CH 241.2

The sun was shining down on the red-light district from the west.

「My, you’re traveling to the eastern country?」

From a distance so close that our noses collided, Light cruiser-sensei said. This is the so-called pillow talk, a conversation with our heads on the same pillow.

「I’m only escorting a few VIPs back to their home country. It’ll only take a week or so」

After eating lunch, I showed my face at the merchant guild and was informed by the vice guild master who looked like Santa Claus.

『Escorting request to Cathedral City in the eastern country from the royal capital』

The procedure is the same as the last time I went to the Holy City. I’ll be running alongside the golem carriage.

The departure date has not been decided yet, but it shouldn’t be that long in the future.

「I’m so envious that you get to go to so many places!」

As she said this, she narrowed her eyes and rubbed her cheek against mine.

I’ve already completed the visit for today. Now I’m enjoying the remaining time talking with her.

(But still, is she really fine?)

Lately, I feel like Light cruiser-sensei has been acting a little strange. She seems to be spacing out more often.

(Could it be because of the 100 days shrine visit after all?)

I came at her almost every day until she couldn’t stand up. It isn’t strange if she has accumulated a lot of damage that can’t be completely removed.

While enjoying the scent of Light cruiser-sensei’s hair, I remembered the play we had just done.

『…….Tauro-sama, this is a little bit too rough』

I was enjoying myself as usual, when such a protest came from her.

When my beloved sensei told me with clenched teeth like that, then I’d have to change the way I do things.

I relaxed the rhythm of my hips and shifted my focus to massage her with my fingers and palms. Now she said the opposite as she twisted her face and writhed.

『You can’t do this Tauro-sama. If you’re being this gentle to me, I will…』

A difficult order. However, answering the teacher’s questions is what makes a student a student. I paid close attention and continued with my assignment in between.

However, it seems that my skill was still immature.

『Noo! Ahn! You can’t! Noo!』

Seemingly out of her preferred range, the tension rose vertically with the afterburners lit.

While hugging me and scratching my head, Light cruiser-sensei let out a scream.

(Oh shit! Emergency stop!)

I don’t want to get banned again. I immediately stopped, and after a few seconds, Light cruiser-sensei regained her composure.

But she was not satisfied with this either, and this time she stared at me in silence.

As I began to move again, I realized that I needed to practice even more.

「I don’t think I travel that much though」

I returned from reminiscing and back on our conversation.

To me who gave such a reply, Light cruiser-sensei gently draws the character 『の』 with her finger on the surface of my chest.

「You’ve been going all over the Kingdom to subjugate demon beasts, have you not?」

The stories I told in our pillow talk about how I rode Old Lady to the east, west, south, and north parts of the Kingdom. Light cruiser-sensei have been listening to them with great interest.

(I heard she did travel as a warrior in training, but she was more often here in the royal capital)

Even if it’s just a couple of days trip, it seems for Light cruiser-sensei it was still a great journey.

「….Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could fight off demon beasts together, side by side?」

Light cruiser-sensei smiles at me while squinting her eyes. The warmth and gentle charm of her smile makes me choke up.

(Could it be that the knight order already talked to her?)

Someone who might have a talent as a pilot. Among those who I had told Corneal about was the name of Light cruiser-sensei.

(If she became a pilot and we worked together in the merchant guild, that certainly would be great)

However, we only have one knight, so we’ll probably have to take turns using it. It is unfortunate that we can’t fight side by side using it.

But I didn’t say it out loud and answered with a slight blush.

「That certainly would be wonderful indeed…」

Hearing my reply, Light cruiser-sensei’s eyes squinted even more and smiled.

***

The sun has long since disappeared over the western horizon. Only the light of the moon and stars illuminated the spirit forest.

Grass and mushrooms glowed faintly in some places on the ground. The ones flickering in the air are probably demon or spirit beasts.

『They’re back』

The ones that let out a bururu sound from their noses are the Heavy Lancers. This is the northern shore of the spirit lake.

After a short pause, only the top half of a giant turtle head emerges slightly offshore.

One of the Heavy Lancers stepped forward and reported their findings to Zaratan.

『None…』

He looked down and shook his horn repeatedly in disappointment.

They ran around from sunrise to sunset, but could not find any herds of twisted-horn (Capricorns).

All they found were a few young males, acting alone. And they refused the offer from the Heavy Lancers.

(They must be nomads)

The turtle nodded and thought. As the males begin to mature, they leave the herd and start fighting to have a herd of their own.

It was only natural for them to reject the offer of the Heavy Lancer, to take him to a place where he had no other companions.

『Hm?』

As it closed its eyes and thought about such a thing, it heard the voice of Heavy Lancer calling out to it. He said he still had something to report.

On the way to look for Capricorn, they found a small herd of Heavy Lancers.

『Should we invite them over?』

Zaratan suggested.

It remember the Lord telling the general, Dangorou, 『If you find any others, you may bring them to me. They cannot substitute Capricorns, but it’s better than leaving with an empty back.

However, the Heavy Lancer in front of it, waved his horns from side to side just like before.

『It’s no use huh』

A herd of Heavy Lancers who had become awfully thin that you can see their ribs. They reminded him of his herd in the past and invited them to come with him.

There he looked down and sniffed helplessly.

『That’s a shame』

The turtle called out to him as if it was trying to console him.

The leader of the other herd who heard the story became wary and threatened. Then they began to chase him away.

(Maybe the leader thought that he was trying to deceive them and take his herd away)

From Zaratan’s perspective, they are the same Heavy Lancers, but it seems there is going to be a lot of trouble when it comes to different herds.

『It couldn’t be helped』

They already did what they could.

When it told them to ride its back, one of the Heavy Lancers began to stubbornly insist.

『We should spend the night here and do another search tomorrow. We can’t go back empty handed』

That was what he basically said. However, Zaratan disagreed.

『No, we should obey general Dangorou command』

With those words, the Heavy Lancer quieted down.

Glancing at the southern shore, it saw the lights of the water intake tower twinkling. What the waves conveyed to it was a sign of movement.

『It seems we have been found out』

Fortunately, they are currently far away from the southern shore. They should be able to make the transfer before the giant puppets arrive.

The turtle urged them to hurry up and get on its shell.

『Well then, let’s go』

We left the shore more carefully than when they came here, and when they were somewhat farther out to the middle, it deployed the magic circle.

Then it sank into the magic circle.

***

The water intake tower that supplies water to the elven village.

From here, a C-class Knight sets off through the darkness.

Its objective was to investigate. They sensed some kind of disturbance in the supposedly quiet forest.

(There’s nothing here)

It passes through the narrow path of the forest and goes out to the shore near the north bank.

However, there was nothing moving there, only the footprints of several large magical beasts on the sand.

Perhaps a herd of beasts had come to the shore to drink some water. They may have even bathed in the water.

(This shape… Heavy Lancers huh)

The elven pilot made a bitter expression and curved one side of his mouth. For some reason, Heavy Lancers have been running around the forest since this morning.

Everyone was knitting their eyebrows because they are relieved that there has been no sign of them lately.

(We’re getting complaints from the village that the water quality is dropping, so it would be a disaster if someone were to see Heavy Lancer playing in the lake)

In the cockpit, the gloomy look on his face deepened.

『What the hell have you all been doing! Don’t let dirty beasts contaminate our drinking water!』

There would be a chorus of protests and complaints coming from the villagers.

(Let’s advise the higher ups and chase them out from the perimeter immediately tomorrow)

He thought while letting out a big sigh.