CH 44

It’s fine, it’s fine.”

“We’re good at doing that.”

Maki and Chiharu said casually.

This was when they were told that they could continue on to Gromble as long as they remained disguised and lay low.

Edwy narrowed his eyebrows. ‘I would say it’s quite the opposite,’ he grumbled. But the two seemed to have been offended at the idea that they had not been lying low up until now.

After all, had they not been doing just that? Sure, they had escaped from the castle, but they had been found in just one month. They had done nothing but sightsee since then. And the matter with the gazers was clearly not their fault.

They said as much.

“But you shouldn’t have left the castle without saying anything in the first place!”

“And disguised yourselves.”

But to the two Saintesses, it was because they wanted to avoid trouble, that they had disguised themselves.

“You have an answer for everything.”

Kaider said, somewhat happily. Maki then clapped her hands together and said,

“Well, in any case. We will continue to work as apprentices for the cook. But we will stay with Edwy and the others at night, where there will be guards. When we reach Gromble, we will stay at a health resort near the town. Then when everything is finished, we will return with you. Is that right?”

“Yes. That way, you can avoid getting into any danger. And you will be able to drink without anyone bothering you.”

“DRINK!”

“DRINK!”

Their eyes lit up.

“And you can bathe everyday.”

Their eyes lit up even more. Edwy was starting to understand how to handle them.

“It’s nice that you do not want to inconvenience Paulo. We will just tell the soldiers that you are children of a noble family who had run away from home. So you can continue to wear your wigs and disguises during the day. But come back after dinner. Then we can drink together.”

Maki and Chiharu had not nodded so readily and with such bright expressions in a long time.

Paulo and the other cooks were happy that they were safe. And when told that they had been runaways, looked completely unsurprised. It seems that they had already sensed something. And while they were surprised that Maki and Chiharu would continue to help, they did not object, as they were understaffed.

It would take two days to reach Gromble, and they would pass through a town on their way. Maki and Chiharu had heard that it was the largest tourist site along the mountains, and they had high expectations. Of course, as the miasma had become thicker, Adventurers had become more active, and so the health resort was somewhat dreary these days.

Like before, they rode in the back of a wagon with the other belongings and traveled leisurely through the mountain road. When they passed yet another ridge, they saw a basin surrounded by four mountains.

“Look at that!”

“It’s more amazing than Shiel!”

While there were mountains on all four sides, the mountain with the dungeon’s entrance was much taller than the others. And there were large pillars made of stone.

“They may look like normal pillars from here, but they are actually hundreds of meters tall. So this is a sight you can only enjoy from this distance.”

Paulo explained to them lazily.

“Not only that, but there are also hundreds of small caves. Look, to the left.”

They looked to the left where there was a lake around the mountain. A river ran from it and spread to the farm lands.

“Unfortunately, there are no sea fish here. But the water flows out from some of the caves and collects here as this lake. The water is very clean, and the fish that live in it are delicious. Also, there is enough farmland here for the people to live independently.”

Then he coughed loudly.

“While I’ve never heard anything about it being connected to the sea, you two better keep your distance.”

“But what about during the day…”

“No.”

“Okay…”

“Okay…”

It could not be helped. Paulo continued, as if to try and dispel the awkward air.

“The dungeon is in the center of the mountain. It apparently branches out into many paths and is very difficult to navigate. No one has ever reached or even knows where the deepest level is.”

“Oh!”

“There is a large town right in front of the dungeon’s gate. And behind that town is the health resort. That is where we will stay tonight.”

Gromble was split into two like a gourd. The smaller part was the health resort.

“Still, the dungeon is usually not very busy during this time of the year. It is usually the worst during winter.”

The river that ran from the lake flowed next to the health resort and connected with another river from the opposing mountain. Along with the crops, there was a beautiful field of red and purple.

“Lavender and sage. Both are fragrant herbs and are famous here. We came at a good time.”

They were probably not lavender and sage. Maki and Chiharu had an automatic translation ability that changed words into the closest match in Japanese. After all, while the wild lavender that Paulo showed them on the side of the road was purple, it was taller than Chiharu. And the large flowers were shaped like thistles and were bunched up like gladiolus. Chiharu reached up to pluck one. The flower was as large as her palm and had a calming, fresh scent.

“I think these would dry really nicely.”

“I want to turn them into potpourri and put them by my pillow.”

“Good idea!”

Yes, this was it. This was the kind of wandering journey that they had wanted!

Maki and Chiharu would not be able to follow the others into the dungeon tomorrow. They didn’t know how the monsters would respond. They would help feed the soldiers who stayed while the others went in. And then spend the rest of the time in the health resort.

They could walk leisurely amongst the tall lavenders with friends. They could take sandwiches with them and eat them in the fields for lunch. Perhaps there would be potpourri classes they could take. Also…lavender ice cream.

After thinking of all this, Maki scowled. She had remembered eating lavender ice cream a long time ago, and how it had tasted rather bad.

There were three types of ice cream that Maki had not enjoyed in her life. The first was bamboo ice cream, which had powdered bamboo leaves inside. It was wild and supposed to be healthy. The second was seaweed ice cream. It was a little slimy and smelled like the sea. The taste was indescribable. The third was lavender ice cream. It smelled wonderful. But did it have to be ice cream? Maki wasn’t sure.

“Oh, but the lavender ice cream tasted great!”

“Uhhh. Maybe I just don’t like ice cream with strong smells.”

On the other hand, she had eaten too many delicious types of ice cream to count. But her number one was hojicha tea ice cream. The smell of the tea and the mild bitterness was the perfect combination for her mature palette. She also enjoyed brown rice tea ice cream. Her second favorite was egg ice cream. It was like a milkshake with a strong egg flavour. Her third favorite was loquat. No, maybe it was strawberry. There were too many for her to decide.

Even if some turned out to be bad, she would always try out the local flavors.

They arrived at the health resort while she considered all of this. As there were few guests now, they said that at least half of the soldiers would be able to sleep at the inn. And as they had to sleep in tents for so long, they were very happy.

Maki and Chiharu had less work to do, but the work was still hard. They did their best and then returned to the inn.

“Maki. Chiharu. We have prepared everything for you.”

They had come to Aeris’s room after taking a bath. Edwy was smiling as he handed them some wine glasses.

“You can take off your wigs here. I don’t think your hair is even dry yet.”

Aeris said as he picked up a towel. He had become quite fond of drying their hair.

The glasses were filled with red liquid. Wine? Or not. The glass pitcher had several red flowers inside that sunk to the bottom. They looked at it quizzically, and Grudo explained.

“This is apple wine. They put fresh sage flowers into the bitter apple wine. It can only be made here during this season.”

From what they saw, the flower was large and had only one petal, like a hibiscus.

Chiharu liked jasmine tea, and enjoyed lavender ice cream, unlike Maki. Maki looked at her cup suspiciously. Chiharu grinned happily. And then they both took a sip.”

“This is good…”

“This is good…”

Was it from the flowers? There was a slight sourness that was quite different from apple that spread through their mouths. A mild bitterness followed. And the scent of the sage went up through their noses.

“It is very popular with ladies.”

Grudo said with a smile.

“Though, I do prefer ordinary apple wine myself.”

Kaider put in. While everyone had preferences, drink was drink. Now, for tomorrow, they would drink a few cups.

And so, in this land that was far away from the castle, they enjoyed their drink until late into the night.