Chapter 19: Go Home Early.

When Ren looked in that direction to see who it was, he saw the woman in robes with whom he had exchanged words at the guild the other day standing there.

Her voice sounded as processed as ever, which made it even easier to recognize her.

Ren turned his body toward the woman and furrowed his brow.

The woman’s clothes were stained with river water and mud.

“…… Why are you here?”

“That’s my line. Why were you playing in the river when you were supposed to be in Clausel?”

The woman answered with a confused look.

Ren had no way of knowing if she was lying or not.

“I’m in a bit of a situation. I’m not here to —- play in the water.”

It’s a legitimate job, but it’s hard to be proud when wet like this.

But perhaps she liked Ren’s disgruntled appearance. She chuckled, held up her finger in the air, and began to twirl it around.

“I wouldn’t want you to catch a cold.”

In the blink of an eye, Ren’s clothes are drying.

Even the stains on his clothes disappeared, transforming them into crisp, dry clothes.

“—-What was that just now?”

“Fufufu …… this is a kind of magic that makes your clothes clean! How’s that? Isn’t it amazing?”

Obviously, it’s not limited to that, I thought.

He didn’t know that there was magic for that purpose.

But, come to think of it, if there was such magic in the legend of the Seven Heroes, who would use it? There’s no such concept as dirt, so there is no use for it.

(Does that mean there’s magic for daily life that I don’t know about?)

Ren smiled with satisfaction, thinking that he had gained an unplanned and interesting piece of knowledge.

Then the woman thought that Ren was pleased and crossed her arms, smiling with pride.

Ren finally had a chance to ask.

“How did you get here?”

Whether this encounter was a coincidence or not….. he asks the woman, who is clearly suspicious, what her purpose was.

Naturally, it’s unclear whether all of the answers are true.

But Ren couldn’t help but ask.

“I’m here on business. Unlike this suspicious-looking outfit, it’s a pretty serious job.”

“I see.”

Ren neither denied nor affirmed his suspicions, but secretly muttered inwardly, “You were aware of it?”

But when he heard that it was a serious job, he was slightly intrigued.

(What “serious job —-” requires a disguise?)

Not letting my guard down, he tilted his head slightly.

But the woman didn’t seem to tell him anything more.

Her voice was still processed, and the mouth peeking out from the deep hood somehow prevented him from seeing any more parts of her face.

After all, those vestments must have had the effect of hiding her appearance.

—- Ren finds no answer, and a brief silence ensues.

A third voice changed all of that.

“……”

『…… bluuuu』

A short distance from where they were, behind a fallen tree that hadn’t fallen into the river, a few monsters were watching Ren and his friend.

They were little boars, that was nostalgic for Ren.

The little boars, perhaps hungry, approached quietly, emitting low sounds.

“The disaster must have caused them to run out of food at their usual feeding grounds.” 

“Yes, that seems to be the case.”

As soon as the woman heard Ren’s reply, she moved to stand in front of him—-　

“Ah, Ren-kun, stay behind me—-.”

Ren stepped forward faster than that. As if to protect the woman behind him, he pulled out the iron magic sword he carried at his waist and held it at the ready.

The woman who stepped in front of him blinks repeatedly and says, “Ah, What?”

“W-why?”

“Why? What is it?”

Ren answered without looking away from the little boars that were about to attack him and without turning to look at the woman.

From the woman’s tone, he could make out that she had a blank expression on her face.

“Why are you standing in front of me?”

“…… Well, I’m here to fight.”

“No, that’s not why you’re standing in front of me. You’re standing there as if you’re trying to protect me. —-“

“I’m actually trying to protect you. Isn’t that natural?”

“—- Eh?”

Despite the fact that she was suspicious, Ren’s body moves on its own.

It’s probably a behavior he acquired while spending time with Licia.

Besides being cautious, he found it difficult to be protected by a woman he’d never met before.

He was somewhat uneasy about showing his back, so he immediately set out to take down the little boars.

Nearby, the woman was still shouting in amazement.

“…… I knew you were the hero, after all!”

The mutterings didn’t reach Ren’s ears, and he took down the leaping little boars in the blink of an eye.

Noticing that the woman in robes was saying something behind him, he tilted his head.

“Did you say something?”

“Yes. You’re cute.”　

“I don’t know what that means.”

“If I say I’ll explain it to you, will you come with me to the capital?”

“No, I’m not coming with you.”

“Huh…… what a shame.”

The woman muttered with deep regret and walked away as if she had no choice.

She cleansed the blood on Ren’s clothes as she passed him.

“I have to go. I’ve been fed up with all the work, but it’s been fun meeting you.”

An abrupt goodbye is said to Ren.

Ren reached out a hand to stop her.

“Wait! We’re still talking!”

I still need to ask her something. I haven’t been able to confirm what she suggested about my power at the Adventurers’ Guild and earlier.

But a moment later, as I was about to reach her shoulder.

“—- I have to go to the Baldor Mountains now, so I’ll see you later!”

A warm breeze blew in front of Ren, forcing him to cover his eyes with his hands for a moment.

The next time he opened his eyes, the woman was gone, and the fallen tree he was supposed to be clearing up had disappeared.

Ren stood still and thought about the woman who had been so mysterious.

Various kinds of magic, and first person. Her friendly way of speaking, which he had come to understand after talking to her once more.

Considering all this, Ren could predict a certain person.

“No way… that woman isn’t—“

But it was hard to believe that she could be in such a rural area.

The first thing that came to my mind was that it was none other than the dean of the Imperial Academy of Military Science.

But I was still skeptical.

I couldn’t conclude that she was the one because a person of her caliber was extremely busy.

*************************************

“Hey, why did you decide to leave early?”

Licia visited Ren in the guest room at night, as usual.

Licia hadn’t been told the reason, but since Ren hadn’t been told by Weiss and was allowed to answer if asked, he decided to answer honestly.

“Actually —-“

I met a woman of unknown identity at the Adventurers’ Guild. I met her again at the upper reaches of the river. It had been less than six months since the Jerukku incident, and that he would return home early, just in case.

When Licia was told these stories, she nodded her head.

“What kind of woman was she?”

“Actually, I have no idea. She was wearing a priest’s robe, and she had her hood up so deeply that I couldn’t see her face.”

Even her voice seemed to be processed.

When I told these stories to Licia, she said, “That’s certainly suspicious”.

But she didn’t seem worried.

“Ren is here, along with Weiss and the other knights.’

She had full confidence in her voice.

“Well, I hope you don’t mind if I stay up a little later?”

“Because you don’t have any more plans for tomorrow?”

“Yes. I’ve brought some things to play with for a bit, if you want to join me?”

She then brings something from her room.

Spread out on the table in the guest room where Ren was, was a board game board reminiscent of chess or shogi.

At first, Ren was losing badly, but then things started to change.

Ren got the hang of the game and won again and again, and Licia showed her natural aversion to losing.

When Ren won, she would say, “Again!” and they were competing with each other, and before they knew it, the night was getting longer than ever.

　

Previous chapter | TOC | Next chapter