Chapter 83: Pippi Takes to the Skies
That day, Lilcarlia found herself being ushered into the private chambers of the domain’s ruler, Lady Elisabeth.
Normally she would deliver the requested goods, exchange a few polite words, and head straight home. Yet today the atmosphere felt different—there was clearly something the lady wished to discuss.
“So then, my lady, what business brings me here today～?”
Even while sensing the tension that hung on Elisabeth’s serious expression, Lilcarlia kept her usual lilting tone, as if she were simply chatting across a marketplace stall.
A quiet pause stretched between them before Elisabeth finally spoke, her voice solemn.
“Lilcarlia… that field. What exactly is it? You know something about it, do you not?”
At those words, the little merchant’s lips curved upward—so faintly that no ordinary person would have noticed.
(Just as planned～.)
The truth was, when she had whispered advice to Shifa’s group the other day, it had not been merely for the sake of expanding Geo’s home garden. There had been a deeper intention.
No lord would remain indifferent about how newly granted land was being used. A ruler who sought to protect her territory must sniff out potential dangers early and address them before they could take root.
Naturally, any investigation would reveal anomalies almost immediately. Lilcarlia understood all of that perfectly—and acted the way she did because she understood.
(Thanks to that magical contract, I can’t talk about it directly from my own mouth. Really makes everything feel roundabout… Well, the contract was necessary, so I can’t complain too much.)
Thus she had maneuvered things so that the lord herself would be the one to pry. But it was never done for Lilcarlia’s personal advantage.
(It won’t bring Geo-han any harm. In fact, having the lord’s protection makes things far safer. Sure, there’re wicked lords out there… but this one? I’ll vouch for her—she’s trustworthy.)
“What do you think they want this time?”
“I’m not sure… The only thing that comes to mind is the Red Dragon incident, but I really doubt they’d hand out rewards twice in such a short span…”
That same day, Shifa and the others had once again been invited to the lord’s castle.
Last time, the invitation had been to honor their contribution to the dungeon expedition and the boost it brought to the territory’s economy. This time, however, they couldn’t think of any obvious reason.
The only other difference from the previous visit was that Sarassa was with them while Merlin was absent. Apparently, the invitation was addressed solely to Shifa’s party. …Though in Merlin’s case, even if she had been invited, she likely would have refused.
“Hey hey, you think they’ll feed us something tasty again！？”
The only one excited beyond reason was Sena. After weeks spent buried in lectures and review sessions for her upcoming promotion exam, she had finally been freed from the dreadful clutches of studying.
“You are actually going to pass that exam, right?”
“Huh? Pass what?”
“The promotion exam. The exam.”
“Exaaam～? I dunnooo.”
“…She’s actively fleeing from reality.”
Their collective anxiety rose like mist, but the group forced themselves to straighten up. Whatever the case, they needed to focus—the audience with the lord was what mattered now.
◇ ◇ ◇
“Nyaaa-nyaaa!”
“Pipipipipiii!”
In the second home garden, Milk and Pippi were chasing each other in their usual carefree way.
In the beginning, Milk had to intentionally slow down just so Pippi could keep up. But now, the two of them ran neck-and-neck with impressive balance, darting across the garden with wild bursts of energy.
From the look of things, Milk excelled at sudden bursts of speed, while Pippi held the advantage when the distance grew longer.
Thus whenever Milk was the one chasing, the match became a thrilling race of “catch me if you can,” where the deciding factor was speed and precision. But when Pippi chased, the situation flipped—Pippi would pursue tirelessly until Milk ran out of stamina. Given no time limit, Milk stood no chance at all. The outcome could be predicted with laughable ease.
“Still, you two have gotten huge again…”
Milk’s full length must have exceeded two meters by now—well past the point of being smaller than Geo. Calling her a “cat” was becoming increasingly unreasonable.
Pippi’s growth was even faster. At this point, she looked nearly the same size as Milk, though her fluffy feathers probably made her seem even larger than she really was.
“Didn’t expect you to be some incredible kind of bird, though.”
“Pii?”
Thanks to a certain drunkard causing chaos at the time, Geo hadn’t had a moment to properly react—but it turned out Pippi was a Kobochou, a legendary divine bird said to be nothing more than myth.
Even Miranda had only sighted one once, deep within some remote wilderness. She admitted she knew almost nothing about their biology.
If word got out, it would surely cause trouble. Maybe raising Pippi here in the second garden really was the safest option.
“Pipipii!”
Ignoring Geo’s concerns, Pippi began her flying practice again—wings flapping desperately. But each attempt ended the same way: she rose a little, faltered, then gently drifted back to the ground.
No sign of improvement. Yet despite that, Geo found himself slowly believing that Pippi could do it someday. After all…
She was a legendary divine bird. Even the home garden could fly—how could a divine bird not manage it?
He was thinking exactly that when—
“Pipipipipiii!”
Bang!
Something like a burst of air rang beneath Pippi’s feet as she attempted to take off again. In the very next moment—just as she had begun her usual descent—her body lifted upward by a small but unmistakable amount.
“…She kicked off the air?”
“Pipii?”
Pippi tilted her head, clueless about what had just happened. But Geo had definitely seen it with his own eyes.
“Pipipiii!”
As if grasping the technique, Pippi kicked and struck the air again, and again—propelling herself upward, step by invisible step. Before long, she was no longer falling at all. She hovered, maintaining altitude with increasing confidence.
“…Wait. That kind of flying is allowed…?”