The turtle-shaped Great Spirit Beast, Zaratan, who teleported from the Spirit Forest to the eastern lake, dropped me off, and teleported back to the pond in the garden forest.

(It will be morning by the time we reach the royal capital. The road is going to get crowded.)

The closer I got to the royal capital, the more golem carriages I passed by. I couldn’t bother them by hovering, so I pushed down my impatience and walked.

By the time we arrived at the eastern gate, there was already a long line of golem carriages waiting to enter. The carts were filled with fruits and vegetables, probably picked in the morning by the local farmers.

(Hmm, I don’t really want to use it too much but, let’s use our special privilege here)

While being careful of my steps, I walked the Old Lady along the side of the line.

Knights are special, even if they are privately owned ones. Even the guards will give you a priority if you insist to let you through first.

(Hmm? The big gate is opening.)

The Knight of the merchant guild, who usually stood in line, walked directly to the gate.

They must have seen me coming. The guards opened the gate before I could ask them to.

(I appreciate it)

I stuck out the chest armor and bowed to the guards at the top of the gate.

After passing through, I put the Old Lady into the Knight’s hangar right next to the eastern gate and got out of the cockpit.

「I’m back. Please take care of the rest.」

The thin, herbivorous young mechanic hadn’t arrived yet, as expected. So I talked to the guard and decided to go home.

(Firstly, we need to treat Zaratan.)

The turtle was covered with scars all over his body, as well as a large burn on his face from protecting me from the attacks of the elven Knights. I want to heal him as soon as possible.

I’d better report to the guild master who lent me the knight after that. But then, I suddenly realized.

(I said I should report, but what am I supposed to say? I don’t think there’s anything I can share with them.)

I think about this as I run west along the main street in the morning when there are few people.

『Riding the shell of the great spirit beast, Zaratan, I teleported to the Spirit Lake. There, I fought elven Knights and inflicted tremendous damage on the world tree.』

They say that honesty is a virtue, but this was no good. Even though I’m not exactly what would you call a clever person, I can predict that this is not going to end well if I told him that.

(Well, let’s just think about it when it happens.)

Pushing the troublesome matter for later, I ran up the stairs to my home on the third floor.

「I’m home~」

I opened the door while out of breath, I saw two spirit animals that seemed to be waiting for me at the entrance. They were a 20-centimeter-long caterpillar and a 15-centimeter-long dung beetle.

『Welcome home~!』

Imosuke and Dangorou crawled over to me and clung to me as hard as they could. Then they started hitting my arms with their head and warty feet.

『Come on, hurry!』

『Hurry up!』

They seemed so serious, so I rushed to the living room with the two animals in my arms. A 20-centimeter-long turtle lay slumped on a bath towel on the floor.

Feeling the vibration, the turtle opened its unburned eye and slowly lifted its head.

(I was in a hurry, afraid that his injuries had gotten worse but… that doesn’t seem to be the case.)

It was no different from when we had parted at the lake. But Imosuke and the others must have been shocked by Zaratan’s appearance.

「Sorry to have made you wait」

I set them down on their bath towels and lifted the turtle with both hands.

Zaratan was about to open his mouth to say something, but before he could, I activated my B-rank cure injury magic.

「I’m not riding a Knight. So it should be fine to use it, right?」

I’ve known the turtle for a long time now, so I have an idea of what he’s thinking to some extent. He was probably going to say something like, “It’s fine to use low-rank magic to heal this level of injury” or something to that effect.

For me, B and E are of equal value as long as they are used within a day. In fact, the lower ranks are more valuable because they do not emit light.

When the red glow disappeared from the turtle’s body, all the burns and scorch marks on its shell were gone.

『Sorry for the trouble』

I put Zaratan who thanked me back on the bath towel and ran my hand over the ruins attached to his shell.

「It’s one of my duties as your master. Don’t sweat it.」

When I asked him if he wanted me to take him to the pond, Zaratan shook his head. He said he was going to sleep here today.

『I’ve made all of you worry after all』

The old turtle came back to the pond before dawn and told Imosuke and Dangorou, who were in the garden, what had happened at the Spirit Lake.

After that, he was going to stay in the pond until I came, but something was bothering him, so he crawled to the living room.

「It will be troubling if your senior spirit beast drowned?」

When they found out that I was okay, they were worried about Zaratan, who was injured. They had been watching him on the branches above the pond and on the rocks by the water.

Imosuke couldn’t swim, and Dangoro wasn’t very good in the water. It will be bad if they fall into the water.

(They really get along so well, they might follow him back to the pond as is)

Half a day together would be enough to calm them down. I’m sure just waiting at home without being able to do anything was mentally taxing for them.

The turtle quietly closes its eyes, resting its chin on the bath towel, while the caterpillar and the dung beetle watch over him. I put my face close to theirs and whispered quietly to them.

「I guess we should sleep too」

They were trying to look calm, but I could feel a wave of exhaustion coming from them. And I’m sleepy, too, to be honest.

(I went home and see my familiars who were staying home, and also healed Zaratan’s injuries.)

My mind must’ve relaxed at once because I finished the things I need to do. I nodded as I looked at them, then grabbed a pillow from the bedroom, placed it on the floor, and lay down while still in my pilot’s uniform.

「Good night」

『Good night』

As we sank into the calm sea, we slept until late afternoon in early summer with the curtains in the living room closed.

***

The stage moved a little to the east-northeast to the merchant guild building on the east side of the central square of the royal capital.

In the office on the third floor, the guild master and vice-guild master were receiving a report from Herbivore mechanic.

「I see, so Tauro-kun has returned huh」

A small old man who looks like a goblin buries himself in the office chair which is too big for him said in a relieved voice. From the sofa beside him, the Santa Claus-like vice-guild master asks a question to the slim young mechanic who nods.

「He wasn’t hurt, wasn’t he?」

「Yes. He looked sleepy, but that’s all. At least that’s what the security guard who was there said.」

Since he returned so early in the morning, Herbivore mechanic had not seen him.

While squeezing his long, white beard with a calm expression, Santa Claus asked further.