Chapter 493: Bauz´s arrival
In the evening I visited my mother’s house. I thought I would say hello when I went to the baron’s mansion, but today was a weekend.
“I heard that Hilda-san got hurt. I hope it wasn’t your fault”
“Well, if they say it’s my fault for being away to get food……there’s no excuse for it”
Unusually, the female slaves were unaccompanied. They sipped wine with the dried meat my mother had brought out for us and chatted a bit and made some reports.
“I was wondering how mother could buy this kind of wine. Do you drink it with dinner?”
“Well, I’m living as a widow, so I’m not saying there won’t be nights like that. That’s the alcohol Irina-san gave me
“Hee……you didn’t buy it?”
There is no label on it and it looks like a bottle of wine produced in the royal capital. The elves don’t seem to make a lot of glass, so they probably reused empty bottles here.
“She says she has a lot of good wine left over and sometimes she lets me have some. Why doesn’t she just sell it to the tavern?”
“Well, I guess that’s something else. Let her be filial to her mother-in-law at least a little bit. It is not so easy for elves to show a child’s face”
I”f you were married to Irina-san, I would be a little more sympathetic to your situation”
My mother sighs as she dexterously works with the knitting stick. I’m not sure if it’s a sweater that she’s been knitting all day.
“Is that mine?”
“I gave it to you, didn’t I? This is Peter’s. Selenium and I are competing with each other to see how many sweaters we can make before winter”
“Jeanne said the elves gave her a lot of children’s clothes”
“With your unfaithfulness, you can never have too much, can you?”
“Uh, I’m not cheating”
“Is this the 『We don’t fit into Trot’s law』 theory? It’s all well and good, but it’s still just a picture”
My mother calmly and bitterly slams down our dreams. This is a line that would be difficult to say to someone in a different position. I have no choice but to return a wry smile.
“In my sense, cheating is cheating. ……It’s fine as long as you’re talking big and doing just that. People may treat you like a king. But if you don’t live up to expectations, you’re just someone from Trot. You’ll get your comeuppance for saying all the right things. And when that happens, you’ll say, oh, it’s just a fling after all. You can’t be so reasonable with your size”
“I’ll keep that in mind. But I don’t think I’m at the point where I’m going to be intimidated anymore”
“Maybe it’s true when it comes to the girls. I’m worried that the dragons will get carried away just because you’re kind, and they’ll end up doing things that you can’t do anything about. You too. Now that you’re a parent, you can’t just go off on your own. You have to think about who you are and what you can and can’t do in your life”
“……Absolutely. You’re right, mother”
I sipped my wine and stood up, remembering the words I had thrown at Sir Bonaparte.
“That’s just no good, is it? ……Yes”
I can’t just go off on my own. I can’t die a self-satisfied death with great ambitions and for the future. A dragon can do it, a dragon rider can do it……but I’m just a human. I’m just a blacksmith’s son who will live another fifty years and then I’ll be very old. Thanks to my mom for reminding me of that, which I know but forget.
———————————-
The next day. Because of Hilda-san, who was taking care of us and continuing to recuperate, we were all on vacation, but Bauz arrived at Polka.
“Is this everyone?”
“Yeah”
Dianne confirmed and Bauz in his dragon body nodded. Then Bauz returns to his human body and finally brings out the girl who was left in the boat (apparently boats were easier to procure than wagons), who looks as if she has no energy at all. Her eyes are dimly open but she doesn’t know what she is looking at and her arms and legs are morbidly thin and white for an elf girl. Her mouth was also slightly open and she kept muttering in a whisper, not really understanding what was going on. Frankly, I was scared.
“I gave her one last dose of medicine before I came over. She should still be drunk for a while. She might get out of control, so I’d like to help her bathe if possible”
“Ho. Hilda, how long will it take to completely remove the medicine?
“……I’d like a couple of weeks at the miraculous spring if she’s this dependent on it, both physically and mentally. From the looks of it, I’d say she’ll be on the up and up in three days”
Hilda-san groaned while closing one of her eyes. Laila, who waved her story, shrugged her shoulders.
“If it’s just for a day, it’s fine to rent out the men’s bath, but……on the other hand, it’s not good to let this guy enter the women’s bath openly”
“Well……just giving her a drink should help her recover from her drug addiction, but if it’s physically draining like this, then I really want her to shower properly”
And then Jeanne and I heard that.
“……Shall I rent it over there?”
“It can’t be helped. People are in trouble”
It was originally supposed to be a secret place for me and my female slaves, but it’s immoral to hide it until this happens. We’ve always done well anyway. If we don’t need it, we don’t need it.
“Hey, Bauz?”
“Mmm”
The blond, middle-aged dragon, holding the crippled girl in one hand, turns to me.
“Emm, it’s a recuperation place, but……”
I was just about to point out the forest when I noticed Christie and Irina coming out of the distance.
“We’ll take care of it”
“The elves have a space in the forest called the barrier prison. You will not be able to enter or leave freely, but there are miraculous springs springing up. Food is abundant”
“Eh, you’re going to rent that place?”
“At this time, there will be no opposition. Besides, it seems that it will take time to be able to contact people”
“Strictly speaking, a barrier prison is safer than leaving a dragon with an insane rider outside. We understand that dragons are a rational species, but we also know that they are not limited to that when it comes to riders”
Christy looks at Bauz, her expression tightening somewhat. ……So, Bauz will be the only dragon with a proper rider, with the exception of Laila and Maia. As long as there is no such thing as trust between Bauz and his rider, anything can happen to him. In the event of a sudden outburst, will it be the limited uninhabited forest of the barrier prison that will be destroyed, or the entire surrounding area, including Polka? In terms of the weight of the situation, was Polka already judged to be heavier than the barrier prison?
“When it comes down to it, more than a dozen blue dragons from Misty Palace will fight you, honoring Smithson-sama as justice. Don’t you ever forget that”
“……Let’s keep that in mind. Anything to get Eufa back to normal”
“Christie. Don’t be too pushy. Bauz made a deal with me”
“……Smithson-sama”
“A dragon’s word to a rider, even if he’s only the master of another dragon, must be worth something. If you don’t trust it, then any threats or verbal promises will be meaningless”
“……That’s right”
Christie lowers her eyes and steps back.
“Thanks for the help”
Bauz says a few words and walks away, breaking through the distant crowd.
“She’s going to be fine. When she recovers, enjoy this town at your leisure”
“……Yeah”
Bauz never says much, but the slight smile on his face makes me believe that our thoughts are being conveyed……. I don’t know if everything will be back to normal, but I want to believe that the treatment will work.
And it seems that Hilda’s eyesight has not yet returned to normal, aside from the trauma.
“I can see vaguely now, so I’m almost there. Even if I cross over to Renfangas in my current condition, I should be completely healed within a few days if I continue to treat myself with magic”
“I’m sure Polka will cure you in no time. Elder sister is a lifeline for our unit”
Dianne, being a bit overprotective, forbade Hilda from overdoing it. But, well, the mobility gained from dragon wings and the time it takes to get there should be used effectively at a time like this.
“Do you want us to cross first?”
“No, let’s carry the luggage first. The treatment of my elder sister should be finished around the time you come back. Maia, can you and Laila go back and forth?”
“……Yes. But Dianne, you take care of Andy-sama”
“I’ll take care of him”
For Maia, is her obsessive follow-up to me a manifestation of her consciousness to protect me even when Laila is not around? Well, for dragons, there is nothing more reliable than protection. I guess she is worried enough to want to make sure that the other knights are protecting me. ……Yes. I’m often in big trouble on a moment’s notice, so it’s only natural. Sorry.
“So what am I supposed to be doing today……”
“……We’ll see Laila and Maia off and then hang out today. You can relax or mingle with the other girls in detention”
“Eh, with Diane-san……?”
“It should have been entrusted to Maia just now”
Dianne sighs. Then she smiles a little and pokes my chest with her fist.
“‘I’m going to be busy for a while. This is your last chance to go on a date with me”
“……Understood”
And so it goes. Unexpectedly, I decided to act with Diane-san in Polka aimlessly. ……I, Is it really the first time I’ve had an opportunity like this in a while?