by Hiro Ainana
Just then, a single shout brought an abrupt end to the tranquility.
“Runaway horse! Get out of the way!”
Not far away, I heard screams, neighing, and the sounds of people and things being knocked over willy-nilly.
Since we had just stepped back into the main street, I carried Nana over to the side of the road.
“Master! The larvae are in danger, I declare!”
There was a rare note of distress in Nana’s monotone voice. Looking back into the crowd, I saw the two sealfolk children crouching underfoot in terror.
A moment later, a large tigerfolk man accidentally tripped into the pair, kicking them both into the air.
“Larvae!” Nana cried.
Before I knew it, she had jumped out of my arms. Somersaulting through the air, she landed clear on the other side of the crowd in a matter of moments.
She seemed to have used the Foundation ability Body Strengthening, though I’d never seen it invoked so quickly.
At the same moment, the tigerfolk man looked over his shoulder at the children he’d kicked.
In a moment of poetic justice, the rampaging horse came bolting down the street straight toward him. The horse collided with the tigerfolk man, sending him flying into the air like a scene out of a gag manga.
I was concerned for both the man and the horse, but first I ran over to Nana, who was holding the two sealfolk kids in her arms.
“Master, master! The larvae are leaking liquid from their mouths. Emergency treatment is required, I request. Please hurry quickly and with utmost urgency, I entreat!”
I took a few potions out of Storage through my pocket and had the two sealfolk children drink them.
Their HP gauges quickly returned to normal in the AR display.
Just in time.
I wasn’t sure why, but the crowd of onlookers who’d gathered around us all cheered.
Sealfolk must be pretty popular. No wonder Nana found them so charming.
The rampaging horse turned out to have a Wings of Freedom member as its rider, so the guards were quick to tie him up and take him away.
The tigerfolk man was bloodstained and unconscious, but I didn’t see any serious threat to his life, so I stood by as other tigerfolk carried him away. However, I didn’t feel like offering him a potion, because he never apologized to the children.
Deciding not to deal with any more leftover cult stragglers, I searched the old capital on the map again.
Aside from the ones who had just been arrested, the only remaining members were all imprisoned, either in jail or at the duke’s castle. Expanding the search range a little, I found several more members aboard a boat entering the harbor.
I could hardly just leave dangerous terrorists alone, but going to arrest them myself would be a pain—I mean, outside my authority. Better to leave these things to the professionals.
“I have a message from His Grace the duke.”
“What? Where are you?”
I slipped down a back alley and used my “Ventriloquism” skill to whisper to the guard captain standing on the main street.
I thought this was more than ventriloquism, but I wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
“There are surviving members of the Wings of Freedom aboard a ship currently entering the harbor, the SS Liberation. You are to raid the ship and capture them.”
The captain looked more dubious than convinced, so I added, “You must act quickly.” At that, he seemed to decide it was best not to ignore it and gathered a few men to head over to the harbor.
Since the guards here had some skill, I figured I should be able to leave the rest to them.
“…Yummy.”
When I went back to Nana, I found the sealfolk kids still licking the insides of the vials from the potions. They must have liked the sweetener I added.
Watching them, I remembered little Ine, the witch’s apprentice who I’d met in Kuhanou County. No doubt she was still studying away under the old witch’s guidance.
“Master, I would like us to adopt these children, I propose.”
Nana held up the two sealfolk kids pleadingly. The sisters made no move to protest, still absorbed in licking the last drops from their vials.
“No.”
“Master, please reconsider.”
“Sorry, Nana.”
Nana pleadingly came closer, but I couldn’t just give in to her this time.
Before long, the distant ringing of bells sent the children into a panic in Nana’s arms.
Of course, I instructed her to let them go. She hesitated a little, but seeing how frantic the children were, she relented and put them down.
For some reason, the two were heading toward the rest of our group, so we ended up following behind them.
The sealfolk kids led us to a plaza lined by seven temples, where various priests and volunteers were currently feeding the hungry.
Which was great and all, but…
“Line uuup, line uuup?”
“Please get in line, sir! Cutting is a no-no, sir.”
For reasons unknown, Tama and Pochi were supervising the line.
Mia was there, too, not helping them but playing a leaf flute while staring at the crowd curiously. Evidently she wasn’t used to seeing lines like this.
“The line ends here. Please have your bowls ready and line up in three columns.”
“You there! Don’t fight, or we’ll send you to the back!”
Liza and Arisa were in charge of the end of the queue.
The sealfolk kids joined the throng per their instructions. Nana moved to line up with them, and I put my hand lightly on her shoulder to stop her.
“Oh, master, there you are. What were you and Nana doing?”
“She wanted to protect those kids.”
I briefly explained to Arisa about the runaway horse situation.
“Is that right? Here I thought you went off to mess around together somewhere.”
Even if that was true, I was sure Mia would have found us right away.
Last time I asked her how she was able to track me down, she’d simply answered, “Spirits,” so maybe they helped her find me or something. It certainly struck me as the kind of thing an elf would do in a fantasy world.
“So how did you all end up helping with this soup kitchen line, anyway?”
“It just sort of happened, I guess? A bunch of beastfolk men were pushing through the line and causing a ruckus, so Pochi scolded them. When they tried to attack her, Liza and the others had to take them down a notch. Next thing you know, we were volunteering to help with crowd control.”
I see. I could certainly picture all that unfolding.
“That’s good, I guess. Then why is Lulu helping out in the booth?”
“There was an older lady doing the serving, but she got injured while those jerks were causing trouble.”
Mia was able to heal the old woman’s wounds, but she was still in shock from the violence, so she ended up going home. As a result, they were short-staffed, and Lulu offered to help.
“There’s only about an hour left. Do you mind if we stay and help? I’d hate to ditch them halfway through.”
“Of course.”
Interacting with the locals was an important part of sightseeing. Besides, I saw someone I knew standing next to Lulu.
I wanted to bring Nana to help them as well, but she refused to leave the sealfolk kids, so I let her have her way.
“Master!”
Lulu noticed me and smiled brightly, a bandanna tied around her black hair. If she had a tail like Pochi’s, I guarantee it would have been wagging like crazy.
“Satou!”
Then, stepping out from behind Lulu, wearing a pure-white shrine maiden–like outfit, Sara smiled at me, too.
It was hard to believe that just yesterday she’d been bedridden with the status condition Weakened: Mild. Must be nice to be so young.
“Good to see you again, Lady Sara…” I managed to ca
tch myself right before adding, How are you feeling?
“So we meet again.”
Sara’s voice was full of emotions, and her eyes caught mine and refused to let go.
…Like a maiden in love.
“Well, I did promise you at the castle in Gururian City.”
“……Of course.”
Caught up in the moment, I spoke with more charm in my voice than I’d intended.
I suspect that was the cause of the strange silence hovering in the air.
It was broken by little growls from Arisa and Mia, who had approached without my noticing.
Sorry, Sara, but it looks like the romantic mood ends here.
I bopped the two younger girls on the head to reset the tone of the conversation.
“By the way, you came here on an emergency summons from the temple, right? Has the issue been resolved already?”
“Y-yes… It was a false alarm, it seems.”
“A false alarm?”
“Indeed.”
Sara bit her lip and nodded.
The men who’d plotted to resurrect the demon lord with Sara as a sacrifice must have sent the summons.
Putting that in the back of my mind, I tried to lighten the mood with a friendly chat.
Suddenly, I felt eyes boring into me from behind, so I turned around.
Miss Karina was watching me intently, but behind her, I saw a group of temple knights in the shade of a grove near the food stall.
They must be watching over Miss Sara. Among them, I saw the young man and woman I’d met in Muno Barony. Sir Keon Bobino was nowhere to be seen—unsurprising, considering his family’s current situation.
Having just recovered after losing her life in a sacrificial ceremony to summon a demon lord, Sara naturally had increased security. Aside from the temple knights, there were several imperial knights disguised as citizens hovering nearby.
I wondered why they hadn’t intervened earlier when my kids had to stop the ruckus, but it was probably either because Sara herself wasn’t in danger or because the beastfolk girls simply moved faster.
“Lady Sara, the people in line are waiting.”
“Oh no, I’m sorry.”
“My apologies for interrupting. I’ll go and help with the cooking while you get back to serving, if that’s all right.”
I felt bad for making the people wait, so I decided to move out of the way.
Seeing Sara and Lulu handing out food together was truly a sight for sore eyes. I felt like a staff member keeping an eye on an idol duo’s meet-and-greet event.
The food they were distributing looked to be a seaweed-based soup with dumplings inside. As far as I could tell, there weren’t enough hands making the dumplings; I went to offer my assistance.
“Here, let me help.”
“No, it’s all right, erm…sire. I couldn’t have a noble help us, sire.”
One of the older ladies who was cooking politely refused. Her manner of addressing me was a little strange.
“It’s all right. Sir Knight here is a friendly fellow. Back home, he even made sweets for the children in town.”
“W-well, if you say so, Pina.”
Miss Karina’s maid escort Pina was kind enough to vouch for me as she helped with the cooking herself.
The other maid, Erina, was watching the work from beside the booth. At some point, Mia wandered over to sit with them, still playing her leaf flute.
After exchanging brief greetings, I started helping the other cooks.
“Please wear this, young master.”
A young lady offered me an apron, commenting that it would be a shame for my clothes to get dirty.
Her task of grinding fish paste looked like the hardest, so I took over for her.
Bored of hanging around, Mia came over to peer at what I was doing.
“Little miss, would you come and make dumplings with me?”
“Mm, sure.”
Mia shuffled over to help the older lady.
“Lady Karina, would you like to join Mia as well?”
“I–I…erm…n-no, thank you!”
Miss Karina had made it clear she wanted to join in, but she turned down my invitation. She was probably too nervous about interacting with strangers.
Well, I don’t want to force her to do anything.
“You’re rather strong for a noble.”
One of the old ladies came over to praise me.
“If you like, why don’t you come work at our shop? You can marry my daughter.”
What is it with old ladies and their matchmaking schemes?
“No.”
“““N-no!”””
Mia and Lulu were quick to decline on my behalf. Oddly enough, Sara and Mia spoke in perfect unison with Lulu.
“““…Huh?”””
All three of them looked at one another in surprise.
It was cute to see Lulu and Sara clap their hands to their mouths and all, but the people waiting for food were glaring at me. I prompted them to return to their work.
Miss Karina wasn’t bothering anyone, though, so I left her alone with her obvious surprise.
Sara and Lulu were too young to be romantic interests for me, but they were certainly cute to look at. Maybe in five years or so, they could form a duo.
Or wait, maybe Miss Karina could join them, too, and make an idol group?
In that case, though, we’d have to do something about Miss Karina’s shyness first.
Before long, the soup kitchen closed up for the day without too much difficulty.
There were a few people exclaiming about how the meat dumplings suddenly turned into gourmet cuisine partway through, but a glare from Liza silenced them before it turned into a riot.
I guess my maxed-out “Cooking” skill was probably to blame for that, huh?
“Helping out is great and all, but keep it in check next time!” Arisa chided me in a whisper.
Well, excuse me for not realizing I had to restrain myself when all I was doing was grinding fish paste with a mortar.
Even if I turned off certain skills, it didn’t change much at this point. After using “Formulation” and “Transmutation” enough times, I was able to deliberately make items of lower quality, so maybe the same would prove true with enough “Cooking” experience.
I don’t really want to make gross food on purpose, though. If I’m going to cook, it might as well be tasty.
Chatting as I cooked with the older ladies, who were mostly local housewives and temple peons, I learned a lot about the soup kitchen and downtown life.
The five local temples took turns running the soup kitchen, which was held once every other day. The temples, as well as contributions from local nobles and celebrities, covered the costs.
Because the priest in charge of collecting donations happened to be around while we were discussing this, I gave ten gold coins, much to his shock. As it turned out, a lesser noble like myself would usually just donate a few silvers.
As I was reflecting on all this, we finished cleaning up after the cooking, so everyone helped carry the equipment to the nearby Tenion Temple in the plaza.
By the way, the temple where I visited the head priestess was in the nobles’ quarter. This one was evidently for commoners.
“Cleaniiing!”
“Sir!”
Tama and Pochi made for an adorable sign as they hoisted a long table in the air together.
“One-two, hup!” Arisa was directing them by waving a stick in the air.
“I’m sorry you wound up helping us clean, too.”
“It’s no trouble at all; don’t worry.”
I was just having a normal conversation with Sara, Mia. You didn’t need to kick me in the butt.
Lulu walked by carrying a heavy-looking stockpot as if it weighed next to nothing. Thanks to the benefits of leveling up, even Lulu was stronger than the average adult male now.
“Look up there!”
“It’s Lady Ringrande!”
/> The pair of young temple knights exclaimed and pointed at the sky.
Ah, this feels like déjà vu.
I looked up to see a familiar flying wooden horse with a lovely woman aboard descending toward us.
“Sister Rin…”
Sara scrunched up her face in a childish pout, an unusual expression for her.
As the cheers of “Ringrande!” started up around us, Sara frowned and pulled me by the hand into the temple storehouse. The other kids panicked and followed behind us, still holding the cooking equipment.
“Lady Sara, don’t you want to greet your elder sister?”
“N-not really. I left the house of Duke Ougoch, after all…”
I wanted to try to mediate between the sisters, but Sara wasn’t having any of it. I guess she really wasn’t too fond of her older sister.
“Sara! There you are!”
Bursting through the door of the temple and into the storehouse, Miss Ringrande called out to Sara with a huge smile.
Miss Ringrande, on the other hand, seemed to love her little sister.
“You’ve gotten so big since I last saw you! You used to be so small— Oh? Is that Satou?”
Miss Ringrande stopped in the middle of her attempt at friendly conversation with her sister and stared at me. Then her eyes flicked over my hand, still joined with Sara’s.
Arisa’s and Mia’s intense, reproachful stares had probably drawn her attention.
The rest of the group had already gone back to helping with the equipment, but Arisa and Mia had stayed behind as chaperones.
“Satou, you’re awfully close with my sister, aren’t you?”
“Satou… Have you and Sister Rin met before?”
Miss Ringrande and Sara were both gazing at me intently.
…Huh? What is this, a soap opera?
I couldn’t keep my heart from pounding at being interrogated by two beautiful sisters, but I forced myself to calmly answer them in turn.
“I became acquainted with Lady Ringrande when she briefly landed on the ship we took to the old capital.”
“Come now, why be so reserved after the exciting encounter we had on that ship?”
Miss Ringrande’s response to my simple explanation was just begging to be misinterpreted.
“……E-exciting encounter…?” Sara repeated.
She was starting to glare at her sister like a mortal enemy, so I hastily intervened.