Chapter 275 - 275. The East Wind and the Road to Okita Village
We depart from the fortress and continue further east. The mountain range we aim for lies far ahead. The road is surrounded by beech forests, and we can't see the distant scenery, which makes me anxious about whether we are heading in the right direction. We received a map from Tulsa before setting out, but it only roughly indicates to head east. Whenever we come to a fork in the road, Fam glares at the map, then points the way with a worried expression, making me even more uneasy. Before being captured by the Crimson Brigade, she had occasionally gone to nearby villages but never to Migul Town.
Fam and Marmie walk side by side. They are of different races, a dog-eared and an elf, but they seem like sisters.
'Fam, your gait seems to have improved.'
The usual waddling has diminished, and her legs seem to extend forward more smoothly.
'Mash suggested I try keeping my stomach in.'
She presses down around her lower abdomen with her hand. Her waist line seems to be a bit higher, and her posture looks better. When I glance at Marmie, I notice her own gait has adopted a bit of Fam's former waddling.
'Are your legs not hurting?'
'...They are tired, but better than yesterday.'
Marmie nodded, tucking her chin back.
'I see. Tell me if they start to hurt.'
Yesterday, we walked to Mizuki and Fam's pace, but today, we're matching Marmie's. That must be why. But the road ahead is much longer. I decide to take frequent breaks.
As I watch Marmie's gait, I notice Fam looking at me as if she wants to say something. Come to think of it, I also remember wanting to talk to her.
'Fam...'
'Yes?'
She doesn't have her usual soft demeanor; she seems slightly unfriendly.
'Patricia and I couldn't eat the matsutake mushrooms...' ['What about them?' in italics]
'I ate them. Mizuki taught me to put salt on them or dip them in fish sauce. They were very delicious.'
I quickly glance at Mizuki, but she quickly averts her eyes.
'I heard that there were some set aside for us too...'
'Really? Patricia took a lot so I put the leftovers in storage.'
Fam replies with an innocent face. Storage can be partitioned to lend to companions. Mizuki has her own storage, but she lends storage to Fam, Maira, Marmie, and Nefee. The fact that she didn't give any to me means she stashed them in the space allotted to her. ['Why not me?']
'Isn't your storage full of food?'
Before leaving Migul Town, she bought a lot of corn and eggs. The contents of the storage are preserved in the state they were placed, so freshness is maintained, and another major advantage is that you can eat cooked food as is, as long as it is placed in storage. In exchange, if you put in slightly damp clothes, you will have to wear them in that state, but thanks to the combination of earth, water, fire, and wind magic, you can completely wash your body. Initially, the water magic was controlled by manipulating the water to remove all moisture, but Marmie evolved the magic to provide comfortable drying, so you don't have to continue wearing your clothes in a dirty state. There's also the fact you don't have to carry luggage on your back, so you can walk unencumbered. The adventurer profession itself is almost like cheating.
'N-no, that's not true! I just prepared what was necessary for the trip!'
'I want to eat them...' ['Wahhh!']
'We don't have any for Master!'
'Why? Are you angry?'
Fam turned her face away with a huff. She's definitely angry. Is it because we added Nefee to the party? Or because I spent last night with Patricia?
As I'm thinking about this, Marmie taps me around the hip a few times.
'...I also almost couldn't eat any matsutake mushrooms.'
'Yesterday was all your doing. I missed out on matsutake because of Mash. '
Marmie stops and looks at me with wide eyes upon hearing my words. ['Did Mash say that on purpose?']
'...Mash, what's more important to you, Patricia or the matsutake?'
Even though she's trying to keep her face blank to prevent me from reading her mind, her cheeks seem to be puffing out slightly. I decide that I will mess with her tonight.
'...When I asked everyone to save some for Patricia, I ended up last on the list.'
It was a sharp reply like Fam's.
Now there was another person walking with puffed-up cheeks.
'Lately, has Mash been thinking of me as just an adventurer companion?'
Maira mutters beside me. There's no way a just adventurer companion would walk around with such huge, swaying breasts. As I try not to peek at the valley between her breasts, Maira lightly bumps shoulders with me. Her chest shakes significantly, which makes me happy, but it probably doesn't make Maira happy.
'Say something!' ['Hmph! Something better come out of your mouth!']
She reaches out to grab my arm, so I take her hand and hold it.
'Maira, your very presence is everything to me...'
'What kind of existence am I?'
Hearing Maira's voice, Fam turns around.
'Onee-chan, Master is trying to say...' ['Wait, Fam, don't say anymore!']
I hurriedly shut Fam up. She didn't seem to want to say anything more, but I can't afford to upset everyone any further. I want to appease her and eat matsutake for dinner tonight.
'So... what do you mean?'
Maira leans closer, almost hugging me.
'It means exactly what I said...' ['Mmph. You're always excluding me...']
She says, lowering her gaze and pouting. ['I' before 'wi'']
It's not true. It's already the case that there's no one to play the straight man in this current Levante. If Maira is gone, even the commentator role will be missing. ['Mmph! More!']
'It is not!' ['I didn' want to become Levante to play such a role!']
'Was it? If I remember correctly, Maira was...' ['Mmph!']
Before I know it, Maira is walking with heavy steps. I've been pouring oil on the fire. Despite being the oldest woman in the party, she sometimes acts like the most childish of all.
'By the way, how old is Nefee again?'
I turn around and glance at Nefee, who is following behind us.
'Twenty-three years old.'
She replied immediately.
'Younger than I thought...'
As I say this and turn my gaze back to Maira, she is puffing out her cheeks as much as possible. Despite my attempts to shut Fam up, she seems to have understood what I was thinking. ['I hate this world!']
'Maira...'
'Yes? What is it?'
'That... sorry. Let me make it up to you. Let's go on another date when we get to a town... I mean, I want to go on one.'］['Wahhh!'] ['The answer is NO!']
'I won't be fooled. You just think of me as a convenient commentator.' ['That's not true! Maira is far more important than that...']
She looks up at me intently. At that moment, her soft, large chest bumps into my arm and wobbles, but she doesn't seem satisfied. ['Hmph!']
'More important than what?'
'No, you and I will always be together. Even beyond fulfilling our purpose as heroes in the Demon Kingdom, I never intend to let you go.'
She looks away and faces forward.
'Mash... I won't forget that date promise. I'll be angry if you ditch it.'
Maira's steps become lighter. She bumps her shoulder against mine.
We continue walking through the beech forest. According to the map, we will be walking through this forest all day today and tomorrow as well. The forks in the road are few, but there are few people passing by. The roads are poorly maintained, and some places are indistinct. There are several dog-eared race settlements near Fam's village, but they basically live self-sufficient lives. Basically only merchants and a few others travel between Migul and the settlements.
'By the way, what is the capital of the Demon Kingdom like?'
I ask Maira out of boredom from just walking.
'The capital of the Demon Kingdom? Let me see...
'
Maira puts her index finger under her lips and looks up at the sky. The beech trees spread their branches overhead like a roof. A dappled pattern of blue sky and sunlight is visible.
'It is located on the western side of the strait that divides the world into east and west. It is a fortified city surrounded by steep cliffs on the north side and thick walls. It is a place where everything, both material and spiritual, from all over the world is gathered. There is no end to the elaborate buildings from the distant past to the present day, and there are so many that no one can grasp them all. The royal palace, built on a hill, is a world-renowned giant structure with a huge dome. And it is all covered in marble, and it is said to be a magnificent and beautiful labyrinth-like structure'
'Is it bigger than Migul Town?' ['It's huger than Mizuki!']
Maira doesn't move her eyes, but a smile slowly crept onto her face. ['Well duh!']
'It is much larger.'
She raises her index finger and looks as if it were a natural course of events.
'Grumble, you're treating me like a greenhorn, but Maira too is a town girl from the countryside of Richelle.' ['This city girl will not be fooled!']
If I were to show her the metropolises from my old world, she would faint.
'Well, I've seen pictures of the city in the church. It was before it was destroyed by the Demon Kingdom ten years ago, though?'
Maira glances at Nefee. In the past, the old empire that was the ruler of the world was centered on that city and ruled the eastern and western continents, with vast control. The west has become the current empire, and the east has been invaded and dominated by the demon kingdom, losing its territory. However, even so, the prosperity as the world's capital was maintained.
'No, it hasn't changed since the Demon Kingdom took over. The flow of goods from the west was temporarily cut off, but it was already returning when I was there.'
Nefee replied. Maira's eyes narrow. ['What does she mean by that?']
'Does that mean the demons are the rulers of the world now?' ['No way! I'm just an adventurer. I don't intend to say anything like that.']['Murmur. Again, she is leaving me out...'] ['Hmm.']
She pulls back her shoulders, and Nefee keeps her silence. ['I don't really understand but this is about me, right?']
'More importantly, even though we're walking so carefree, do you even know what kind of road this is?'
Everyone's feet stopped at Nefee's words.
'You know something about it?'
She shakes her head at my words.
'I only know the legend of Migul Town. Okita Soji went east on this road to save the dog-eared race, fighting monsters in the mountains and losing his life, didn't he? Mash and Mizuki heading east to save the dog-eared race cursed by demons... It's like retracing the footsteps of heroes from another world in the past.'
Hearing Nefee's reply, I and Mizuki looked at each other.
Thank you for reading. Your likes, bookmarks, and ratings encourage me. Thank you for the typo reports.