Chapter 366: Returnees
Afternoon. While walking to take a quick dip in the hot spring to speed up my recovery, I spot a shadow flying in the sky. It was big. A dragon. I wondered for a moment if it was Asti who had sent my mother home. I thought for a moment, but the direction it flew was almost due south. If you fly in a straight line, the direction of Folklore is west-southwest, so unless she took a detour, it was probably Juline……who should have returned in turn with Airi, who had flown away.
“Did she bring anyone with her no, normally, Hilda-san would come. There’s a wounded man”
I turn my feet to the forest to go to the hot springs. The plains along the road to the forest are the departure and arrival points for Maia and Laila. It is convenient because it is a reasonable distance away and will not startle the people in town. If Juline was alone, she might transform directly in mid-air and soar down, but if she brought a carriage, she would probably land there.
After Juline landed, Hilda, Lantz, Anzeros and Aurora came out of the carriage that she was holding.
“Have you come too, Lantz? Or is Goto getting to you?”
“I’m here on an errand for this Goto. They want some carpentry tools for ogres and food from Trot. And an erotic picture scroll if I can get it”
“……That’s not something I’d ask a dragon to do”
“I honestly don’t think we need the picture scrolls since the dragon sister is fine with hanging around naked, but Goto says, 『Picture scrolls have the romance of picture scrolls!』”
“He has a point. A man’s heart will wither if he only has instant boobs”
“What. It’s a line that doesn’t look like 10-man captain Smithson”
“Eros needs a story, too”
“……I see!”
Lantz nodded with a serious face, picking his jaw. Anzeros punched us in the side of the head in turn.
“I’m not going to let you do this. What are you talking about so soon after our reunion?”
“I, It’s important”
“It would be strange if Lantz and I were talking about something other than erotic!”
“……Thats certainly true, but don’t assure yourself of such a thing”
Anzeros made an indescribable face.
“I wish Sensei would mix in that kind of talk☆”
“There are some talks that girls are not allowed to mix in!”
“Don’t rub it for strange things and don’t enter the city early? I’m longing for a warm bath”
Aurora, clutching her own arm, makes a grumpy sound. Even the most solidly built carriage can’t avoid getting cold when flying through the winter air.
“Lantz, how much luggage do you have?”
“Everyone has only a change of clothes and weapons. We didn’t have much with us at the fort in the first place”
“All right, let’s split up”
“Juline-san and 10-man captain Anzeros are stronger than us”
Carrying jute bags, wooden boxes, swords, etc. with girls’ clothes along with the lumpy Lantz.
“I can carry a sword”
“Carry this distance and respect a man’s will”
“Huhu, maybe that’s why you’re so popular, Andy-kun, because you don’t neglect such small acts of kindness☆”
“Really? I’ll learn from him”
“Lantz-san, I think you have a lot of things you need to take care of before that”
“If you put it that way, 10-man captain Smithson has zero self-respect!”
I really wonder why I’m so popular……I.
I lead the girls to the new Smithson house. …..Hilda splits off before we get there.
“I just have to check on Becker-kun and Kingfisher-kun’s affected areas, just to make sure they’re okay. I know it doesn’t happen often, but…”
“100-man commander Becker said they’re still sore, but they’re moving again”
“Oh. The only person I’ve seen treated at the miraculous spring after such a bad injury before is Sara-chan……but it’s still fast”
“……!?”
Eh? Wa, Wait.
“Sara-chan was badly injured!? When Hilda-san was there!?”
“Eh? A, Aah……”
Hilda-san half-smiling.
“When Andy-kun was caught before. She was attacked by a bear monster……well, Dianne-chan rushed to her right away and the treatment was quick”
“……I had no idea. How badly was she hurt?”
“The arm was shredded……and then there was a pretty deep cut in the side. I was able to treat it right then and there and they put her in the spa right away, so it healed in three days”
“……Jackie-san, he should have told me”
“You know. The bear’s appearance had nothing to do with Andy-kun and neither did Sara-chan’s injury. If you say something that you care too much about, it seems like you’re selling grace”
“……Th, That’s right, but I wish Hilda could tell me too”
“That’s……yes, I’m sorry”
I shudder to think that one wrong move and that Jackie-san’s beloved daughter could have been killed. ……It seems like a peaceful utopia now, but it’s a difficult land with many monsters.
“Someday, I’ll investigate the qi here as well……a labyrinth that improves the flow of qi like the demon territory……no, maybe it’s better to think about terrain remodeling”
“……Sometimes Andy suddenly comes up with something amazing”
Anzeros says so with a slight excuse. No, I don’t think it’s such an outlandish idea.
“I’m sure it’s something that will have to happen eventually. It’s not something that most people would think of, but I think Andy-san would……”
“I see and this is right after Laila built the fort. Do you think she could do it?”
Aurora and Anzeros nodded at each other.
“It’s not that big of a deal. Just a few hills and valleys should be enough to change the flow of qi and I’m sure Laila can do it”
I tried to scratch my head, but my hands were full of luggage, so I gave a half-hearted grimace and Juline, who was following at the end of the line, smiled at me.
“By all means, let us dragons of Misty Palace help you at that time. If it helps people to live peacefully, we will spare no effort”
“Ah, yes, I will be relying on you at that time”
“Yes♪
Seeing me like that, Lantz, who was about to enter the usual inn with Hilda-san, shrugs his shoulders.
“After all, I can’t be like 10-man captain Smithson”
“Hmm?”
“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to think like that”
“I doubt that”
I don’t think I’m that inspired.
Let’s leave the luggage of Anzeros and the others at home and go to the Baron’s mansion for the time being.
“I’m going to learn a lot about cooking this time”
Aurora was particularly enthusiastic.
“We don’t have much time, but I’m going to absorb as much as I can from Selenium and all the maids in the house and I’m going to defeat……Great Knight Chief Lister”
“Beat him!?”
“Yes, a woman is a fool if she remains so utterly defeated by a male knight in the culinary arts”
“……Winning at cooking because you’re a woman is not exactly the way to talk about an ace knight”
“Huhu. It is certainly not desirable to be forced to do womanly things, but there is no shame in honing a woman’s domain, is there? It’s kind of like Andy-san’s 『Man´s will』”
“Ah, I see”
If it’s spontaneous, it’s not negative. It is a sign of pride in trying to be cool as a person.
“Maybe I should learn to cook something too……since I leave it to Apple at the fort”
“I’m sure you can cook field dishes, Anzeros”
“Y, Yes. But, you know, it’s better to have a proper one”
Field cooking. It is also known as bandit food. It is a dish made with the minimum preparation of ingredients available in the area, sprinkled with salt and spices as needed and grilled to perfection. Or boil them. That’s all. If you are an infantryman who has experience in long-distance marching in Celesta, you must definitely learn this bold cooking. Some people say, this is not cooking. But the fact that she can dismantle rabbits, birds and deers is an advantage over Aurora, who grew up as a young lady.
“Well, you don’t have to be in such a hurry, Anzeros. Aurora is doing her best because there is nothing else she can do if she stops using the sword”
“Well. I’m hurt when you talk so freely about it”
“I don’t know if my mother will let me do business with her at all”
We went back to the baron’s mansion, laughing at each other.
“See you later”
“Yes”
“Yes”
After a brief update on the current situation, they were going to warm up in the hot spring. I’m going to go to Jackie-san’s house after I’m allowed to touch Peter for a little bit. I’m sure they don’t have that many carpentry tools in stock for ogres that Lantz is supposed to be ordering, so I’d better help out.
———————————–
Sure enough, I’m going to help Jackie-san, who was starting to hammer tools for the ogres and I’ll also take care of Sara-chan, who shows up from time to time.
“Let me see your arm for a second”
“……?”
She rolled up her sleeves as I asked her to show me, but still there was nothing like a scar. It was the power of Hilda and the miraculous spring
“What’s wrong?”
“No, it’s nothing”
“Bocchan……Sara is still a child”
“Eh, no, I don’t mean anything strange!”
“No matter how much Bocchan……can you forgive Sara?”
“It’s different!”
“?”
Sara’s face said she didn’t understand. Jackie-san is teasing but seems to know my inner self and is grinning.
“I was wondering if that fox is coming?”
“Keiron?”
“He’s with Smithson-san, those soldiers from Celesta”
“Yeah……he’s probably at the fort, but, well, he’s not that much of a workhorse, so I wonder if I can drag him to Polka……?”
“I want to touch his tail……”
Sara-chan seems to be fascinated by Keiron’s tail.
“Jackie-san, are you sure? Keiron is older than me”
“You shouldn’t tie everything together in such a condescending way”
“You made fun of me earlier for touching her arm”
“Because Bocchan is that”
“What do you mean by that……already”
We grinned and joked with each other and continued our blacksmithing work. Every time I get comfortable, it reminds me of the old blacksmith shop when my father was there. I was just a little bit saddened. Wish my dad was here, I thought.
I finished up as the sun went down and went back outside to see a dragon in the sky. Asti this time.
“Let’s go pick her up……I’ve taken good care of her”
I admit that I had the wicked thought that I wanted to have sex with Asti and Maia side by side for a little while. No, Juline and Michela are fine too. ……So I ran from the blacksmith shop to the outskirts of town. The blue dragon, carrying a small four-seater carriage that was probably requisitioned from the elf territory, landed slowly on the snowfield and turned its head to greet me as it set the carriage down.
“Hey”
I approach with a wave of my hand. The carriage, which I thought was already empty, opens from the inside. Asti crushes the snow with her paws to make a path through it and there she lands on the ground with my mother, who is supposed to be back in Folklore.
“Mother!?”
“Oh dear. Andy, are you back already?”
“T, That’s my line!”
“I hope that wasn’t too bad”
“No, but what do you mean……?”
“Ah, I’ve decided to come back. Jeanne is still small and Selenium is a child who can really do anything, but it would be difficult if her best friend was with you. The baron said he’d give me a job at the mansion, too”
“……R, Really?”
I felt a little unbelievable. That my mother will live in Polka again.
“Ah, therefore I´m in your care. ……I can’t die until Peter boy remembers his grandmother’s face and that can only happen at the miraculous spring in Polka”
“Mother……!”
I hugged my smiling mother.
“Good grief. ……You’ve really become just like your father, only taller”
My mother said nostalgically and tapped my back.