CH 24.1

Soon, the eighth winter since Ren’s birth was over.

Compared to previous years, Ren’s village did not have to worry about food or firewood consumption, and all the villagers were able to have an adequate winter shelter.

—- Then spring came, and Ren celebrated his eighth birthday.

On that day, Len was celebrated by everyone in the morning at the mansion where he was born and raised. ……

At the same time, far away in Clausel.

The lord, Baron Clausel, was marveling in his office in his mansion.

“No way! Such a great nobleman would ……”

Baron Clausel looked at the letter that had just arrived and exclaimed in amazement.

The knight who carried the letter also looked incredulous.

“You are sure of this?”

“Of course, sir. The parts of …… Thief Wolfen are the raw material of a precious medicine, so perhaps the sender wants that medicine.”

“Ah, aah,…… as I recall, there hasn’t been a market for thief wolfen in recent times.”

“What do we do, sir?”

“We can’t ignore it. Contact them as soon as —- No wait, this could be an opportunity…..”

Baron Clausel suddenly had an idea.

He went to his desk to tell the sender of the letter about his idea.

As soon as he picked up his pen, he heard the words, 

“Father.”　

Baron Clausel’s hand stops as Licia visits his office.

When he invites Licia in, she says, “I have come to greet you on my departure.”

“Licia. You know that—-“

“Yes, I know, this is part of my work. I will continue to patrol the territory and serve the Clausel family as I have in the past.”

“Do that. Your presence with Ren Ashton is only a reward for fulfilling your duties as a member of the Clausel family. Keep this in mind. And of course, do not forget to thank Ren Ashton.”

“Yes. In honour of my late mother 、、、、、.”

“……, yes. If you work hard like that, I’m sure your thoughts will reach her.”

After this exchange, Licia leaves the office with a dignified curtesy.

She left the mansion and stepped under Weiss, who had come ahead of her and was waiting for her at the gate.

“Have you finished greeting the Master?”

“Done. —- Now, I must do my best this time.”

“You’ve grown even more over the winter my lady. I’m sure you’ll be able to show off your swordsmanship against the boy.”

“Ara, you didn’t say I would win, did you?”

Licia giggled and Weiss was at a loss for a reply.

Weiss had thoroughly trained Licia over the past winter. Of course, since she has fulfilled her duties as a baroness in addition to her studies, she has grown not only with the sword but also as a person.

But even so, he could not say, “you will win”

(The boy must have grown up a lot too.)

Ren is a strong, hard-working boy, both physically and mentally.

Even though it’s only against G-rated little boars, he still lives in an environment that can kill him if he’s not careful.

Unlike Licia, his days are filled with tension.

The tension and the high level of education that Licia receives on a daily basis.

Both are rare experiences definitely, but as for the current gap in ability, it may still be the result of Ren’s background and hard work …….　

“Excuse me, young lady……”

“I’m kidding. Don’t worry about it. We’re going to see what will happen when we meet, and it would be boring if we knew the result now”

Licia, who said this in a dignified rather than discouraging manner, crossed Weiss.

She then approached the female knight who was riding with her and quickly mounted her horse.

“Let’s go. It’s a long —- way to that village.”

……Suddenly, something unusual happened to Licia’s vision.

My vision was shaky and my physical senses were dulled.

For a brief moment, I felt as if my entire body had been drained of strength, and even whether the air outside was hot or cold was ambiguous.

But these sensations disappeared easily.

“Miss. Is something wrong?”

The female knight’s voice came from behind Licia.

She still felt a little uncomfortable, but after a short pause, she responded.

“It’s nothing, ……. I think I was just a little nervous.

“Don’t worry. We have been watching your efforts day in and day out. I’m sure you’ll do well.

“……thank you.”

When I replied, my vision was still shaking.

However, it had calmed down by the time Weiss gave the signal to depart a few dozen seconds later.

Therefore, Licia assumed it was her imagination and turned her attention to the journey to the village where Ren lived.

◇　◇　◇　◇

The day after Licia left the mansion.

Roy had finally returned to hunting.

(After all, the medicine in this world is different from the previous one.)

I could tell by the way Roy is smiling as before as he walks next to me.

He had no doubt suffered from a deep internal wound, but he was back in fighting shape in less than a year, which was a source of great amazement to me.

He had no surgery of any kind, especially since he had been relying on medicinal herbs and the like.

In the evening, walking shoulder to shoulder along the farm road on the way back from the forest, Ren could not stop thinking about this.

“Hm?　What is it?”

“No, I’m just thinking that you’re really feeling better already.”

“Of course I am! I’ve had so many rondo herbs and remedies used on me, if not would have rather taken longer.”

”But still,” Roy says with a sigh.

From his rather thoughtful tone, Ren guessed what the topic was going to be.

“There’s obviously something wrong with the forest these days. There are too many more little boars than there used to be. 、、、、”

“‘I’ve been thinking that too since the winter. The other day, the knights said they felt uncomfortable as well.”

“Of course they would……In fact, little boars are in breeding season from spring to summer. So, unlike usual, they’re all excited and often appear in public, but even so, there are just too many of them.”

“We can hunt a lot more, so our income is higher, but I can’t say I’m happy about it.”

Roy nodded at Ren’s words.

“We’ll just have to continue hunting while carefully watching the situation.”

Roy’s refreshing profile is smitten with a grin.

Ren nodded his head in agreement with Roy’s words, and looked up at the sky, which was tinted in red.

（The setting of the sun is getting later and later.)

It’s a sign that winter has turned into spring and summer is approaching.

And to the ears of Ren who was enjoying the changing season、

“—-!”

“—-.”

From a distance, he heard men arguing with each other.

When he looked next to him, he saw Roy nodding in recognition as well, and the two of them threw the little boars they were carrying onto the field path and ran off.

The direction from which the voices came was the Ashtons’ mansion.

They reached it in less than a few minutes, and there, in addition to the knights of the Clausel family, were the knights they had seen before.

Needless to say ……, they were knights in the service of Viscount Givens.