CH 22

1-4. The start of an unknown summer break.

“Mika! This is great, I’ve never seen anything like this!”

“………Yeah, as expected if we come to Lambert territory, we can see the mix of Rubrum Empire’s culture here.”

The view I saw through the window made me yell, and Mika looked surprised for a moment.

But I was relieved when he immediately smiled gently back at me.

I felt my cheeks were redder than usual, perhaps because of the strong sunlight near the desert, as you would expect. Certainly, the surrounding temperature is hotter than in the royal capital, and only a few people visit Lambert territory at this time of the year.

However, my mood has been at its highest ever since I started this trip, or even before I started it.

(After all… this is an inspection trip! That’s right, it’s an official business!)

The other day, when I told Brother Seth that I wanted to go to Lambert territory, he had a very surprised look on his face, but he said happily, “Nagi, that is a splendid inspection,” and sent out a dragon carriage for me.

Usually, the main means of transportation in Pluvia is the horse. It depends on the region, but for the most part, animals with great strength are responsible for transportation.

But recently, thanks to the spread of the profession of taming mild-mannered monsters, transportation using monsters, which are even stronger and more enduring than animals, was beginning to become popular among royalty and nobility.

The monsters, which are basically the enemies of humans, have a collection of energy in their bodies called magic stones as their core. Its energy is enormous and is the main source of energy in the country.

But with the discovery of the new technique of taming them like this, I hear that there are discussions among researchers that perhaps there will be a day in the future when we might have to find a resource that will replace the magic stone.

Well, firstly, about this “dragon carriage”.

The monster that is pulling my carriage is an earth drake with beautiful white limbs and light blue eyes. It is a type of earth dragon, but it is covered with feathers, making it look like a large bird.

To my disbelief, Brother Seth said, “You can use it for your official business, Nagi,” And so, with great reluctance, I was given the opportunity to name it.

Its soft feathers, powerful yet gentle gaze, and icy-colored eyes that conveyed intelligence were all so beautiful, and I spent three days agonizing over the name.

The name that clearly represents that body shape, with simplicity and familiarity, would be—

“Chicken!”

“No… Really, you might want to rethink that name.”

I peeked through the window and called out for the earth drake, and Chicken purred.

Cute. Very cute. But for some reason, Mika looked at me with a blank stare so I felt puzzled.

Chicken is said to have incomparable physical strength and endurance to a horse, and it could keep running day and night. But I feel sorry for it, so I let it rest at night. Even so, it can reach Lambert territory in about one-third the time it takes to travel by horse carriage.

The inside of the carriage is twice the size of a horse carriage, and I could even lie down. Since we didn’t need to take lodging, we could proceed as far as we could and then rest, which I think helped shorten the trip.

Of course, without a dependable knight, traveling in such a conspicuous dragon carriage is just plain dangerous. But I hear that even Chicken, which has been tamed properly, will fight alongside us when the time comes. That’s great to hear.

The trip went smoothly, and by the time three days had passed on the trip that would normally have taken two weeks by horse carriage, the scenery outside the window had completely changed to something more exotic.

“Mika, this is going to be fun.”

“Well, yeah. I have a few complaints about the destination, but I’m happy to see you looking so happy, Nagi.”

My heart skipped a beat as he gave me a smile that was like watching over me fondly.

As I thought inwardly, “What’s with that?” I also try not to get too carried away… I looked down at the materials I had brought with me.

This time, we were going to investigate the improvement of the living conditions of refugees in Lambert Territory and how the country should protect them. To put it in an unpleasant way, the purpose of the visit was to propose to Brother Seth a guideline on how the country should manage the situation.

I’m going to investigate the actual situation of Marquis Lambert’s response to the issue and consider the assistance that can be given by the country.

To begin with, the Rubrum Empire is currently protected by a peace agreement, so they are quiet on the surface. But I knew that would not be the case in the future. From the start, the country was built in a harsh environment of deserts. The rain and resources of neighboring Pluvia were something they wanted desperately.

Since long ago, the Pluvia Kingdom and the Rubrum Empire have coexisted on an uneasy balance, repeatedly skirmishing, making agreements, and pushing and shoving their border lines back and forth.

(For the future, we also need to rethink the armaments at the border…)

I didn’t tell my brother, but such issues were also on my mind.

In addition, I had brought some seedlings and seeds of magical plants in my trunk. I wanted to see how the magical plants would react to the dry land, as I was entering the desert environment for the first time.

Although our stay was scheduled to last about ten days, I had a lot of work to do.

Mika, who was looking out the window, said, “Oh,” and it also made me peek outside.

“The territorial capital has come into view.”

“Is that it—?”

Before heading to the border town of Edessa, I was going to greet Marquis Lambert first. We would also meet up with Machina there. A dry breeze blew in through the window that Mika had opened.

The road on the Pluvia side was not a desert, but the grass on the ground was more shaggy and strangely shaped.

In the distance, I could see a small row of buildings that were slightly different in style from the royal capital of Corliss.

Remembering the architectural style of the Rubrum Empire that I had seen in the library of the royal castle, I was excited to see the architecture that would surely be a fusion of different cultures. I will also have to do my best to greet Machina’s family properly.

Low ivory-colored buildings lined the street, with the green of palm trees flickering in places between them. The scale of the buildings appears to be quite large.

So that’s Lambert’s territorial capital—

“Yeah. —That’s Parthenios.”