Chapter 27: We’ve Returned Home

― [Meluestat – Helvendorp Highway] ―

What was supposed to be a simple trip — sell the honey gemstones, hire a few extra guards, and be back home within a week — had stretched into over a month. And all because of the glasses I had made.

Still, it hadn’t turned out badly. In fact, it was almost fortunate. Stefana had ended up becoming Mother’s slave — willingly, in her own complicated way — and we’d earned a rather generous sum by helping with the glassmaking project. So, on the whole, things had gone well.

As for Mother’s original reason for coming — to meet an acquaintance of hers, an adventurer — that had fallen through. Apparently, the person’s whereabouts were unknown, so she had sent a letter to their family home instead. She never told me what the letter was about, only that, “They’ll come eventually.” That was all.

And so, two days after leaving Meluestat, with all our business concluded, our family was on the road again — heading home to Helvendorp. The afternoon sun slanted low, throwing long shadows across the road as our carriage rattled steadily along the highway.

Inside the wagon, the four of us sat close together in the center, while the hired adventurers divided themselves — two on the driver’s seat and two guarding the rear. The carriage itself belonged to the Adventurer’s Guild; Mother had said it made the whole escort arrangement far easier.

Our escort was a D-rank party known as Balrimas. Their leader and swordsman, Baltel, carried himself with the calm ease of experience. Then there was Mars, the shield-bearer — broad-shouldered and gruff. Riefe, the scout and archer, whose sharp eyes seemed to catch everything; and Susanna, their mage, who had the quiet air of someone constantly observing. Four of them altogether — a well-balanced party.

“…So, client,” Baltel said, turning toward Mother, his tone weary but polite. “What do you want us to do about it?”

“I’m sorry,” Mother replied, forcing a strained smile. “Could you please… collect them?”

Baltel sighed. “Yeah, yeah. Got it. Uh… right…”

Mother’s expression tightened further as she made the request. Baltel looked around for someone to help with the “collection,” but the moment his gaze swept over the women, every one of them quickly turned their faces away.

He groaned. “Mars, you’re up. No arguing.”

“…Yeah, yeah. Figures it’d be me,” Mars muttered, resigned.

I could already guess what this was about. When something unpleasant needed to be handled, it always came down to the unfortunates who couldn’t refuse.

“I’m sorry,” Mother said again, bowing her head slightly. “Thank you.”

Well… there was no use pretending otherwise.

It had all started when Riefe, the one holding the reins, spotted something unusual just off the roadside — an enormous spider web glinting faintly in the forest shade.

She slowed the horses to a cautious stop, and the Balrimas members immediately fanned out to check the area. Curious, I asked Rugena what was going on, and she pointed toward the trees.

“Spider monsters,” she said simply.

When I looked more closely, I could see it — several thick, silvery webs strung between the trunks.

According to them, spider monsters preferred ambushes. If you saw their webs, the rule was never to approach. Sometimes, they even hid in tall grass away from the web to surprise prey — another reason to be careful.

Baltel and Mars searched the undergrowth and soon found several of the creatures lurking there. Each one was the size of a large ball — their cephalothorax about as big as a volleyball, their swollen abdomens even larger, and their long legs easily matching their full body length.

They explained that these monsters attacked by leaping at their prey, wrapping them in sticky threads before delivering the killing bite. The usual tactic was to lure them from the front, keep your distance, and when they lunged — hit them from the side with arrows. Supposedly not too difficult. Though personally, I couldn’t tell if that meant “easy” or “barely possible.”

Monsters near the highway weren’t rare, so that in itself wasn’t unusual. But something about these spiders caught my attention.

Spiders produce silk.

If silk could be made from silkworm cocoons… then couldn’t spider silk be processed the same way?

It was just a thought — an idea that leapt into my mind and refused to leave. So I asked, half-seriously, if they could collect the abdomens of the spiders for me.

The response was… predictable.

Every eye turned toward me with that what is this kid talking about? look.

In the end, though, Baltel and Mars agreed to help.

“…You really plan to bring that back?” Susanna asked, visibly uneasy.

“Yeah,” I said, trying to sound confident. “I want to study it — for materials research.”

Rugena’s expression went pale. “Arthur-sama… is… a madman.”

“Wha—?! No! I’m not!” I sputtered, waving my hands frantically.

When I tried explaining that silk came from silkworms and that spider threads were, in essence, the same sort of fiber — they only gave me more skeptical looks.

“Spiders are carnivorous,” they said.

I could only answer weakly, “Wait, that’s the issue here?”

After a while, Baltel returned, frowning, holding a large sack. “…We’ve finished collecting them, but… you sure it’s okay to load these onto the wagon?”

The women immediately stepped back, horror flickering in their eyes.

Well… maybe no one would ever use spider silk, even if I managed to make it. Still, this was something I had to try.

“Yes, it’s fine,” I said firmly.

Baltel gave a small, uncertain grunt. “…You’re… quite an odd kid, you know that?”

He didn’t finish whatever he was going to say next, but I could guess.

There were five abdomens in total. He’d burned the cut edges shut with fire magic to keep them sealed and packed them neatly into a sturdy bag.

But when I picked it up and glanced around, everyone averted their eyes — even Mother.

“Rugena,” I said.

She flinched. “Y–yes, Arthur-sama?”

“Help me with this, please.”

“…Understood.”

Maybe I was being petty, but I couldn’t help dragging her into it. She had been a C-rank adventurer once — surely, she’d dealt with spiders before… probably.

After that, I kept watching the forest, hoping to spot more webs, but none appeared. The rest of the journey passed quietly, and by the following afternoon, the familiar rooftops of Helvendorp came into view.

― [Helvendorp – Our Home] ―

In front of our house, we unloaded our luggage from the wagon. Mother carefully filled out the escort form — signing her name to mark the completion of the request — then flipped it over and noted down a separate detail: that she’d paid one silver coin as an additional reward for collecting the spider abdomens. She and Baltel both signed the back as well.

Curious, I asked Rugena why she’d done that.

“If adventurers get that kind of written acknowledgment,” she explained, “they earn Guild Contribution Points. It helps them rank up faster.”

So, adventurer promotion worked on a point system. Interesting.

“The request’s complete,” Baltel said, tucking the form away. “We’ll be exploring the forest nearby before heading back to the capital. If anything comes up, let us know.”

“Of course,” Mother replied with a nod.

It seemed Balrimas intended to make use of the trip — explore some uncharted woods, gather loot, and load it onto their wagon for the return journey to Meluestat.

We stood together and watched as their carriage rolled off toward the village square, before finally stepping into our own home.

“First things first,” Mother said briskly, clapping her hands. “We’ll need to clean the house — unless you want to sleep in the dust tonight.”

“I’ll fetch the cleaning tools,” Stefana said immediately.

“What should I do?” Rugena asked, glancing around uncertainly.

“Come with me,” I said. “Let’s get the storage organized first.”

We left Mother and Stefana to handle the cleaning, while Rugena and I carried the heavier items into the storeroom — her blacksmith tools, ingots of metal, fuel for the furnace. Dangerous stuff if handled carelessly.

And as for the spider abdomens — taking those into the house would probably earn me a scolding. So, I found an empty wooden crate in the warehouse and stowed them there.

“When we’re done here, we’ll help them with the cleaning,” I said.

“Yes, Arthur-sama.”

We finished unpacking and joined the others. After over a month away, the house was thick with dust. Cleaning it all in one day was impossible, so we focused on the rooms we’d need immediately and left the rest for later.

I intended to give Rugena her own room eventually, but since her room wasn’t ready — and the bed hadn’t been set up — she’d be sharing with Stefana for tonight.

Over dinner, Mother laid out the plans for tomorrow.

In the morning, we’d finish cleaning and prepare Rugena’s room. After that, we’d move on to the fields — re-till the soil and start preparing to sow the next batch of wheat.

While Mother and the others worked the fields, I’d begin extracting the silk material from the spider abdomens.

I’d planned to ask Rugena to help, but Mother had other ideas.

“The fields come first,” she said firmly.

Rugena looked quietly relieved at her reassignment. I caught that little sigh of hers and thought wryly, She does realize that when I run out, she’ll be the one I ask to collect more… right?

But for now, I kept that thought to myself.

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