"Hm~ What a nice weather," Lyan that is sitting at the coachman's seat and holding the reins uttered as he feel the warmth from the sun. Unlike the night's coldness, the day is warm and not hot. It's the perfect temperature for having a picnic.
"You guys. It's fine to just wait inside the wagon, though..." (Lyan)
"No, it's fine. We feel much more relaxed when traveling by horse," (Surena)
While Lyan's coaching the wagon, the three girls are riding their respective horses, leaving the aggressive black horse to pull the wagon alone. But even so, it doesn't seem that the black horse is bothered since there is only Lyan's and the wagon's weight to pull now.
(If not for his personality, he would be an ideal horse out there, though) (Lyan)
What annoyed Lyan is not just his aggressiveness.
"Ah. He's rubbing his head to my horse! What a romantic horse," (Surena)
The horse is rubbing his head against the girls' mares. The mares respond by lovingly rubbing their head toward him. Not only that, he'll take the opportunity to touch and rub his head towards the girls' legs as well. He'll treat the girls smartly and obediently, giving a totally different treatment than he gave to his master, Lyan.
After observing the black horse for several days, Lyan finally realized.
(This shitty horse. He's a big woman lover!) (Lyan)
At night when they rest, he would hear the sound of the black horse mating with the mares. Not only just one or two, but he did it with all three of them.
Since the Valkyries' mares are rare hybrids that have calm personalities and bodies strong enough to be used as war horses, their love session went on for quite long, forcing Lyan to cast a soundproof barrier to block the sound.
The black horse then takes a glimpse behind, making his eyes meet with Lyan's.
*Snicker!*
(T-This horse...) (Lyan)
"Hm... We supposed to be entering a village soon. If I'm not mistaken, it's called-" (Emilia)
"Kyaaaaaaaa!!! HELP!!!!!" A piercing voice appeared from deep into the forest.
"Surena!" (Lyan)
"Yeah!" (Surena)
Lyan immediately jumped from the wagon, while the valkyries went ahead and galloped to the source of the scream.
(Hobu. Search the perimeter of the forest!) (Lyan)
With a quick nod, several shadows separated themselves from Lyan's shadow and went in different directions.
Lyan's not a saint nor a holy person. He's not the type of person who has a high amount of justice or anything such as that. Going deep into the forest means that you've accepted the danger that you might face inside it.
But the owner of the voice he heard is a young girl.
According to the voice, she must be a very young girl. Maybe around 5 years old or so.
(It's not a matter of holy or not. A child is in danger right around me, how can I just remain oblivious to it!) (Lyan)
"There! That girl is about to get captured by a pack of goblins!" (Surena)
After catching a glimpse of the girl, the image of his little sister's child, his adorable niece in his previous life overlapped with the young girl in his vision.
*Spark!* *Spark!*
Sparks of electricity gathered around Lyan, followed by the sound of a single crash of thunder.
*Clap!*
Trails of light blue light were left behind the track Lyan passed, and in that short moment, the goblins that were surrounding the little girl had their heads flown to the air.
"Eh?" The little girl exclaimed dumbfoundedly at the scene.
There is no blood splurting everywhere since Lyan also clad his glaive Hestia's fire mana, making the slashed parts get burnt and make no blood splurting everywhere.
Those actions are his consideration that he thought in such a short moment to make sure that he lessened the traumatic experience experienced by the little girl.
"Are you fine, kid? It's already fine. You can-" Before Lyan could finish his words, the little girl fell flat into his arms. Her body is small and light, to the point that he could raise her body with one hand with ease as if he's picking up a feather.
"She lost her consciousness because of fear, huh?" Lyan chuckled softly as he stared gently at the child in his arms.
Her hair is long coffee brown-colored. Her body is kind of skinny, and her face is the type that looks shy and spineless. Everything about her is completely different from his cheeky niece.
But somehow, even though her hair is not black, even though her body is not as chubby, even though her look doesn't have the cheeky grin his niece has, he can't help but see the image of his niece when he saw her.
(Ah... What is this... My vision is blurring... Tears?) (Lyan)
Tears welled up in his eyes as he stared at the child without him knowing. But as soon as he realized it, he strengthen his heart with magic and let the tears evaporate.
"Lyan? Is the child fine?" Asked Surena as she hop off her horse.
"...Yeah, she's fine. Luckily the goblins didn't do anything to her yet. Surena," (Lyan)
"Yes?" (Surena)
"Carry the little girl for a while for me," Lyan hand Surena the little girl before going to the goblin corpses and sending them to the grimoire's space for the skeletons to dissect and sort out. They will serve as the food for the acid ant queen and her workers as well.
"Y-Yes," Surena replied as she notice Lyan's strange expression that was filled with relief, sadness, and regret.
When Lyan was about to send the last corpse to the grimoire's space, he realized the different attire the corpse is using. The goblin is wearing a robe, a wizard hat, and there is a staff lying beside him.
Its equipment is not high-quality ones, but they are still the equipment for magicians and wizards. It means that the goblin corpse before him is a goblin shaman.
Lyan then remembers about one strangeness he found at the end of the goblin king's subjugation.
(We didn't find any goblin shaman inside the lair... Even though the goblin king has such a huge army, it's strange for him to didn't have even a single goblin shaman in his ranks...) (Lyan)
There are not enough hints, but Lyan could feel that the corpse he's looking at before him will bring a problem in the future. Before he could continue his thoughts, Alice's voice appeared from behind.
"Lyan? Is there something wrong?" (Alice)
"Ah, it's nothing. I'm just observing the corpse of the goblin shaman, that's all," Lyan then sent the goblin shaman's corpse together with its equipment to the grimoire's space.
"Hm~ Having a spatial space to store things are sure handy, huh?" (Alice)
"You're right. You could feel the great benefits when you're having long travels or adventures like this. There is no need to worry about too much luggage, and you can harvest and loot everything you want without any worries. It's a very handful ability," (Lyan)
"You're right. Well, I guess it's time to continue the journey. Since that little girl could get into this part of the forest alone, the village must be quite near as well. I know that black horse is smart, but I'm afraid that it might go somewhere because of boredom," Alice said with a wry smile.
"Ah... You're right. Then we have to move quickly," (Lyan)
The four of them returned to the wagon together with the little girl on horse. After the three girls seem to have done a small lottery, Lyan ended up returning with a horse together with Alice. She thoroughly enjoys the time hugging Lyan from behind.
When they returned to the highway, the black horse greeted Lyan with an annoyed face, but immediately change his expression when he face the girls and the mares.
After putting the little girl inside the wagon, Lyan decided to have the girls ride from inside the wagon to take care of the little girl and have their horses to help pull the wagon.
As the journey continues, the girls have a certain discussion that the three of them seem to be very interested in.
"A complexed face when he saw the little child," (Surena)
"The mix of relief, sadness, and regret..." (Emilia)
"It's 'that' isn't it? An illegitimate child or something," Alice immediately dropped the bomb.
"Now that I think about it, he never told us where he came from, didn't he?" (Surena)
"Don't tell me... The reason for him to go to the north is to meet with her ex-wife or something... Somehow..." (Emilia)
""I don't want to know the truth...""
___________________________________________________________________________
Name: Lyan Arkanium Evocatore
Occupation: Mythril-ranked Mercenary
Money: 3,798,710,950 Elnes / 3798 gold 71 big silver 9 big coppers 5 coppers
Weapon: Magic Glaive, 1 (Decent) One-handed Sword, 2 (Good-Quality) One-handed swords, 1 (Decent) bow
Equipment: Black leather cloak, Leather Armor, Breastplate, 2 Health Potions, 2 Poison Vials
Grimoire's Companions: 8 High Spirits, 3 Valkyrie, Shadow Goblin Lord (Lv. 5), Papilio Slime (Lv. 45), Galewing Butterfly (Lv. 45), Rock Golem (Lv. 50), Deadlight (Lv. 63), Moonlight Butterfly (Lv. 45), Ice Golem (Lv. 50), Acid Ant Queen (Lv. 9), Magma Bear (Lv. 1)
Grimoire's Army: 6 Shadow Servants, 800 Skeleton Army