Free Web NovelChapter 40: Oh Really?
The next day, it was 7 o’clock in the morning.
In front of the inn, I pulled Nimi close and kissed her.
"Take care... Raid-san."
"Nimi, I’m off."
After giving one more kiss to the gently smiling Nimi, I left [Suzuya] and headed toward the castle gate leading out of the royal capital.
My destination was the castle gate on 7th Street. From there, I planned to take a carriage south.
About three days south by carriage lay a city called Santony.
It was said to be the second-largest city after the royal capital, and the three songstresses often performed there.
As I walked, I glanced down at the documents the adventurers had given me yesterday.
There were two things I had asked them to investigate.
The first was about the noble who managed the church.
Erika had already told me that Baron Abonano was in charge, but the adventurers’ documents also included some unfavorable rumors.
The second was about the songstresses’ patrons.
Since I already knew that Baron Tegagusa was one, I had them focus specifically on any bad rumors and recent movements.
The reason I asked adventurers was simple.
Adventurers are great at spreading and gathering rumors. Each one has their own information network.
From hunting grounds and escort requests in other cities, to talk about items, clothes, and even shady gossip—they hear it all.
Since their profession requires them to stay alive, they generally avoid dangerous requests or getting too close to suspicious clients.
Among those bad rumors circulating in their information network were mentions of both Baron Abonano and Baron Tegagusa.
I let out a sigh, put the documents away into my magic bag as the castle gate came into view.
Quite a few people used carriages in the early morning—mostly adventurers and merchants.
I watched the somewhat crowded flow of people and looked for an empty carriage.
I had to avoid carriages that had posted escort requests at the guild, but surprisingly, there were often some available anyway.
They were usually ones prepared in a hurry for sudden business negotiations, or because a commoner had an urgent need to travel to another region.
In smaller cities, reservations were required, but in this large royal capital, it was possible to find one without booking in advance.
While searching, I spotted a familiar adventurer waving at me and froze.
In front of a carriage with enough space for about six people to sit comfortably on the cargo bed, the one waving enthusiastically with a big smile was Minty.
...Yeah, I already have a bad feeling about this.
Around Minty, I could also see Satour and Roll.
Which meant the client had to be there too.
Minty shouted something toward the cargo bed. Then, Erika appeared from inside.
Dressed in traveler’s clothes, Erika spotted me where Minty was pointing and moved her mouth with a smile that carried clear intimidation.
(C-o-m-e h-e-r-e.)
"Aah, this might be scary for the first time in a while," I muttered involuntarily.
Why is it that when women make that kind of smile, it feels so terrifying?
...Well, I do understand the reason when I’m the one being scolded.
Letting out a sigh, I walked over to where Erika and the others were.
A few minutes after departing from the royal capital, Erika’s group had picked me up and immediately set off.
Roll was driving the carriage, with Satour sitting beside her. It seemed the two of them would take turns driving.
On the cargo bed, Erika sat on a wooden crate with her legs and arms crossed, wearing a scary smile.
I sat on a crate across from her, waiting for Erika to speak.
Minty was keeping watch on the rear while glancing at us with a wry smile.
"Don’t you have something to say?"
"...Aah~, but I did tell you, right?"
"Hohoo...? So I heard. When you leave the capital for a bit... you go along with Merinu?"
"No, well... I couldn’t meet her, and Erika, you have the academy too."
Besides, even if Croana gave her permission, her studies would still fall behind.
Erika uncrossed and recrossed her legs, let out a small sigh, and continued in an exasperated tone.
"If this were just a personal matter for you, Raid-san, I would have stayed behind as well. But this time, you’re moving for the sake of the songstresses, aren’t you? For the songstresses that I am patron of, right?"
"...I understand. I’m sorry. But my true feelings were that I wanted you to focus on your studies."
Erika let out another big sigh at my reply, then finally smiled and shook her head.
Minty, who had been quietly watching the rear, looked at Erika and let out a "Nishishi" laugh. freeweɓnovel.cѳm
"Raid-san, a patron basically provides financial support and assistance when traveling to other regions. But if we do a favor for the songstresses this time, it will strengthen their trust in us. I’m not just moving out of pure goodwill either. I have my own calculating side, you know?"
"...Maybe you should learn to hide your emotions a little better before saying things like that."
At my words, Erika’s face turned red and she puffed her cheeks in embarrassed anger.
Minty also laughed happily at my comment, and laughter could be heard from the driver’s seat as well.
This was the same woman who had listened to the story of the three songstresses with a worried expression and solidified a plan in just one day.
I once again muttered in my heart what I had thought the first time I met Erika.
...If I’m being deceived by her, I’ll honestly praise her for it.
The time was around 2 PM, past noon.
We stopped the carriage in a grassy plain to prepare lunch.
Monsters generally don’t appear in places where people frequently pass through, but just a little ways off the path, they show up immediately.
Stopping the carriage to rest the horses, hunting monsters for food—these were the basic actions of adventurers and travelers.
What one had to be careful about here was drawing the short straw with monsters.
Adventurers usually aimed for boar-type monsters called Boars or wolf-type Wolves.
But occasionally they drew the losing ticket and encountered bear-type Grizzlies.
And if they ran into a colored variant like Red or Green, it was best to prepare for death.
One might think they could escape, but the monsters would follow by scent and end up reaching the stopped carriage.
Well, that usually happened to adventurers or travelers who were inexperienced with presence detection or magic power sensing.
The three accompanying adventurers, however, had been trained by Silver Wolves in my mountain, so they easily hunted monsters.
Moreover, they quickly bled them out and dismantled them...
I took out a simple magic-tool stove and started grilling the meat in a frying pan.
Minty, staying alert nearby, watched me cook with a happy expression.
"Instructor’s cooking~! Ehehe, it’s been so long~♪"
"...Isn’t this just travel food?"
"Instructor’s cooking is delicious."
Erika tilted her head at Minty’s words. Roll, who had just returned from keeping watch, chimed in.
With a wry smile at the three girls’ conversation, I placed the grilled meat onto plates on the simple table.
In this world, "travel cooking" usually meant just seasoning with salt or grilling it plain.
You could eat delicious food once you entered a town or village, but for adventurers, the standard was simply "as long as it’s edible" or "as long as it fills the stomach."
No wonder motivation was low and there was no joy in eating.
Thinking back, wartime was the worst...
I often argued with my colleagues about why we didn’t season the food even though we had spices.
Once I finished grilling portions for everyone including myself, I called them over.
Each person stabbed the meat with a fork and ate heartily.
...That’s strange. I thought I grilled big portions for the three adventurer girls?
Yet their meat disappeared from the plates at an alarming rate.
Erika was elegantly cutting hers into small pieces with a knife. She took one bite and froze.
"...Erika? The meat gets tough when it cools, so eat it quickly, okay?"
"Eh... yes. ...Huh? This... wait?"
I watched with a wry smile as Erika ate while her head filled with question marks.
By the way, the three adventurer girls had already finished eating and returned to keeping watch.
At some point they had washed their used plates with water and put them away.
They probably used a magic tool... but when did they do it?
It was no wonder Erika was tilting her head in confusion.
In this world, salt and pepper existed individually, but the blended version I was familiar with from my previous life didn’t.
One would normally think that since salt and pepper existed separately, a blended version should too—but it really didn’t.
I had seriously searched for it and even asked the shopkeeper at a seasoning store.
Having no choice, I experimented with the ratio of salt and pepper, tasting as I went, and made my own blend.
I put it in small bottles so I could just sprinkle some on while grilling—it was convenient.
Come to think of it, the first time I served it to the adventurers in the mountains, they fought over it...
That’s why almost every adventurer who frequents [Suzuya] carries the salt-and-pepper blend I made.
...Though the very small number who are bad at cooking don’t have it.
I explained it to Erika after she finished eating, and she was surprised.
When I casually asked if I should try selling it, she gave me a distant look, so I changed the subject.
