"Tenma, over there."
It was around dusk as we made our way back from the hidden village when Amour—who'd been lounging on top of the carriage roof—spotted something and called out to me from the driver's seat.
"Monsters?"
"Monsters, yeah, but they don't seem to be wild ones."
Looking in the direction Amour was pointing, I could see a large bird soaring high in the distant sky. What's more, it looked like a person was dangling from its legs.
"That's... Ted, isn't it."
After checking with Detection and Appraisal, it turned out to be Ted and his familiar, a Thunder Bird. He might have been heading home after finishing a job, but it would be weird to spot an acquaintance and not call out, so I decided to let him know we were here.
"Amour, close your eyes... Don't you dare open them. Here goes!"
With a shout, I hurled a ball of light I'd conjured with magic up into the sky. It soared about fifty meters up before bursting, unleashing an intense flash that illuminated everything around us. This was an improved version of the Light spell I'd used on Ash during the martial tournament in the Royal Capital—a silent, flashbang-type magic. There are several similar spells, but this one lets you produce various colors of light by combining it with magic power of other attributes. Pure light magic gives white light, blend in some fire-attribute magic power and you get red light, and so on. However, mixing in other attributes dramatically increases the spell's difficulty, so when using it as a signal flare like this time, keeping it white is more practical and easier for the other party to see.
"What in the world?!"
Startled by the sudden flash, Grandpa and the others hurried outside and looked around, but the only unusual thing nearby was Amour, rolling around on the ground. Clutching her eyes, she was wailing things like "My eyes, my eyes!" like some random colonel in a movie.
"Sorry about that. I could see Ted off in the distance, so I used magic to let him know we're here."
"Oh, is that so. I was worried enemies had shown up or something... By the way, what is that child doing?"
Hana looked relieved, but she was watching Amour—who was still rolling around on the ground—with a puzzled expression.
"It looks like she looked straight at the light. I warned her not to, but her curiosity got the better of her."
I figured her eyes had just started adjusting to the dimming light when the intense flash hit, temporarily robbing her of her vision. I didn't think she'd go blind, but leaving it untreated could damage her eyesight, so I cast a healing spell on both of Amour's eyes.
"Heeeey, Tenmaaa!"
Ted, who'd noticed the light, came waving as he approached—although really, it was the Thunder Bird carrying him by both shoulders, dangling him in the air.
"Delivery work all the way out here?"
After introducing Ted to Hana-san upon his arrival near the carriage, I asked what had brought him down south, and Ted pulled two letters from the Magic Bag slung over his shoulder and handed them to me.
"It's work, sure, but the recipient is Tenma. The senders are Jeanne and the Queen."
Hearing the senders' names, I worried something might have happened, and I practically snatched the letters from Ted to read their contents, but...
"What the heck is this...?"
It was the kind of letter that naturally drew out exactly those words.
"What did it say? Hmm... indeed, it does say 'what the heck is this.'"
When I handed the letter to Grandpa, he read it and had the very same reaction I did. However, Hana-san and Branca, having heard the letter's contents, said it was only to be expected. And the contents of that letter were...
"Our neighbor's house burned down in a fire. That a dispute would then break out over the vacant lot—well, nobody would normally see that coming."
The neighbor at our estate in the Royal Capital (with whom we had virtually no dealings) had accidentally started a fire that completely burned down their house, forcing them to part with the land. Buyers quickly gathered for the vacant lot, which was fine enough on its own, but because it was next to our place, dozens of people had apparently come forward as buyers. The greedy neighbor then drove up the price, and just when it had reached more than ten times the normal value, the King stepped in and put a halt to everything.
As it happened, the reason so many buyers had shown up was that the lot sat next to the estate where Grandpa and I lived—they were all nobles or major merchant houses with ulterior motives. The King had intervened because this fire was accidental and our property had also sustained some minor damage (the fence separating our place from the neighbor's had been damaged by flying embers, and some nearby trees and lawn had burned—though the estate itself was apparently unharmed), so it was treated as an official incident, and all transactions on the land were suspended until the extent of liability had been determined.
Moreover, if things stayed as they were, there was a high chance the neighbor's land would end up under state custody.
"Well, the burned trees and lawn are a shame, but we can just head to the forest and plant new ones we've dug up, and the fence can be fixed with magic in no time. It's not really a big deal."
Exactly. For the trees, whenever we head to the forest, we can just use earth magic to dig up some good ones and haul them back in the Magic Bag or whatever. As for the fence, we've built similar things in dungeons dozens of times. In short, everything except the burned lawn can be fixed for free.
"The real issue is"
"who that land"
"is going to belong to."
Even though no financial damage was incurred (only because our estate is special like that), there was a real possibility of future trouble depending on who ended up with that land. Even if the state managed it, they wouldn't just leave land in the Royal Capital sitting idle—some kind of facility would likely be built there, which could make the area noisier than before. Furthermore, even if the state put the land up for sale, the buyers who showed up would mostly be people looking to get in our good graces, and in the worst case, someone looking to use us might purchase it. There probably wouldn't be much direct harm, but it could turn into a pretty stressful way to live.
"If only someone from the royal family, or folks like Duke Sanga or Marquis Samons, could buy it... but that's probably too much to hope for."
"Aye, that it is. Even in the Royal Capital, if the royal family or high-ranking nobles used their power to snap up the land, they'd certainly face criticism from certain quarters. And worse yet, some fool might even claim the fire was deliberately set just to get their hands on that lot."
Most people probably wouldn't believe such rumors, but those with Reformist sympathies could certainly use it as ammunition. We wouldn't want to give them that kind of ammunition when there was little benefit to ourselves (royal family members or associates of Duke Sanga and Marquis Samons wouldn't really need to secure a lot next to ours). And on top of everything,
Chummy
Even though we're said to be on such close terms...
"Well, for now, since the King and the others have already secured the land, there's no rush to head back immediately. I'll write a letter just in case."
With that conclusion, I decided to hire Ted to carry the letter back. However, since it would be getting dark soon, he said it would be impossible to fly the Thunder Bird at night because it couldn't see well in the dark. So I had Ted set out for the Royal Capital early the next morning. As it turned out, that was Ted's plan all along — he'd already secured lodging as soon as we arrived in Nanao. So the plan was for me to hand over the letter when Ted departed the next day.
"Then let's head back to Nanao. You're riding along too, right, Ted? It's almost time for the Thunder Bird to have trouble being active."
At that, Ted said he appreciated it and climbed into the carriage. Apparently the Thunder Bird would go into Ted's Dimension Bag. However, Ted's Thunder Bird didn't seem to like going into the Dimension Bag very much and was quite reluctant, but after Ted scolded it, it went in grudgingly.
"Bird-type Monsters tend to hate confined spaces like Dimension Bags... If it were as spacious as the ones Tenma has, that'd be a different story, but mine isn't that big, so it only makes it worse."
Apparently, bird-type Monsters especially hated spaces where they couldn't fly freely, and larger Monsters like the Thunder Bird had an even stronger tendency toward this. Hearing that, I got curious about Immy's I-chan and Shi-chan, but I was told that since those two had been accustomed to tight spaces since they were chicks, they usually stayed calm even after growing up, so there was no need to worry about it for now.
"Well, unlike ours, Rock Birds don't really have a problem if they're left outside all the time. Of course, you'd need to be careful to make sure they don't get mistaken for prey, though."
If someone deliberately injured or killed another person's Familiar, they would receive severe punishment. However, if it wasn't clearly identifiable as a Familiar, the perpetrator could potentially get off scot-free. And to make matters worse, there were apparently those who exploited this loophole to kill others' Familiars to obtain their materials, so you had to be careful.
Since Ted was someone who had tamed the same type of bird Monster, he and Immy often consulted each other about raising their chicks and various points to watch out for when I wasn't around, and he gave her all sorts of advice. Thanks to them meeting up frequently, I-chan and Shi-chan had also become good friends with Ted's Thunder Bird. The problem was that to outsiders, they looked exactly like a predator and its prey...
Since I hadn't had the chance to talk with Ted at this length before, I was able to hear interesting stories about things other than Immy. As a "Courier," Ted had visited all sorts of places, so in a sense, he was even more knowledgeable than Grandpa. Grandpa knew just as much about various regions as Ted did, but his knowledge was from when he'd visited them quite a while ago, so there was a difference in how current the information was.
"Hmm... I haven't gone on any long-distance journeys since just before I met Tenma. This was my first time in Nanao, too."
It seemed Grandpa had once come down to the south a long time ago, but he'd turned back well before reaching Nanao, and since then, he'd never set foot in the south again.
"That's a real shame. If Master Merlin had met our Grandpa back then, I'm sure they would have gotten along wonderfully."
When Hana said that, Branca nodded as well. If Grandpa Kei was the kind of person I imagined, they certainly seemed like they would hit it off. But then Branca added, "Grandpa Kei was a boisterous man, but at his core he was earnest and no stranger to hard labor. Master Merlin supposedly went through quite a lot of hardship in his younger days too, so there's probably plenty they could relate to," and hearing that made me feel like he didn't quite match the image of the person I'd been imagining. Then again, the person I was picturing was based on stories and tales passed down through the ages, so it was unclear whether he was really like that at all.
While I was lost in these thoughts, the carriage had somehow already arrived in Nanao, and we'd stopped right in front of the Viscount's residence. Hana invited me to join them for dinner, but between the letter and everything else, I declined and decided to make do with the ready-made food I had in my Magic Bag back in my room. Incidentally, Ted had also been invited by Hana, but he'd declined too, saying it would be awkward without me around and that he still had to look after the Thunder Bird.
The next morning at dawn, I gave Ted the two letters I'd stayed up late writing along with the payment, and he set off. Since he wasn't planning to stop anywhere special on the way back, he was expected to arrive in Seigen in about two weeks. I wanted to leave as soon as possible, but the souvenirs I'd ordered from Sana wouldn't be ready until the day after tomorrow, so until then, I basically had free time. In the meantime, I'd get the carriage inspected, make sure I hadn't forgotten to buy anything, and also pick up some things I wanted to stock up on (mainly soy sauce and miso). Once that was done, all that was left was visiting acquaintances, but there were really only the people at the Viscount's residence and the folks from Ryusaiken (the high-ranking people from the south had already returned to their own villages and towns). So I'd say my farewells to the Ryusaiken people on the day of departure, and to the Viscount's household at the farewell banquet they were holding the night before and at the time of departure. For today, I'd start with getting the carriage inspected.
At the farewell banquet held the night before departure — which also served to send off Amour — all the members of the Viscount's household (with very few exceptions) were having a great time.
"Come to think of it, Tenma, you use a sword as your weapon, right? Where did you learn about it?"
Once the banquet was underway and people were starting to get tipsy here and there, Hana-san suddenly seemed to remember something and asked me about my katana.
"Sure, in the south maybe, but katanas are pretty niche everywhere else. Wouldn't it be faster to just look for a good sword instead of hunting for a katana?"
Hearing Hana-san's question, Grandpa and Branca seemed curious too and were staring intently at me.
"To put it simply, katanas were just easier to use. Kukuri Village only had adult-sized swords, which were way too big for a kid like me to handle. Whenever I went into the forest, I'd always take a large knife instead of a sword. Over time, I just got used to single-edged blades... And I'd heard about katanas and their characteristics from my father, so since I could use alchemy, I figured I'd try making one myself. That's how I started using one, but..."
"Is there something off about that?"
"Actually, what I'm using isn't a real katana."
Everyone's faces filled with puzzlement at the same time.
"Hana-san, do you know how katanas are made?"
Hana-san nodded in answer to my question, but she had a look on her face that said, "And?"
"Just because I can use magic doesn't mean I can reproduce that many complex steps. What I'm using is a 'sword in the shape of a katana.'"
Thanks to having studied Japanese martial arts in my previous life, I had a rough idea of how katanas were made, but I barely knew anything about the crucial parts. So my katana was more like a single-edged, slender sword that had been hammered into the shape of a katana... Well, it was a pain to explain, so I just called it a katana.
"That's certainly not the traditional method of making katanas. But recently, more and more craftspeople have been using the same approach as your katana, so calling it one shouldn't really be a problem."
Apparently, when working with metals like Orichalcum or Hihirokane, even a master swordsmith would have difficulty forging a katana using the traditional method—they were far too hard to properly fold, and if you forced the folding, the resulting blade would end up weaker than the original ingot. So they'd cast the shape first and then hammer and temper it. On top of that, some craftspeople who mass-produced katanas apparently sold pieces that had only been cast and then sharpened on a whetstone.
"Some of the old-school craftspeople look down on those who only cast their blades, but in the end, there's demand for it, so cast-only smiths exist too."
Cast katanas could be bought cheaper than forged ones, and if you could use enhancement magic, they might even last longer than forged blades. For that reason, they were apparently popular for practice and among beginner adventurers.
"Besides, the very definition of 'katana' has always been a bit vague, so saying that only forged ones count as katanas is a bit of a stretch. It's true that forging tends to produce higher-quality blades, but..."
Apparently, in the south—the home of katanas—there had long been two schools of thought: one that said "only forged blades deserve to be called katanas," and another that said "anything with the right shape is a katana." The craftspeople would sometimes get into heated debates over it.
"If you want to learn proper technique, I could introduce you to a craftsman I know," Hana-san offered, but I turned her down since I didn't seem to have the time to study properly.
The banquet went on late into the night after that, and we probably didn't get back to the inn until close to midnight. The next day we'd be leaving Nanao, but the Viscount's retainers' reluctance to part with Amour hadn't cooled at all—they kept saying "just a little longer" over and over again.
The next day... or rather, just a few hours later, we thanked the Ryusaiken people and headed to the entrance of Nanao. Hana-san and the others were already waiting there, and for some reason, the high-ranking people from the south were there too. From what I heard, once my departure had been decided, they'd immediately sent messengers to relay the news, and everyone had made their way to Nanao. Some of them had apparently received the messenger at almost the exact same time they reached their own villages, so they'd come straight back to Nanao without even unpacking.
"Thank you for seeing us off."
"So, this isn't exactly a souvenir, but there's something I'd like you to take. Hold on a moment... *cough*!"
The instant one of the high-ranking individuals peeked into his own Dimension Bag, a black mass shot out from inside. After body-slamming the bag's owner, the mass swiftly fled the scene. And as if chasing after that black mass, another black mass emerged from the bag, but this one moved slower. For some reason, it headed straight for me, intending to pass between my legs.
"What the... is this? A black sheep?"
When I grabbed the black mass that was wedged between my legs, unable to move, and lifted it up, its true form was revealed to be a black lamb. For a moment after being lifted, the lamb wore a confused expression, but upon realizing its body was suspended in mid-air, it suddenly began to thrash about. However, even while struggling, its movements were so slow that while it was probably trying desperately, to an onlooker it just looked like it was moving adorably.
"Baaah!"
Just as the lamb I was holding grew tired from its struggles (which I think lasted about a minute or so), the other black mass that had fled first... the other lamb, charged toward me with an angry cry. Its agility made me wonder if it was even the same kind of creature as the lamb in my arms—it moved with considerable speed. If it hit me with that momentum, the force would probably send me flying easily.
"Rargh!"
"Baa! Baaah!"
However, at the very moment the lamb was about to collide with me, Shiromaru interposed himself, and the lamb bounced off him instead, sent flying backward. To my surprise, the launched lamb landed on its back the instant it hit the ground, bounced like a ball, and landed perfectly on its feet.
"Garuff."
"Baa! Baa! Baaaah!"
Even more surprisingly, the lamb showed no fear of Shiromaru's intimidation, instead growing louder and more aggressive. If Shiromaru were to get serious, the lamb would lose its life in mere seconds, but it showed no intention of backing down.
"Shiromaru, stand down. Are you worried about this one? Here."
After checking behind the lamb, I set the one I'd been holding down on the ground. Then, the lamb that had been posturing moments ago let out a cry that seemed to say "Hurry up!" and ran over to the lamb it had been calling (to avoid confusion, let's call the posturing one Lamb I and the one I was holding Lamb II).
"B-b-baah!"
"Baa!... Baa!"
Lamb II was running toward Lamb I with tears in its eyes, but to my surprise, Lamb I headbutted Lamb II. Then, with a single cry, Lamb I tried to flee, taking Lamb II with it... but Slarin, who had crept up behind them, easily captured both of them together.
"So, what exactly are these?"
"Indeed. In my village, we produce wool as a specialty product. Lambs are born every year like clockwork. However, our sheep are all white, and black wool can't be sold. Therefore, black lambs are sold to other villages for meat, but these two are... well, more precisely, the one that was posturing earlier is incredibly violent. We had it locked in our sheepfold, but we were afraid it would have a bad influence on the other lambs, so I thought I'd bring it along as food for Tenma's group during your travels."
"So this is just a fancy way of getting rid of a nuisance under the guise of a souvenir?"
"You could put it that way too."
The superior who'd received a headbutt from the lamb said that without a shred of remorse. I thought he could have at least brought it already dead, but apparently in his village, lambs in their bloodiest state are considered the finest, so he deliberately brought them alive.
He seemed to think that even though the lamb was a handful even for a superior, I'd be able to manage it without issue. But it wasn't like I was so short on food that I needed to slaughter lambs for meat. While I was thinking about this,
"Meh... meh-meh~"
Lamb I started crying in a different voice than before. It sounded like it was trying to curry favor with me.
"I suppose I should just take them home for now..."
For a sheep, it was awfully manipulative, but at this point I was starting to feel a little guilty, so I decided to take them to the estate in the Royal Capital. Jubei and the others were there, so adding two lambs wouldn't cause any problems... The only concern was whether Lamb I and Tama would end up fighting. Lamb II seemed to have a pretty laid-back personality, so it probably wouldn't cause any trouble. After all, whether it had given up after being captured by Slarin or was simply tired, it was peacefully sleeping right next to Lamb I while that one flirted and fawned.
"Oh, and here's the item you asked for."
Just as my conversation with the superior wrapped up, Sana brought out a cloth-wrapped package containing the shawl she'd requested. I checked inside to make sure, and there didn't seem to be any issues.
"Thank you very much."
As I took the shawl from Sana and tucked it into my bag, Slarin arrived still carrying the two lambs. I told Slarin to release the lambs right there, and once freed, Lamb I made a brief show of bolting — but when it saw Lamb II sleeping peacefully beside it, it seemed to give up.
"I don't know if you can understand me, but as long as you don't run, I won't hurt you. That said, even if you did escape and tried to survive in the wild, you'd just end up as food for Monsters. Well, before becoming food for Monsters out in the wild, there's a higher chance you'd become meat right here on the spot."
When Lamb I made that show of bolting, the superior who'd brought them had drawn a knife and lunged, so there was no way it could have escaped cleanly. As a superior from the south, he apparently wanted to avoid the dishonor of having the food he'd brought as a souvenir run away on him.
"Meh!"
I didn't think it understood my words, but Lamb I seemed to realize something upon seeing the superior with his hand on the knife's hilt, and answered with a spirited cry. Upon hearing Lamb I's cry, Lamb II cracked its eyes open slightly — only to immediately fall back asleep. Lamb I, who had tried to stand up to Shiromaru, might be quite the character, but perhaps Lamb II was the bigger deal after all.
These two (especially Lamb I) seemed like the type that would escape from the carriage without anyone noticing, so until we reached the estate, I decided to keep them in the Dimension Bag where Shiromaru and the others were. When I tried to put them in the bag, Lamb I put up quite a fight, but once Lamb II was placed inside first (Lamb II went in without a moment's hesitation), Lamb I resignedly followed it into the bag. Just before I closed the bag's opening, I heard Lamb I thumping Lamb II, so there was clearly a defined hierarchy between the two.
"So it can't disobey its superior, huh... Sounds like a certain pair of sisters."
"Sisters? Those two aren't even related. And the one doing the thumping is female, while the one getting thumped is male."
"So it's going to be wearing the pants from day one, huh..."
It was at that moment that I decided to be a little gentler when dealing with Lamb II from now on.
"Tenma, it's about time we set off."
Grandpa said that from the driver's seat, so Amour and I said our goodbyes to everyone and climbed into the carriage. At that point, Slarin went inside with us, but Shiromaru and Solomon planned to follow alongside the carriage while doing a bit of exercise, so they stayed outside.
"It's been a good ride. If you ever come to the Royal Capital, drop by my estate. Even when we're not around, there should be someone there, so I'll make sure they'll let you in."
The moment those words ended, Grandpa gave Raiden the signal and the carriage started to move forward.
The people who had come to see us off were each waving or calling out in their own way, but among them, Robo Honorary Viscount was on the verge of tears, waving his arm so hard it looked like it might tear off.
"You can come back anytime! Actually, I'll come visit you myself—!"
"Don't bother. If we have kids, we'll come show you."
"Whyyyy—!!!"
Amour leaned out the window and answered Robo Honorary Viscount's words succinctly, voicing a desire that wasn't on my schedule at all. Robo Honorary Viscount let out a shriek at her words and dropped to his knees, expressing his despair through his entire body.
My plans were still undecided, and that sort of thing wasn't written on my schedule in the first place, so I stuck my face deep into the Dimension Bag to check on the two lambs inside and pretended I hadn't heard.
Inside the bag, where I'd stuck my face in to feign deafness, Lamb I appeared to have been poking at Gol and Zil, and had been wrapped up in thread and was rolling around. Meanwhile, Gol and Zil were performing some kind of mysterious ritual, walking around Lamb I in a strange dance. Perhaps they'd gotten the wrong idea and thought the two of them had been placed in the bag as their food.
"Gol, Zil, she's a new companion, so you can't eat her. You can eat this instead."
The two looked a little disappointed at my words, but took the pieces of Spear Elk I held out and ate them before I released Lamb I. At least that took care of the lambs potentially getting eaten, but I was now firmly convinced that Lamb II, who continued sleeping soundly even after being designated as food, would absolutely not be able to survive in the wild.
"Meh, meh, meh."
After that, Lamb I, who had been wrapped up in spider silk, was rescued by Slarin, who had noticed what was going on. Once rescued, Lamb I seemed to understand that in this place, the only one weaker than herself was Lamb II, and became comparatively docile.