157-Chapter 10-2 Chris, Runaway

We arrived in King's Landing with no problems. It would be roughly five days?

We didn't make any major stops along the way, but one thing about the wild cows bothered me, so I stopped at the meadow where we met Tida and her friends, but I didn't see any cows there.

An adventurer who happened to be hunting nearby told me that, apparently, after Tida and Luna's problematic behavior, the other herds of cattle that used this area as their territory had moved to a different location. I was worried that the number of cattle might have been greatly reduced by that incident, but this grassland is home to more than one herd other than that one, and it's unlikely that they will become extinct just because one herd is gone.

Curious to know how the cows were doing, I asked the adventurer if he had recently hunted them, but the adventurer hurriedly shook his head and denied it. The adventurer told me that the guild had recently issued a restriction on hunting on the grassland.

The guild has divided the targets into three categories: Vermin (vermin such as rats and rabbits that damage crops and people), Alien Species (things that come from other lands and breed or are likely to breed), and Native Species (things that are not vermin and have always lived in the grasslands), and basically forbade the hunting of the Native Species. It is. But as an exception, when it is necessary to thin out a party, the guild will ask for an adventurer or a party that is judged to be trustworthy to be appointed directly. Incidentally, this system was notified to the king's capital and surrounding guilds in Tida's name.

I told the gatekeeper at the entrance of the royal capital that I received the request from Maria-sama and showed him the certificate, and after being lightly identified, I was able to enter. I've been wondering about the situation in the house, but I decided to go to report to Maria first, so we decided to head straight to the castle.

I'm not sure if it's the right thing to do, but I'm sure it's the right thing to do.

I'm sure you'll be able to find out what's going on with the rest of us. I tried to give them a souvenir at that time, but Aina told me I couldn't take it before Maria and the others, so I had to give it to them later.

The room we were shown to was filled with the main members of the group, except for Tida and Luna, with Maria-sama sitting in the most prominent place. The king, who was supposed to be the head of this country, was sitting quietly next to Maria-sama...a composition that shows who is in power behind the scenes, if not on the surface.

'Thank you for your help, Temma.'

This will be the reply from Viscount Hanna (...)

Normally, Maria-sama (originally the king) would receive it, check its contents, and then officially announce it as a viscount, but as soon as Maria approached her with this story, Hana-san's promotion was as good as decided. That's why I dared to give him the title of Viscount, but when Mary-sama heard this, she was convinced that her plan had worked, and she smiled even before she read the contents.

''I certainly received it. Once again, thank you for your hard work. 'This is the certificate of completion of your request.'

At this point, it means that your request to me is done. Well, technically I have to take this certificate to the guild, but I can take it with me at any time (I'll be pissed if I don't go for too long), so it's not an exaggeration to say that it's usually over when I get the certificate.

So how was the South?

After the request was over, Maria-sama, who had returned from the relationship of adventurer and client (or so it seemed), came over to ask me about the events in the south in detail. However, although not as much as Maria-sama, the king and Lyle-sama also seemed to want to hear the stories of the south, they were unable to interrupt Maria-sama's momentum.

''After all, it's a lot different from King's Landing...By the way, is that girl...Amur going to return to the South in the future?''

Hmmm ... if Temma is going to the South, I'll go with her, but if she's not, I won't go... no.

'Yes, welcome to King's Landing. If you don't cause any trouble, you are welcome here.

Maria-sama heard Amur's response and smiled and mouthed a welcome. Apparently, Maria-sama seemed to be dimly aware of the secret pact that Grandpa and I had with Hana-san (in exchange for taking care of Amur, we would use it as a refuge in case of emergency). So I guess that's why he was a little relieved when Amur said he had no intention of leaving.

'Well, that's it, here's a souvenir from the South.

I handed Maria-sama a shawl and other southern souvenirs, then handed each of them a souvenir. I left Tida's and Luna's, who were not here, with Isabella-sama, and Missalia-sama's with Zain-sama.

I'm sure you'll be happy to know that Maria and Isabella have been putting the shawl over their shoulders and giving each other some feedback, and I'm relieved to see that they're generally pleased with it.

In the meantime, the king and the other men (except for Mr. Kraiif) couldn't change their clothes, so they put their work clothes against their bodies and said what they thought of each other. It was. Well, only the king and Lyle-sama were the ones who were excited, and the other two were just checking out how the clothes were made and how they felt to the touch after they were lightly applied to their bodies.

''Temma, I'm sorry for all this lovely stuff.''

Instead of Maria-sama, who is still frolicking, the king is thanking me for the souvenir... well, I guess it's normal for the king to step forward and deal with me, but considering the difference in power between the king and Maria-sama (it's not a difference in power by any means), I guess it can't be helped.

'That's a pretty nice outfit.'

It's easy to change and looks just right after a bath.

'It'll come in handy on a hot day. Thank you for Misery's.

I'm going to have to use it for my loungewear and loungewear.

In order, Ernest, Caesar, Zain and Lyle. There are two types of souvenirs that we prepared this time: the long-sleeved, long pants "samue" and the short-sleeved, short pants "jimbei". Normally the two should be clearly separated, but Sana-san's place has mixed up the two names. It seems that in this world, there are no clear standards for the two; it's just that people call them different things.

'Thank you for our share,'

The next two people to thank were Mr. Cliffe and Aina. I gave them each a handkerchief as well as a knife I had purchased in the South. At first Mr. Cliffe seemed to be interested in the southern weapons that came up in our conversation with Maria and asked to see them later, so I added one of the knives that I had purchased for myself. It was for the same reason that I added it to Aina's souvenir list.

After talking about the souvenirs for a while, we decided it was time to go back to the house. Aina told me that they had finished removing the trash and broken walls, but they couldn't just dispose of them without permission, so they put them in the magic bag that Jeanne and the others had left for her.

I told Maria-sama that she plans to purchase the land next door earlier, so she will be able to prepare the deed and other necessary documents for me in a few days.

When I left the room after being sent by everyone, I met Jean-san who seemed to be waiting outside. By the way, I didn't see Mr. Dinh and his team, he said that they are now training in the grassland outside the city. I heard that they are dividing the guards into two groups to train in shifts, and I heard that everyone I knew, except for Jean-san, was in the first group.

When I asked the usual members of the Kingsguard to give me a souvenir, Jang-san was delighted to see that there was a piece of sweets in it for his personal use. I remembered that Jang has a daughter, so I picked out some sweets for her, and the response was very positive. However, it was a hot spring manjuu (personally, the sweetness of the sweet bean paste inside was not enough), so we might have had a different taste for the bean paste, but at worst Jang-san would have eaten it.

While we were leaving Jan and heading back to the carriage station, I asked Aina, our guide, about what's been going on lately, and she said that the main topic of conversation was the land next to our mansion, but nothing else was unusual. I thought it was peaceful, but then I heard that it was rare for a fire to occur in the royal capital, and furthermore, a fire that caused the loss of most of the property was something that happened only once every few decades. When I heard that, my grandfather said, "Come to think of it, I've never heard of such a story....

The only major disturbance was a fire, but there were the usual number of crimes.　

No matter how tightly guarded the royal capital, a certain amount of crime and trouble can't be avoided when various people gather there. Rather, considering the size of the royal capital, I think it's a small number. Although I don't have exact statistics, compared to Seigen and Gunjo City, there is less crime and trouble to the extent that there are more guards and so on, and even compared to the big cities of the last generation, it will be less. Well, there are differences in the population and other factors, but it seems that the slavery and death penalty are more easily applied than that.

Aina and the gatekeeper saw me off to the mansion, and as I approached the mansion, I could clearly see the difference from before.

''The mansion next door really is burning down nicely, isn't it?

Well I haven't had much of a relationship with him, but seeing him in person makes me feel a bit sad.

Temma, the house is in there, but there are burn marks and stuff all over the street in front of it.

While my grandpa and I were only looking at the mansion next door, Amur noticed charred marks and burning debris on the street in front of the mansion.

''It's a good thing the other buildings didn't catch fire... if there had been any deaths or anything like that, the neighbors wouldn't have been killed.''

It's a blessing in disguise that they were the only ones affected.

I'm sure you'll be able to get the death penalty for causing damage not only to your mansion, but also to your surroundings. It's not a bad idea to call it a death penalty for a fire, but that's the extent of the trouble you've caused in the royal capital. If the fire spreads, neighboring countries might take advantage of the confusion and launch an invasion or even a coup d'état. If all it takes is reparations, it would be a cheap thing to say... well, even if it was cheap, your neighbor would be on the verge of bankruptcy...

I'm home.

I'm home.

When we arrived at the mansion, we ignored the onlookers around us and walked through the gate and approached Jeanne and Aura, who were working in the yard. The two of them were directing the golems that had been deployed to protect the mansion, clearing broken fences, cleaning up burned wood chips, and cutting up the burned lawn.

'Temma, Lady Merlin, welcome back.

Welcome home........why is Amur there?

Jeanne didn't seem to think anything of it when she saw Amur, but Aura was expressing her doubts with all her might. When I told her that we were going to take care of Amur in our home due to a secret agreement with the new Viscount of the Southern Autonomous Region (Hana-san), Aura didn't seem to understand the matter very well, but she was convinced that it was okay because it was decided by her grandfather (she also said she had stopped thinking about it).

I asked Jeanne and Aura to clean up the extra rooms in the mansion in order to turn them into Amour's rooms, since there is nothing urgent to do in the garden either. There are several rooms available, but it's better to stay away from me and grandpa's room, so I ignored Amour's dissatisfied face and decided on a room near Jeanne and the others.

Then I took a bath to clean off the grime of the trip and gave them both some southern souvenirs before finishing my plans for the day. Bringing souvenirs to Kelly and the three idiots would not be a problem after tomorrow. I'd like to relax at least on the day I got back from the quarry.

The next day, I was able to sleep peacefully for the first time in a long time. Well, it was more like noon than morning because I was taking it so slowly, but it's okay to do that once in a while, since I don't have any plans.

Today's plan is to restore the garden and fence. Jeanne and her team couldn't repair the wall without permission, so for security reasons, it was necessary to repair the wall first. Incidentally, although they told Maria and the others that they would buy the land next door, due to the procedures, they still couldn't modify the land next door or place a golem there. However, the absence of a fence might be seen as an advantage to the thieves, so they're going to build a simple fence.

''Then, here we go.

At the broken wall, I created a wall with earth magic. It's easier to break than a wall like the one you would build in a dungeon, but if you want to break it, it's not easy to do so without using magic, and it's hard to imagine that you can use magic without being noticed by me, grandpa, and the security golems, so even a lazy wall is enough.

''Even so, looking at it this way, it was a pretty tough fire.

The fence was caught in the collapsed neighbor's house and the wood used to frame the fence was charred. The fire must have been that intense. The broken fence was a short distance away from the house next door, but unluckily it fell towards our house. Moreover, the tree planted near the broken wall was also ruined, probably to prevent the fire from spreading, and had been cut down by a golem.

"We've got to pull out the roots too.

I tied the rope to the stump, and when I had used my earth magic to soften the ground around the stump, I called some golems to pull the rope off.

The stump was easily pulled out of the ground by the golems, partly because I had softened the ground. Seeing the results, I prepared the rest of the stumps in turn and let the golems pull them out one by one.

'So much for this. Most of the big roots have been pulled out, and it's not a problem if they remain in the soil for a bit... but then again, there are quite a few cicada larvae in here.

While I was observing the stump I pulled out, I noticed that there were surprisingly many cicada larvae. It's not a creature I would normally see, but it's not a particularly cute bug, and it's a bit gross to see that many wriggling around.

'Well, I feel sorry for them, so let's just move them to another tree, even if it's just a noticeable one.

I took a bucket out of my magic bag and collected the cicada larvae as far as I could see. I dug a few holes at the base of a tree at a different location than the wall that burned down this time and released the cicada larvae there. I covered it lightly with soil, but I don't know if this was a good idea. Well, even if it didn't work, it didn't cause any damage, so there's no problem.

After I finished migrating the cicadas, I figured it was just about time for a snack, so I decided to get something to eat in the kitchen. On the way to the kitchen, I decided to add two of them and two others who were trying to be a part of the party, and I decided to call the other two and one of them as well. Incidentally, the people who joined them on the way were the sister of the head maid, the housemate, and two binges...they really are a group of people with a strange intuition when it comes to food.

By the way, what I made instead of a snack was okonomiyaki. We didn't have any sauce, so we seasoned the batter with soy sauce or a thick broth and served it with mayonnaise, and it was pretty good.

I got high marks from everyone, but I think they liked it more for the mayonnaise than for the okonomiyaki. According to Aura and Amour, it's the first mayonnaise they've ever made in this world, and it's rich and addictive. Jeanne, Grandpa, and Slarin' seem to like it, so I'm sure it's going to be a staple seasoning in our house from now on... although I'll be the one who makes it, mainly.

A few days after the mayonnaise descended, Chris and Aina came in with the right to the land next door. According to them, from the moment they received the deed, the land next door became my land. The reason why it wasn't my land was because the Ootori family had decided to buy the right to the land, so it became my land. Incidentally, Grandpa also changed the name of the land on which he now lives to my name just as an incidental gift (according to him, it was a gift during his lifetime, although he won't be dead for a few more decades), and this year I had to pay the taxes on both lots from In addition, the tax is 50,000 G x 2 (because the original land and the next land are about the same size) 100,000 G per year, and I decided to pay for 50 years in advance because it was said that I could pay for several years in advance.

It's unusual for an ordinary person to pay taxes in bulk like this.......or rather, it seems to be the first time, but since it seems to be a common occurrence for high-ranking aristocrats, it was judged that there is a precedent for this, and the payment was allowed without problem.

''For now, my work for today is over~........come on, Shiroumaru.

Chris seems to be planning to stay at our house, mocking Shiroumaru as he finishes his work.

'Totally Chris I'm sorry I brought you here.

Aina apologized for bringing Mr. Chris with her (as a nominal escort), but she was checking on Aura and the others to see how they were doing.

A few hours after Chris-san first mooed Shiroumaru (after Aina started supervising Aura and the others), a tired-looking Aura came into the living room to take a break. Then, when she saw Chris, who was happy to keep muffing Shiroumaru, she started to look at him and made some bad faces.

'Aura, your face is getting ugly,'

Excuse me!

Aura was denying the harsh words that Amour hit her with a strong tone, but me and Jeanne, who had seen her face, nodded to affirm Amour's words.

''Really rude! .........Chris-san, I have a better mofo for you~

It's getting uglier and uglier!　

Completely ignoring Amour's point again, Aura approached Chris-san with a rubbing hand. That sounds like a vulgar tout in a colourful town.......I've never been there, but I've seen it. I'll say it again because it's important, but I've only seen (...) it!

Ugh!

I felt something sharp at my back, and as soon as I turned around, I saw Aina looking at me from a short distance away.

(You really haven't been there, have you? (Can you swear by Mary?)

(I can confidently swear!)

Aina asks me with a mouthful of food, and I instantly respond with a mouthful of food.

Aina, who seemed satisfied with my reply, gave Aura an even sharper look than she was giving me. But unlike me, Aura doesn't seem to notice at all, as if she's occupied with Chris-san.

'Better mofo?'

I'll go get him.

Aura hurriedly walked out of the living room. She passed by Aina as she left the room, but Aura hadn't noticed Aina's presence at all...................or rather, Aina had cleaned out her presence. I guess that's the 'Art of Air Presence Blocking' directly handed down by Cliffe.................I tried to say it appropriately, but I was a little scared that it was really likely.

'Sorry for the wait~ It's the cutie you requested~'

Aura returned a short time later and handed the dimension bag to Chris, smearing her clothes and face and ruffling her hair.

'You're in here. Let's see.......phew!

The black creature jumped out and smashed into Chris's face as he unsuspectingly opened the mouth of the bag and peered inside, and the black creature jumped out and smashed into his face with great force. Aura remembered what she had been hit with when she introduced the lambs, so she made Chris do the same under the guise of introducing Lamb I.

Incidentally, Aura was the only one of us who got hit by Lamb I's body in a decent way. Me, Grandpa and Amur usually dodged it, Shiroumaru played it back, and Solomon couldn't reach it. As for Slarin, he was tangled up the moment he hit the body and was unable to move. By the way, Jeanne was the target of Slarin's entanglement with Lamb I, but because Slarin was in between (entangled), she was not harmed. As for Aura, she looked at us and thought that Lamb I's body hit wouldn't be that big of a deal, and then she ate it the moment she was careless.

''Meh! Meh?

After successfully hitting Chris with his body, Lamb I barked as if it were a battle cry of victory? but was caught in mid-air before he could get away from Chris. And.........

'Fluffy mooch! Fluffy mooch, mooch, mooch!

Chris-san ignored the bewildered Lamb I and continued to mooch the hair on his stomach with both hands while burying his face in the hair on Lamb I's back.

'Meh, meh........'

Chris freed Lamb I about 30 minutes after he started mauling her, and she was wobbling like a boxer on the verge of collapse. Meanwhile, Lamb II was sleeping in his dimension bag.