Chapter 85: Physical Break or Mental Break?

“By the way, Ishud. Your family’s surroundings are considered a wasteland by the general public, but will Gulf and the others survive?”

I don’t think Ishud hasn’t considered that aspect.

He’s a berserker, but not just a berserker.

Even though I understand that… when I think that the environment that created this berserker is one of them, I can’t help but worry about Gulf and the others from the bottom of my heart.

“As long as they don’t go deep inside, they’ll be fine. Well, even if they don’t go deep, they’ll still encounter pretty strong monsters.”

“…I’m really worried.”

It’s a bad way to put it, but since Gulf is a commoner, there won’t be much fuss even if he dies.

Also, since he hasn’t decided on a clear path forward yet, it’s entirely his own responsibility.

However… the others are different.

Dustin is the son of a count, Michela is the daughter of a marquis.

Philip and Christille are the son and daughter of a duke.

Even though Ibuki is a foreign student, her position in Yamato is similar to Michela and the others.

If even one of them were to die, it would immediately escalate into a major problem.

“Don’t worry. If push comes to shove, I’ll protect them even if it costs me my life.”

“Don’t say that so lightly… No, it’s because our common sense is different from theirs, isn’t it?”

“It’s not like it’s some grand gesture or anything. Leave aside the president and the muscle senpai, Gulf and the others are my buddies. I don’t want to get in the way of their growth, but if things get dangerous, I won’t hesitate to step forward.”

“I see… yeah. I’ll count on you.”

“Yeah!!!!”

In truth, Byron also wanted to accompany them as a guardian. However, while a long break is a long and happy vacation for students, it’s far from an ideal long break for teachers.

(For Gulf and the others, it’s undoubtedly a good opportunity for growth. But… will their spirits hold? I’m worried about their physical health, but mental health is my biggest concern.)

Byron doesn’t know the exact details. Still, he has a conviction that entering the environment Ishud has grown up in must mean something.

“Alright, let’s go!!!!”

As soon as the closing ceremony ended… Ishud and the others departed that very day.

“Ishud-kun, this carpet… It’s different from a regular flying carpet, isn’t it?”

Connecting two carpets together, they can accommodate up to six people, including Ishud, without any problems during transportation.

“Oh, you got it? I asked the alchemist who owns a shop in our territory to improve the carpet we got from a dungeon treasure chest.”

“I see… How much did it cost, exactly?”

Improving a magic item isn’t something that can be done easily.

Once it’s finished, it becomes a single piece… Even if a skilled person works on it, there’s a high chance they’ll end up breaking it and rendering it unusable.

“It was quite a failure, so… let’s see, did about three of these flying carpets go to waste?”

“““Wha…!?”””

Except for Gulf, all the members were more or less taken aback.

Magic items that allow flying through the air.

Although there may be differences in movement speed depending on the item, they are still highly valuable magic items.

To have wasted three of them…

Moreover, when it comes to improvements, appropriate materials are necessary.

“Well, when it comes to materials, you can find plenty by rampaging through the forest, and it’s the same for money.”

“Come to think of it, the Regula family’s surroundings have always had a higher than normal occurrence rate of monsters.”

“We still don’t know the exact cause~. But because of that, we can sell a large quantity of monster materials from those we defeat outside, and it seems to bring in quite a bit of profit.”

Monster materials become more effective as their rank increases… Even for materials from the same monster, the quality changes depending on the level.

Since there’s always demand for them, if you sell them outside the town, it won’t cause the value within the territory to decrease unnecessarily.

“There’s still a considerable distance to my hometown, but if nothing happens… we should be able to arrive today.”

Except for Gulf, the other members were once again surprised by this man’s unusual sense.

“Well… hahaha. I get it, but yeah, you’re definitely not normal. But hey, won’t your folks at home get flustered if you arrive that quickly?”

“I sent a letter letting them know I’ll head there right after the closing ceremony, so it should be fine. Still, we’ll arrive only after sunset… so we’ll start fighting monsters from tomorrow.”

Monsters inhabiting the area known as a wasteland by the general public.

They mustn’t approach them with their common sense intact.

Even without Ishud telling them, they already had that mindset… and they shivered slightly, their shoulders trembling.

That tremor was undoubtedly not from fear… it was the shiver of warriors.

(Hehehe. Nice, nice~. That’s how it should be.)

Ishud, lured into laughter, continued to drive the magic carpet while drinking potions to ensure his magical energy didn’t run out.

“There it is… coming into view. That’s the town my father governs.”

“Haah… I thought I wouldn’t be surprised anymore, but that was a futile resolution.”

The barbarians of the frontier.

Depending on how one perceives the content of the word “frontier,” it may not seem to have developed significantly at all, despite the word itself.

(Mmm… This guy is amazing. Seriously, seriously amazing… Is it even real? It’s like… real, ten times more prosperous than I imagined.)

Having met Ishud and occasionally hearing about his hometown, it was clear that the rumors didn’t do justice to the actual prosperity.

However, upon seeing the town ruled by the Regula family in person, it became apparent that the rumors he had heard were truly inadequate.

“Well then, let’s get off~”

Lowering the altitude, they landed on the ground.

As the people who had suddenly descended from the magically connected carpets prepared to enter the town, some onlookers were surprised, but some recognized one of the individuals among them.

“Huh? Wasn’t he supposed to enroll in the academy? Did he get expelled or something? Well, it’s not entirely impossible. Ishud does have a wild side, after all.”

“But hey, aren’t the ones who came down with him like his school friends?”

Some… adventurers, even if they didn’t understand why Ishudo had returned, felt joy at the return of someone they knew well.

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