Tsubaki advanced to the north on a furrowed road.
「I wonder if Vanga-san and Martha-san are doing well. Is Bobon-san making a hand pump?」
「Takumi-sama, you seem very happy.」
「I am. They’re the people who took care of me before I met you guys, after all.」
「Master! Kaede also excited to meet Martha-san!」
「Oh right, I met Kaede near Bohd Village. But they might not immediately realize it’s you when they see the you now, Kaede.」
「Muu~~!」
Kaede was all sullen, but the Kaede during that time in Bohd village was a monster spider I found from who knows where. The only thing that remained is the leaf pattern on her spider body. Kaede was popular with the village wives, so their impression of her might be strong.
「You met Papeck-dono there, didn’t you?」
「Un, the Papeck Company is large now, but I first met him when he came to do his periodic peddling so he wouldn’t forget his initial resolution.」
From Bohd village to Volton town was 3 days on a carriage pulled by a normal horse, but it’s possible to arrive in 1 day on the carriage pulled by Tsubaki. But the sun is setting so we’re stopping to camp for the night before arriving to Bohd Village.
Although I say it’s a camp since we take turns keeping watch, we sleep inside the carriage so it’s not strictly a camp. “Sleeping on a soft bed ain’t camping!” as Lyle-san would say.
「…… it’s an amazing carriage. What’s pulling it isn’t a horse anymore though.」
「It’s my first time seeing a Dragon Horse.」
To Akane-san and Lulu-chan, our carriage and the Dragon Horse Tsubaki seemed to have been surprising.
We searched for a spot to camp in before the sun set completely, then Maria and I started preparing dinner.
「Eh?! Iruma-san will cook?」
「Eh? Is it that surprising?」
Akane-san was surprised, but I’m an artisan, and cooking is also a creation.
「I might not have said this to you, Akane-san, but my primary jobs are Alchemist and Blacksmith, and there are others but they’re also production jobs. Sewing and cooking are about making things, too.」
「No, an A rank adventurer with production jobs is strange.」
When Akane-san said so, Lulu-chan nodded in agreement. Is it that strange?
Maria and I divided the work as we cooked; We quickly made food.
Today’s menu is beef stew. Well, it’s not your regular beef though, it’s the meat of a Black Buffalo.
『Age[1]』 magic was used on the meat. The flavor changed completely with this. In reality, stews take a long time, but that, too, was shortened by magic and all the cooking was finished in an hour.
「S, so delicious!」
「……………………………」
Akane-san exclaimed and was moved to tears, while Lulu-chan’s hands didn’t stop moving as she ate the beef stew silently.
「When camping, we could only eat dried meats and hard bread soaked in water.」
「That’s normal. I think our camp is just special.」
When eating at a normal camp, meals are oftentimes dried meats and hard bread devoid of any moisture. We have the Item Box and the Magic Bag I created, so we can stock up on foodstuff. Furthermore, the carriage has a kitchen installed into it, so we can have meals no different from the ones we have at the mansion. Even I can understand their surprise.
「In the first place, this carriage is also strange. Why is the interior so spacious? There’s a large bed, a living room, a kitchen, and even a toilet and a shower!」
「That’s because the carriage has space expansion.」
The exceedingly comfortable carriage made her remember her camps so far. Normally there are no toilets so picking flowers[2] is a must when during breaks.
Frankly, I could teleport everyone if it’s only as far as Bohd village, but Tsubaki would sulk if we teleport too much, so we travelled by carriage this time.
「The smell of human waste was horrible even in Sydnia’s Holy City. The restrooms in the castle reeked, I couldn’t take baths everyday, and the food was mostly salty……………」
Akane-san’s complaints were endless. It’s true that when I first arrived at Volton, I remember being disgusted by the smell that wafted in the city.
「The smell of the town had me beat too, you know. I couldn’t bear it anymore so I made the Purifier MD and the Toilet Purifier MD.」
「That’s just it, Iruma-san is so unfair! To have made a pleasant environment like this by yourself…」
It seems like until the modern-age-Japan-raised Akane-san was able to use 『Purification』, it was agonizing to go to the restroom.
「Still, I couldn’t openly use purifying magic to remove the filth.」
Since Sydnia, the Light God Faith, declares that Light Attribute magic is a sacred magic bestowed to them by God, the purification of filth is fundamentally prohibited. Of course, they have taken measures to embargo the Purifier MD and the like. The exception is when priests periodically purify the accumulated filth at towns, in exchange for large sums of remuneration. Previously, their priests took turns with those from the Genesis Faith to do the purification even in the royal capitals of Valkyra and Lomaria, but with the popularization the Purifier MD I made, they’ve lost that job now.
Well, I think the extent of using purifying magic to clean bodies and even rooms and foodstuff is something only we would do though.
「Well, I’ve always been an artisan since I was in Bohd village, and creating things was my job. Even so, when I was in Bohd village, I used purifying magic on myself. But when I first arrived at Volton, I immediately thought to make the magic devices.」
「By the way, Takumi-sama, how long will we be staying in Bohd Village? We delivered a larger quantity of products to the Papeck Company in advance though, so a short while will be alright.」
I gave it a little bit of thought when Laeva asked how many days we’re staying. Margrave Volton said it would be alright if we relax and take it easy while they were gathering information.
「Maybe around 10 days.」
「In that case, it’s okay.」
「…… as distasteful as this is to ask, are Iruma-san and everyone terrifyingly rich people? Your house is a mansion, you own this carriage, and above all, Sophia-san and the others were bought as slaves, weren’t they?」
「……y-yeah, well, I guess I have a lot of money. I bought Sophia and Maria to be my bodyguard and have someone I could leave the management of the house and other things to, and Laeva is my assistant at alchemy and smithing. Marnie isn’t a slave.」
「But Takumi-sama being a rich person is true. The sum from even just the royalties is nothing to sneeze at.」
「Thought so.」
Sophia confirmed it and, for some reason, glowered at Akane-san.
「Akane-san, we’re a B rank party. Even with just the rewards from being adventurers, a mansion of that size is reasonable.」
「……We had almost no freedom since being summoned, so I couldn’t trust in Sydnia from the beginning. I tried gathering all kinds of information though, like how Sydnia’s organization was shady, and there was nothing about their way of thinking that I could accept………」
I guess a lot of things had piled up in her. I couldn’t follow up very well for Akane-san, who looked to be in pain.
「I was just lucky. Norn-sama was overly protective of me, and everyone good to me when I arrived at Bohd Village.」
Akane-san and the others were still senior high school students[3]. How much grief is it to be forcefully separated from one’s parents and siblings? I was an unsuccessful salaryman in my 40’s whose parents had already passed and had no siblings, so I couldn’t share that type of grief.
I think my mental structure changed when I came here to Mildgard in this body. That’s why although I had feelings of aversion, I wasn’t in disarray the first time I killed thieves and bandits. I changed so much from my time in Japan and I was scared of myself, but I adapted surprisingly fast.
In comparison, I think Akane-san is at a level where she has to get physiological counseling if she were in Japan.
We left early the next morning and reached the vicinity of Bohd village still in the morning.
「Ah!」
Akane-san, who was gazing outside the carriage, looked forward and exclaimed.
「That is Bohd village.」
What came into view was a village within nature. It was Bohd village, greatly expanded compared to when I was there.
***
Footnotes: