Chapter 389: Departure in convoy

　The day of departure for the escort mission arrived.

　During the two days, I had briefly explained the procedures to the villagers and travelers who would be under our command.

　They must guard not only the bride, a 15-year-old girl, and her family, the village chief and his wife, and one servant, but also the carriage carrying the bride’s wedding gifts, which the village head had prepared with great care for this occasion, as well as another carriage carrying items to be presented to the town mayor, which the village head had spent a great deal of money to acquire. A total of three carriages must be transported to the town of Wasan, and they must guard them for two days.

　Honestly, Tauro had suggested that it would be more efficient for him to collect the goods by his own magic storage and then have all the escort people  load into the carriages and hurry on, rather than dragging along two carriages loaded with goods, but the village chief said, “It doesn’t look good, so let’s keep it the way it is.”

　On the way to the town of Wasan, it seems he wanted to show off to passersby and the villages they passed by how grand the wedding of the village chief’s daughter of Zenyu village was.

“If you try to show off and stand out like that these days, what would you do if you were targeted by thieves?”

　Ankh whispered in Tauro’s ear, but Tauro replied,

“That’s why I’m an escort.”

　I replied, laughing.

“As the village chief, it’s probably important for him to show off how wealthy his village is. He might also be bragging about his daughter.”

　Ragune also showed understanding.

　As they talked about this, the village chief greeted the villagers and they decided to depart.

　Tauro and his companions, who were the guards, followed quickly alongside the three carriages.

　Tauro and the other members of the “Black Golden Wings” group were all accustomed to walking at such a fast pace and didn’t mind,, but the others on foot had a hard time walking at such a fast pace, and the villager escorts began to get out of breath after a while.

　Each time this happened, they would have to take a short break.

“This is going to take a while.”

　Ankh grumbled.

“I’m going to have a little chat with the village chief.”

　Saying this, Tauro went over to where the village chief was taking a rest.

　He had just gotten off the carriage and was drinking water.

“Chief, it’s likely that this will take a long time if we continue like this, so I still think it would be quicker to put the luggage in my magic storage and have the guards board the carriage.”

“No, the wedding is also an opportunity to show off the power of Zenyu Village. I can’t compromise on this one thing.”

　The village chief was adamant in his response and refused to listen to Tauro’s opinion.

“…I understand.  We’ll see how things go for a while, but if it seems like it will cause any problems for the escort, then I will reconsider.”

　With that warning, Tauro returned to the others.

“We’ll be fine, but at this rate the villagers will probably be exhausted in a day.”

　Ragune said, looking at the villagers who were sitting down to rest after a long day of walking.

“I’ll talk to the village chief about it again tomorrow morning. I guess we’ll just have to get the villagers to hold out for today.”

　Tauro replied with a bitter laugh.

“But it’s only noon, will they last until the evening?”

　Zion asked this question as she observed the villagers’ reactions.

“I guess they’ll just have to make do with your light magic and my stamina-boosting potions then, won’t they?”

　I don’t want to resort to this last resort when there’s nothing else to do, but considering the schedule, it’s unavoidable.

“I understand. I will support those who are tired!”

　When Tauro told her that, Zion was happy that Tauro relied on her and got pumped up.

“Ha ha. It’s a last resort, so for now, we’ll let the villagers fend for themselves.”

　Tauro couldn’t help but laugh at Zion’s cheerful attitude.

　That evening.

　As expected, because we had to stop for breaks along the way, we fell behind schedule and were unable to reach the village where we had planned to stay the night.

　Since we had to continue on in the dark, we decided to prepare for camping early.

“good grief… As I thought, we’re behind schedule, Leader.”

　Ankh grumbled to Tauro as he watched the villagers  preparing to set up camp.

“Well, it’s not a fatal loss of time, so we’re still okay for now. ——Well, let’s prepare to set up camp. Ragune and Zion will stay behind to guard the village chief and his men. Ankh and I will prepare.”

　As Tauro said that, he took out a tent, a magical lantern, a small kiln for four people, firewood, cooking utensils, tableware, and foodstuffs from the magic storage.

　Ankh began to pitch the tent beside him.

　As Tauro expertly lit the kiln with fire spirit magic and began cutting ingredients for cooking, the other villagers were impressed by Tauro’s skill as an adventurer.

“As expected, adventurers are quite adept.”

“Oh, we’d better get a move on too.”

“Someone, gather some branches to start a fire!”

“We need to put up the tents too, somebody get on it!”

　The villagers were floundering around, confused, but Tauro had already gotten ahead of them and started cooking the ingredients in earnest, filling the area with a delicious smell.

　This seemed to upset the village chief’s family’s stomachs, and they urged the villagers to hurry up.

“Come on, you guys, let’s get on with it!”

　But the villagers were slow to move.

　They had been walking so fast during the day to keep up with the horse-drawn carriages that their stamina was at its limit.

　That’s why, even when pushed, they couldn’t move.

　Meanwhile, Tauro  was also cooking for Ragune and the others.

　The village chief must have reached his limit with the delicious smell coming from Tauro and the others.

“ Tauro-san, would you be willing to sell that dish to us?”

　he said.

“I only made enough for the number of people, so that’s a bit much…”

　Tauro balked as he was about to call Ragune and Zion, who were with his escort, to quickly finish the meal.

“Please! I’ll pay for it. How about just enough for four people?”

　The village chief must have been extremely hungry as he handed over several silver coins.

　The escort work is still going on, and I don’t want to spoil my employer’s good mood by being more reluctant.

“I understand. The dishes are freshly cooked rice that I had stored in the magic storage, freshly cooked orc meat shogayaki, and soup with broth made from orc bones, vegetables, and other ingredients and seasoned to taste. It’s delicious.”

　Tauro answered, handing the freshly cooked food to the village chief, then took out ingredients from his magic storage to prepare their own dish again.

TL Note:

Shogayaki: pork fried with ginger.

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