CH 156

「I’m counting on you, Ruta. 」

Today’s the day we’re gonna test the spirit swords in the forest. We can’t do it in a place that’s too close to the city, nor can we test them in spots frequented by adventurers, so we decided to ride our horses to a more suitable place.

The weather has been quite nice recently, so Ash and I meet to have long-distance horse-riding sessions with lunch together. I feel like I’m getting better at riding horses, but yeah, Ruta still handles all the basics.

「You’re still the same as ever, Ruta! 」

It’s just as Chris said; Ruta would always break through the stalls, or else jump over the fence everytime she senses my presence even before I finished greeting the receptionist.

And so, I recently added more money to Ruta’s deposit fees to cover the repair fees too.

「It’s a nice day. 」

Ash seems happy. Her expression might not change much, but it’s quite obvious that she loves riding horses.

We saw a beacon tower and a dovecote hidden among the trees. I was thinking the path was quite easy for horses to traverse, but it turned out that people had already been here before.

Since we didn’t decide on any particular destination, once we reached a suitable open area, we dismounted, took a short break, then started with the test.

「Ruta, the monsters might seem few, but that doesn’t mean they won’t come out, so be careful, alright? 」

Ruta snorted and leaned her face against me.

I wiped her down, gave her water and some rock salt to replenish her electrolytes.

「You spoil her as always, huh. 」

「Mm. I think he’s gonna make some horseshoes too at this rate. 」

Ash even agreed with him.

「This much is normal. 」

Ruta lifted her upper lips to her nose and bared her teeth; it looked like she’s grinning.

「Yeah. If it’s a normal horse, I’m gonna think something stinks, but in her case, she’s probably laughing at us. 」

Dean rolled his eyes. Hey, this is normal, it’s similar to cats’ flehmen response.

「It’s good that it’s mutual love. 」

Retze was already done with his own horse, and was picking stones for the campfire.

「I’ll pick some firewood. 」

Gotta work now.

「I’ll draw the water! 」

「Wee-wee! 」

「Wee… Ouch! 」

Tina knocked the twins on the head. That’s because ‘toilet time’ means they’re gonna scatter around. The kids are naturally accompanied by Dinosso or Shiva, although the monsters around here weren’t that strong.

After finishing my own business too, I picked up some suitable withered branches, as well as dried grass that seemed great as fire fodder while clearing the grass and thorny shrubs with X-stick.

They were about to start a fire by the time I returned. We’ve gathered quite a lot of firewood, so we ignited them. Retze’s amazing for being able to light it with just one stroke of the flint.

We’re here camping out, but Butler was still refined as usual; he even prepared an elegant tea set. The utensils were far from delicate since they’re designed for outdoor use, but still, right?

Folks here don’t often drink water as is; they bring water gourds, but mostly filled with low-alcohol content wine.

With fire, we can either drink plain hot water or tea. We already tried all sorts of tea; I remember drinking the tea prepared from who-knows-what kind of herb that Retze gathered on site while enduring its muddy taste. Ahh, memories. It’s good for warming the body, apparently, but yep, nasty tasting things are nasty, period.

「Alright, let’s do this. Can I go first? 」

After we hydrated ourselves and took a break, Dinosso stood up. Dean is kinda creepy with his eyes sparkling with anticipation, but I’m gradually getting used to him being like this.

The sword’s entire body was black, while the tip of the sword and the decorated guard part of the hilt were orange, the shade of molten iron.

Dinosso swung his sword lightly, and flames shot out of the blade as he cut through the air.

「Ha! 」

Dinosso apparently infused it with his mana; flames blazed from his hand to the sword’s blade then spread out in a circle around him.

「Whoa! Amazing, dude! 」

「Hey, that’s so flashy. 」

「Gorgeous! 」

Dean, Retze and Chris praised him with those words respectively.

「Papa is so cool~ 」

「So cool~ 」

「So cool~ 」

「Yup, your Papa is so cool~ 」

Dinosso slung his sword on his shoulder, winking happily at the shocked kids.

「Oh dear, you look really happy. Mom’s sword is like this. 」

Dinosso wielded his sword as if he’s practicing by himself, but Shiva simply swung hers downward.

Her sword drew a graceful arc, sparkling snow spilling out of the white blade. Hers was a very elegant yet sharp ice-attribute sword.

She also infused her mana right there and then, so a chilling breeze blew out of the blade itself, and a thin ice appeared, which cracked immediately. The broken ice turned into thin, sharp ice blades.

Shiva did all of this with a warm smile on her face, and the effect was amazing.

She didn’t reveal the other sword, just like Butler.

「Noth’s gonna pass too? 」

「It’s a secret weapon. I believe it will not be suitable for me to reveal its ability. 」

Butler glossed over Dean’s question.

Oh, right, secret weapons are meant to be hidden, abilities and all. If its presence and abilities are revealed, then the value is already reduced by half.

Eh? So Shiva is treating the other sword as a secret weapon too…? Well, I guess Energy Drain also works on wraiths, so it probably doesn’t suck vitality, but kinetic energy instead? Not really sure about this, but it’s a sword that can inflict damage mentally.

Shiva was watching Butler and Dean’s exchange with a smile. Our eyes met, so I feigned ignorance.

「Me next! 」

Tina moved to a wider space.

「Ey! 」

She swung the hammer with both hands. It rapidly grew in size, and by the time it hit the ground, it was so huge, much bigger than Tina even though she had a small stature. It returned to its original size after the head part of the hammer touched the ground and made a crater.

「Why did it get bigger? What the heck is the logic behind that? 」

「Dunno! 」I shrugged at Retze’s question.

「Bfft! Hey, you maker!! 」Dean bursted out.

「I think it’s cute. 」

「I agree! 」

Ash and Chris.

「Your impression is off, way too off! 」

Noisy Dean.