded to Arisa’s complaints indifferently.
Most likely, she was trying to say this was normal for a forest path.
“Master! Look, sir! It’s prey, sir!”
Pochi had spotted a mountain bird through the trees.
That would work for lunch, I supposed. Taking a short bow out of the bow holder beside the saddlebag, I took aim and shot the bird down.
“Hooray! Sir!”
Pochi hopped off the horse that Tama was steering and zipped over to the fallen bird like a hunting dog.
“A fine shot. It appears that it’s not only your martial arts skills that are first-class, hmm?”
“Only because I had a good teacher.”
I patted Mia’s head as I replied to Miss Karina’s admiring words.
To hide her embarrassment, Mia started playing a reed pipe as her cheeks turned pink.
Our first day ended without any monster encounters, and we camped on the bank of a small river.
We took out the necessary tools from the Lesser Garage Bag I’d found in the fortress and started setting up camp.
Since we would have to use it in front of Miss Karina and Raka pretty often, I’d decided to start using the one that I’d be less reluctant to part with in case the noble demanded that I hand it over.
However, this was an unnecessary precaution.
“Oh? I see you have a magic bag. There used to be several of those in our home, too.”
When we took out the quilts and kotatsu from the Garage Bag, her response was nonchalant.
The family of Baron Muno had sold their Garage Bags to raise money, but they were apparently not an uncommon magic tool amid large merchants and wealthy aristocrats.
“Oh, gracious! This desk is warm on the inside!”
Instead, it was the kotatsu that caught her by surprise.
“Karina, c’meeere.”
“This is the warm part, ma’am!”
Miss Karina stuck her head inside the kotatsu along with Tama and Pochi, gazing at the red light of the magic circuit inside.
“Mind your manners,” I chided them, though I also had to note that Miss Karina’s waistline was just as sexy as her chest.
The ever-mischievous Arisa chose that moment to pat Miss Karina’s bottom, so the young noblewoman banged her head on the underside of the table and let out a shriek.
Fortunately, Arisa apologized as soon as Miss Karina emerged red-faced and teary-eyed, so I wasn’t subjected to any false accusations of being a pervert.
“Karinaaa?”
“Karina, you can help, too, ma’am!”
The sheltered Miss Karina was sitting in the kotatsu as the rest of us set up camp, but Tama and Pochi grabbed her arms and pulled her out.
“Y-you would dare imply that I should do the work of servants?”
“Yeees!”
“No work means no food, ma’am!”
The concept of going without food elicited a dramatic expression of shock from Miss Karina, and she hastily participated in setting up the campsite with helpful direction from Pochi and Tama.
We’d had sandwiches that we’d prepared that morning for lunch, so I had Lulu assist me in preparing baked mountain fowl as the main dish for dinner.
“Master, I’ve prepared the meat. Is this about right?”
“Yeah, that’s perfect. I can always count on you to do a thorough job.”
I accepted the prepared bird from Lulu, stuffing the cavity with herbs and boiled eggs where the organs had been removed.
After applying a soy-based sauce to the outside, I put the bird in a magic steam oven that I’d made in Sedum City. The bird was quite large, so it just barely fit.
“Since we can’t see inside, we’ll have to rely on the outside temperature of the oven and the sound of the meat to figure out how long to cook it.”
“…It’s started to get warmer.”
Lulu held her hand over the square oven with a serious expression.
“There’s no sound yet.”
This time she pressed an ear to the oven as she gave her report.
“Please don’t put your face against the oven, Lulu, or you might get burned.”
“R-right. I-I’m sorry!”
Even if she did burn herself, it could probably be cured with a magic potion, but to allow Lulu’s lovely features to be marred even for a moment would be a massive loss for the world at large.
After a while, steam began to rise from the oven, along with a pleasant fragrance.
Pochi and Tama stared excitedly at the steam, along with Miss Karina.
As I watched the three of them, even I started getting impatient for the food to be finished.
By the time Mia and Arisa returned from collecting herbs, dinner was ready.
We were lucky that it was finished before Pochi’s and Tama’s drool flooded the campsite.
Pretending not to see the small trickle that threatened to escape from Miss Karina’s half-open mouth, I placed the steamed bird on a large platter on the table.
Liza was in charge of carving it and serving the meat and vegetables onto everyone’s plates.
“Thanks for the food!”
On Arisa’s cue, everyone else chorused, “Thanks for the food!” and dinner began.
“‘Thanks for the food’?”
“You see, where I come from, we…” Arisa started in with a lengthy explanation in response to Miss Karina’s question, but I was more interested in the steamed meat, so I paid her no mind.
The flavor was light and not very fatty, on par with high-quality baked teriyaki chicken. A bit underwhelmed, I took a bite of the thinly cut vegetables instead.
That’s delicious.
The fat from the mountain bird and the flavor of the vegetables mingled beautifully with the subtle taste of the sauce.
Combining the vegetables with the chicken made for even better flavor. I added a bit of pepper, since it was a little light on seasoning, and was rewarded with a downright heavenly piquancy.
From now on, any mountain birds would take top hunting priority.
I shared my discoveries and pepper with the rest of the group, and together we went to gourmet paradise.
After dinner, Miss Karina attempted to take on the task of washing dishes; however, after she’d broken her fifth plate, Liza demoted her to safer work like wiping down the table with Arisa.
Arisa, incidentally, had previously dropped and broken plates due to her weak grip, while Miss Karina had broken them by grasping them too strongly.
The next day’s journey was also peaceful but by no means boring.
“Wow, what a view!”
“How wonderful.”
Next to Arisa, Lulu breathed a graceful sigh.
On the second day of our journey, the path took us to a sheer cliff, where the stream we’d camped by yesterday turned into a waterfall, creating a rainbow.
Inside the forest, we saw a mysterious pyramid-like building, some stone ramps that reached toward the sky like a galactic railroad, and other strange structures.
The pyramid looked like it was the ruins of an ancient temple. It was fairly distant, but it contained facilities for astronomical observation, so it might be worth a visit on our way back from the forest gi
ants’ village.
Stronger monsters had started to appear on my radar in this area, so at night, I sneaked out to dispose of the giant serpent and the frightening basilisk with a gaze that could turn us to stone.
Of course, I left any solitary monsters that might be good for battle training.
“Humans, humans, and sometimes elves! Humans, humans, and sometimes something else!”
On the afternoon of our third day in the forest, we encountered a singing tree with flowers shaped like trumpets.
The lyrics were a bit strange, but apparently, certain dilettantes in the royal capital would pay big money for a tree like this. I had no desire to transport it, so I left it alone.
As we advanced deeper into the forest, we found plenty of rare plants, particularly those that could be used for potions or magic tools.
Among others, we found mana-infused element stones, including earth stones from the cliff and water stones that we found at the bottom of a clear spring.
The water stones were used to make magic tools like the Well Bag that produced fresh water.
We met a few monsters along the way, but they were only small-fry, so I used these opportunities to have the girls practice cooperating in battle. Plus, Miss Karina could experience actual combat.
“Karinaaa! Look uuup!”
“Hmm?”
A level-3 monster called “crawling ivy” that came down from the trees entangled Miss Karina.
It did possess weak paralysis poison, but unless it jumped you while you were alone, it wasn’t a particularly scary monster.
And since Miss Karina had Raka’s protection, it wouldn’t be much of a threat.
“How impudent!”
Miss Karina used the power from Raka’s Strength Enhancement to tear the crawling ivy to shreds and toss it to the ground.
Liza delivered the finishing blow with her magic spear. There were more crawling ivies lurking about in the trees like snakes, but they were quick to flee when one of their number was destroyed.
“Are you injured?”
“I-I’m quite all right.”
I approached on my horse, and Miss Karina hurriedly backed hers away.
Aside from battle and meals, Miss Karina’s aversion to men still hadn’t changed. She reminded me of a particularly guarded cat, so I didn’t really mind.
After that, the third day of our journey ended fairly uneventfully.
I didn’t see any strong monsters that night, so I headed to some unexplored areas and collected more element stones, like earth, water, and wind stones.
These were essential components of certain special magic tools and potions, but they were hard to find even at alchemy and magic-tool shops. I collected about three hemp bags’ worth.
I would’ve liked to find lightning stones and fire stones, too, but I wasn’t able to get any of those this time.
As I hunted for these materials, I saw several dots on my map in the mountain range at the western edge of the Muno Barony. They belonged to people I’d met before—Nana’s sisters, who we’d parted with in front of Seiryuu City.
The tomb of Zen’s wife that they were headed for was deep in the mountains there.
It would’ve been nice to see them again, but they were too far away, so we wouldn’t be able to meet this time.
We’d probably see them again sooner or later anyway, in Labyrinth City at the least.
“Beeear?”
“It might be a boar man, sir.”
Just before noon on the fourth day, we spotted a brown animal on a cliff along our path with its back turned to us.
Abruptly, the creature fell over sideways.
“Nap tiiime?”
“I don’t think so, sir! There was a monster behind it, sir!”
Sure enough, there was something that looked like a metal armadillo.
My AR display indicated that it was a level-20 monster called an armored rat, with the skills “Charge” and “Shock Absorption.” It was about the size of a small pickup truck.
“All hands, dismount and assume combat positions. Arisa and Lulu, please take care of the horses.”
At Liza’s shout, everyone got down from their horses and prepared for battle.
It must have heard her voice, because the monster rolled up like a pill bug and rolled down at us from the top of the cliff.
Mia and I fired at it with our short bows, but the cheap arrows simply bounced off the armored rat’s hide.
…But this was enough to throw off the armored rat’s rotation, and it crashed into a big tree nearby and teetered over.
Arisa, who had muttered the Balance Jamming spell, flashed a peace sign in my direction. I showed my appreciation with a thumbs-up.
“Now’s our chance! I’m going in, Mr. Raka.”
Without waiting for Liza’s signal, Miss Karina shot over like an arrow.
“Lady Karina, stop!”
“Please stay back, Lady Karina!”
Raka and Liza both cried out to stop her, but with the speed granted by Raka’s Strength Enhancement, Miss Karina was practically on top of the armored rat already.
In a flash, the creature unrolled itself and knocked Miss Karina away. She soared up into the air, crashing through a few bushes along the way.
It was a clean hit that would normally be enough to cause serious injury, but thanks to Raka’s powerful defense, Miss Karina didn’t take a single point of damage.
I’d have loved to equip all my kids with an exceptional item like that. I wonder if they’re sold anywhere. I’d even take one for ten thousand gold coins.
While I was distracted, the group steadily dealt damage to the armored rat. Tama and Pochi distracted it, Nana defended against it, Karina got blown away repeatedly, and Liza struck with her Magic Cricket Spear.
…I’m not sure Miss Karina’s role was much help, but since she was still only level 4, there wasn’t much else she could do.
“Everybody, fall back! Mia’s going to use a spell!”
On Arisa’s signal, everyone backed away.
“… Balloon Kyuubouchou!”
Mia’s spell rapidly vaporized the green blood that had accumulated at the monster’s feet, knocking it over.
Miss Karina was too slow to escape, though, and Mia’s magic launched her away along with the monster, straight onto a branch of a large nearby tree.
“Mrrr?”
Mia looked bewildered by the unexpected result.
“Now! Go on the offensive!”
The armored rat scrambled to get back up, but Arisa hit it with a Psychic Magic spell, Mind Blow, to knock it unconscious for just a moment.
Once it stopped moving, the vanguard team was on it in an instant with their swords and spears to finish it off.
Miss Karina gained a level as a result of this battle and acquired the skill “3-D Maneuverability.” I detected a hint of irony, but at least it was a useful skill. There’d be no sense in complaining.
The girls had taken a liking to Miss Karina’s corkscrew locks, so I made a magic curling iron to style their hair.
“Twirlyyyy?”
“So curly, sir!”
The kids had great fun rolling the ends of their hair.
I’d started making it on the first day Miss Karina had arrived, but it was difficult to maintain a temperature that wouldn’t burn the hair, so it’d taken several tries until I finally completed it on the fourth day.
I’d kept my effort secret from everyone, though.
It was my job as their “master” to work only in the shadows, after all.
That night, I defeated a chicken-shaped monster called a cockatrice that used a petrifying breath and collected the plants and small animals that it had turned into stone.
The cockatrice meat that we sampled the next morning was delicious.
Then came the fifth day. Soon after we set out, we arrived at what I’d noted on my map as the most difficult terrain in the forest.
“Now that’s quite a gorge,” Arisa co
mmented.
“The river at the bottom of the ravine appears to be flowing at a very high speed, I report,” added Nana.
“If one were to fall, the chances of survival certainly seem unlikely,” said Liza.
Behind the three, the other kids tried to peer at the bottom, too, but I stopped them, since it seemed dangerous.
“Perhaps we should take a detour?”
“It’s all right. There’s a bridge up ahead.”
I knew this because I’d built it after hunting the cockatrice last night.
We rode the horses a little way, and a log bridge came into view.
“Th-this thing is the bridge?”
“That’s right.” I nodded at Arisa.
“So…you’re saying you want us to cross this?”
Sitting in front of me on our horse, Arisa paled.
It was nothing but a plank held up by two logs, so crossing it would require some courage.
“No, no, no. Aaabsolutely not. Let’s just take a detour with a few days’ extra travel. All right?” Arisa’s eyes filled with tears.
In order to prove that it was safe, I took the lead and moved toward the bridge.
“See? It’s fine.”
“Nooo—!”
Since Arisa’s scream was bound to frighten the horse, I cut it off by covering her mouth.
Arisa had apparently lost the will to complain and instead pressed her forehead limply into the horse’s mane.
“Tama, please don’t be so bold, sir…”
“Don’t worry—be happyyy!”
Tama was the only one to follow me, but since Pochi was on the same horse and therefore shared her fate, she was protesting desperately.
“Tama, take the reins.”
“’kaaay.”
I left Tama in charge of the horses and went back across the bridge.
It would probably be fastest for me to ride the rest across myself.
“M-master…”
“It’s okay to close your eyes if you’re scared.”
“V-very well.”
Liza hung on to my back as I brought her horse across. Surprisingly, she was afraid of heights.
Next, I took Lulu across.
“M-master, even if I close my eyes, it’s still too scary…”
“You can sit sideways and hide your face in my chest, then, all right? Just focus on the sound of my heartbeat.”
