by Funa
I could hardly blame him for thinking that way. I guess that wasn’t too much to ask...
And so, I took the others with me to board the ship. Yup, without cannons on board, it was more like an army ship than a naval battleship. For naval combat, they must have used marine soldiers, and if it came down to it, the members of the crew could have picked up swords and fought.
I figured the main purpose of this ship was transportation of goods and men, anyway, not combat. It may have been military men operating the ship, but maybe it was more appropriate to call it a transport.
After taking a closer look, I thought they had accomplished a lot in such a short time, what with using only a model ship as reference and having none of the basic technology beforehand. A professional must have done the strength calculations and such, but there were fewer leaks than I expected, and the sails had been upgraded from the time I had been there to help plan out the design.
Yeah, they were doing a good job. I was the one who had raised these ‘kids,’ after all!
“Kaoru... This figurehead...”
Okay, let’s get out of here!
What are you all doing? It’s time to go! On to the next city!
Damn it!
＊ ＊
“What? She’s already gone?”
Fernand, Crown Prince of Brancott, had finally arrived at the neighboring Kingdom of Jusral’s capital, Litenia, only to find that all that was left of Layette’s Atelier was an empty storefront. Caught by surprise, he had his attendants search the surrounding shops, but they all said the same thing: the Angel had departed to fulfill her next mission.
Fernand’s group had gone straight to Layette’s Atelier, despite having claimed that this was a courtesy visit to the king, and he finally decided to head over to the royal palace. This was, of course, to gather information about Kaoru.
“What? She left the country already?”
He even asked about Kaoru during his audience with the king.
This was considered extremely rude, of course, but the king quickly surmised what this was all about from the way Fernand acted and therefore responded with a forced smile. Fabio and Alan, who had accompanied Fernand, bowed their heads apologetically behind their crown prince.
They felt quite anxious about the whole thing, given that it had the potential to devolve into a major diplomatic faux pas. Fortunately for them, the king was a gracious man.
Fernand was no fool. Normally, there was no way he would act in such a manner. He was generally able to handle most diplomacy flawlessly, so Fabio hadn’t been worried about this meeting with the king, and thus the error had come entirely unexpectedly. It seemed that all of his reasoning abilities flew out the window when it came to Kaoru.
Alan pinched Fernand’s butt from behind, shocking him back to his senses. Fernand finally paid his respects with all proper courtesy, but still asked about Kaoru again later on.
“I see. So, wishing to avoid a commotion, she has headed east without returning to the royal capital...”
“Indeed. To think, she may have decided to stay here if that had not happened... It truly is a shame. But it would have been truly arrogant to ask for such a thing after she saved our kingdom from danger. Upon saving us, the Angel has departed to fulfill her next task. All we could do was give her our full appreciation...”
“...”
The king wanted to tell the young and inexperienced prince that he should not be so attached to the Angel, and that even though Fernand was royalty, there were some things he must not try to make his own. However, the message didn’t seem to get through to the crown prince, and the king could only force himself to smile again.
Fabio and Allan had picked up on the message, of course, but remained exasperated by Fernand, who suddenly turned into an idiot when it came to matters involving Kaoru.
When the group had expressed their gratitude and was preparing to leave, the king called out to Fernand.
“When you return, would you be so kind as to pass along a message to your father?”
“Yes, of course. What would you like to tell him?”
The king replied, “Good. ‘If you wish for me to forget about your son’s many discourtesies, hand over half of that secret wine collection you were boasting about a while back.’ Please tell him I said that.”
“Huh...?”
At that moment, Fernand finally came to understand how remiss he had been with his lack of etiquette during this visit, and that his attitude had completely given away that he had only come to gather information on Kaoru.
“M-My apologies! I-I’ve displayed such insolent behavior... I do beg your forgiveness...” Fernand desperately bowed his head, but the king waved his hand with a laugh.
“It’s no matter... Well, I suppose I shouldn’t say that. Listen closely. If I had been any other ruler, this could have been a major incident, or you may have been subject to punitive demands in response. Although, knowing him, having half of his beloved wine collection taken from him may be more than enough punishment.
“In any case, you must be more conscious of your position and of the responsibilities you carry on your shoulders. Otherwise, you may lose something far more important than your father’s wine. Be it your honor, the lives of your people, or something else entirely... Take this to heart, crown prince of the Kingdom of Brancott! And do not forget to pass along my message about the wine!”
...That would’ve been a nice speech if he had left that last part out.
And so, Fernand checked into a room at the finest inn in the capital. He had, of course, made a reservation before coming out here. This was merely a courtesy visit, and he hadn’t come as an official guest, so he couldn’t stay overnight at the royal palace.
“What will you do, Fernand?”
“...I have no choice. Even if I headed east now, Kaoru will already be gone. If I had laid the proper groundwork in my visit here, I may have gotten away with saying ‘I happened to meet up with an old friend, we hit it off, and so we went back home together,’ but if I go to yet another country without any warning, act suspiciously, then take a girl from a foreign land back with me, I’d have serious trouble when the national authorities found out...”
“Ah, it seems you still have some capacity to think rationally. I’m relieved.”
“Now listen here...”
Fernand looked displeased at Fabio’s expression of relief. But with the near-incident he had been responsible for at the palace earlier, he couldn’t get too upset.
“Then shall we return home?” asked Fabio.
Of course, Fernand hadn’t come with just himself and his two friends. It was an official courtesy visit by the crown prince to a neighboring realm, so they had a decent-sized party with them, one that included attendants and guards.
They had to return as soon as they were done with their business, or they would create endless trouble for the attendants and other staff who were performing their regular duties without the rest of their colleagues. He had brought them this far for his own benefit, despite the trouble it had caused. He couldn’t continue to be selfish like this.
“I suppose I have no choice...” Fernand said, then a voice spoke to him from his side.
“...I’ll go.”
“Huh?” Fernand and Fabio blurted in unison.
“Allan? What are you...”
“It’d be problematic for you to go around without making prior arrangements first, Fernand. Besides, all these attendants and guards make you incredibly conspicuous, and sneaking around with just the three of us sounds fun, but it just wouldn’t fly. If you had been a third son or something, maybe, but you’re the crown prince...”
Fernand stayed silent, a sour expression on his face.
“So, I have an idea. I, holder of the title ‘least noble-looking guy in the world,’ who is often said to look like a simple huntsman or guard behind my back, will go after her by myself. Once you get home, I want you to write an official letter assignin
g me the task of pursuing the Angel, and hand it to my father. That way, I can act freely, since I’m on an official mission from the crown prince. And since I’m just the son of an ordinary noble, it won’t be an issue if I go to other countries without prior notice. What do you think? Good idea, right?”
“Allan, you...”
“...You just want to do this because it sounds like a fun adventure, don’t you?!” Fernand and Fabio shouted in unison.
Fabio followed up with another accusation.
“And you wouldn’t even come back if you do manage to find Kaoru! You’re plotting to stick with her and follow her on her travels while leaving me to take care of Fernand!”
A bead of sweat rolled down Allan’s head as he averted his eyes.
Then Fernand turned to Fabio, shouting, “What do you mean ‘take care of’ me?!”
Their room was rather noisy, despite it being late at night, but no one dared complain...
＊ ＊
When Fernand awakened the next morning, Allan was nowhere to be seen. Instead, he found a single letter...
“Send that letter to my father for me. I’ll handle the rest!”
“He got us!!!” the two remaining men yelled.
Allan had snuck out of the inn late in the night, taken his horse out of the stable, and ridden off onto the main road with glee. He was headed, of course, east from the capital.
There had been only starlight illuminating his path when he had left, but he was under no particular time constraint, so it was safe for him to travel as long as he went slowly. Fernand’s group wouldn’t pursue him, anyway, and he only had to make enough distance so they’d think he had gotten away completely, and therefore he decided to walk his horse at a leisurely pace until daybreak.
He would pass through the village Kaoru had saved, continue east, then head to the neighboring country. Judging by Kaoru’s movements up to this point, it was clear that she was staying in each region as long as she felt like doing so, rather than rushing off to a certain destination.
This meant that Allan had no reason to rush, either. His task was quite simple: he just needed to look around the local inns, medicine shops, and boxed lunch shops for any unusual rumors whenever he stopped in a mid-sized city.
Kaoru left traces at every stop, almost as if she had no intention of hiding her whereabouts. Maybe she really didn’t. She was just traveling around and helping people, seemingly at random, and it wasn’t as if she was running away from anyone. Allan had a feeling this was an opportunity to say goodbye to a boring life. This thought put him in a good mood.
Allan continued along his path, humming as he did so. He passed through the village to the east, then continued moving eastward until the intersection with the road stretching to the north and south, then...
Chapter 31: Beliscas
The group crossed over the border, out of the Kingdom of Jusral, and entered the eastern land of Beliscas.
This country did have a king, but it didn’t operate under an absolute monarchical system. It was actually more like a republic, though it wasn’t fully considered one, nor was it a complete democracy either.
That was why it didn’t have a particular appellation, and was simply referred to as Beliscas. Its capital, Jammus, was located roughly in the center of the country.
“What should we do, Kaoru? We already crossed the border, but if you want to go to the capital city, we’ll need to head northeast...”
“Oh, we’ll keep going along the ocean for now...” Kaoru said, cutting off Francette’s comment. It had been a while since Kaoru had seen the ocean, so she wanted to maintain that view for a little while longer.
Since marine transportation and the fishing industry still hadn’t flourished on this continent, there weren’t many countries with their capitals on the land near the coast, so you needed to go inland to get to the royal and imperial capitals. And now that they were on the main section of the continent, rather than on the peninsulas, there was a lot of internal territory that didn’t face the sea. Therefore, they would’ve had to leave the coastline eventually, anyway.
Although, they didn’t necessarily have to move inland, unless there was some specific reason to go to the capital... Regardless, Kaoru and her party continued down the coastal road.
“Oh, there’s a city up ahead,” Emile called out from the head of the group, and sure enough, a cluster of buildings could be seen in the distance.
They could see a substantial distance from the bend in the road they were walking on, and thus could tell that it would still be some time before they arrived at the town. They were in no particular hurry, of course, and continued moving at a leisurely pace.
“It seems to be a fairly big place. What do you think, Kaoru?”
“Hmm, we already crossed the border, so maybe we’ll stay there. I wouldn’t mind living there for a while, if it’s a nice place.” Kaoru replied to Francette.
Roland frowned slightly, since it would be unfortunate if she actually decided to take up permanent residence elsewhere.
Emile and Belle actually wanted Kaoru to return to Balmore and live with the other orphans in the Eyes of the Goddess, but they had no intention of pushing their own desires onto her, or trying to influence her decisions.
As for Francette, Kaoru was her main priority. She wanted to follow Kaoru wherever she went, but knew she likely couldn’t keep that up with Roland tagging along, given that he was royalty.
If only I had come alone.
If only Roland wasn’t here.
Francette couldn’t stop those thoughts from lingering in her mind.
Maybe I got married too quickly...
No, we aren’t married quite yet.
I could still call off the marriage...
Roland would likely fall unconscious if he ever found out those thoughts were in her head.
Kaoru had given Francette a chance at marriage after she had given up, and now Francette was considering abandoning her future partner to stay by Kaoru’s side. She was completely at a loss as to what her priorities were.
“Kaoru, I wanted to ask you for a favor...” Francette approached Kaoru to make a direct appeal.
“What is it?”
“I want to be someone who can live with you in your next ‘backstory.’ It’s a bit too difficult to keep watch over you at all times when we live in separate residences...”
“Of course it would be difficult! What did... Wait, why were you watching me at all times in the first place?!” Kaoru yelled with exasperation, but didn’t notice Francette hadn’t used the phrase ‘we’ or ‘us’ in her proposal.
But Roland, who had noticed this little detail, turned pale at the realization.
＊ ＊
We finally arrived at the entrance of the city. It had taken some time to get here after we had first spotted the buildings in the distance.
Hmm, what sort of job would let me have interactions with the locals...
The medicine shop idea ended up being a failure. I mean, it made a decent profit, but it failed to assist with my main objective of having a quiet life, blending in with the residents of the city, and finding a good husband. The boxed lunch business had been a hit, but the prep needed to mass-produce them every day was a bit too much work.
This time, I wanted to take it easy.
But then again, most jobs weren’t easy, and I wouldn’t have opportunities to meet guys outside of the workplace if I worked every day.
Since I didn’t have skills that translated into anything that might get me hired as a professional in this world, my only options for working normally, without standing out by using my cheat abilities, were things like clerking, factory jobs, and other straightforward labor.
A clerk might have some opportunities to meet men, but the other jobs, not so much...
A maid? That’s actually pretty hard work, and requires a decent amount of skill. Plus, there were very few chances to meet men other than colleagues and residents
of the employer’s house. Besides, my daily workload would be far too much to bear.
I wanted a job that allowed me to do as I pleased, and one that didn’t require me to be too concerned about interpersonal relations, which meant self-employment was the best option.
First, I’ll make ten tank-type potion containers and... No, that’s the ‘Self-Defense Force!’
“Anyway, after having learned important lessons from my previous mistakes, I’ve decided to go with this setup!” I declared in front of the city’s entrance, to the group of unimpressed faces.
I continued my explanation anyway.
“First, our jobs... We will be running a normal shop.”
“...” Roland and Francette gave me their best dubious expressions, apparently hung up on the “normal” part.
...Shaddup!
“It’s not going to be a boxed lunch shop?” Belle asked, but...
“No, that’s too much work. Far too much work for food that doesn’t keep well. Pass!”
I did have the Item Box, but the meals degraded while they were on display, and doing the prep work every night and making lots of meals early in the morning was hell.
Francette, who I had forced to help us out in a tight spot, was obviously relieved.
“So, we’ll be selling something other than food. Something that’s easy to make, that doesn’t spoil, and that doesn’t require unnecessary hard work on our part!”
Selling things like general goods and ornaments would be so much easier. Especially when compared to a fish shop or a fruit and vegetable shop...
Everyone in the perishable foods industry, thank you for your hard work! No night-time prepping, early morning work, or kitchen work. Even if we didn’t sell out our stock each day, we could just leave it on the shelves. We wouldn’t need to store the items in the fridge or dispose of them. If we had to take time off out of nowhere, the business wouldn’t be affected. No worries about food poisoning or food going bad either. And when I’m putting discount stickers on the stock before opening time, I wouldn’t be harassed by a mob of old ladies to hurry up.