266-238 Departures

The morning of our departure. We had gathered in front of the house of Viscount Nenus, along with the lords in charge of guarding us.

There would be a total of 20 people accompanying us on this trip, including 10 lords, 7 of us, and Master Ilias and his two maids.

In front of the lords in line stood Viscount Nenus, his butler Biesel, and the Viscountess.

The carriage will take us from here to Crevilly, the capital of the Barony of Dyas, via Mijara in the southeast, across the mountains.

Of course, only Master Ilias and the others would be riding in the carriage, and we would be on foot.

"Eckhart and ten others are here!

"Yes. Take care of them.

Yes. At the risk of my life.

The leader of the territorial troops was a troop leader named Eckert, who had just been approached by Viscount Nenus and had saluted him with a bow.

As for his strength, he is one level lower than Sazius, but he is stronger than the average territorial soldier.

He is the overall commander, but he is not exactly our commander.

In the event of an emergency, the territorial troops will surround the carriage in which Master Iliad rides, and we will move freely to destroy or drive away the enemy.

Please take care of the Iliad.

I'll do my best.

I will do my best." The Viscount walked in front of us and called out, to which I responded with a bow.

I can't say that I'm going to risk my life, but since the target of my escort is not a swarthy old man, but a pretty girl, I think I'll do my best until I'm about to die.

No, I don't know if I'll be able to respond properly when my life is actually in danger.

But my life is important to me.

Professionalism?　I don't know that word.

--Until a year ago, we were just regular high school kids.

Father, I'm leaving.

Oh. Don't give the Iliad any trouble.

The expression on Viscount Nenus's face as he approached Ilias in front of the carriage was a little bitter.

"No, no. This is one of the responsibilities of being born into nobility. Please leave it to me.

The Viscountess approached and gently embraced Master Iliad, who looked a little nervous even as she said this.

Ilias is not yet of age.　Ilias is not yet an adult. He's old enough to make a few mistakes.

"Thank you, Mother, for .......

The mother's words softened Ilias's expression a little.

"Arryn and Keturah, will you take care of them?

"Leave it to me.

"Then, Mother and Father, I'll be off!

Ilias-sama then got into the carriage, followed by the two maids, and for some reason, Mary and Mitya.

--No, I don't know why, it's just that I was asked to do so.

Thanks to Ilias-sama's efforts, I got along well with both of them, and that's one of the reasons, but Mary and the others are not the main force for us. Nevertheless, they were able to fight to a certain extent, so they were chosen as our escorts and talking partners.

As for us, we have no objection since it will ensure the safety of Mary and the others.

Once everyone was on board and the carriage doors were closed, the whole thing started moving.

We're in the lead.

We'll be traveling at the speed of the carriage to our first destination, Mijara, which is about four days away.

Although the distance between the two cities is not that far, it is said that the roads are not very well maintained because Pining is in the territory of Viscount Nenus and Mijara is in the territory of Baron Daias, and there are mountains in between.

Of course, this section is the most dangerous.

There is a well-developed road from Mijara to Crevilly, the capital of the realm, so it seems to be safe to go that far.

I've been told that there's no such thing as a dangerous demon, but you can't be too careful when you're hiring a ...... escort.

I'm not sure what to say.

The first and second days were relatively calm.

The roads were not so poorly maintained that it was difficult for wagons to pass through, and the demons that appeared were at the level of goblins.

As for the ones near the roads, we exterminated them as soon as we found them, so there was no need for the territorial troops to touch them.

It was a little disconcerting to be camped out in the open and to be on guard in three shifts, but if you think of it as camping, you can live with it for a week or so.

Thanks to the purification, the main problem would be solved.

Incidentally, there were no magicians among the guards, but unexpectedly, Ketra, the lady-in-waiting, was a light magician.

Apparently, this was one of the reasons why she was chosen as one of the attendants, and as for Ilias-sama and the attendants, they were kept clean by Ketra's "purification".

As for the food, we were provided with our own as well, but the taste was not so good.

So we all enjoyed the grilled meat from the task boar that we provided, although we only hunted the ones that had wandered out of the forest on the way.

Not kushiyaki, but Japanese style yakiniku using a net.

Skewered meat has its own merits, but it takes a long time to be eaten.

On the other hand, yakiniku using a net is very easy.

As long as you have a net ready, you can cook a large amount of thinly sliced meat in a short time, and you can also heat up bread.

The grocery store didn't sell nets for large groups of people, so I asked Tommy to make more nets for me, including a spare one, but this was the first time that all the nets I had were put to good use.

It was not a very elegant dish, but Ilias, who was eating the same meal as us, didn't seem to have any problem with it, and he was a very healthy daredevil as Mary and Mitya ate a lot.

After that, they seemed to be unable to move, but well, unlike us who had to prepare for a battle, they were under guard, so there was no problem.

The situation changed a little on the third day.

As we climbed up the mountain, the road became narrower, the road surface gradually became rougher, and the surrounding forest also became denser and less visible.

Although there had been holes in the ground, we had been able to avoid them because of the width of the road, but by this time there were places that were difficult to avoid.

Finally, a hole about a third of the width of the road appeared ahead of us, and we had to stop for a moment.

"Soil runoff from the rain?

Maybe. I'm not an expert, so I don't know.

It's a big hole, about 50 centimeters deep, a meter wide, and 70 centimeters deep.

There is a hole in the ground as if it had caved in, as if the soil beneath it had run off.

This is ...... quite a magnificent hole. We'll have to fill it.

As we peered into the hole to inspect it, Eckert came over and peered into it as well.

We're also carrying boards to use as a bridge to go over these holes, but Ilias wants to repair as much as possible, at least for the part of the road in Viscount Nenus' territory.

It's a bit of a hassle, but we can't ignore the wishes of our client.

It's a bit of a hassle, but we can't ignore the client's wishes. We'll just have to do it," Eckert said as if to stop us from looking at each other.

"Well, don't worry. We're used to this kind of work, you know. We've had some good ones lately. Hey!　Bring it to me!

Yes, sir!

I called out to the men behind me, who were somewhat happy because they hadn't had any work done so far, and three men arrived carrying tools to fill the hole.

"Oh, .......

Toya couldn't help but shout out when he saw that.

The tool he's carrying is apparently a shovel.

Apparently, the shovel, produced by Toya, Gantz and Tommy, has expanded its sales to the pinning area.

"What's wrong?

"Oh, don't bother doing it by hand, I can fix it with magic.

Perhaps feeling embarrassed to claim that he had made it, Toya said something else.

"What, ......?

Isn't it?

Yeah, this is about right. It's not a dungeon.

Yuki casually replied to Toya's confirmation.

Compared to the walls of a dungeon, soil is much easier to handle, as it allows magic to pass through.

With my help, the job would only take a few minutes.

Unfortunately, there's no need for a shovel.

"Well, how much magic do you have left?　No, I mean, can you even use earth magic?

"I'm an elf, after all. You're an elf, you've got magic.

Oh, yeah. ....... That's what they say about you guys.

......

I'm not sure what to make of this, but I think it's a good idea.

Hmmm, should we assign them some work?

I wondered if I should assign them some kind of task, but I didn't want them to take over guarding the wagon and letting the goblins die.

Haruka taps me on the shoulder and shakes her head, as if she's noticed I've been thinking a bit.

I'm not sure what to do. It's like a bad idea, right?

"Yeah, yeah. We're on the right track, but this is the most dangerous part of the city, right?　We'd better get past it.

Yes, sir. We can't just relax and repair the road. ....... The more leisurely you repair the road, the fewer guards you'll have.

No, I'm not going to force you to do anything at all. Then, Yuki, let's bury it quickly.

Here we go. I'll make it a little harder while I'm at it.

After finishing the simple job quickly, we started to move forward again. .......

I'm not sure what's going on here.

A few dozen minutes into the walk.

A few minutes into the walk, there was a reaction in the forest ahead that was different from that of a demon.

When I looked at Toya, she also looked at me and nodded, so it can't be my imagination.

Haruka and the others came up to us.

"What's wrong?

No, it seems like a bandit reaction.

Are you sure?

Almost. You're not camping around here, are you?　You don't camp out around here, do you? Two or three guys split up on either side of the road, not moving.

In Japan, it would be a normal leisure activity, but here it's almost impossible.

Demons are common here.

We can do it, but I'll go to ...... and let them know.

Thank you.

Natsuki walked back towards the carriage, and soon returned with Eckert.

I heard there were bandits?

Probably. In the meantime, Ekhart and the others, watch out for arrows and protect the carriage. If they attack, we'll deal with them ourselves.

If they attack, we'll deal with them." When I said that I couldn't just shoot magic at them, Eckert replied rather curiously.

You don't have to wait for me to attack you, you can attack me.　You can't complain about being annihilated when you're acting suspiciously on the road where the Viscount's carriage passes.

"Oh, really? ......?　Well, yeah, if it looks dangerous, it is.

That's the nobleman. The situation is unexpectedly unreasonable.

In Japan, self-defense doesn't work unless it's very serious. .......

--In Japan, self-defense is not possible unless it is very serious.

It is worse to act suspiciously in a suspicious place, this is common sense.

Yeah, we should be careful too.

As adventurers, we sometimes hide in the woods and target demons and animals.

Basically, as long as you don't lurk on the side of the road, there's no problem.

Well, that's what Eckert explained to us, but it's a little hard to suddenly go on a killing spree when you haven't done anything, so we decided to wait for their reaction, as we had originally planned.

It is quite disadvantageous to be attacked first, but one of the reasons why I chose to do this is because Haruka is able to use the Wall of Wind.

This spell is a level 6 wind spell, but she has been practicing it intensively since she was asked to be an escort, and is already able to block arrows from a distance.

Of course, it would be best if this magic never came into play, but....

This is a definite.

I'm not sure what to make of it, but I'm sure it's a good idea.