It’s morning.

We moved Satella to the Irza Magic Shop during the night, but she was already asleep.

Well, she is still a child.

You can’t fight sleep.

So Alena and Satella did not meet until the next morning.

I thought the emotional reunion would make both of them cry again, but they didn’t.

I wonder.

It’s been a long time, how have you been?

It was a very light-hearted reunion.

Of course, they were worried about each other, but not enough to cry.

Maybe they were sisters and had some sort of communication.

They must have trusted each other. ……

But since their reunion, they have been very close and would not leave each other at all.

They were always together in everything.

I finally understood that she must have been lonely after all.

Is she hiding her embarrassment?

Alena and the other kids were a little excited to see Uchikage.

They were probably excited to see an ogre for the first time.

They were playing with him, touching his horns and claws.

But the only time the Uchiakage scolded them a bit was when they touched his claws.

It’s a dangerous thing, that’s for sure.

That is quite normal.

However, there is no child here who is about to give up after being scolded once.

Uchikage and the children quickly got to know each other, even though he was once again getting upset with them when they were being tactless and forcing them to stop touching him.

For some reason, the boys didn’t like me.

However, it was not that they disliked me outright, but they seemed to keep a bit of distance.

However, the girls approached me aggressively.

I don’t know what they think is so good about me, but I don’t feel bad about it.

(Fui : Oh gawd)

In the meantime, morning came and Irza finally woke up.

She woke up dressed like a mage.

As soon as she saw me, she asked me about 【Sanctification 】 as if she was going to grapple me, but I didn’t know how to …… answer her.

IThere is no way I can say how I acquired it or anything.

And moreover, I am hiding the fact that I am a snake now.

I can’t just give it away so easily.

For the time being, I pushed through with the idea that it was a trade secret.

I managed to get out of the situation by saying that if anyone knew how to acquire it, I would be in trouble again.

Now that Irza has come down, I’ll get into the main subject.

And before that …

“Can Irza cook?”

“I can, why?”

“Well, that’s a relief.”

“?”

In the meantime, I’ll give her money and if she can cook, it will be easy to feed the kids.

Besides, I want breakfast.

I don’t think I can’t cook either, but I can’t cook at someone’s house without permission.

At any rate, before getting down to business, I asked her to cook breakfast.

I was very gracious, but Irza agreed to do so.

Fortunately, Uchikage bought some ingredients when he brought Satella over here.

The guy really likes to be ahead of everything.

That made breakfast reasonably spectacular.

The food was not as good looking as the food we had at Asure’s place, but it was so good that it could compete with the one in the palace.

This must be the common people’s taste …… delicious …….

“Ouren-sama eats deliciously again, doesn’t he?”

“It’s delicious … it’s bliss to have taste buds …”

“Taste buds? Pardon?”

Oops, I misspoke.

“I just appreciate the food. …… Delicious! …”

“Oh, I see. I’m glad it suited your palate..”

I managed to fool them.

Alena and Satella knew that I had no sense of taste because I was a snake, but I asked them to keep quiet about it.

Alena understands immediately and doesn’t mention it.

But she is smiling the whole time.

I wonder if she thinks it’s funny that I’m trying to hide it ……?

The kids are tucking into the first decent breakfast they’ve had in a while.

They seem happier than me.

Well, that’s what happens when a person who originally had a sense of taste is fed tasteless food for weeks and suddenly eats richly flavored food.

After the meal, Irza checked on the condition of the children.

But she didn’t seem to find anything particularly concerning.

What a relief, they’re in good shape.

Come to think of it, she was quite adept at medical examinations.

Was she a doctor?

When I asked her about it, Irza told me that she has 『Cure』.

So it seems that she used to work at a medical clinic, where she accumulated enough knowledge to be able to perform simple medical examinations.

I wondered how she managed to get away from the medical clinic with her healing skills, but it seems that she was recruited by an adventurer and became an adventurer.

So she succeeded in getting out of the medical clinic, which was very cramped.

In case anybody is wondering, Irza’s rank is A.

I was surprised at the higher rank range than I expected.

“I think I can trust you with this..”

“About what?”

Here’s where I cut to the chase.

I told her that the children were former slaves with no relatives, and I told her everything I had seen so far.

I asked Irza to take care of the four children.

I made it a condition that I would give her enough money to live on for a while, but Irza seemed a little troubled

“What is it??”

“Hmm. I fear that …… I may be in danger.”

“From Lequam?”

“Yes, I would like to help. I would like to help them, and I had hoped to have an assistant to help me with my work. But if they are former slaves and their source is in the house where the S-ranked adventurer Lequam Saulmaldt was, I thought they might come looking for the children. …… If that were to happen, I, as well as these children, would be in danger.”

It is certainly not out of the realm of possibility.

Perhaps the fact that the slaves are missing would not be a surprise if they already know.

The question is how Lequam will react to that. ……

As for me, I was pretty confident that I’d be ok.

“No problem on that matter. There are even strange rumors whispered about Lequam. If he did something strange, he would be the first to be targeted by the guild. And if Irza knows what’s going on in the basement, there’s no limit to what we can do.”

If the public gets word that Lequam has come alone to retrieve the children, they will make a fuss, claiming that the whispered rumors may be true.

If such a rumor were to be started, guild officials would pay Lequam another visit.

Even if they try to hire someone to raid Irza’s magic tool store, they will not be able to defeat Irza with half-hearted efforts.

Besides, the captured assailants will be interrogated, and if that happens, it will only be a matter of time before Lequam’s name comes up.

I’m sure that Lequam is not that stupid.

All we can say for sure is that we will be safe for a while.

Now all we need to do is get the kids some decent clothes and no one will think they are former slaves.

Irza seemed to be satisfied for the time being, so I handed her the promised money.

She was surprised again when she saw what was inside, but it was okay to ignore her.

And so me and the rest of us had to leave.

I just advised Irza to go to Dolce and threaten to have these girls’ slave records purged, and we started to get ready.

The preparations, though, were quick.

We were ready to go as soon as we had our luggage.

“Okay, Irza. Take care of the kids.”

“Yes, I’ll make them useful.”

“… You won’t abuse them like slaves right?”

“What do you think I am !?”

She hit me like a kid’s tantrum.

Well, I laugh lightly and play it off.

The other kids are laughing, too.

I am relieved that they seem to be getting along well with each other.

“OK, let’s go. Uchikage, Alena, Satella”

“”Yes””

“Well then Irza-dono see you again.”

“Yes. If possible, please don’t bring any trouble next time”

I chuckled at Irza’s ear-piercing words and headed for the stable where the Starhorse was.

On the way there, we bought some food.

This should last us three days.

The rest of the day would be fine as long as I bought food for the horses at the stable.

Now, it’s an outing until we get back home.

Let’s keep our spirits up.

“Ah, you know. Uchikage. What do you think about taking Alena and Satera to the Kingdom of Garrotte, and after things cool down, we’ ll make a quick stop at Zenki-village?”

“That’s fine with me. Everything I have to do is already done.”

“Then I’ll ask someone to make a sword for me! I’d like to get a kimono too. ……”

“Our blacksmith can make all kinds of weapons. Like this..”

Then, he flicks the claw on his arm with his finger to make a sound.

The Oni Blacksmith seems to be very dexterous.

So it is better to consult with him before deciding.

Well, I guess I’ll have to decide slowly.

Well, I guess it will be a long time before that happens.

Behind me, Alena and Satella are holding hands and walking on the skips.

Hmmm… it makes me smile.

And so we arrived at the stable.

The Starhorse is taken out and connected to a horse-drawn carriage.

We paid the fee, got in and left the Kingdom of Salettana.

It took a while to get in, but it was surprisingly easy to get out.

It’s very bright.

The sun shines on us relentlessly, probably because there are no obstructions.

But it’s not summer yet, so it’s warm enough.

It was just about the right heat temperature.

And in the carriage.

They’re already playing with me and I can’t help it.

I know for sure that I’m not busy, but please don’t play with me.

I have an important job to do, which is to search for the enemy in 【Haze Manipulation】. ……

Well, the country is close and bandits are not going to appear anytime soon.

We continue across the fields and plains, and finally the forest comes into view.

Why does it feel somewhat fast for the return trip?

It feels like it was just a blink of an eye.

“Hmm?”

“Ah? What’s wrong, Uchikage??”

“No, …… strange person is ……! Please get down!”

As soon as Uchikage said this, he waved his arm and used the momentum to equip his claws.

As he was wondering what was going on, a bead of flame exploded in front of Uchikage’s eyes.

“What the-!?”

“” Gyaaaa-! “”

The carriage stops and Uchikage flies forward.

I follow and check on the horse, but it’s unharmed.

Thank goodness …… the horse is still able to move.

I looked at Uchikage and saw that he was already facing the person in front of him, equipped with claws on both arms.

The opponent was holding a cane and wearing a robe with a black belt wrapped around it.

He was about 40 to 50 years old.

His face was beginning to show wrinkles.

His eyes were dark and his expression was somewhat maniacal.

recognized the silhouette.

It was the person from the …… workroom I found in the basement.

Suddenly I was filled with anger.

Then, disgustedly, I said his name.

“… Lequam Saulmaldt. …!”