CH 130

Chapter 130 – Walking With Sylphy

We went home, had dinner, and spent a relaxing and lovey-dovey day.

The next day, I woke up to find Sylphy right next to me, staring at my face. She had a smile on her mouth and very kind eyes. I guess that’s what you call a happy face.

“Good morning, Sylphy.”

“Good morning, Kosuke. Your sleeping face is so cute. I can look at it all day.”

“That’s embarrassing. But I think I can relax because I have you next to me.”

There’s nothing I can do about my sleeping face. But I wouldn’t expose my dumb sleeping face in a quintessential tricky situation. I think the reason why I can show my sleeping face that Sylphy calls me cute is because Sylphy is next to me.

“Well, let’s get up. Let’s deliver the goods to the shared warehouse today. Then we’ll have free time.”

“Grande will be here in the afternoon or evening, so we’ll have to eat lunch and dinner in the village.”

“Yes… After delivering the goods to the warehouse, we can go for a walk in the forest around the village.”

“Yes, it’s not bad to take a walk in the forest once in a while.”

But the forests around here are rather dangerous, you know. There are lizards that look like the combination of a wolf and a lizard divided by two. I’m scared of them. Let’s make sure we have the right equipment.

The two of us took a bath in the backyard to wash off the residue from last night and had breakfast. There’s no hurry, so we stand side by side in the kitchen and start cooking.

“It’s easy enough to craft, though, isn’t it?”

“It’s not so bad to make a normal dish once in a while.”

“That’s true. We have plenty of time, after all.”

Today’s menu consisted of baked bread, fried meat and vegetables with honey, and milk from my inventory. The source of this milk is, of course, an ordinary cow. Don’t misunderstand me; it’s not from a cow-beastman lady.

“Hmm, this sweet and spicy flavor goes well with bread.”

“The spices are the key to this flavoring. Kosuke’s ability is handy, but sometimes it’s nice to have something like this, isn’t it?”

“Yes. Crafted food is convenient, fast, and tasty, but I like the warmth of Sylphy’s homemade food…”

“I see.”

Sylphy watching me eat with a smirk on her face. It’s a little hard to eat when being watched like that, but if it makes you happy, it’s okay, right?

☆★☆

“Hello, it’s been a while.”

After breakfast, we got ready and headed for the shared warehouse when the Elf who was in charge of the warehouse approached us. It’s the same Elf who used to guard the warehouse before. Does it just happen to be the same one, or does he make a living as a full-time warehouse keeper…? Well, maybe the latter…

“It’s been a while. You may have heard from the elders, but this is not a personal delivery from us, but a reward gift from the Liberation Army to the Elven village.”

“Understood, I’ll make a note of it. Then, this way, please.”

The first thing I did was to place the bags of gemstones on the large table pointed out by the warehouse keeper Elf. For the Elves, gems, which are the raw material for spirit stones, are a valuable commodity.

The gemstones function like amplifiers to increase the output of spirit magic, and the disintegration effect that results when the power of the gemstones is unleashed out of control is destructive enough to reshape the terrain. Naturally, this means that they have to throw away the spirit stones, but if they make up for it in numbers, it is possible for a few to defeat a large army.

“Oh, my… are these all gemstones? It looks like we won’t have to worry about spirit stones for a few hundred years.”

“It will be difficult to count, but I’ll leave it to you. There are more, though.”

“There are more? Aletta, I’m sorry, but I need your help!”

“Yes. Oh, it’s been a long time.”

The female Elf who helped me pick out my clothes some time ago also appeared from the back of the shared warehouse. She then carried a bag of gems from the delivery table to the back of the warehouse.

“What else do you have to deliver?”

“Metals and ores. Kosuke.”

“Yeah.”

Smelted iron, steel, copper, silver, magic iron, magic steel, and mithril ingots are placed on the table.

“This is amazing… It looks like Mills-san won’t have to go mining for a while.”

“There are some unrefined ores too.”

“No, I’d rather have the refined metal because it’s better quality. We don’t have the space to store them all, after all.”

I looked at Sylphy, and she nodded, so I left the unrefined metal ore in my inventory. Maybe I’ll refine it later in the backyard of Sylphy’s house. I’ll just set up the materials and fuel, make a crafting reservation, and leave it there, so it’ll be easy.

“That’s it for now. I think we’ll be able to reopen trade through the fort in the Great Omit Wilderness later on.”

“Really? That’s good to hear. It would be great to be able to buy things that are hard to get in our village again.”

“If you could put together a list of the requested items, that would be very helpful for us as well.”

“All right, I’ll write it down.”

The Elf in charge of the warehouse nodded with a smile. This is almost the end of our work as the Liberation Army. After that, we can relax in the village and see if there is anything we can support as the Liberation Army. The village is self-sufficient in its own right, and there should be no shortage of defensive forces, so it’s unlikely that the Liberation Army will be of much use.

We said goodbye to the male Elf in charge of the warehouse and headed towards the village entrance.

“Now, it’s not much fun to just stroll around. Shall we look for something?”

“You’re right. I think we should be prepared to look for the blessings of the forest while thinning it out and catching the prey if there is any. Walking leisurely is not a bad idea either.”

“Is that so? Well, let’s do that.”

“Let’s go.”

Aside from Sylphy, I’m not that well equipped to explore. I’m not wearing any leather armor or a helmet, just an elven-style folk costume. I’ve registered various weapons and gathering tools in my shortcuts, though.

As for Sylphy, she is dressed as usual. She is wearing a leather suit that covers her entire body like a black leather rider suit, with the Pale Moon on her left hip. She has two crossed Kukri knives on the back of her waist and a revolver on her right hip. She’s got a lot of stuff around her waist.

“What’s with all the staring at my waist?”

“No, I’m just happy that you’re carrying something I made around with you.”

“Fufu, it’s natural, isn’t it? It’s the one that Kosuke made for me, and it’s the one that I would trust with my life. I make sure I wear it whenever I go out of the house.”

“I’m glad to hear that. Do you want me to remake the Kukri with mithril?”

“No, it’s fine. Mithril weapons are great, but steel weapons have their own merits, you know.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. In some cases, they can be used as throwing weapons. If it’s made out of mithril, you won’t be able to throw it easily, will you?”

“I’ll make another one when the time comes, but if you say so…”

A weapon made of mithril is very expensive. I can make as many as I want, and I don’t care if Sylphy throws it and loses it. It would be a surprise to anyone who happened to pick up a mithril kukri knife that had flown away.

So the two of us took a leisurely stroll through the forest, thinning the trees and picking nuts and wild berries.

We did not encounter any large animals or monsters. After all, it seems that such things don’t often come close to the Elven village. I did see some birds and squirrel-like small animals, though.

☆★☆

When we got home and had lunch, we moved on to lovey-dovey time.

No, when I say lovey-dovey, I mean healthy stuff, you know? We sat side by side on the rattan couch and chatted, and I enjoyed her lap pillow, and she enjoyed me combing her long hair. We haven’t been able to spend much time like this lately, nurturing our love in peace. No matter how much Sylphy and I love each other, it would be a waste of time if all we did was a pet and kissing each other every time.

And if Grande didn’t show up at noon, it means that she will likely show up in the evening. It would be somewhat awkward to be doing that right before meeting Grande.

“It’s good to spend some time like this… I haven’t felt this peaceful since.”

“Sylphy is usually too tense. Considering your age, you should be more lenient with your surroundings.”

“It’s complicated to be told that by Kosuke, who is younger than me.”

“I am indeed younger than you, but considering the lifespan of an Elf, Sylphy is still a young girl. I’m a fully grown human adult, you know.”

“Fufu, you’re right. So, when it is just Kosuke and me, let’s indulge each other a lot. For now, would you like to give me a lap pillow?”

“Of course.”

When I moved to the edge of the couch and tapped my knee, Sylphy put her head on my lap with a happy look on her face. When I stroked her head, she narrowed her eyes like a cat and made a pleasant face. Fufufu… what a sweetheart. But Sylphy is more like a big, sharp dog than a cat, isn’t she? If I’m not careful, she can be careless like a husky.

“Sylphy’s hair is beautiful. It’s shiny and silky and feels good just touching it.”

“Is that so? That makes me happy to hear you say――”

“GYAOOOOOOOOO! (Where is the bastard who seduced my daughterーー!!)”

I heard a tremendous roar and a secondary voice.

“GYAAAAAA!? (Father, stop itーー!?)”

Then I heard a familiar cry and a secondary voice too.

“GURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! (Mom want to know more about that person too!)”

“GYAAAAA! (I heard there’s good food.)”

“GRRAAAAAAAAAAA!!! (Booze! I want some booze!)”

More roars and secondary voices followed.

“Kosuke?”

“It looks like we have visitors.”

I looked up at the ceiling and let out a big sigh. How many of them are here, anyway?