Chapter 17: On a Long-Awaited Excursion.

The commotion caused by the defeat of the steel-eating gargoyle didn’t subside even after several days, and among others, it was talked about like a heroic tale within the Adventurers’ Guild. Ren smiled every time he visited the Adventurers’ Guild, and spent his days hunting to escape his embarrassment.

A few more days later.

Ren hadn’t been away from the town of Clausel in a long time, and was riding his horse along the city roads.

The purpose of this excursion was to visit the neighboring villages that Licia had mentioned. It‘s one of the tasks of Baron Clausel.

(Is it already past noon?)

It was early in the morning when they left Clausel and more than six hours had already passed since then.

The scenery had already changed, and the plains across the road continued for a while.

It was a peaceful scene.

In the vicinity of this area, there were merchants stopping their horses on the shoulder of the road and adventurers sitting on the ground to rest.

With this scene in the background, Ren asked the horse he was riding.

“You’re really attached to me after all, is that all right with you?”

“Hi-hi”

The horse neighs in a short, happy voice.

The horse was the one Ren and Licia rode when they were on the run and it was originally one of the horses that pulled Jerukku’s carriage.

Also, Licia, who was riding this horse with him at the time, is not riding with him at the moment.

Today she’s riding in the carriage that follows.

However, although Ren asked, he doesn’t expect to receive a reply in human language.

Regardless, the neighing of the horse shows that he’s in a good mood.

When he touched the horse’s well brushed mane, it neighed in high spirits.

“……Yeah, that’s not so bad.”

I stop thinking about it and look up at the sky, thinking that if it’s in a good mood, then it’s okay.

Come to think of it, the horse was obedient right from the time I was escaping with Licia on it.

It has been a long time since he rode on his back, but the feeling of riding him felt good to Ren. 

“This is good. It seems the horse recognizes you as his master.”

“—- Weiss-sama.”

“The chemistry between rider and horse is very important. You’ve found a good partner.”

Weiss laughed as he rode next to me.

The horse he’s riding has a very muscular front and back legs.

But the horse Ren rides is no slouch either.

His dark chestnut coat reminds me of fine silk, and even though he’s still young, his frame is as promising as Weiss’s. 

“The horse is of monster blood, just like my horse. He may be young, but he’ll soon be as good as a well-trained warhorse.”

“But I’m still young and the horse will grow old before I do.”

“Don’t worry. Horses with monster blood have a long prime and a long life span. It will be a good partner for you for the next few decades.”

Ren nodded in agreement to the information he was learning for the first time.

It seems that the horse is different from the ones he rode in his previous life.

He strokes the mane of the horse he rides, and it neighs again in a good mood.

(I’ll have to give him a name one of these days.)

It’s a little late for that, but hearing Weiss tell it, it’s going to be a long relationship.

I’ve also heard from Lessard that the horse belongs to me, so there are no problems.

Since I heard about it, I’ve been paying for the cost of raising him. Therefore, I’m not worried about riding the horse.

But what kind of name would be good?

As soon as Ren begins to think about it, Weiss changes the subject.

“By the way, boy. After all the twists and turns, you have decided to stay in Clausel for a while, haven’t you?”

“Yes, that’s what I’ve decided.”

I’m going to stay until the village is restored. I won’t return until I become stronger.

But there’s no plan yet as to when I’ll return to the village.

“The young lady was happy to hear that. I heard that she told the servants that the boy might join the party.”

“The —- party?”

“I think the servants mentioned it before that it was the young lady’s birthday party.”

“…… Oh,”

Come to think of it, Licia’s birthday party is in the summer.

Since it’s already the end of July, that party will probably be held next month.

Ren remembered this and felt sorry for forgetting, and immediately opened his mouth with his head in his hands.

“Thank you very much for telling me. I’ll prepare a gift for her as soon as I return to Clausel.”

Speaking of gifts, just recently I gave her a white dress.

The fact that she wore it and showed it to me a few times while I was in the mansion and it suited her better than I had anticipated gives me a sense of Licia’s caliber.

…… Aside from that, I have to prepare another gift.

The previous one was a return gift for buying me clothes, so the birthday gift has to be different.

That makes me wonder what to give her.

(I’ll have to think about it properly.)

Weiss laughs as he sees Ren nodding alone.

“Looks like you’ll be joining us.”

“Of course. If Licia-sama and Lessard-sama would allow it.”

“I don’t see how anyone could object to that. On the contrary, you’ll be welcomed.”

Weiss was pleased with Ren’s reply and laughed at his low profile as usual.

Weiss then voiced “that’s it” at the sight he saw at the end of the street.

“It’s still late afternoon, but we’re staying in that village today. It’ll take us a few more days to reach the next village, so we’ll stay here for the night and prepare for the encampment starting tomorrow.”

Step by step, the distance to the village narrowed.

Unlike Ren’s village, the approaching village looked somewhat like the town of Clausel. In short, it’s a growing village.

(Someday, my village will also look like this—-)

I hope that the village where I was born and raised will develop in the same way.

For that reason, I must do my best in Clausel.

When —- Ren reaffirmed this thought, the horse neighs briefly.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

The village we arrived at had the residence of a knight who took care of the village.

The mansion was brand new, unlike the Ashton mansion before it burned down, and the interior was beautiful and clean.

Licia visited Ren, who had rented a guest room in the evening.

“I want to talk to you about something before dinner.”

She had come to spend some free time with him after her talk with the knight in charge of this village.

Ren readily agrees and invites her into his room.

Licia then takes him to a table in the guest room and spreads a rolled up piece of parchment in her hand on it.

On the parchment was a map of Clausel territory.

“We’re in this village. Tomorrow we’ll continue on this road.”

Licia slid her fingertips across the map. Starting from the village they were in, they would continue northward through several villages.

“That one.”

Ren suddenly noticed something.

It had been a long time since I had looked at a map, and I wasn’t quite sure the village what knight was in charge of, but I saw where we were headed and pressed my fingertips to the map.

“Is this the Baldor Mountains?”

“Yes, the Baldor Mountains, which we passed by before.”

(Lessard-sama had told me we would be passing near there, but I guess we’ll be passing closer than I thought.)

Ren thinks somewhat tersely as he realizes that they will be passing closer to the Baldor Mountains than he had imagined.

It’s not because it’s dangerous even now.

It was because memories of his gaming days had flashed through his mind, and the scene he had seen on the screen came back to him.

(Well, if Ignat isn’t doing anything, it’s not dangerous.)

The Baldor Mountains isn’t a particularly dangerous place, as I have already confirmed.

The monsters that appear are of F-rank, nothing serious.

However, according to the legend of the Seven Heroes, the Marquis Ignat does something to destroy the Leomel Empire and plunges the Baldor Mountains into an anomaly.

The one thing that is used for this is a certain monster’s magic stone.

—-Asval the Red Dragon.

A certain dragon that had its roots in the Baldor Mountains long ago.

Why the last stage of Legend of the Seven Heroes I was in the Baldor Mountains, it all had to do with this dragon.

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