Kays Translations

Chapter 2: A Village that is Changing.

A week passed in the blink of an eye, and the day came for Ren to return to his hometown.

On this day, Weiss, a middle-aged knight who oversees the knights of the Clausel family, accompanied him, saying he would see him off out of town. Of course, Licia was with him.

On the way to the gate, the three of them exchanged words on horseback as they rode through the town.

“However, it’s extremely disappointing." 

Weiss said as if he had just remembered, and Licia tilted her head in response.

“What's going on all of a sudden?”

“I’m sorry to hear about Asval. I and the master are both frustrated that we can't publicize the boy's exploits. No, I just remembered."

Only a few members of Leomel know about Asval.

Aside from Weiss and Licia, who are here, not to mention Ren and Fiona, the only others, including Lessard, are Marquis Ignat and his butler, Edgar.

The reason it’s kept secret is because Ren wished for it, and Marquis Ignat accepted his wish. It was judged that the information should be managed because of the involvement of the demon king’s cult.

Of course, all matters regarding the situation excluding Asval has been shared.

“With Fiona-sama's help, it would be better to keep it a secret so that everyone would be happy.”

Ren chuckled.

The information about Fiona's black priestess' power was kept secret by Marquis Ignat in light of her background. The involvement of Fiona's power with the incompletely revived Asval should definitely not be revealed.

“You are right. I suppose this is for the good of both families."

“I mean, however incomplete the resurrection was, the other party was AsvaL, right? Why did the two of you believe me when you heard that I had defeated him?"

This is not the same as a Thief-wolfen or a steel-eating gargoyle.

The opponent is Asval. Imperfect or not, he is a legend.

“Because you said so, Ren. There's no need to doubt you.”

First of all, Licia spoke of her deepest trust and showed a cool face, as if he deserved it.

“I was surprised, to be honest. I and my master were both quite surprised.”

Weiss's answer was somewhat the normal answer that Ren had been looking for.

“But in fact, Ignat-san said the boy had saved her life. The knights and adventurers didn’t see Asval, but they did see the flames that struck the suspension bridge in the mountains."

In other words, the circumstances and the information gave them no reason to doubt it.

“But the knights and adventurers were mistaken.”

The reason for this is the nature of the fire that raged in the Baldor Mountains.

The knights and adventurers, as well as the students who were present at the time, misunderstood that the dormant volcano had been revived by the followers of the demon king’s cult.

They had no way of knowing that Asval existed behind the scenes.

This was convenient for the Clausel and Ignat families because they were able to hide Asval's existence.

“I do wonder, what power did you use to defeat Asval?”

“That's ----“

“Weiss-san, that’s no good.”

“Yes, I understand. As I told you before, I’ll not force you to say what you don’t want to say.”

Weiss was somewhat impatient.

“Special power attracts people. We should avoid talking too much and exposing our weaknesses.”

That was the reason why Licia also didn’t force Ren to ask.

If Ren suffered some kind of disadvantage because of her, it’d be outrageous to ask even if she was curious about such a thing.

――――The three of them arrived near the castle gate as they proceeded on their horses while chatting with each other.

“......I guess it's about time."

Licia said in a lonely voice.

From here, Ren and the knights waiting at the gate would head out of town. The horse, originally Jerukku’s horse and named "Lo" by Ren, neighs briefly as it looks out of the gates.

“Thank you for seeing me off, Licia-sama.”

“No, it's okay. I followed you because I wanted to see you off. But, be careful when go-----“

“You too, Licia-sama. Please be careful on your way to Elendil.”

They smiled at each other as they said this.

Then Ren quietly pulled the reins and moved forward.

As they passed through the castle gate, the wind that caressed the plain reached Ren. He headed toward the knights waiting at the end of the wind and thought about his home for the first time in a long time.

　

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

After leaving Clausel, he toured several villages.

This wasn’t at the request of Lessard, but at Ren's suggestion.

As when Licia was visiting the villages of the Ashton family, it must be one of the important tasks to visit the villages in the territory.

Therefore, Ren would sometimes go from village to village, defeating monsters and doing the heavy lifting.

As he spent day after day, the village of the Ashtons gradually drew nearer.

"Ren-dono, look at this.”

A knight said as he rode his horse across the plains in broad daylight.

Seeing the brand-new road ahead of them, Ren shouted, "Oh!”

“Is that the road that’s being laid?”

“Yes, it is. It looks like we’re getting pretty close to the village.”

Once here, the village of the Ashtons is just a stone's throw away.

(Still, it’s amazing.)

The road is not guaranteed to be absolutely safe, but it is usually maintained in such a way that it is difficult for monsters to appear.

To get to the village of the Ashtons, one must also pass through the forest.

The road through the forest to the village shows that extensive work is being done.

“...... Something seems to be costing more money than I thought it would."

The knight only smiles and says nothing.

(I have to thank Lessard-san when I get back.)

This is because the cost of the sale of Thief Wolfen, which Ren left behind, wouldn’t have been nearly enough to cover the cost.

(Ah ----!)

As we continued on our horses, we came to the nostalgic Tsurugi Rock.

I can still vividly recall the battle with Thief Wolfen at that spot. The group didn’t pass by the Tsurugi rock, but instead continued on the newly established road.

The road used to be a rather wide animal trail, but now it is a magnificent path.

As we were going down that road, it occurred to me---

“Hey! That’s it!』

I heard a voice.

It was a voice that came from a place a little off the road, but not far off the road.

Ren heard the voice and nodded to the knights who accompanied him.

The group turned off the road and rode in the direction from which the voice had just come.

Then, within minutes, it happened.

“There are so many of them today!”

"Roy-sama! Take it easy!”

“Oh, I know!”

As soon as I heard the voice, I thought it might be him.

It became clear when I could hear the voice clearly.

“Dad?”

Ren pulled on Lo's reins and hurried him along.

He rode Lo, a horse with the blood of a monster in him, at a speed that would make the horses of the knights pull away from him.

Ren dashed off in the direction of the voice.

(Eh? There's a lot of people here...)

The voice was just one person. There were two other knights besides Roy, and the three of them were dealing with more than a dozen little boars.

Ren had never seen that many in one place.

But Ren soon forgot his surprise and leapt off Lo's back. He kicked the trees around him as footholds, and with his wind-like body language, he took down the little boar in the blink of an eye. Roy and the others, startled by the suddenness of the event, blinked repeatedly.

However, when Ren, who had finished defeating the little boar, stopped moving...

"---- Ren!"

Roy threw away the sword in his hand and rushed to his beloved son who suddenly appeared.

Ren, who had been fighting earlier, had an iron magic sword in his hand, but he hastily sheathed it and rushed to accept his father's embrace.

"Dad, it's dangerous when I’m holding a sword."

With a hint of embarrassment, he reaches for his father's back.

After the embrace, Roy rubbed one eye with a happy smile after seeing his son again for the first time in a long time. Wiping the tears from his eyelids in joy, he shows his white teeth. 

“Even as my own son, this is a fancy homecoming!”

“Even I'm surprised, you know. As soon as I got back, I couldn't believe how many little boars there were near the road that was being laid down.....”

“Yeah, in every village, when you build a road, the monsters are stimulated. It can't be helped."

I thought it would be so, but I shrugged and let out a sigh.

Then the knights who were in the village following Roy spoke.

“Long time no see! Ren-dono!”

“You look different! How strong you have become!”

As Roy had said, it was indeed a spectacular homecoming.

He had defeated all the little boas in just a few dozen seconds, so he must have looked different from when he lived in this village.

The knights, who had been delayed because Ren had rushed Lo, finally arrived and relaxed their cheeks.

But then something happened that put a damper on their excitement.

A little boar appeared between the trees. The little boar recklessly aimed at Ren's back.

“Bull! 』　　

Naturally, Ren, whose back was turned, could deal with it, as could Roy.

However, it wasn’t those two who defeated the little boar that attacked them. Just before they were about to deal with the little boar.

“Hmph."

Lo, who had been carrying Ren just a moment before, swung his paw and lightly kicked the Little Boar away.

Lo then neighs with a proud "hihin" and begins to eat the grass on the ground.

“...... Is that Ren's horse?"

"...... Yes. it seems to be strong because it has the blood of a monster in it’s veins.”

“......It seems so."

The little boar that was kicked away had stopped moving.

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