If It’s for My Daughter, I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord: Volume 7

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If It’s for My Daughter, I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord: Volume 7 Page 8

by CHIROLU


  “That may be the case when it comes to teaching someone from scratch. All I did was offer a little advice, though. And it was just second-hand from Lady Rose, at that.”

  While listening to Latina say that, Dale thought on how Rose was acknowledged as one of the foremost priestesses and magic users in all of Laband by the duke himself. He also considered the matter that Latina had happened to be granted the opportunity to study under the sorts of instructors one normally could never learn under, no matter how much they wished for it. This included his former teacher, a high ranking priest of Asfar.

  Since it was the winter there was a somewhat dreary, lonesome feel to their surroundings. But as they were blessed with good weather today, there was also a warm, gentle, pleasant-feeling sunlight shining down upon them.

  Naturally, until they reached the forest they weren’t in magical beast territory, so it wasn’t very dangerous. Watching these girls of the same age have a pleasant chat as they walked along made for an incredibly peaceful sight. Of course, Dale also had an extremely gentle expression on his face while watching Latina.

  It was then that Dale suddenly sensed a presence and then glanced to his side. Elvira, who had been serving as their rear guard, was now standing a step closer than she had been before and was looking at Dale. Elvira was taller than Paula and Adelina, so that meant her gaze was all the closer to Dale’s. Unlike Paula, who had such a plain appearance that she could be mistaken for a man, this girl had a feminine appeal about her. She shot Dale a smile, acting a bit flirtatious.

  “Sir Dale, you’ve been taking on harsh jobs as an adventurer since you were even younger than us, right?”

  Not even breaking out in a strained laugh, Dale readily replied, “...An adventurer shouldn’t be trying to entice each and every one of her clients.”

  Dale remained calm and composed as he saw through the fact that Elvira’s actions were intentional, and he also wasn’t the sort to get taken in by a girl so many years his younger. Of course when he thought about his relationship with Latina, who was the same age as these other girls, he openly exposed his hypocrisy and ultimately dodged confronting the subject, but that just proved how special Latina was to him.

  Even when getting involved with noble high society, Dale was able to calmly deal with whatever came his direction. In a way, his deplorable actions when Latina was around didn’t allow for a proper assessment of the man.

  Though with that said, it was also hard to say that the “proper assessment” of society at large captured his true essence.

  Elvira looked half-disappointed, half-relieved by Dale’s reaction. Ultimately, though, the satisfaction of not being let down by the hero she idolized brought a smile to her face.

  “It’s my secret to success in life. I mean, Paula’s the way she is, too. So I figured if someone was going to look at me as a woman, then I should at least try to use that to my advantage.”

  “You may be thinking highly of yourself, but don’t underestimate what others are capable of.”

  “Thank you for the warning.”

  Perhaps because of the long period of time he had spent as Latina’s guardian, he was far more accustomed to seeing things from the perspective one would expect from someone of his age.

  Dale found it hard to judge whether it was an honor or otherwise to have Kenneth and the others give their stamp of approval as overseers of her safety.

  Before long, the forest came into view.

  This forest was one of the reasons behind Kreuz’s growth. As magical beast territory, it was a place where many adventurers gathered with their eyes on its many resources, supporting the abundance of Kreuz greatly even now.

  “According to Kenneth, they’re planning to open a path through here when diplomatic relations with Vassilios are established.”

  “Vassilios is isolated from other countries by this forest and a desert. Chrysos also said that she’d like to someday construct a port beyond the desert, but that her main priority was to develop this path between her nation and Laband,” Latina responded with a smile, apparently having heard of her sister’s hopes for the future.

  “Up until now there have only been animal trails... And those paths haven’t been carefully marked on maps, obviously.”

  “But even so, thanks to the cooperation of the regulars, we more or less have a grasp of the lay of the land. When they traveled on foot to Vassilios they were accompanied by an Akhdar priestess, so apparently there are detailed records.”

  Those records would in turn act to provide a portion of the funding for the temple of Akhdar. The principle conduct of priests of that god was to gather information, and there was no guarantee that would directly lead to profit. It was also possible that their expenses could overtake their earnings. Information like this, which one could expect great profit from, was an important source of income.

  “Then what is the new information they want?” Dale questioned.

  “You see, this job is also a sort of personal request from me and Chrysos...” Latina replied with a somewhat lonesome smile, and then spread out the rough map of the forest before them. She pointed out an area a little removed from the irregular line indicating the shortest path between Vassilios and Kreuz.

  “This is around where you and I first met, right, Dale?”

  “Hmm? Yeah.”

  “This is the area that Chrysos wanted to know about. Where Rag and I passed through... I’m not able to remember everything myself, though. But Chrysos said she wanted to know what it was like when Rag and I came to Laband after parting with her.”

  “...I see,” Dale responded, intentionally using a cheerful tone of voice.

  Doing so meant following her memories through to the point where death parted Latina and her father, as well as touching upon the painful memories of when she was exiled. But even so, she had apparently steeled herself for facing her past head on.

  Dale hadn’t expected Latina to tell him the precise reason why she decided this investigation should be carried out now. But she had told him anyways because they had decided they wouldn’t hide things from each other any longer.

  However, she was a bit of a natural airhead. Which is to say, at times she couldn’t quite read the room or the like. Dale could tell that, having raised her while pretending to be the same way himself.

  From the moment they stepped into the forest, the group of three was immediately on edge once again. Figuring there was no helping that considering their current abilities, Dale gave an awkward smile. As they were still just starting out the girls had primarily stuck to the outskirts of the forest, but now they were treading deep inside alongside Dale and Latina. The magical beasts would be showing up a lot more often, and they’d be a whole lot more dangerous, too. Dale and Vint may have often wandered into this part of the forest without a care in the world, but that was quite different from how adventurers at large would approach it.

  Even just a little rustling in the brush was enough to cause the group of three girls to jump. Dale found it interesting that it wasn’t them but Latina, an ordinary citizen, who was able to maintain her composure.

  “Latina?”

  “There’s no feeling of danger. And since you’re not putting your hand on your sword, it’s alright, isn’t it?” Latina responded without a care, looking at Dale.

  Apparently she wasn’t any more on edge than she needed to be thanks to her natural ability to sense danger, as well as her absolute trust in Dale.

  “I won’t tell you to relax as much as Latina, but...” Dale started with a strained smile, looking at Paula tightly gripping her weapon. “An escort job isn’t about beating magical beasts or anything like that. It’s about securing the safety of your client above all else. You should focus your attention on carefully watching your surroundings and predicting potential dangers.”

  There were a great deal of trees and undergrowth around, making for a great deal of cover, so that was easier said than done in this place. But put another way, if
they could succeed in such a task in this forest, it would make the group of three a great deal more experienced.

  That was why Dale had made that remark, but as soon as he said that, a large shadow flitted in between the trees in the distance. In that instant, Dale saw both Paula and Adelina brace their shoulders.

  “Don’t make any noise. We’re downwind, and it hasn’t noticed us.” Paula had been readying herself to launch a preemptive attack, only for Dale to hold her back with a quiet yet sharp voice. “There’s no need to fight each and every magical beast. You should consider just letting them pass, depending on the situation. It’s also important to choose to retreat when things get out of control.”

  Dale glanced over at Latina, and found that she had made the correct judgment and was calmly holding her breath. As she could cast delicate magic even without a tool to assist her, Latina would be able to deploy a magical barrier to protect everyone here if push came to shove.

  Even though they were just getting started, they were adventurers, a group that claimed to specialize in fighting skills. Dale couldn’t help but give an awkward chuckle at the fact that she was more accustomed to such things.

  Just as Dale had said, the magical beast in the distance passed on by without noticing them. The tension visibly drained from Paula and the others. They shouldn’t have let their guard down so readily, but Dale wasn’t harsh enough to tell them that right now.

  The pressure one felt facing a small magical beast didn’t even compare to that from a medium or large one. It was no surprise that just the thought of having to face it had caused them to freeze in place.

  We really do have a different foundation to work off of, seeing how I participated in the hunting groups ever since I was a kid...

  His home village of Tislow had a culture and customs separated from the world at large, and were a clan of exceptional ability.

  After having numerous such encounters with magical beasts, they arrived at a slightly more open area. The place had repeated a cycle of being overgrown and then that growth withering away, and was now covered in a great deal of weeds.

  “It’s because we haven’t come for a while...”

  “Yeah...”

  The tip of a large white stone could be vaguely seen from within the growth.

  While showing clear guilt at having left her father’s grave untended for such a long period of time, Latina slipped on leather gloves and looked ahead with a tense expression. It was the expression of someone with a passion for cleaning.

  “...You three, take lookout. If you discover a magical beast, you don’t necessarily have to attack it. And depending on the circumstances, I can join in.”

  As Latina’s objective right now was obviously stationary, it wasn’t possible to retreat this time. That was why Dale had made that statement, but the reaction from the girls was a little different than what they had shown before. Dale had no idea whatsoever that that was because of the possibility of seeing a legendary hero in battle.

  Weeds that had withered in the winter could be pulled free without having to reap them, but even so, it was no easy task.

  “We should’ve brought Vint along...”

  That pup who had announced he would hold down the fort specialized in Wind magic. He was strangely good at reaping down weeds and gathering them up, so he could have easily taken care of the task.

  A little bit removed from the gravestone, Dale used his Earth magic to open a hole and threw the withered weeds into it, then dealt with them using a fire-starting magical device. He also kept an eye on things to make sure that the flames didn’t spread to the dried surroundings. Since Dale was able to use Water magic, putting out fires was a specialty of his.

  Latina kept on diligently working away all the while, and thanks to that, the area around the grave was soon looking neat and tidy. She brought forth some water using a magical device, and then wiped away the dirt and filth from her father’s gravestone. And then, Latina knelt silently for a while in front of the now pure white gravestone.

  Far sooner than Dale had expected, Latina stood up and turned around to face him.

  “Was that really enough? That was pretty brief.”

  “Yeah,” Latina responded with a somewhat lonesome-looking smile. “I was able to check that it hadn’t fallen into ruin and managed to clean it up, so it’s fine. And also...” After being at a loss for words for a moment, Latina continued on as if it was nothing at all, “I managed... to tell him that I got to see Chrysos, so that’s enough.”

  Dale guessed from Latina’s expression that she didn’t want to expose too much of her inner self in front of Paula and the others.

  I guess if she let herself get too emotional, she’d end up crying...

  And so, Dale put his arm around the girl who was trying to act tough and pulled her in close, then gently stroked her head to console her.

  “Now then... shall we continue a bit further in? I don’t know how you made it this far either, Latina, but I guess we’ll need to head towards Vassilios and confirm the terrain either way, right?”

  Based on what he had heard from Latina, Dale guessed that her father wasn’t accustomed to camping and the like, but he was apparently a prudent person with a great deal of knowledge. The young Latina hadn’t understood the details at the time, but Dale supposed the man had decided on a precise destination, carefully navigating based on the positions of the stars. If he was aiming for a place where people lived, then his goal had most likely been Kreuz.

  “I don’t think... we should be straying too far from whatever path you took, probably.”

  The path they hoped to construct to Vassilios would be a highway. For the sake of the future, the goal would be to create a road that carriages could use, to facilitate trade between both countries. As such, it would be necessary to avoid swampland and places with bad footing. Checking the area for potential hazards was also one of their objectives on this trip.

  Latina sneaked a peek at the notes Dale was jotting down while walking along and tilted her head. His writing was overly concise and used plenty of symbols, so Latina couldn’t quite understand what it all meant.

  “It’s ultimately just notes... I just need to be able to understand it myself later, so I use abbreviations.”

  “It’s like it’s in code...”

  “Well, that’s more or less how things go when it comes to handling information.”

  Dale continued his investigation nonchalantly until the time came for him to select a location to camp, before the sun went down. He set down the luggage he had been carrying, and then began assembling their tent without asking for Latina’s assistance.

  “Latina...” Dale called out to the girl who had just stood up.

  “Right. I won’t go far, and if anything happens, I’ll call for you,” Latina responded with a slightly strained smile.

  Latina’s gaze fell on the group of three, who were sitting about in a state of exhaustion. They hadn’t ended up in combat a single time, but being in such a constant state of alertness had pushed their mental fatigue to the limit.

  Latina entered into the forest and started to gather up firewood. It was a dry season, so there was fortunately no lack of kindling to be found. Latina worked at a brisk pace, and after several trips to and from the campground, there was a mountain of firewood to work with.

  It grew chilly at night during this time of year, so there was no such thing as too much firewood.

  Latina then started to prepare the fire itself. She went with an open-air fire rather than constructing a furnace so that they could warm themselves around it at night. Then, she set up a pole over it so that a pot could be suspended there.

  “It’s going to get even colder, so... it’d be good to be able to get even a little warmer...” Latina muttered to herself, and then got started preparing food as if it were routine. As she was their client, her actions left Adelina looking flustered, but Latina reined the girl in with a single glance.

  “Alrigh
t, I’ve prepared the meat with salt and herbs.”

  As she cheerfully worked away at her outdoor cooking, it seemed quite apparent that she was enjoying the circumstances.

  “I’ll let it cook nice and slowly, so I suppose it’ll be done around when the sun sets... And I’ve also made a dessert to go with it. If I heat that up a bit, I think it’ll make for a good meal.”

  What Latina considered “outdoor cooking” had somehow diverged from what was the standard for adventurers.

  She skillfully set up the pot at the proper distance from the flame, so that the salted meat would simmer just right over low heat. Once she had finished making a clear soup base, she added in some diced up vegetables. The taste went without saying, but the way that she had also chosen to focus on its ability to warm someone up really showed her attention to detail.

  Once Dale finished preparing the tent and his other tasks, he approached the fire and was the first to be handed one of the smoked meat sandwiches Latina had prepared. Latina then went about preparing portions for Paula and the others.

  “I made a lot of soup, so eat as much as you want, alright? You don’t need to worry about leaving food for tomorrow morning.”

  As a light eater, Latina simply lightly toasted a slice of bread with just a single slice of cheese on top and then bit into it. She also took a taste of the soup, and gave a satisfied smile at her own work.

  Everyone else present also seemed to enjoy the meal. Looking ecstatic to see the pot now completely empty, Latina then swiftly cleaned it out and filled it with hot water. She started preparing tea in it, and then went into the tent with her and Dale’s portions of dessert.

  “Everyone else’s portions are over there. You can eat them as is, or I think it would also work well to heat them over the fire for a bit. And feel free to pour tea for yourselves, alright?”

  The tent that Dale had brought along was big enough for Latina and himself. Latina looked a little guilty that only they got to relax inside, but there was no way that it would be alright for adventurers to occupy their client’s tent.

 

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