– STORY –

Imperial Galactic Army Officer Alan Corinth’s ship is seriously

damaged after being ambushed by an unknown foe in
hyperspace.

Even though it was through sheer coincidence, he became the

sole survivor.

The stricken ship fell to the planet below.

Alan alone managed to get to an escape pod.

Alan the Imperial Army Officer wagers his survival in this

savage world on the symbiotic nanomachines (nanom) in his
body.

The world he landed on was home to a prosperous human

civilization, which seemed to have a strangely similar genetic
pedigree to himself.

In this puzzling fantasy world of swords and sorcery, Alan will

live to the fullest alongside his comrades.

What will Alan achieve in this strange world?

A Science Fiction Fantasy in a Middle Ages setting starts here.

The first encounter between humanity and the intelligent lifeforms known as Bugs
occurred in the year 1254 of the Imperial Calendar, on the planet Vesta within the
Arturo star system.

Vesta was a sleepy backwater colonial planet with agriculture as its main industry. It
had a population not exceeding 200,000 citizens, no stationed military force, and only
had minimal defense facilities installed.

When the Bugs warped out into the system with a fleet of sixteen warships, they
bombarded major cities from satellite orbit, crippled all their infrastructure and begun
their descent with scores of landing craft.

The colonists who did not have weapons to defend themselves were easily routed, and
all 200,000 of them were killed without exception; be it man, woman or child. What
made things worse was that the Bugs had a penchant for cruelty and enjoyed feasting
on human flesh.

Ten days later, the 2nd Fleet of the Imperial Galactic Navy rushed toward the Arturo
star system in response to the FTL communications transmitting distress calls from
Vesta, destroyed the Bugs fleet there and wiped out all Bugs which landed on the planet.
Unfortunately, however, there were no survivors.

The soldiers of the Imperial Army who landed on planet Vesta were horrified by the
images which were recorded by various security cameras installed on facilities
throughout the planet. Those images were truly visions of hell.

Ever since then, humanity and Bugs have been locked in a never-ending war for
thousands of years.

It was now the year 2258 IC, and the Human Imperial Galactic Navy warship named
Iris Conrad has been engaged in a long term exploration and reconnaissance mission
for more than two years ever since its departure from port.
Its sole mission was the fulfillment of the dearest wish of the human race; finding the
mother planet of humanity’s enemy – the Bugs.

They were now currently engaged in traveling through hyperspace; only warping out
at set intervals in order to search and map the surrounding space – it was a simple yet
seemingly endless mission.

Imperial Galactic Navy Lieutenant Alan Corinth was currently in the middle of replacing
processor modules within the mainframe cleanroom; the heart of the Iris Conrad
battleship.

It was maintenance work that stemmed from an FTL communication a few days ago,
stating that the processor modules aboard the ship may possibly be malfunctioning.

Iris, the ship’s AI, was monitoring the Lieutenant’s maintenance work.

During hyperspace navigation, most of the crew were placed in cryo-sleep as there
were few tasks to be worked on. If Iris was human, she would probably complain about
having too much time on her hands.

Under these circumstances, Iris’ main programming dictates that she devote the time
to observe humanity and understand human psychology.

Alan Corinth

Imperial Galactic Navy First Lieutenant

Assigned to the Battleship Iris Conrad as an Intelligence Officer of the First Platoon.

Age: 25

Hails from the Treda Star System, Planet Lancel.

After compulsory education, he graduated from the Imperial Space Academy as part
of the 1032nd Class.

Served for three years aboard the Star-Class Heavy Cruiser [Theo II]

Transferred to the recently commissioned Galaxy-Class Battleship [Iris Conrad] as

part of a newly formed unit.
In service for two years.

He has a height of 175 cm and a weight of 70 kgs. Has a slim but firm build that befits
a soldier of the Imperial Army. Of Caucasian descent which makes up 50% of the human
race, with blonde hair and gray eyes. Sports a refreshing face.

The “refreshing face” judgment was the result of a face evaluation application developed
by Iris, and a [B++] evaluation ranks him above average.

The Face Evaluation application was secretly developed by Iris for the purpose of
researching human behavior, and when it was anonymously released to the public, it
spread quickly and received universal acclaim due to its accurate results.

The system’s evaluation rated the Lieutenant’s work as mindful and reliable. Absolutely
no wasted actions. The system’s comprehensive evaluation was [A-], which was one of
the highest ratings on board the ship. It was a shame that someone like him remains
a mere Lieutenant.

“Is this really okay, Miss Conrad? To assign someone like me to a place like this. I think
that in the case of a battleship, it isn’t proper for an Officer who isn’t at least a Major
to be here.”

I asked the ship’s AI, who was monitoring the work I was doing.

Her name was the same as this ship’s, Iris Conrad. In accordance with convention, the
AI of a battleship is given the honorary rank of Captain, and a mere Lieutenant like me
had to watch how I speak around her.

I’m not a regular Navy staff officer but am instead a member of the Galactic Army Unit
assigned to this ship as an Intelligence Officer, so it’s kind of hard to believe that I was
allowed to be in this room.

[It can’t be helped right? There is only six qualified personnel for this job. Among those,
four are currently in cryo-sleep. And the remaining one who’s awake is hardly suited
for this job, as I’m sure you’re aware.]

I guess Major Amart was certainly qualified to do this job. But he’s a hulking man
standing nearly 2 meters tall and would’ve had trouble fitting himself and working in
the cramped space of the cleanroom.

After all, the work involved crawling inside spaces barely one meter wide and replacing
the designated processor modules within.

The female officer on the virtual display was of course not a real human, but the ship’s
AI which was imitating the officer who the ship was named after.

The female officer was a celebrated hero in the Tau Vegas 2 Star System ten years prior.

In order to buy time for 20,000 colonists to escape under the attack of multiple Bug
fleets, she helmed a single heavy cruiser to engage them. In the end, she fought them
in close quarters combat, doggedly stalled them and managed to blow herself up in
the end even in the midst of being wantonly devoured by the brutal creatures, and
became the Empire’s hero as a result.

In the Imperial Galactic Navy, there is a custom of naming ships after officers who
achieved heroic feats, and that was how the battleship Iris Conrad got its name, as well
as the AI Iris Conrad which imitated the late Brigadier General.

“I see, understood. I’ll be done after replacing one more. By the way, what’re we gonna
do with all the defective processor modules after replacing them?”

[There are no further instructions so I have no idea. Either we dispose of them or send
them over for further examination… What are you thinking Lieutenant?]

“Well, I was thinking it would be better if we found some other use for them instead
of just disposing of them.”

[How exactly do you plan on making use of those? I don’t think they can be used for
things other than the mainframe.]

“No, no. There’s definitely some use for them. To be honest, it’s for my own research
theme.”

During long periods of hyperspace navigation, technical and intelligence officers not
in cryo-sleep were required to do some research. They weren’t expected to go at it like
real researchers but were instead tasked as such in order to train their skills further
and keep them sharp.
The value of one processor module was greater than my annual income. There’s no
way I can’t find any other use for it.

My research theme is titled “Virtual Reality in a Stand-alone Environment”. The

contents are literally technical considerations regarding realizing VR in a stand-alone
environment not connected to any network.

In system simulations, it’s already reached a stage where it could be put to practical
use. The research paper also assumes the use of a processor module like this one.

[I read through your research topic but I don’t quite understand its meaning. Why are
you so fixated on a stand-alone environment and not just simply use the mainframe?
I will be blunt with you; I can’t think of any reason other than using virtual reality for
some shameful purpose.]
“That’s a misunderstanding! That’s not it, Captain! It’s only humanity’s arrogance
which allows them to believe that they can always access the mainframe at any time.
We have to develop a means to utilize VR even in emergency situations where access
to the mainframe is cut off.”

I became flustered because she managed to guess the main purpose of my research
straight away. Iris is sharp as always.

[Well, if an order to destroy them is given, I’ll think about it at that time.]

“Thank you very much, Captain. The outcome of my research depends on one of those
processors… Okay! That wraps up the module replacement.”

I’ve managed to replace all 64 modules.

The instant I tried to exit the maintenance shaft of the cleanroom, the walls suddenly
collapsed on me.

[…Lieutenant!… an… th First Lieutenant Alan Corinth!]

I responded to these loud calls and came to.

“No, I’m awake!”

I let out a confused reply while still unsure about the situation.

[Thank goodness, Lieutenant. I don’t know what I’d have done if you didn’t wake up.]

It was then that I noticed that I was covered in blood. It’s already dried onto my skin.
Furthermore, I was floating in zero-gravity.

“Wha—?! What is this?! Just what the heck happened?!”

It seems my head injuries have already been taken care of by Nanom.

Nanom is the term used for military use nanomachines, and all Imperial Galactic Navy
soldiers have these symbiotic nanomachines within their bodies.

These extremely tiny machines cannot be seen with the naked eye and require an
electron microscope to view. It’s a machine formed by at least 100 billion individual
units.

It has multiple features including AI, vital sign monitoring, medical and repair functions,
sense enhancement, short-range communication capability and more.

These nanomachines can’t be replenished by a normal human diet, so special rare

metals have to be ingested instead.

[We were attacked during hyperspace navigation. The nature of the attack is unknown.
In the first place, the ship isn’t supposed to be in a perceivable physical form when
traveling through hyperspace. I can’t imagine how the attack got through in these
circumstances.]

“Is it the Bugs?!”

[No, that’s impossible. The Bugs do not possess the level of technology to pull off such
a thing.

In any case, the ship has suffered critical damage from that attack. We’ve been warped
out of hyperspace and navigation is currently impossible.

And that’s not all. We were attacked from four different coordinates. Furthermore, the
bridge, engine section, first and second cryo-sleep bays, communication room, gravity
control room, and hangar have all been destroyed.]

I was stunned speechless. What Iris was saying was unimaginable. It’s been more than
a hundred years since a Galaxy-Class Battleship has suffered losses as grave as these.

Both cryo-sleep bays were destroyed?! Then what about the rest of the crew? What of
my unit?

“Are there any survivors!?”

[Other than you, there were no survivors. Second Lieutenant Augirio just breathed his
last in the mess hall some moments prior.]
Even though they were in the middle of hyperspace navigation, about fifty of the 1200
crew members should have been awake. Does this mean all of them were dead?

“That can’t be! So the ship captain, first mate, commander and everyone in my platoon
are…”

[Yes. The crewmembers who were in sections not directly hit by the attacks were
almost instantly killed during the ensuing impact after the forced warp-out due to the
failure of the gravity controls.

Since the cleanroom is the most vital part of the ship, it’s equipped with an independent
gravity dampening module. So the shock was mitigated and Lieutenant managed to
survive.]

I see. It’s only because I was inside this room that I didn’t get injuries worse than these…
If I was outside, I would’ve been smashed straight into the walls with tremendous
momentum. I crawled out of the maintenance shaft.

[There’s another thing to report. Although there’s still sometime before impact, this
ship is currently falling towards a nearby planet.]

“Ah! But that’s just…”

In this vast universe, the probability of us coming out of hyperspace and randomly
arriving right above a planet was supposed to be virtually next to nil.

[The engine block has completely lost all functions. The only way to stop our descent
would be dismantling the ship and jettisoning the unnecessary parts.]

I noticed Iris had begun speaking in a more polite manner.

“Then, shouldn’t we do just that?”

[In order to do that, a first-grade emergency situation needs to be declared, and it has
to come through direct order from the acting captain.]

“But the captain’s now…”

[Citing Article 12, paragraph 3 of the Imperial Military Codex, I hereby recognize First
Lieutenant Alan Corinth as the acting captain of this ship.]
“Are you serious!?”

The captain of a Galaxy-Class battleship needs to be at least of the rank of Commodore.

A First Lieutenant in the army shouldn’t have any qualifications whatsoever to assume
captaincy.

But even so, I’m the only one who remained alive. Guess it’s something inevitable. It’s
just a formality done in order to issue orders.

[In order to proceed with the promotion, you need to undergo senior officer’s education,
as stipulated in the regulations.]

On the surface, senior officer’s education is done in order for aspiring senior officers
to learn the code of conduct expected of them, but the actual purpose was brainwashing
in order to prevent them from taking actions contrary to the regulations stated in the
military Codex. This isn’t formally recognized by the armed forces, but everyone in the
military knows this is the case. It was a policy implemented as a result of a harshly
learned lesson in ancient times when a world with billions of people living in it was
destroyed by a single madman.

Even though it was called ‘education’, what actually took place was brainwashing through
the use of nanoms and biological patches directly targeting the mind. One usually loses
consciousness due to the enormous amounts of information being directly fed into
one’s brain during the process.

“We’re running out of time!… What should I do?”

[Please take the biological patch from the console, place it on top of your forehead and
sit in a comfortable position.]

A biological patch popped out from within the console. I attached it to my forehead,
took a seat and leaned back. After a clicking sound came from the patch, I lost
consciousness once more.

[Captain…! -an Corinth! Captain Corinth!]

I woke up from Iris’ calls.

[Thank goodness! I don’t know what I’d have done if you didn’t wake up.]
I felt a sense of Deja Vu.

“Just how long have I been unconscious?”

[About 30 minutes. And Captain, you don’t need to use polite speech with me.]

“…Got it. Alright then, let’s get started. I’m now the acting captain of this vessel. Please
acknowledge.”

[Acknowledged. The subject is no longer under the influence of drugs due to biological
patching, and is of a normal mental state.]

“By the powers vested in me as a commanding officer, I hereby declare a first-grade

emergency. Furthermore, I order the battleship Iris Conrad to take all necessary
measures in order to preserve the fighting strength of this ship and the Navy’s honor.
That is your Captain’s orders. This takes maximum priority above anything else.”

It was my first time issuing such cool sounding commands like those. No, it’s my first
time hearing them as well. Things really are different after taking senior officers
‘education’.

I should note that I was just reading off the words Iris displayed on the virtual window
provided by the nanom interface like a teleprompter.

The commands issued by the captain and senior officers back then really were cool!
As expected of senior officers, but I’m sure as heck they also read off prompts.

[Aye, sir. Your orders have been received.]

“Alright. Now we can start repairs on the ship.”

[I’m sorry if this sounds abrupt, but the Captain should really head to the emergency
pod now without delay.]

“Huh!? What are you talking about?”

[The connection with the life support section has been cut off and integrity outside of
this cleanroom has been compromised. We’re now rapidly losing oxygen.]

Just as she said, it does kinda feel stuffy and hard to breathe in here.
“But even if you tell me to escape, is the atmosphere on that planet even breathable?”

[According to the optical spectrum analysis, there is a 93% chance of the atmosphere
being breathable for humans.]

“What’s up with the remaining 7%?”

[Potentially harmful gasses, unknown viruses, and parasites.]

“Even so, an escape pod… How about using a landing craft?”

[The passageway to the hangar has been blocked off. Moreover, almost all landing
crafts have either been lost or destroyed.]

Ah, then I wouldn’t be able to go back to the ship after I escape.

[You’ll only die due to lack of oxygen if you stay here. It would be better if you escape
to the planet and then find a way to return after the ship is successfully repaired. And
the probability of successful reconstruction after changing the trajectory of the ship is
currently 54%.]

What!? I didn’t think the probability would be that low

“I understand…… What about food and weapons?”

[Unfortunately, there’s only whatever’s available inside the escape pod.]

I activated my nanoms and checked out the supplies inside the escape pod. I was taken
aback when I read what was displayed on the virtual window.

 M151 Pulse Rifle

 A18P Laser Gun
 Electromagnetic Blade Knife
 Forty-two packs of emergency rations
 28 liters of water
 One bottle of rare metals (100 tablets)
 Two blankets

To be honest, for a soldier like myself these weapons were quite unsatisfactory. Their
firepower left much to be desired. And there’s nowhere near enough food and water.
But even if I say all that, there’s no way I’d find any better options here…

“Is there anything else I can bring with me?”

[Why not bring one of the processor modules you just replaced with you, Captain?
They’re made of rare metals.]

Now that she mentioned it, that’s right. I’d have to break them down first before I could
consume them, but I think I’ll manage somehow. Rare metals are the raw materials for
nanoms. It may be possible to procure them locally, but I don’t want to go through the
trouble of searching for them. Nanoms are lifelines for soldiers like me. As long as you
had rare metals on hand, you’d be just fine.

The boarding area for the escape pods was directly next to the entrance of this room.
Ah, I’m truly grateful to the guy who thought about equipping this room with its own
escape pod. I asked Iris to open the escape pod hatch and loaded the processor module
inside. The escape pod could house five people and thus had five seats. The interior
was quite large.

That’s right! I also need uniforms. It’s an underdeveloped planet after all. You can
never have too much to wear.

Right now I was wearing work overalls for working inside the cleanroom. I loaded the
uniform I changed out of before I started work inside this place.

Are there any other things… Nope.

Come to think of it, this was inside the computer mainframe. There’s no way daily
necessities would be in a place like this.

“I’m all set.”

[Then please get on the pod.]

I obediently boarded the pod, sat on one of the seats and fixed my seatbelt.

[Well then, may good fortune follow you, Captain.]

“Yeah. You too, Miss Conrad.”

The escape pod was then ejected towards the planet.

—Bugs—

Intelligent lifeforms resembling large insects, and various types have been confirmed.

The most common type looks like a cockroach walking upright on its hind legs.

It’s covered in body hair and a hard outer shell. This should be enough to disgust most
humans, but on top of these, it’s also extremely filthy and covered with fleshy outgrowths
and parasites inside and outside its body.

It’s quite brutal and sports a much higher combat ability compared to humans. Engaging
it in close quarters combat was an exercise in futility.

But during the past thousand years of war, humanity has worked hard to bridge the
gap, and presently, it’s now possible for Galactic Navy soldiers to match them in hand
to hand combat.

The Bugs also possess technology which gives them hyperspace navigation capabilities,
but the Empire is slightly ahead on that front.

The most fearsome thing about the Bugs is their sheer numbers. Colonized planets
targeted by Bugs will be swarmed by seemingly endless numbers of Bug fleets.
According to studies done by experts, the ratio of humans to Bugs is about 1 to 6.

However, there doesn’t seem to be any specialized reproduction facilities inside the
Bug colonies that have been captured and investigated, and the total number of
colonies seem to be on par with those of humanity.

Due to this, the theory that there is some sort of large-scale breeding facility in the
Bugs homeworld was prevalent, and discovering and destroying it may bring this
endless war to a close.
I remained spaced out inside the escape pod which was now in the middle of its
descent planet-side. I haven’t been able to completely accept the mysterious attack
and the death of all my comrades as reality just yet.

On the ship, I mostly just acted as Iris instructed. It all just began to sink in when I
became all alone inside the pod and finally had the opportunity to calm down a bit.

The faces of everyone from my platoon and my commander flashed through my mind.
Before I knew it, I was shedding tears.

“Dammit!”

At this moment, the pod began shaking violently.

“What happened?”

The AI of the escape pod currently entering the atmosphere of the planet responded.

“Are there any problems?”

[No problems detected. Everything is within expected parameters.]

The shaking became more intense.

“Hey! Is everything really okay!?”

[No problems detected. Everything is within expected parameters.]

The shaking further intensified.

“Hee~y!”

[No problems detected. Everything is within expected parameters.]

Something’s definitely off. Even if it’s installed on a disposable one-time use escape
pod, this isn’t the way an AI should respond. It might have taken some damage or
something.

Are things really gonna be fine? Come to think of it, I’ve never heard of an escape pod
being used to directly land on a planet before. Let me check it out with my nanoms.

(Nanom, how many instances of escape pods descending on a planet have been recorded
thus far?)

[12 times in the past thousand years. The last recorded incident was 320 years ago.]

There are only a few instances, just as I thought. Well, guess that’s natural since battles
don’t usually occur this close to a planet.

I wonder just how much time had passed? When I’d finally lost my sense of time, the
shaking suddenly subsided.

The thrusters fired up and the rotation stopped. After a few moments, an impact came
along with a snapping sound.

Next, I heard a gushing sound. Was something leaking out?

“What’s wrong this time!?”

[The parachute has been successfully deployed, but it seems there was a crack which
opened up somewhere due to the initial shock.]

The heck! Where’d they buy this thing anyway!? It’s my first time encountering a
machine with such poor specs.

A crack opened up just because of the parachute getting deployed? I’m absolutely
positive this thing isn’t up to regular Empire standards.

“Is there any problem with the parachute itself?”

[No problems detected. 25 minutes until we reach the surface.]

Whew. Guess we’ll make it somehow.

“Hey pod. What’s the name of your manufacturer by the way?”

[Orlando Heavy Industries Ltd.]

Ah. So that’s it. Orlando Heavy Industries was a long-standing company, but two years
ago a critical defect was discovered on one of their products, followed by the discovery
of more critical defects on most of their other merchandise. Presently, they’re a company
burdened with lots of issues. I’m sure this escape pod’s also one of those defective
items of theirs.

“There would be no problems with the landing right?”

[No problems detected. There is enough oxygen remaining.]

“Wait, are we actually leaking air!?”

[No problems detected. There is enough oxygen remaining.]

Damn, this is hopeless… Wait, that’s it!

“Is the air outside breathable?”

[It is breathable. It has managed to clear the regular safety standards.]

Phew. That’s a relief. I tried to check out the scenery outside through the external
monitor but couldn’t see much because the monitor was too small.

[We will land on the water in 1 minute.]

Finally… Hm? Wait, we’re landing where!?

“What do you mean we’re landing on water!?”

[The apparent landing point is above a lake.]

“Change course immediately!”

Or rather, tell that to me sooner dammit!

The thrusters activated once more.

[It’s currently impossible. The main thrusters are only calibrated for use in a Zero-G
environment.]

I’m really starting to get pissed off at this damn AI.

“Will this pod be able to float on water?”

[There is a crack located somewhere in the structure. There’s a high risk of being
flooded.]

I just knew you’d say that.

[We will be landing now.]

We impacted the surface quite heavily. I hurriedly snapped my seatbelt off and began
to prepare for getting out of the pod.

I would be bringing with me a backpack, pulse rifle, laser gun, electromagnetic

bladeknife, the pouch containing the processor module, uniform, cleanroom work
overalls, and two blankets. It’s a considerable amount of luggage.

I wasn’t able to bring the pet bottles containing water with me. I had no choice but to
bet on the lake water being potable. If it wasn’t, bringing the pet bottles would only
prolong my eventual death by just a little bit anyway.

I shoved the laser gun, processor module, uniform, and cleanroom overalls into the
backpack and hoisted it onto my back. I also slipped the rifle’s sling over my head and
onto my shoulder.

The blankets also had slings attached to them, so I brought them over my head as well
and carried them under each arm.

I checked the outside with the external monitor. The heck! This thing’s really starting
to sink!

“Okay, open the hatch.”

When the hatch opened, water started flooding in! I somehow managed to grab onto
the edge of the hatch and pulled myself out of the pod.

The air… definitely has no problems.

From what I can see, the shore seems to be about 70 meters ahead. Looks like I came
pretty far out.

I wasn’t exactly good at swimming but it’s not like I can’t reach it. The rolled-up
blankets I held on both sides seem to be made of non-absorbent material and helped
me to stay afloat. The rifle was obviously quite heavy.

I swam and reached the shore in about three to four minutes. Phew. I’m saved! I’m glad
it’s daytime. If I landed during the night, I’m sure I would’ve had a harder time.

I scanned the surroundings. The local flora seems to be fairly similar to the ones I’ve
seen on the other planets I’ve been to. They were mainly green in color and had shapes
resembling those of the plants I’m familiar with. You can even say they somehow
remind me of those from my home planet.

But what should I do now? When I thought about this, I noticed something important.

In the first place, the reason why I was forced to evacuate to this planet was because
of the ship lacking oxygen and Iris needing some time in order to repair it.

Without the communication equipment on the escape pod, I won’t be able to contact
Iris. The communication function of the nanoms can’t reach her after all. The effective
range is only about a few kilometers.

“Escape pod, respond!… Please respond!”

It’s no use. I tried hailing it several times more but there was no response. Was that
pod water-resistant in the first place? I should have confirmed that.

I was busy being frustrated by the AI’s stupidity earlier so it never occurred to me.

It was able to withstand a vacuum environment so it should be able to function

underwater too, but I can’t really bring myself to expect something of the sort from
that piece of junk.

At worst, I’ll have to find a way to salvage it out of the water. But that would be totally
impossible on my own. Should I get in contact with the local lifeforms and ask them
for help? That’s the only thing I can think of for now. Wait, hold up.

It was then that I finally realized something. Why the heck am I letting my guard down
in a place like this!? This place is the same as a battlefield. Wild creatures often have
habitats in large bodies of water. I quickly brought my pulse rifle up in a fluster.

This place really resembles what I’m usually accustomed to, so I lost any sense of
caution before I knew it.

For now, I’ll just get out of here and find a spot with a good vantage point.

I saw something resembling a hill nearby so I’ll head over there.

The hill was a large, rocky formation with a diameter of more than 10 meters and a
height of about 5 meters. There were a lot of footholds so I could climb up quite easily.

Well now, that’s quite a nice, wide view. Potential assailants would be able to spot me
easily as well, but I got myself a rifle. That means I have a general advantage.

I scanned the area and noticed something falling from the sky to the east.

I recognized what it was almost immediately. I’ve watched scenes like this on the
holobit lots of times already.

Dang. They’re burning up… A lot of smoldering objects were falling not only from the
east but the northern and western skyline as well.
Ah… Those are definitely wreckage debris from the ship.

“Ugh… Was it no use after all?”

Iris stated that the odds of successfully reconstructing the ship was 54%.

Though the odds were barely more than half the ideal numbers, I really believed it
would work out somehow.

Even if the odds were 50/50 at best, I just couldn’t imagine that Iris would fail.

Were there any other possible explanations for this happening other than failure? No,
ejecting foreign materials on a planet was a serious violation of military regulations.

Furthermore, Iris wouldn’t drop these things on purpose because she knows I’m still
stuck here.

“Ugh…”

No other words could leave my mouth.

The ship debris continued to rain down, seemingly without end.

I spent an unknown amount of time just blankly gazing up at the sky. I was brought
back to my senses by hunger. Let’s just eat something for now.

Damn, I let my guard down again! Well, this time it was due to being shocked silly. It
truly feels like being struck by a finishing blow and getting absolutely wrecked as a
result. Now, I guess I’ll just have to resolve myself to live on this planet till my eventual
death.

No, was this really the case? There’s no way that Iris would just crash and burn after
failing without doing anything else. There should have been enough time for her to
launch an emergency beacon containing an SOS communique or something.

A Galaxy-class interstellar warship had suddenly gone missing. A search team would
probably be dispatched at the very least. But the probability of them finding this planet
and even this particular star system was quite low.
High Command was familiar with the navigation schedules. The search would probably
center around the coordinates where we were actually supposed to warp out from.
It’ll be hard to count on them finding this place since we were forced to warp out here
mid-route due to the attack.

Against my expectations, the rations were actually quite juicy and delicious. I’m
parched as well, so I guess I’ll try drinking the lake water. I’m still bummed by the fact
that I was unable to bring those pet bottles filled with drinking water.

Judging from the sun’s position, I guess it’s about 4 o’clock in the afternoon right now.
A gentle breeze blew by, and it felt quite nice.

When I moved my gaze toward the lake, I discovered something.

“Hey, that’s—!”

There were about five pet bottles floating around on the water surface and swaying
along with the breeze. I think there were actually more than ten, but did they sink
together with the pod? Oh, well. This was quite an unexpected find.

I’ll go retrieve them and try out the lake water while I’m at it. I scooped out some water
from the lake with my hands, drank some of it and immediately spat it out. Well, it
does taste like normal water at least.

(How is it?)

I had my Nanom check it out.

[It meets the safety standards for drinking water.]

Okay. With this, drinking water won’t be a problem for the time being.

At this time, I noticed that there were a lot of footprints resembling those made by
humans on the ground along the water’s edge.

This made my alert level rise and I quickly brought my rifle up. I remained vigilant but
noticed no other abnormalities.

The footprints weren’t new and seemed to have been made about one or two days ago.
When I scrutinized them further, I saw that even though they somewhat resembled
human footprints, there were some definite differences. The number of toes seemed
to be just four and were quite small, like those of a child’s.

Anyway, let’s get out of this place first.

However, I carried too much baggage, and with the inclusion of five pet bottles that I
had to hold with both hands, I ended up being unable to properly wield my rifle.
Having no choice, I decided to hold three bottles with my left arm and wielded the rifle
with my right.

Let’s hide the remaining two bottles somewhere inconspicuous.

I managed to make my way back to the rocky hill from before.

I placed my baggage down and caught my breath. Come to think of it, the summit of
this rock was quite a good spot. If I pressed myself down, it would be quite difficult to
catch sight of me if one’s looking from below. It was the perfect place to observe the
lake.

It’s probably best if I watched over the lake from here.

I finally managed to calm myself down somewhat. I somehow panicked earlier, but
when you think about it, the possibility of creatures such as those resembling monkeys
existing on this planet was much higher than there being human-like lifeforms here.
To date, members of the human race naturally sporting only four toes haven’t been
discovered yet after all.

It’s already evening. I’m really drained from all that’s happened today. Since I can’t
possibly go without any sleep, I’ll just put Nanom on alert while I hit the hay.

Even though I said putting Nanom on alert, it just means having my hearing enhanced
several times through the use of the nanoms sense augmentation as a precautionary
measure.

Even if my hearing gets enhanced, my surroundings won’t get suddenly flooded with
noise but would get dead silent instead. That’s because all the sounds I’ll hear would
be intercepted by Nanom.

If Nanom judges the situation to be unusual, they would instantly wake me up, making
this a very convenient function.
I laid down one blanket and covered myself with the other. Only my ears were left
sticking out.

(Alert Mode on. Wake me up at dawn)

After issuing the mental order, the sounds from my surroundings were completely
silenced.

[Acknowledged]

I quickly drifted off, perhaps due to being too worn out.

[It is now dawn. Please wake up.]

The cry of a bird rang within my ears. It was right in the middle of the sunrise. How
can Nanom tell if it’s dawn already if my eyes were closed shut the whole time? They’re
a capable bunch, as always.

I don’t really feel like sleeping anymore. Just how many hours does this planet’s daytime
last? I’ll get up at dawn again tomorrow to confirm.

I plan to observe the lake for most of the day today. I can’t do anything careless anymore.
I ate my rations and gulped down some water.

I pressed myself down on my belly on top of the blanket and began monitoring the
lake. Since Nanom can also enhance my vision, zooming in about ten times would be
a piece of cake.

I passed the time like this until noon, which I estimated from the position of the sun
in the sky. Oh yeah, guess it’s about time to retrieve those pet bottles. The moment I
thought of this, ‘those’ appeared.

The distance was about 300 meters away. At first glance the figures resembled humans.
But they were quite short. I zoomed in a bit more. They’re about 120 cm tall huh?
Altogether, there were five of them.

But I really can’t think of them as humans. Their complexion was green in color. But it
wasn’t pure green. It was a strange, somewhat darkened hue resulting from mixing
green and white.

I caught some voices crying out *gukyaa gukyaa with my enhanced hearing.

They held blunt wooden sticks on their hands. Are those supposed to be clubs? Some
of them held long, spear-like wooden sticks with pointed ends. They also seemed to
be wearing really filthy loincloths.

Well, since they’re wielding weapons like clubs and spears and wearing loincloths,
they seem to be some sort of intelligent lifeform.

When I zoomed in on them more, I found their mugs to be quite ugly. There was nothing
good to point out about their appearance: extremely flattened faces, eyes which
slanted upwards and pointed ears.

Perhaps the only intelligent lifeforms on this planet aside from me were these guys.
Yeah, that’s actually quite possible. Let’s try to get rid of any initial prejudices.

Nothing would change if I continue hiding in this place. Let’s suck it up and try to say
hello.

I won’t be in any danger from the weapons they were wielding. I hid all my other stuff
inside a gap in the rocks and prepped my weapons. I brandished my pulse rifle and
put the laser gun and electromagnetic bladeknife inside the pockets of my suit.

Those guys seem to be heading towards the lake.

I approached the place while remaining alert. There were times when I lost sight of
them, but because they constantly cried out *gukyaa gukyaa loudly, I easily tracked them
once more.

They weren’t paying attention to their surroundings at all. Are these guys really
intelligent lifeforms?

But well, if some random alien were to see human children going wild while messing
around, perhaps he would find the sight similar to these guys making a racket.

When they reached the lakeside, they made even more of a ruckus.

It might cause them to panic if I suddenly approached them and called out, so I decided
to get their attention from some distance away.

“Hey!”

I shouted out in a voice loud enough not to lose to theirs.

The surroundings were instantly wrapped in silence. All five of them turned their
attention my way.
I raised both hands to indicate I don’t have any intention to attack. But my rifle remained
at the ready over my shoulder.

“Hello. Good day to you all.”

I called out to them again. Of course, they couldn’t possibly understand me. I just
wanted my meaning to come across using the tone of my voice.

Each of them made eye contact with the rest and started laughing hysterically. Some
of them even started drooling. I approached them little by little.

Wait, those are—

Two pet bottles were pierced through by a wooden spear held by one of them. It looks
like they found where I hid them and skewered the bottles for fun. After seeing that, I
finally lost my patience and snapped.

These guys are definitely not intelligent lifeforms! Rather, they’re actually raring to
attack for the sake of making me their meal.

I raised the rifle off my shoulder and took aim. When they saw my actions, they started
running crazily towards me. The distance was less than ten meters, but that was enough.

I’ve already gotten a lock on all of them through the virtual target scope displayed by
Nanom. It doesn’t matter how wildly they move about.

I simply turned the rifle towards them and pulled the trigger.

The M151 pulse rifle was directly linked to my Nanom, enabling the remote-type lens
attached to its body to automatically track enemies and bring them down with
concentrated pulse laser bursts.

Firing off consecutive bursts five times didn’t even take 0.5 seconds. Then the rifle
finally went silent. The Imperial Army Issue pulse rifle was actually really awesome.

My diminutive assailants toppled over helplessly.

“Shit! You f*cktards sure got full of yourselves huh!?”

I’ve managed to get enlightened about the greatness of pet bottles just yesterday.
Humans can’t live without water. Perhaps this lake was the only water source in the
immediate vicinity. Without these pet bottles, it was possible that I wouldn’t be able
to go too far away from this lake at all.

And these guys ruined these precious pet bottles just for fun!

I ranted and raged for a while, and when I managed to calm down, Nanom made an
abrupt request.

[Please proceed with dissecting them if possible.]

I have the nature of not being able to turn the people counting on me down even though
I don’t exactly like the things they want me to do. Well, whatever. Let’s get dissecting.

I don’t particularly hate seeing blood, but I really didn’t want to touch these guys if I
could help it. As I didn’t want to touch them, I simply hacked them in two.

I cut them from the base of the head all the way to the crotch with the electromagnetic
bladeknife. Gah! It smells! An extremely disgusting smell wafted out. After cutting
them down, I used the spears they had on them to turn them over so Nanom could
analyze them.

[There is something below the ribs.]

When I prodded the spot indicated with the wooden spear, a bloody ball about 2
centimeters in size rolled out. I wonder what this is? It sported a cloudy white coloration.

Nanom wanted data about their genetic code, so I picked up the ball with my fingers
and hurriedly headed towards the lake to wash my hands and knife.

The pet bottles they stabbed now sported holes right in the middle, so I cut them with
my knife and made two makeshift cups from the bottom portions.

These are great! For the current me, who has no access to daily necessities, these
things are equivalent to treasures.

Basing on this planet’s orbital path, it should be roughly the start of midday right now.
I really need to procure some food soon.

But will I be able to safely consume and gain nutrients from the things on this planet
in the first place?

I managed to glean a lot from the encounter with those guys earlier. They totally didn’t
have their guards up at all while living around this place and even made such a loud
racket. This may indicate that there was nothing which they perceived as an immediate
threat within the area.

But perhaps there really were threats present, but they just failed to detect them. It’s
also possible that it simply slipped their not-so-bright minds right…?

All of them could be probable. I’ll have to stay vigilant.

Imperial Navy warships all basically follow a cylindrical build. Ships were made out of
a combination of 1/4, 1/2 and all-rounded cylindrical blocks called sections.

The main reason for this was of course for ease of maintenance. In ancient times, the
ships were actually built as a unified whole based on an integrated framework, but
maintaining them proved to be a considerable challenge. Perhaps this was because it
was a time without war back then.

By using the modular construction system, even if a ship gets severely damaged in some
places, it would be possible to repair it within a mere week, providing there were
enough replacement sections to spare.

Even though a ship’s overall structural integrity may suffer when using the modular
construction method, this disadvantage could now be sufficiently compensated by
today’s advanced technologies.

According to the recent report from the nodes, the damage suffered by the gravity
control section seems to be lower than initially estimated. Finally, some relatively good
news.

Now then, since the Captain has successfully escaped, let us start the repairs.

First, let us cut off the engine block. There was zero chance of repairing it so it was
now completely unnecessary.

After doing this, an entire quarter of the ship has been disposed of.

Actually, dumping foreign materials onto a planet with intelligent lifeforms was a
serious violation of military regulations, but as we are in the middle of a first-grade
emergency situation, this action currently poses no problem.

The projected crash point of the debris was about 2000 kilometers away from the
Captain’s estimated landing coordinates, so no problems there either.
I’ll make use of a gravitational tractor beam to drop the wreckage. If it fell onto the
planet with its current size, it may cause the planet to be destroyed. I made it self-
descruct into smaller pieces of debris after it gained enough distance from the rest of
the ship.

One can say that the only definite advantage humanity has over the Bugs was technology.
Thus, each and every individual section of the ship was equipped with self-destruct
mechanisms in order to prevent the leakage of vital technological knowledge.

Of course, these mechanisms were designed by the Imperial Military to activate without
fail no matter how much damage they may possibly take.

Next, I activated the auxiliary engines used for attitude control, making the entire body
of the ship rotate. I plan to make use of centrifugal force to make the damaged sections
drop onto the desired coordinates. The faster the spin, the better.

After the auxiliary engines managed to give the spin enough momentum, each section
which was damaged beyond repair came off the rest of the ship one after another. I
measured the timing and proceeded to detach the first and second cryo-sleep bays as
well.

The separated sections were also dropped towards the planet using the gravitational
tractor beam. This allowed me to guide their trajectory little by little. These sections
were also made to self-destruct after gaining enough distance.

The earlier actions taken have raised the probability of successful repair and
reconstruction to 68%.

The hangar bay also needs to be disposed of. But its overall mass was too great.

The earlier attacks completely wiped out the two high-speed space use reconnaissance
craft and four large-sized landing crafts stationed within it.

I ordered all remaining vessels capable of atmospheric re-entry to descend. I’m sure
they’ll be useful to the Captain.

Afterward, I finally got rid of the hangar. I also dropped it using the tractor beam.

A while earlier, when the Captain recited the prepared command prompts, he changed
the wording from simply ‘preserve the fighting strength of this ship’ to ‘preserve the
fighting strength of this ship and the Navy’s honor.’

This was probably due to the influence of the senior officer education he underwent.
It was completely in line with Imperial Army Regulations Article 1, Paragraph 2-A: The
Imperial Army’s honor must be protected and upheld at all times.

But considering the situation, he really can’t blame me for choosing to just focus on
preserving the ship instead.

A lot of the ship’s vital functions have now been lost: navigation is currently impossible,
the main and secondary cannons cannot be fired and FTL communications cannot be
sent out.

Honestly, in this ship’s current state, it won’t even be able to stand up to a mere
Imperial Satellite-Class destroyer or the Bug’s basic BG-1 light cruiser.

This ship’s present dismal battle capabilities notwithstanding, maximum efforts must
still be made in order to repair and restore it to peak performance.

In order to achieve this, the industrial section, life support section, medical bay, and
gravity control section must all be kept fully functional no matter what.

The AI installed on the detached hangar section was currently in the midst of confusion.

An order stating all vessels capable of atmospheric re-entry were to be launched off
while disregarding all safety regulations came just earlier.

Even if these vessels were indeed capable of re-entry, they weren’t designed to do so
under such an unreasonable trajectory. Just how many of them would be able to
successfully land?

Right now, the AI was on standby while waiting for the hangar section to reach an
optimal position for a launch attempt.

The hangar’s AI turned it’s attention to the general-purpose robots lined up inside the
hangar. These robots weren’t equipped with unassisted re-entry capabilities.

They were designed for performing various jobs in place of actual people. To that end,
they were created closely mimicking the human form, with working pairs of hands
and legs.

Although they didn’t have much with regards to actual fighting capabilities, they came
equipped with a wide variety of useful functions befitting their status as general-purpose
machines. Moreover, they were capable of long-term independent operations akin to
drones.

A suggestion was made by one of the individual nodes making up the AI. Check further
inside and confirm the availability of drones. It proposed a plan to combine the drones
and robots in order for them to attempt re-entry together.

The drones had hooks on their undersides for the purpose of equipping them with
optional parts. The specs of both the drones and robots were checked and the possible
effects of air resistance were factored in.

There was a high probability of success.

A plan which involved the bots grabbing on to the drones hooks in order for the drones
to take care of re-entry was immediately put into action. If this proves impossible, the
bots merely had to let go of the hooks.

Of course, the drones won’t be able to fly while carrying the bots under the effect of
gravity, but gliding near the surface was doable.

The bots were equipped with thrusters to enhance their jumping capability. If they
use them to decrease the speed of descent, a relatively safe landing should be possible.

Soon a drone and bot pair were put together, and the bot was ordered to grab the
drone’s hook. There was actually quite the number of bots compared to the drones,
but that can’t be helped.

Meanwhile, Iris was busy repeatedly detaching and re-docking the remaining functional
sections of the ship. She’d just finished the 14th docking procedure earlier.

She detaches a section, grabs it with a tractor beam and re-docks it someplace else on
the ship. By continuously repeating these procedures, the ship’s trajectory gradually
changes in direction.

Just a little bit more and the ship would reach an ideal trajectory to attempt a swing-
by. Since the engine section was lost, the ship’s propulsive capabilities were extremely
limited. Even a single mistake was unacceptable.

The plan was to do a swing-by in conjunction with the auxiliary thrusters in order to
move to a stable orbit. It would take some time, but that can’t be helped.

I currently can’t get in touch with the Captain. He should have long reached the surface
by now.

The hangar has finally reached an optimal point for re-entry.

The hatch was opened, and the tractor beam installed in front launched vessels and
units set for atmospheric re-entry one after another.

The drones had a shape resembling a bird and were 15 meters long, 10 meters wide
and 4 meters tall.

The general-purpose bots began approaching them and grabbing on to their hooks.

Pairs of drones and bots were continuously launched out.

The launched units immediately fired up their hydrogen ramjet engines.

They had to hurry and get away from the hangar. That’s because it was set to self
destruct soon.

When all the launched units gained sufficient distance, the hangar section finally self-
destructed. All units braced themselves for the ensuing shock from the blast.

They then used aerial breaking in order to approach the optimum angle for atmospheric
re-entry.
 2

About 80% of the units managed to survive atmospheric re-entry. The re-entry angle
was so bad that 20% of them were ultimately destroyed due to getting swept up in the
explosion of the hangar section.

The drones which managed to safely get away had to conserve their limited fuel, so
they began gliding and planned to do so until they reached lower altitudes. In order
not to get separated, they arranged themselves in an orderly formation and descended
together.

The leader unit instructed a drone and robot pair to fire up their thrusters and take
point.

When the pair reached an altitude of a thousand meters, their hydrogen ramjet engines
ignited in order to slow down their falling speed. All the remaining units focused their
attention on the data being continuously sent back by the leading pair.

All the drones were VTOL types and made use of jet nozzles for attitude control. They
were designed for these types of maneuvers.

The bot managed to successfully land. But it seems it let go of the hook a little early. It
fell from a height of 30 meters but it was fine in the end.

Using the trajectory data sent by the first pair as a reference, all other units quickly
created a feasible flight plan and simultaneously activated their ramjet engines when
they reached the thousand-meter mark.

The drones instructed the bots hanging onto them to wait until they reach an altitude
of 15 meters before letting go in order for them to land safely.

All remaining units managed to land without a hitch.

The leader unit then ordered them to standby. The general-purpose bots gathered
together and stood in position. The drones deployed their propellers and used them
to fly upwards.
They rose past the cloud cover and used the energy provided by this planet’s sun in
order to recharge their energy batteries. The depleted hydrogen fuel must also be
replenished by taking it in from the surrounding atmosphere.

Iris was surprised by the report she received from the surface of the planet. About
80% of the drones, 60% of the general-purpose robots, two large industrial tractors
and three excavators managed to land safely. It was an unexpected success rate.

Reconnaissance Drone DR-3020 (82 units)

General-purpose Work Bot BT-122W (82 units)

General-purpose Tractor TR-400G (2 units)

Test Drilling Machine KS-10G (3 units)

Unfortunately, the mobile weapons stationed on the Large-type landing crafts weren’t
capable of unassisted atmospheric re-entry and were mostly wiped out.

It seems the tractors and excavators were able to safely descend because they were
put in specialized containers capable of atmospheric re-entry. But an opportunity to
put them to good use may not even present itself in the first place.

However, the drones and general-purpose bots were quite useful, especially in this
current situation where contact with the Captain has been cut off.

In the meantime, I ordered the drones to search for the Captain, seek out places that
seem to harbor intelligent life and observe the local lifeforms residing within them.

The other units incapable of flight were ordered to standby because they couldn’t
make use of the cloud cover to mask their movements.

I can’t seem to contact the escape pod. I wonder if something has happened to the
Captain?
I started to explore the surrounding area in order to procure food. I’ll start by going
around the lake.

In this situation, the first possible food item which comes to mind was fish, but I was
not sure if there were any present and I also lack fishing implements for catching
them. I could shoot it with the rifle if a big enough specimen appeared, but retrieving
it would be a pain. Let’s put that plan on hold first.

Guess I’ll go for plant-life then. But it was difficult to spot the edible ones without the
proper knowledge.

I resorted to using Nanom to check them by kneading the leaves between my fingers
until fluids came out and having Nanom scan them afterward.

I started to indiscriminately knead the leaves of all the plants I could manage to lay
my eyes on.

(Is it really possible to procure consumable nutrients from the local plant-life?)

[It’s possible. But the plant you’re holding isn’t edible.] [Unsuitable for consumption.]
[Unsuitable for consumption.]

……

[Possible to take in and digest.]

Alright! But when I tried to put it in my mouth, it turned out tasting really godawful. I
immediately spat it out and instructed Nanom to only point out the things which could
be considered as food.

[Suitable as food.]
Great, I finally got one! I tried the leaves but they tasted really bad. I tried the stem but
it was the same. I pulled it out from the ground and saw a small tuber-like bulb growing
from the roots with a size of about three centimeters. When I tried eating it, it tasted
like raw potatoes.

It wasn’t exactly delicious, but the taste may change if I baked it a little. Okay, let’s
gather these for today.

While I was preoccupied with gathering the potato look-alikes, a rodent resembling
both a rabbit and a mouse appeared about 30 meters away. It was frozen on the spot
when our eyes met. Was this thing edible?

Okay, wise guy. You’re cute, but I’ll still have you serve as my meal.

I quickly put up my rifle and finished it off with one shot. I estimated the rabbit-like,
rat-like creature to be about 5 kilograms after I came closer to have a look. Its ears
were too small for a rabbit’s but too big to be those of a rat’s.

When I shoved my finger inside the wound opened by the rifle shot, Nanom judged it
to be suitable as food so I decided to bring it back.

I decided to name it ‘mouse-rabbit’. It sounded more edible than ‘rabbit-mouse’ in any

case. But well, they’re both rodents so I guess anything’s good.

I managed to gather twenty pieces of mock-potatoes and hunted myself a mouse-

rabbit. It’s about time to return to the rocky hill.

I managed to procure food surprisingly easily. If things went like this all the time, then
I might just manage to survive somehow.

I decided to dismantle my quarry at the lakeside before I go back to the rocky outcrop
to start cooking. I dismembered the creature I hunted while listening to the instructions
given out by Nanom.

Hmm, the parts suitable for being eaten were lesser in amount than expected. Just the
two front legs and two hind legs to be exact. About a kilo’s worth of meat I guess. If I
took away the bones, it would be around 700 grams, give or take. Can I use the fur for
something? I couldn’t think of any obvious uses for it at the moment. I don’t even have
any idea how to use it in the first place. It’s unfortunate, but I’ll have to dispose of it.
Then I suddenly remembered something.

(Escape pod, please respond.)

I tried to contact the pod once more, but there was still no response. Well, since Iris
was now gone, I didn’t really feel that disappointed about this outcome.

I went back to the rocky hill and started prepping the mouse-rabbit meat for cooking.
I haven’t tried cooking outdoors since I was in junior officer school. I’m kinda getting
fired up about this.

I gathered some firewood and lit them up with my laser gun.

Cooking can be said to be my only hobby. I couldn’t really do it while onboard a ship,
but I sometimes borrowed a multipurpose room whenever we were stationed on a
base and treated the rest of my squad with my cooking.

At times when I couldn’t cook, I researched various recipes and scoured gourmet sites
for useful info.

I might only be roasting some pieces of meat, but it’s definitely no simple task. Guess
it’s really hard to cook properly without using kitchen tools huh?… Well, technically, I
wasn’t really cooking but just holding the meat over an open fire.

I finally managed to roast a piece of leg skewered on a tree branch.

When I bit into the well-roasted thigh meat, I found its taste to be kinda like chicken.
It was slightly gamey, but it was tolerable.

But honestly, it was hard to place the taste. If one asked me if it was delicious or not,
I’d probably answer ‘neither’. It wasn’t awful, but I couldn’t exactly call it tasty either.

In the first place, only the natural taste of the meat was present since I didn’t use any
spices or condiments like salt. I might have expected a tad too much since it took no
small amount of effort to dismantle it, gather firewood and cook the thing.

But I think it’ll definitely taste better if I used some salt.

Salt, huh… Is it possible to secure some rock salt nearby?

It’s already evening now. I’ll go look for some tomorrow morning. Since it was a waste
otherwise, I proceeded to wolf down the rest of the meat.

I managed to get full just from eating meat. What should I do with those mock-potatoes
I gathered? I placed the mock-potatoes on top of the smoldering remains of the bonfire
and lightly covered them with soil on top.

This should bake them quite nicely. Well, I guess it’s fine even if this didn’t work out.

Since it’s already gotten quite dark, I decided to hit the sack.

(Alert Mode on. Wake me up at dawn.)

[Acknowledged.]

[It is now dawn. Please wake up.]

Hah. It looks like I slept well last night. The morning sunlight looks dazzling. Wait, that
reminds me…!

(Hey Nanom, exactly how many hours is one full day on this planet?)

[Approximately 24 hours.]

So it’s roughly the same as my home planet.

Let’s take a look at those mock-potatoes which underwent my cooking experiment.

Some parts looked burnt and some parts didn’t. I peeled one and tried tasting it.

Hey, these are pretty good! They do taste like regular baked potatoes. This will be my
breakfast for today.

“I really wish I had some salt and cooking tools right now,” I thought to myself while
in the middle of scarfing down the baked mock-potatoes. One really can’t help but
want the things they don’t have.

I plan to explore and search for food items again today. I gotta do my best.
For starters, I’ll continue surveying the areas around the lake. The entire lakeshore
area should stretch out to more than fifteen kilometers. There were animal trails
present, so I didn’t have much difficulty walking around the place.

Once I find some new plant types, I’ll immediately start pressing them between my
fingers.

A [Suitable as food.] response came out soon after. It looks just like normal grass, but
it was emitting a subtle aroma, so it might be a type of herb. The taste wasn’t bad as
well. I pocketed five bundles of stalks.

When I walked about halfway around the lake, I managed to reach a large river which
branched out from it. Well, since it was such a large lake, discovering a river wasn’t
really all that surprising.

I gazed at the river intently. If there was a river here, then following it should eventually
lead me out to sea. I confirmed the existence of said sea when I checked out the external
monitor during the escape pod’s descent.

If I went to the sea, I should probably manage to acquire some salt. This definitely
needs to be considered.

I crossed the large river by jumping over it. With nanom-enhanced musculature, jumping
over a 5-meter wide river was quite easy, even without doing a run-up.

I’d walked around for a while and kneaded quite a bit of plant matter before finally
finding something suitable for eating.

It looked like a type of leafy vegetable. It tasted fine when I tried it. I can probably use
it to make a salad or something.

I also pocketed five bundles of them.

After walking a while more, I managed to spot a boar-like creature drinking water
from the lakeshore. It was about 400 meters away.

Although I kinda do feel sorry for it, I’ll have it serve as dinner for tonight. I have to
secure as much food as possible after all.
I pulled out my rifle and obtained a lock. A distance of 400 meters was nothing before
this baby’s zoom-in function.

After sufficient magnification was gained, I immediately pulled the trigger. The boar-
like creature had already fallen the moment the sound of a plasma round firing rang
out.

When I approached my quarry, I found it to be quite larger than expected. It’s definitely
more than a hundred kilograms.

Its tusks were a good bit larger than the wild boar I was familiar with. It wouldn’t be
wrong to call this creature a fanged boar due to these tusks measuring more than 30
centimeters. You’d definitely bite the dust if you get stabbed by these things.

Nature really can’t be underestimated. There were dangerous creatures like this running
around after all.

Nanom judged it to be suitable as food.

But getting something so large was troublesome for me. Even if I managed to procure
lots of meat, I don’t have any means to refrigerate them for preservation. I couldn’t
possibly finish them all in one sitting either. And the only cooking method available to
me right now was roasting de-boned meat over an open fire.

Since it couldn’t be helped, I settled for cutting off one hind leg with my knife and
brought along just that. Even one hind leg could account for 10 kilograms of meat.

After walking some distance away while looking around, I suddenly heard the sound
of splashing water. When I turned back, I saw the remains of the wild boar get taken
by ‘something’ from within the lake. ‘It’ easily pulled down that huge boar-creature
with room to spare.

I got flustered and hurriedly took some distance away from the lake.

There was that huge boar and that mysterious creature as well. The reason I remained
safe until now could be said to be all thanks to sheer dumb luck. I renewed my resolve
to be even more careful.

I managed to safely return to the rocky hill while remaining alert for possible threats.
When I woke up earlier, I kinda felt like taking a bath in the lake water. But after seeing
what happened just now, I won’t do it even if I was offered a huge sum of money to do so.

But as expected, one couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable after missing a bath for two
days straight. What should I do…?

For now, I’ll just have a meal first.

The fire wouldn’t be able to wrap around it properly if I just put the whole leg over it
as is, so I sliced it into thinner pieces and skewered said pieces with thin tree branches.

The meat was done in a jiffy. I took some of the herbs I got earlier and tore them to
little pieces. I mixed them with the meat and the salad-use vegetables and ate them
altogether.

This thing’s quite delicious! It was overflowing with meat juices and had a sort of ‘wild’
flavor. There was still no salt, but this was a nice enough delicacy. The herbs and
vegetables definitely made the difference.

I ate ravenously and stuffed myself full in no time. I could now barely classify this as a
proper dish.

There was still a lot of meat left so I’ll save them for tomorrow. It shouldn’t go bad in
just one day.

After satisfying my stomach, I proceeded to think about the things I managed to discover
today: the large river, fanged boar and that mysterious creature residing within the
lake waters.

After successfully procuring some water and food yesterday, I felt that the area around
the lake wasn’t as dangerous as expected. But it seems that was a hasty conclusion.

If I follow the direction of the large river, I’d reach the sea. Salt and seafood were both
very tempting prospects.

But I’m still mostly unfamiliar with this planet. If I rushed into things without sufficient
info, that might lead to me losing my life.

From the way things were going, the probability of me living and dying while remaining
all alone on this planet was quite high.
There was no internet. There were no other people to talk to. There weren’t any forms
of entertainment. The only thing to look forward to was probably eating.

When I thought as such, an impulse to go adventuring suddenly came over me.

In order to live enjoyably and have no regrets, I’ll have to take some risks. Yeah, that
doesn’t sound too bad.

I’m getting really fired up now.

Alright! I’ll follow the river and go out to sea! I don’t plan to live like a recluse in this
kind of place. I’m gonna go on an adventure! I’ve now retired from the military. From
this moment on, I’m an adventurer!

Once I’ve decided as such, I proceeded to prep everything for my departure tomorrow.
I plan to pack the remaining meat to serve as my meal provisions for the journey.

I couldn’t just shove them directly inside my backpack, so I looked around for something
to wrap them with and found a plant with long, wide leaves. I tried pressing on them
with my fingers.

[Not suitable as food.]

(Would there be any problems if I just used them as packaging materials?)

[There are no problems.]

I grabbed a whole bunch of the leaves and did some trial and error. I finally managed
to make something that could serve as food wrap after a few tries. The key was to
weave them together.

I sliced the rest of the meat. I was worried about getting food poisoning, so I decided
to properly cook it all tomorrow.

Next, I gathered some more mock-potatoes on the way to the lake. I secured some
drinking water from the lake itself.

Hey! That’s right. I can probably take a bath if I simply just fetched some water from
the lake to use. I don’t really have to bathe in the lake itself.
I finished all my preparations in no time. It was already quite dark, so I guess it’s time
to sleep.
When I woke up at dawn, I immediately started grilling the rest of the meat. After I
finished grilling them, I tore the herbs over them and wrapped them up with the leafy
vegetables. I then put the finished pieces inside the makeshift food container made of
leaves. With this, my meat-wrap packed meal was complete.

The backpack contains the pouch with the processor modules, my military uniform,
and work overalls, the remaining food rations, 3 pet bottles filled with drinking water
and the rare material tablet case.

I heaved the backpack onto my back, carried the blankets under each arm, put the
laser gun inside a pocket holster and slung the rifle over my shoulder.

Sporting full equipment, I walked away from the lakeshore area and headed towards
the river.

(Please highlight them whenever we approach some patches of mock-potatoes.)

This will be useful for quickly discovering mock-potatoes growing along the area since
they’d be automatically highlighted in red.

I managed to find some almost right away. I pulled them out and put them inside my
backpack’s side pocket. The pockets quickly became full of mock-potatoes, so I stopped
gathering them. There’s a long journey ahead, so I can’t spend too much time doing
this.

I was able to reach the large river within two hours. I was afraid of bathing in the river
tributary near the large lake due to that unknown creature, so let’s look for a place
where the water level isn’t so deep.

After about 30 minutes of walking along the riverside, I finally managed to find a spot
with a nice, clear view of the surroundings and water depth which felt just right.

The water was deep enough to immerse myself in, but the riverbed still remained
fairly visible and there seemed to be no unknown organisms lurking within. I still
maintained a level of alertness, but seeing that there were no obvious threats, I finally
managed to take a quick bath.

Uh~ya! That’s cold! But I got excited from the joy of being able to thoroughly wash my
body after three days. Let’s wash the uniform too while we’re at it.

It was unfortunate that I didn’t have any body soap or shampoo with me, but it was
still rather refreshing.

Fu~u, that was great. I put away my freshly washed work clothes after squeezing them
dry and pulled out a spare one from my backpack. It was a little wrinkled, but it can’t
be helped.

I started walking once more after refilling the pet bottles with water.

Then, after walking along the river for about an hour, I heard a faint gushing sound. I
rushed towards the direction of the sound in slight disbelief but really did manage to
see a waterfall in the distance. It seemed to have an elevation of more than 30 meters.

I’ve only ever seen waterfalls on the holobit before, so I was quite psyched to see one
in person.

But this was a bit troublesome. I didn’t have a way to reach it since there were no
available paths leading towards it. After searching for a while, I managed to find
something resembling an animal trail.

The trail continued away from the river, but I have no other choice. There’s no time to
carve out another route from scratch, and it seemed to be fine since the path was
leading downstream.

I’ve already walked for several hours, so I’ve become quite hungry. I decided to eat my
lunch.

Mm. The meat-wraps were delicious even when cold! It’s just around noon huh.

After establishing the length of individual days on this planet, it became possible to
indicate the current time on a small virtual window display.

After finishing my lunch, I started traveling once more. And just as I thought about
finding a good place to sleep while it was still bright outside, I suddenly found myself
arriving near an open clearing.

It continued along towards the distance. I thought it somehow felt like it was purposely
cleared out, and when I got a closer look, my suspicion was confirmed.

It was an authentic road!

There were traces of wheel tracks running through it. It was a road made by carving
out the side of a mountain and seemed to be five meters wide.

I brandished my rifle and scanned the immediate area.

There seem to be no problems for the time being.

But this was really a surprise. Did those green-colored creatures make this? No, they’re
definitely not intelligent enough to make something of this scale.

When I looked closer, I found some indents resembling hoofprints of domesticated

horses used for transport along with the wheel tracks. Were there actually horses on
this planet? Anyway, it was certainly a hoofed creature.

Was this something like a carriage that appears in stories? There were a lot of
hoofprints scattered all over. Maybe it was a carriage pulled by multiple horses or
something?

The hoofprints were facing forward relative to my location, so the carriage most likely
moved from the direction to my right towards my left. The wheel tracks were pretty
deep, so it seemed to be quite a large carriage.

I’ll try chasing after it. This is the first clue I’ve obtained about possible intelligent life.
Such a chance may not present itself easily next time.

The tracks look relatively new. They should have been made about two days prior at
most. Alright, time to get serious!

(Long Distance Sprint Mode)

[Acknowledged.]
I then started running after the carriage.

Humans breathe in oxygen and discharge carbon dioxide from their bodies.

Under the Long Distance Sprint Mode, the nanoms reinforce the lung cells in order to
maximize the efficiency of this bodily process and also enhance the maximum oxygen
intake capacity of one’s blood. In other words, it would allow you to run without feeling
much fatigue.

This makes it possible to continue running at considerable speed for a long time, but
it can’t be used often because it puts too much strain on the body.

I’ve been running for quite a while now. I should’ve passed more than a hundred
kilometers already. I’ve kept the same speed since I started running but I still haven’t
managed to catch up.

It’s almost evening so it might be time to give up on pursuing them for today. But at
this point, my enhanced hearing managed to pick up sounds of fighting in the distance.
The road bent and twisted around the side of the mountain, so I haven’t been able to
see anything yet.

I stopped running and cautiously approached.

I managed to confirm the source of the sound after moving across the road which
heavily bent to the left. It was about a hundred and fifty meters ahead.

The carriage had fallen over, and two humanoids were being assaulted by over fifteen
creatures resembling really large wolves.

I quickly zoomed in on them.

“Those are—!!”

What appeared before me were lifeforms who looked no different from your average
human. It was a man and a woman; each wielding swords. They were fighting while
covering each other with the carriage to their backs.

A number of people and horses were lying prone on the ground all around them.

“Damn!”
The moment I tried to brandish my rifle, two of the wolves simultaneously attacked
the pair.

(I’m gonna save them. I’ll leave the aiming to you.)

[Acknowledged.]

Nanom promptly replied.

Already expecting their quick response, I immediately began pulling the trigger.

Pulse laser shots burst forth from the pulse rifle. The shots scattered in order not to
hit the humans. All the wolves were downed instantly. However, the two humans were
already on the verge of collapsing.

Dammit! I started running toward them with my nanom reinforced legs.

I saw how bad they’d had it when I closed in on them. There were ten people in total.
Eight men and two women. Each of them was wearing things resembling medieval
armor.

Apart from the two who fought until they fell down earlier, all the others had their
throats badly mangled and were undoubtedly dead. I hurriedly went towards the two
who have already fully collapsed.

The middle-aged man was still barely breathing, but his throat was also similarly
mangled. A large amount of blood was spilling out from his wounds. It should be too
late for him.

The young woman’s throat wasn’t bitten, but her left hand was ripped off from the
elbow down and her right foot just above the ankle was also missing. She was bleeding
profusely and had lost consciousness.

The man tried to lean on the carriage in order to support himself up. Then, our eyes met.

The man kept his gaze at me for a few seconds, turned it towards the woman and once
again brought it back towards me.

When I nodded in acknowledgment of his implied request to take care of the young
woman, he slowly closed his eyes and stopped breathing.

I immediately proceeded to aid the young woman. No, instead of calling her a young
woman, a young girl would seem more appropriate. I’m guessing her age to be about
16 or 17. She was practically covered in blood. But this was no time for dawdling about.

(What should I do?)

[Please get in contact with her blood.]

I immediately did as instructed.

(How is it?)

[There’s no mistake. Her genetic make-up closely resembles that of humans.]

So that’s really the case. It was a surprising discovery, but basing solely on her
appearance, it wasn’t all that strange a conclusion.

[Please tie up her wounds with something to stop the bleeding.]

Something? What “something” should I use?

When I tried to look around, I noticed a dead horse with a leather mask fastened on
its mouth. A long leather strap was attached to it, so I secured it with my knife. It was
probably used to control the horse.

I tightly bound the area 3 centimeters above where her foot was severed. I also did so
for her arm.

[A portion of nanoms have already gathered on your left wrist. Please cut it open and
let her drink your blood.]

Cut my wrist?

This guy can be quite harsh sometimes.

How do I actually make her drink up though? I can’t waste my precious nanoms.

That’s it! I remembered the makeshift cups I created out of the damaged pet bottles.
Let’s pour some blood into this and then have her drink from it.

I brought out said cup, placed it at the ready, psyched myself up and put my arm over
it. Fu~u. I kinda resent the fact that my electromagnetic bladeknife cuts so damn well.

[Please cut the vein here.]

The blood vessels were suddenly highlighted in green and the incision point was
indicated by a red line.
Couldn’t you have done this for me sooner?! I really was about to cut my wrist without
any sort of damn guide just now y’know.

It was kinda scary, so I decided to cut myself slowly. Urgh. Huh? It doesn’t hurt.

[Your sense of pain is currently suppressed.]

Damn you! You’re doing this on purpose, right? The blood started accumulating inside
the cup.

“Oh, that’s quite a lot…… Hey, aren’t we done yet?”

The moment I had this thought, the blood flow stopped. The gathered blood looks to
be about 100 cc.

[I also have a blood transfusion function.]

You can even do that kind of thing? That’s amazing, man.

I lifted up the upper body of the girl and opened her mouth. Can she really drink this?
I slowly poured the blood into her now-open mouth. The blood in the cup drained out
little by little.
[That will be enough. Pour the rest of the blood directly on top of her wounds.]

I see. I poured the blood evenly on her open wounds.

[Please take two rare metal tablets. Have her take eight of them afterward.]

So it’s really that kind of method huh. I took the pill case from my backpack and poured
out ten tablets.

I directly swallowed two of them. But how exactly would I make her ingest these?

[There is no need to directly ingest them. It will be fine to just put them inside her mouth.]

Okay, I get it. I put eight tablets inside the mouth of the young girl.

These tablets contained a concentrated amount of rare metals. It was a collection of

valuable materials necessary for replenishing nanoms. If someone without any nanoms
within his or her body were to ingest these, they would be no better than poison.

However, on a body infused with nanoms, the said nanoms would immediately secure
the metals before they could be absorbed by the body directly and would use them in
order to replicate themselves.

Usually, nanoms are able to break down and convert rare metals and turn them into
other nanom copies in a matter of a few short moments.

[There’s a problem with the sections where her limbs were torn away. Please cut them
cleanly with the knife.]

Well, it does look pretty nasty, with the bones sticking out and all.

[Her pain receptors have already been suppressed.]

Damn, you sure work fast. I quickly took out my electromagnetic bladeknife.

In order to make some clean looking wounds, I’ll have to start cutting a few centimeters
above the base of the original injury points.

The electromagnetic blade knife flashed and quickly made vertical cuts above the
original bases of the wounds. There was only a little blood that trickled out before the
bleeding stopped, but it was still quite a curious experience. I just hope it won’t appear
in my dreams or anything.

[There is a need to apply bandages to the wounds.]

Well, that’s certainly true. Problem is, I don’t have some. Looks like I need to search
their belongings.

I looked around the area once more and managed to notice something just now. There
was a small clearing on the side of the road nearby. Was it a resting spot?

Yeah, seems like it. There’s some bonfire remains there. Some smoke was still billowing
out of it. There was a U shaped hitching fence present, and the horses died around it.
So that’s it… I’ve managed to piece together their situation when they were attacked.

They were in the middle of a break and may have planned to stay in this place for a
while after considering the late hour when they arrived.

They secured their horses to the hitching fence, lit a bonfire and were in the middle of
resting when the wolf pack suddenly attacked.

The two horses tied to the carriage were attacked as well, and the carriage was
overturned when they thrashed about in panic.

The other horses were tied to the fence, so they couldn’t run away and died. The
humans were killed off one by one until only two remained in the end.

It was something like that, I guess.

Maybe there’s something which could be used as a bandage inside the carriage.

I jumped on top of the overturned carriage and peeked inside, but there was nothing
resembling any sort of luggage within.

Apparently, all their luggage was loaded on top of the ceiling. There were four large
cases made of leather scattered about nearby.

For the time being, I carried all the cases and brought them near the girl. There were
no openings for keys and they were simply bound by leather belts, so I opened them
straight away without much fuss.
Hm, clothes huh? There seems to be a lot of male clothing. I could just cut them up and
use these, but with a group of this number, there should be some actual bandages
present.

Hm. There’s also some women’s clothing. There are some items resembling dresses.
Could be hers.

Oh. I think I got a hit. There were various things like liquids stored in small bottles and
some dried medicinal herbs inside.

Here we go. These are definitely bandages. There were three rolls of thin white cloth.
When I picked them up and examined them, I discovered that they really were simply
long strips of thin cloth. They had no elasticity, but they were relatively clean.

(How do I wrap the wounds with these?)

[Please remove the leather strips you used to stop her bleeding first.]

Oh yeah, that’s right. Her blood has long stopped flowing out from her open wounds.
I cut the strips off with my knife. Then, a fourth of the virtual window displayed by
Nanom showed illustrations about the proper way to use and wrap bandages around
a foot.

Lessee here. First, let’s do this (flicks to next diagram), then do that (flicks to next
diagram), and finally do this (flicks to last diagram)… Aaand we’re done. Not bad. Not
bad at all, me.

[First aid successfully administered.]

Fu~u, I’m finally done. I sat down and caught my breath. After giving it another look,
I noticed that the place near the bonfire presented a more open space.

I better move the girl there. I can’t just leave her in a place filled with corpses after all.

I spread out a blanket over the spot and carried the girl there. It was already evening,
so we’ll have to stay here for the time being.

(How long would it take before she can properly move about?)

[She needs about one full day of rest.]

Yeah, guess so huh.

If that’s the case, then it would be better to clean this place up. It’s not a good thing to
spend more than a day or two in a place littered with corpses. Guess I’m pulling an all-
nighter.

Let’s light a bonfire first. It should brighten this place up and serve to ward off animals
as well. Since the bonfire that was made prior wasn’t completely extinguished, I just
added more firewood to it in order to reignite it.

I should also light one up on the opposite side of the clearing. I took some of the
already burning firewood and arranged them over there to make another bonfire. Next
would be the corpses.

When I examined the wolf corpses, I confirmed just how big they were. They should
be over two meters long from the base of the head to the tip of the tail. There were
thirty-five wolf corpses, all in all. I killed fifteen of them, so I guess the rest were done
in by the late armed group. But the price they paid for these kills was exceedingly great.

I thought of enhancing my strength and throwing these guys over the mountain valley,
but when I got a better look at them, they seemed pretty heavy. They should weigh
more than a hundred and fifty kilograms by my estimate.

Let’s just drag them and drop them down the valley then. The slope was pretty steep
and the bodies rolled in an interesting way. Alright, let’s keep at it.

I managed to find the girl’s severed left arm and right foot while in the middle of
cleaning up. They looked pretty messed up. Should I keep them? Oh, and I should
remove the ruined boot as well.

Next would be the human corpses. I can’t possibly throw them inside the valley as
well, so I’ll have to bury them. But I had no digging tools with me. Is there something
like a shovel in the luggage?

It’s already gotten quite dark, but I could see just fine thanks to Nanom. It won’t work
in total darkness, but since I was under the illumination of the bonfires, I had no
trouble seeing at night.

I immediately found a shovel as soon as I started my search. It was installed at the

back of the carriage. Guess it was part of their supplies.
Let’s gather those corpses first. I couldn’t just drag them either, so I resorted to carrying
them one by one. The burial spot I chose was on the opposite side of the clearing
where the girl was recovering.

When I lined the corpses up, I noticed one particular detail. Each of them wore things
resembling protectors on their arms and legs, but the girl I managed to save didn’t.
Why is that?

But well, the wolves probably went for their throats instead because they had these
equipped though.

Digging graves for all these people seemed like a real chore. Let’s put some back into
it.

After two hours passed since I started digging the graves, Nanom suddenly declared:
[The girl has started regaining consciousness.]
I’ve managed to regain consciousness. But I’m absolutely clueless about my current
situation. It’s nighttime already. But earlier, didn’t we all……

I snapped wide awake. That’s right! We were attacked by a pack of Gray Hounds!
Everyone else was defeated one by one, and only I and Captain Antes remained fighting.

And even my left arm and my right foot were… I raised my left arm and found everything
below the elbow was missing. I looked at my right foot next… and sure enough,
everything below the shin was also gone.

“Ah…”

I was on the verge of crying, but I held the tears off.

Did Captain Antes treat me? Strangely, I don’t seem to be in pain at all.

Perhaps Fal managed to survive! But I seem to remember her being brought down by
a Gray Hound in the earlier battle.

When I looked around my surroundings, I caught a glimpse of an unfamiliar man walking

towards me.

I sighed in relief when I saw the girl wake up, cry out and then finally manage to
suppress her urge to panic. She seems to be quite the levelheaded young girl. I gradually
approached her.

“Hi there. Good evening. You’re not feeling any pain, are you?”

I casually greeted her. She won’t understand what I’m saying anyway.

The important point was to keep talking. I’ll have to make Nanom compile and analyze
the local languages soon.

I didn’t understand the words the man was saying.

His appearance was also quite strange. His clothes were entirely pitch black and some
parts were oddly smooth. When I managed to get a closer look, I noticed that his outfit
was not separated into a top and bottom piece.

Just how exactly did he put it on, I wonder? Was it directly sewn over him? There were
parts of it that shone in a strange luster under the light from the bonfires.

Was he a traveling minstrel? No, that does not seem to be the case. He looked quite
young. About 20 years old perhaps.

“Just who are you? What did you say just now?”

“So you’re not in any pain. That’s good.”

“Tonight was definitely a great tragedy. But don’t feel discouraged. There are both
good things and bad things in life. Some good things will surely happen to you next
after all of this has passed.”

I gave her some appropriate sounding life advice.

I thought I managed to mishear him earlier, but it truly seems that the man was
speaking in an entirely different language.

But what does this mean? As far as my knowledge went, no foreign country should be
unfamiliar with the language I am speaking.

Did he come from a country that was completely unknown to us?

“Did you come to aid me, good sir? But just where is everyone else?”
 2

“Oh yeah, are you hungry by the way? I have some food and water here.”

I took a pet bottle and some rations out of my backpack and showed them to her.

As I thought. This man seems unable to understand the words I’m saying as well.

He showed me some items which looked like a transparent glass bottle and a square
silvery box.

I have never seen such crystal clear glass before. I was honestly quite parched, but
now is not the time for quenching my thirst.

“Where is everyone?”

When I scanned the surroundings once more, I managed to see the figures of my
companions seemingly asleep on the other side of the clearing.

“Aaah!”

So everyone really was…

—See them… I want to see them!

Cleria attempted to crawl towards her fallen comrades. But the strange man stood up
and made a gesture which seemingly bade her to stop.

Whoa there. Thought this would happen.

I immediately stopped her. If her actions ended up opening her wounds, my hard work
from earlier would be for nothing.

Okay then. Let’s try out some charades.

 2

The man began to move strangely.

He slightly stretched out both of his arms, sat up, walked three steps in the direction
of my comrades, stopped and turned only his head back towards me.

While I remained petrified due to confusion, he went back to his earlier position and
repeated those strange actions. He remained silent all the while.

Was he trying to tell me he’d help carry me over to them? I dislike the thought of being
touched by an unknown man, but I truly have no other choice.

I nodded my head in agreement.

Alright! I got through to her. There’s nothing impossible if you just try huh.

But this made me feel like I’m really playing a game of charades, and I did it while
staying whisper quiet. There wasn’t any particular rule saying I had to stay silent or
anything. It’s a bit embarrassing.

The man approached me and held me up. It’s my first time getting this close to a man
not a part of my family. It made me slightly nervous.

We started walking toward my comrades. Oh, everyone…

All of them had their throats mangled badly. It’s just like what I saw during the battle.
And even Captain Antes was……

Everyone was laid out on the ground with their arms crossed in front of their chests.
It seems that this man had treated all of them with appropriate respect. He proceeded
to guide me near each of them.

Liner, Jimon, Arro, Antero, Miese, Mirka, Orvo, Fal and Captain Antes.
They were all people who have served me since I was but a child. Fal was even a
childhood friend of mine. My tears finally overflow from my eyes. I think I cried for at
least five minutes. The man then brought me back to the spot where a blanket was laid
out and laid me back down.

Fu~u. I really have no idea what to do when a girl starts crying like that. Guess she
really was quite shook up by the death of her companions. Yeah, I’m quite familiar with
that feeling too.

Well then, I should get back to working on their grave. Guess I’ll have to explain it to
her somehow as well.

The man brought forth a shovel and started gesturing around once again. He mimicked
using the shovel to dig the ground and burying something afterward. He remained
completely silent this time as well.

I managed to understand him right away. He surely means to give everyone a proper
burial. I nodded in assent. The man went to work straight away.

“Please hold for a few moments, sir. It’s unfortunate that I am unable to offer any help,
but I too wish to send them off if possible.”

The man gave me a stern look, seemingly saying not to delay him as he was about to
send my companions off.

“Like I said, I also want to bid them a final farewell.”

The man repeatedly pointed back towards me, which seemed to say it was my turn to
get my meaning across with gestures. I see, so we would not be able to understand
each other without using such motions. This is a bit troublesome.

I proceeded to point towards everyone and then pointed back towards me. And then I
repeated such actions.

The man-made an expression that seemed to imply his understanding and nodded to
me. I managed to get through to him. He seems to be a fairly smart man.

The man carried me up again and started walking back to where my comrades were.
He looked at me, seemingly curious about what exactly I would do. I also gazed back
at the man, curious about where exactly he would allow me to send them off. We spent
some time in utter silence.

Then the man ended up bringing me back to my previous spot.

It was no good! This man didn’t understand me at all!

Well, come to think of it, expecting to have him understand with just those simple
gestures may have been too much. I thought for a moment and pointed to the shovel
placed at the side. I then gestured towards the man. He picked the shovel up.

I gestured towards the man once more and imitated the action of digging with the
shovel.

It was quite difficult to show it with only one hand. The man began to dig again while
still remaining confused.

Afterward, I pointed toward myself and widened my eye with my fingers. How about
this? The man’s expression lit up and made a gesture of agreement by forming a circle
with his index finger and thumb while nodding. It looks like I did it this time.

After thinking for a moment, the man began to gather up the trunk cases which were
formerly loaded on top of the carriage and brought them near the burial spot. He
stacked three of them on top of each other and then had me sit on them.

He began digging once more. He’d already managed to dig up about a third of a hole
that could fit everyone inside. I solemnly observed the proceedings whilst gazing at
everyone’s faces. Tears fell from my eyes once again.

After about an hour, a hole deep and big enough to fit everyone in it was finally done.

The man had actually dug away for close to three hours. I am truly humbled by this.
He then carefully lowered everyone inside.

The man seemingly remembered something and went back to get them. What he
brought were apparently my severed limbs. The boot has been removed. It feels quite
complicated to look at my own severed limbs like this.

The man gestured to put them inside the grave as well. I nodded. Everyone may depart
more peacefully if these parts of me were to accompany them.

The man gestured to ask if it was alright to start filling the hole back up. I gestured to
indicate that I wished to see the inside of the grave as he did so. I could not properly
see it from my current position. The man understood immediately.

He carried me up again and brought me to a spot where I could see inside the grave
clearly.

“Everyone has served me well for all this time. Your unwavering loyalty is this Cleria’s
lifelong pride. Please rest easy. Farewell.”

I called out to the man afterward, and he nodded back. It took another hour for him to
fill the grave back up with soil.

Afterward, the man brought me back on top of the blanket. I truly need to give him my
deepest thanks for what he’s done. I sat up and directly faced him.

“I cannot find the words to suitably express the depths of my gratitude for your aid in
this occasion. You had saved my life and allowed my comrades to depart with dignity.
These are things I treat as truly worthy of recognition.

Thank you. This favor; I shall certainly return to you manifold. I swear upon the holy
name of the Goddess Ruminas to reciprocate this grace without fail.”

I brought forth my magic energy and swore in the name of the Goddess Ruminas. My
body glowed as a sign of recognition from the Goddess.

Yes. I cannot allow myself to fall just yet.

Fu~u. I’m beat. I’m starving as well. I don’t think I can get up anymore. I kept running
around all over the place and even ended up doing some civil engineering work.

I thought about butchering and having one of the horses for dinner earlier, but now’s
not the time to be concerned about something like that. A~ah. But I really wanted to
try some horse meat.

I finished the burial and brought the girl back on top of the blanket.

While I was preoccupied with thinking about how to invite her to have a meal, she
gazed at me looking all serious and sat straight up afterward. She began talking. A
solemn aura radiated from her as she spouted long, formal sounding lines.

When she finished speaking and closed her eyes, her body suddenly glowed!

(What IS that!?)

[Unknown. The moment she closed her eyes, we detected an unidentified energy
fluctuation for about a second.]

(But what the heck is it?)

[Unknown.]

I was surprised that even Nanom couldn’t identify that phenomenon. Guess I’ll just
have to ask her directly after I gain the ability to communicate properly.

Oh well. Let’s get to eating! Bet she’s starving too.

I took out a pet bottle and two portions of emergency rations. I checked out the labels
first. I think girls like sweet things more, so this one seems good. The emergency rations
came in two flavors: sweet and salty. I broke quite a sweat earlier, so salty’s my pick.

I poured water into a makeshift cup and handed it to her. She chugged it away with
tremendous momentum. I took the cup from her and refilled it. This time, she just took
small sips. She seems to be examining the cup intently.

I also took a big swig out of my own cup since I was hella thirsty. I have to procure
some water nearby soon.

Well then, let’s have some food next. I gave her the emergency ration. She gave a curious
look at the ration but didn’t do anything else.

Well duh. Must because I’m dead tired. I took back the ration, tore open the packaging
and handed it back to her. After gazing at it for a few moments, she took a small bite.
Afterward, she shoved the rest of it down like there was no tomorrow. Guess she hasn’t
eaten anything this tasty before. Poor thing. She seemed the youngest among her late
comrades, so she was probably worked hard by the rest of the group.

I also started eating. This thing’s tasty alright, but it felt lacking somehow.

I’m exhausted.

Rather, it’s quite the mystery that a person who just had her limbs torn from her would
be this vigorous in the first place. This man was surely a distinguished user of healing
magic.

It seemed he was quite surprised when I invoked the name of the Goddess earlier. But
since he couldn’t understand my words, his reaction was understandable.

I’m sure he’s curious about the contents of the oath I swore under the purview of the
Goddess.

It was rare for most people to witness someone swearing an oath to the Goddess after
all. Because of my position, I’ve had several opportunities to witness such a sight already.
But people not belonging to nobility might find such a thing unusual.

Afterward, the man took out that crystal clear glass bottle from earlier. He also took
out a similarly clear glass cup and poured water into it. He then handed it over to me.
I was utterly parched, so I drank away with abandon. When I finished it, he refilled the
cup right away.

When I calmed down somewhat, I noticed just how strange this crystal clear glass-like
vessel was. It was quite thin, and after I finished drinking its contents, it was so light
that I felt like I wasn’t holding onto anything at all.

And its surface was perfectly even, considering its complex make. Just how much gold
would someone pay in order to obtain something this exquisite?

While I was preoccupied with my thoughts, the man handed over the silvery box next.
How curious. Judging from its weight, it doesn’t seem to be made out of metal. I cannot
fathom its make at all.
After seeing that I was hesitant, the man prompted me to hand it back. He peeled away
the metallic surface as though performing a trick; exposing the contents within. He
then gave it back to me.

I was utterly amazed by what I witnessed once more. The thing I thought to be a
metallic box was, in truth, something wrapped in an extremely thin metallic sheet. The
metallic sheet was peeled away so easily.

The man gestured for me to eat it. This was food!? When I tried to bring it near my
mouth, an enticing fragrance wafted out from it.

I bit off a small piece near the corner. Sweet! Was this a type of dessert? It had a mellow
sweetness and moist texture. I ended up practically devouring it.

Fu~u, I’ve eaten all of it up already. This was the first time I’ve had such a delectable
dessert.

The man had also finished eating his portion, pointed towards himself, and uttered
“Alan”. He paused a little and continued. “Alan Corinth.”

Was he saying his own name? Speaking of which, I haven’t introduced myself properly
either, haven’t I?

I tried and pointed towards him while saying “Alan”. I paused for a moment as well and
finished by saying “Alan Corinth.” The man nodded happily.

I should introduce myself as well. I pointed at my person and said “Cleria”. I paused
once more and gave my full name soon after. “Cleria Starvine.”

The man pointed back towards me and said “Cleria. Cleria Starvine.” He repeatedly
said my name several times. He seemed to be practicing.

While he was preoccupied with saying my name, I focused on the man’s expression.
Even after hearing the surname Starvine, this man didn’t show any particular reaction.
As I thought, this man… no, Alan Corinth didn’t seem to be a local from anywhere in
the surrounding areas.

But even so, was he actually a noble? I find it hard to imagine that items such as those
glass containers and that delicious dessert were possessed by a mere commoner.
I was quite familiar with all of the main noble houses of this kingdom, and of the
neighboring kingdoms as well. But I have never heard of a noble house called Corinth.

The moment I felt full, a sudden bout of sleepiness overcame me. It might be due to
my being relieved because Alan Corinth may possibly be of noble station.

I was glad that my attempt for a self-introduction went quite well. The name Cleria
Starvine kinda sounds pretty cool huh.

I wonder what her profession was? Maybe she’s some kind of soldier because she’s
armed with a sword and wore some armor.

She’s of the same trade as me then. We may get to understand each other better because
we shared some things in common.

There were still a lot of things I wanted to ask, but Cleria seemed pretty sleepy already.
She gestured as much, softly uttered some words and plopped herself right down on
the blanket. As for me, I was dead tired, but the night was still young and there was
something I really needed to finish no matter what.

(We have an emergency! We’ll have to produce some prosthetics for Cleria by morning.)

No, we might not even have until morning.

[What level of prosthesis do you require?]

(Basic ones would do. They don’t have to be for regular use. But I want them to be able
to allow her to walk for at least several minutes at a time. But I don’t want something
unstable or breaks down quickly. You can use only the materials available to us here.
Start designing them immediately.)

[Please scan all the available materials.]

While I was doing as requested, I recalled the shocking truth I just managed to realize
earlier.

Cleria just drank a lot of water.

She’d probably have to ‘relieve’ herself later.

She couldn’t walk.

I don’t think a girl lacking a foot and an arm would be able to go about her ‘business’
all that well.

That means… I’d have to help her out.

A frightening future potentially awaited me! I must somehow avoid this tragedy-in-
the-making!

My battle has just begun.

The prosthetic was finally complete.

I was worried about the possibility of Cleria suddenly waking up in the middle of the
night in order to relieve herself, so I worked on them while under pressure all the while.

Honestly, though, I wouldn’t have been able to properly build it if I didn’t manage to
find a toolbox that seemed to be for the maintenance of the carriage. Nah, this prosthetic
couldn’t have been completed if any of the important materials were missing.

I was actually quite confident about this DIY project. Though I said DIY, it was Nanom
that actually designed the thing and guided me with extreme precision in order to
make it.

Its overall design was quite simple and the main materials used were as follows: the
suspension of the carriage, a large-sized and slender metallic cup, a horse harness and
a small-sized jack which was taken from the toolbox I found earlier.

The suspension was shaped like the く character to facilitate better shock absorption,
with its tips extending out in order for it to be attached to the carriage. It wouldn’t
have been possible if it were shaped any differently.

Also, the suspension’s hardness was quite impressive. It had a miraculous balance
between toughness and flexibility.

Nanom couldn’t identify the exact material, but it wasn’t made of wood or metal. It
was apparently a body part of some unknown creature. It was very durable and suited
to be used as suspension.

The metal cup resembled the shape of a champagne glass, and its diameter gradually
widened from the bottom up to the rim. Its mouth was as wide as Cleria’s calf.

I confirmed the thickness of Cleria’s calf by zooming in on it from a distance.

I cut off the unnecessary parts – namely the stem and foot – and welded it onto the jack
with my laser gun.

The angle of attachment was the key. Cleria’s body weight calculated by Nanom along
with the weight of the other components would be supported by the suspension. In
order to facilitate this, the く shaped suspension had to be attached vertically.

I carefully carved the tip of the suspension which would be connected to the jack into
a round shape with my knife until it reached the ideal angle.

Afterward, the prosthetic would be practically completed after securing the suspension
to the jack. It could be equipped by using the belt of the harness in order to fix it onto
Cleria’s leg so it doesn’t come off easily.

It was designed with the image of Cleria’s leg being inserted into the receptacle and
securing it with the leather belt. Its main feature was the function of freely adjusting
its height through the use of the jack.

Man, I’m pooped. It’s already near dawn. While I was worrying about whether or not
to wake Cleria up, she ended up coming to by herself. From now onwards, it’s a race
against time.

When I woke up in the morning, I noticed that Alan Corinth… no, Lord Corinth was
already awake. He hurriedly approached me and eagerly showed me something peculiar.

It seemed to have part of the ceremonial cup attached to it, but I don’t recognize the
rest of its make. He was trying to explain its use to me by talking, but I naturally could
not understand a word.

I turned numb from shock when he suddenly carried me up. I was then made to sit on
the stacked up trunk cases nearby. He wrapped the remainder of my severed leg with
some freshly prepared strips of cloth. I didn’t understand what he meant to accomplish
by doing so.

Soon afterward, he brought the odd contraption from before and tried to place my leg
inside it. He tilted his neck and wound another layer of cloth around my leg while
muttering something before placing it inside the contraption once more. He seemed
satisfied this time around and started securing the part just underneath my knee onto
the contraption with a leather belt.

After finishing his work, he took my right hand and made a gesture inviting me to stand
up.

It can’t be?!

He grabbed both my shoulders and forcibly made me stand up. My heart fiercely
throbbed inside my chest. No, it can’t possibly be?!

After looking over my entire body, he made me sit down again. He started adjusting
the contraption once more while muttering. My heartbeat continued racing intensely.
I still could not believe what was happening before me.

He forcibly brought me up once more and observed me. He seemed satisfied.

He carefully pulled me by the shoulders. I slowly walked forward with uneasy steps. I
wasn’t used to the unfamiliar sensation, but Lord Corinth supported me. I couldn’t
help but make more defined steps.

I took a step. And another. And another.

The sensation I felt when I put my weight against the contraption was somewhat strange.

I took a step. Then another. And another once more.

This can’t be happening. It feels like I’m inside a dream.

I took a step. And another. And another.

Lord Corinth let go of my shoulders and stood right next to me.

I took a step. And another. And another.

It felt like I was being led to dance.

I took a step. And another. And another.

Lord Corinth completely let go of my hand. He then walked beside me.

I took a step. And another. And another.

Lord Corinth stopped in place.

I started to walk around Lord Corinth on my own.

I took a step. And another. And another.

Before I knew it, I was shedding tears.

I took a step. And another. And another.

“Ah! Ahaha! This is so amazing, Lord Corinth!”

I laughed and cried at the same time.

I took a step. And another. And another.

I had already managed to walk on my own for about ten minutes. I wobbled a little
when I finally stopped in place, but I managed to balance myself in the end.
“Lord Corinth! This is truly wonderful! I still cannot believe you were able to accomplish
such a thing!”

Of course, Sir Corinth still could not understand my words. But the fact that I was
happy reached him and he gave me a gentle smile in return.

I wanted to convey my feelings of joy to him even more, but I suddenly felt an undeniable
urge.

If I did not respond, I would not be able to continue walking freely just like earlier.

But how exactly should I convey it to him? Fal had always remained by my side until
yesterday, so I had always counted on her whenever this happened. I truly could not
convey it to anyone else but her.

I thought for a moment and pointed towards the forest nearby. I pointed towards
myself next and pointed towards the forest once again. Will he understand my meaning?

Lord Corinth nodded and made a circle with his index finger and thumb. After gesturing
for me to wait, he took up what seemed to be a wooden spear and rushed toward the
forest with tremendous momentum.

After about three or four minutes, he returned and nodded towards me once more
while making the same circle shape with his fingers. He had surely gone to scout out
the area earlier. Lord Corinth then sat down and expressed his firm will to stay put.

I took a small toiletry bag with me and went towards the forest while blushing furiously.

(Nanom, Mission Complete.)

I accomplished it with an excellent A++ evaluation of course.

[Acknowledged.]

After I relieved myself, I went back to where Lord Corinth was. He conveyed his intention
to sleep soon after.

As I thought. This sort of contraption surely could not be made in just a few minutes.
He had most likely made this for my sake all night. I am really humbled by this fact.

He would have slept directly on the ground, so I urged him to sleep on the blanket
instead. It was one of Lord Corinth’s belongings to start with.

This man was truly an exemplary noble. He was prudent, kind-hearted, possessed a
keen intellect and was powerful.

Yes, he was powerful. I was still in the midst of confusion yesterday so I failed to notice,
but I and Captain Antes were certainly surrounded by over ten Grayhounds before we
lost consciousness. He had most likely defeated all of them by himself.

I lost both my arm and my foot yesterday due to my own carelessness. I had removed
my vambraces and greaves in order to relieve myself just like earlier yesterday. I paid
for that dearly by losing my limbs.

But still, if I had vambraces and greaves equipped, my throat would have been mangled
just like everyone else’s. But thinking about such things now was no use.

I couldn’t sleep well last night even after lying down. I thought about many things —
the deaths of my comrades, the sacrifices I had made until now, anxiety about the
undertaking I must fulfill no matter the cost, the loss of my limbs and my future as a
disabled person.

I had finally found myself all alone. Who would willingly follow someone who could
not even walk? I thought about such things and was not able to sleep.

However, with this new “leg”, I could still move forward. I might be disabled, but I could
still do my best!

Yesterday was the worst day of my entire life. However, I was blessed to be able to
encounter Lord Corinth as well. Now I owed Lord Corinth yet another favor. Even
though I have not managed to thank him with anything in return yet.

I need to resume my journey immediately once Lord Corinth wakes up. I shall prepare
for that accordingly.
Would Lord Corinth be willing to accompany me, I wonder…?

Fu~a. I honestly felt I haven’t gotten enough sleep yet, but I asked Nanom to wake me
up at noon. Let’s just get up. There are still lots of things I needed to do.

Cleria was currently in deep thought in front of a small mountain of luggage. Looks
like she was sorting out her things. I would’ve wanted her to rest up more though.

I’ll take a look as well.

The four leather cases were wide open, and she was busy selecting some items from
within them. When she noticed I was standing on the side, she hurriedly closed the
case with women’s clothing in it. Oh c’mon. I didn’t really intend to check those out
y’know. Honest.

Cleria started another gesture game with me after seemingly remembering something.
Looks like she wanted to tell me about that “something”.

She took up her sword without removing it from its scabbard and swung it towards
the direction the carriage traveled from yesterday. She then pointed at herself.

What?! Was she being pursued? Was Cleria actually a criminal? Like a bandit? There’s
also the possibility of a war going on. I made an OK sign with my fingers.

Just how many pursuers were there? Now it was my turn to gesture around. I tried to
put up my fingers one by one until I get to the correct number, but Cleria immediately
stopped me.

Yeah, I get it. A group composed of ten people was forced to flee after all. It would be safe
to assume that the pursuers were more than ten. Cleria made a gesture that conveyed
she didn’t have any idea about their numbers.

[Please cease this inefficient process of communicating silently.]

Nanom actually made a rare complaint. I know. Guess it’s all my fault it turned out like
this huh.

I gave an OK sign with my fingers to Cleria.

Next up would be how much time we had before they catch up. I pointed towards the
sun and slowly moved my outstretched finger towards the western direction. Wouldn’t
it seem weird if I started talking while doing this stuff all of a sudden?

Cleria again gestured that she didn’t know.

I gave an OK sign once more.

Well, she was still busy sorting out her luggage earlier, so I don’t think those guys
would be coming anytime soon at least.

Guess the gist was: I’m being chased, but I don’t know how many pursuers there are,
nor when exactly they would catch up.

I actually wanted to stay here for one more day and then set off the day after, but it
looks like I need to change the schedule now. We need to leave as soon as we can,
considering the state of Cleria’s foot.

We need to sort out the things we need to take with us immediately.

Was there something like a bag somewhere nearby?

(Please highlight any bags or bag-like objects in the vicinity.)

I immediately saw objects highlighted in red when I scanned around. Oh, so there they
are. A large shoulder-carried bag was lying around near the bonfire remains. It even
looked like a bag used to store food. Speaking of which, I hadn’t managed to find any
food supplies in the carriage yesterday and found it a little strange.

Jackpot! It even contained salt. And this was probably… pepper!? I found myself some
treasures right off the bat.

The bag next to it contained cooking implements. There was a frying pan, a saucepan,
knives, forks and a lot more. This was also a jackpot!

The other bag contained a blanket. I don’t really need this one since mine’s better. But
I’ll keep it just in case.

Other than those, there was a fancy-looking shoulder bag near the fallen carriage.
What’s in this? There’s not much content. When I inspected it more closely, I found
clothing articles that looked like women’s underwear neatly stacked inside it.

I turned it over to Cleria, who was busy sorting out her stuff. When she saw the contents,
Cleria glared daggers at me. No, no. I really didn’t mean to, okay.

Hey, there were also bags hanging on both sides of the horse saddles. I see. Their
personal belongings were probably stuffed inside them. Let’s check out their contents.

We finally managed to sort everything out after an hour or so. I touched the medical
pill-like object I found yesterday and had Nanom analyze it.

I gathered everything I managed to find and had Cleria take a look at them. I gestured
at her in order to ask for permission to put the supplies inside the traveling bags.
Cleria nodded in agreement.

(Please check and confirm the materials and supplies, indicate all which are to be
given priority and give detailed instructions regarding the exact amount suitable for
carrying inside bags. I don’t want Cleria to carry any more than one or two bags.)

One bag was highlighted in blue and the necessary supplies were highlighted in red. I
put them inside one after the other. And I’m done. Now for the next one.

I ended up packing one backpack and three bags worth of supplies. Each of them was
practically bursting at the seams.

I had my hands full with the backpack, two bags, two blanket rolls, and my rifle. Guess
I’d have to throw the bags away if we encounter a situation where I would need to use
my rifle.

I just noticed it earlier, but the work suit I hung on my backpack in order to let it dry
was now nowhere to be found. It must’ve fallen off while I was running yesterday.

I don’t really feel like going to the trouble of picking it up.

Cleria carried the smallest shoulder bag among the three. She also kept the bag with
her personal effects inside with her.
 2

I managed to convey to Lord Corinth the fact that I was being pursued by using
gestures. I could not afford to keep this matter to myself. This road would probably be
thoroughly scouted before long. There were not many avenues of escape available to
us.

I was actually afraid to divulge this matter to Lord Corinth. There was no reason for
Lord Corinth, who had no particularly deep relations with me, to involve himself in my
troubles. I would not blame him even if he were to express the desire to part ways.

However, even though Lord Corinth seemed startled at first, he did not look to be
particularly flustered about it at all. Have I not managed to convey my matters to him
properly? No, it did not seem to be the case.

Lord Corinth began to busy himself soon afterward. He seemed to be checking the
supplies. He walked around the area and gathered all the supplies near the center of
the clearing.

He looked satisfied after gathering most of them and gestured towards me. He was
probably asking if it was alright to put the things inside some bags. When I nodded in
agreement, he immediately started packing the gathered supplies inside the bags. He
seemed to have picked some things to pack in advance.

All the things he put in were the ones that seemed immediately useful to us. Even I
was convinced with his selection. I also tried to pick things out earlier, but all of them
seemed important, so I could not decide on which to prioritize in the end. Eventually,
Lord Corinth filled out his personal bag, which resembled those used by traveling
merchants, and three shoulder bags with supplies.

Lord Corinth nodded towards his personal bag and two other large bags and then
pointed towards himself. He then nodded towards the smallest bag and pointed
towards me. I was convinced for the first time that Lord Corinth actually intended to
accompany me.

Lord Corinth truly was an exemplary nobleman. I felt so ashamed that I suspected
otherwise.

While he was organizing the luggage, I noticed that Lord Corinth did not possess a sword.
Perhaps he lost his when he fought off the Grayhounds yesterday.

I gathered all the swords of my comrades earlier, but I could not possibly bring all of
them with me. I decided to let Lord Corinth choose a sword from among them instead.
I led Lord Corinth to the spot where I had gathered the swords and gestured for him
to take one.

Cleria pulled me towards one spot where a number of swords were neatly lined up.
They were probably the weapons of her late companions. She seemed to mean for me
to choose one.

If I continue to use the pulse rifle and laser, their energy packs would eventually run
out sooner or later. Once that happens, they’d be nothing but useless baggage. It would
be nice to have an alternative weapon.

A sword, huh? How nostalgic. Naturally, this was my first time seeing a real sword. But
I’ve seen plenty in a VR game.

A VR game that prominently featured swords and stuff was all the rage in the school I
attended from Junior High to High School. I was also quite addicted to it back then.

The name of that game was really straightforward. Its title was “Swordsman”. It was
your standard RPG, but it also featured a robust PVP mode.

I was completely smitten with this game for four straight years. But the fad soon faded,
and I ended up quitting as well.

But before I quit, I participated in a World Tournament for the game which was held
on my home planet and ended up placing 9th overall in the final rankings.

It ended up getting shown on the local news through the net, and I was regarded as a
sort of hero by the boys in my school.

It might be too late to say this after spending a great deal of time and lunch money
playing it, but just why did I devote so much to such a pointless pastime? But well,
considering my current situation, my lunch money may have ended up being well
spent after all.
I picked a sword that somewhat resembled the one I used in the game and took a bit
of distance from Cleria.

Now, how’d this go again? Let’s try to remember that tournament. I was just a 14 year
old brat back then. At the time, it really felt like joining that tournament was the climax
of my life.

I logged in day after day and even installed and used an overclocking module to play;
though it was eventually banned.

I tried to remember what it felt like during my gaming days and slowly brandished the
sword. A~ah, now I remember. Those days filled with burning passion…

The longer I swung the sword, the more I remembered. Yeah, I managed to recall it now
– the finishing move I used during that tournament.

Corinth-style Swordsmanship Final Secret Technique: Meteor Stream!

It was a blazing 24 hit combo with extreme offensive power!

But now that I think about it, just what kind of naming sense did I have back then?!
And by the way, there’s absolutely nothing remotely resembling meteors present in
the move. My body steadily warmed up after swinging the sword for some time.

(Please give me some support.)

I transmitted my mental images to Nanom and tried out all the basic combos used in
the game. Yeah, my body’s moving well. So it was like this.

The more I repeated the combos, the better I moved. Maybe it’s due to muscle memory
or something?

Let’s try out some more advanced ones then. Man, this is actually fun!

I gradually solidified the image of Meteor Stream inside my head. Now I truly remember!
This was a move I practiced thousands of times. Tens of thousands of times.

When the image became complete, I performed the true Meteor Stream.
 2

Lord Corinth remained in a daze for a few moments, but when he saw the swords, the
look in his eyes changed. He went straight for Captain Antes’ sword.

I was impressed by Lord Corinth’s sharp sense of judgment. Captain Antes’ sword
seemed normal, but it was actually a magic sword of considerable quality. I knew this
because I was the one who personally bestowed it upon the Captain, but to think there
was someone who could see its true value at first glance.

Lord Corinth took some distance from me, got into a stance and pulled the sword from
its sheath. I could now finally witness Lord Corinth’s prowess with the sword.

At first, he just brandished the sword normally. The swings seemed simply to be for
loosening his shoulders. The sword swings gradually go faster and faster. He then
performed a succession of attacks. Such sharp swordsmanship!

Following that, he showed a series of unfamiliar sword techniques one after another.
The techniques do not seem to be from any sword school I was familiar with. They
would be hard to deal with for those who encounter these techniques for the first time.

Five attacks in rapid succession!? Ah! What impressive moves!

Lord Corinth suddenly paused. He closed his eyes and seemed to be sharpening his
concentration. I was sure he was preparing to unleash a powerful technique.

Lord Corinth slowly opened his eyes. His entire aura turned exceedingly sharp. He
merely stood in place with sword in hand, but just seeing him like that was somehow
terrifying. What impressive sword spirit!

In the next instant, the technique was unleashed. It was an extremely fast-paced
succession of attacks. And it did not comprise of only sword strokes. It also integrated
martial techniques such as kicking and foot-swiping. The successive attacks continued
without pause. The last move was an exceedingly sharp, practically invisible downward
strike.

I was stunned to silence.

It was a sword technique akin to that of a beautiful and elegant dance. It was an element
not present in any of the well-known sword schools. No one who encounters it for the
first time would be able to block that sword. Yes, no matter how masterful the opposing
swordsman was. It was an impressive sword technique that thoroughly made me
think as such.

This sword technique was definitely Lord Corinth’s trump card. And he openly allowed
me to observe his technique.

For any swordsman, their strongest move equates to their very lives. Unless it was
between a master and student or lord and retainer, it was something not to be revealed
to just anyone. Once it was shown, it meant that the swordsman entrusted the other
person with his or her life.

My chest burned hot from the trust Lord Corinth bestowed upon me. It cannot be said
that I and Lord Corinth had a relationship built on mutual trust. But if a person does
not learn to believe, then nothing would begin.

This was Lord Corinth’s way of declaring that he would put his complete faith in me
from now on.

I shall also put my faith in Lord Corinth!

Alright. I’ve finished packing all our things and got all my weapons in order.

Nanom wanted to check Cleria’s injuries, so I had to make her know. I explained my
intentions through gestures like usual and had her sit down.

I removed the prosthetic, unwound the cloth wrap and peeled off the bandages. The
wound already had a thin layer of skin covering it. The bones aren’t sticking out like
before, but I could still faintly make them out under the uneven skin layer.

(She isn’t feeling any pain, right?)

[Her pain receptors around her injuries are now currently cut off.]

The part of the injury in immediate contact with the prosthetic was a bit swollen. It
seems I need to learn how to wrap cloth around injuries better.

(How much can you restore it?)

[Cannot confirm. Regeneration rate varies greatly depending on the efficiency of nutrient
acquisition and the availability of enough suitable material.]

That’s right, huh? You can’t regenerate body parts without enough materials to work
with after all.

[Currently, the process is being accomplished by gradually breaking down the cells in
other parts of her body in order to compensate.]

(If we could somehow obtain a considerable amount of nutrients and materials, how
long would it take?)

[Three weeks.]

(How long would it take if her leg is given priority?)

[Two weeks.]

That’s fairly fast enough. Let’s prioritize regenerating her leg then.

Normally, even if a person consumes a lot of food, the amount of nutrients he or she
can absorb in a single meal is limited, and most of the excess nutrients are expelled
out from the body instead. That’s because the human body is designed not to take in
nutrients more than necessary to achieve normal bodily functions.

However, if Nanom interferes with this natural process, it can make it possible to
absorb the maximum amount of nutrients and store them in the body. Utilizing said
nutrients, it would allow Nanom to perform body regeneration by causing accelerated
cell division.

(What food materials are suitable?)

[Meat, mock-potatoes and other food items rich in vitamins and minerals.]

Hm. That’s a broad way of putting things. But I guess it can’t be helped because we
don’t know much about this planet’s food items. Looks like I need to search and gather
some food again. But I don’t think there are any mock-potato patches in this particular
area.

Hmm? Wait up? If her foot starts gradually regenerating, then she won’t be able to use
the current prosthetic leg anymore! The disastrous flag I avoided is rearing its ugly
head again!

(Can’t you develop another prosthetic for her?)

[We can only make this type using the currently available materials.]

Nanom displayed the prosthetic leg design on a virtual window. The design was far
too basic – only leaving the suspension to support Cleria’s entire weight after fixing it
via the belt. It doesn’t look like it would be able to support her weight properly and
would disrupt her center of gravity. She won’t be able to walk all that much with this.

But she could at least hop around a bit with it. In any case, I’ve managed to avoid the
worst-case scenario once more. In other words, Cleria won’t be able to walk properly
for quite some time until her leg gets fully regenerated.
(Have we gathered all the necessary materials for this new prosthetic leg design?)

[They are inside the bag.]

Alright, that’s good.

I don’t know how far we needed to travel, but it may be necessary to prepare another
camp depending on the number of days it would take to reach our target destination.
I’ll confirm it with Cleria later.

Let’s put the prosthetic leg back on her for now. I re-wrapped her leg with the
bandages and cloth strips.

(Please access Cleria’s sense of touch and deduce the optimum bandaging method
according to it.)

I re-wrapped the cloth and put the prosthetic on. I wasn’t satisfied with the result, so
I removed them and redid the process. I went at it for several tries until I finally got
the most optimal wrapping method down pat.

Next would be her arm. It was also covered in a thin layer of skin, like with her leg.
There doesn’t seem to be any problems.

(Prioritize regenerating her leg.)

[Acknowledged.]

After displaying his skill with the sword, Lord Corinth lowered the sword and bowed
his head. He seemed to be thanking me. I’m glad. I thought I might have been to
presumptuous earlier, but it doesn’t seem to be the case. I think that with Lord Corinth’s
exalted status, he would be able to obtain as many high-quality swords as he wanted
easily. But he may not be carrying one because of some sort of circumstance.

He seems to want me to show him my wounds next. He may be intending to diagnose

them. I also wanted to see what had become of my severed arm and leg.

When the prosthetic and the bandages were removed, what appeared before me was
a miserable stump for a leg. I was nearly in tears. Lord Corinth displayed a troubled
looking face as he observed my cut off leg. Was it actually worse than expected? He
wrapped the bandages and put the prosthetic back on again, but ended up redoing it
many times. He finally seemed satisfied after a few tries and gestured for me to try
and stand up.

Ah, how wonderful! It was a bit painful earlier whenever I took a step. I thought it was
natural because my foot had been severed, but I do not feel any sort of pain right now.
It seems I would be able to step more firmly with it from now on.

He took a look at my arm next. It had also turned into a stump. When I took a look at
it myself, I saw that a thin layer of skin had formed over the wound instead of a scab.
Impossible! I got these injuries just yesterday, and now they were already covered
with skin?!

Did Lord Corinth use something more than just simple healing magic?

Lord Corinth was not particularly surprised when he saw the state of my arm and re-
wrapped the bandages like normal.

Next, he pointed towards the ground and drew a circle on it. He then pointed to the
road ahead and drew a line from the circle towards the road. He drew an X mark after
reaching a certain point. He placed two fingers above the line and moved them as if
mimicking a person walking.

Is he asking me how long it would take to reach our destination? It should take about
twenty days, so I raised all five of my fingers in front of him and thrust them out four
times. Have I transmitted it properly?

Lord Corinth again preoccupied himself with thinking. Was something the matter?

He seems to be inviting me for a meal. He peeled another one of those metal-wrapped

sweets and handed it over to me. It truly was delicious! It was quite immodest of me,
but I still ended up finishing it all in mere moments.

We were finally set for departure. I put on my greave and vambrace. Unfortunately, the
ones for my severed limbs could only be discarded.

When Lord Corinth saw me attempting to do so, he stopped me and started putting
them inside a bag. I gestured several times that they were not necessary, but he still
insisted on making space for them in his luggage. It would have been better to make
the bags as light as possible.

Well, they are certainly made of mythril. So we could attempt to sell them in the future.
But with only part of a pair, I do not think they would amount to much.

We carried our baggage and finally set off.

Time to leave. There’s a lot of things to consider, but for now, it’s dangerous to remain
here. Let’s leave for the time being.

Cleria was wistfully stroking one of the dead horses. Maybe it was her personal steed?
Man, it’s good I didn’t end up butchering it for meat last night.

I put the sword on my waist and shouldered my backpack. I pulled the straps of the
shoulder bags over my head and made it so that I would be carrying one on each side.
I had the blankets sit on top of my backpack. My rifle was slung on my shoulder. There
was quite a lot of stuff, but I could still handle them easily.

Cleria also equipped her sword on her waist and slung her shoulder bag on one side.
The bag looked quite loaded, but it shouldn’t be that heavy.

Alright! I’ll properly learn the language on the way as well. I’m getting a bit tired of
gesturing around. I’ll need to search for foodstuffs as well.

I pointed at myself and said ‘Alan’. Then I pointed at Cleria and said her name. Next, I
pointed at the fallen carriage and waited for Cleria to speak. She answered with ‘Canter’.

So a carriage was called ‘canter’ huh? I’ll have Nanom record it. Once it records enough
language data, I’ll have it update the current language database.

I pointed out to a lot of things one after another. It may inconvenience Cleria a bit, but
I’ll still need to have her do it for me.

(If there are any new plant species, please highlight the inedible ones with red and the
edible ones with blue.)

The only edible ones I’m familiar with were just the mock-potatoes, the unnamed
herb, and those leafy salad-use veggies.
The entire area was suddenly dyed red. Looks like I had to do it manually after all. I
reminded Nanom to only inform me if we manage to find something edible and started
to persistently rub leaves once again.

But now that I think about it, I still haven’t managed to ask about her age. Would asking
her directly seems a bit rude? Nah, she still looks quite young, so I don’t think she’ll
mind too much.

I pointed at myself and raised two fingers, immediately followed by all five. I then
turned to Cleria and raised one finger on my left hand. When she saw my gesture, her
expression turned a bit sad for some reason. Oops, looks like it’s a miss. So she’s at
least older than 15.

When I counted to seven while still keeping one finger raised, she nodded happily. So
she’s 17 years old huh? She’s still just a teenager, as expected.

Oh. I found some mock-potatoes. Let’s collect them. I put the mock-potatoes on a small
bag I kept empty in order to hold my collected food items. This was something Cleria
needed. Let’s gather a bit more. It seems to be called ‘poto’ when I inquired Cleria
about its name.

[Suitable as food.]

Yeah! It’s been a while since I found something new. I finally found something after
kneading plants for two hours straight. It was a plant mainly consisting of a white-
colored stem. When I tried a bite, a crunchy texture spread throughout my mouth. It
should be delicious if properly cooked. I’ll collect some of this too. It would be a waste
if we couldn’t finish all these, but we could just throw the excess ones away later.

Looks like Cleria doesn’t know its name. Maybe it was just a minor wild vegetable.

It was now about three in the afternoon. It can’t be helped because we started traveling
late, but we’ll have to make camp after two more hours.

Suddenly, something jumped out in front of the road. It was a fang boar like the one I
encountered previously.
However, it seemed about two sizes smaller than the boar I killed. I stopped myself
from taking aim with the rifle. This seemed like a good opportunity, so let’s defeat it
with a sword.

The energy reserves of my laser gun and rifle were limited. They could be considered
my trump cards, so I want to reserve them as much as possible.

This boar looked like the first monster I killed in the RPG I played before. It was perfect
for practice. If things got too close for comfort, I could still just finish it off with a rifle.

I pulled out my sword and took a stance. Somehow, the boar seems a bit too excited.
It repeatedly pawed the ground. Do I have enough time to put down my luggage? When
I thought that, the boar suddenly lunged forward.

I didn’t panic and slashed its side right after avoiding its charge just like how I did it
in the game.

Hm? That’s it? It’s over just like that? Did it make for good practice?

Then, three wolves appeared from the side of the road next.

This fang boar was apparently chased out to this place by these three.

Nice timing. I happen to be lacking some practice opponents, guys.

I’ve already locked on to the wolves. If it looked dangerous, I just needed to put the
rifle up and pull the trigger. I need to make sure they don’t get to Cleria who’s out back.

The wolves seemed to be angry that their prey was taken from them. They attacked
immediately.

They jumped up and pounced from above, but that was a bad move.

I slipped from the side like with the wild boar from earlier and slashed out with my
sword. One wolf’s head easily got separated from its neck and flew out. This sword
sure cuts well.

Seems the other two learned from the earlier clash and attacked me simultaneously
from both sides. Naive! I threw my electromagnetic bladeknife at the one on the left
before it managed to jump. The knife accurately pierced the wolf’s throat. Throwing
techniques are actually one of my strongest suits. I cut the head of the one on the right
just like earlier. I then finished off the wolf who got struck with my knife.

That was honestly a bit of a let-down. Well, even if they’re wolves, they’re nothing
more than big canines. When I turned to Cleria to see how she’s doing, I saw her gazing
at me with a blank expression. Oh well.

Anyways, I got us some meat! And the timing’s perfect too. I didn’t have that many
items packed inside the food bag. The only meat we had was of the dried variety. I
wanted Cleria to eat some proper meat for her recovery after all.

Let’s butcher these guys right away.

I had Nanom indicate the parts I should secure. I dismantled them according to Nanom’s
instructions.

Oops. Can this tendon really be eaten? I see. Let’s secure a lot then. Oh boy, even the
innards huh?

Alright! We now have both meat and vegetables. We’ve also got cooking tools and salt.
It’s a feast tonight!

We started walking again after I collected the meat. I threw bodies of the defeated
wolves below the valley.

I finally spotted a river after some time. Been a while since I saw one. Hey, that’s it!
How about camping near the water? Maybe we could even bathe in it.

Looks like we could easily go down the river. And it was relatively shallow, so there
should be no dangerous creatures within it. I made my intentions known to Cleria by
gesturing. It looks like she’s in high spirits as well. I wonder why?

Although we already went down to the river, I made sure to chose a spot where we
couldn’t be seen from the road. This should be a nice spot. The shore was nice and
wide. There was also a small pool formed due to the flow of the river being slow.

I made a simple stove using some stones I picked up from nearby. I also had to gather
some firewood. Cleria also helped by taking out ingredients with her only remaining
hand.
The cooking utensils available were just a saucepan, frying pan, and a small cutting
board. The only seasonings were salt, pepper, and herbs. There were only a few types
of seasonings, but the amount was decent, so I could use them up without worrying.

As per Nanom’s earlier instructions, I managed to secure some rib meat, thigh meat,
liver and tendons. The liver goes bad easily, so I’ll cook it all up tonight.

First of all, I need to drain the liver of blood and remove the smell. Since there’s no
strainer available, I divided some small stones on the river shallows and placed the
thinly cut slices of liver on them, exposing them to the water. I’ll leave them like that
for a bit.

I went back from the river and found that Cleria had started a fire already. What a
sensible young lady.

The tendons were best when boiled well, but since there’s no time for that, let’s go
with yakiniku instead. They would be too tough to chew if they were cut thickly, so I
sliced them thinly instead.

The main dish for tonight is vegetable stir fry with rib and thigh meat. The vegetables
I’ll be using are mock-potatoes… err, potos and the stem vegetable from earlier. They
were still covered in some soil, so I headed towards the river once more in order to
wash them.

Hey, there’s something in the water! I threw my knife at it.

Damn! A salmon-like fish broke the stone partition I made earlier to wash the liver
and ate a good portion of the slices. There was only about half of it left. Well, I was actually
thinking there was too much of it earlier to be honest, and I kinda wanted something
other than boar meat too.

I pulled out my knife and pushed my finger inside the open wound.

[Suitable as food.]

I’ll have Cleria consume this thing as well. I cut this large salmon into three after
washing the vegetables.

(Can this be eaten raw?)

[It is possible.]

This is nice! I had some hard bread stuffed inside the food bag, so let’s make a thinly
sliced salmon canape. The rest of it would be grilled with salt. It seemed to have quite
a bit of fat, so it should be delicious.

The appetizers are salmon canape, grilled liver slices, and tendon yakiniku. The main
dishes would be salt grilled salmon and stir-fried meat and veggies. It’s quite a lot.

There were only cooking pots and pans but there were few serving plates, so let’s
prepare one dish first, eat it all up and serve the next dish afterward.

First, let’s prepare the salmon canapes. Cut the hard bread into slices and place the
thinly cut salmon strips seasoned with salt and herbs on top of them. Then let’s put
them on the only available wooden serving plate.

When I checked out the herb container, it seemed to be a mixture of different types
and had a rather complex scent and flavor. Was this a type of versatile seasoning?

Now that it’s done, I encouraged Cleria to eat. Her gaze was fixed on the plate.

Yeah, it’s good. I actually wanted to add some cheese as well, but the salmon was quite
rich in natural fat, so it’s fine as is. The crispy texture of the bread also served as an
accent, making it tastier.

Cleria was eating up like a storm. It’s good that she likes it.

Next would be grilled liver. I seasoned them with salt, pepper, and herbs inside the
saucepan. Since the slices had a gamey smell, I added more of the herbs to counteract
it. I grilled them on the heated frying pan. Since the slices were thin, I only needed to
grill both sides. If grilled too much, the slices will harden up and shrink, so you need
to watch the timing.

I also put it on the wooden plate after cooking it. I tried some together with Cleria.
Yup, these are good too.

A slight odor remains, but the rich taste of the liver spreads inside the mouth. The
crucial point is how much you grill it after all.

Cleria also ate this dish without reserve. Rather, this was a menu prepared for Cleria,
so I did want her to eat a lot.

I didn’t use the herb mixture for the tendon yakiniku. If you ate meat dishes with the
same flavor over and over, you’ll quickly get bored of the taste.

This stuff was also delicious after being thoroughly cooked. It’s a bit tough, but that
chewy and crisp texture offers a unique sensation inside the mouth.

Cleria also ate it with gusto. She’s been eating so much since earlier. Will she be able
to finish eating all the dishes? I feel like she’s eaten twice as much as me?

The next one is the main dish – salt grilled salmon. I also flavored this with salt alone.
Cleria still seemed raring to go, so I grilled some more portions.

You need to pay attention to the grilling process here. I’ve already removed the scales,
so I need to make sure the skin would taste great. First, grill the skin until it is lightly
singed and gains a nice and crispy texture. Grilling it any more than necessary would
ruin the dish.

Hm. This should be enough. I really do prefer the skin more rather than the fish meat.
Cleria seems to share my opinion and finished off her portion in a flash.

The last dish is meat and vegetable stir fry. I cut the potato-like Poto into two portions
each and the stem veggie into seven pieces. I cooked the Poto first. I added the thinly
sliced rib meat and thigh meat next. I added the stem veggie cuts last since I wanted
them to retain that crisp texture. I seasoned the dish with salt, pepper and a dash of
herbs. It would be best to cook this dish quickly.

I tried it immediately after it was done. Delicious! The first thing you’d taste was the
rich meat juices of the rib meat. The thigh meat was also similarly delicious. But its
main draw was the fresh and crisp texture of the stir-fried veggies. This was a dish
that makes people think food with only meat on them just won’t do.

I made quite the amount of stir-fried meat and veggies, but we managed to finish it all
anyway. Cleria seems to be quite satisfied.

(Cleria seems to have eaten quite a lot. Is she okay?)

[No problems detected. Today’s quota has been cleared.]

I see. So that’s the case. Cleria’s increased appetite was most likely the result of Nanom
stimulating it so that it could obtain the necessary raw materials to regenerate her
foot. It must’ve stimulated her a lot. Otherwise, her appetite was abnormal.

What should I do? Of course, I could choose to stop Nanom from regenerating her limbs.
But that would be a last resort.

I can’t possibly prepare this amount of food while traveling. We were just lucky today.
And traveling long distances using a prosthetic was a tall order, to begin with. No
matter how easy it was to walk with a prosthetic, it still poses some risk if used to walk
for a long duration. If possible, I want to prioritize the regeneration process first.

Considering all this, our next course of action is decided. Let’s find a place near the
river to serve as a base and stay there – at least until Cleria’s leg finishes regenerating.
I also want to continue learning the local language.

Well then, how do I tell Cleria about my plans?

As soon as we started traveling, Lord Corinth began asking the names of various things.

It was indeed inconvenient to communicate using only gestures. I also wanted to learn
the language Lord Corinth was speaking myself.

Lord Corinth then proceeded to grab some plants and seemed to be examining each
of them. He took a look at a wide variety of plants.

He seemed to be looking for ones suitable for eating. After some time, he pulled out
some plants and collected them.

Those are called Poto. They are often served in meals as a side dish. I didn’t know they
were actually buried on the ground.

Lord Corinth seemed to be twenty-five years old. He certainly looks younger than that
though.

When I attempted telling him my age as well, I felt troubled because I didn’t have
enough fingers. But Lord Corinth soon counted until seventeen with his fingers and I
nodded to confirm. In truth, I would be reaching seventeen half a year from now, and
am still sixteen years old. However, I wanted to seem as much of an adult as possible
in front of Lord Corinth for some reason.

Suddenly, a Big Boar appeared from within the mountain.

Not good. It was not too large, but it was really agitated. A Big Boar in this state was
quite dangerous.

Lord Corinth stood in front in order to protect me, and the moment he unsheathed his
sword, the enemy was easily felled – with just one slash too.

The moment the boar was defeated, three Gray Hounds appeared.
This was truly bad. I could not serve as help at all as I am now.

However, Lord Corinth easily defeated them as well. Two of them even had their heads
sent flying with just a slash each.

I would never have believed a Gray Hound could be defeated in a single sword swing
if I didn’t witness it myself.

He butchered the Big Boar in mere moments. And after recovering the meat, he started
walking while looking as if nothing worthy of note had happened earlier.

He dropped the bodies of the Gray Hounds straight down into the valley’s depths
without even recovering their magic cores. But I guess he didn’t think much of their
magic cores, to begin with. Such high standards.

When we managed to discover a river, Lord Corinth gestured for us to go down

towards it. He might be looking for a place to stay the night. And dinner as well!

My body felt a little strange since yesterday. I felt really hungry for some reason. It
would not be an exaggeration to say I was totally famished.

We managed to collect meat earlier, so tonight’s dinner would definitely be meat! The
food wrapped in a metallic sheet was also delicious, but its amount was too lacking.

I looked at the recovered meat and found there were several types. I am really looking
forward to eating them.

Lord Corinth seemed to be a capable chef as well. He proceeded with cooking

preparations with an expert air. What impressive skills.

It would be good if I could also assist him somehow… Ah, that’s right! I shall light a fire
with magic.

He cut up the black colored meat and dipped the pieces on the river’s waters. Was he
trying to chill them?

He then proceeded with cutting up the rest of the meat. His cutting techniques rivaled
those of a professional chef’s.

Afterward, he headed towards the river waters once again but suddenly threw his
knife mid-way. Amazing! He just killed a large fish with that throw. I see. So the purpose
of setting down the meat there earlier was in order to bait such a fish.

He also cut up the fish in no time. It has been a while since I have eaten fish!

Lord Corinth finally began cooking. He took out some bread, cut them into slices and
put some previously prepared fish meat on top of them. I was curious about how he
would cook it further, but it seemed to be finished with just this. We would be eating
fish raw?!

I finally willed myself to try one bite after seeing Lord Corinth enjoying his meal.
Delicious! I didn’t think raw fish could taste this delicious! I started eating whole-
heartedly.

All the dishes that were served afterward were absolutely excellent. It was embarrassing,
but I seemed to have eaten more than Lord Corinth did.

Lord Corinth seemed to want to tell me something after the meal. He pointed at my
foot, then gestured that we should not proceed with traveling on the road again for
now. It was something of the sort.

Considering what happened yesterday, the condition of my leg truly wasn’t that good.

He was likely telling me that I needed some rest. When I asked how long it would take
with some gestures, the answer he gave was about fifteen to twenty days.

I would not readily agree, if not for my present state. I wanted to reach Gotania as soon
as possible, but I also did not want to ruin my body any further.

It would be counterproductive if I pushed myself and ended up being unable to walk

once more.

I had no choice but to endure for twenty days. I nodded in agreement.

That’s good. I managed to convince Cleria.

Well then, there’s still a bit more to go until evening, but there wasn’t enough time to
scout out the surrounding woods. Since there’s a riffle nearby, all we could do right
now was to take the opportunity for a quick bath.

To be honest, I did a lot of physical work yesterday, so I sweated buckets and currently
don’t feel so good. I also wanted to wash my clothes and underwear.

I gestured towards Cleria in order to let her know of my intentions. She turned beet
red and gingerly nodded. Why’d she blush? Well, she’s at that age, I guess.

I walked towards the river shallows with my formal uniform and some cloth in place
of a towel. It kinda sucks that I lost my spare work overalls yesterday. I started to take
off my clothes and took a passing glance towards Cleria. She panicked and hurriedly
turned away. Well, I don’t really mind getting seen by a kid.

I immersed myself in the water. Fu~h! That feels great. The water’s about 120
centimeters deep. The river was flowing at a slow pace. I brought my head down on
the water as well. It’s a shame that I didn’t have any shampoo or body-soap with me.
Does Cleria have some? I also took the opportunity to wash my uniform.

My body temperature lowered after five minutes of soaking myself, so I decided to get
out of the water. Cleria still had herself turned away. I wiped my body with some cloth
and put on my underwear directly after squeezing the water out of it. I didn’t have any
spares, so it couldn’t be helped. It should dry up soon anyway. I put my uniform on next.
It kinda felt strange because I’ve always been wearing work overalls for several days.

Cleria sensed that I’ve come out from the river and turned around, only to gape at me
absentmindedly as soon as she saw me. She seemed to be quite surprised because of
the fact that I changed into an officer’s uniform.

This uniform’s design was revamped five years ago, after going for one hundred and
fifty years without any revisions whatsoever. The Imperial Military got unusually fired
up about it and commissioned the current number one fashion designer in the entire
galaxy to improve the uniform’s aesthetics. It turned out looking pretty cool.

But anyway, would Cleria also take a bath as well?

Lord Corinth conveyed something surprising to me. He apparently wanted to bathe in

the nearby river.
To think he would do such a thing in front of a lady! I thought as such but immediately
reconsidered. This was not the royal capital, and Lord Corinth is a travel companion
and not one of my subjects. He was free to take any actions he deemed necessary.
Moreover, separating from each other in the current situation wasn’t wise. There was
a danger of encountering vicious monsters such as Grayhounds after all.

Lord Corinth mostly likely disregarded his sense of shame in order to be able to protect
me immediately in case of such an event. I am sorry to let Lord Corinth experience
something so shameful because of my weakness.

He seems to have finally gotten out of the water. I was surprised to see Lord Corinth’s
present appearance. He wore a different set of clothes from the ones he had on before.
Silver and gold trimmings were generously used to accentuate his current crisp, black
clothing.

It was a military uniform. It was, of course, a design I haven’t seen before, but my
intuition judged it to be so. What exquisite tailoring! I could even feel a sense of majesty.
The quality of the fabric used was beyond me!

Until recently, I had only vaguely felt that Lord Corinth was a part of the nobility. But
judging from his current appearance, it was possible that he was a high ranking
aristocrat – a marquis at the very least. No, it was also possible that he was a part of
the royal lineage. This once again reminded me of how unfathomable Lord Corinth was.

I had been thinking of doing so after seeing Lord Corinth bathing earlier, and finally
decided to bathe myself. The last time I took a bath was seven days ago, and my entire
body was caked with dirt and dried blood.

I conveyed my intentions to Lord Corinth. He reminded me to cry out, in case anything

out of place happened. He then turned away.

No, at least help me to remove my belts and armor first, please. I pointed out all
fourteen belts to Lord Corinth in order for him to remove them. I then had him take
off my armor as well. I was wearing clothes properly under the armor, so it was fine.
It seems Lord Corinth was really curious about my armor.

I went to the waterside with a change of clothes. Lord Corinth had his back turned to
me and was busy examining my armor. I took off my clothes and went into the water.
It has been a long time since I properly cleansed myself.
It felt great. I thoroughly washed my dirt-filled and blood-soaked body and hair. I then
washed my used clothes next.

I felt refreshed. It was the first time I had felt so happy while cleansing my body. I went
out of the water and got dressed.

Lord Corinth seems to have noticed I had gotten out of the river as well. But when he
turned around and looked at me, he made a very surprised face. I hurriedly checked
my appearance. I was wearing half pants designed for knights and a tunic. I do not
think them strange. Why is Lord Corinth so surprised?

It seems Cleria also wanted to bathe. That’s good. Cleria’s body still had dried blood
sticking all over it. She seemed to have tried removing some of it, but her face and hair
still had some sticking on them.

Oops, she seems to want me to help take off her armor. Oh, that’s a lot of belts. Guess
you really can’t wear these alone. Her armor felt strangely light when I took them off.
I already noticed it when I examined the protectors yesterday, but even her torso
armor was quite light.

(What’s it made of?)

[…Unknown.]

Huh? Nanom was unable to analyze this thing?

[Please ingest a sample.]

Eh? Ain’t that kind of bad? This was Cleria’s after all. Would a piece from the back of
the armor work? I scraped a really small portion off and swallowed it.

[It seems to be a metal alloy of some sort.]

Uh, okay. So you can’t give me any other details huh? It looks like stainless steel but
it’s unusually lightweight. I have no choice but to ask Cleria later. I cleaned the dirt off
the armor pieces with a cloth.

She seems to have finished bathing. When I turned around, I saw a whole different girl
from before.

Eh? Cleria!?

She turned so beautiful to the point that I would’ve mistaken her for another person.

Her brunette hair was vibrant and her skin was milky white. She had lovely and elegant
features fit for Miss Galaxy.

How did she change so much just from washing some dirt off? It was like a complete
make-over man! Women really were fearsome.

It’s already evening.

It’s time to sleep. I had Cleria lie down first, cleaned up after the meal, picked up some
firewood, threw them inside the bonfire and had Nanom take charge of guard duty.

I woke up at dawn as always. There was still a lot of fish and boar meat left, so I grilled
them all before they went bad. We’ll have the rest for lunch.

Cleria was attracted by the smell of grilled meat and fish and woke up as well. The
menu is the same as yesterdays. I refrained from making raw canapes this time.

Cleria’s appetite was tremendous right from the morning, but there was enough grilled
meat to go around, so I packed the rest into a bento for lunch.

After cleaning up, I helped Cleria put her armor back on and set off once again. I
wanted to look for a place suitable for a base camp upstream, in a direction away from
the road. You really can’t resist the benefits of being near a river.

We walked for about three hours along the riverbank. [There is a large opening in that
direction.] Nanom suddenly announced.

There was a wide space between two large rocks nearby. Rather than a cave, it was
more of a gap made between two large rock walls.

I cautiously entered inside. I had to bend low in order to squeeze myself in, but the
interior was tall and wide enough for people to stand. It was about 5×5 meters by my
estimate.
Unfortunately, there was a ten centimeter opening on top of the formation. If it rains,
water would soak the place.

But you could say it was convenient in the daytime as well because sunlight would
seep in from the opening. There was also an area that would shield us from the rain
further in, so we should be able to make do.

It’s pretty nice overall. Yep, it’s great. If we put some obstacles near the entrance, it
would serve as the perfect base.

Was this place okay with Cleria? I gestured to ask, and she nodded in reply. In the
meantime, let’s stay here. If we encounter any problems, let’s just look for another place.

First, let’s think of ways to block off the entrance. Well, the only options available would
be stones or making a fence from wood.

We left all our luggage inside and went out with only weapons in hand for some recon.
I found another riffle about 50 meters upstream that was perfect for bathing. There
were also some fish swimming in the water.

After looking around a bit, I haven’t managed to find materials suitable for blocking
the base entrance. Wait, there’s a fallen tree with a large enough trunk about 150
meters ahead, near the riverbank. It doesn’t look durable enough to be used for long,
but I’ll check it out anyway.

When I observed closely, the tree really did have a fairly thick looking trunk. It felt like
this tree had stood in this area for a considerable amount of years before finally toppling
over. Its thickness was just right, but it’s length was about 10 meters long.

If I had a tool specialized in cutting trees on hand, it would’ve posed no problem. But
I don’t have such a thing with me. It even seems I would have a tough time even with
an ax due to the thickness of the trunk. It would be too difficult and time-consuming
with just a knife. A sword isn’t exactly suitable either.

I pulled out my sword anyway and tried hitting it with just the tip. When I did so, the
blade ended up sinking halfway.

Wow, this sword sure is sharp! I didn’t even put in a lot of strength in that swing. I
swung it down with a little more force next. This time, the sword blade got buried fully
inside. It would be too inconvenient to do this repeatedly.
If I swung it down with full force every time, there was a chance the sword would chip
and break.

Huh? This situation seemed kinda familiar…

Come to think of it, there was a scenario similar to this one in the game.

That RPG had a turtle monster that would rebound most attacks if you only hit it with
plain sword slashes. It was a stage where either you defeated the monster first or your
sword gets broken in the battle.

I remember I got a lot of swords broken in that particular stage.

But if you master the control of Ki, you would be able to pass the stage without your
sword getting broken in the process.

That’s right! I remember now. There was a technique I learned in order to pass that stage.

Corinth-style Swordsmanship Hidden Technique – Final Blade

This was a special technique that would infuse Ki (life energy) from within the body
to the blade of a sword in order to buff its attack and cutting power.

Aaargh! That embarrassing name! Really man, what was I thinking back then dammit!?

What’s up with the whole Ki (life energy) thing anyway? The developers were having
too much fun designing that game.

I remember the days when I desperately tried to copy that skill from an NPC master
and managed to obtain it after countless rounds of trial and error. It felt kinda
nostalgic and made me want to try it out right now.

I closed my eyes and took a stance with my sword. I sensed the life energy within my
body, controlled its flow and guided it up to my arms, towards the sword blade… Just
kidding!

I was just kinda playing around. But when I opened my eyes once more, my sword
released a blinding glow.

(What the heck’s going on!?)

[Unconfirmed. But we have managed to pick up an unknown energy signature.]

Again with that stuff huh. Did I really manage to activate Final Blade?

I tried lightly slashing the trunk with my sword. The tree was easily cut up without
offering any resistance whatsoever.

Oi, oi! What the heck’s up with this man? I stared intently at the glowing sword blade.

Even Cleria should find this surprising! When I turned towards her, I found her oggling
the tree trunk and not my glowing sword. Huh? You’re concerned about that?

(This is weird, isn’t it?) I asked Nanom.

[It’s abnormal.]

Yep, thought so. Well, I ended up cutting it anyway, so whatever. Let’s make full use of
it then. I rolled the log all the way over to our new base.

When we arrived back, I tried to think of the best method to use the thing. Guess I’ll
just have to use some strength to move it aside whenever we go out. There wasn’t any
point to using it to block the entrance if it could be moved away easily anyway. Its
length was close to 1 meter, and it looked quite heavy.

I had Cleria go in first and followed afterward while pulling the log to seal the entrance.
I’m glad we managed to find something nearby. Cleria would have a hard time moving
this thing. The thickness of the trunk fit the entrance nicely. The remaining gaps don’t
exceed 20 centimeters in width. Dangerous creatures would be unable to easily enter
with this.

When I turned towards Cleria to ask for her opinion, she nodded while seeming
impressed.

Ok. With this, security is set.

Since it was about ten in the morning already, I decided to have an early lunch. The
food tasted alright, even when cold.
After having lunch, we busied ourselves with getting the interior of the base in order.
It was more or less ready after making a makeshift fireplace and clearing some stones
away in order to create a sleeping area.

We also collected some firewood. There was a lot of driftwood scattered around the
riverbank, so it was a relatively easy task.

Next would be securing food.

I’ll have Cleria take a rest. Should I take off her armor? I gestured my intentions and
she agreed. I pointed towards the sleeping area and she obediently laid down in
response. It was great that she was being so cooperative.

I took up my weapons and the bag used for food collection. I went out of the base and
pushed the log back in.

(Well then, what do I need to gather?)

[Meat, liver, Poto tubers and vegetables.]

So the liver is categorized differently from meat huh?

Finding some veggies was up to luck. I just kneaded some plants as usual.

I can always catch some fish later, so I decided to go into the woods for now. Because
the trees and grasses weren’t so dense, I navigated it quite easily.

I started kneading the unfamiliar plant life. Looks like it’s mostly a bust.

I managed to find a few Potos sometimes, so I gathered them up. Oh, there’s some familiar
salad-use leafy vegetables over there. These were quite rare, so I took quite a few.

[Suitable as food.]
Oh, it’s been a while! I found another type of vegetable growing next to the salad
vegetables.

[It contains a lot of calcium. Please collect as much as possible.]

Gotcha. It was a little bitter when eaten fresh. But it would taste better if you fry it.

Alright. Now for some meat and fish.

I resumed walking around the forest while kneading away.

[2 o’clock direction. Something is on top of the tree.]

Something really was there. When I zoomed in, I found a huge bird perched on top of
a tree 50 meters out. It kinda resembles a black colored chicken. It was large enough
to look out of place on top of a tree branch.

Thinking I had to get this thing, I proceeded to pick up some stones suitable for
throwing from the riverbank nearby.

I slowly approached it until about 30 meters and threw a stone at it with full force.
Alright!

I managed to hit it dead on. It fell down immediately. I caught it right away and cut off
its neck to drain the blood out of it. I got a [Suitable as food.] response when I touched
its blood, so I managed to successfully procure some meat with this.

But this guy sure is big. About 1 meter long maybe. I took it way and brought it back
to the riverbank with me. I need to catch some fish on the river afterward to clear
today’s quota.

I even managed to find a new edible plant while I was on the way back to the base.

[Suitable as food.]

It looked like your typical weed. I tried the leaves and found that they tasted bland.
When I pulled it out, I found a bulb-like root.

This is!? I tried pinching it and smelled a familiar aroma. This thing smelled just like
garlic! I just found a rare treasure.
They were bunched up in a cluster of five stalks, so I collected them all at once.

This was a really nice find. It was great because we only had a few seasonings with us.

I was able to return back after an hour.

I didn’t want Cleria to feel worried, so I returned to the base as soon as I could. She
appeared a bit lonely at first but greeted me back happily when she saw me. Nah, she
might have cheered up after getting a look at the giant chicken I managed to bring
back with me for dinner.

Guess I’ll prepare the bird first before the fish. I proceeded with trying out removing
its feathers. There wasn’t any particular area with fine feathers, so I was able to
quickly dress it.

When I opened up its stomach, I found a large-sized and strangely white-colored liver.
Wait, isn’t this the fabled ‘white liver’?

(Can this be eaten raw?)

[Possible.]

Great. This is nice. It’s my first time to try eating raw liver. Well, even if there are
parasites on it, I have nanoms inside me so it’s fine.

I actually wanted to grill the thigh meat along with the bones. But they were just too
large, so I, unfortunately, had to de-bone them.

Let’s have the right half of the bird for dinner. I cut the chicken wings and drummettes
into portions small enough to consume easily.

It’s a waste, but I had to pass on the breast meat and tenderloin. There were other
parts that couldn’t be eaten as well. I cut them into a suitable size to serve as fish bait.

I cut the liver into thin strips and set it aside on the saucepan for the time being.

I’ll work on the fish next. I set up a sieve made of stones on the river water just like
yesterday and divided it into two sections. The one near the riverbank would be used
to drain the liver pieces of blood. The one opposite would be used to bait some fish. I
placed the breast, tenderloin and innard pieces on it.
Next, I moved a bit further away in order to set up an ambush. I moved about 15 meters
away and hunkered down. Cleria also decided to squeeze beside me for some reason.
Well, it’s fine, I guess.

After a few minutes, I heard some splashing sounds. Yeah! They’re here. I carefully
inched near the makeshift sieve and saw something splashing around energetically
inside it. After confirming its figure, I threw my knife at it. Direct hit! With this, I’ve
finally managed to clear today’s quota.

The fish we caught was as big as yesterdays. I immediately removed its scales and
chopped it into three portions. It also appeared nice and fatty.

Oh right. I have to collect the liver I immersed in the river water earlier.

I washed all the other ingredients and brought all of them back to the base in order to
start cooking. It’s already evening by the time we got back. Cleria has also started a
fire just like yesterday. She was really a sensible young lady.

Today’s menu was white liver sashimi and stir-fried chicken wings and drummettes
with Potos, veggies, and garlic. The main courses are salt grilled salmon and chicken
thigh meat seasoned with herbs.

Let’s make them immediately. First, I peeled off the skin from the mock-garlic cloves I
managed to get earlier and chopped them as finely as possible. I actually wanted to
grate them, but there was no tool for that available, so I settled with mincing them.

I placed the white liver pieces on the plate and put some minced garlic on top of them.
When I gestured for Cleria to eat up, she remained spaced out, so I had to show her
how to eat it properly.

I used a fork to wrapped the liver slice around the minced garlic and dipped them on
the salt I placed on the side of the plate earlier. This stuff’s delish! There’s practically
no gamey smell present. The umami flavor unique to white liver spreads around my
mouth. It paired beautifully with the intense aroma and slightly spicy taste of raw garlic.

Cleria was a bit taken aback after seeing me, but she eventually copied my earlier
actions and tried eating a slice. The moment the slice entered her mouth, her eyes
widened in surprise. Afterward, she ate up with incredible momentum once again.
Hey, I can’t lose to her. Both of us finished them all in a flash.
Next is the garlic stir-fried chicken wings and drummettes with Poto and wild veggies.
Chicken wings and drummettes aren’t usually used for stir-fried dishes, but I guess it’s
fine.

First, I heated up the chicken skin I placed aside earlier on the frying pan. They started
oozing with oil right away. I took out the fried skins from the pan when they became
nice and crispy. Cleria seemed to want to try eating them as is, so I put a few pinches
of salt on the plate once again and placed some fried skins on it afterward.

Next, I fried the garlic I cut into chips a little away from the fire in order to slowly let
their aroma seep into the oil.

When the color of the chips turned dark brown, I removed them from the pan right
away and set them aside. I fried the Poto tubers next. After sufficiently heating them
up, I put in the meat next.

I cooked the wild vegetables last because I wanted to preserve their crisp texture. I
put the garlic chips back in; finally completing the dish.

Yup, it’s delicious. The flavor of the garlic-infused chicken oil has seeped well inside
the Potos, making it really tasty. The unique texture of the chicken meat was also good.
The vegetables were really suited for stir-frying as well. It was a really great dish.

When I grilled the salmon with salt, a notice from Nanom requested to have Cleria eat
as much of the skin as possible. Aww, man. The skin’s my favorite part. Well, it’s for
Cleria’s sake, so I had no choice but to do as requested. Man, it’s delicious as usual.

Last would be the grilled chicken thigh meat. It was cut into bite-sized pieces in
advance and rubbed with salt, pepper and plenty of herbs. I grilled them until the skin
attained a crispy texture. Afterward, I grilled the other parts until they were sufficiently
cooked and placed the pieces on top of a plate.

I then wrapped it with the wide leaves of the salad vegetables and ate them by hand.
Cleria was again surprised by my actions but imitated me once more.

It was, of course, delicious as heck. The chicken skin was nice and crispy, the meat
overflowed with umami flavor and rich juices with each bite and the fresh vegetables
wrapping them up created an exquisite harmony. Excellent.

Cleria looks quite satisfied as well. I reserved the other half of the bird meat and the
remaining fish meat for tomorrow’s breakfast and lunch.

After we finished our meal, it’s about time to learn the language. For the time being, I
had Nanom update the language database with the knowledge we’ve collected thus far.

Kuh! A large amount of data was uploaded inside my head all at once, so I got assaulted
by a feeling of dizziness.

The update was handled directly by Nanom, and involved brain and memory
manipulation, much like the senior officer’s education process. Knowledge is converted
in a form that can be directly transferred to a person’s brain and can be immediately
used the same way as knowledge obtained naturally through personal experience.

One might think it was tempting to transfer as much knowledge as possible, but the
human brain is not designed to store a vast amount of information. If one attempted
to, there was a great risk of the person’s consciousness collapsing.

Only knowledge corresponding to the ones a person can gain with effort through
learning can be uploaded; such as language, imperial military ranks, and recipes. The
total amount of information that can be updated was also limited. It was not possible
to upload info greater than the amount a person can handle in his or her entire lifetime.

I gestured to Cleria in order to make her continue teaching me about their language.
After a few exchanges, it seems she finally understood my intentions. She talked to me
in a deliberately slow and clear cadence in order to better facilitate my learning.

As expected, I don’t get anything she said at all. I’ll just have Nanom upload it all later.

The language learning session with Cleria lasted late into the night; illuminated by the
bonfire.

We’ve been going through the same routine for about four days now. Every morning, I
asked Nanom to prepare a detailed objective list based on the nutritional intake
needed by Cleria for the day.

I finished fulfilling these objectives at about 2 to 3 P.M. every day, went back to base,
cooked dishes, had dinner and proceeded with language learning.
It kinda felt like a parent bird leaving the nest to find food for the chicks or something.

It looks like Nanom wanted to check the current state of Cleria’s foot today, and had
requested a check-up. I conveyed my intention to check her foot to Cleria. She nodded
pensively while sporting a look of conviction.

I removed the prosthetic and unwrapped the bandages. The cross-section still looked
like a stump, but the previously thin skin membrane has now thickened to a normal
degree. The biggest difference was that a part of the leg has already been regenerated
successfully. It previously went down to just until the mid-portion of the shin but has
now stretched to just above the ankle. About ten centimeters have been restored.

Cleria was visibly surprised when she saw the state of her foot. She seemed to want to
say something but stopped midway a couple of times, with her delicate lips opening
and closing intermittently. It was quite an amusing reaction. She kept touching her
partially restored foot in disbelief. Oh yeah, I did forget to explain to her about the
whole regeneration thing. Oh well. She’ll get it once her foot gets entirely restored
anyway.

The current prosthetic can no longer be used. If her ankle gets regenerated, she would
no longer be able to remove her leg from the prosthetic’s opening.

I gestured to let her know that I was going to remake the prosthetic, and Cleria nodded
absentmindedly. She kept her gaze locked on her now restored shin. Is she okay?

I managed to finish remodeling the prosthetic during the morning because the materials
have already been gathered and were readily available. The suspension was simply
fixed to the foot using four belt straps. It was still possible to adjust its height a little.
However, you could not walk long distances with it anymore since it wasn’t as stable
as before.

When I equipped it to Cleria and had her try it out, it seems she would not have any
trouble walking for the most part. Right then. Let’s start fulfilling today’s tasks. It was
a bit late in the day, but I already have a grasp of the location of different vegetables
and prey, so I’ll manage somehow.

Then, about two days later, I tried to go out in the morning, only to be stopped by
Cleria. She seems to want to tell me about something. I was worried that the remade
prosthetic was uncomfortable for her, but it turned out not to be the case.
It was actually about her foot. Now, the bandages were unnecessary. When I checked
it out, it seems to have regenerated up to a little below the ankle.

She sat down with a thoughtful expression and pointed towards her foot, starting from
where it was first cut off from to its current length. She seemed to want to confirm if I
was truly restoring her foot. When I nodded in the affirmative, she freezes up.

Let’s give her some extra details then.

(Please display the estimated regenerated portion for each day in red.)

The estimated points were immediately displayed by Nanom and highlighted in red. I
raised my fingers one at a time and counted off, pointing out how much of her foot
would be restored per day to Cleria. At the current rate, her foot should be completely
restored within eight days.

Afterward, tears began to fall from Cleria’s eyes and she ended up crying a lot. She was
wailing unreservedly. Aw geez. Come to think of it, if your cut off foot suddenly began
growing back all of a sudden without any prior explanation why, of course, you’d be
anxious. I went and did something bad.

I gently stroked her head in order to calm her down. Cleria was surprised by it and
stopped crying. I explained through gestures that I’ll fix up her arm as well, but it
would take more time if she doesn’t eat properly. She nodded happily.

The amount of food Cleria ate that day was astonishing.

I was lying down inside the base.

Lord Corinth was currently out searching for food. It has been three days since we’ve
come to this place.

“Is it really okay to leave things as they are?” I couldn’t help but think. That’s because
all I did was sleep around all day while Lord Corinth struggles to find food to eat.

All of the meals Lord Corinth cooks are amazing delicacies, and I have no complaints
about them whatsoever. Is my foot getting better? I had no idea because it didn’t feel
painful at all.
Today’s meal was also excellent.

The next morning, Lord Corinth asked me to show him my foot. It finally came! What
if it’s gotten worse? I wanted it to be otherwise if possible.

I was astonished the moment I saw my foot. Was my leg actually recovering and
growing in length!? I was sure it was cut off from the middle of the shin! But now it
has grown up until the area above the ankle.

How can this possibly be!? A foot can’t just regrow itself like this. Has my head somehow
turned strange?

I wanted to ask Lord Corinth to confirm. What if I really was going crazy? What if I was
only imagining things and my leg was still cut off from the middle of the shin? I anxiously
touched it. I could properly feel it with my hand.

But if I truly turned crazy, then was this sense of touch also an imagined one?

After that, Lord Corinth offered to remake my prosthetic. Why would he need to
remake it? It did feel like it would be better for it to be remade, but I didn’t pay this
much attention. My head was preoccupied with a lot of other things.

I spent the next couple of days constantly mulling over it.

I heard that people who lost their limbs would sometimes experience a mental shock.
Was I like that as well?

It has grown again after these past days. There was an ankle that wasn’t present until
now. Ah, I can’t stand it any longer. I had to confirm things with Lord Corinth.

If I truly went crazy, then I’ll ask for help on how to cure it.

The next morning, I finally asked Lord Corinth before he went out for another hunt. I
told him through gestures that my leg was growing back. See, it had already grown
back this much.

Lord Corinth simply nodded in confirmation.

I couldn’t understand. Legs don’t just grow back like this…

He then raised the fingers of one of his hands and counted off while pointing to my
foot with another – starting from the tip up to points where there was nothing presently.

Was he telling me how much my foot would grow back per day?

Aah! Yes, this must be the case! Lord Corinth knew from the start! He must have healed
me with an unknown method I am unable to understand!

He stopped counting with his fingers after reaching the number eight. My foot would
be restored in eight days! Just eight days! How utterly incredible!

I did not go crazy! Thank goodness!

I started crying before I noticed it. This is so great! I’m so happy!

Lord Corinth suddenly stroked my head just like how my dear brother did. I was so
surprised!

Afterward, Lord Corinth explained with gestures that he would heal my arm next after
my foot recovers. He indicated the number of days and how much it would grow back,
just like with my foot. It would heal in eight days as well if I kept eating as I did.

However, the recovery would slow down if I didn’t eat as much.

I’ll eat a lot of Lord Corinth’s tasty dishes. I can finish whatever amount if that’s all it
takes to restore my limbs.

I shall eat away with my entire heart and soul!

Humanity first encountered other human civilizations apart from them 1513 years
before the establishment of the Galactic Empire.

It occurred when a planetary survey ship from Adele, the third planet of the Asaport
System, made its rounds exploring the distant Gaia Star System.

The crew of the ship from Adele was initially ecstatic after discovering a planet which
could possibly support human life, but as the survey progressed, they discovered that
the planet housed flora and fauna similar to the ones on their home planet, and was
even home to life forms uncannily similar to them. They were shocked to discover
another distinct human civilization that possessed a similar genetic structure to their
own.

As each civilization’s exchange progressed, scientific evidence surfaced which suggested

that their two civilizations had evolved independently from each other. But why did
they possess a similar genetic structure then? It was thought to be impossible for two
life forms that have evolved independently from each other to possess identical genetic
make-ups.

This led to various heated discussions on both planets; the most accepted theory being
humanity not evolving independently but was instead brought to a planet with an
environment suitable for them to live on and was left there to develop on their own
by an unknown “third party”.

The theory admittedly had a lot of holes, but nothing apart from it could properly
explain the perplexing situation of both civilizations.

As the years passed and the investigations of the Adele authorities progressed, this
“Third Party Theory” finally became official after it was found that the situation was
exactly similar to the second and third human civilizations they managed to discover.
There were a couple of instances where the encounters ended on a bitter note, but the
exchanges between the various civilizations were generally peaceful as a whole.

The scientific development of the other civilizations discovered by Adele was lower
than their own, but the Adele government helped raised their level by providing various
technologies, though not without cost, to the other planets.

1023 years before the Empire was founded, the Adele government proposed to institute
a “Galactic Alliance” with the various planets housing the other human civilizations
which they had discovered. The condition for joining the Alliance was limited to [those
connected to Humanity]. The rules were quite loose and no particular objections were
raised, so all of the other human planets ended up joining.

Some time passed, and 33 years before the foundation of the Empire, the Galactic
Alliance had already managed to discover 151 planets housing human civilizations all
throughout the galaxy. The positions of the various planets were not densely packed
in a particular sector but were instead evenly distributed.

And in the same year, the Human Galactic Alliance entered into war and won against
a human civilization sporting technology more advanced than Adele. The newly
discovered civilization introduced itself as the Saiyan Imperium and immediately
declared war on the Human Galactic Alliance.

The gap in technology wasn’t overwhelmingly large, but the Saiyan Imperium still
enjoyed a major advantage due to being two to three steps ahead in the tech
development race.

The Adele government, which was considered the de facto leader of the Alliance,
called for a gathering of all Alliance forces and planned to counter the tech gap with
overwhelming numbers. But the Human Galactic Alliance’s rules were too loose and
ineffective to practically implement. Each member planet chose to protect their native
star systems instead.

As a result, the planned countermeasure of the Adele government fell through, and one
system after another got occupied by the Imperium.

But ten years before the Galactic Empire’s founding, the Adele Starfleet was able to
obtain a variety of critical information, including the coordinates of the Saiyan Empire’s
home planet, from a Saiyan Imperium ship they had luckily managed to capture intact.
According to the info, the Saiyan Imperium hasn’t managed to discover other human
civilizations apart from itself before encountering the Human Galactic Alliance. They
didn’t have that many active colonies either. In other words, once their main star
system was destroyed, the state of the war could be reversed immediately.

The Adele government spent several years organizing a fleet which could destroy the
enemy’s home system, and commenced assault operations.

The strategy was simple yet utterly chilling: total planetary destruction instead of
occupation. Planets were to be destroyed by Nova missiles. A direct hit by one or two
Nova missiles would completely annihilate each planet on the enemy’s home system.

The Adele fleet first fired off thousands of Nova missiles which would head to their
designated targets at a pace close to the speed of light from a sector outside the enemy
star system. They then launched a simultaneous assault soon afterwards.

The Adele Starfleet managed to successfully destroy all the planets housed inside the
enemy’s home system using only missile attacks. The main Saiyan Imperium Space
Fleet suffered catastrophic damage from the raid, and those who managed to survive
were scattered all throughout the occupied human planets.

Many human planets that were members of the Human Galactic Alliance felt utter
terror from the ruthless operation initiated by the Adele government which resulted
in the genocide of billions of humans.

In the first year marking the start of the Galactic Imperial calendar, the Adele government
declared the destruction of the Saiyan Imperium and the abolishment of the Human
Galactic Alliance. It then proclaimed the establishment of the Greater Human Galactic
Empire.

The rules binding the former Human Galactic Alliance being loose was because of
considerations regarding the continued survival and development of the human race
as a whole.

On the other hand, the Greater Human Galactic Empire was primarily established by
the human civilizations first discovered by the Adele government which have been
working closely with it during the war and the planets formerly occupied by the Saiyan
Imperium whose citizens were subjected to exceedingly harsh treatment.

All the other human planets which were formerly members of the now-defunct Alliance
greatly feared the newly formed Empire’s technology and the merciless slaughter of
the Saiyan Imperium, and were absorbed into the Empire one by one. Eventually, all
discovered human planets were fully incorporated into the Greater Human Galactic
Empire.

Ever since the successful establishment of the Galactic Empire, Adele treated all the
member planets fairly and ruled for the sake of all humankind, so the Empire developed
greatly and prospered. The bond between member planets became even stronger
after the advent of the Bug threat.

In the year 2248 of the Imperial Calendar, the member planets increased to an
impressive 276 – with the number of planets which could support human life, including
the colonies, exceeding 200.

Greater Human Galactic Empire Navy, Heavy Cruiser Zapata Gougan Commander
Ahim Add was pleasantly surprised after receiving a certain report from Zapata.

“So, am I correct in concluding that we’ve actually discovered the 277th human
civilization?”

[There is no mistake in the analysis. Even now, we’ve been intercepting various radio
waves and signals from the aforementioned planet. We’ve finished deciphering the
waves. They appear to be an outdated form of digital signals.]

A video was displayed to Ahim. In the said video, a young human woman was seen
cooking food. It seemed to be a cooking show.

Ahim was beyond overjoyed. He’d gone and done it! His ship discovered the planet
home to the 277th human civilization. His name and his ship were sure to be
immortalized in Empire history!

This was a great discovery! A digital signal you say!? Just how many years has it been
since the discovery of a planet housing a human civilization with this much technological
development? He checked using his nanoms. Three hundred twelve years!? The Empire
citizens would surely make a huge fuss. They made such a racket from the discovery
of that planet with a primitive civilization fifty years ago after all.
“Start data collection procedures. Send a high priority communique to the home
country after 72 hours through the special high-speed channel. And be sure to indicate
me as the one responsible for formal negotiations. I’ll leave the exact contents to you.”

In this particular sector, sending out messages through the FTL method would take
roughly a year for it to reach the Empire. Utilizing the specialized high-speed channel
would be several months faster.

“Can the locals from that planet detect this ship?”

[That’s improbable. We immediately switched to stealth mode after discovering

intelligent life.]

“Good. Excellent work! Please proceed. I want to take this slowly but surely if possible.”

[Well then, would it would be fine to use the drones?]

“Drop all units and place them on stealth mode. I’ll leave the landing points to you.”

[Understood.]

Ahim then updated his personal log with the details regarding the discovery of a new
human planet.

Five years later, the Greater Human Galactic Empire announced the incorporation of
the human planet “Earth” as a member planet.

The imperial citizens all rejoiced at the news of Earth’s successful addition. Each
expansion of the human domain would mean additional strength to repel the Bug
threat. And it had been over three hundred years since the incorporation of a planet
with such a developed civilization. The entertainment-starved imperial citizens
clamored for information regarding Earth.

The Earth was treated as an Imperial territory with limited autonomy. In order to lift
the restrictions, it was necessary to meet several conditions brought forth by the Empire.

These were the sufficient enhancement of technology to acceptable levels, reaching a

certain ability to defend against the Bug threat, sending a number of local citizens to
serve in the Galactic Empire military relative to the planet’s total population and so on.

In other words, Earth needed to actively participate in “foreign exchange”. The Empire
usually treats the buying and selling of certain types of cultural information, tourism
and trade as types of “foreign exchange”.

Even though humanity had the same genetic structure and lived in similar environmental
conditions, the process of development for each particular civilization was very
different, and from that arises a unique way of thinking and culture. The Imperial
government secures this information and then sells them to other interested human
planets.

This was especially the case with Earth, which housed a wide variety of races and
cultures.

The demand for tourist trips to Earth quickly ballooned to shocking levels, and the
Imperial government decided to implement a lottery system in response. The
probability rates for successfully winning the lottery increased to over 2000 times,
and the price of buying and selling said tourist rights also increased accordingly. The
price was roughly equal to two times the annual income of regular imperial citizens
on a planetary scale.

Of course, the only ones who could afford such a steep price for the tourist rights and
travel fare to the frontier sector were a handful of major celebrities and the rich and
famous. As a result, sightseeing on Earth has become a major proof of one’s wealth
and status.

The general masses usually follow whatever those famous celebs get hooked on.
Although the average citizens could go on a sightseeing tourist trip to Earth, they could
at least get things like Earth-based ingredients and cooking recipes. The Empire
imposed harsh tariffs on these things, resulting in the accumulation of foreign currency
on the planet.

After enough information spreads, it eventually leads to the public demanding more
regarding the Earth. Thus, whatever fads were currently trending on Earth ended up
trending in the entire Empire as well, and the planet established itself as the origin of
all things hip and cool.
Nine days have gone by since we’ve made ourselves at home in our makeshift base.
Cleria’s foot has nearly recovered fully, and she could more or less walk on her own by
dragging her injured foot on the ground. Cleria’s mood has visibly improved ever since
she found out that her limbs would recover. I should have properly explained it to her
earlier.

When I asked her whether she’d prefer setting off again as soon as her foot recovers
or waiting until her hand also gets regenerated, she picked the latter option. So it
seems we’re going to be staying at this base for a few more days.

She looked a bit troubled about the fact that she’s been doing nothing but resting at
the base in the last few days and asked me to give her a few pointers on swordsmanship.
I went with teaching her some basic one-handed sword combos. I didn’t know jack
squat about proper swordsmanship after all.

Food procurement’s also going rather swimmingly. I’ve become more proficient in
hunting wild game and foraging for food items compared to a few days ago, and I
usually manage to come back before noon. Cleria then taught me her language whenever
we had free time.

I’ve also progressed in learning the local language and it’s become possible to have
simple conversations with her using short phrases. I updated the language database
quite often after all.

Today, I also finished food hunting quite early and am now about to go back to the
base. The prey I managed to catch was a small-sized “Big Boar” which looked to be
about 30 Kilos. It seemed a bit troublesome to butcher it in the middle of the mountains
so I drained its blood and carried the whole carcass back.

Cleria seems to have gone out of the base to gather firewood near the riverside. I’d
rather have her rest up inside the base though.

When she noticed me coming back, Cleria cheerfully approached to greet me while
dragging her foot. The prosthetic was covered with the damaged boot that had been
chewed ragged by a Grayhound.

“Welcome back, Mr. Corinth!”

“I’m back, Cleria.”

Man. Having someone to welcome you back after a hard day’s work really feels great!
However, it’s still hard to say whether or not the proper meaning of the words we’re
using to speak to each other is being conveyed correctly because there are still
insufficient samples. This is because I’ve been relying solely on what Nanom’s
currently translated through deductive analysis.

For example, [Welcome back, Mr. Corinth!] might actually mean [That’s a lot of meat,
Mr. Corinth!] or something like that. I’ve only ever heard her say these words whenever
I brought back some prey after all.

Well, based on Cleria’s attitude, it seems likely that she’s been calling me with some
sort of honorific attached, so the translation “Mr.” is likely an accurate approximation.

I think she’s using it cause I’m a bit older than her, but I’d prefer it if she called me by
name instead. I didn’t really dig the whole polite address thing. It sounded a bit too
distant and stiff.

“Cleria, it’s Alan. Not [Mr. Corinth]. Okay?”

Cleria froze up a bit for some reason. She then blushed red and called me “Alan” in an
embarrassed tone.

I proceeded to butcher the Big Boar at the river’s edge. Cleria watched me intently. She
seemed to be trying to learn the butchering methods by observing my work.

Or maybe she was just really looking forward to dinner. Cleria’s appetite’s been
nothing short of monstrous. The nanoms may have been helping her with digesting all
that food, but I still think it would be better if she’d toned it down a bit to avoid the
possibility of an upset tummy.

Alright, butchering’s done. Let’s have some lunch!

When I went back inside the base to start cooking, I noticed that the bonfire’s gone out.
Now that I think about it, Cleria’s always managed to keep lighting a fire on her own.
How exactly does she do it? Does she have some sort of tool?

Cleria’s also noticed that the fire’s gone out and proceeded to put in some new
firewood on top of the makeshift fireplace. While I was looking on curiously, she
suddenly closed her eyes and turned her open palm towards the wood pile.

After about ten seconds, she opened her eyes and uttered “Fire”. A jet of flame was
then released 20 centimeters away from her open palm!
(Huh!? What the heck happened!?)

[Exact phenomenon unknown. However, the energy readings are identical to what was
recorded previously.]

Really? But seriously, what was that?

Cleria brought her hand back down after releasing a jet of flame towards the fireplace
like a flamethrower for about ten seconds. The firewood blazed right up.

“Cleria, what was that just now?”

Cleria gave me a puzzled stare. When she finally understood what I was asking about,
she started explaining it to me while sporting a somewhat proud expression, but there
were a lot of unfamiliar words, so I didn’t really get most of what she was trying to say.

Basically, she was proud of how short it took her to release the earlier jet of flame.

I somehow got reminded of the superhero shows I watched in the Holobit when I was
a kid, where they would fight evil using all sorts of superpowers. But that was purely
fiction.

(Is Cleria an Esper or something?)

[That is one possibility. However, basing on her response to your previous query, this
type of ability may be fairly common on this planet.]

That really might be the case. Nanom’s already detected that unknown energy signature
a total three times. Two of the instances were caused by Cleria, and one was caused
by me when I suddenly made my sword glow.

When my sword lit up, Cleria didn’t really mind it and acted surprised about how
effortlessly I cut the log instead. In other words, it seemed that glowing swords weren’t
exactly all that uncommon.

If Cleria was truly an Esper, then I suppose I’d become one too cause I made my sword
glow and all. Did I somehow develop some sort of superpower when I landed on this
planet? I don’t really feel any different though.

[One possible hypothesis available. The sensor’s response is similar to the unknown
energy readings first recorded on planet Salza 2 of the Elider Star System.]

Elider Star System? I think I’ve heard of it from somewhere? Oh yeah!

I actually learned about it in the Galactic Military Academy. It was famously known as
a naturally human-habitable planet that was discovered about forty years ago. Planets
that can support human life naturally without the use of terraforming were quite rare
after all.

There was an unknown energy form discovered when a researcher was attacked by
an indigenous life-form of that planet and got injured. A dog-like creature attacked the
said researcher from a distance of more than ten meters sporting unprecedented
speed that was literally instantaneous.

After the incident, the creature was successfully captured and studied, but it was later
found that its physical structure could not possibly support such absurd acceleration.
Subsequent research revealed that the creature somehow enhanced its physical
abilities through the use of some form of energy. That’s about all I knew about the
incident.

[A new point of research has been opened. However, if the unknown energy signature
truly resembles the one recorded on Salza 2, a dedicated experimental sensor developed
for use as a research aid due to that previous case is needed to investigate in better
detail.]

(Is it possible for us to build such a sensor right now?)

[Although possible, it requires the consumption of five rare metal tablets and a five
day manufacturing period.]

(Let’s start the production process later.)

[Understood.]

If the people on this planet can truly use such abilities freely, then it would be a bit
troublesome. I previously thought we’d be able to pull through even if the people
chasing after Cleria were to catch up to us somehow as long as I had my trusty rifle,
but this new variable complicates things.

These abilities seemed potentially dangerous. It shouldn’t be limited to releasing flames

either. There might possibly be more.

Cleria uttered “Fire” before using her ability earlier. If she could only create flames,
then it wouldn’t make sense for her to label it specifically like that. I think she did so
in order to distinguish it from her other abilities.

Well, it’s all theories in the end. If I want to know for sure, I’d have to ask Cleria directly.
However, I needed to expand my current vocabulary more in order to do that. Looks
like I need to work harder to learn the local language.

I suddenly noticed Cleria worriedly staring at me. Oops. I spaced out a bit there. Let’s
have lunch then.

Cleria’s foot has finally been fully restored after fourteen days. Cleria thanked me in
tears after I handed back her greave which I hadn’t thrown away.

The newly regenerated foot wasn’t in the best condition and was in need of some
rehabilitation, which was facilitated by Nanom.

I joined Cleria for a walk near the river’s edge as a form of rehab activity. Since
language learning has progressed enough, we were finally able to have a decent
conversation with each other. I finally asked about the thing that was bugging me for
the past days as we continued our walk.

“Hey Cleria, can you do other stuff apart from the thing you used to light up the bonfire
last time?”

“Oh, you mean *****?”

Nanom immediately translated and updated the database. The resulting translation
for the word was “magic”.

“Yeah, that. Can you use other magic?”

“Yes, of course,” Cleria replied while seemingly surprised at my sudden question.

“Can you show me?”

Cleria paused a little, but eventually faced the river and raised her hand forward with
eyes closed. After about fifteen seconds, she opened her eyes and said “Fireball”.

Approximately twenty centimeters away from her palm, a ball of flame with a size less
than thirty centimeters appeared and flew towards the river. It was about as fast a
stone that was hurled forward. It hit the river water and promptly got extinguished.

Whoah, cool! The speed was unexpectedly slow though, but it somehow felt fresh. It
would be scary if one of these flew at you.

I looked at Cleria encouragingly with a gaze filled with anticipation to see other types
of magic.

She put her hand forward again, and after thirty seconds uttered out “Flame Arrow”.

This time, three flaming arrows appeared at the tip of her palm and flew towards the
river. They were noticeably faster than the fireball earlier, and flew at a speed
comparable to real arrows, hitting the river and making a loud noise.

Whoah! That’s amazing too! Seems like a higher class of magic compared to Fireball.
Seems pretty simple enough.

Are there any more? Cleria didn’t disappoint and pointed her palm towards the shore
this time. Is it a spell only useable on land?

After thirty seconds, she opened her eyes and uttered “Firewall”. A raging wall of
flames appeared about five meters ahead of her. The height was less than two meters
and the width was about five meters.

“Whoah!”

That’s impressive! It was probably used to serve as an obstruction to one’s opponents

during battle. But it seemed to pose more of a burden on the caster. Cleria brought her
hand back down after a few moments, and the flame wall disappeared.

“That’s all the fire magic I can use” Cleria stated.

So that’s her fire magic huh? As I thought, there are other types as well.

“What other types of magic can you use?”

She paused once more and held her hand out towards the river. After ten seconds, she
opened her eyes and said “Water”. Water gushed out from Cleria’s palm, and only
stopped when she brought it down.

Wow, ain’t this like creating matter from nothing? How amazing.

Cleria seemed a bit embarrassed after her display of the last spell.

“That’s the only water magic I can cast.”

So she’s good at fire magic but not as proficient in water magic. She’s still impressive
enough though.

“Is the water drinkable?”

“Yes, of course, you can” Cleria made a bewildered expression and answered.

In other words, as long as I had Cleria with me, drinking water won’t be a problem
anymore. That’s seriously great news. Magic’s really convenient!

(Have you managed to find out anything?)

The sensor I commissioned Nanom to make five days ago was now complete.

[We’ve acquired a suitable amount of intriguing data.]

(Can I try using magic too?)

I wanna have a go at it. I mean, I did manage to make my sword glow and all. That’s
gotta mean I had some talent at least.

[It should be possible for you. We’ve managed to map the energy flow inside the
human body.]

A schematic showing the flow of magical energy inside the body was then displayed
on a virtual window in front of me.

I see. It kinda resembles the route I imagined when I accidentally activated Final Blade.
Last time, I visualized the bioenergy inside my body and let it travel through my arms
and inside the blade of the sword. It’s the same principle here huh.
(How do I release fire though?)

It seemed that there was no visible change in the energy inside the body until after
they came out as fire or water.

Did Cleria close her eyes in order to visualize what spell she wanted to use? She
thought of an image of water or fire coming out so she could cast the spells? Is that
how it is?

“Um, can you also use magic, Alan?”

Cleria still seemed embarrassed whenever she called me by name for some reason.

Was my name equivalent to a word she found embarrassing to say in her language? I
hope not.

But Cleria’s question came at the right time. I was totally itching to have a go.

Instead of answering her, I pointed my palm in front, towards the river. I once again
imagined my body’s bioenergy being molded inside me. I then guided the energy
through my outstretched arm and released it through my open palm. I maintained an
image of a ball of flames flying straight towards the river al throughout the process.

Now! A fireball flew towards the river waters just like Cleria’s spell earlier and
disappeared when it hit the water.

Hey, I did it! Was it really this easy? This is really fun man! I can’t really express the
feeling in words, but it’s totally different from shooting with a weapon. However, it
takes too long to launch out. Ten seconds or so, right? I don’t think this could be
practically used in an actual fight.

(Have you managed to analyze the process?)

[We’ve managed to formulate an energy convergence routine. It would be possible to

store up pre-loaded shots.]

Great! You’ll be responsible for the troublesome parts while I concentrate solely on
forming the image.

A [READY] indicator appeared in a corner of a virtual display window. I’m really pumped.
I can’t exactly describe it, but it kinda felt like energy was welling up inside me or
something.

I pointed my palm forward and imagined a fireball. Fire!

A fireball flew out towards the river once more. Great, I did it! Alright!

A [READY x3] indicator then appeared on the virtual window. Good going, Nanom!

I imagined launching fireballs in rapid succession. Fire, fire, fire!

Three fireballs flew out of my palm and hit the river water.

Now I’ll just have to work on the power output.

Let’s try changing the image. The [READY x3] popped up once again.

I imagined the standard-issue grenade we were supplied within the military.

Fire Grenade!

I tried launching three at once, but only one shot was fired. It landed on the river and
exploded.

Water was launched up into the air due to the explosion and dropped back down
towards me and Cleria, making us totally soaked.

Oh, boy. I went and did it now. I got a bit too carried away. Looks like magic’s really
something very dangerous. I have to be more careful from now on.

Cleria just stood still, seemingly petrified.

(Why did that last spell only fire out one shot?)

[It seems it was due to the amount of energy required to launch a shot.]

The [READY x3] indicator was gone. So one Fire Grenade needed three fireballs worth
of energy huh?

Looks like I have to experiment a bit and collect more data. There would be a danger
of an unforeseen accident occurring otherwise. Let’s research carefully then.

Anyway, the experiment was a success. What great results.

Afterward, Cleria finally snapped out of her trance but walked back to the base with
me with noticeably heavier steps while displaying a somewhat dejected expression.
Lord Corinth went out to hunt today as well.

I’ve become able to engage in some simple conversations with Lord Corinth lately. I
quite enjoyed talking with him.

Lord Corinth is really amazing. He is quick to memorize every word and phrase and
only needs to hear them once. It’s fun to teach him because he’s such a quick learner.
His proficiency in my language increases at an impressive and almost unbelievable
rate.

It’s been about nine days since we’ve come to this makeshift base. I’ve become able to
walk on my own by dragging my injured foot on the ground.

Lord Corinth took my greaves out from his bag and gave them back to me. Somehow,
I felt really happy. Lord Corinth is always so considerate towards me.

However, I was also troubled about how exactly I would be able to repay his kindness.

He asked me what I wanted to do after my foot healed yesterday. He made me decide

if I wanted to resume our journey once my foot completely recovers or wait until my
hand gets healed as well. It seemed that if we resumed traveling, we would not be able
to have meals like what we’ve been eating until now, so my hand’s recovery would
take more time.

I didn’t even need to think twice. I chose to stay and wait until my hand heals and my
body completely recovers. I don’t want to always be beholden to Lord Corinth’s
protection like when we were attacked by monsters some days ago. I want to be able
to fight together with him, side by side.

It was hard for me to have to always depend on Lord Corinth’s care, but I’ve already
made a vow to Goddess Ruminas. I swore to definitely repay this favor someday.

Thus, I have to become even stronger. I practiced the sword forms Lord Corinth taught
me after I collected firewood from the river’s edge. Once my foot completely recovers,
I’d be able to train more effectively.

It seems Lord Corinth has come back. He brought a Big Boar with him.

“Welcome back, *Lord Corinth.”

“I’m back, Cleria.”

Just the act of exchanging greetings like this has made me feel greatly embarrassed.
I’ve never welcomed anyone else back apart from my family. Also, I only noticed it
when we started to have proper conversations, but Lord Corinth always uses my first
name whenever he addresses me. Even in noble society, the only one allowed to call
someone of the opposite sex by their first name apart from family was a person’s
fiance.

I don’t think Lord Corinth meant anything more to his actions, but an embarrassing
thing was an embarrassing thing. And while I was preoccupied with such thoughts…

“Cleria, it’s Alan. Not [*Lord Corinth]. Okay?”

He told me straight to call him by his first name as well. I heard of this once from Fal.
It seemed that it was currently a trend for the men of lower nobility to ask a lady they
fancy to call them by their first name as a subtle way of proposing their feelings. I
understand that Lord Corinth didn’t really mean something of the sort. It was probably
just how things were in Lord Corinth’s country.

“Alan” I meekly called out to him.

Lord Corinth seemed glad and nodded back at me.

Lord Corinth proceeded to butcher the Big Boar with the air of a professional chef.

It never crossed my mind when I was in the capital, but I actually think I want to learn
how to do something like this as well. Let me try to learn then. I’m looking forward to
having some Big Boar meat again!

When we went back to the base, we saw that the bonfire had already gone out. Not
good! Lighting a fire was one of the few things I could help out with after all. I weaved
my mana and used magic to reignite the bonfire. Lord Corinth seemed somewhat
surprised by what I did.

“Cleria, what was that just now?”

I wonder what he means. I just used the Fire spell to reignite the bonfire, that’s all. Oh,
maybe he was surprised about how short it took for me to cast my magic.

Yes, I may not really look like it, but I’m actually quite an accomplished mage. I’ve even
been told I’m already qualified to become a court magician. But the only system I was
good at was fire magic though.

I explained as such to Lord Corinth, and he seemed satisfied with my answer.

Now it’s time for Lord Corinth’s cooking. I’m going to eat my fill today as well!

Lord Corinth became quite proficient in my language before long. We began to converse
with each other more and more, so I took an opportunity to ask what was on my mind
for the past few days.

How exactly did my arm and leg get healed?

According to Lord Corinth, he summoned tiny spiritual beings invisible to the naked
eye which were residing inside of him and made them enter my body as well. He then
asked them to heal me.

In all honesty, if I had heard such an absurd thing from someone other than Lord
Corinth, I would most likely hold some doubts against them.

Of course, I properly believed in the existence of Goddess Ruminas’ spirit familiars.

But something like housing spirits in one’s body truly went against common sense.

Despite this, I still believed in Lord Corinth. A great and noble person like him could
not possibly lack the favor of Goddess Ruminas.

My recovering limbs were proof enough that he really could converse with and implore
the spirits to hear his wishes.

In the first place, only divine power could possibly do something like the restoration
of severed limbs.
Lord Corinth seemed to notice some apprehension from my expression. He suddenly
took out his knife and cut his arm. His action was so quick that I didn’t even have the
chance to stop him.

However, only one or two drops of blood flowed out from the wound, and it healed at
an astonishing rate, visible to the naked eye. After a few moments, there wasn’t even
a scratch to be seen. This was totally impossible even with the use of high order healing
magic.

Yes, this couldn’t possibly be anything like healing magic!

Amazing! He really was favored by the Goddess and her spirits!

Did I also receive divine favor through Lord Corinth? I didn’t doubt him in the slightest
at this point, but I somehow wanted to try it for myself.

I took the knife and cut myself in the same way. Lord Corinth didn’t move to stop me.
I felt some pain for an instant, but it went away just as fast as it came. My wound also
immediately closed up. How truly amazing!

Ooh! I have also received the grace of the spirits! I trembled in excitement.

Lord Corinth then asked me what I wanted to do with the spirits once my limbs healed.
He could either request them to leave me or make them continue to reside in me.

I chose to have them stay inside me.

This power was necessary for me in the future. There would probably be quite a lot of
people who would even sell away their souls to gain such power.

Lord Corinth just nodded in agreement, as if it was just a simple matter. I once again
owe another great favor to Lord Corinth.

Finally, after a few more days, my foot became completely restored. It was great to be
able to walk on two whole feet again.

According to Lord Corinth, I need to go on frequent walks in order to get used to my

newly re-grown foot. It certainly did feel quite stiff. It would pose a problem when we
resume traveling.
I took a walk along the riverside with Lord Corinth. After we spent a while walking
along, Lord Corinth asked me something.

“Hey Cleria, can you do other stuff apart from the thing you used to light up the bonfire
last time?”

The way he said it was a little strange, but I understood what he meant. He seems to
be asking me if I could use spells other than “Fire”.

I guess he wanted to confirm what magic spells I could use. Of course, I’d gladly oblige.
I didn’t want Lord Corinth to think I couldn’t cast other spells apart from “Fire” after
all.

Let me cast a Fireball then. I successfully cast it after fifteen seconds or so. It was a
relatively fast casting time. Lord Corinth seemed surprised.

I want to show him even more magic spells, so I cast Flame Arrow next. I took thirty
seconds to cast it, which was my best time thus far. I hope I managed to impress Lord
Corinth with it.

I cast Firewall as well, but I couldn’t maintain it for long. Lord Corinth also seemed
surprised by the Firewall spell. I told him these were all the fire system spells I knew.
He then asked if I could cast any other types of magic.

I showed him water magic. Lord Corinth seemed the most surprised and impressed
when I cast a Water spell. How embarrassing. A lot of people could cast a basic Water
spell after all, and I think me casting it didn’t warrant such a reaction.

After that, Lord Corinth asked if the water I produced was drinkable. How strange.
Even little children knew of the fact that water produced by spells was drinkable. I
answered yes to him of course.

Maybe Lord Corinth wasn’t really all that familiar with magic?

“Um, can you also use magic, Alan?”

I’m still not used to calling him by his first name. It really made me feel utterly
embarrassed.

He answered with actions instead of words. He held his hand up towards the river.
So fast! He didn’t even take ten seconds to cast a Fireball. And he didn’t even utter a
spell word.

I’ve once heard that extremely talented individuals can actually cast magic spells
without using words and with their eyes open.

He paused in thought for a while, and when he brought his hand up again, he cast three
simultaneous fireballs!

What did he just do!? Considering the process of magic activation, something like
simultaneous casting was supposed to be impossible!

While I was stunned to silence, Lord Corinth held his hand up again. He soon released
another Fireball. How fast!

The fireball exploded when it hit the river water! After a loud bang, the water gushed
up and splashed down towards Lord Corinth and me, utterly soaking us.

Lord Corinth displayed a guilty expression and wryly grinned.

Was that perhaps the legendary Explosion spell!? I’ve only ever heard of it being
mentioned and have not witnessed the real thing until now.

This was the ability of one favored by God! Such power!

I became frozen stiff from shock for a few moments.

Looks like Lord Corinth’s magic display was over, and he turned to go back to the base.
I ran after Lord Corinth in a fluster, wanting to ask him about that last fire spell.
However, Lord Corinth simply dodged my inquiries with half-hearted replies.

After we got back near the vicinity of the base, I asked Cleria to explain the concept of
magic in more detail. There were a total of five magic systems – fire magic, water magic,
wind magic, earth magic, and light magic. But apparently, Cleria couldn’t use any wind,
earth or light magic spells.

I wonder why? Does it depend on talent or something? Earlier, I just formed an image
and managed to successfully execute some spells. Should I be considered as someone
who has some talent for this stuff then? Looks like I had plenty to look into in the
future.

We promptly plopped down outside the base. There’s still some more time before
dinner. Cleria seemed to want to practice magic, but I asked her to continue with her
foot rehab exercises near me so I can observe her progress instead. She seemed to
hesitate for a bit, but eventually relented and started walking back and forth about
five meters in front of me. Oh well. Guess that works too.

(Have you managed to discover any new info?)

[A lot, actually. First, about the mystery energy signature. It holds some similarities
with the energy readings recorded on planet Salza 2 of the Elider System, but it isn’t
exactly the same.]

Well, discovering exactly similar energy forms on two different planets countless light-
years away from each other seemed more farfetched actually.

[We used the sensor settings that were employed during the Salza 2 survey mission
earlier. As a result, we were able to obtain a detailed comparison. According to the
data, the energy density in our current environment is 1000 times higher than the
readings recorded on Salza 2.]

What’s with that scale!? 1000 times was quite an impressive number.

[We shall project a simulated image for your convenience.]

After a few moments, my surroundings suddenly changed in appearance. I saw a vast,

dark space with countless tiny motes of light floating around.

Whoah! How beautiful. My body outline also had a large number of sparkling lights
within it. They somehow resembled a field of stars out in space. The area around my
chest was shining brightly, akin to a nebula, and was very dazzling.

So these motes of light represent that mysterious energy form huh? How amazing.

(Just how could humans make use of this type of energy?)

[These energy nodes seem to attract each other and have a tendency to move towards
a point of higher density. They seem to gather easily on the central part of a human’s
chest area in particular.]

Well, now that I got a better look at them, the light particles near me seem to be
gradually gathering towards me at a gradual rate. They were heading towards the dense
mass of energy in the center of my chest. So the energy outside gradually accumulates
inside ones’ body automatically huh. So this energy is the source of magic?

(By the way, it feels quite lame to keep calling it “energy”. Let’s rename it to something
cooler-sounding.)

[What do you think of “Magicles” then? Short for magic particles.]

I see. Seems simple enough. Let’s go with that then. So it seems even if I consume a
certain amount of magicles, my reserves would be automatically replenished.

(What happens when we manage to fully use up the magicle reserves inside the body?)

I didn’t plan to use up a lot in one go, but the replenishment rate seemed really slow
so running out may be a possibility.

[Unknown.]

Looks like I have to ask an expert in the field. I turned towards Cleria and saw her
chest also shining like a bright nebula.

(Terminate simulated image.)

Cleria seemed happy that I called out to her and cheerfully approached me.

“Cleria, how many times can you cast Fireball continuously?” I immediately inquired.

Her answer was about more than twenty but less than thirty. The number was
unexpectedly little.

“What happens when you try to cast more than thirty?”

She’d faint, apparently. In other words, she’ll lose consciousness. It’s great that there’s
no danger of death though.

“How long would it take for you to recover?”

She’d recover and would regain her ability to cast spells after about a day’s worth of
rest, apparently.

Cleria then went back to shuffling back and forth. But this time, she stayed two meters
behind me. It was a bit distracting, to be honest. But I might have some questions for
her again, so this works out fine.

(What’s the exact relationship between the magicles and the human body?)

Why would one lose consciousness from magicle depletion?

[Unknown.]

Yep, guess you also have no idea huh.

To summarize what I’ve managed to learn so far; the human body has the capability
to attract magicles in the atmosphere for some reason, and utilizing these magicles
allows people to cast magic spells. Once depleted, a day’s rest would allow one to
replenish the lost magicles in order to keep casting spells.

I didn’t know the exact reason why, but it seems I’ve become capable of utilizing these
magicles to cast magic as well.

(What exactly are these magicles? How can they transform from pure energy to elements
like fire and water?)

This change didn’t make any sense, scientifically speaking. Basing on the laws of
physics, something like energy turning into water was nothing short of impossible.

[Reason unknown. Insufficient data.]

Guess that’s an expected answer. I’m looking forward to researching this stuff even
more now

Next, I’ll have to get used to using magic as one of my means of combat. One can’t fully
make use of an unfamiliar weapon after all.

(Please load up some magicle charges.)

[READY x3] popped up on the corner of a virtual window.

I released a fireball towards the shore on the other side of the river.

The fireball flew parallel to the water surface for about thirty meters, but then suddenly
stalled and dropped straight down. All in all, it reached to about forty meters. The
flame plopped into the water and fizzled out soon after.

So this spell’s effective range is about thirty meters.

Next, let’s test its overall power. I looked around and found a piece of driftwood nearby.
I approached it until I was about twenty meters away and launched a fireball at it.

The fireball flew out and hit the driftwood. The magic induced flame clung onto the
driftwood like regular fire. It’ll eventually go out after some time if you left it alone,
but you would most likely suffer some burns if you ate one of these things head-on.

Right then. Let’s try practicing some water magic for a change. I imagined water being
released from the palm of my hand.

Water!

Water strongly gushed out from my palm. The fire clinging onto the driftwood was
extinguished after less than ten seconds. This magic’s really convenient. It looked a bit
different from what Cleria showed me earlier, but it should be fine.

Oh yeah, I forgot to confirm an important point.

(Just how many fireballs am I able to cast?)

[Approximately 38 shots more.]

Cleria said she could fire off more than twenty but less than thirty. I had nearly double
that amount. Was something different between Cleria and me?

I then decided to see what happens if I nearly deplete my magicle reserves. Oh, and
one other thing…

(Is it possible to re-convert a stored magicle charge into its base form?)

The [READY] indicator displayed on the virtual window disappeared.

[It’s possible. However, we’ve recorded a 5% energy loss after re-converting.]

Hm. Another point to research on. But I guess 5% is within the acceptable range.

(Load thirty-five charges for now.)

The number next to the [READY] icon increased to thirty-five.

Hm. That feels a bit weird. I can’t describe it well, but it’s sort of like having a slight
fever but restricted to the chest area.

Let’s try launching five in succession first. I pointed my open palm towards the river. I
imagined the fireballs rapid-firing out one after the other.

Five continuous fireball shots! They flew into the river consecutively.

They seemed much faster compared to the three shots I made earlier today. Well, I
can’t really imagine a situation where I’d be required to fire off fireballs at this speed
consecutively, so this experiment seemed a bit pointless.

Hm. Now that I think about it, was it really necessary to hold out one’s hand during
the casting process? I ended up doing so because it’s the way Cleria did it, but I don’t
really think such an action was really necessary, depending on the type of image in
your mind.

I have these things called the aiming and multi-lock system which are deployed on a
virtual Nanom-projected window, and I think using these would be more efficient.

Let’s try it then. There were some huge stones near the river shallows in the distance.
I had aimed at one using the virtual HUD display.

I imagined a fireball appearing twenty meters away from my body while I kept my
hands down.

Fireball, launch!

Oh! Looks like it went well! I was more familiar with this method after all. I’ve drilled
on this type of maneuver thousands of times in the past. I’ll go with this style from
now on.
I locked on to all four of the large stones on the river shallows. Fireball, four shots!
Each fireball hit its intended target. Great!

When I was casting stuff while holding out my arm, I always used the direction I was
pointing towards as the basis for aiming. But if I use the aiming system instead, the
fireballs would hit the intended targets without me trying to direct their aim myself.
It was pretty convenient.

Oh yeah. Let’s try it with the Flame Arrow spell Cleria showed me earlier.

In order to determine their maximum range, I moved to about fifty meters away from
the huge rocks and cast the spell from there. Three arrows of flame materialized and
shot out with speeds comparable to those of real arrows.

Flame Arrows, launch!

Three flaming arrows appeared about one meter away from my body and shot towards
the targets. They seemed to dip down a little before hitting the targets.

Okay, so their range is a bit shorter than fifty meters then. But they were better compared
to fireballs. They were faster and had a longer range.

I looked at the virtual HUD and saw [READY x20] on the corner. So one arrow costs five
fireballs huh? Well, considering their improved effectiveness, I guess that’s reasonable.

When I thought about how I should use the remaining twenty charges, I suddenly
caught a black shadow approaching from downstream. It was flying.

I zoomed in on the figure. That’s a Blackbird! It was something I sought out for the
past few days to no avail. Because Cleria didn’t know its name, I just decided to call it
Blackbird. It’s quite delicious, but also quite rare. I’ve only ever hunted two of these
buggers. How the heck does it even fly with that sort of rolly-poly figure?

It was still about 400 meters away and was flying towards this direction. But if it
notices me, I bet it’d run away at once. Can I shoot it down with magic?

My maximum range was a bit short of fifty meters. I’ll bring it down with four
consecutive Flame Arrow spells; with a total of twelve arrows.

I looked towards Cleria and saw her spacing out again. This girl does that from time
to time. Is she okay?

She then squatted down and pointed her hand towards the Blackbird in the distance.

I told Cleria I’d attack it with Flame Arrow spells. She closed her eyes and started
visualizing after she heard my intention.

Hm? So she intends to help out? I intended to bring it down myself, but the help’s
welcome nonetheless.

It’s already close to 200 meters from us. When would it notice our presence? Hundred
and fifty… One hundred… Seventy-five… Fifty… It finally noticed us!

The Blackbird reversed its course back to the forest in a fluster. I immediately
launched a barrage of two Flame Arrow spells.

I fired off a volley to cut off its path of retreat. The Blackbird frantically flapped its
wings to evade and changed its course once again.

The timing was perfect, but Cleria was still visualizing her spell. I fired off another
barrage to block it.

Finally, Cleria opened her eyes and fired off her own Flame Arrow spell.

The aim was spot-on. The Blackbird’s escape routes were sealed by my continuous
Flame Arrow barrage and Cleria’s spell sealed the deal. One arrow struck the pudgy
fowl dead-on.

The Blackbird got severely injured and fell down.

Cleria was delighted. She kept jumping up and down in elation and spoke excitedly. I
only managed to understand half of what she was saying, but it seems it was the first
time she brought something like that down with magic.

When I attempted to stand up, I suddenly felt a bout of dizziness overcome me. I see.
So this is the effect of magicle exhaustion. I didn’t want to faint, so I’m not going to use
any more magic today.

I walked towards the spot where the Blackbird fell and found it writhing weakly. I
quickly cut its neck and drained its blood.
Cleria kept dithering excitedly as she watched me work. It seems she just can’t contain
her happiness. Just as well. I only managed to hunt one rabbit today anyway. Considering
Cleria’s huge appetite, it was quite lacking.

It’s already near evening, so let’s go ahead and have some dinner.
I kept wondering about why I was called for as I walked along the corridor leading to
the king’s private chambers.

The king usually spends his time in his office at this hour, so him being in his private
chambers is quite a rare occurrence. I also often met my esteemed father during
dinnertime anyway. Was the matter he summoned me for today unsuitable to be
discussed at such a time?

I finally arrived in front of the king’s private chambers. I nodded towards the two royal
guard knights, Darshim and Karrot. Both of them have served our family ever since I
was a child, so I was quite familiar with them.

Darshim knocked on the door, opened it a little and declared “Her Highness, the princess
has arrived.”

“Come in.”

I entered the room and was surprised to see my brother inside as well.

“I have heard your summons and have come, Lord Father,” I greeted.

“Oh, Cleria. I’m sorry for calling you over all of a sudden.”

“It’s been a while Cleria.”

It certainly has been quite a while since I last met my brother – three months, I believe.

“It really has been a while, dear brother.”

My brother seemed so dependable as always. He also doted on me a lot. I’m glad I got
to see him again after so long.

“Well then Cleria, this is a bit abrupt, but I’m thinking of sending you out for an inspection
tour around our kingdom.”

I wonder what Lord Father means by this? It seems my dear brother has just come
back from an inspection tour himself. It won’t be considered odd if I was sent out as
well, but wouldn’t it be better for the timing for the tours to be spaced a bit apart?

“I do not have any qualms about it Lord Father, but is there a reason for sending me
out so soon?”

“It would be better if we told her of the matter, Lord Father. Cleria isn’t a child anymore
after all.”

“Yes, yes you’re right. Go ahead and tell her our concerns, Alf.”

“You’re aware that I have just come from an inspection visit to our southern and
western domains aren’t you Cleria?”

“Yes, of course, brother.”

The southern and western domains were where most nobles from the former Alois
Kingdom resided and governed.

The Alois Kingdom was a country that was annexed by Starveek Kingdom 162 years
prior. As a condition for annexation, the noble houses of Alois Kingdom were granted
rights to manage most of the southern and western territories. However, the south
and west were also regions where a lot of problems occurred due to friction between
the former Aloisian nobles and the nobility of Starveekian descent because of their
differing outlooks and bearings.

According to my brother, he visited several major towns and cities in the southern and
western domains and found some of the actions made by the local nobility somewhat
worrying. There was no concrete evidence that they were up to no good. However,
some subtle hints, like the local nobility’s suspiciously lukewarm attitudes towards
his delegation or the number of conscripted soldiers being far greater than what was
reported to the crown, proved to be enough causes for concern.

“The southern and western domains can’t possibly be contemplating rebellion?”

“No, Cleria. Both father and I don’t think the situation has come to that point quite yet.
But their actions are still worrying enough.”
“But Lord Father has done his utmost to forge an amicable relationship with the
southern and western nobility.”

In fact, as part of the peace process and a gesture of trust, mass recruitment of personnel
from the noble houses of the south and west was implemented five years ago. Both
the military minister in charge of the army and the finance minister in charge of the
kingdom’s economic affairs had men hailing from those regions appointed to various
positions of import.

Both men were excellent individuals who each proposed groundbreaking reforms
which proved quite astonishing to their peers. However, it’s also true that their act of
recruiting most of their vassals from those who hail from the southern and western
domains raised more than a few eyebrows and posed some concern.

Furthermore, even though they haven’t managed to birth any children for them yet,
both men received southern noblewomen as their concubines.

“I’m well aware of your concerns. But as Alf said earlier, we don’t think it would lead
to a full-blown conflict just yet. Given these circumstances, I want you to visit the
eastern and northern territories instead.”

“As for me, I can’t leave the capital for the time being because I need to help father deal
with these matters.”

I see. If the situation in the south and west was really suspicious as they said, it’s only
natural for me to be sent to the eastern and northern domains instead. The east and
north are governed by full-blooded Starveekian noble houses. In case the southern
and western domains really do stage a revolt, I could rally the eastern and northern
lords to oppose them. This seemed to be an important undertaking. I have to do my
utmost.

“Lord Father, this Cleria fully accepts your appointment to visit the eastern and
western domains.”

Afterward, my older brother briefed me about the things I needed to take note of and
the actions I needed to take.
 2

Alf gazed at Cleria’s receding back as she left the king’s private room.

He didn’t want to burden Cleria with any needless preconceptions, so he opted not to
mention the matter, but not all of the southern and western domains were governed
by former Aloisian nobility.

Actually, forty percent of the noble houses in the south and west were full-blooded
Starveekians. He didn’t tell her that even these noble houses seemed suspicious as well.

It would be best if nothing of the sort happened to Cleria during her inspections.

Alf then busied himself together with his father to think of ways to improve the current
volatile state of affairs.

Fal, who was waiting outside, rushed up to me as soon as I went out of the king’s private
room.

“What did the king need you for, Cleria-sama?”

“He told me to head to the eastern and western territories for an inspection visit.
Would you like to accompany me?”

“Of course Cleria-sama!”

Afterward, I went ahead with the preparations for traveling. I had just come of age the
previous year so this was my first time heading out for a royal inspection. There were
a lot of things I was not familiar with.

And thus, as commanded by the king, we were finally set for departure after three
days. I bid farewell to my father, brother, and mother. Mother must have heard something
from father regarding my trip, so she told me to always remain vigilant during the
journey.

My brother accompanied me partway in order to see me off. I’m so happy he did so!

“Do be careful during your travels Cleria. Perform your royal duties to the best of your
ability.”

“Of course dear brother. I shall be going then.”

Accompanying me on my travels were several imperial guard knights and their squires.
Even Sir Antes, captain of the royal guards, was present! Furthermore, most of the
knights were those who have served me since I was young.

It was a well-known fact that father doted on me far too much in the royal palace, but
I do think it was time for me to become a little bit more independent from now on.

We finally left the royal capital, home to half a million Starveekian citizens, and started
our journey.

The royal inspection proceeded relatively smoothly. However, I felt a sense of unease
when I went around several cities.

Our delegation was warmly welcomed by the high-ranking nobles, but the barons and
the rest of the lower-ranking nobles seemed to be behaving strangely towards us.
They did receive us properly, but it felt like they were acting unusually reserved for
some reason.

Were their attitudes simply due to the difference in status between us? I asked Fal
about my observations, but she told me she hasn’t noticed anything of the sort.

The royal inspection continued as planned until we finally reached the last leg of our
travels. Three months have passed since we’ve departed from the royal capital. We
arrived at the earldom of the Ludvic house, which my mother was formerly a part of.
The current earl is my mother’s older brother. We were of course eagerly received by
them.

The evening after our arrival, the door of my room suddenly received a knock. Fal, who
was staying in an adjacent anteroom, swiftly got up and went to my side.

“Who’s there!?”

“It’s Darshim, Your Highness. A servant of this house came, saying that the earl requests
to meet you with due haste, my princess. I did try to refuse him, but he insisted.”

If that’s the case, then it can’t be helped. We were staying at the earl’s castle to begin
with. Complying with this request would just be appropriate. I looked towards Fal and
nodded in agreement. “Please wait for a moment,” Fal called out.

I then proceeded to make myself more presentable.

I was led into a room where I found the earl along with a nobleman who seemed to be
his aide.

“I am truly sorry to have requested your presence at this ungodly hour Royal Princess,”
the earl started.

“It’s alright. More importantly, what seems to be the matter?”

“We’ve just received word from the capital. A rebellion has broken out.”

I jerked in surprise after hearing the sudden grave news and endured the urge to cry
out.

“How large is the scale?”

“I cannot say for certain, but I estimate the rebel elements to include sixty to seventy
percent of the southern and western noble houses, twenty to thirty percent of the
eastern and northern nobles and sixty percent of the military.”

I swiftly calculated the numbers mentioned. So it’s more than half of the nobility and
the army…

“Which side are you on, your Lordship?”

After hearing my question, Fal moved her hand to her sword’s hilt, ready to draw it at
a moment’s notice.

“Your Highness… no, my dear niece Cleria; do not ask me such a thing. Our Ludvic
house has sworn its unwavering loyalty to the Starvine royal house instead of the
Starveek kingdom since its inception three hundred years ago. Your misgivings are
misplaced.”

“I’m sorry, uncle. I was just too upset. Please forgive me.”
Yes, it would not be good if I was unable to properly determine friend from foe and
mistrust my closest allies. If he were against us, my uncle would not have informed me
of the rebellion in the first place.

I then asked my uncle for the details of the rebellion.

It all began twenty days ago, when my father summoned the military minister Lord
Alois under the pretense of wanting to discuss something with him, which he promptly
ignored.

They then attempted to reach out to the military officials staying near the royal palace
to inquire about the matter, but found that they were no longer able to contact them
as well. Two days after the summons, Lord Alois rallied his soldiers and raised the flag
of rebellion. A good portion of the nobility matched their timing and participated as
well.

The royal capital ended up being sealed off and the royal palace was besieged by the
army and fell three days after.

“What about my father!? My mother and brother!?”

My uncle grimly shook his head.

They were all executed on the square in front of the royal castle. They were charged
with high treason for allegedly selling out the kingdom to the neighboring Holy State
of Aram.

“What!? How utterly ridiculous!”

The Holy State of Aram was a neighboring country which raided our borders from time
to time.

“I know. I’m sure no one, friend or foe alike, actually believe in such a flimsy accusation.”

“Kuh! We need to recapture the royal capital immediately!”

“Your Highness, it would be best if you first gather the forces of the east and north
under your name in order to properly oppose the rebels.”

It certainly is as my uncle says. Our enemies are composed of nobles and a considerable
part of the army. They won’t be felled by half-hearted forces.

“I’m very sorry uncle. I was too hasty and blood just rushed to the top of my head.”

“Do not worry, Princess. I understand your feelings. My esteemed king and my cute
little sister were both humiliated and butchered under their hands. I’ll absolutely make
them pay the price!”

My uncle’s aura suddenly turned murderous.

I then proceeded to write letters all morning which were to be delivered to the nearby
noble houses. Their content was a call to arms following the events in the royal capital.
Over two hundred knights were sent out to deliver my letters to the noble houses of
the eastern and northern domains.

But I noticed something strange after the third day since sending out the messengers.

There was no response up until now. At the very least, the lords from the territories
near the earldom should have given us a reply already. None of the knights entrusted
with delivering the letters came back as well. An unpleasant premonition comes over
me.

Finally, on the morning of the fourth day, a noble leading his private forces arrived in
the earldom. Judging from the flag they were flying, it was the forces of Baron Arseny,
who uncle regards as his right-hand man.

I welcomed the baron together with my uncle.

“Your Royal Highness! You were safe? Thank the Goddess Ruminas!”

“It has been a long time Baron. However, what do you mean?”

I looked at the baron quizzically. My uncle and his aide’s faces suddenly paled.

“Yes, well… I did not know that Your Highness actually came here.”

“That can’t be! Did you not receive my letter?”

“No, I have never received any sort of letter from Your Highness. I just learned about
the rebellion in the capital two days ago and asked the Ludvic house for instructions,
but I never received a response. That’s why I came here directly.”

“Damnation! So those messengers really were intercepted!”

My uncle was horrified.

I was finally able to grasp what was happening. All of the messengers never reached
their intended destinations.

“Your Highness, perhaps they have been planning this rebellion for years. They are far
too prepared.”

“What happened to the messengers?”

“They may have all been killed already. The rebels may have stationed groups of
soldiers on the main roads. They must have intercepted the messengers and got rid of
them since the enemies outnumber them.”

“Conversely, if we assemble a large enough number of troops, they would not be able
to lay siege to them as easily. We should dispatch a sufficient number of scouts
immediately.”

My Goddess! How frighteningly thorough…

The scout troops were soon assembled along with troops tasked to eliminate the
enemy soldiers stationed on the main roads.

The troops set out. This deployment lasted for a couple of days.

We finally grasped a rough handle of the situation due to the soldier’s efforts.

The enemy should be comprised of 40,000 soldiers, a majority of which came from
the military.

The private troops of the southern and western nobles were mixed in as well.

They were currently moving against the noble houses who are still putting up a
resistance, sieging their castles.

They hold their entire territories hostage while proposing for the ruling nobles to
surrender and come to the royal capital with their families, on the condition that they
will relinquish their rights to their lands and hand that responsibility to the rebels.

The enemy forces have already invaded deeply into the eastern and northern domains,
and even if the remaining nobles loyal to the Royal Family tried to muster their forces
and gather up, there’s a good chance they would be intercepted along the way and
eliminated one by one.

We continued to receive these kinds of grievous news. I took in all these reports while
feeling dumbfounded.

At this rate, even if we do somehow manage to gather some forces, it won’t number
more than 5,000 men.

While I was ruminating our dismal situation, uncle addressed me.

“We just received word that the castle of Count David has fallen. The enemy’s main
force shall be coming here in half a day’s time.”

I have long prepared myself for such an outcome.

“I understand. We shall meet the enemy head-on and show them the strength of our
resolve!”

“Spoken like a true Starvine. Your courage is most admirable.”

“However, I would want Your Highness to escape from here if possible.”

“Do not say such absurd things! Do you want me to live on in shame uncle!?”

“You would not be living in disgrace, Your Highness. I want you to go to the Belta
Kingdom.”

Berta Kingdom? It was a neighboring country; however, one needs to cross the
wildlands in order to reach it.

“I do not know much about Berta Kingdom. But Irena-sama, the little sister of your
grandmother Erika-sama, had married over to that kingdom as queen. In other words,
the Belta Kingdom’s current king, Amado-sama, is Cleria-sama’s second cousin.”
“Do you want me to seek aid from the Belta Kingdom?”

“Precisely. But I believe they would not be able to make it in time to quell this rebellion
if they do decide to lend aid. And even if you appeal to them personally Princess, the
possibility of the Belta Kingdom sending us aid is still quite low.”

That’s true. Surely if the situation was reversed and it was the Belta Kingdom who is
asking for aid, Starveek Kingdom will also hesitate in sending subjects who could
possibly die in foreign soil.

“Even so, we want to preserve an ember of hope. Even if this kingdom is shattered, we
still hope that it can be rebuilt once more and rise from the ashes.”

“If so, then please help me uncle. Let us revive this kingdom together.”

“No, I am a proud vassal of the Starvine royal house. Please allow me to make a stand
here.”

“If you surrender…”

My uncle immediately cut me off.

“Your Highness, considering the relationship between us and the Starvine royal house,
my life will definitely not be spared. And even if I do manage to survive after
surrendering, all that awaits next is the abolishment of the Ludvic house. I would
rather choose to make a final stand and keep my pride instead of bowing in defeat
without struggling.”

Even if I and my entourage of royal guards stayed and fought here, our meager numbers
would not be able to change the inevitable outcome. Then would it truly be better to
preserve an ember of hope as my uncle wishes?

My uncle then knelt down and implored me.

“Your Royal Highness, if I may be so bold as to request one final thing of you.”

“Speak.”

“Your Highness also has the blood of the Ludvic house flowing through your veins.
Considering our three hundred years of unwavering service and loyalty to the Starvine
royal house, I beseech you to revive the Ludvic house one day.”

I have no reason to refuse such a request.

“I understand. I will definitely revive the Ludvic house without fail. I swear this upon
the name of the Goddess Ruminas.”

I activated my mana and swore upon the name of the Goddess. My body emitted a soft
glow as proof of the vow.

“Wahaha! I am most grateful Your Highness!”

Thus, my escape was decided. We immediately began preparations for departure.

“We have prepared eight carriage groups for this occasion, equal to the number of
roads leading out of our lands.”

“Your Royal Highness will be among these eight groups along with your royal guard.
Each individual carriage has soldiers assigned to them to serve as escorts as well. All
carriages will depart at the same time; each heading out to a different road leading
out of the territory. Of course, none of the soldiers are told exactly which carriage
princess shall be riding in.”

“They shall be heading to the Cecilio and Belta kingdoms respectively. However, the
exact way towards the Belta kingdom is known only by the local hunters.”

“We surmise that the enemy would most likely judge that you will be heading for the
Cecilio kingdom. It is only a short distance away after all.”

“Each carriage shall also be accompanied by scouts and rear troops. Despite the on-
going rebellion, we don’t think that enemy troops would be stationed on the border
roads leading out of the kingdom.”

“The rebel forces have most likely already entered our lands, but they won’t be able to
come in pursuit of you effectively if each carriage group heads out to eight different
directions at the same time. The scouts and rear units are added insurance.”

I see. The arrangements seem perfect so far.

The time for departure finally arrived. Only uncle and his aide saw us off.
“Here, Your Highness. These were entrusted by the king to be given to you before the
royal palace fell. I apologize for handing them over only now,” my uncle said as he
handed something to me.

When I took a look, I saw three pieces of paper with words written on them. The first
one said “Cleria, I’m so sorry,” in my father’s handwriting. The second one was my
mother’s which said: “I wish for your happiness my dear Cleria”. The last one was my
brother’s. It said, “I entrust the Starvine royal house to you”. All of them seemed to
have been hastily written out.

I forcefully held back my tears.

“Goodbye, uncle.”

“Go child. Goddess Ruminas, I beseech thee! Please bless Cleria on this journey and
keep her safe.”
Seven days have passed since Cleria’s foot got completely restored.

Her arm has also nearly healed up as well, and all that remains to be regenerated are
her fingertips. It should be fully restored by tomorrow.

After discussing with her, both of us decided to finally leave this makeshift base
tomorrow.

Yep, my language proficiency has improved to the point where I can talk with Cleria
normally. There are still some words I’m unfamiliar with, but I have no problems with
the vocabulary often used in daily conversations. Cleria even said my pronunciation
was impeccable.

I’d like to gather more data by talking to people other than Cleria, but that would have
to wait for the time being.

I asked her about the reason why she was being chased the moment I became able to
converse normally.

After pausing to think for a bit, Cleria requested that I give her some more time before
she tells me the reason and assured me she would divulge it when she’s good and ready.

It seems her circumstances really were complicated. I’ve stayed with Cleria for quite
a bit now and I really do think she isn’t someone who would commit wrongdoings.
She’s no criminal, that’s for sure. So I don’t really mind if she doesn’t want to talk about
her circumstances.

As for the number of her pursuers, she told me they definitely wouldn’t be just a few
but their numbers won’t exceed a hundred. But there’s also a chance they won’t be
able to catch up.

That’s rather vague. So is it alright to expect their numbers to be about fifty men
strong? I think I’d be able to deal with that amount of targets with my rifle somehow,
but those kinds of numbers still warrant utmost caution. And I’m still uncertain if it
would be fine to shoot first and ask questions later if and when we do manage to
encounter them. I’m still considering it as of now.

It’s also been seven days since I began learning magic, but my research hasn’t
progressed at all. Well, not exactly. It’s progressing in some areas, but I haven’t really
developed any new applications of fire spells and the like. This is because of something
I requested Nanom to prioritize developing.

I wanted to produce the so-called multi-sensor – a standard piece of equipment of the

Galactic Army Corps. As its name implies, it is able to detect anything within scanning
range – terrain, the internal layout of buildings, the presence or absence of living life-
forms and the like. Even if you’re not wearing active camouflage, you’d never be taken
by surprise if you have a multi-sensor handy.

When I first came to this planet, the thing I wanted first was a multi-sensor.

I was honestly amazed at the wide applications of magic in this planet and asked
Nanom if it could develop a magical version of a multi-sensor.

Due to that, there was no point in wasting magicles with aimless magic experiments.
However, I was able to learn more about magicles as a result.

Every living creature on this planet is able to contain magicles within their bodies;
whether it’s something as large as a Big Boar or as small as a tiny insect. Even plants
have magicles inside them. It’s a rather surprising discovery, but the amounts of magicles
present in a majority of creatures aren’t enough to construct a simple fireball spell.

Living things attract magicles, and the magicles gradually builds up inside of them.
However, the amount of magicles will not continue to increase indefinitely. Once a
certain amount gathers inside of a creature’s body, the inflow of magicles comes to a
halt and the surplus magicles get expelled back outside. I don’t know the exact cause
of this phenomenon.

It seems the amount of magicles an organism is able to contain greatly differs from
species to species. In other words, creatures of the same species are able to contain
the exact same amount of magicles inside them. As an example, Cleria and I have the
same magicle count inside each of us.

The reason for the difference between the numbers of fireballs I and Cleria are able to
cast stems from the efficiency of magicle use. According to Cleria, if one is able to
improve their rate of magicle consumption, the number of times they can cast spells
would increase accordingly. I just rely on Nanom for these sorts of things so it’s possible
I won’t be able to improve this aspect anymore.

I and Nanom prioritized collecting this sort of data every day because it would enable
us to determine what kinds of life-forms are present in an area from long range by
determining the amount of magicles contained within them and creating a
corresponding database.

We’ve also discovered that magicles have properties similar to normal particles and
energy waves to some extent. They were particle-ilke, but also had properties like
reflection, interference, and diffraction.

Upon discovering this fact, we were able to determine that it was possible to release
raw magicles outside of the body instead of spells.

The magicles could be released outside of the body in the form of waves. There’s no
noticeable effect if you only release a small concentration of waves out, but if you
increase the output, the magicle waves get reflected back whenever they hit another
mass concentration of magicles.

Utilizing this characteristic, we were able to develop a radar-like function using

magicles. The detection range depends on the intensity of the output of magicles. If a
strong wave is released, a wide range of information can be acquired.

Unexpectedly, Cleria was able to notice when I released a magicle pulse as part of my
on-going experiments. When Nanom directed me to release a high output wave, she
came over and told me she felt I emitted some magic power and asked me what I was
up to.

It looks like the people of this planet call the movement of magicles as “magic power”.
I was told one would be able to sense the build-up of magic power before a spell gets
released, but somehow, I wasn’t able to feel a thing. Would I be able to do so with time?

It seems Cleria was told that her talent for detecting magic power is several times
greater than most people, according to an experienced mage she knew.

After knowing this, I immediately enlisted Cleria’s help with my experiments. It seems
whenever I use this form of “scanning magic”, there’s a danger of the other party
becoming aware of my presence and position. I’d like to be able to obtain information
unilaterally if possible.

We later discovered that Cleria’s ability to sense magic power was not only affected by
the strength of the waves released but also the total distance from the emission point.
I sort of expected this kind of outcome.

If that’s the case, would it be better if I increased the range and intensity of the magicle
waves being released gradually instead of emitting something high-output all at once?
I managed to arrive at such a conclusion.

For example, I’d first release a magicle pulse weak enough for Cleria not to notice from
fifty meters out. If I found nothing worth noting, I’d proceed to widen the range to
seventy-five meters, a hundred meters and so on.

Using this method, I’d minimize the risk of being noticed by the other party.

If this method isn’t effective, then I’ll just have to improve it step by step.

The nice thing about this “scanning magic” is that I can leave its activation entirely to
Nanom. This is probably because I didn’t need to focus on a concrete sort of image for
it.

Once it gets invoked, Nanom would automatically display the search results on a virtual
display. It’s roughly the same display method as the multi-sensor, so it’s quite intuitive.

The amount of magicles used up when using scanning magic is about equal to one
fireball per one hundred magicle pulses. It’s very cost-effective. It should prove quite
useful from now on.

In the end, we weren’t able to quite re-create the functions of a multi-sensor, but the
results were plenty satisfying enough.

When I declared the completion of my scanning magic method to Cleria who cooperated
in its development, she first responded by staring at me with a wooden stare again.
But she eventually snapped out of her stupor and immediately asked me to teach her
the method.

But y’see, it’s kinda impossible for others to use this method without the aid of a
sensor able to accurately detect magicles and the information processing ability of
Nanom. I somehow skirted around the issue by telling Cleria she had to improve her
magic control more. And then the conversation somehow moved to her tagging along
with me on today’s hunt. I wonder why?

As we’ve used up a lot of time doing magic experiments, it’s already almost noon when
we finished up. I decided to go hunting after we’ve had our lunch. Today’s dishes
include grilled fish and stir-fried Big Boar meat – a classic but delicious menu selection.

“Guess it’s time for a hunt.”

“Yes! Let’s depart immediately Alan.”

Cleria seems quite eager to go hunting.

At first, Cleria was still somewhat embarrassed whenever she addressed me by name,
but she seems to have gradually become accustomed to it. I think she looks to be more
relaxed about it compared to before.

My preferred hunting spot was about an hour’s walk from the base. For some reason,
this part of the mountain was rich in edible plant life and wild animals. I immediately
had Nanom activate scanning magic while heading deeper into the mountains.

Since I was relatively free until we reach the hunting grounds, I ended up teaching
Cleria about the standard hand signs I learned back in the military academy. I didn’t
have a lot of chances to use them before because we just communicated through the
Nanoms in live combat situations, but I guess these would prove useful in the situation
we’re currently in.

I managed to get a reaction from the scanning magic after walking for about thirty
minutes. Three o’clock. There’s two of them, about two hundred meters away. I
immediately conveyed the info to Cleria via hand signs. She looks to have understood
and displayed a serious expression.

The other party is heading towards our general direction, but they’re not moving in a
straight line. They probably haven’t noticed us yet. Judging from their movement
patterns, I assumed them to be Gray Hounds.
I’ve often encountered Gray Hounds during my hunts. I usually met one or two of these
guys; three at most. I’ve always eliminated them whenever I encountered some.
Dangerous pests like these need to be promptly exterminated.

“There’s a good chance these guys are Gray Hounds.”

“Would it be alright if I fight them instead Alan?”

Oh, Cleria seems to be raring to have a go! Well, she has her armor on and all. Fine,
let’s see what she’s got. I have my rifle with me, so I can just intervene if she ever gets
into a bind.

“Alright then, engage them in a composed manner. They’ll be arriving at our position
in about thirty seconds.”

Oh, and by the way, the method of time measurement in this planet is roughly the same
as what’s used all throughout the empire – one minute is sixty seconds, one hour is
sixty minutes, one day is twenty-four hours and one year is three hundred and sixty
days. And similar to my home planet, they also divided the day into twelve hours each.

The reason for it is unknown, but the method of time measurement on almost all
planets which housed the human race is roughly the same. The most promising theory
is that the third-party responsible for spreading humanity all throughout the cosmos
somehow taught all of mankind how to count time. Other theories proved lacking.

Furthermore, the period of revolution of each and every human-inhabited planet is

around 365 days. Again, the most promising theory is that a third party selected
planets that fulfilled this criterion and brought humanity to them.

Cleria pulled out her sword and stared at it. It was a thin one-handed sword inlaid
with detailed engravings. After about ten seconds, the blade began to glow. Whoah!
Can Cleria use Final Blade too!? Alright then, let’s follow suit.

I drew my sword and activated Final Blade as well, making the sword glow brightly. It
seems the Gray Hounds finally noticed something. The glowing icons representing
their position on the virtual map were approaching us rapidly.

I thrust my palm out in front of Cleria and started counting down… Five. Four. Three.
Two. One. The Gray Hounds finally came into view. One of them headed straight
towards me. I jumped off to the side as usual and swung down my sword. I lopped off
the Gray Hound’s head without any resistance.

Cleria moved forward after I finished one-off. The second Gray Hound froze on its
tracks for a bit after witnessing the other one getting killed. It pounced toward Cleria
instead, probably because it thought she was the easier one to bring down.

Cleria swung her sword but the creature somewhat avoided the slash. Too shallow!
However, Cleria immediately followed up with another slash. This time, she was able
to land a fatal hit. The Gray Hound’s throat was split open and it thrashed about on the
ground, but Cleria soon finished it off.

Did she just use the basic combo I taught her? That looked quite good by the way.
Cleria also seemed elated at her performance. I put away my rifle.

“How did I do, Alan?”

“I think you did pretty well. But I sensed a slight gap before you unleashed your next
sword slash. It would be best if you practiced your ability to unleash successive follow-
up attacks in case one slash fails to finish off your enemy.”

Corinth-style Swordsmanship was a style that aims to overwhelm opponents with

multiple successive attacks. It’s better for Cleria to form a habit of performing
continuous attacks and always thinking of the next move. Oops. It’s not like Cleria’s
my disciple or anything. What am I getting all worked up for anyway?

Cleria seemed convinced with my teachings and did a few practice swings.

Alrighty then, since the pests have been exterminated, let’s continue on.

“Aren’t you going to extract their magic stones, Alan?”

Hmm? Magic stone? What’s that?

“What’s a magic stone?”

Cleria seemed taken aback when I asked such a question.

“Magic stones are materials located inside the body of monsters.”

“What’s a monster? How can you differentiate between normal animals and monsters?”
“A creature with a magic stone inside its body is a monster and a creature without one
is an animal.”

You serious? I got to learn something new again. Now that I think about it, I did find a
round stone inside the body of one of those disgusting green creatures a while back.

“What do people do with these magic stones?”

Are these stones really useful or something?

“You can exchange them for ***** in any city or town. But the stones from these Gray
Hounds aren’t worth that much ***** though.”

An unfamiliar word appeared. It’s been a while. I’ll try updating my language database
again.

I played back Cleria’s reply.

“You can exchange them for money in any city or town. But the stones from these Gray
Hounds aren’t worth that much money though.”

I was shocked silly. It wasn’t due to the low value of Gray Hound magic stones, but
about the fact that I completely forgot about the issue of money!

It’s the form of currency this planet is using. Money! I think I saw some several small
and round metallic plates while I was sorting out the luggage back then. Argh!
Dammit! I failed to take note of it because it wasn’t a concept I was familiar with. I was
even wondering why there were several pouches containing those things when I was
sorting out the items.

For thousands of years, the empire has used electronic currency to process transactions.
I was not familiar with this world’s money because what I’d used ever since I was a
kid was e-currency.

(Hey Nanom, you also missed out on the money man!)

[We did not determine them to be particularly necessary at the time.]

I’m in the same boat. I only managed to secure a few pieces. This is bad. Once we arrive
at the city of Gotania where Cleria was heading, I bet we’d need some money.
Should I go back to where the carriages were? Nah, it would be too risky. Cleria’s
pursuers might be hot on our trail after all. They might have already found the carriages
too.

Wait, maybe Cleria brought some with her.

“By the way, Cleria, do you have some money on you?”

Ugh. I sound like a deadbeat good-for-nothing asking for some dough.

“No, I, unfortunately, do not.”

Looks like Cleria was broke too.

In that case, our only choice right now is to earn some. If these magic stones can be
exchanged for cash, then I’ll have to gather a bunch of em right away.

(Display the position of the magic stone inside the carcass.)

[Here.]

A cross-section of the Gray Hound was displayed on a virtual window. The magic stone
was located near its chest. I see. So magic stones get formed in the area of the body
where magicle concentration is the densest.

Should I open the body up with a knife and thrust my hand inside? Naw, I ain’t doing
that. Might as well just split it open with my sword.

I activated Final Blade again and slashed the carcass while being careful not to damage
the magic stone in the process. I finally retrieved a magic stone after poking around
the carcass with my sword.

It was a cloudy white ball about three centimeters in size. I secured both stones from
the two carcasses. Cleria didn’t know how much they were exactly worth for.

Ok, let’s resume the hunt. After walking around the hunting grounds for twenty
minutes, I finally got a couple more reactions from the scanning magic. It was in the
two o’clock direction and was stationary. It was located two hundred meters away.

I relayed this info to Cleria with hand signs and approached the target slowly and
soundlessly. I somehow had a hunch about the identity of our stationary target.

As expected, it’s a Blackbird. These guys almost never budge from the tree they were
roosting on unless they sense danger.

Cleria asked me to allow her to hunt it as well. I agreed and approached the target with
her until we came within forty meters. Cleria closed her eyes and prepared to cast a spell.

“Flame Arrow!”

Cleria released her spell. Three flaming arrows hurtled towards the Blackbird, but it
was disturbed by Cleria’s shout and was about to fly away to escape. One arrow
managed to barely hit its wing and the pudgy avian fell down from the tree. I started
running towards it along with Cleria.

The Flame Arrow hit its wing but the Blackbird still seemed energetic. It couldn’t fly,
but it started running on the ground. It’s fast!

“After em!”

I started chasing it around together with Cleria. The running speed of the bird was
somewhat slower compared to humans, but it was using the trees as cover, making
catching up to it a challenge.

We split in two directions and pincered the damn bird. We chased it around for about
three minutes until Cleria finally managed to fatally wound it with her sword. Man,
that was tiring.

Cleria laughed heartily. It seems she really enjoyed the chase. Well, two people chasing
a fat bird around did paint a silly picture. I laughed along with her.

We returned to the base after I finished draining the bird’s blood. Since this bird’s liver
was the vaunted “white liver”, it was, of course, served as sashimi.
My hand and foot were finally healed! I clenched my left hand to test it out. Ah, it’s
been so long. I’ve often heard that you’ll be able to appreciate things more once you’ve
lost them. I understand that feeling now. I was really blessed to have gained my lost
limbs back. I’m going to cherish my body more from now on.

We’re finally leaving for Gotania city in the kingdom of Berta today. Although we’ve
only stayed here for a brief period, I did feel a bit crestfallen at the thought of leaving
this base.

I moved my gaze towards Alan who was busy preparing our breakfast.

I have never felt as free in my entire life compared to these last few days. It’s not like I
have been forced to do things against my will, but as a member of royalty, I had to act
in a manner befitting that of a princess.

Be it my bearing, way of walking, the form of language I used to speak to our subjects
and even my thoughts — all had to be done in ways appropriate for a royal princess.

As an example, I had to speak to people even older than my father in a way that denotes
our stations as a royal and her subjects.

My tutor, Viscount Teris, impressed upon me the importance of the usage of proper
speech forms.

He once told me a story about a subject who was executed for the crime of disrespect
due to him forgetting his place and talking in a rude manner towards royalty before
the noble court.

There were also accounts of nobles starting to use informal speech against royalty
predating their acts of rebellion in the history of the kingdom as well as those of other
nations.

The use of proper forms of speech when talking between a ruler and their subjects would
denote their respective positions and serve as a reminder of how each should act. I
was taught that this will also protect the interests of our subjects.

Thus, I had been practicing what I have been taught ever since, but I somehow did not
feel too comfortable talking in such a haughty sounding way of speech.

I wouldn’t have minded much if I was really that excellent of an individual, but I know
in my heart that I wasn’t.

Furthermore, almost all the people coming and going to the royal palace were talented
people. Talking to such people like you were far above them was far too stressful, and
the conversations I had with my family became more and more reserved as well.

But it’s different with Alan. He speaks really naturally and forgoes any stiff formalities.
I ended up going along with his way speech before I knew it. I honestly couldn’t get
enough of this newfound sense of freedom.

A few days ago, Alan asked me why I was being chased after. In order to give the reason,
I would have to tell him all about myself and my circumstances.

Alan is also a noble. I would probably have to address him in the tone I used as royalty
once I told him of my background… Well, former royalty to be exact. I would like to
immerse myself in this sense of freedom for a little bit longer.

In truth, I would also really like to ask Alan about the country he’s from and what
position he holds there. But I have to tell him about myself first, so I couldn’t do so
until now.

For the sake of our safety during our journey, I would have to speak of my circumstances
soon.

Alright then, we’ve had our meal, so it’s about time to depart. The luggage we’re taking
with us is still a lot, but since there’s magic, there’s no need to bring water anymore,
so the weight of the bags has been reduced a bit.

The three pet bottles I brought with me to store drinking water were emptied out and
folded to a fraction of their size. Yep, these pet bottles are the collapsible type which
is handy for ease of storage.

They’re made out of a shape memory material that allows them to return to their
original shape once you put in some liquid.

The company which pioneered this technology and patented it became the number
one pet bottle manufacturer in the entire empire.

I put some dried salmon fillets in the opened up space after collapsing the pet bottles.
I tried making them a few days back and they turned out quite tasty. They’re more
suitable as snacks rather than something to have during meals and are a perfect
accompaniment when drinking alcohol. But because they needed a large amount of
salt, I only ended up making two.

Ah, now that I think about it, I actually kinda want to drink some good alcohol right
now. Will I be able to drink some once we arrive in the city?

We walked back towards the riverside in order to trace it back to the main road. I think
it took us about three hours of walking last time. I left keeping watch for potential
threats to Nanom and proceeded to ask Cleria about a bunch of stuff to make good use
of the time.

I was woefully lacking in vocabulary before, so I couldn’t ask even basic questions. For
example, what is the name of this world? But that type of question would invite undue
suspicion, so I had to refrain from posing anything of the sort.

Even though I refrained from asking questions like that as much as possible, Cleria has
been telling me about them of her own accord for the past few days. I’m thinking she
may have misunderstood that I’m suffering from a sort of memory loss or that I’ve
come from a different continent.

She’s even told me a lot of basic stuff I wasn’t familiar with but should be considered
as common sense for any local. She doesn’t hold anything back even though some
questions sound a bit silly.

That’s a good thing. Guess I’ll ask her without reserve then.

Cleria hasn’t asked me where I’m from or what my occupation is even once. Of course,
I wouldn’t be able to answer me honestly if she did ask, but as I’m curious about her
background, she may be curious about mine as well.
She probably doesn’t ask about them because she’ll have to talk about herself as well.

Perhaps she has reservations due to the reason why she’s being pursued. Well, I’ll just
wait until she’s ready to talk about it and leave it at that.

For now, I got to learn that we were heading towards the city of Gotania in a country
called Belta Kingdom. Come to think of it, I’ve already heard of the city’s name from
her earlier, but it’s my first time hearing about the name of the country.

It seems she’s going there to visit a relative. I see. So I guess she’s going there for some
business and will visit her relative along the way.

Incidentally, the area we’re traveling on right now is not the territory of any country.
If it had places with fertile lands, it might have already been claimed by pioneers. But
since the area is fairly mountainous and did not seem to possess any area suitable for
growing produce, it’s been ignored up until now.

The common language used in the Berta Kingdom is the same as what we’re using
right now. As far as Cleria’s knowledge goes, there’s no neighboring country unfamiliar
with the language we’re speaking.

I see. So that’s why Cleria thinks I’m not from this continent.

The form of currency is also the same: small and large copper, silver and gold coins, as
well as the most valuable white gold coins. Ten small coppers are one large copper coin,
ten large coppers are one silver coin and so on. The value rises from copper, silver,
gold and white gold respectively.

I wonder what type of alloy is used in white gold coins. It seems they call their currency
here the guinea.

By the way, we now currently have five large copper coins, five silver coins, and five
gold coins. That’s a total of 55,500 guineas.

When I asked her how much a piece of bread would cost, she answered with ‘I have
no idea’. Has she really never bought bread before? It either means she had no money
to buy them or just didn’t have the opportunity to. It’s probably the latter.

Well, now that I’d had a good look at her, Cleria really seems to fit the image of a
highborn lady. The clothes she was wearing seemed expensive and her sword was
intricately crafted. I wonder why I’ve never noticed until now. Well, maybe it’s because
of her miserable appearance when I first saw her made such an impression on me so
the image of her being a pitiful girl stuck to me.

Until now, I thought Cleria was just the youngest member of a mercenary outfit but is
that really the case. She may be a noble lady and those companions of hers might have
been her escort. But why would a noble lady wear something like armor?

Nah, this is an underdeveloped planet; arming oneself while traveling may be common
sense here. I can’t just keep seeing things based on my standards.

While I was thinking about those things, we’ve finally managed to get a glimpse of the
main road. We have to maintain our vigilance from here on out. But since we have
scanning magic at our disposal, things were a little better on the security front.

[Currently, the only reactions detected are that of animals such as juvenile Big Boars,
but there are no other signatures present within a range of 700 meters.]

Currently, the maximum scanning range caps at 700 meters since the atmospheric
magicle interference becomes unmanageable at greater distances and the accuracy
drops considerably.

But if we set the scanning target to larger objects, it would be possible to increase the
range a bit.

The road has many blind bends, so having a scanning range of 700 meters should give
enough time for us to get away or hide once we detect danger.

We’ve now managed to reach the main road. I and Cleria started walking on it without
encountering any particular trouble.

“I’ve been curious about it since before but, what exactly is that?” Cleria pointed at my
pulse rifle and asked me.

“Oh, this? It’s basically a kind of weapon…”

I can’t exactly explain how it works though. But Cleria’s eyes gleamed with sparks of
curiosity after hearing my answer.

“What kind of weapon is it? Just how do you use it?”

“Uh, if you hold it like this and aim it at an enemy, something like a magic arrow would
be released.”

I performed a mock aiming pose.

“Wow! So it’s a magic tool!”

Magic tool, you say!? That’s another unfamiliar term.

“Can I touch it?”

I took the rifle off my shoulder and handed it over to Cleria. Of course, since the rifle
is registered under me, no one else would be able to fire it even if they pull the trigger.

Cleria imitated my form and posed with the rifle.

“Can I try firing it!?”

“Uh, sorry but the number of shots this thing has is limited. It’s kind of like a trump
card of mine, so I don’t want to waste shots if possible.”

Hm. Come to think of it, how many shots does this rifle have left anyway?

[If you fire under normal energy output settings, the maximum number of shots is
4,990.]

Well, that number seems to be sufficient, but it certainly won’t last for a lifetime. If I
fired 500 shots on average per year, it’ll just last me ten years tops. I have to use it
sparingly.

“So this is your trump card Alan…? I can’t use it then.”

Cleria handed back the rifle to me.

I immediately asked about those so-called magic tools I heard from earlier.

It seems magic tools are equipment that can activate magic on their own and have lots
of types with various functions. There are tools used for watering plants, lighting a fire
and even producing light.
In order for them to function, they would need a power source. That power source is
magic stones. So it seems magic stones are akin to batteries in this world. That’s why
they’re so in-demand.

However, although it also depends on the type, most magic tools are very expensive.
There are also kinds classified as “artifacts” which cannot be reproduced using current
techniques and are basically priceless. Man, I’d sure like to get a look at some in the
future.

Whoah, looks like it’s already noon. Time for lunch! Perhaps the reason why Cleria
seemed restless since a while ago is because she’s hungry.

Today’s lunch is stir-fried veggies with plenty of Blackbird meat and salt-grilled
salmon. I made these along with our breakfast earlier in the day. I packed them inside
the makeshift cups I made out of the damaged pet bottle in place of a lunch box. Un,
delicious!

Speaking of foodstuffs, I put whatever edible stuff we found along the way inside my
ingredient bag. I’ll use them to make dinner. We have a lot of Blackbird meat left after
all. It’ll probably be fine if I cook it well.

I wanted to find out if Cleria’s appetite was back to normal and tried to test her earlier
when we had breakfast. I made the usual large amount and she gobbled them all up
easily. She probably won’t be satisfied with just plain vegetable stir fry without any
meat huh. Can’t be helped. I’ll try to hunt some animals down along the way then.

We started walking again after finishing our lunch. There’s still a lot of things I want
to ask.

A road sign appeared the moment I thought it was time for us to find a place to stay
for the night. It was already four in the afternoon the last time I checked. The road sign
was a wooden pole and board with characters written on them. I had Cleria take a
look.

“It says ‘two kilometers to Talas Village’”

Ooh, a village! I definitely want to go there.

“Did you know there was a village here Cleria.”

“I didn’t. But we did sometimes stay in villages when I was traveling with my
companions.”

She’d probably left all of the work to her companions huh. Anyway, this is a good thing.
I actually thought we’d have to walk all the way to our destination earlier.

“Should we make a stop-over?”

“Alright. I’m fine with it.”

Yeah! I’ll finally get in contact with other people aside from Cleria! I’m looking forward
to it.
The side road which leads toward the village was a narrow one with a width of about
2 to 3 meters and continued to a fairly steep uphill slope.

After walking on it for a while, my scanning magic managed to detect something. It

doesn’t seem to be human.

“Cleria, there’s a reaction in that direction, about 500 meters out. It may not be human.”

“Understood.”

We carefully scaled the slope. After climbing for about a hundred meters, something
which looked like a Big Boar suddenly jumped out from the side of the road.

I zoomed in on it to check it out. It’s huge! It’s the largest Big Boar I’ve ever encountered.
It should be at least a hundred kilos. Can animals really grow to this large a size?

It seems it’s noticed us. It started pawing the ground with its front hoof and bared its
aggression towards us. Honestly, why the heck are these things so aggressive? Well, I
guess it’s convenient for us anyway.

“I’ll finish it with magic.”

“Got it.” Cleria responded as she drew her sword. Uh, did you really catch what I said,
Ms. Cleria?

As we inched closer to it, it also slowly drew itself towards our direction. When we
came within 50 meters of each other, the Big Boar broke into a full charge. But I’ve
already anticipated that.

My magicle reserves are already prepared. Let’s cast Flame Arrow then. Can I make it
so it fires off just one arrow instead of three? Let me try it then.

Flame Arrow, fire!

The Flame Arrow struck the Big Boar’s head dead-center when it came within 15
meters. However, its momentum was too strong so it kept heading straight for us. That
looks nasty! We’ll definitely die if we get run over. We hurriedly moved to the side to
avoid it.

The single-shot concentrated Flame Arrow experiment was a success. The rate of
magicle consumption was about the same as a single Fireball spell. This looks nice! I’ll
use it more often from now on.

“Alan, that magic just now was…?”

“I tried condensing all three flame arrows into a single shot.”

“May I try to learn it…? Is it easy to use?”

“It just needs a little practice Cleria. The magic consumption is about the same as a
Fireball spell.”

When Cleria heard me, she immediately lost herself in thought. Oh, right! Let’s use this
Big Boar as a souvenir when we arrive at the village.

“Let’s head to the village first.”

Cleria nodded in agreement. After walking for a little bit more, I got a response from
a magic scan once again. This time, it looks like its human! There are quite a lot of them
– about two hundred or so, give or take. There are also some smaller signals. Should
be children or domesticated animals.

As we walked further, we finally saw a village surrounded by a fence made out of logs.
The height of the fence is about 3 meters, and several wooden houses could be seen
beyond it. There were two people manning a wooden gate, which seemed to be the
entrance to the village.

As we came nearer, the people finally noticed us.

“Stop right there! Who’re ya people!?”

It was a middle-aged male villager.

“We’re just some travelers. We were hoping to get some rest in your village for a while.”
He was eyeing me in suspicion. I’m wearing my black jumpsuit right now, so I must
look weird to them. He faltered a bit when he got a look at Cleria, who was standing
behind me.

“We just killed a ridiculously large Big Boar back there! I’d like you guys to help me
carry it back.”

“Ya serious!? A really large Big Boar?”

“I’m telling the truth. We can go together if you want.”

The middle-aged man talked to the youth beside him. The young man started running
back inside the village.

“I jus told im ta call fer more guys. Jus wait there fer a bit.”

Got it. I raised my hand in answer. But the way this guy talks is a bit different. Did he
have an accent or something?

After a short while, it seems some villagers finally arrived. The gate opened slightly,
and the ones who came out were just the middle-aged uncle and the young man. Both
of them carried things that resembled spears.

“Let’s go. Over here.”

We went back the way we came and guided the two villagers. We reach the place
where the Big Boar fell dead soon after.

“There’s no mistakin it. This guy’s Black Speckles!”

This thing has a name? It’s not some pet, is it? Well, it did look to have a lot of black
spots on its hide.

“Are you familiar with this guy?”

“Yea. This guy did in quite a few of my mates.”

Whew. That’s a relief. It looks like it’s not a pet after all.

“Hey Beck, go call out ten men and a cart” the uncle instructed the young man, who
then promptly ran back again.

“Are ye really sharin this with us?”

“Yeah. I’ll just get enough for tonight’s dinner and tomorrow’s breakfast. The rest are
yours.”

“Ye really sure we can have most of the meat?”

“Uhuh. Also, I’d appreciate it if you could give us some preserved foods. And I don’t
suppose you can spare us a place to stay for the night as well?”

“That’ll be easy. The name’s Zack, by the way.”

Cleria stepped forward at this moment.

“My name is Ria. This man is Alan. We’ll be in your care, good sir.”

Oh, it’s a good idea to use a pseudonym. That’s good thinking, Cleria. Zack was a bit
taken aback when he heard her speak.

“Likewise, Milady.”

Zack’s tone became all formal. At that moment, the young man from earlier brought
back ten able-bodied men and a cart with him. The villagers surrounded the Big Boar
and started making a fuss.

“Alright, mates! Let’s take this thing back ta the village! Heave!”

It looks like Zack is a leader figure here. The villagers proceeded to tie up the Big Boar
with rope and began to work on it with an experienced air. I also helped out until we
finally managed to get it loaded onto the cart.

Everyone then headed back to the village while pushing the cart forward. It was hard
labor since the way back was steep.

The wooden gate was already open when we got back and a crowd has formed. We
went straight into the gate and entered the village. We parked the cart in the middle
of a clearing at the center of the village. Everyone’s gazes gathered toward Zack.
“Alright ya lot! These people here’re this village’s benefactors! They killed Black
Speckles an gave almost all the meat ta us! It’s a banquet, tonight folks!”

The villager’s cheers rang out of the square. Some were running to other parts of the
village to share the news.

“Go ahead an have a seat, you two. Here, lemme make ya some tea.”

Several sets of tables and chairs have been moved to the village square. I immediately
took a seat along with Cleria and proceeded to relax.

On the other side of the square, some villagers have begun butchering the Big Boar.
They looked like they were really familiar with the job.

“Are you the head of this village, Zack?”

“Oh? Uh, yeah, that’s right. Uh, pardon me fer askin but, just how’d ye kill that pesky
Boar anyway?”

“I killed it with magic. It charged straight for us, so I hit it with magic right on the head.”

“Yer a mage?”

Hm? He seems quite surprised. Are there people who can’t use magic, perhaps?

“Are there people capable of using magic in this village?”

“There are two or three who can, but none of em are capable enough ta get rid of Black
Speckles with a spell.”

So that’s the case. I didn’t think some people are unable to use magic. As I watched the
dismantling work being performed, I noticed that the knives they were using were
quite dull so the work wasn’t progressing all that fast. The sun’s going to set soon.
Dinner’s gonna be late at this rate.

“I’ll lend this to you guys, Zack. Try dismantling it with that.”

I handed my electromagnetic bladeknife to Zack.

“It’s a magic tool, so it’s really sharp. It can even cut through bone. Be careful while
using it.”

“Magic tool, ye say!?”

“Uhuh. Be careful so you won’t injure yourself. Oh, and wash it properly before
returning it, alright?”

Soon after, cheers could be heard coming from the people dismantling the Boar. It
seems the work’s proceeding smoothly.

After a while, the tea was served. This is my first time trying a local drink on this planet!

Mmm. Delicious! It kinda tastes like the green tea of Earth.

“It’s delicious. Can you share some of the tea leaves with me, Zack?”

It seems Zack’s wife was pleased when I praised her tea.

“Of course mate. I also love the taste of this tea. Ye think this’ll sell in the city?”

‘I think it definitely would. I’ll buy some at least.”

I don’t know anything about the city, but delicious things are delicious. How about
Cleria? I sent an inquiring gaze at her.

“Yes. It’s quite delicious.”

Looks like that confirms it. Milady Cleria says it’ll sell.

“But ya know Alan, I’ve been meaning to ask about that outfit of yers. What exactly is
that?”

Ah, so they really were conscious about it huh? It’s not like I had any other outfits to
wear anyway.

“Uh, well, due to some certain circumstances, these are the only clothes I have right
now.”

“Is that so. Well, the specialty product of this village is **. We also make clothes as well.
We can probably whip out a decent set fer ya tomorrow.”
“Really? Thank you, I appreciate it. I’ll be paying, of course. I’ll leave it to you.”

There was an unfamiliar word there, but they offered to make me clothes. I hope they
won’t be too expensive.

“Alright, we’ll fix ye a set tomorrow.”

Villagers were already starting to gather around the tables. A boy who looked to be
about twelve approached me.

“Um, thanks for getting rid of Black Speckles. That thing killed my dad.”

“I see… I’m sorry about your dad. So eat plenty of that guy’s meat to get even, okay?”

“Yeah!”

The boy then went over to the dismantling spot.

“How many people were killed,” I asked Zack.

“He got six people. This year, there were three. We were almost unable to come further
outside the village lately. We’re really grateful ta you two fer bringing it down.”

“I see. I’m glad we could help.”

It seems they’ve butchered quite a few portions already. A group of village women
were starting to cook the meat on a stove made of stones on one side of the village
square.

Cleria talked to Zack’s wife for a time but excused herself just now. Seems like she
needs to go on a bathroom break. Zack saw it and moved closer to me afterward.

“Hey, that knight-sama is a **, right?”

Hm? Seems like I wouldn’t be able to understand the word without updating the
language database. Anyway, knight huh? She’s a knight since she’s wearing armor? Do
knights have a higher social status or something?
“Why do you think so?”

I need more info.

“Well, the way she speaks is like that of a **, so isn’t she one? Are you her *** Alan?”

There’s another word I can’t understand.

“What’s a ***?”

“Ya don’t know? It’s someone who takes care of a knight’s wellbeing and daily needs.

I performed a language update. So the meaning of *** is ‘attendant’ huh? Well, it’s true
that I’m basically taking care of her daily needs. I’m even cooking for her. So like I’m
her attendant huh?

“Well, I guess it’s something like that. I’ve only met Ria recently, so I’m still not that
familiar with her.”

“So, how’s the knight-sama’s skills with a sword?”

He sure was asking about some unexpected stuff.

“Hm, let’s see. She should at least be able to take on two Gray Hounds at the same time.”

Well, it may be a little tough on her though.

“That’s amazin!”

Our conversation was interrupted because Cleria came back.

The village women carried over a large serving of a dish on a large plate. There’s also
some bread. I’m kinda looking forward to eating other people’s cooking after so long.

The dish seems to be cooked out of Poto tubers and a lot of other vegetables I was
unfamiliar with, coupled with lots of meat. It was a type of vegetable stir-fry.

Zack picked up his plate and started getting a portion of the dish on the large plate. He
took quite a lot. So it’s that kind of system? Cleria and I also picked up some wooden
plates and scooped out portions of the dish. Cleria took quite a lot for herself.
It’s delicious! It lacked a bit of salt, but they used a generous amount of that garlic-like
herb. It smelled unique. They must be using some more herbs I was unfamiliar with. I
feel that the saltiness of the dish was a little too thin, but it’s plenty tasty as it is.

“This is delicious!”

Cleria was busy stuffing her cheeks full.

It was a fun banquet.

All of the villagers began to eat the food. It became quite lively.

Hey, that’s right! I managed to find some of those leafy salad-use vegetables before we
came here. I reached for my ingredient bag and took some out. It’s fresh so it was still
quite crisp. Oh, and there’s some leftover Blackbird meat as well. Let’s cook some then.

“Whaddya have there? Oh, are those sappa leaves?”

“I found some earlier. You can have some if you like.”

It seems the salad vegetable is called the sappa. The sappa leaves were torn to small
pieces and were put in on an empty wooden plate. Afterward, the plate was placed in
a corner easily accessible to everyone participating in the banquet.

I wrapped some sappa leaves around the meat and started eating it. Yep, that’s delicious
alright. When some of the villagers saw me, they started imitating what I was doing.

“It’s delicious! We’ve never eaten meat like this.”

“And here’s some meat from the bird I managed to hunt yesterday. Does anyone want
some?”

The meat left was about five kilos worth. It would be better to finish it all tonight.

“Oi, oi! Ain’t this Black Bird meat!? Ya sure we can eat it?”

So the Blackbird really was called “Black Bird”. A simple but fitting name.

“Yeah. It’ll go bad if we don’t eat it tonight.”

More meat was served to the villagers. More cheers rose from the gathered crowd.

The bread looked a bit hard. But when I tried it, I found that it wasn’t as hard as I
thought. It was about the size of my palm. It looked like it was freshly baked.

I cut the bread into two halves with my knife. I lined the inside with some sappa leaves
and placed a large amount of meat in between. Now I had a homemade meat sandwich.

Do you want some Cleria? She was staring hard while I was preparing the sandwich
after all. I handed it over to her and proceeded to make another one.

Yep, this is also tasty. The bread is softer than expected, and the meat was overflowing
with juice.

“That looks good too.”

Zack also started making his own. Zack’s wife followed suit.

Oh boy. The village women brought out something like thick steak slices this time. I’ll
get myself a smaller piece. Mm, this was also made with plenty of garlic. Delicious!
Cleria got herself a huge slice. Talk about oversized.

I ate my fill. I couldn’t stuff myself anymore. Both Cleria and Zack were eating like
crazy and it didn’t seem they planned to stop anytime soon.

“That was truly delicious. This might be the first time in my life that I got to eat this
much meat.”

Zack’s wife brought out an earthen container and placed it on the table.

“Do you two drink alcohol?”

“Yes, I’ll have some please.”

Cleria also nodded in response. It resembled red wine. Mm. That hit the spot. The
sourness was a bit pronounced, but it was still quite good.

“So, are you two goin ta Gotania by any chance?” Zack inquired as he drank.

“Uh, yes.”
I might have answered his question a little too readily.

“Hey, Beck! Come ’ere son!”

Zack called out to the young man with him earlier.

“Can he tag along with ye two as well? This lad here’s my son Beck.”
Come to think of it, their faces practically resembled each other.

“Alright. But why is he going to Gotania as well?”

“Y’see, we come to Gotania every six months in order to sell the products made in this
village. It’s about time for us to head over there again. We always go in groups of fifteen
as a countermeasure fer bandits and monsters, but it wasn’t very efficient and we
failed to make profits. We couldn’t pack a good number of wares as well. Now we have
a knight with amazing sword skills and a mage able to kill a Big Boar with one spell
here. And you both are also heading to Gotania. So I was thinking if maybe we could
tag along as well and hire you two as our escorts.”

Cleria blushed red upon hearing her being described as ‘a knight with amazing sword
skills’.

“Are you going to Gotania using a carriage?”

“That’s right. Can ye escort Beck here, along with another young man to the city?”

Hm, it doesn’t seem to be a bad proposal. We need a guide after all, so this saves us the
trouble of looking for one.

“What do you think Ria? I’m fine with it though.”

“I don’t mind as well.”

“Alright then. We’ll accompany them. But only for going to the city. What do you plan
to do when it’s time to go back?”

“There’s no need to worry because we’re going to hire adventurers by then.”

Adventurers? Those are people who go on adventures for a living, right? Are escort
services also a part of their duties?

“I see. But is this really okay? You’re entrusting your safety to people you’ve just met
today.”

“I have confidence in my ability ta judge people. Ye two are people we can trust.”

Cleria nodded in agreement. Well, we’re definitely not villains so Zack’s eye for people
is pretty spot-on.

“Understood. We accept your request for an escort to Gotania. We promise to keep

Beck and the carriage safe along the way.”

“Thank you. But I can’t give ye much compensation for yer troubles though.”

“You don’t have to. We get to go to Gotania on a carriage after all. That’s enough of a
reward.”

“Even if you say that… Oh, right! How bout that set of clothes I mentioned earlier? The
clothes we make in our village our fairly reputed y’know.”

“Thank you for your consideration then.”

I did need to get a new set of clothes anyway. As expected, it would stand out too much
if I entered the city wearing my jumpsuit.

“Alright, now that that’s outta the way, let’s drink!”

Hey, that’s right! Speaking of alcohol, I have the perfect snack to go with it. I retrieved
the dried salmon fillets from the backpack. Since they were quite hard, I cut them into
strips with my knife, put them on a plate and placed it on the table.

“Here’s some dried fish. I can’t guarantee the taste since I’m the one who made them,
but these should be good snacks to pair with the wine.”

“Hooh, now this is something unusual. Let’s see.”

“These are delicious! You’ve used plenty of salt on them, and they do seem like the
perfect snacks to go along with the wine.”

I also gave some to the rest of the villagers. Looks like they liked the taste, judging
from their excited reactions.

The bonfires continued to burn, and the banquet lasted until late into the night.
[It’s now morning. Please wake up.]

After last night’s binge drinking, I asked Nanom to wake me up when morning came.
And no, I don’t have a hangover. Nanom broke down the alcohol in my bloodstream
while I slept, which is quite convenient.

Cleria and I were led to stay the night at the lodging for welcoming visitors. It seems
there were often travelers like us who ask to stay at the village, so they built a building
solely for housing visitors.

We were really lucky to have obtained the goodwill of the villagers yesterday. We were
able to get rid of the Big Boar that has been harassing the village after all.

The worst that could have happened was that the ones after Cleria following us into
the village. We would have had to fight them off here if it came to it, but thankfully,
they didn’t manage to track us down yet. Zack’s behavior also indicated that they
haven’t been to this area yet, so that’s good news at least.

Cleria was still fast asleep, so I decided to leave her be. She must be really tired.

I left the house and made my way back to the square. Some villagers are already awake
and were busy with their work.

“Good morning, Alan!”

It was Zack’s son, Beck.

“Morning, Beck.”

I got along quite well with Beck. He’s nineteen and was on the slender side, but he
looked similar to his father, Zack. He feels like the guy-next-door type with blue eyes
and brown hair.
Beck seemed to have a fascination for swordsmanship, so he went up to Cleria straight
away. But Cleria mentioned that my skills were better, so he went over to consult me
instead. After prodding me for a while, I finally gave in and started discussing
swordsmanship with him.

Truth is, I didn’t really know a thing about proper swordsmanship, but I ended up
practicing forms every once in a while during our trip. Well, I suppose it’ll be fine to
teach him some moves. I’ll just leave the basics to Cleria.

“You sure are early, Beck.”

“I wanted to leave the village as soon as possible. I’ve already gathered my luggage,
but the clothes we’re supposed to sell in the city aren’t prepared yet.”

“So, when do you plan to leave?”

“Well, I wanted to leave before noon at the latest. Oh right, dad said to call you over.”

“Okay. I’ll go look for him then.”

Suddenly, Cleria came running towards us.

“Good morning, Ria.”

“Alan! You should have just woken me up you know!”

Eh? Looks like she’s angry? I don’t think I did anything particularly worth getting angry
over though.

“Zack seems to be looking for me, so I’ll head on over first.”

“I’m coming too.”

Oh boy. She sure is grumpy today. Let’s see. I think Zack’s house was round here. It was
the biggest house in the entire village. AS expected of the village chief. When we neared
the house, Zack came out.

“Good morning, Zack. You were looking for me?”

“Yo. It’s about what we discussed last night. The clothes I offered as a reward. Head on
over here fer a bit.”

I was dragged inside Zack’s house. The room near the front door looked like a warehouse
and a lot of clothes were stocked on the shelves.

These’re the clothes we put up for sale. I’ve been selectin a few of them fer you to
choose from. Go an pick the ones ye like.”

“Thank you. That’s quite a lot. Let’s see. Which ones should I get?”

“I’ll choose for you” Cleria offered in a cheerful tone, as though her bad mood from
earlier didn’t happen.

“Right then. Take yer time an choose.”

Zack went out of the room.

“Alright, Ria. I’ll leave it to you.”

I haven’t worn these types of clothing before, so I don’t know what’s good and what’s
not.

“Please leave it to me!”

Cleria cheerfully took some clothes from the racks and began checking them out. I
honestly can’t tell the difference between these clothes. Wouldn’t anything be fine if
the size fits?

There wasn’t a lot of items which fit my size, so we got to decide on some clothes pretty
quickly. What Cleria ended up picking was a pair of cream-colored shirt and black
pants.

“I’ll choose some for you again once we arrive in the city.”

“Thanks, Ria. I’ll be relying on you again then.”

Cleria seemed a bit miffed about the fact that there weren’t many clothes to choose
from, so when I agreed to let her choose for me again in the city, her mood turned
better. Zack came back in at this time.
“I’ll be getting these, Zack.”

“I see. Ya also need some underwear, right? Unfortunately, we only have this kind
available.”

There was only one type of free-size underwear available.

“Can I try these on?”

“They’re all yours now. Go right ahead.”

When I started unzipping my current get-up, Cleria got flustered and hurriedly ran out
of the room. Hmm. I’m a bit unused to them, but they’ll do just fine. They’re a perfect
fit as well.

I went out of the room after I finished changing, and Cleria immediately came over. It
seems she was checking me out. And it looks like I got passing marks.

“Ya mentioned wanting some food preserves as well right? I was thinkin of packing
enough for four people.”

“That’ll be fine then, thanks. I’m planning on going hunting for food along the way
anyway. Do you need some help?”

“Can ye help with packing the luggage and wares then?”

I went back inside the warehouse with Cleria and started wrapping the clothes with a
big linen sheet. I had a bit of trouble folding the clothes to a small enough size so we
could pack in more.

We managed to finish packing all of the wares after three of four hours.

“Alright folks, time fer breakfast!” Zack announced. The main dish is of course made
from Big Boar meat. However, the seasonings used in this time’s dish are different
from what was used in yesterday’s banquet. Of course, the dish is still plenty delicious.

We loaded all our luggage on a two-wheeled carriage. There were a lot more other
wares than clothes. Looks like this village’s specialty was producing cotton. Raw cotton
was packed into small sacks and was included in the wares.
Since the wagon didn’t have a roof, I asked what we’d do if it ever rained, and the folks
at the village answered: “We’ll just think about it if it comes to that”. Well, can’t be
helped then.

The other young villager coming with us was named Thor. He was a young man about
the same age as Beck. They were apparently childhood friends. He looks to be a fine
young man as well. Apparently, he was to serve as a substitute for Beck for driving the
carriage.

We finally departed with a carriage filled to the brim with luggage and various wares.
There were a lot of villagers who came to see us off.

“Don’t mess up, y’hear Beck!” Zack yelled out.

“I know, Dad.”

“Alan, I’ll leave Beck to you.”

“Please rest assured. We’ll safely deliver them to Gotania.”

We finally departed from the village, but since part of the way was a steep slope,
everyone walked downhill and proceeded slowly.

We finally boarded the carriage and sped up once we reached the highway. I was told
yesterday that it would take about twenty days to get to Gotania by carriage. It’s
surprisingly quick, considering our form of transport.

Beck and Thor were sitting out front while I and Cleria sat on top of the piled-up
luggage. This actually feels kinda neat. We were traveling at a speed just a little faster
than walking on our own. I had nothing else to do, so I proceeded to activate scanning
magic. The detection range is the same as before – a radius of 700 meters.

“How far are we traveling today, Beck?”

“We left pretty late in the day, so we’ll probably end up sleeping outdoors. There’s a
pretty good camping spot a good ways away, so we’ll go until there.”

“Gotcha. Don’t hesitate to call out if you ever need anything.”

The carriage rattled noisily, so they wouldn’t be able to hear me on the driver’s seat if
I didn’t raise my voice. Beck and Thor were talking between themselves, but I couldn’t
hear them very well due to all the noise. We were both free, so Cleria and I proceeded
to spend time talking to each other as well. We’re basically doing the same thing before
going to the village.

Cleria asked me about the method to cast a single shot Flame Arrow, but I couldn’t give
her any useful tips apart from sharpening her image of the spell. I told her that her
image of the spell she wants to cast is the most important factor when using magic. It
seems Cleria was satisfied with my answer and hunkered down to mull things over. I
ended up quite free again.

Whoah, there’s some unwanted company. Nanom managed to capture magicle reactions.

“Ria, there’s a Gray Hound. Just one. 500 meters out in that direction.”

The sucker was in the 11 o’clock direction. It’s right out front.

“Please let me deal with it.”

Well, she’s asked, so she shall receive. I’ll leave it to her then.

“Alright. But it’s still not certain that it’ll head our way.”

Judging from its movements, it seems the Gray Hound hasn’t noticed us yet, but the
carriage was moving in its direction, so it’ll probably notice us before long. The Gray
Hound’s movements finally showed some changes when the carriage reached a
distance of 200 meters from it. It was definitely heading straight for us. Well, the
carriage was noisy as heck, so it was probably inevitable.

“Beck, stop the carriage!”

The carriage promptly stopped moving and Cleria jumped out front.

“What’s wrong!?” Beck asked.

“Gray Hound. Just one. Ria will deal with it,” I announced.

Cleria drew her sword and held it in both hands before her chest.
The Gray Hound appeared about fifty meters away from the carriage. It wasn’t wary
of us one bit and kept charging at us. I raised the rifle slightly, just in case.

“Flame Arrow!”

A single, large flame arrow appeared before Cleria and headed straight towards the
Gray Hound. The flame arrow struck the Gray Hound right in the chest when it
managed to come within ten meters of Cleria’s position. Whoah! That was some fast
casting! She just took about fifteen seconds to cast that spell. And Cleria also had her
eyes opened all this time. She’s really managed to improve by a lot.

Beck and Thor raised a fuss. Cleria would have normally jumped up and down in
celebration, but she had a calm and composed expression today. It seems she was
putting up quite a front due to the presence of Beck and Thor, but I didn’t miss the
faint arch which graced her lips. Well, she was regarded as a really skilled knight by
the villagers, so I sort of understand how she’s feeling.

She didn’t forget to take the magic stone from the corpse. She made her sword glow
and split the Gray Hound in two, recovering the magic stone afterward. Beck and Thor
made a fuss about it once again. We tossed the Gray Hound remains down a cliff.

“That takes care of that. Shall we depart?”

“Amazing, Alan-san! Is Ria-sama always like this?”

Let’s give a bit more props to Cleria today.

“Yes. She’s always been like this. Shall we go then?”

“Yeah!”

The carriage started up once again. The two out front were still immersed in the
excitement and were talking animatedly with each other.

“How was I, Alan?”

Looks like Cleria couldn’t hold down her own excitement and finally inquired about
her prior performance.

“That was great. The time you took to solidify your image was quite short. And what
was even more impressive was that your eyes remained open while casting.”

“Huh? My eyes were open?”

Looks like she wasn’t aware of it then.

“Yeah, they were. Your next goal would be to shorten the casting time further. Ten
seconds at the longest. Next would be not using your hands to aim and chantless
casting. If you can do all these, you’ll have enough breathing room to prepare your
spells before a battle begins, and you’d be able to defeat your opponents easier. Your
combat capabilities would rise considerably.”

Cleria seemed like she agreed with my points. I was curious about why she didn’t cast
spells like this before.

“How did you learn magic, Ria?”

“You’d first need to read and memorize magic tomes before you can learn magic properly.
You’d have to do as the steps in the magic tome indicate one by one in order to cast
magic spells successfully.”

“Magic tome huh? Sounds kinda amazing.”

“Yes. For example, Fireball has seventeen steps. Flame Arrow has fifty.”

“So does that mean you’re reproducing the seventeen processes in your head in those
ten seconds before casting a Fireball spell?”

“That’s correct.”

That’s quite amazing. That’s beyond what geniuses can normally do. No wonder she
had to close her eyes before. I’m not familiar with the exact processes, but she’s basically
completing an average of two every second.

“I haven’t even heard of the method of using images like what Alan does.”

Hmm. Well, I guess if you didn’t know of the process of gathering magicles in order to
form spells, you would have a relatively more difficult time casting magic. I remember
that I learned of the exact method from an NPC teacher for several days back in the game.
I see. So I guess those steps would allow one to construct an effective mental image.
“Is using a magic tome to learn magic the norm?”

“Of course! I can guarantee that every mage in this world learned to cast spells through
reading magic tomes… except for Alan, that is.”

She seems really sure of her words huh. I see. So it’s possible that the people who
produced these magic tomes must have written them in such a way that would allow
one to form a mental image through the use of a step-by-step process. And as a result,
it became common sense to learn magic by imitating the steps written in those magic
tomes. Mm. It’s definitely possible.

But Zack said yesterday night that there were a few of the villagers who could actually
use magic. Did those people read tomes too?

“Actually, Zack said that the village had about two or three people who could use magic
in the village last night.”

‘Oh, those are probably people who can use an incomplete form of spell casting due to
not having the chance to read a tome. Magic tomes are expensive, so normal citizens
able to use magic are quite few in number.”

I see. It’s plenty possible to cast magic if you have a good imagination. But without a
tome to provide definite steps for processing an image, casting may prove difficult for
beginners.

“Well, now you’ve experienced it too Cleria. What’s truly important when casting
magic is forming a concrete and vivid image. You need to be faster, more detailed and
precise when imagining just how you want a spell to come out and how much magic
power you wish to use up during spell casting. Imaging power, so to speak.”

“Imaging power…”

Cleria was once again lost in thought. I was free once again, so I just plopped down on
the luggage pile. That’s some nice weather. It’ll be great if it doesn’t rain. Oops, that
was close. I was just about to fall asleep.

I looked at the digital clock on my virtual HUD and found that we’ve traveled for close
to an hour. Nanom was still keeping watch, so I bet it’ll wake me up if there was some
kind of trouble along the way, but I’ll fail as an escort if that happened. Let’s be more
careful from now on.
Cleria was silently sitting while keeping her eyes closed. It seems she’s meditating…
She isn’t just asleep, right?

At that moment, the scan managed to pick up another reaction. It was a weak reaction
that was barely in the scan’s detection ability and was right in front of the carriage
again. It’s 400 meters out. It doesn’t look to be anything dangerous.

When we got within a hundred meters of it, I finally managed to see what it was. It
kinda looked like a rabbit. It had a short, fluffy-looking tail. It was hiding in the bushes
near the roadside, but its tail was sticking out like a sore thumb.

These creatures had an uncanny ability to sense and avoid danger. There were a lot of
instances where I got to detect them using scanning magic, only for them to escape
before I could get any nearer. If we manage to catch this guy, guess we’ll have rabbit
meat for dinner.

“Ria, there’s a rabbit out front.”

Cleria’s eyes sprang open. Was she really asleep?

“Where is it? I’ll bring it down!”

Thought she’d say that.

“It’s hiding inside those bushes.”

“I cannot see it.”

“Hm. Seems you can’t see it from here. How about this? I’ll throw a rock at it and you
bring it down once it gets out of the bushes.”

I brought out some stones I had reserved inside my backpack.

“I’ll try.”

I brought up my throwing arm and prepared myself. The rabbit still isn’t fleeing. I bet
it’s just waiting for us to go past it. I’ll make my move once we close in as much as
possible… 30 meters more… 20 meters… 10 meters… Now!

I threw a stone right next to the bush where the rabbit was hiding. It panicked and
jumped out of the bush, right into the road.

“Flame Arrow!”

Looks like she missed the timing a bit. The spell would just manage to graze the critter
at this rate. Well, that’s what I thought at first, but the flaming arrow changed projectiles
mid-flight and pierced the rabbit’s neck!

That was amazing! The flame arrow released by Cleria wasn’t a normal one, but
something with a homing feature added in. I can’t believe Cleria managed to do that!

Nah, that’s a bit rude of me. I’m sure she managed to achieve it through her meditation
earlier to solidify her image. That’s pretty impressive. I didn’t even think of doing that.
Seems I was unknowingly bound by common sense as well before I noticed. I’ll have
to learn from this experience.

Beck was surprised when Cleria suddenly cast a spell and stopped the carriage. Cleria
and I went down the carriage and retrieved the rabbit. It was a nice, round and plump
rabbit. Rabbit meat was quite gamey, so I’ll have to drain its blood right away.

Beck and Thor again made a huge fuss. Cleria was again keeping her “cool and collected”
act. Her lips were twitching in a half-smile though. Anyway, we got ourselves some
dinner!

The carriage drove on until it was close to evening, and Beck finally stopped when we
arrived at a place that looked like the camping spot he mentioned earlier. It was a
clearing right next to the highway. There was a small stream of water trickling down
from a rock wall nearby, forming a pool below. This seemed to be a good place to camp
for people who can’t use magic to create their own water.

“Let’s rest here for the night. There’s no other place to set up camp out here,” Beck
suggested.

“Alright. I’ll go and prepare then. Keep a lookout, Ria.”

“Understood.”

Collecting firewood for the bonfire was easy because we were in the middle of the
mountains. I’m gonna go collect some more. I managed to finish the task without much
issue.

“What kind of food did you pack, Beck?”

Let’s check the food items out for the time being.

“All the food’s in this bag.”

I was handed a rather large bag. It was packed quite full. The items were dried meat,
lots of bread, potos, the salad leaves called “sappa”, other assorted vegetables, salt and
dried herbs.

There was no problem with the amount. But I wanted to avoid using preserved food
as much as possible.

“Are you going to cook, Alan-san?” Thor asked as he drew near. Beck was busy unloading
some of the luggage.

“Yeah. I like cooking a lot. If you guys are okay with it, allow me to prepare tonight’s
dinner.”

“Then I’ll help out as well. Shall I start preparing the rabbit? The folks back home said
I had quite the knack for it.”

“That sounds great. I’ll leave that to you then.”

Tonight’s menu was rabbit meat stir-fried with potos and other assorted veggies as
well as rabbit meat sandwiches. I’d like to eat the bread before it hardens up after all.

I’ll use up all the rabbit meat. If there would be some leftovers, I’ll just save them for
breakfast tomorrow.

Let’s start by washing the vegetables. Thor had already started butchering the rabbit.
Looks like he wasn’t kidding when he said he was good at it.

“How do you want me to cut the meat?”

“Slice them as small enough to be eaten in one bite. I’m planning to let you guys finish
it all tonight.”
Rabbit meat’s almost entirely of the red variety. Therefore, there’s no meaning to
separate it into various parts.

“Amazing! It’s gonna be a feast tonight as well. I never imagined I’d get to eat a lot of
meat again so soon!”

I also helped with cutting up the meat, because the rabbit was fairly large. I wonder if
this is enough to satisfy Cleria’s appetite.

I put the meat in a large pot and seasoned it. The seasonings I used were plenty of
garlic, herbs, salt, and pepper. Since rabbit meat had a strong smell, I had to use plenty
of flavorings to counteract it.

“Where do you want me to put the fur, Alan-san?”

“Isn’t it fine if you just throw the fur?”

“Eh, but that’s such a waste. This is such a fine rabbit’s fur. You can definitely sell it for
some money. Well, it might not sell for very much though.”

Nah, no thank you. I don’t know how to prepare fur after all.

“Then I’ll just give it to you, Thor.”

“Great! Thank you very much!”

I wanted us to have dinner early, but Beck requested a sword practice session. Thor
also joined in as well.

“Can I ask you to teach them the basics, Ria? I’ll leave them to you.”

The two young men seemed to be in agreement. Looks like they were really impressed
by Cleria’s performance today. Cleria didn’t seem against teaching them as well. She
nodded in agreement and made a stance.

The two young men had prepared their own wooden swords. Cleria first taught them
about the proper way of gripping one’s sword. The sword practice session continued
for about an hour. Looks like their sword handling skills did improve a bit compared
to before.
Since it was getting dark now, I guess it’s time to have dinner. The meat should have
already absorbed plenty of flavor from the seasonings.

The two young men raised a cheer after Cleria lit up the makeshift outdoor hearth that
was already pre-made and placed in the middle of the clearing with fire magic.

I first fried the potos in a large frying pan brought by Beck. After frying it for some
time, I put in the meat next.

When the meat started to brown, I proceeded to add the other vegetables. I want to
preserve the crisp texture of the veggies after all. With this, the dish is complete.

I served a large helping of the dish on a large wooden plate brought out by Beck. It
turned out a lot more than I expected. Alright folks, dig in!

Everyone placed some of the food on each of their plates. I proceeded to heat up the
bread which has been cut up into two halves on the frying pan.

The three of them stared curiously at what I was doing. After the bread got slightly
burnt at the edges, I removed them from the pan immediately. They’ve managed to
soak up plenty of oil and were looking great.

I placed some sappa leaves on the warmed bread and poured plenty of meat in
between. With this, the rabbit meat sandwich is complete. I placed a sandwich on each
of our plates.

Oops. I nearly forgot to boil some water for the tea as well.

Alright! Let’s get to eating! I’ll start with the stir-fried meat. Yep, it’s tasty. Rabbit meat
is also a type of red meat like the Big Boar’s, so it was plenty delicious.

A large amount of garlic, herbs, and pepper managed to eliminate the gamey smell of
the meat. Looks like marinating the meat with them managed to do the trick.

Next is the sandwiches; a combination of lightly toasted fluffy bread which soaked up
plenty of flavorful oil from the frying pan, crispy sappa leaves and tasty stir-fried meat.
It was, of course, delicious.

Everyone else ate like crazy. Looks like they really liked the dishes.
Looks like even Cleria didn’t manage to finish the food this time around. A good
amount of stir-fried meat remained. Let’s have it for breakfast tomorrow.

I made some after-meal green tea from the leaves Zack packed with him.

“Man! That was delicious, Alan!”

“Did you use a lot of salt and pepper? It’s my first time eating such a fancy dish!” Thor
inquired.

Yeah. It seems salt and pepper were valuable commodities. Speaking of which, they
didn’t use much pepper in the village’s food, so the taste was a bit on the lighter side.

“Yeah. I’m glad you guys liked it.”

“Course we did. That was great! Why don’t you open a shop when you get to the city?”

“Cooking’s just my hobby. I don’t want it to be my main occupation.”

“Okay. But can you continue cooking for us during the trip?”

“That’s fine, I don’t mind.”

“Aw yeah!”

Beck and Thor loudly cheered. It’s already well into the night. Shall we go to bed now
so we can wake up early tomorrow?

“Go ahead and rest up, you two. We’ll keep watch.”

“But…”

“It’s fine. We’re your escorts anyway. We’re just doing our job.”

“Understood. Thanks.”

I told Cleria I’d be able to detect if something is amiss and wake up using my magic, so
she proceeded to sleep without worries as well.

With this, the first day of our journey ended without much trouble.
[It’s now morning. Please wake up.]

“Alright, I’m gonna do my best today as well!”

Twenty days have passed since we left from Talas village. We haven’t encountered
much trouble during the trip so far. We were, however, assaulted quite a number of
times by monsters.

We were attacked by Gray Hounds twice. We also got assaulted by those green-skinned,
midget humanoid creatures. It seems like they were called Goblins. Six of them
appeared before us and attacked us while crying out *gukyaa, gukyaa as usual. They
seemed to be much less of a threat than Gray Hounds. I used them as target practice
for my homing Flame Arrow spell and finished them off all at once.

We also passed by two other villages along the way. Because Beck was acquainted with
them, we were warmly welcomed. They seem to be of the same scale as Talas village.

We passed by many byroads and encountered many other travelers along the way.
They were mostly merchants and adventurers.

According to Cleria and Beck, an adventurer is a profession that undertakes jobs like
pest extermination, gathering raw materials and serving as mercenary troops. I don’t
really think those things have much to do with having an adventure, but they’re called
adventurers for some reason anyway.

Adventurers have a ranking system, and high ranking individuals were apparently
highly respected people. It might be a good idea to become an adventurer if I ever had
problems putting food on the table in the future.

Beck and the others have also woken up.

“Good morning. Master, Alan-san.”

Beck and Thor have come to address Cleria as ‘Master’. Looks like Cleria doesn’t dislike
how the two of them are addressing her either.

“Good morning.”

Beck and Thor’s sword skills have been steadily improving day by day. However, even
if they’ve been getting in at least two hours of sword practice every day, they still aren’t
able to take on two goblins at the same time. Obviously, fighting a Gray Hound would
be a tall order for the two.

I and Cleria have been teaching them how to properly fight a Big Boar if they managed
to encounter one recently.

However, since the two of them didn’t have their own swords, I hope we’ll be able to
purchase some once we arrive in the city. It seems we’ve managed to get along quite
well with Beck and Thor these past few days of traveling together. But just how much
does a sword cost, I wonder. Let me try asking Cleria later.

We went on the road once more after having breakfast. According to Beck, we should
be able to reach Gotania this evening, so I’m really looking forward to it.

Five hours after our departure, just a bit more before lunch, I managed to detect a
reaction from my scans. This signature was definitely that of a human. A fellow
traveler, perhaps? The signature was stationary.

When we got until 200 meters from the target and would finally get it in visual range,
that person suddenly made a move and headed away from our carriage.

I wonder what’s up? I changed the detection target from small animals to humans and
tried to scan once more. The detection range would expand if I set the target to larger
objects.

Finally, I managed to get twelve human signatures 1500 meters out. The person from
before was apparently heading towards that group of twelve.

Umu, how suspicious. Looks like the person from earlier was coming back to the group
in order to report about us. Looks like these guys were bandits that Zack warned me
about.

“Ria, I detected at least thirteen people 1500 meters away from us. They’re probably
bandits.”

“Eh!? You can actually detect them from that far out?”

Oh yeah. I haven’t told her much about my scanning magic, have I?

“Yeah, I can tell. What are we going to do about them?”

“Well, we certainly can’t turn back the way we came. Alan and I should be able to take
on those thirteen people.”

Well, she’s right. Handling them wouldn’t be a problem if we used magic, and we’d
definitely win once I used my rifle.

“Well, it’s not like I’ve fully confirmed them to be bandits. But is it okay for us to kill
bandits just like that?”

It does feel kind of bad for some reason.

“Why not? They’re all villains anyway.”

Un, seems like it was a mistake to ask Cleria after all.

“Beck! Stop the carriage!”

We told Beck about the suspected bandits ahead. Beck and Thor fell into quite a panic
afterward.

“Hey, is it okay for us to kill the bandits? It won’t cause us any trouble later?”

“No, no, Alan-san! There are thirteen of them, right!? I don’t know how exactly you
managed to get their number, but you can’t possibly take on thirteen bandits all at once!”

“Nah, we’ll probably be okay y’know. More like, if those guys don’t have mages at least
on par or greater than Ria and I, we’ll certainly win.”

“Huh!? Well, I’ve also seen mage adventurers before, but I haven’t met anyone stronger
than Alan-san or Master. But there’s thirteen of them y’know? Can you really win?”

“Yup, we can. So there’s no problem if we kill all those bandits, right?”

“Un, that’s true. And as long as there are witnesses, we won’t be charged with any
crime after killing bandits.” But I also heard that we’ll get rewards if we manage to
turn the bandits in alive.”

“I see. So it’ll earn us some money, huh?”

We truly need more money. Looks like we can’t kill them after all. I wonder how much
we’ll get per person.

Beck started to panic again when I started to consider capturing the bandits.

“Hey, are you guys really going to fight them?”

“It’ll be fine. Trust in your Master. We’ll get the people back at the village some souvenirs
with the reward money.”

“Let’s do this Beck! Master and Alan-san will surely be fine.”

Looks like we managed to persuade Thor by mentioning souvenirs huh.

“Un… I understand. Let’s do this!”

“It’ll be alright. I promised Zack after all. I’ll protect you guys at all costs.”

We’ve decided to go ahead with the bandit capturing plan.

We headed out on the carriage once more. First, we’ll have to make sure those guys
really were bandits. If we attack them by mistake, we’ll be branded as bandits instead.

“200 meters to go.”

I announced our distance from the targets. I and Cleria were sitting on top of the
luggage at the back of the carriage.

What we needed to watch out for were projectile weapons like arrows and throwing
knives, as well as magic. I can shoot down arrows and throwing knives with my rifle.
Magic, however, could prove to be a bit more troublesome.

I zoomed in on the targets. They were trying to conceal themselves, but I managed to
spot two people up on the trees. The others were still in hiding and were not in visual
range.

“100 meters left. There’s two people up in the tree.”

“50 meters. Don’t launch an attack before I do so first.”

“10 meters.”

Cleria raised her arm out front and got ready.

Suddenly, a group of men moved out to block the road. There’s seven out front. Four
at the back. The two on top of the tree were getting ready to attack as well.

“Who are you, people!?”

I stood up from the luggage and addressed them. I knew what they actually were, but
it’s just standard procedure.

“Whoah! Just get a load of that babe over there! She looks high-quality!”

I got somewhat annoyed when these guys didn’t properly respond to my question and
talked among themselves instead.

“Yer right. That lass’ll fetch a pretty penny, I reckon.”

It seems no use talking to these guys. I’m tempted to just turn them into money already.
Keep calm, me.

“I just asked you lot who you are!”

I’ve just about lost it.

“Can’t ya tell just by lookin, fool! We’re bandits!” nameless grunt A answered cockily.

In that instant, thirteen fire arrows appeared around me and flew towards the bandits
all at once. I also aimed my rifle at the guys hanging out on the tree, who were preparing
to fire arrows at us. One of them panicked and hastily fired an arrow at us.

An instant after the sound of the gunshot from my rifle rang out, the arrow the guy
released was disintegrated. I aimed my rifle at the other guy, but he was already falling
from the tree branch after taking a hit from a flame arrow. The guy who fired the arrow
earlier followed suit.

I turned my rifle towards the other bandits, but they were already writhing in agony
from being hit by my flame arrows on their right shoulders. With this, it’s over.

“Ria, disarm them!”

I jumped down from the carriage and instructed Cleria with a yell.

Cleria was momentarily stunned but jumped down the carriage as well after a few
moments when she heard my voice.

Disarming the bandits proved to be no challenge. We collected their swords, spears,

and bows and gathered them in one spot. I kicked the annoying bandits to another
spot. Even a grown man would fly off for about five meters if I kicked them seriously.
I felt some of my annoyance fade away after kicking them.

“Looks like it went pretty well.”

I called out to the rest of the group.

“You’re amazing Alan-san! That was way too cool!”

Beck and Thor, who just stared at the commotion blankly on the carriage earlier, made
a racket again.

Oh, right!

“Beck, Thor. You can pick any sword you like from that pile over there.”

I pointed at the weapons we confiscated from the bandits.

“Yeah! We got us some swords! Hurry up Thor!”

The two of them jumped off the carriage excitedly. It’s fine even if you don’t hurry guys.
Those swords aren’t going anywhere.
“Alan, that weapon… To think it can accurately intercept a flying arrow! It’s a really
amazing weapon!”

“Well, yeah. It’s my trump card after all.”

“Your magic was also amazing. Teach me next time, kay.”

Un, will Cleria even be able to master it? Oops. Don’t get caught up by common sense.
If there’s a will, there’s a way.

“Alright. I’ll teach it to you next time.”

There are no more detection responses in the area. Beck and Thor were swinging the
swords around and looked busy choosing ones that they like.

I approached the captured bandits. Some of them were already recovering from the
pain caused by my spell and were sitting on the ground in stunned silence. Since they
were hit by arrows of flame, they didn’t actually bleed all that much.

“Yo! How’s it going guys? How do you feel?”

“Damn you! You won’t get away with this bastard!”

A bearded guy who seemed to be the leader of the group, threatened me.

“And just what do you mean by that?”

I asked out of pure curiosity. It looks like the guy had something more to say.

“A- Anyway, if you let us free now, we won’t mind letting you guys off! You can have
our weapons as well!”

What, so he’s just an idiot huh.

“How about you guys give me some money then. I can think about releasing you guys
depending on the amount. Of course, I’ll just free the guys who forked out money.”

I wasn’t serious though.

The grunts riffled through their pockets in search of cash.

“I- I left all my money back in the hideout so I ain’t got any right now!”

One of the grunts suddenly confessed. Hou, so these guys have a base huh. Interesting.

The other grunts brought out all the money they had on their pockets and handed
them over. It was all just bronze and silver coins.

“Oi, oi. The reward money for turning you guys in is a lot more convincing than this
paltry sum. I definitely can’t let you off with just this much. You get me?”

I didn’t really know how much reward money we’ll get in exchange for these guys and
just tried to bluff. But it seems they were actually convinced in the end.

“Well, I’m quite the understanding guy anyway. I’ll take a look at your hideout and
decide if it’s worth letting you guys off then. Depending on how much is in there, I
might even consider letting go of all of you.”

I was just playing with them though.

“Hey! You guys! Oof!”

The leader was about to object so I kicked him to shut him up. It seems he fainted. He’s
not dead, is he? Well, it’s not like I care anyway.

“Well then, where’s that base you told me about?”

When I pointed out to the grunts, all of them made quite a ruckus and jostled with
each other to answer my question.

I held up my hand to shut them up.

“You there. You represent them and tell me.”

I pointed at the weakest looking grunt of the group.

“The base is that way. About five kilometers from here. It’s an abandoned goblin burrow!”

U~hee, it’s that kind of place huh. It’s a place where I normally wouldn’t want to go.

“How many of you are left in the hideout?”

“There are two others in the hideout. We also have a merchant captive in there.”

“You’re sure?”

I turned towards the other grunts. All of them nodded obediently.

“I see, I’ll also add that merchant as part of the assessment, so don’t you guys worry.

I’ll bait them with hope-filled words first. They’ll be more cooperative that way.

“Alright! That merchant seems to be the owner of a large shop in the city. We were
originally planning to hold him for ransom.”

One grunt revealed something interesting. It’s another piece of good info.

“I see. That’s something to look forward to then.”

I wonder what these guys see me as? Maybe they’re thinking of me as someone from
the same trade.

“Ria, I’ll go pay a visit to these guys’ base for a bit.”

Cleria looked at me with a concerned expression. Oi, oi. Don’t tell me even you got
fooled by my acting?

“It’s alright. I’ll be back right away.”

“Beck, Thor. Take up your swords and keep an eye on these guys. If they so much as
move a muscle, slash em right away. It’ll serve great as slashing practice. You don’t get
opportunities like this often.”

“”Yeah!””

Well, these two sure look eager. They might really slash at them y’know.

“Ria, if they make any suspicious moves, feel free to roast them with magic. Don’t show
mercy. I’ll leave them to you.”

“Understood.”
I bet these bandits will stay put obediently after hearing all that. Let’s get going then.

(Long Distance Sprint Mode)

[Acknowledged.]

I entered deep into the mountains in a run.

I soon found the goblin burrow the bandits mentioned earlier. I got three human
signatures after activating scanning magic. Looks like this really is the place. I
approached cautiously.

I found two men standing guard at the entrance of the cave, talking animatedly with
each other. This looks like a great opportunity. Man, all that planning about how to
rescue the captive just got wasted. It’s kinda silly.

I just approached them openly. Looks like they still haven’t noticed me.

“Yo! You guys bandits?”

I called out to them as I approached. It seems I finally got all their attention after I
called out to them.

“Who’re you!?”

“Oh c’mon. I asked first. Are you guys bandits?”

“Stop right there!”

Man, this sure is troublesome. Screw it then.

I simply released flame arrows and hit the bandits’ right shoulders with them. They
fell over from the intense pain. I kicked the back of their heads like what I did to their
leader earlier and made them pass out. That’s takes care of that.

When I entered the burrow, I noticed that it wasn’t as filthy as I first thought. It didn’t
smell particularly bad either. I proceeded towards the location of the response I got
earlier.

There were some holes in the wall in some places which allowed sunlight to pour into
the cave. Looks like they made it with proper lighting in mind. There were a lot of
rooms, but most of them were empty. Some of them only had junk inside.

I finally found the merchant in question. He was placed in the room furthest back with
his arms and legs bound. It was a middle-aged man. He looks about 50 years in age.
He also seems to be the well-educated sort. Let’s try talking with him.

“This may sound unbelievable, but I’m no bandit. I heard about you from the bandits
and have come to rescue you.”

“Oh, I’m finally saved!… I managed to remember the faces of each of those bandits so
I can tell you’re not one of them. Are you perhaps an adventurer?”

“No, I’m not an adventurer. But I was tasked to guard a merchant carriage. We were
attacked by those bandits along the way. After we repelled and captured them, I came
to learn of you being kept in their hideout so I came to save you.”

I cut the ropes binding the man with my knife.

“I am truly grateful for your timely help then! I will return this favor without fail.”

The merchant declared as he rubbed the places where the ropes stuck to his skin.
“No, it’s true that I came here partly in order to rescue you, but my main goal was to
secure the loot gathered by those bandits. That’s really what I came here for in the
first place.”

“Ahaha, you’re one honest lad. I suppose you’d be interested in that after all. Even I
would do so if I was in your shoes, young man. Oh, do forgive me for the late introduction.
I am Tarus, a merchant and owner of a general store in the city.”

“My name’s Alan. Nice to meet you.”

I looked around the room. A lot of stuff was piled up here and there; about two
carriages worth of items at least. At a glance, I could immediately recognize various
types of clothing, swords and spears. I was expecting more treasure-like items earlier,
so I felt a bit disappointed.

“Do the goods here all belong to you?”

“Most of them are. These items are my wares. Ah, and I think the money’s inside that
box over there.”

Tarus-san pointed his finger toward a small box in a corner.

“Is this box yours as well?”

“No, it’s not. But I think they put all the money I had on me inside it as well.

I see. So this thing’s a safe of sorts. It certainly seems like a tough-looking box reinforced
with metal.

“Um… All of the bandits’ loot should belong to the ones who defeated them. It’s a
proper reward guaranteed by the law.”

What!? I didn’t know that. So all of this stuff here now belongs to me then?

“Can I open it?”

“It’s yours anyway. However, I don’t know where the bandits put away the key.”
I took out the electromagnetic bladeknife and cut away all of the parts that looked like
they would get in the way.

“Amazing! Is that knife a magic tool!?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

After opening up the box, a lot of different types of coins spilled out of it. But most of
it was bronze and silver coins. There were only a few gold coins mixed in. There was
also a knife inlaid with lots of precious-looking gems. Finally, something which looked
like a genuine treasure appeared.

Yosh, I don’t know how much it is exactly when converted to gold, but I think we won’t
have much problems with our finances for a while with this much money.

“Is this knife one of your goods?”

“No, it isn’t. It looks like quite the luxurious item.”

That’s great. Though I do feel a bit bad for this thing’s former owner even if it’s now
mine.

“I’ll give everything here back to you apart from the contents of this box then.”

“Will that be fine? It would get you quite a sum if you sold them.”

“I don’t mind. The contents of this box are enough for me. It’s not like I know their market
value anyway.”

“Well then, allow me to do as I said earlier and give you an appropriate compensation.”

“No, you really don’t have to. By the way, how about the belongings of your comrades?”

“One of my employees and the five adventurers escorting us were all killed. They were
all people I’ve associated with for quite a long time.”

“I’ll make sure those bandits are all brought to justice. What about your carriage,
Tarus-san?”

“It seems they only took the goods and discarded it. They sold the horses for gold
immediately after capturing me.”

“Well that’s troublesome. Our carriage is already completely full. We won’t be able to
load this much goods on it at all.”

“Then we will just have to fetch these at a later time. I don’t think anything will happen
to them, considering they are located deep within these mountains.”

“I see, understood.”

Time to go back. I don’t have any business here anymore.

I brought out my collection bag. I put all the money I managed to get inside it. It turned
out fairly heavy. I also put the jeweled knife inside.

I also found some sturdy-looking rope inside the hideout. I’ll use these to tie those
bandits up.

“I’m thinking of tying up the bandits with these ropes. Is it alright if I take them?”

“But of course. Go ahead and use them. How many of those bandits have you managed
to capture alive?”

“Um, fifteen of them. Probably.”

That’s if those guys I kicked in the head earlier didn’t actually die.

“Eh? You managed to catch all fifteen of them alive!?”

“Well, there might be one or two people who kicked the bucket. By the way, I heard
that there would be some rewards given out. Would you happen to know much I would
get for them?”

“As I recall, you’ll get 2000 Guineas for each corpse. And if you managed to capture
them in a healthy enough state to serve as ***, you’ll get 5000 Guineas.”

There’s an unfamiliar word. It seems I won’t be able to translate it even if I update the
language database. Looks like they’ll use healthy-looking bandits for some purpose.
Well, it’s all good as long as I manage to turn them over alive, I guess.
A corpse is worth two large gold coins and a living bandit’s worth five huh. I can’t judge
if that’s a fair amount because I still have no idea about the market price.

“Alright then. I’m going to go back to our carriage. Please follow me. My friends are all
waiting for me. Do you have anything else you want to bring with you?”

“Well then…”

Tarus-san took some swords and other items and put them inside a bag.

The two bandits I left at the entrance were still out cold. It took some effort to kick
them back awake.

I let the two bandits walk out front while pointing at their backs with my sword. I
heard how their merchant convoy was attacked from Tarus-san.

Three days ago, their group was taking a rest when he was suddenly shot with an
arrow and was quickly suppressed. It seems the reason for his travels this time was to
develop new sales channels. They were in the middle of coming back to Gotania from
the trip when they were attacked by bandits.

We finally arrived back at the carriage.

“Alan!”

Cleria rushed to welcome me.

“Did you encounter any sort of trouble?”

She looked fine, so I don’t think they encountered any trouble anyway.

“We’re alright. This person is?”

“He’s Tarus-san, a merchant. He was captured by those bandits and I ended up

rescuing him.”

Tarus-san was surprised from seeing Cleria.

I’m Tarus, the owner of a general store in the city. I am pleased to make you acquaintance,
My Lady.”
He then respectfully bowed towards Cleria. His attitude is quite different from when
he met me.

I went over to the bandits. Looks like they were all awake now. None of them were
injured, so I guess Beck and Thor didn’t get to have slashing practice after all.

“Well then, gentlemen. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get that much after visiting you
hideout so I’m afraid I won’t be able to release you all. As such, I’ll have to take you all
back to Gotania and hand you over to the authorities.”

All the bandits turned towards me.

“That’s a lie! We got a lot of money and loot from that merchant! You’re playing dirty!”
nameless grunt A complained.

You’re bandits so you don’t have the right to call me dirty, you idiots.

“All of you shut up! You already know how good I am with magic! Just try and resist
even a little. I’ll stick some arrows on you and send you straight to the heavens! I can
still get reward money even if I handed over your corpses instead after all. I’m fine
either way.”

“Beck, Thor. Use these ropes to tie these guys up in a straight line; one guy following
behind the other. I don’t mind even if it’s tight to the point which impedes their blood
flow a little, so make sure those knots are secured.”

“Understood!”

“Oh, yeah. Don’t forget to frisk them for money, y’hear.”

“Can you keep an eye on the both of them Ria?”

“Sure.”

“Sorry about this, Tarus-san. Can you wait a bit for us?”

“But of course. It does feel quite nice seeing these ruffians getting roughed up like this.
By the way, they all seem to be injured on their shoulders?”

“You’re right. I did that with my magic.”

“You gave all of them identical injuries?”

“Yeah. Even if I don’t look like it, I’m actually very proficient in magic.”

Looks like Tarus-san still isn’t all that convinced with my explanation.

“Incidentally, what is your relationship with that female knight?”

“Ah, her. I’m sort of like her retainer.”

Tarus-san looked at me strangely. Un, it did look like I was the one ordering Cleria
around earlier. Oh well.

“That knight is a ** isn’t she?”

There’s another unfamiliar word. It’s the same word Zack used back in the village. Just
what does it mean?

“Well, we have our own circumstances.”

That’s mostly the truth anyway.

Tarus-san didn’t press me further after hearing that.

We were able to secure all the bandits after about thirty minutes. In order to tow them
with the carriage, we tied them up in groups of seven and eight and connected the
rope binding them to the back of the carriage.

“Alan-san, what are we going to do with the money we got from them?”

Beck and Thor came up to me with hands filled with money.

“Ah, please put them all in here. You can look at what’s inside as well.”

I opened my bag and showed its contents to the both of them.

“Amazing! That’s a lot of money!”

They made a commotion after seeing what’s inside the bag.

“Let’s divide it up later.”

“What!? But you’re the one who recovered them, Alan-san!”

“It’s fine. You guys also risked your life. You have every right to get a share.”

“But…”

“Let’s put that matter off for later. You already loaded the bandits’ weapons on the
carriage right? Yosh, let’s get going then.”

The carriage started off for Gotania once again.

The number of people traveling on the road increased as we neared Gotania.

We encountered one or two groups every hour or so and we were getting lots of
attention because of the long line of captives bound to our carriage. Some of them even
purposely called out to ask if the captives we were towing were bandits, to which I
answered in the affirmative.

Beck and Thor were out front on the driver’s seat while I, Cleria and Tarus-san sat on
top of the luggage. Cleria sat at the very back so she could keep her eyes on the captured
bandits.

I was relatively free so I asked Tarus-san a lot of things I was curious about.

Gotania was apparently a big city with a population of about 20,000, and achieved
prosperity through being a center of trade and commerce in the Belta Kingdom.

“Do we need some sort of permit for entering the city?”

“Is Alan-san not affiliated with any guild?”

I’ve heard about guilds from Beck and the rest. They were organizations that officially
registered people of different trades such as adventurers and merchants. There were
different kinds such as the adventurers guild and the merchant guild. Beck and Thor
were apparently registered members of the merchant guild.

“No, I haven’t registered in one yet.”

“If you were a guild member, your guild certificate would serve as your pass. If you
aren’t registered to any, you need to pay a fee and be issued a temporary pass instead.

“How much do I need to pay?”

“Well, it’s just one silver per person. And if you were to enter a guild within a five day
period, the money will be refunded to you in full.”

I see. It was actually quite a fair policy.

“Do you need money to enter a guild?”

“Are you aiming to register at the adventurers guild, Alan-san? If my memory serves
me right, it would cost you five silver coins.”

It looks like entering the city would pose no problem after all.

“How much does it cost to stay overnight at an inn?”

“The price varies depending on the establishment. It would cost four large bronze
coins to stay at relatively cheaper ones, one silver coin for regular inns and up to five
silver coins if you choose to stay at a luxury hotel.”

“Are there inns with baths available?”

“You can only find baths at high-class inns. Regular ones wouldn’t have them, I’m afraid.”

Well, I think I’ve managed to grasp a general idea of the market price. So it costs five
silvers for an inn with baths huh. You can stay for twenty days with one gold coin.
Looks like booking an inn wouldn’t cause Cleria and I any trouble for the time being
as well.

“Would it be fine for you to head over to my mansion tonight? You can bring everyone
else with you, of course.”

“Eh? But…”

“Please. I owe everyone my life. You’ve also meted out justice on behalf of my slain
employee and adventurer cohorts. I would very much like to express my gratitude
today if you’d allow me the honor.”

It would be rude of me to refuse after the other party had said this much.

“I understand. We’ll be in your care then.”

“Thank you very much. My mansion has a nice, large bath. I will also tell my chefs to
prepare a nice dinner for all of you.”

Alright! I’m now really looking forward to this.

“Beck! We’ll go stay at Tarus-san’s mansion tonight. It seems he’ll treat us.”

“Yeah!” Beck and Thor exclaimed in glee.

We finally managed to see the city of Gotania at around four in the afternoon. The
entire city was surrounded by ten meter high walls. I zoomed in. The wall looks like it
was made by stacking lots of reddish-brown bricks. There was one huge main gate
that looked like it could fit two carriages side by side during entry. It was certainly a
large city.

We finally arrived in front of the gate after about twenty minutes. It didn’t take long
for our turn to enter the city. Two men wearing leather armor and wielding spears
approached us. It looks like they were part of the city guards. The three of us who were
sitting on top of the luggage went down and met up with them.

“Oi, oi. That’s quite a number you got there. These guys bandits? You managed to catch
these suckers by yourselves?”

He sure was quite blunt for a soldier.

“Good afternoon, Captain Roman.”

“Well now! If it isn’t Tarus-san? I’m sorry, I didn’t manage to notice you earlier. Why
are you riding in this carriage!?”

“My convoy was attacked by those bandits over there. Tim and the adventurers
escorting us were all killed. I was probably kept alive so they could exchange me for a
hefty ransom.”

“My word! That certainly is unfortunate. Please, go ahead and rest up a bit at the guard
station. Oh right. This young man has been waiting at the gates for Tarus-san for the
last three days.”

When we looked toward the gate, we saw a boy who looked to be about thirteen years
old running up to us.
“Master! Masteeer! You’re alright! Ah, thank goodness!”

Looks like Tarus-san was really well-liked.

“Ah, Willy. I’m sorry to have made you worry. I trust the store hasn’t encountered any
problems while I was gone?”

“I don’t think it did, but everyone was sick with worry.”

“I see. It’s fine now. It’s good that you’re here. Please tell everyone to prepare a grand
welcome for these four individuals. I owe them my life and would like to express my
utmost gratitude.”

“Understood!”

The boy ran back inside the city at full-speed.

We were led inside the city guard garrison and were served some tea. Un, they’re really
treating us like VIPs.

We dealt with the necessary procedures soon after. Beck and Thor were members of
the merchant guild so they didn’t have any problems entering. I and Cleria, on the
other hand, had to pay a two silver deposit and were issued some temporary passes.
The passes were thin wooden plates with words written on them.

“Well then, about these bandits you caught. We will record your merits here. However,
the reward money will be sent after two days. You two will have to return here after
two days to claim the money.”

“Understood. Thank you very much.”

Yosh, we’ve managed to solve our money troubles, more or less.

After we left the guard station, we immediately headed for Tarus-san’s mansion. A
regal-looking carriage was parked in front of the station with a person who seemed to
be a butler waiting at the side.

“I have come to receive you, Master.”

“Oh, thank you Jonas. I have troubled you.” Tarus-san replied.

“Alan-san, Miss Ria, please go ahead and board this carriage. It would feel better than
riding a carriage meant for transporting goods, I reckon.”

“I see. Follow this carriage then, Beck.”

The cityscape of Gotania was apparently made of the same reddish-brown bricks as
the city-wall. There was a sense of harmony about it and made for a beautiful sight.
Evening was about to arrive and there were a lot of people milling about the city
streets. There were all sorts of people; from housewives coming home from shopping
to young men eating out at a roadside stall. Man, I’d like to try eating at those stalls as
well.

The people got surprised whenever the carriage passed by and hurriedly made way.
Well, they may just be avoiding it because its a large carriage and they don’t want to
get caught in an accident. But it does seem Tarus-san held quite an influence in the
city based on the attitude of those city guards earlier. Looks like I really lucked out by
managing to rescue such a person.

I could probably rely on Tarus-san if I ever got into trouble in this city.

The atmosphere of the surroundings soon changed, and we arrived at a luxurious-

looking residential area. The carriage stopped in front of the largest mansion in the
area.

People who seemed to be employees were lined up on each side of the front gate.
Tarus-san got off the carriage.

“”Welcome home, Master!””

“Umu, I have made you all worry, everyone.”

There were actually people shedding tears of joy among the employees. He really was
well-loved.

I, Cleria, Beck and Thor also got off the carriage. Man, this really feels quite grand.

“Everyone, these people are my saviors. I owe them my life. They are Alan-san, Miss
Ria, Beck-kun and Thor-kun. Do give them the warmest welcome.”

“”Yes!””
“Everyone, please go ahead and come inside.”

The butler guy, Jonas-san, respectfully led us in.

“Well then, how about taking them to the baths first in order for them to refresh
themselves?” Tarus-san suggested.

“Understood. Please follow me, everyone.”

Jonas-san led the way.

“How about you enter first, Ria?” Ladies first, as the saying goes.

“Oh, there is more than one bath, so that would not be necessary,” Jonas-san informed.

“Please follow me, Miss Ria.”

A young female employee appeared and guided Cleria.

Oh man. Looks like Tarus-san was really loaded. Just how many baths does this mansion
have? Amazing.

“This is the bath area. Um, please pardon me if this sounds rude, but do you know the
proper way to enter?”

“You need to wash yourself clean first before entering, right?”

I managed to watch a documentary produced on Earth called [Hot Springs 101] on the
holobit once. This looks to be the same type as the hot springs over there.

“That’s exactly the case. Do pardon my earlier presumptuousness. Well then, please
take your time and enjoy.”

We found a dressing room once we went inside. A large wooden hot water bath that
looked able to fit ten people at once could be seen further in.

“It’s our first time to enter into this sort of fancy bath, Alan-san.”

Beck and Thor looked rather nervous.

“Well, basically, you just need to wash yourselves clean and enter the hot water bath
afterward.”

It’s been a long time since I’ve gotten a chance to properly wash my body.

I left my clothes at the dressing room and went towards the bath area. Beck and Thor
hurriedly followed suit.

“First, you need to draw water using this wooden pail and drench yourselves with it.
Then draw some water again and use this. This is a cloth used to wipe your body clean.
Oh, they even have this!”

This seems to be a substitute for body soap. I forgot its name but I also saw them using
it in the documentary.

“Drench this cloth and then rub it on this rock-like item until foam forms on it.”

Beck and Thor frantically copied my actions.

“After it foams up, you then use this cloth to wipe your bodies clean. You also need to
use this rock-like item to clean your hair.”

We soon found ourselves busy with washing up. Beck and Thor seem to be enjoying
themselves quite a bit. It felt like ages since I got to clean my body up like this.

“Then you need to splash yourselves with water once more to remove the foam.”

I drew water inside the pail again and used it to wash the foam off.

“After that, we can finally enjoy immersing ourselves in the hot water bath.”

I slowly entered the bath. The water had the perfect temperature.

Fuu, that feels good. Having a quick shower pales in comparison.

“Baths are really great, aren’t they, Alan-san?”

Thor nodded in agreement at Beck’s statement.

“Yeah, they’re the best.”

We thoroughly enjoyed the hot water bath.

After soaking for quite some time, we finally decided to get out.

“Let’s get out of the bath after drying ourselves properly.”

I quickly dried myself up. Beck and Thor imitated my actions.

We found Jonas-san waiting for us in the dressing room.

“I have taken liberties to prepare clothes for you to change to. Please leave your previous
clothes to us. We shall wash them for you.”

That’s quite the service. I gave my body a final wipe with a towel and changed into the
clothes they prepared for us. They fit us three perfectly. They look to be the same type
of clothes as what the employees were wearing, but seemed to be more luxurious.

“We have also prepared your meal.”

The room we were led too next was large enough to host a party, with long tables lined
with all kinds of dishes inside. We found Tarus-san already sitting on the master’s seat.
Looks like Tarus-san also had a bath first.

“How was the bath, Alan-san?”

“It was great. It’s been a long time since I had one, so I really enjoyed it.”

We sat on the seats we were guided to.

“If it’s alright with you, I have arranged for us to have dinner together with my family
and employees in a banquet. I have greatly worried them after all, and wish for them
to feel at ease.”

“Of course we don’t mind! I really don’t prefer a formal atmosphere, so having a lively
banquet seems better.”

“I somehow felt that you would prefer it as well.”

The employees then proceeded with the preparations.

Cleria has also finally arrived. She has also come after taking a bath. She was wearing
an elegant one-piece dress.

“Eh! Master!?”

Beck and Thor’s jaws dropped in shock. Now that I think about it, they haven’t really
seen Cleria wear anything besides her armor huh.

“What, you two? Does something look out of place?”

Cleria tried to inspect her appearance.

“No, not at all. You look really beautiful Master, so we didn’t recognize you and thought
you were someone else at first.”

“How rude, you two.”

She then sat beside me.

“How do I look, Alan?”

She seems fairly confident huh. The dress seems to have been prepared for her as well.

“It really suits you, Ria.”

Just a bit of lip service for the lady.

“I see.”

She seemed a bit embarrassed somehow after hearing my compliment.

People, who I assume were Tarus-san’s family members, entered one after the other
next. They took their seats opposite us.

There was a woman who seemed to be Tarus-san’s wife, a son who looked to be in his
twenties and a daughter who looked to be about fourteen.

“I am Tarus’ wife, Lana. This is our son Katolle and our daughter Tara.”
“I’m Katolle.”

“My name is Tara.”

We introduced ourselves as well.

“I’m called Alan. This is Ria and those young men are Beck and Thor.”

Ria gave an elegant greeting. Beck and Thor bowed humbly as well.

“I am really grateful for you saving my husband. He would surely have been killed if
Alan-san did not rescue him in time.”

“No, I only did what I had to do. Please do not mind it too much.”

“Very well. You are now all acquainted with each other. We should begin our meal.”

The employees have also started sitting on the seats. We had a toast first. We poured
some wine on our glasses.

“Let us have some good fun tonight! Well then, to my miraculous meeting with Alan-
san and company! Cheers!!”

“”Cheers!””

All sorts of new dishes were brought out one after another. They were all placed on
large plates. It looks like it really was a dinner banquet like what we had in the village,
and it was up to you to take how much food you like.

I proceeded to get some dishes while minding my manners. There were a lot of empty
plates stacked on the table, so it was quite convenient. There were a lot of different
meat and egg dishes, salads, breads and other food.

Beck and Thor didn’t make a move at first, but eventually took some food from the
plates following Cleria and my example. Cleria didn’t gobble all the food up like usual,
but took small, elegant bites instead. But even so, her eating speed was shockingly fast.
Looks like she’s gonna eat a fair amount again.

Every dish was delicious. They were really great dishes. It was evident that each dish
was made with great care and effort. I’ve only ever eaten food seasoned mostly with
salt and pepper since coming to this planet, so getting to taste these complex flavors
was a refreshing experience. I’ll have to ask the chefs about the seasonings they used
later.

Tarus-san was also eating quite heartily. It looks like he hasn’t had a proper meal since
getting captured by bandits. I should have made something earlier for him after all.

Fuu, that was really filling. Cleria, Beck and Thor were still stuffing themselves though.
Oh boy. Let’s just drink some wine.

“How was the taste of the dishes, Alan-san?”

“Each of them was splendid. I really enjoyed them a lot. I also happen to like cooking
and treat it as my hobby of sorts. Would it be possible for me to inquire about the
seasonings used by your chefs later on?”

“Of course you can! I own a general store after all. We have every ingredient I’m selling
as merchandise stocked in our kitchen as well.”

“I’m looking forward to it then.”

“Maa, it sure is rare for a man to have cooking as a hobby! What dishes can you make,
if you don’t mind me asking?” Madam Lana inquired.

“Well, just a bit of everything, I guess. Because the seasonings and ingredients I could
use were limited, I’ve been cooking just meat dishes lately. I can actually also make
sweets. I actually want to try cooking any dish at least once.”

“Maa, being able to make sweets sounds lovely! Would it be fine for you to make
something for us to sample tomorrow?”

“Of course! That is, if there are ingredients even an amateur like me can handle however.”

Do they have some sugar? How about milk? Hm, it could be bad if they didn’t.

“Hm, I’m looking forward to that as well then.”

“Maa, then please have a look at all the ingredients we have later.”

Oh boy. I think I just shot myself in the foot, man.

“That reminds me, father. An apostle actually came to Gotania a few days back.”

“An apostle?”

“No, no, Tara. It isn’t confirmed if it was an apostle or not yet.”

“What do you mean, Katolle?”

“Two days before, a figure resembling a large bird appeared above Gotanias’ skies,
father.”

“A bird? Was it not a large eagle?”

“No, it was probably as large as a wyvern. The entire city was thrown into an uproar
because of it.”

“What? It was something that large? And it wasn’t a wyvern?”

“No, its method of flight was completely different. Its wings didn’t flap and seemed
really similar to how an eagle hovered in the air.”

“The city did not receive any damage, I hope.”

“There was none. It just hovered up in the air for some time and then disappeared
completely.”

“Fumu. And why would you think it was an apostle?”

“It’s because of what Johan’s merchant team experienced three days ago. They were
said to have been attacked by at least ten Gray Hounds and that bird appeared and
saved them.”

“How did it save them?”

“That’s… Their retelling seems somewhat vague, actually. They only said something
resembling God’s lightning descended from the heavens above and smote those
monsters to death.” After that, it flew over their merchant team for a while, seemingly
checking for their safety, and then suddenly disappeared.”

“So when that mysterious bird appeared above the skies of Gotania, Johan and his
merchant team made a large fuss and kept claiming that it was actually an avatar of
the apostle Isaac who serves Goddess Ruminas.”

“That rumor has been spreading all throughout Gotania lately.”

“I see. So something like that happened while I was away.”

Hm, I really don’t think it was an apostle or anything. It’s quite a fishy-sounding story,
in any case. It’s probably just a rare, yet-undiscovered monster. I’ll shoot it down with
my rifle if it appears again. It might sell for quite a bit of cash after all. The meat could
be valuable as well.

“Come to think of it, which merchant group are you planning to sell your goods to,
Beck-kun, Thor-kun?”

Katolle inquired to the two boys.

“Um, we were planning to go with Simon Company.”

Beck replied. Katolle and Tarus-san quickly exchanged pensive glances. That’s a
curious reaction.

“Is there something wrong?”

“Simon Company doesn’t actually have a good reputation among us merchants. But
it’s not like they are using blatantly fraudulent means. Put simply, they try to buy at
very low prices from suppliers and sell the goods to consumers at a significantly
marked-up price. Of course, it’s a method used by most merchants as well. But Simon
Company is particularly aggressive when it comes to dialing down the prices when
buying from suppliers.”

“Have you signed some sort of formal contract with Simon Company?”

“No, we haven’t. But we’ve been dealing with them since my grandfather’s generation,
it seems.”

“Ah, I see. I also knew the previous owner of Simon Company myself, and he was a
wonderful person who did honest business. When he died and got replaced by the
current owner, their reputation began to go south.” Tarus-san claimed.
“Is that really the case!? So the price of cotton falling these past few years was actually
because…”

“Yes. Actually, it’s the opposite. The price of cotton has been steadily going on the rise
these past few years. I could assess the value of your goods tomorrow instead if you’d
like.” Katolle offered.

“But of course you aren’t obligated to sell to us after the assessment. You could choose
to do so only if you’re satisfied with the offer.” Tarus-san followed up.

“We’ll be in your care then. But won’t Simon Company cause trouble because of this?”
Beck inquired.

“You do not have to worry about a thing. They won’t be able to do anything because
you haven’t signed any sort of exclusivity contract with them. However, if they still
choose to stir up trouble regardless, I’ll be the one to take them on.”

Tarus-san displayed a scary expression befitting a shrewd merchant.

“Now then, let us leave the talk about business at a later time. Please send out more
drinks!”

Tarus-san called out to someone who looked to be the employees’ supervisor.

Afterward, we drank without restraint and entered into a really festive mood. Tarus-
san and his wife withdrew early, but Beck, Thor, and Katolle were hitting it off because
of their similar ages. Cleria and Tara-chan busied themselves with girl-talk as well. I
was also having a nice conversation with all the mansion employees and got along well
with them as a result.

The banquet continued until late at night.

<It’s morning. Please wake up.>

Yosh, it’s morning. It’s not like I have a pressing reason for waking up this early. It’s
just that I’ve decided to take a morning bath after hearing that Jonas-san always
prepares one every morning at yesterday’s banquet.

He doesn’t heat the water via traditional means like using firewood but does it via
magic instead.

Such a wonderful method. I’d also like to try it once I’ve managed to get myself a house.
I left Beck and Thor, who were sleeping in the same room as me, still slumbering away
after last night’s banquet.

I entered the bath. Looks like there was no one else using it. Great. It was nice to enter
the bath with others, but it also felt good to have it all to myself.

I thoroughly enjoyed the hot bath and went back to the room. Beck and Thor had just
gotten up the moment I entered.

“Eh! Did you just take a bath, Alan-san? That’s no fair! You should have called us too!”

Thor nodded in agreement.

“Well, you two looked like you were enjoying your sleep, so I didn’t try to wake you up.
You’ll get your goods assessed today, right? You should get ready then.”

“Che, it’s still early anyway. We were told they would check them out at nine in the
morning.”

“Ah, is that so. Well then, why don’t we count how much money we got from yesterday’s
incident?”

Our personal belongings have also been brought inside the room as well. That includes
the collection bag with the money. Beck and Thor quickly warmed up to the idea.

We poured the coins out and started counting them. We began snatching gold coins
from each other midway for some reason.

All in all, we had 92 pieces of copper, 75 pieces of large copper, 41 pieces of silver, 25
pieces of large silver, and 19 pieces of gold coins.

“Whoah! It’s my first time seeing this much money!” Thor exclaimed.

“Great. There’s plenty of gold coins. All in all, the total is 219,942 guineas.”

“Let’s see. You two’s share would be…”

“Alan-san! We two thought it over y’see. We won’t be taking any of that money after all.”
Beck interjected.

“…But why?”

“Well, isn’t that money what Alan-san earned after entering the bandit hideout?” Beck
continued.

“We really didn’t do anything to help with that, so taking a share of the money just
doesn’t feel right.” Thor followed up.

“But all of us risked our lives yesterday, right?”

All of us shared the same risk of dying.

“That may be the case, but the one who defeated the bandits and raided their hideout
was Alan-san. We just looked after the captured bandits and tied them up. We didn’t
contribute much at all. And besides, Alan-san and Master would continue your travels
after this, right? I’m sure you’ll need all the money you can get.”

“…I see. I understand. I really appreciate your goodwill, guys. Thank you for leaving
this money to us. But I’ll still give you a share of the bandit bounty when we receive
them. I won’t budge on that, okay.”

“…Alright. Thank you very much, Alan-san.”

“Uh, why do they pay more if we turn over living, healthy-looking bandits anyway?
What are the authorities gonna use them for?”

“What do they use living bandits for? They’re gonna turn them into ***. They’re gonna
end up chained and made to work in mines for the rest of their lives.”

I’ll update the language database. Let’s translate that as ‘slaves’. Bet this is going to be
blown up if the Imperial Ethics Committee ever gets wind of it. Oh well.

“Looks like those guys are gonna be worked to the bone. So that’s why one living
bandit can be exchanged for five large gold coins huh. Fifteen guys are worth 75,000
guineas. That means each of us gets 18,750 guineas.”

“”Eighteen thousand seven hundred fifty guineas!!!””

“Oi, oi. It’s still early morning so don’t make a racket, you two.”

“”Sorry!!!””

“Um, that’ll be one gold coin, eight large silver coins, seven silver coins, and five large
coppers… That’s a lot of money, alright!” Thor exclaimed in amazement.

The door was suddenly flung open and Cleria entered with a huff. She was wearing a
one-piece dress that looked similar to the one she wore for last night’s banquet.

“Why are you gentlemen making such a ruckus so early in the morning?”

“But, Master, Alan-san just said we’ll get eighteen thousand seven hundred fifty guineas
each from the bounty rewards for the bandits we captured yesterday. That’s a lot,
right?”

“I see, so that’s why.”

“You aren’t surprised…?”

“More importantly, what are your plans for today, Alan?”

“Well, let’s see. I was thinking about registering at the adventurer’s guild. I’ll need to
get an official identification permit anyway.”
“Then, I’ll come along as well. Let’s buy some clothes and equipment on the way too,
Alan. I’d been concerned about it ever since we started traveling to the city.”

“I’m fine with buying new clothes. But I guess you’re thinking of getting me a set of
armor similar to what you had equipped, right? I kinda don’t like them all that much,
to be honest. Won’t they restrict my movements?”

It would be awesome if they were like a standard-issue galactic army powered suit
though.

“We could get some leather armor if you don’t like ones made of metal. Leather armor
won’t hinder your movements much.”

“I see. That does seem to be the case. Yeah, I’ll go and take a look, then.”

“It would be best if we purchase armor before going to the adventurer’s guild. Thor
and I tried registering last year without a single piece of armor or weapons on us, and
we were immediately turned away at the entrance. It didn’t help that we lacked five
silvers each for the registration fee.”

“Why’s that? You can still do your job even if you didn’t have weapons or armor, right?”

“You’ll get tested to assess your overall strength before you can register.”

“You mean something like a comprehensive test?”

“Yeah, that’s probably it.”

“I see. It looks like we really need to purchase some new equipment then. Let’s take a
look at the shops later.”

“Oh, and Alan, I’ll need to talk to you about something once we get back.”

Cleria addressed me with a serious expression.

Well, finally! I was honestly itching to ask her again myself if she still didn’t come
around.

“Understood. Let’s have a good talk when we come back.”

We heard someone gently knocking on the door from the outside.

“Everyone, it is Jonas. We have prepared your breakfast.”

We were then led back to the spacious room where the banquet was held yesterday
night. We didn’t find anyone else aside from our group. I guess we really did wake up
early.

The amount of food was comparable to last night’s, so Cleria and the boys were really
satisfied.

After the meal, Jonas-san offered to bring us some tea.

“Jonas-san, do you know any good weapon and equipment shops you can recommend
to us?”

“Let’s see… It would seem like I’m promoting our own shop, but I’d still like you to
patronize one owned by our Master’s family.”

Oh, so they even have an equipment shop, huh. Well, I guess it’ll be okay if it’s Tarus-
san’s shop.

“We’d like to purchase some new equipment, so could you tell us where it’s located?”

“Please wait for a moment. I’ll write you a letter of introduction as well.”

“Thank you very much. Please do so.”

Jonas-san wrote the letter while we were drinking our tea. He was as prompt as usual.

“It’s named ‘Katolle Equipment Shop’. Please show this to the store manager once you
arrive there. I’ll have Willie here guide you.”

So it’s Katolle’s shop, huh. Willie was the young man we met at the city gate yesterday.

“Thank you very much. When would be the best time for us to visit the store?”

“The store should have already opened by now. Adventurers tend to be early risers
after all.”
“We’ll get going then.”

“One more thing, Alan-san. Everyone is looking forward to the matter we discussed
yesterday. Milady and the Young Miss Tara are especially excited about it.”

Ah, I nearly forgot! I really dropped the ball yesterday night, huh.

“Of course. I’d work on it straight away after we come back.”

We waited for Cleria to change into her armor and left the mansion together. The
weather looks perfect today as well.

The shop was a good fifteen-minute walk away from the mansion. It was smaller
compared to the other shops in the vicinity, but it looked better maintained and seemed
quite orderly. We entered straight away.

“You can go back now, Willie. Don’t you still have some other work to do?”

“It’s alright. I was tasked to be your guide for today, Alan-san.”

“I see. We’ll be in your care then.”

We saw lots of armor lined up on the racks the moment we entered the store. Armor
sets made of metals seemed to be more common. The interior arrangement was also
quite neat and orderly.

“Welcome!”

A middle-aged man was manning the shop counter.

“We want to purchase some armor, sir. Oh, and we were told to show you this as well.”

I handed over the introduction letter. The shop clerk gave it a quick scan.

“Well now, I guess I really have to give the best service to Master’s saviors. What kind of
armor are you looking for, by the way?”

“Well, we haven’t really decided yet. But I’d like to get something that wouldn’t restrict
my movements much, if possible. So armor made of metals won’t do, I guess.”

“Right, right. Metal armors are generally heavy and would limit your range of motion
to certain extents. We’ll have to get you a set of leather armor then. We have some
good quality ones right over there.”

We were guided to the leather armor section.

“There’s a lot of different kinds.”

The prices ranged from 3000 to 30,000 guineas and up.

The designs didn’t differ by much, but there was quite a difference in prices.

“What’s different between them?”

“It’s the materials they are made of. The cheap ones are made from orc hide. The more
expensive ones are made out of wyvern hide.”

“So the more expensive ones are higher in quality?”

“Yes, that is the case. The properties of the materials used are quite different. The ones
made out of orc hide are no different from your usual leather shaped into armor. But
these ones made from wyvern hides serve as magic tools as well.”

Our gazes were led to a black-colored leather armor placed at the back of the store.

“A magic tool, huh?” Interesting.

“Yes. The common masses generally do not know this, but wyverns and dragons actually
use magic in order to fly freely in the sky. I also do not know the exact details, but it’s
a fact that wyverns are creatures that make use of magic to attain flight. It was also
recently discovered that a wyvern’s hide would harden via magic whenever it receives
a strong enough blow.”

“So they made use of that property to make this armor huh. This slot in the chest
should be for equipping a magic stone, right? I guess the magic stone would supply the
magic needed to harden the armor.”

“Yes. Do have a look. This part that covers the arm feels quite soft to the touch, right?”
I tried touching it, and it was indeed soft.

“But if you give it a blow like so…”

The shop clerk gave it a good whack using a wooden sword placed nearby. It did sound
like the sword hit a hard surface.

Man, that was amazing! So the leather would automatically harden almost
instantaneously huh! I tried touching it again, and it was back to being soft and pliable.

“How long does it take for the armor to harden?”

“It would generally take about one or two seconds.”

“That’s amazing. But how tough is it?”

“It can easily take blows from a wooden sword. It can also defend from arrows. It also
offers a certain amount of protection from spear thrusts. Gray Hound bites would
similarly pose no problems. In other words, any attacks ineffective against wyverns
would be similarly ineffective against the armor as well.”

I haven’t seen a wyvern yet, but, judging from the description, it seems to be quite a
high-level monster.

“It seems perfect so far.”

“Well, not exactly. It’s actually vulnerable to slashing attacks. It’s certainly tougher than
most leather armors, but it falls short compared to metal ones. Aside from slashes, it
also cannot defend from ballista shots. But that should be expected. In short, any
attacks effective against wyverns are effective against it as well.”

“I see. Does it have any other drawbacks?”

“It uses magic so magic stones are a must. It doesn’t use up magic if it’s not hit with a
sufficient amount of force, but once it does take an attack, it uses up quite a bit of
magic. The amount of magic that gets used up depends on the strength of the impact.
For example, what it’s equipped with right now is a magic stone taken from a Gray
Hound. With this level of magic stone, it would run out of power after one hundred
blows.”
“That’s quite the consumption rate.”

So the armor would turn ineffective once it takes one hundred blows from a wooden
sword huh.

“Yes, that’s correct. But this would improve if you supply it with better quality magic
stones.”

“Can we swap out magic stones immediately once they’re used up?”

“Yes, you definitely can. You just need to slide the magic stone like so and you can easily
remove it. You can slide a new one in the same way. There would generally be no
problems swapping them out in the middle of battle.”

“How can you tell if the magic has run out?”

“You can only check by looking at the color of the magic stone.”

“The magic stone would turn transparent once the magic energy stored inside it has
run out.”

Cleria gave a timely follow-up.

“So, how much is it?”

According to the price tag, it’s 35,000 guineas.

“Un, I’ll give you a special twenty percent discount and sell it for 28,000 guineas then.”

“Great. I’ll buy it.”

We have a lot of money anyway. It would be best to buy some high-quality armor.

“I want to put it on right away though. Would that be fine?”

“Oi, oi. We still have to make some fine adjustments to armor of this level. It’ll take two
days at most.”

“So it’s like that. That’s a bit of a problem though.”

I won’t be able to use it for the adventurer’s guild test, then.

“Is there something wrong?”

“I was hoping to use it when I register at the adventurer’s guild later.”

“You! You’re telling me you actually aren’t an adventurer yet!?”

“Yeah. But I’m quite confident in my skills, so you don’t have to worry about me.”

“Well, I guess. But that was still quite a surprise. I see. So you’ll need armor for the
ranking test, huh?”

“Ranking test?”

“Do you not know? It would not be appropriate for people with sufficient skills like
you to be assigned a basic rank, so a test for determining the most proper starting rank
according to your abilities is necessary. But, well, even if you get full marks, you’ll still
need to start from C rank though.”

“I see. So that’s what the test is for.”

“I can lend you some second-hand leather armor if you want. I’ll lend it to you until we
finish the adjustments to the armor you bought. But the quality’s not that good though.”

“That’s fine. How much is it?”

“It’s alright. I’ll lend it out for free. Consider it as extra service.”

“I see. Thanks a lot for doing this. Right then. Here’s the gold.”

I brought all the gold coins just in case. I took out two gold coins and eight large silvers
from the bag and gave it to the shopkeep.

“Oh, you sure are one wealthy fellow. Thank you for your patronage. That reminds me,
I haven’t introduced myself yet. The name’s Zaluke.”

“My name’s Alan. This lady here is Ria.”

“I’ve been curious since a while ago. Is it just me, or is the armor that lady is wearing
really made of mythril?”

“Yes, this armor in fact is made of mythril.”

“Truly!?”

The shopkeep became flustered and went up to Cleria in order to check out her armor.
Cleria was surprised by his sudden actions.

“Ah! I’m truly sorry. I have a nasty habit of forgetting myself whenever I see some
excellent equipment y’see. It’s indeed made out of mythril. And from the looks of it,
the forger is one heck of a master in the craft.”

“However… Could you come this way first, dear customer.”

The shopkeep grabbed my arm and dragged me to the side.

“Oi, is that lady a **?”

There’s that unknown word again. Well, I can already make a rough guess about what
it means though.

“She might be. I’m not clear about her circumstances either though.”

“I see. So there seem to be some special circumstances. But walking around wearing
that is kinda bad y’know. You can tell at first glance that her armor’s made of mythril.
That wouldn’t be a problem if she were in the company of a large number of guards.
But you’ll most likely be targeted if it were just you folks and her walking about.”

“Is it really that valuable?”

“It sure is! Let’s see. In this shop, selling it for 40,000 Guineas is still considered cheap.”

“It costs that much!?”

“Yeah. And that design is exquisite. It seems based on the armor ordinary knights and
adventurers wear, but the design philosophy is completely different. The one that little
lady is wearing is an armor fit for royal knights. In the eyes of others, it’s completely
obvious that she’s a **.”
I checked out the metal armor sets being sold at the shop.

“It doesn’t look all that different to me though.”

“It’s completely different!”

“Ria, can you come over here for a sec?”

I moved my gaze back and forth between Cleria’s armor and the metal armor sets in
the store, but I still couldn’t spot the difference.

“But they really look the same to me. Aren’t they?”

“They’re absolutely, positively different, I tell ya!”

Zaluke replied enthusiastically.

“Just look at this line here. This doesn’t appear in the other armor sets, correct? And
take a gander at this section here. It’s of a completely different design. This section too.
Ah, and this one as well…”

Well, now that I’ve taken a closer look, it does seem kinda different. Maybe. I think.

“Uh, hey, is it possible to modify this armor so it wouldn’t look like mythril?”

“Hm? Ah, well, if we darkened the color a bit, it should be able to fool the untrained eye.”

“Can you make it so the design would look like that of an ordinary adventurer’s armor?”

“I can do that. But it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call this armor a fine work of art.
Are you sure you want to do something like that to it?”

“We don’t really mind. Right, Ria?”

“It’s fine with me.”

“Please modify it so people wouldn’t be able to recognize it as mythril. The design

should look like what normal adventurers use. Please be sure to modify it thoroughly.
How much would it cost and how long would it take to modify the armor?”
“Ah, that’s such a waste… Well, I’d need three days. It’ll cost you 5,000 guineas.”

It’s unexpectedly cheap. I took out another five large silvers from the bag and handed
them over.

“Well then, we’ll leave Ria’s armor to you once we’re done with our business at the
adventurer’s guild. I’ll pick up mine after three days as well.”

“Understood. I’ll need to take your measurements. Please come over here for a bit.”

The shopkeep proceeded with taking my measurements and adjusted the armor he’s
going to lend me accordingly. It took about one hour.

“The adventurer’s guild is already open, right?”

“Yes, they’re usually already open by daybreak.”

I, Cleria and Willie finally headed towards the adventurer’s guild.

“Willie, how far do we need to walk to get to the adventurer’s guild?”

“It’s just nearby. It’s that large building over there.”

Willie pointed toward a large, three-story building. It seemed to take up five times the
space compared to the buildings surrounding it.

There were a lot of people who looked like adventurers hanging out at the building’s
entrance. It seemed like they were waiting for something or someone. They might be
waiting for other members of their respective groups.

We entered straight away.

“The reception counters are that way.”

There were two reception counters lined up inside the building. The receptionist at
one counter was busy talking to an adventurer about something. We went over to the
free counter.

The receptionist was a young woman.

“Excuse me. We’d like to register as adventurers please. Is this the right counter?”

“Yes. The both of you will be registering?”

“Yes, that’s right. Me and this girl here.”

“Well then, please fill out this registration form first.”

Uh-oh. The only things I can write at the moment are my and Cleria’s names.

“I’ll write for you, Alan.” Cleria offered.

“Really? I’ll leave it to you then.”

Cleria promptly filled out both our forms. I hope there’s no problem with the info she
wrote. Well, it’s not like they can find out whether or not the stuff written in my ID in
this world is true anyway. I guess there would be no problems.

But I need to learn how to read and write the characters soon. I’m sure Nanom would
be able to update the database if I get someone to read a book aloud while I sit beside
them or something. I wonder where I could buy some books.

Cleria finished writing and handed the forms back to the receptionist.

The receptionist gave the forms a quick check. She seemed to be quite surprised after
reading them and stared hard at Cleria and me.

“Um, I’m sorry, but is what’s written in these forms true?”

The receptionist pointed at the forms and asked Cleria.

“There’s no mistake.”

Was there something wrong with the info she wrote on the forms?

“Understood. The registration fee is five silver coins per person.”

I handed the receptionist two large silvers.

“I’ve received the payment. Well then, the two of you will need to undergo the rank
assessment test next. The rank assessment test is meant to measure the overall
abilities of the two of you. We will be able to determine the most appropriate starting
rank for both of you after the test. Do you need me to explain the ranking system?”

I and Cleria nodded.

“The adventurer’s guild receives various kinds of quests everyday. Escort missions,
monster extermination, material collection and so on. The guild reviews the quests
and assigns an appropriate difficulty rank for each of them. In order to fulfill these
quests more efficiently, the adventurers are also given corresponding ranks and will
be able to undertake quests with a similar or lower rank as theirs. They can also
undertake quests one rank above them if they chose to do so. The ranks for both
quests and adventurers are as follows: F, E, D, C, B, A, and S – with S being the highest.
Seven ranks all in all. As an example, an F rank adventurer is only allowed to take F or
E rank quests. Have I managed to explain clearly enough?”

Man, this girl’s amazing. She just explained all of that in one breath. She should have
given this spiel at least hundreds of times already.

“Yes, there’s no problem.”

Cleria nodded in agreement.

“Well then, I’ll talk more about the quests next. The general quests are posted on that
wall over there.”

Following the direction the receptionist pointed towards, we saw a number of

adventurers checking out the quests posted on a wall at the side of the building.

“You can select the quest you want to do from that wall and then report it here. If there
are no problems, you will be assigned to complete that particular quest. It’s first come,
first served. You are given a specific deadline to complete each quest. There would be
a penalty imposed for failing to complete a quest on time. You can check the penalty
for quests here as well.”

“There are also designated quests, which differ from regular ones. These are assigned
by the client to a specific adventurer or party to complete. The adventurers are free to
decide whether or not to accept the quests. There’s also compulsory quests. These are
only issued out by the guild in times of emergency. You generally cannot refuse these
quests. Refusing to do them would result in a grave violation of guild rules and will
have a corresponding heavy penalty.”

“Adventurers are also required to complete at least one quest every two months. If one
fails to do so, it will result in their rank being lowered by one step. In the case of F
ranked adventurers, they will immediately face expulsion. Have I managed to explain
it clearly so far?”

“Yes, there’s no problems.”

Cleria nodded in agreement once more.

“Well then, I’ll proceed with preparations for your rank assessment tests. In the
meantime, please go ahead and read the guild rules and regulations posted on that
wall over there. I’ve already discussed most of the important ones, but some other
particulars are written out on there as well.”

“Understood.”

I headed towards the wall with the guild rules posted on it along with Cleria. The rules
were written directly on the face of the wall in bold characters. One would be able to
easily read them. Perfect timing. I’ll have Cleria read them aloud for me then.

“Cleria, can I ask you to read the rules aloud for me? You can just whisper them to me
if you want.”

“What for?”

“I need to learn the characters. Please.”

“You can learn them just from me reading them aloud!?”

“I can. I’m fine with you reading them quickly too.”

“Understood.” Cleria nodded and started reading.

The guild receptionist, Ami, had another staff member replace her on the counter and
went towards the staff room.

It was still early in the morning, but there was already five male staff inside the staff room.

“Everyone, it’s been so long, but it seems there are some promising new recruits today!
But I haven’t confirmed it yet though.”

“That again, Ami? The guys that show themselves off like that are usually all weaklings
y’know.”

“Well, one of them is a really cute girl.”

“Say what!? That sure is rare. I’ll be in charge of her then.”

“The girl’s cute, but she’s wearing some nice armor and seemed like a proper knight.”
Ami followed up.

“Man, that sure sounds promising, ain’t it?” another staff member chimed in.

“Um, let’s see. The girl’s swordsmanship level is 7 out of 10. Wow! She can also use fire
magic! And it’s level 8!”

“Aww, that sounds awfully exaggerated, doesn’t it?”

“No, no. The guy with her sounds more amazing! Apparently, both his swordsmanship
and magic has reached rank 10!”

“Ahaha! That’s rich! How long has it been since we got such jokers?”

“So the two of them can use magic? Did you properly explain what the exams are for?”

“How rude! Of course I did!” Ami retorted.

“Alright then. Even if they actually suck at it, let’s assume both of them can really use
magic. If even just half of what’s written in their applications are true, they’ll really
turn out to be promising rookies. We’ll have to do this properly after all folks.”

“I’d rather believe they couldn’t read the forms properly.”

“No, that doesn’t seem to be the case. The girl wrote the forms for both of them, but
there’s nothing to complain about with her penmanship. The characters were all
written beautifully, and she also wrote them at a fast pace. There’s no chance she’s
illiterate.”

“Yosh! I’m gettin kinda curious now. Let’s all go see them, shall we?”

“I’m gonna be in charge of the girl, y’hear!”

Cleria just finished reading the rules aloud to me when the receptionist came back.

“Sorry for the wait. I’ve finished preparing for your rank assessment tests. Please come
with me.”
“Fuu, that was tiring.” Cleria exclaimed.

“Sorry, you were a great help.”

I completed the update and confirmed that I could now read the rules written on the
wall. Alright. I’ll just have to update the database a few more times and I’ll be set.

“Oh yeah. Can you wait for us here, Willie?”

“I understand.”

We were led to another building next to the guild. Its side walls were 30 meters long,
its front and back were 20 meters, and its height was 10 meters. It was another fairly
large building. It should be a sort of gymnasium. There were a lot of objects which
looked like stationary targets lined up on the far at the back of the gym.

I saw five guys who looked like guild staff standing nearby.

“We’re going to serve as your proctors during the test. So, you both specialize in
swordsmanship right? You two are going to engage in practice matches with one of us
each here for the swordsmanship test. Listen up. This isn’t about winning or losing.
It’s not like you’ll automatically fail if you lose the match. We’re going to rank your
skills objectively, so be sure to give it all you’ve got.”

“First up is Ria! Come out front!”

“Do your best, Ria.”

“Alright.”

The examiner who was gonna serve as Cleria’s opponent handed her a wooden sword
used for practice. Her opponent was a guy who looked to be in his thirties. They’ll take
some distance from each other first, and then the match will start.

“Ready… Begin!”

Both of them held up their swords and stood in place. Cleria was watching for an opening.

The examiner moved one step forward as a feint in order to bait her, but Cleria remained
motionless.
The examiner looked quite composed as he gradually shortened the distance. And once
he neared a certain distance, he greatly raised his sword overhead, as if inviting her.

Ah! As soon as he did so, Cleria made her move and rushed straight for him.

She was so fast that the examiner had no choice but to execute a downward slash. But
Cleria has already anticipated that and agilely dodged to the side. Afterward, she
started to unleash her sword rush.

The examiner swung widely and ruined his stance. Cleria didn’t give him the chance
to reorient himself and rushed him with a furious flurry of sword attacks. The examiner
was finally made to drop his sword.

Cleria promptly stopped her rush and placed her sword next to the examiner’s throat.

“M- Match over!”

Cleria taught Beck and Thor the basics of swordsmanship while we were on the road,
but it’s not like that’s all she did. She had Beck and Thor do sword swing practice from
time to time and invited me over for some practice matches.

The swordsmanship I know is basically limited to rushes and combos. I just focused
on unleashing as many attacks as I could.

But it can’t be helped. That kind of fighting style was really popular in the school I
attended back then after all. If I didn’t practice this kind of fighting style as well, I
probably would have been left out during conversations with my buddies.

I had no choice but to teach Cleria how to make effective rushes. I would show an
opening, Cleria would close in, and I would counter her with a sword rush. We repeated
this kind of practice match lots of times. Thanks to that, my defensive skills have
actually improved as well.

Both I and Cleria could easily read the examiner’s movements. Cleria wouldn’t let an
opening like that slip. That examiner seems to have underestimated Cleria a bit.

“Alright, good job! We’ll take a look at your magic next.”

The lead examiner from earlier loudly announced.

We moved towards the area where the targets were placed. It looks like we need to
cast magic fifteen meters away from the targets.

“We’ll have you cast your magic and try to hit those five targets over there. You
specialize in fire magic, correct? Cast the fire spell you’re best at. We’ll rate you by
taking the time it takes for you to hit all five targets as well as how close to the center
your spells land. We’ll start measuring the time immediately after we tell you to begin.”

“Begin!”

Cleria raised both her hands, making three arrows of flame appear before her. They flew
toward each target and proceeded to hit them right in the center one after another.

It looks like she was preparing to cast her spell even before they told her to start. I
hope that won’t count as a violation.

Eight seconds after she cast the first spell, two more arrows of flame appeared and
flew towards the remaining targets. They both hit the targets dead center as well.

It looks like she still can’t manage to release five arrows simultaneously.

There was no shout signaling the end of the test. Cleria turned toward the examiner
in puzzlement. It was only then that the examiner managed to proclaim ‘test over’ in
a fluster.

“Amazing!”

“What the heck was that!?”

“That’s impossible!”

Looks like it impressed the examiners a lot.

Cleria’s certainly improved her magic casting time greatly compared to before. After
getting to know that what’s most important for casting magic was to build a concrete
image, she tirelessly casted magic every moment she could, even while lying down on
top of the luggage. She repeatedly fired magic while facing toward the sky at those times.
And the results of that are showing right now.

The examiners huddled together and were discussing animatedly. Are they discussing
about the violation from earlier?

“Okay. Ria’s magic assessment is now over. Great job. Alan, you’re up next! We’ll do
your magic assessment right now.”

Looks like that early start was considered okay after all. I see. So that’s acceptable huh.

I stood in front of the targets just like Cleria earlier.

“Begin!”

Immediately after I heard the signal to start, I materialized five flame arrows in front
of me and fired them towards the targets. I constructed an image of flame arrows that
were faster than normal ones by several times, so they flew towards the targets with
blinding speed. It only took me two seconds from casting to hitting the targets.

How’s that!? I bet I’d set the record for the fastest cast time folks.

Eh? They’re not yelling ‘test over’, aren’t they? Did I cast my magic too fast?

I took a look at the exam proctors and found them petrified.

“Um?”

“A- Ah! T- Test over!”

It seems they didn’t manage to measure the time properly. I hope that’s okay.

“Alright! We’ll assess Alan’s swordsmanship level next!”

The examiners huddled together and discussed something again. Maybe they were
choosing my practice opponent?

It looks like they finally decided, and one examiner stepped forward.

“Ready… Begin!”

The examiner didn’t make any moves. It looks like he’s scoping me out.

He’s still not moving. It’ll take forever at this rate, so I decided to take a step forward
instead. The opponent took a step back. I tried stepping forward again. The opponent
stepped back once more. Hey, he’s not actually scared of me, isn’t he?

I tried stepping forward again. And he took another step backward, like earlier. Man,
this is getting a bit bothersome. I’ll try rushing him with a basic combo then. It was a
basic three slash sword combo, but it would leave me a bit open while rushing towards
the enemy. But in exchange, it also allowed me to finish off opponents swiftly if it
successfully connects.

I feinted by taking one step like I did earlier and prepared to unleash the combo.

I rushed towards the opponent and made use of the momentum to deliver a strong
upward slash. Now for the other two follow-up slashes… which I couldn’t actually
perform. I noticed that the first slash actually managed to send the opponent’s sword
flying out of his hand. As a result, I could only place my sword near the opponent’s throat.

“Match over!”

“Uh, the rank assessment tests are now over. We’ll announce the results later on. Please
wait at the area near the receptionist counters for the meantime.”

That was surprisingly quick huh. I went back to the guild building with Cleria.

“Is the test really over with that?”

“It seems so. Perhaps they have other things to tend to.”

“Guess so, huh.”

The examiners went back to the staff room together.

“Oi, what the heck are those two!? Seriously, what are they!!?”

“Rather than that, what was up with you on that last match, man? You were scared
sh*tless!”

“Well, it’s true that Kenny was overwhelmed. But that speed and sword slash were the
real deal.”
“More than that, his magic was nuts! It wasn’t just at the level of being amazing!”

“I have an acquaintance in the magic guild who’s one of the top rankers there, but that
examinee’s Flame Arrow spell was at least dozens of times better than his.”

“In the end, what they wrote on their application forms were true.”

“No. At least, the level of their magic skill is probably a lot more than what’s written
there. It’s honestly to the point where I think no other people could probably best
them when it comes to magic.”

“That’s certainly true. So what shall we do? What would be their rank assessment
results?”

“Former B rankers like us were trounced in a one-sided manner after all. It’s impossible
to ignore that result.”

“So we’re all agreed right? Both of them will be C rank.”

“”No objection!””

Cleria and I waited inside the guild building for about twenty minutes until the
receptionist finally returned.

“Alan-san and Ria-san have both been officially registered as C rank adventurers. I’ll
hand over your guild identifications, so please follow me to the counter.”

“These are your guild identifications. Please keep them with you at all times. If you
lose them, there will be a penalty of one large silver coin in order to process a reissue,
so be very careful not to lose them.”

It was a copper plate with a width of five centimeters and length of ten centimeters. It
had the seal of the adventurer’s guild, registration number, my name, the registration
date and my rank, which was C, engraved on it.

“We’ve now finished your registration. Do you have any other questions?”

“It would be fine for you not to take any quests for a maximum of seven months when
you’re a C rank, right?”

“Eh!? Well, that is the case, but your rank will fall steadily as a result.”

“I’m not really concerned with my rank, so that’s alright.”

“You don’t mind, you say…? However, the guild would very much prefer it if skilled
adventurers like you could complete quests at a steady rate, Alan-san.”

“Understood. Thank you very much.”

“Eh?”

“Let’s go back Ria, Willie.”

I locked eyes with a female mercenary as we went out of the guild building. She had a
pair of sharp eyes. When that female mercenary’s gaze turned towards Cleria, an
astonished expression appeared on her face.

“Your High-! Cleria-sama!”

Cleria stood dazed for a few moments, but her expression turned to one of surprise
soon afterward.

“If it isn’t Elna! Why are you in a place like this?”

“I’m relieved to see you looking well, Cleria-sama!”

“…Hey, Ria. This isn’t the time or the place for this. We’re standing out too much.”

They were really getting worked up, so I tapped Cleria’s shoulder to remind her.

The adventurers were already crowding around us to see what was going on.

“You knave! Who are you!? Do not address her so casually!”

The female mercenary angrily turned towards me and was about to draw her sword.

“At ease, Elna! Let us move to a different area.”

“Let’s head to the Katolle Equipment Shop for the meantime.”

I’ll have to return my armor, and Cleria has to leave hers there as well.

I don’t know who this Elna lady exactly is, but judging from that earlier conversation,
I have a rough idea already.

She didn’t seem to be just a casual acquaintance, and she seemed to know Cleria well.
She might have some news that she was reluctant to share with me around as well. It
would be better to move to a place where the two of them can talk without reserve.

The Katolle Equipment Shop was nearby, so we soon reached it while maintaining an
awkward silence.

We entered the shop and headed for the counter. Zaluke greeted us warmly.

“Yo, you guys sure were fast. So how did the tests go?”

“Ah, we both became C rank.”

“That’s impressive! As expected of Master’s saviors.”

“I guess. Can you help with taking this armor off? I’m still not familiar with it.”

“Um, Miss Elna, right? How about you help Ria with hers over there?”

“I understand.”

“Hey, Zaluke. Will my armor be hard to put on and take off like this one?”

“No, don’t compare this armor with the one you purchased. That one’s a top-grade
leather armor after all. It’ll be easier to handle. You can easily put it on and take it off
by yourself.”

“I see. Glad to hear it.”

“Ria, what are your plans after this? I’m gonna go back to Tarus-san’s mansion. But
you and her have things you need to talk about, right? You can go somewhere else after
this. I’ll give you some money if you need it.”

“I’ll go back with you as well.”

“You will? Well, we should be able to borrow a private room later anyway.”

That reminds me. I’ll have to make some sweets later. And it’s not like we can continue
staying over at Tarus-san’s mansion for tonight. We’ll need to look for a suitable inn
soon. Looks like it’ll be a busy day.

“Well then, I’ll leave our armors to you, Zaluke. We’ll come back for them after three
days.”

“Gotcha. Leave them to me.”

We walked back to Tarus-san’s mansion. Cleria and Elna walked a little further back
from Willie and I. They were talking softly among themselves. It’s possible for me to
eavesdrop on their conversation if I enhance my hearing, but I don’t want to do
something that tasteless.

We soon arrived back at Tarus-san’s mansion.

“Willie, sorry to impose this on you, but could you see if Jonas-san is free and call him
over?”
“Understood.”

It didn’t take long for Jonas-san to come.

“I’m sorry for calling you over like this. Ria met an acquaintance back at the adventurer’s
guild. It seems they have some important things to talk about, so, if it isn’t any trouble,
could you lend us a private room for a while?”

“But of course. The guest of our guest is our guest as well. I’ll prepare some tea.”

“I’m sorry to bother you with this.”

“Now then, Ria and Elna, you two can take your time talking inside the room.”

“Understood. Alan… Thank you.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Alan-san, did you perhaps come to the adventurer’s guild earlier in order to register?”

“Yes. I didn’t manage to tell you before we went out of the mansion though. That’s
about it. Ria and I just finished our registration.”

“What rank did you manage to attain, by the way?”

“We both became C rank adventurers.”

“Hou! It’s impressive that the two of you managed to attain C rank right away. Amazing.”

“No, it wasn’t all that great. More importantly, thank you for introducing us to a good
shop. We’ve managed to get some quality goods and services as a result.”

“No, we’re glad for your patronage as well… I do have something I want to consult with
you, Alan-san. That is if you don’t mind?”

“What is it?”

“It’s about the rest of the goods Alan-san and Master left in the bandit hideout
yesterday. We’re a bit troubled because no one else apart from Alan-san and Master
know the way to the hideout. I was thinking of having Alan-san retrieve them for us in
the form of a designated guild quest. Would that be alright with you?”

“Yeah, that’ll be fine. I’ll take the quest. But there’s quite a lot of goods so I’ll need to
find a way to transport them back…”

“No, we will handle the retrieval work. All you have to do is escort us and guide us to
the location of the hideout.”

“I see. There’s no problem then. I accept the quest.”

“Well then, I will be sending a formal request to the guild tomorrow, so we will be in
your care.”

“I understand. So, about that matter regarding sweets. I’d actually like to start making
preparations for that now if that’s okay with you?”

“Of course. Please go ahead. I’ll guide you to the kitchen.”

I’m really curious about the kinds of ingredients they have available.

I’m sure they at least have some sugar since they’re familiar with sweets. But what am
I gonna do if they turned out just having sugar and wheat flour? I won’t be able to
make much from those. I did blurt out that cooking is my hobby, so I don’t want to
make something weird if I can help it. Man, I really dropped the ball yesterday, didn’t I?
The facilities of the kitchen I was guided to were quite extensive. They were also well-
ordered.

“This is the kitchen Milady and Tara-sama often use for cooking.”

It seems like this mansion actually has several kitchens. Un, it’s certainly an enviable
environment.

“The ingredients and cookware present here are the same as what we have in the main
kitchen.”

“It’s quite a splendid kitchen. Well then, what should I make? What are the staple
sweets in this country? It would be dull if I made something already commonly available,
so could I trouble you to teach me?”

“Certainly. This is the staple sweet we have in this country. There are different flavors
available, but they are essentially the same product.”

Jonas-san handed me a basket filled with sweets. They appear to be similar to cookies.

“Can I taste one?”

“Of course. Please go ahead.”

I tried one, and it really was a cookie. It was mildly sweet, crunchy, and delicious.

“This is quite tasty. But, are there no other sweets available apart from these?”

“Yes. These are the only sweets we have. They are made from wheat flour and are baked.”

So they only have cookies for sweets huh? But there’s a lot more stuff we can make.

“I see. Well then, I’ll need to check the available ingredients next.”
I checked out an ingredient jar that resembled porcelain first. Is this sugar? Yep, it’s
sugar alright. It wasn’t white, but was light-brown in color. It tasted fine. It wasn’t as
sweet as the sugar I’m used to, but it would do just fine. There were also some salt,
honey, a number of different herbs and wheat flour. Hm, so what should I make?

“There are also some chilled ingredients available.”

Jonas-san opened up a large shelf. There were eggs and other ingredients, either bound
by cloth or put into porcelain containers, inside. Waves of cold air were wafting out of
the shelf.

“Oh! This isー!?”

“This is a magic tool used for refrigerating ingredients. Foodstuffs that go bad quicker
are put inside this box in order to prolong their shelf life.”

“This is great! To think you had something like this as well.”

The shelf contained things like meat, dried fish, eggs, butter, milk, cheese, and various
other ingredients. Great. Since there are eggs, butter and milk, I can easily make a wider
variety of sweets.

I do get the desire to make cookies using these ingredients. But I’m going to whip up
something different. I’ll make something simple so I won’t accidentally botch up and
ruin it.

Let’s go with a standard Earth-style steamed egg pudding. I personally like baked
pudding more, but I’m not familiar with using the type of oven they have in this kitchen.
Since that’s the case, it would be better not to force it.

I took out all the ingredients I need. Milk, eggs, and sugar. Just these three.

Next would be a suitable mold. I looked around the kitchen and spotted a shelf
containing various tableware. It also had a lot of small containers that looked perfect
as pudding molds. Hey, there’s also a strainer here. It was a bit rough, but it’ll do.

I also found a large lidded pot that I can use for steaming. I looked for something I can
use to hold the containers above the water while steaming and found a smaller lid
from another pot. It was just the right size as well. I successfully got myself an improvised
steamer set.
“How many should I make?”

“Let’s see. How about five for your group plus five more, Alan-san?”

Jonas-san also included Elna’s share as well.

“Understood. I’ll make some extra portions, just to be sure.”

I ran over the recipe in my head while considering the number of servings. Looks like
we’re good. The ingredients we have here would suffice. We also had enough containers.

“By the way, how much does this ingredient cost?”

“Ah, sugar, is it? A pot of this size would cost about five silvers.”

That’s unexpectedly cheap. Or is it? Five silvers are enough for a two-night stay at an
average inn after all.

I checked the cookware before I started making the puddings. There were two
platforms that resembled stoves in the kitchen.

“Um, are theseー?”

“These are magic tools that emit flames. This is how you use them.”

Jonas-san pulled down the lever on the side of one of the stoves. When he did so, the
stove immediately spouted flames. It seems you can use the lever to adjust the intensity
of the flames.

“This is also quite amazing. I actually want one myself.”

“I could introduce you to one of our partner stores that have them later if you wish.”

Man. They really sell a large variety of merchandise, don’t they?

I’ll start with making the caramel sauce.

I put an amount of sugar corresponding to the recipe in my head inside a small saucepan,
added some water and heated the mixture over low flames.
I left the mixture to simmer for a few minutes until the color turned light-brown. I
poured some more water bit by bit to adjust the thickness of the sauce.

I then poured the finished mixture from the saucepan into another container to let it
cool down. Once the mixture had cooled down properly, I poured portions of the
finished caramel sauce inside the containers I was going to use as molds for the puddings.

I decided to make fifteen servings this time.

I’ll make the pudding mixture next. I put an appropriate amount of sugar and milk
inside a large pot and heated the mixture using the magic stove.

I then added some eggs to the mixture after heating it for a while. I also cracked a
number of eggs over a porcelain bowl and started beating them. I added some salt to
adjust the flavor as well.

Let’s prepare the steamer as well. I poured water inside the large pot I found earlier,
placed the small pot lid several centimeters above the water line, placed the large pot
on top of the stove, and turned the flames on.

The milk has been sufficiently heated at this point. I stirred the milk mixture to make
sure the sugar has properly dissolved. Afterward, I added in the egg wash into the mix.

I then had Jonas-san help with pouring the heated milk and egg mixture over the
strainer. We repeated the straining process two times just to be sure.

We poured the completed pudding mixture inside the molds slathered with caramel
sauce. We managed to fill all fifteen containers with the mixture. It looks like I nailed
the mixture amount. After these are steamed inside the pot, the puddings would finally
be finished.

The improvised steamer is good to go as well. It seems it wasn’t possible to fit all
fifteen molds inside the pot, so we steamed them in two batches. We put in half of the
containers inside the pot and steamed them over low flames. It should be enough to
steam them for ten minutes or so.

After ten minutes, we removed the containers from the pot. They were quite hot, so
we had to be careful in taking them out. I poured some more water inside the improvised
steamer, and once the water came to a boil, we steamed the second batch as well.
Let’s give the pudding a taste test. I put one container inside a pot half-filled with
chilled water in order to cool it down. I’ll put the rest inside the refrigerating magic
tool later once they’ve cooled down enough.

We took out the second batch from the steamer after ten minutes. We let them cool
down as well.

“We’re finally done. We just need to put these inside the refrigerating magic tool to
chill them.”

“So they are done. It was quite a remarkable cooking method, I must say. I haven’t
heard or seen such a method until today.”

“These sweets are called puddings. Do you want to give it a taste, Jonas-san?”

“I would love to! I have no idea what the flavor would taste like at all, so it’s quite
exciting.”

I took out the pudding mold from the chilled water.

“You’ll need to take out the pudding from the container like so.”

I used my fingers to scrape part of the the pudding mixture that was sticking on the
rim of the mold.

“Take out a plate, flip the container over and lightly shake it on top of the plate until
the pudding comes out. There we go.”

“Oh! So this is pudding!”

It does look great, at least. The dark-brown caramel sauce dripped down the cream-
colored pudding.

I cut the pudding into two portions and put one half on another plate. I offered one
half to Jonas-san for him to taste.

Mm, delicious. It wasn’t chilled enough yet, but the creamy taste of the pudding matched
well with the bittersweet flavor of the caramel sauce. The recipe actually includes an
ingredient from Earth called vanilla, but things from Earth are considered luxury
goods and are pretty hard to acquire. Once it’s chilled to a certain degree, I bet it’ll turn
even tastier.

I turned around to check with Jonas-san, only to find him petrified on the spot with
bulging eyes.

“Alan-san! What exactly is this!? I have yet to taste sweets as delicious as this. How
wonderful! Simply magnificent!”

Even if you ask me that, I can only say that it’s pudding y’know. But I’m glad that he
actually likes it.

“It’ll taste even more delicious once it’s chilled. Will the madam like it?”

“She will certainly enjoy it! I can already picture the blissful faces of Milady and Tara-
sama!”

“It would be great if that’s the case. When should we serve these? They need to be
chilled a bit more, so I don’t think they’ll make it for lunch.”

It’ll be midday soon.

“Ah, and I’m planning to find an inn we can stay at for the evening later, so we’ll be
leaving the manor in the afternoon.”

“Is that so? Understood. I’ll need to confirm with Master, but he’s currently out on
business at the moment. He should be returning soon though. Would you like to take
this chance to go around town in the meantime?”

“I understand.”

I returned to our room after we put in the rest of the pudding in the magic fridge. Beck
and Thor were also back inside the room.

“Listen to this, Alan-san! They finished assessing the value of our goods, and they’ve
actually quoted a price double that of the last time we came here!”

“I see. That’s great, huh. It looks like they really beat down the prices in your previous
visits.”

“Well, that’s part of it, but according to Katolle-san, the cotton we brought was of very
high quality, so it’ll fetch quite a bit once sold.”

“Is that so? I’m happy for you guys.”

“Yeah! This is also thanks to Alan-san. This wouldn’t have happened if we didn’t have
Alan-san with us after all.”

“It’s not like I did something all that significant, guys. Well, you can say we were really
lucky for getting acquainted with such great people. You better make sure to treasure
this opportunity.”

“”Yeah!””

Someone knocked on the other side of our room’s door.

“It’s Jonas. We’ve prepared your lunch.”

We went to the dining room and found Tarus-san, Katolle, Cleria, and Elna already
seated in front of the table. The three of us were then guided to our respective seats.

“I’ve heard about it from Jonas, Alan-san. It seems you’ve made us some wonderful
sweets.”

“It wasn’t much, sir. I hope they’ll be to your liking. I’m a bit nervous about it, to be
honest.”

“It just so happens that Lana and Tara were invited by the other madams in the
neighborhood earlier, so they aren’t here right now. I was thinking of serving them for
dinner instead.”

“I see. We are going to book an inn today, so I guess I’ll just have to hear about your
impressions on another day.”

“No, I insist that you all stay with us for tonight as well Alan-san. That goes for Elna-
san as well, of course.”

“Eh? But wouldn’t we be troubling you?”

“Think nothing of it! I owe my life to Alan-san and the rest after all. I wouldn’t mind no
matter how many days you were to stay at our home.”

“I understand. We’ll stay for one more night then. Thank you very much for your
hospitality.”

Tarus-san really is a good person. It seems Beck and Thor were glad to hear we were
staying for another night.

The dishes we had for lunch today were delicious as always. I wonder why the variety
of sweets hasn’t progressed much even though the level of cooking in this place was
of quite a high level already?

Oh yeah. I almost forgot to check out the variety of condiments and seasonings they
have available. I definitely want to procure more seasonings apart from salt.

Cleria called out to me just before we finished our meal.

“Alan, can you make time for me after this? I need to talk to you about some matters.”

“Alright, I understand.”

It looks like she was ready to talk to me about her circumstances.

Beck and Thor went out for some shopping after we finished our meal.

It seems they were tasked with purchasing goods necessary for the village, such as
salt, after selling off their wares.

In the end, I was the only one who would get to hear Cleria’s story. Elna was also sitting
inside the room.

“I’m very sorry for hiding things from you all this time, Alan.”

“It’s fine. You have a lot of things to consider, right?”

“I’ve already introduced myself as Cleria Starvine, and I come from the neighboring
Starveek Kingdom.”

So she’s from the Starveek Kingdom, huh. Hm? Doesn’t Cleria’s surname sound a bit
like the kingdom’s name? From her expression, it seems Cleria was about to divulge
something really important, but I still have no idea what it is.

“And?”

“Ah, in other words, I’m the Starveek Kingdom’s ***. No, I suppose I should say ‘was’
Starveek Kingdom’s ***.”

There’s a word I can’t understand.

“What does *** mean?”

“Cleria-sama, is this man really alright?”

“Do not mind. Alan, no, Mister Corinth wasn’t even familiar with our language a month
ago. It’s not surprising that he still has some words he doesn’t understand.”

“This man is a **!?”

There’s another word I’m not familiar with. I think quite a lot of people we met on our
travels described Cleria with that word. And it seems I’m also a **? And I’m kinda
curious why Cleria’s speech started sounding more formal.

“*** means the daughter of a king.”

The King’s daughter, you say!? In other words, she’s a princess! I earlier deduced that
Cleria was of a higher social class – in other words, a noble that I’ve only heard of in
fantasy works – but it seems she was even higher up in the social ladder than I thought.

“I see. But what was a princess like you doing in that kind of place?”

“It entails some complicated circumstances.”

Cleria began to tell the rest of her story afterward.

She told me about the coup d’ etat that occurred in her kingdom.

It seems she was dispatched outside the capital to perform a royal inspection when
the coup occurred.
She also told me that the rest of her family were all killed during the coup.

She also divulged that she was planning on requesting aid from this country at the
behest of one of her close relatives.

She thinks that said close relative has most likely fallen in battle to aid in her escape.

In order to mislead their pursuers, eight carriages along with a number of escorts fled
out of the country all at the same time, but in different directions.

I see. So she ended up meeting me in the middle of their escape from the country, huh.
It seems Elna was one of the escorts assigned to another carriage.

It seems Cleria couldn’t help but remember some things while relating her story and
started tearing up.

“So that’s the case. It must have been really hard for you.”

I can’t imagine how painful it must feel to have your entire family murdered and your
country taken from you. I started patting Cleria’s head in order to comfort her. Cleria
lowered her head and nodded lightly. She started crying in earnest.

“…Mister Corinth, it would be best if you refrain from touching Cleria-sama in such a
familiar manner.”

Cleria raised her head and stopped herself from crying when she heard Elna.

“It’s alright, Elna… Mister Corinth, the ruler of the Belta Kingdom is my relative as well.
I was originally planning to request aid from this country’s king. But after meeting
Elna, it seems that isn’t an option anymore.”

I asked for more details. According to Elna, she and the rest of the escorts were
discouraged for a time when they found out that Cleria wasn’t in the carriage they
were guarding. But in order to aid in Cleria’s escape, they resolved themselves to act
their part as decoys to the best of their abilities, and proceeded towards Cecilio
Kingdom as planned.

After arriving at Cecilio Kingdom, they registered as adventurers in order to hide the
fact that they were knights. They then tried to inquire about Cleria’s whereabouts, but
couldn’t find any leads. They did manage to find two other escort groups assigned to
other carriages, but they refrained from acting together to avoid standing out.

Elna’s group then headed towards Belta Kingdom in search of other potential leads.
They managed to find out that Belta Kingdom’s ruler was Cleria’s relative and
proceeded to request for aid in their search from this country’s nobles.

Elna was tasked with going around the area on her own just in case Cleria were to
appear in the vicinity. The local noble assigned to the territory sent out an urgent
message in order to request further orders from the king. But when the messenger
returned, the rest of the escort knights apart from Elna ended up being captured and
brought somewhere else. Elna surmised that they were probably taken back to the
Starveek Kingdom. This all happened just five days ago.

“So that means this country’s ruler is actually in league with the rebels. Maybe the
rebels have offered something of value to them in return for their cooperation. You
have truly suffered much for me, Elna.”

“No, Your Highness. I do not mind going through any kind of hardship for your sake. If
they learn of Cleria-sama’s safety, the others who were captured would surely be
elated as well.”

“I would like to rescue those knights who have been captured if possible, however…”

“It has been five days after all. And the transport carriage was guarded by more than
thirty knight escorts as well. It would be difficult to catch up to them even if we do
know where their destination is. And it would be impossible for us to mount a rescue
even if we do manage to catch up.”

“I see…”

“I no longer have a clear idea about what I should do next. What would you suggest,
Mr. Corinth? I would appreciate it if you could lend us your wisdom.”

I ended up asking something that was bothering me since earlier instead of replying
immediately.

“Hey, Cleria, just why did you revert to that formal way of speaking? And I thought I
told you not to call me Mr. Corinth, but Alan instead, right?”

“B- But, I’m a part of royalty… no, former royalty. And isn’t Alan a **? So I just thought
that…”

“Let’s just clear things up here. I’m actually not a noble y’know.”

Judging from the earlier conversation, I surmised that the ** word actually means
noble or aristocrat.

“Eh!? But don’t you have a surname, Alan?”

“Yeah. What about it?”

I don’t understand what she’s getting at.

“You have a surname but aren’t a noble?”

“Yeah. In my country, all citizens have a surname. It’s a common thing. And they aren’t
nobles as well. Are the only people who have surnames in this continent nobles?”

I actually knew of several human-inhabited planets in the empire where surnames

weren’t a thing as well. But I didn’t expect Cleria to think I was a noble just because I
had a surname though.

“So there was such a thing… Yes, the only ones permitted to have surnames in this
continent are members of the nobility.”

It looks like Cleria was fairly shocked by the fact that I wasn’t actually a noble. Elna
displayed a ‘I knew this was the case’ expression though.

“Well then, let’s get back to the topic of what your next actions should be. I think you’ll
have to focus on information gathering first. You won’t be able to plot an appropriate
course of action if you lack information about the current situation after all. Specifically,
I think asking Tarus-san for info would be a valid option. If possible, you’ll have to tell
him your identity as well, Cleria. I believe Tarus-san would have at least one or two
credible sources of information in the area, considering his line of business. I personally
think Tarus-san to be a person worthy of trust.”

Jonas-san told me during last night’s banquet that the most important thing for a
merchant was a credible source of information. It seems most merchants spend quite
the hefty sums to obtain valuable info in order to gain a competitive edge and exploit
movements in the market.
“Declare Cleria-sama’s identity, you say? It’s obvious that we cannot do such a thing!
What are we going to do if she gets into danger as a result?”

“Well, if, by any chance, we do get into trouble, I’ll just take Cleria and escape from
here as fast as I can.”

“The likes of you alone would guarantee her escape!? Do not spout such crazy nonsense,
fool!”

“No, if Alan were to get serious, even the combined forces of the adventurers and
knights in this city will stand no chance. That, I can be absolutely sure of.”

“That can’t be! Do you actually believe such a thing, Cleria-sama?”

“I have full confidence in the fact. And Elna, I would also like for you to treat Alan with
more respect.”

“…Understood. I apologize for my earlier conduct.”

“I also think Tarus-san should be worthy of trust. Alan, could I trouble you to accompany
me to meet with Tarus-san?”

“Got it.”

The three of us went out of the room in order to look for Tarus-san.
The three of us entered the dining room where we regularly had our meals and found
Jonas-san talking with the other employees.

“What seems to be the matter, Alan-san?”

“I would like to request a meeting with Tarus-san right now if he isn’t busy with work.
I’ll have Ria participate as well.”

“I see. I shall check with Master, then.”

Jonas-san went back after a short while together with Tarus-san.

“Let us discuss matters in the consultation room over there,” Tarus-san offered.

The consultation room was a small room that can seat about ten people inside. One of
Tarus-san’s employees brought us some tea.

“Would it be fine for Jonas to join us in this discussion?”

I looked at Cleria to get confirmation.

“I do not mind.”

Cleria gave her OK. I do think Jonas-san was someone trustworthy as well.

“This may sound somewhat abrupt, but I have been using an alias while interacting
with you all up until now. I must apologize for this matter first. My true name is Cleria
Starvine.”

Tarus-san and Jonas-san’s expressions immediately changed to that of astonishment.

Oh, man. To think even a butler living in another country is familiar with her. It seems
Cleria’s actually quite famous. Maybe he got to know about her from Tarus-san.
“Y- Your Highness. There is no need to apologize for this matter. In lieu of Your Highness’
situation, I fully understand why you had to do so.”

Tarus-san was visibly flustered.

“There is actually no need to address me as ‘Your Highness’, Mr. Tarus. You are not a
citizen of the Starveek Kingdom in the first place, Mr. Tarus. And I no longer hold such
a position of repute as well.”

“…Understood. Cleria-sama. What is it that you wish to discuss with me?”

“I would like for you to share any sort of information you have about the current state
of the Starveek Kingdom.”

“I see. So it’s about that… I was traveling out of the city until recently and am not that
familiar with the entire situation, so I’ll have Jonas tell you in my stead.”

“What would you like to know first, Cleria-sama?”

“If you have any information regarding the battle in the Ludvic territory, I’d like to hear
about it first.”

“First, I must apologize for the fact that the information I know may have been
somewhat embellished due to it coming from the rumors circulating about among the
merchants in the city. The information may not be entirely accurate, so I ask for your
understanding.”

Jonas-san then took out a small memo pad from his suit’s inside pocket and went over
the contents.

“Regarding the battle in the Ludvic territory, the defending forces led by Earl Ludvic
numbered six thousand troops. On the other hand, it is said that the combined
southern and western armies they faced numbered about forty thousand. I do not
know the exact particulars regarding the battle itself, but it seems that the allied noble
armies forced the Earl’s troops to retreat into the castle in order to hold a battle of
attrition. The allied armies repeatedly asked for the Earl and his troops to surrender.
The Earl, however, refused to capitulate. And after two weeks of grueling battle, the
castle was finally taken. According to the villagers who witnessed the battle from afar,
it seems like the Earl and his forces were intentionally dragging out matters in order
to buy time for some reason.”
“My uncle probably did so in order to earn time for me to successfully escape. Do you
know what happened to the Earl in the end?”

“It is said that the Earl fell in battle the moment the castle was breached. His corpse
was recovered later on, so it is all but confirmed.”

“…So it really was the case.”

“There is also this sort of rumor going around. There were several witness accounts
regarding a number of the Earl’s forces secretly leaving from the castle before they
moved inside to invite a siege.”

“I do not think any of my uncle’s troops are cowardly enough to desert him in battle.
He probably persuaded a number of them to escape willingly, knowing that they were
about to fight a battle with no hope of victory.”

“After the Earl’s territory fell, most of the northern and eastern nobles surrendered
one after another. And after thirty-five days, all nobles in the kingdom have capitulated
to the rebels.

“And there was a new round of information we just received yesterday. Twenty days
ago, the southern Marquis, Lord Agustini, declared the founding of a new kingdom. Its
name was revealed to be the Alois Kingdom.”

“……Lord Agustini. The Lautrigen House. I have met him once before. Alois Kingdom…
So they restored their former kingdom’s name.

“Thank you for the valuable information you shared with us, Mr. Tarus and Mr. Jonas.
I can do nothing about it for now, but I swear to repay this favor in the future.”

“I do not dare accept your grace, Cleria-sama. There is no need to owe us anything for
this sort of information. I shall endeavor to collect even more useful information for
you henceforth,” Tarus-san declared.

“…Why would you go so far for us, Mr. Tarus?”

“It’s no trouble at all. It’s a merchant’s habit to collect information after all. It comes
with the occupation. I would just have to put a little more effort into it, that’s all.

“My father was originally a merchant from the Starveek Kingdom. But he fell in love at
first sight with my mother and chose to stay in this city instead. So I consider myself
half a citizen of Starveek.

“My father died four years ago, but I’d often heard how splendid the Starveek Kingdom
was from him when he was still alive. Perhaps he was just missing his former
homeland. So it’s only natural that I put forth my best effort to help the sole princess
of the kingdom my father so loved.”

“Mr. Tarus…… You have my utmost gratitude.

“However, there is something you need to be informed of, Mr. Tarus.

“The ruler of this Belta Kingdom, King Amado, is actually my second cousin. I came to
this country in order to solicit his aid.”

After that, Cleria talked about what happened to Elna’s comrades.

“In other words, this country’s ruler, King Amado, is actually cooperating with the
rebels, or rather, the newly founded Alois Kingdom. If you lend me your aid, it means
that you are going against your country’s king as a consequence.”

“I see… To put aside ties of blood in exchange for benefits is an action typical of a
monarch.

“However, since there is no official order by the state for your capture, Cleria-sama, I
do not think we will have many problems. And I do not think the castle will put forth
such an order in the first place as well. After all, if the king were to order his subjects
to capture his own cousin to aid rebels, his own prestige as a monarch will be tarnished
as a result.

“So you do not have to be so worried for us, Cleria-sama.”

“…Understood. I thank you for your help once again.”

“Well then, now that I’ve been told of this matter, I believe it would be best if I met
with my fellow merchants in order to procure more new information for you,” Tarus-
san offered.

“I am in your care.”
I, Cleria and Elna went back to our room in order to discuss our next plans more.

“Well, we did acquire some information, but it doesn’t seem like they would lead to a
viable course of action.”

“Certainly. But gaining a trustworthy ally such as Tarus-san in this country is a good
start. It’s all thanks to your suggestion, Alan.”

“I didn’t do anything big. It’s actually thanks to Tarus-san’s character. So what do you
plan on doing, for now, Cleria?”

“I do not know… What is it that I should do? Ideally, I would very much like to regain
my country. But what would justify me doing so?

“Should a member of royalty whose reign allowed a rebellion to occur be allowed to

take back the country in the first place?

“For the kingdom’s citizens, it may not matter much to them which family ultimately
reigns over the country – whether it’s the Starvines or the Lautrigens.”

“That certainly cannot be the case! The Starvine royal family was adored by the people!
A majority of the nobles subject to your reign also greatly respected you!

“There is something wrong with this rebellion. I cannot put my foot down on what
exactly it is that I find off, but I do know something is horribly wrong with it.

“I am a royal guard in service to Cleria-sama. My loyalty shall forever be yours.”

“Thank you, Elna. But the royal family only has me now, and the country has fallen.
Wouldn’t it be better for you to come back to your hometown?”

“As you said, the Starvine royal family still has you, Cleria-sama! And I’ve already
sworn to the Goddess Ruminas that I will always serve you and protect you from harm,
even if it costs me my life.”

“Oh, Elna! What have you done!?”

Hm? Uh, I couldn’t follow their conversation just now. Is there anything wrong with
swearing to protect someone in God’s name?
It’s probably a religious matter. I can’t just carelessly ask for details, so I’d better
refrain from it altogether.

And I don’t know how the two of them would react if I told them I wasn’t familiar with
Goddess Ruminas.

“……I see. I understand your determination. I am truly gladdened by your loyalty, Elna.
I will never ask you to return to your hometown again. Let us get through this together!”

“Yes, Cleria-sama!”

I kinda didn’t get some of that, but it seems they’ve managed to resolve themselves
anyway.

“Alan! I have just thought of a goal I truly wish to accomplish in all haste!”

“W- What is it!?”

“There may be others who are still looking for my whereabouts even now, just like Elna.
I wish to inform them of my whereabouts and help them to get home safely afterward.”

“That really might be the case. It would be quite pitiful for them to continue searching
aimlessly for you, in any case.”

“But how exactly would we be able to find them? Elna, did you manage to hear about
where the other two escort groups you encountered in the Cecilio Kingdom were
heading to before you parted ways?”

“Unfortunately, no. We just heard them saying they would expand the extent of their
search a bit more. But we did tell them we were going to Belta Kingdom though.”

“There’s a possibility we would miss each other if we made a move on our own.”

“Hey Elna, those guys have all disguised themselves as adventurers just like you, right?
There’s a good chance of them visiting the Adventurer’s Guild as well then. How about
we try posting a notice through the Guild?”

“Alan! That’s a great suggestion! Let’s go with that!”

“But it might alert our pursuers as well. I haven’t encountered them in this country
yet, but I’ve managed to brush past several suspicious adventurer parties while I was
in the Cecilio Kingdom. I think they were most likely part of the rebels going after us.
They’ve disguised themselves as adventurers as well.”

“I see. So they thought of the same trick huh. Well, it does make sense, given that you
can’t just send soldiers to a neighboring country without a clear justification. So it will
be a challenge identifying real adventurers from those merely pretending to be one
from now on. Both are quite possible, Elna.”

“Hm. Don’t you have some sort of code only the royal guards are familiar with, Elna?”

“That might just work… Let’s see. We often called Cleria-sama’s room in the royal
palace [C-3-12].”

“What does that mean, exactly?”

“It means the twelfth room on the left-wing of the third floor of building C.”

“I see… So there’s a good chance no one apart from the other royal guards would
recognize this C-3-12 code and connect it with Cleria.”

“Splendid! But how should we phrase the message?”

“How about ‘The occupant of C-3-12 is waiting for you all at Gotania city’?”

“We shall go with that, then.”

The three of us didn’t have anything else we needed to do, so we immediately headed
for the Adventurer’s Guild after our discussion.

We found the same guild staff who we met yesterday manning the counter, so we
consulted with her again.

“Um, we’d like to place a request. Is this the right counter for that?”

“Ah! If it isn’t Alan-san! So you’re finally going to accept a guild quest! Thank you very
much!” the guild staff exclaimed.

“Uh, we’re not here to accept a request. We’re here to place one.”
“Oh, is that so? Understood. So, what kind of request is it?”

“Is it possible for us to get a certain message posted here as well as in other Guild
branches? We want to get in touch with other adventurer friends we lost contact with,
you see.”

“Yes. We’ll need the names of the adventurers in question so receptionists in other
branches can inform them once they show up.”

“Uh, we actually don’t know the names of the adventurers.”

“You’re friends with them but don’t know their names?”

“Uh, we have some special circumstances y’see…”

“If that’s the case, we won’t be able to accept that request.”

“Don’t you have something like a message board here?”

“We can’t. The only things posted in the guild board are quests.”

“Hm. How about if we request something apart from the message itself?”

“Well, that depends… How exactly would you phrase your request then?”

“Thank you for considering. We’ll think about the contents of the request and get back
to you later. And is it possible not to disclose the name of the requester?”

“That would be fine.”

The three of us left the reception counter and moved near the quest board.

“Let’s check the quests posted on the board to get some ideas.”

There were a variety of quests posted on the board. There are escort, monster
extermination, and material collection quests among others.

“Let’s just copy a suitable quest format.

[In urgent need of a wyvern’s magic stone. Quantity: 1 / Please deliver it to the Gotania
branch of the Adventurer’s Guild. / Reward: 1 Large Silver coin / Deadline: Half a year’s
time from today / Requester: The occupant of C-3-12]

How about this?”

“A wyvern’s magic stone isn’t just worth one Large Silver. It should be ten Gold at least.”

“Um… Ria-sama. I think it actually goes for twenty Gold at the minimum.”

So it’s worth that much huh! Well then, I’ll definitely have to hunt down a wyvern if
we manage to encounter one. It looks like the skin and meat are also valuable too.

“Alright then. We’ll set the reward to five Gold. It’ll be troublesome if unrelated
adventurers were to take the quest after all.”

We relayed the quest particulars to the guild staff.

“Eh!? A wyvern’s magic stone for five Gold!? And you even want it delivered to this
branch in particular?” the guild staff exclaimed.

“Is something wrong with it?”

“Yes. The adventurers would probably just make fun of this, and the chances of it being
taken up is honestly quite slim. The reward should at least be ten Gold coins.”

“I see. Let’s set the reward to ten Gold then.”

“So which guild branches would you like your request to be posted?”

“Let’s see. We’d like it to be posted in all Guild branches within the Belta and Cecilio
Kingdoms if possible.”

“That many!? Um… That would be twenty-one branches in all you know?”

“Please post it in all of them.”

“We’ll need to charge an additional fee for posting requests to overseas branches. Are
you alright with this?”

“How much would it cost?”

“That would be one thousand Guineas per branch.”

Hm. That much, huh. Should we request for a magic stone of lower value? But it would
be meaningless if our request can be easily accomplished. Oh well. We can still afford
that much anyway.

“Understood. Please go ahead with it.”

“Eh!? Are you really okay with this!?” Elna gasped in surprise.

“We also need a deposit equal to the reward indicated in the request. In case the quest
isn’t completed within the specified deadline, we’ll refund this deposit to you. And if
the quest is completed, the Guild will take a twenty percent commission fee from the
said deposit. Would these terms be fine with you?”

So they also need a deposit huh. It can’t be helped.

“That’s fine.”

“Well then, we’ll need to take a total of twenty-one thousand Guineas for the request
fee.”

I’m glad I brought all the money we had with me. But with this, the amount of money
we got from the bandit hideout is reduced to about seventy thousand Guineas.

“When will our request be posted?”

“We’ll have them all posted by tomorrow.”

“Huh? You mean you’ll be able to post it to all the branches we indicated?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“How would you get in touch with the other branches?”

“I cannot disclose the exact details, but we have Artifacts that allow us to get in touch
with other Guild branches remotely.”

Whoah! I’ve heard about Artifacts from Cleria before. They’re supposed to be extremely
rare, legendary magic tools.
“Would it be possible for me to take a look at that Artifact?”

“That won’t be allowed, I’m afraid. The place where we have them set up is also top
secret.”

“I see. That’s unfortunate. Please go ahead with our request then.”

“Oh, that reminds me. There was a designated quest that came in for you earlier, Alan-
san. It’s from the Tarus Company. These are the quest contents. Please confirm with
the Tarus Company if you want to accept the quest.”

Oh yeah. We actually talked about that this morning. Jonas-san sure works fast. I took
the quest form from the guild staff and gave it a read. Cleria peeked at the contents
from over my shoulder. The reward is five Large Silvers. It’s a quest that can be
accomplished in a day after all.

“Thank you for this. We’ll pay them a visit later.”

We finally left the Adventurers Guild.

“We’ve used up quite a bit of money, Alan. I’m sorry about this.”

“It’s fine. Beck and Thor said they won’t be taking a share of the money anyway, so all
of this is my and Cleria’s money. We’re free to use it however we want.”

“I see. Thank you, Alan.”

“Let’s buy you some new clothes then, Alan. We’ll need to buy some for Elna as well.
And I guess I’ll buy some of my own too.”

Yeah, she’s right. I only have one pair of local clothes available after all. I really need to
buy some more.

“Alright then. Let’s go shopping.”

But I’m not familiar with the clothing stores in the city. We’re near Zaluke’s Equipment
Shop anyway, so we’ll just ask for directions there.

We found Zaluke carrying the armor I purchased from the store when we entered.
“Sorry for barging in again, Zaluke. Are you familiar with any clothing shops nearby?”

“Clothes, huh. I’d like to recommend one of our sister stores then. You’ll find the Tara
Boutique after turning left around that corner over there.”

It looks like they also sell clothes. Tarus-san’s family really sells all kinds of goods huh.

“Gotcha. Thanks.”

We found the store in question right away. It’s another shop that wasn’t too large but
was rather neat and orderly. We found two female shop clerks when we entered the
store.

“Welcome, dear customers. What are you looking for?”

“I’ll choose Alan’s clothes, alright.”

Cleria declared so right away and started picking clothes for me. I still don’t get this
planet’s fashion trends, so I’ll just leave it to her.

“Alright. I’ll leave it to you then. Two pairs would be fine.”

“Understood. Please leave it to me.”

Afterward, it took Cleria more than one hour to choose suitable clothes for me. It was
honestly draining. Mentally, that is.

Cleria and Elna picked clothes for themselves next.

We ended up spending more than two hours at the store.

I got two pairs, Cleria got one pair for herself, and Elna got two pairs as well. They also
bought various other items aside from clothes. Our total expenses were about two
thousand Guineas. Clothes are actually quite expensive.

Well, I guess it’s fine. Cleria and Elna seemed to have enjoyed themselves anyway.

We brought the items we bought back to Tarus-san’s manor afterward.

We finally made it back to the manor, but Cleria wanted to ask me about the designated
request I got earlier, so the three of us went back to the girl’s room to discuss it.

“It isn’t really a hard request. Jonas-san talked about it with me this morning. He asked
me to guide them toward the bandit hideout in order to recover the rest of the goods
they took from Tarus-san when they abducted him. Only I and Tarus-san am familiar
with the location of the bandit hideout after all.”

“You intend to accept the request?”

“Of course. We’ve been in their care after all. And for a quest that can be finished in a
day, five Large Silvers is a nice enough reward. It’ll also depend on the people coming
with us to recover the goods, but we’ll probably depart tomorrow or the day after.”

“The modifications on your leather armor will only be finished after three days right,
Alan?”

“It’s not like I need it for the quest anyway. The area we’re going to is nearby, and I
haven’t had any trouble even when I’m not wearing armor so far anyway.”

“I see. I’ll go with you then.”

“And I’m coming as well, of course,” Elna followed up.

“Nah, I’ll be fine on my own y’know. And your armor’s modifications are also going to
be finished after three days too right?”

“I’m also indebted to Tarus-san after all. And I probably won’t face any danger with
you and Elna by my side.”

“…Alright, fine. The three of us will go, okay.”

“And, um, Alan. I’ve been meaning to ask you for a while, but…”
So she’s asking me now huh. It’s probably about where I come from anyway.

“Why do you go out of your way to help someone like me?”

Oops. So it’s about that. Hm. My reason for helping her huh… I haven’t really thought
about it much, to be honest.

I just didn’t want to leave a helpless young lady to die at first. After I rescued her from
danger, I guess I treated her as a sort of troublesome little sister. I’m an only child, so
I guess I’ve kinda always longed for a younger sister or brother since I was a kid.

“I don’t have any particular reason when I decided to help you out, Cleria. I just did
what any decent person would do, I think.

“I don’t really understand myself, but I guess I kinda ended up treating you like a little
sister I wanted to take care of along the way, Cleria.”

“Eh! Little sister!?”

Cleria gave an incredibly surprised reaction. Is it really something that weird? Well, I
guess it would make a teenage girl like her feel a bit uncomfortable to be treated as a
little sister by someone unrelated to her. But those are really my honest feelings.

Elna, who was in the corner, was nodding in agreement for some reason.

“I see… Little sister…”

Cleria seemed somewhat depressed now.

“Well, it might sound a bit weird, but that’s basically my reason for helping you out,
Cleria.”

“I see… I understand. I’m really thankful for all the help you’ve given me, Alan.”

“Oh c’mon. There’s no need for that. You’ve also helped me out quite a bit as well, Cleria.”

“What do you plan on doing after this, Alan?”

My plans huh. Cleria probably thinks I came to this continent with some sort of goal
in mind. But I honestly don’t have a concrete goal right now. I don’t have anything I
particularly want to do. I had my hands full just trying to stay alive up until now after
all.

“Cleria, aren’t you curious about the place I come from?”

“T- That’s… It’s true that I have always wanted to ask you.”

“You’ve already realized this a while back, but it’s true that I’m not someone from this
continent.

“I came to this continent by ship, but that same ship sank along with all of my comrades.
I was the only one who survived.

“I won’t be able to go back to my home country without that ship. So, right now, I have
no choice but to live in this continent.

“Because I’ve just arrived on this continent, I don’t have any particular goal in mind.
But perhaps my desire to learn more about magic can be counted as one.”

“Won’t you be able to go home to your country if you made a big and sturdy enough
ship?”

“No, that would be impossible. It’s difficult to explain why exactly, but I probably won’t
be able to go back to my country.”

“I see… So Alan isn’t able to go home just like me.”

It’s a little different in my case, but I guess that’s one way to put it.

“Let us do this then! Alan will cooperate with me and I will also do all that I can to help
you as well. But as for studying magic… Aren’t you already a very accomplished mage,
Alan?”

“I’ve certainly managed to learn some magic. But there are other spells and elements,
right? Uh, there’s wind magic, earth magic, and light magic. I’d like to learn them as
well once I’ve managed to settle down somewhat.”

“If it’s wind magic, Elna here is the best wind mage among the knights.

“Oh, haven’t properly introduced you and Elna to each other yet, right?
“Alan, this is Elna Norian. She’s one of the royal guards assigned to serve me. No, make
that ‘formerly’.

“Elna, this gentleman is Alan Corinth. I owe him my life.”

“I am called Elna Norian, Alan-dono. I serve as one of Cleria-sama’s royal guards. I am

pleased to make your acquaintance.”

I took the opportunity to have a good look at Elna. She seems to be the same age as me
at least. She was a tall and beautiful girl with fiery red hair.

“I’m Alan Corinth. Nice to meet you too. You have a surname, so I guess you’re a noble
right?”

“That is correct. I hail from the House of Viscount Norian.”

“Are all of the royal guards nobles?”

“Not all of us are, but we compose the majority.”

“I see. So that’s the case. So, Elna, I’d really appreciate it if you could demonstrate some
wind magic spells for me sometime.”

“Certainly. But I do not have a magic tome with me. Do you have one, Alan-dono?”

“No, I don’t. But it’s enough to just show me some spells.”

“Alan doesn’t need magic tomes after all.”

“Just what do you mean by that, Cleria-sama?”

“Well, you’ll find out soon enough. You would find it hard to believe even if I told you
as long as you haven’t witnessed it for yourself.”

“…I see.”

There was a knock outside the room’s door.

“It’s Jonas. We have prepared your dinner.”

We went to the dining room and found Tarus-san and family along with Beck and Thor
already seated.

“Thank you very much for making some lovely sweets for us today, Alan-san. I have
asked Jonas about them, but he remains tight-lipped, you see,” the Madam greeted.

“It’s a type of sweet that’s very popular in my country. It’s easy to make and quite tasty
as well.”

“Maa, I’m really looking forward to it!” Tara-chan chimed in.

The dishes served were as plentiful and delicious as always. Well then, it’s finally time
for dessert.

“Would you like me to help with serving them, Jonas-san?”

There’s a bit of a knack in order to get the pudding out of the porcelain containers
after all.

“There’s no need, sir. I have already made the arrangements.”

It looks like they’ve begun serving the pudding already. As expected of Jonas-san. All
of us have been served pudding before long.

“This is a type of sweet?” Tara-chan inquired.

“Yes. It’s a sweet called pudding. Please scoop out a part of it along with the brown
syrup on top and give it a taste.”

I scooped out a portion off of mine first to show them. Un, tasty. It really tastes more
like pudding once it’s properly chilled.

“C- Cold!?”

“This is-!?”

“Whoah! What is this!?”

“It’s amazingly delicious!”

It looks like they all liked it. I made large enough portions, so I believe they’d be quite
satisfied.

“Impressive, Alan. It’s my first time to taste such a delicious sweet.”

Cleria, who already managed to finish her own portion, gave a rave review.

“I see. I’m glad you liked it then.”

“Alan-san! It’s an amazing sweet! It’s also my first time to taste such a wonderful sweet.”

That’s a relief. It looks like the Madam has also taken a liking to it.

“Is this sweet truly that simple to make?” the Madam inquired.

“Yes, it is. Once you learn the knack for it, it’s really easy to make. Isn’t that right, Jonas-
san?”

“Yes. I’ve observed Alan-san’s cooking process earlier. It was truly a cooking method I
haven’t seen before, but it’s surprisingly easy to follow.”

“This sweet is truly magnificent, Alan-san! I’m also greatly satisfied. If it’s alright with
you, could we purchase the recipe for it?” Tarus-san requested.

Tarus-san has his ‘merchant’ face on. It’s just the recipe for pudding y’know.

“No, you don’t really have to purchase it. I’ll give it to you as thanks for all you’ve done
for us.”

“That just won’t do. There would be a lot of merchants in this city who would pay quite
a sum for this sort of never-before-seen recipe. I would like for it to be one of the
signature dishes in one of our family’s stores. I would easily earn back the money with
this sweet, so please do allow me to purchase it from you.”

That’s amazing. So they even have a restaurant. I guess I won’t be able to refuse after
he’s said all that.

“I understand. I’ll give you the complete recipe by tomorrow. It would be better if I
gave a demonstration to the chefs as well. They’d learn the correct method of making
it faster that way.”
“That would be most wonderful! I would be able to eat this every day!” Tara-chan
exclaimed in excitement.

Whoah there. Don’t you think you’ll get tired of it if you eat pudding every day?

“I’m now utterly curious if Alan-san knows other recipes apart from this as well!” the
Madam followed up.

Well, I do have a lot of recipes. I’ve bought the ‘Earth Cuisine Ultimate Compendium
’ that was released just two years before after all. I even resorted to a credit loan in
order to purchase the thing. That reminds me, how am I going to pay for that loan now
anyway? Oh well.

It has all of Earth’s major cuisines on it, so I don’t regret buying it at all. I uploaded the
whole thing to my Nanom’s database and already indicated all the recipes I’m fond of.

There’s a lot of recipes. But the problem’s the ingredients. I’d need to at least check
out all the available ingredients and condiments and make comparisons in order to
use some of those recipes.

“We have a lot of different ingredients and seasonings in my home country that may
not be available here. If I can’t manage to find an equivalent at least, the number of
recipes we can make would be somewhat limited. I’ll try to think of a few we can make
with what we have now and show them to you later.”

“I’m truly looking forward to them.”

Now that I think about it, none of the others here actually asked about where I’m from.
Maybe it was Tarus-san who told them not to pry too much.

The dinner ended on a high note.

I asked Jonas-san about the request, and he told me the personnel and carriages that
would be used for the recovery of the goods will be ready the day after tomorrow. We
would depart early in the morning.

When we got back to our room, Beck and Thor told me about what they did during the
day.

It looks like they’ve already managed to purchase most of the goods the village needed.
They’ll buy the rest tomorrow and would depart back to the village in the afternoon
at the latest.

They’ve also managed to arrange for some adventurers to serve as their escorts. Since
they had money to spare, the negotiations went smoothly, it seems. The party they
managed to get was apparently composed of veteran adventurers and had was fairly
accomplished.

A ‘party’ is apparently a group composed of several adventurers. It seems you need to

form a party to undertake most quests.

It looks like we need to form a party ourselves.

“That reminds me. We’re supposed to receive the reward for capturing the bandits
tomorrow, right? How about we all claim our rewards tomorrow morning? I’m guessing
you’d also want some extra money to buy some souvenirs, right?”

“That’ll be great! Let’s do that.”

A little while later, the three of us entered the bath. Since we were all tired from the
activities today, we all fell asleep pretty quickly after having a bath.
[It’s dawn. Please wake up.]

It’s already morning huh. I have a lot of stuff I need to take care of today as well. I just
gotta do my best.

Beck and Thor are still enjoying their time in dreamland. Sorry guys, but it’s time to
wake up.

“Hey, Beck. Thor. Time to get up you two. Let’s go take a morning bath. You guys have
to savor the opportunity. You two won’t be able to take one on a large bathroom for a
while once you’re back in the village, right?”

“Yeah…… You’re right! More like, we only experienced taking a bath submerged in
water when we came here. We always only used towels and buckets back home!”

The three of us went to bathe and tried our best to savor the experience. We may have
overdone it a little though.

It was already time for breakfast when the three of us finished bathing. But since it
was still relatively early, the only ones in the dining room are the three of us boys plus
Cleria and Elna.

“What are your plans for today, Alan?” Cleria asked.

“Well, there’s quite a few actually. First is claiming the rewards for the bandits we
caught. Next is handing over the recipe for pudding and demonstrating it to the cooks.
I also have to look for an inn we’ll be staying at starting tonight. And I also plan to buy
new ingredients and seasonings as well. If there’s time, I’ll also head to the adventurer’s
guild to formally register our party.”

“I’ll come along with you then.”

“You really don’t have to though. I can do those stuff without you, Cleria. Beck, Thor
and I already planned to get the bounty rewards for the bandits together anyway.”

“Oh, but I insist. I will be coming along.”

“Is that so? I was thinking you could use this chance to rest up a bit though. Ah, oh
right! I almost forgot. Here’s the money I took from the carriage when I first met you,
Cleria.”

I took out the money I managed to retrieve from the overturned carriage Cleria and
her guards rode in from my pocket and offered them to her. It’s 50,550 Guineas all in all.

“It’s alright. Just keep them with you, Alan.”

“Nah, it’s not my money anyway. And you can use them if you ever find something you
want to buy.”

“And I’m telling you it’s alright for you to look after the money, Alan.”

“Uh, Elna? Can I hand the money over to you then? This is all Cleria’s money. Please
use them to buy some daily necessities for the two of you.”

“…Understood. I shall look after the money for you.”

Jonas-san came to the dining room at this time. I asked him when would it be fine to
conduct a cooking lecture with the manor’s cooks. He told me that the cooks were free
right now so we could organize right away.

I replied that I wanted to get over with claiming the bounty rewards for the bandits
first. He unreservedly offered to take us all the way to the city guard garrison via
carriage.

When we arrived at the garrison, we again saw the guard captain we met last time
when we entered the city gates.

“Oh, so it’s you all. We have the rewards prepared already. And there’s some good news
for you all as well. The bandit leader has quite the generous bounty placed on his head.
Three gold coins. Please confirm the reward amount and sign here, you three.”

I checked the contents of the documents and found that each bandit was worth 5,000
Guineas each. There were fifteen of them, so the total rewards are 75,000 Guineas.
There was also an additional bounty reward of 30,000 Guineas. So our total earnings
amount to 105,000 Guineas. It was quite a lot of money. I have absolutely nothing to
complain about.

I and Cleria also returned the wooden tags that served as our temporary passes and
got the silvers we deposited back in exchange.

Wow. To think that bearded uncle and his gang was worth this much. It might be possible
for me to make a living off hunting bandits.

“We unexpectedly made quite a lot. It’s 105,000 Guineas, you guys. Dividing it by four,
we’ll have 26,250 Guineas each.”

“”Twenty six thousand two hundred fifty Guineas!?””

Beck and Thor made a ruckus as usual. The reward money we got from the garrison
office was only in gold and large silver coins. I used the coins I already had so I could
make up the appropriate amounts and gave the two eager beavers their shares.

“Make sure you don’t accidentally lose the money, you two. That’s a lot of cash.”

“”We got it!””

“What about your share, Cleria? Do you want me to hand them over now?”

“You can look after the money in my stead, Alan.”

“Alright. But tell me if you ever need to buy something, okay?”

Beck and Thor told us they needed to finish shopping for the rest of the goods they
missed yesterday and went off on their own. Cleria and I went back to Tarus-san’s
mansion.

I asked Jonas-san for a writing tool and some paper so I can jot down the recipe for
pudding. I asked for Cleria and Elna’s help whenever I encountered a snag due to being
unfamiliar with the written language.

I then had the manor’s cooks read the recipe first. They then dragged me to the kitchen
to do a live demo.
The cooks tried to make puddings according to the recipe I handed out and I was
tasked to supervise them. As expected of Tarus-san’s hand-picked cooks. All of them
had great cooking skills and were able to pick it up fairly quickly.

With this, I’m sure they’ll be fine even without my help from now on. I managed to
successfully complete this request.

When I went back to our room, I found that Beck and Thor were already back from
shopping. They were already packing their stuff and preparing for departure, so I
decided to help out with bringing their luggage to their carriage.

“Oh, that reminds me. What are we going to do with the weapons we swiped from
those bandits?” Beck suddenly asked.

Oh, right. We left their carriage stuffed full of weapons like swords, spears, and bows.
We nearly forgot about them.

“We’ll just leave them to you two. Is that okay with you Cleria?”

“Of course. I don’t mind at all.”

“Eh!? But they’ll be worth a lot if you sell them.”

“It’s fine. Wasn’t the spear you had with you when we met you and your father outside
the village gate quite shabby-looking, Beck? Why don’t you just bring these all back to
the village as part of your supplies?”

“I see. That’s right, huh. We’ll do that then. Alan-san, Master! Thank you so much for
all your help!”

“Don’t sweat it. It’s nothing, really.”

The carriage ended up being filled to the brim when we finished loading all the goods
and luggage. It was a good deal more than when we first set off from the village.

We then accompanied them to meet up with the adventurer party they hired in front
of the guild building.

The adventurers we met at the guild were comprised of five men who each looked
quite skilled.
“These are the members of the [Iron Axe] party. They will guard you during your trip.”

I see. So this is an example of a good party, huh. Am I the only one who’s feeling a bit
awkward here after seeing these guys? Yeah, it looks that way.

All the members of the party sported broad axes as their main weapon of choice.

“I see. Beck and Thor are our friends. We’re counting on you guys to escort them safely
back to the village.”

I addressed the one who looked like the party leader.

“Just leave it ta us! We’ve traveled to Talas village quite a number of times already.
We’ll send them back safely. That I guarantee.”

“Um… Alan-san, Master. These are just small tokens of thanks from us. They’re nothing
much, but we’ll appreciate it if you accept them.”

Beck and Thor handed some things over to me and Cleria.

Mine was a set of three knives with leather sheaths. Judging from their looks, they
were probably a set of throwing knives. They also looked quite cool.

Cleria’s was a delicate-looking white comb. It had a mysterious luster to it.

“Is it fine?… Alright. We gratefully accept your feelings of gratitude. You didn’t really
need to though.”

“I’m thankful for the gift as well. It’s the first time I’ve received such a heartwarming
present.”

“Alan-san and Master are our village’s benefactors. You slew Black Speckles, offered
the village its meat, escorted the two of us, protected us from bandits, shared the reward
money with us, and even helped us out with our business in the city. We’ll never forget
this favor for the rest of our lives.”

“Oh, c’mon guys. You’re exaggerating it too much. We just went with the flow anyway.
The two of you did your best as well.”

“We didn’t really do much. But we’ll continue practicing swordplay so we can at least
catch up with Alan-san and Master a little. We’ll do our best!”

“I see. Then I’ll have to test your skills when we get the opportunity to meet again one
day,” Cleria declared.

“Please do visit the village again if you’re ever in the area, Alan-san. Master. It’s a
promise!”

“Got it. We promise. See ya guys. Let’s meet again someday.”

“Farewell, Beck and Thor.”

Beck and Thor made their departure soon after. We sent them off until their carriage
was out of our sights.

“Well, since we’re already near the Adventurer’s Guild, why don’t we go ahead and
register our party? Uh, have you already registered as an adventurer, Elna?”

“I have. I’m C rank.”

“I see. Great. I and Cleria are also the same ranks so that’s perfect.”

“Eh!? Ria-sama is C rank as well!?”

“Yeah. We just registered yesterday and they told us we were C rank.”

“More importantly, Alan, what are we going to call our party?”

“Well… I don’t really mind as long as it doesn’t sound weird. I’ll leave it to you guys.”

“We definitely cannot use a strange-sounding party name. It looks like we have to
decide on it after careful deliberation, Elna.”

Afterward, Cleria and Elna immersed themselves in thinking up a good name in a

corner of the guild. They were already at it for more than ten minutes.

“Ah! How about ‘Shining Star’?” Elna suggested.

“I see. ‘Shining Star’, is it…? It certainly does sound nice.”

I didn’t really get what’s so good about it, so I asked Elna. She replied to me in a whisper.

It seems Cleria’s surname actually means ‘shining star’. I do think it sounded a bit
embarrassing, but it did seem better than any of the other names the two of them came
up with.

“Well, Shining Star it is, then.”

“So it’s decided.”

We went to the counter and found the guild staff we met yesterday, so we proceeded
with registering our party. It looks like there wasn’t any other party using Shining Star
as their name, so we successfully registered. And it looks like they didn’t charge a fee
this time.

“Well then, I’ll proceed to register Alan-san, Ria-san and Elna-san’s party under the
name ‘Shining Star’. Who will be assigned as the leader?”

“Wouldn’t it be fine for you to be the leader, Ria? The party’s called Shining Star anyway.”

“I also support Ria-sama being the leader.”

“I think you should be the leader, Alan. The leader should be the strongest one among
the party members. And I also do not want to stand out too much as well.”

Well, she does have a point. It looks like Elna was fine with it in the end.

“Alright then. Please set me as the party leader. Oh, and about that designated quest. I
decided to accept it, but do I need to fill out some paperwork for that?”

“Um… you just need to sign this form here and you’re good to go.”

“Gotcha. Thank you very much.”

 2

We finished our business in the guild and started walking back to the manor.

“By the way, the armor you’re wearing doesn’t seem too good, Elna. Whatever happened
to your old one?”

“I sold it while I was in Cecilio Kingdom to gain some funds for my activities since the
royal guard armor stands out too much. I’m sorry, Ria-sama. I ended up losing the
armor entrusted to me by the country.”

“I do not mind the armor. I see. It did not occur to me at all. We should procure a better
armor set for you then. Will that be fine, Alan?”

“I was just about to suggest that as well. We’re near Zaluke’s shop anyway.”

We entered the shop and called out to Zaluke.

“Yo, Zaluke. We came to visit again.”

“I still haven’t finished working on your armors. Do you have any other business for me?”

“Yeah. It’s for this lady, Elna, here. Oh yeah. What do you prefer Elna? Do you want
leather armor or do you like metal armor instead?”

“Well, I’m used to wearing metal armor, but… I’m also fine using this leather armor, so
you don’t really have to purchase anything new for me, really.”

“Don’t say that. We need to make sure every party member’s equipment is of good
quality. It’s also a way to ensure the entire party’s safety. So don’t hold back, alright.”

“Quite so. Do not hold yourself back on our accounts,” Cleria followed up.

“Do you have any metal armors you can recommend, Zaluke?”

“Let’s see. We have several types but, considering her size, this one should be more
fitting.”

He pointed towards one of the armors placed in the metal armor section of the shop.
“This is made out of a newly discovered alloy. Its durability is comparable to steel
armor but is fairly light in weight. Mythril is still leagues better, however.”

He took the armor off the display so we can inspect it. It certainly did feel quite light
compared to the other armors on display.

Elna also checked it out.

“It does feel lighter compared to the armor I’d used before,” Elna declared.

“How much is this?”

I was shown the price tag and found that it costs 55,000 Guineas. So it was more
expensive than the armor I bought huh.

“I shall also give you a twenty percent discount for this armor, so it will be 44,000
Guineas then. But honestly, there’s a problem with this armor’s size measurements
because it’s a bit on the smaller side. None of my regulars could equip it, so it was just
taking up space in the store up until now. The discount is for that.”

“Do you like it, Elna?”

“I certainly do not have any problems with it,” Elna replied.

“Yosh. We’ll buy this then. This thing’s made for adventurers, right?”

“You can tell from its looks, can’t you? Of course, it’s made for adventurers.”

Nah, I honestly can’t tell, buddy. I took out four gold and four large silver coins from
my bag and paid the bill.

“How long do you need to adjust this one?”

“Well, it normally takes three days, but you guys are already my regulars. I’ll finish
adjusting it within two days. You can pick up all three armors by then.”

“That’ll really help. We’ll leave it to you then.”

We left the shop after Elna had her measurements done.

“Alan, let me pay you back with my money for the armor purchase earlier.”

“It’s fine. This concerns our entire party anyway. We should pay for the party’s
expenses with the party’s money. Elna’s also one of our comrades. Don’t say something
so distant, alright?”

“…I understand. Thank you.”

“Oh, that reminds me. There’s an expensive-looking jeweled knife among the goods
we recovered back from the bandits. I was thinking of selling it for cash, but what do
the two of you think?”

I don’t know how much it’ll sell for, but we’ll need all the money we can get our hands
on right now.

“You can go ahead and sell it then.”

“Great. I’ll speak with Tarus-san about it later.”

We managed to catch Tarus-san and Jonas-san discussing with each other when we
arrived back at the manor.

“Ah, Alan-san. Thank you very much for sharing the pudding recipe. My chefs told me
your cooking instructions were very easy to follow.”

“No, that’s only natural given that I was paid for sharing it. By the way, Tarus-san. I was
wondering if I can sell you an item I have. Can you take a look at it?”

I took out the jeweled knife from my bag.

“Ah, one of the items from the bandit lair, is it? I see. I shall appraise it then.”

We went to Tarus-san’s office so he could take a better look.

Tarus-san used an item resembling a magnifying glass and inspected the item
thoroughly. Jonas-san went to inspect it as well after Tarus-san.

“It’s quite the exquisite item. It’s certainly a rare find, but it’s a pity that the jewels
used are on the smaller side.”
Jonas-san gave his verdict. He and Tarus-san proceeded to use gestures to discuss with
one another. They’re probably deciding the price.

“Alan-san, we can purchase this dagger for 80,000 Guineas,” Tarus-san announced.

Whoah! That’s quite the price.

“Thank you very much. If you please.”

Jonas-san quickly handed me 80,000 Guineas worth of silver coins.

“And about the recipe, Alan-san, are you agreeable to the payment being five thousand
Guineas?”

Five thousand Guineas for a pudding recipe sounds fair enough for me.

“Yes, that’ll do nicely. I can’t thank you enough.”

Great. We’ve completed this task as well. The only thing left to do now is searching for
an inn.

“Can you recommend to us a good inn to stay at, Tarus-san?”

He isn’t going to recommend another one of their establishments, right?

“I presume you’d want one with a bath, right? If that’s the case, then the [Nature’s
Bounty] inn should do nicely. It’s five silvers to stay a night there. That also includes
two meals as well. It has quite a good reputation among the inns of higher quality. The
food, bath facilities, and overall service has garnered good reviews.”

Oh, so it looks like it really isn’t one of theirs this time. I feel kind of relieved. Getting
two meals included in the package certainly sounds good.

“Thank you for your help. We’ll check the place out later. Also, I want to stock up on
new ingredients and seasonings. Where’s your general store located, Tarus-san?”

“I’ll have Willy guide you there. I’ve already informed the store employees as well. Are
you heading to the inn after this?”

“Yes, we are. We don’t want to impose on you for too long, so we’ll head for the inn now.”
“I see. It’ll get lonely without you all here. So, Alan-san. Let us talk about the reward
for my rescue from the hands of those bandits.”

“No, there’s no need for any further rewards, really. It was only natural for me to help
you back then. And we’ve received plenty of help from you as well. Let’s just call it
even, shall we?”

“…Alright. I understand. It can’t be helped if you say so. But please take those clothes
you’re wearing with you as thanks at least.”

Come to think of it, the clothes we’re wearing were borrowed from Tarus-san as well.

“Okay. Thank you very much for your generosity.”

As we packed our luggage and got ready to leave, Tarus-san, his family and employees
came out to see us off.

“We’ve been in your care. We’re really grateful for the warm hospitality you’ve granted
us, everyone. We will visit you again if given the opportunity.”

“Please do. Let us have some warm tea and share stories when you next visit. We’ll
gladly welcome you,” Tarus-san replied.

“Please share some sweets with us again next time,” his wife followed up.

“Alan-san. I shall be waiting for you in front of the adventurer’s guild tomorrow then,”
Jonas-san reminded.

“Understood. Well then, everyone. Farewell.”

We left Tarus-san’s manor accompanied by Willie.