Volume 2 - CH 119

Kingdom of Garott.

There is a mine right beside it, from which a variety of ores can be mined.

It is one of the few places where all kinds of minerals can be mined, including iron, copper, gold, silver, mithril, magic stone, magic crystals, and other precious items.

The ore veins are still inexhaustible and are said to last for the next 500 years.

However, there were many who targeted such a place of prosperity.

The country had been attacked in various ways, including power struggles and the use of force, but Rybach-Courselette, the first head of the Courselette family, repulsed all of them.

Recognized for his strength, neighboring small lords came to join Rybach-Courselette, and together they helped to build up the country.

Initially only the head of a small territory, Rybach-Courselette, with the help of his vassals and subordinates, finally became a nobleman and even a king in charge of his own country.

Defense infrastructure was strengthened, and through research into weapons and weaponry and the training of magic soldiers, they succeeded in creating a force that would not be ashamed to go anywhere as an army.

He also built a castle to assert his power.

He also took the initiative in establishing an Adventurers’ Guild, and is said to have been in charge of the entire country.

We were in a country with such a history right now.

I had been away from here for about two weeks and the scene had not changed much.

However, the liveliness of the people seemed to be greater than when I visited this country before.

Stores were open, housewives were shopping, children were playing, and sometimes there were fights.

Such things are an everyday occurrence in this country.

When a fight breaks out, there are onlookers cheering for the fighters, and when children are playing, other children join in and start playing with them.

Satella would look out of the wagon and look around nostalgically, while Alena would look around as if seeing something unusual, and if something caught her attention, she would ask me or Uchikage what it was.

I would try to answer each time, but Satella would explain everything before I could, so we were in a situation where we were not allowed to say anything.

I guess Satella wants to appear as a big sister.

I wanted to let Satella do what she wanted here, but Alena seemed a little curious as to why Satella would answer when she asked me.

And there was one guy who was even more excited than Alena, looking around …….

“Whoa!　Amejing! This is the first time I’ve ever been in a country like this! Ahmeizin’! Western! Western architecture! Wohhooo! This is awesome!”

“Calm down, will ya……”

Please don’t screech so loudly.

When we are about to go to the Adventurer’s Guild or something similar …….

If he yells at me even there, I might seriously consider knocking him out.

He is screaming so loudly that it hurts a little to see the eyes of those around us.

His body was already the size of an adult male, and some people must have thought he was a pitiful child.

However, Reizen did not care about that at all and was trying to express his excitement.

It’s good to see you enjoying yourself.

The soldiers seemed to recognize me and waved at us when they spotted us.

When we asked them if they could go to the castle to report our return, they accepted rather easily.

They were so excited that they immediately borrowed horses and rode to the castle.

Seeing such a scene made me smile, and we slowly made our way to the castle.

“WHOOOOOAAAAAA-!”

“Shut it!”

I chop my hand towards Reizen’s neck.

Needless to say, although he did not faint, he yelped in extreme pain.

◆

I was able to pass through the castle with a face pass.

That was a huge surprise.

Is that okay? This is a Royal Palace you know?

Well, it’s okay that we can advance right away.

Personally, I’d feel safer if the security was a little stricter.

Leaving the carriage in the hands of the king’s personal guard, we entered the castle.

Since I had been here before and Satella had taken me around at that time, I had a general idea of the internal structure of the castle.

However, there is a guide, so we just follow the guides.

Remembering that we had passed this place with Satella, we proceeded on our way.

“Ugh …”

“……my bad”

“No, me too, I was a little too excited.”

Reizen kept rubbing his hand on his neck.

Apparently, my blow cleanly struck him and hurt his neck.

I was irritated at the time, so I really took it rather seriously, but I think it’s great that he didn’t faint.

As a matter of course, this time I made a conscious effort not to activate the skill on my own, but if someone who was unfamiliar with the skill tried to knock him out with his hand, he would just end up hurting his hand.

However, the automatic skill 【Defense Penetration】 seemed to be effective, and the attack passed through Reizen normally.

This was very painful for Reizen, who doesn’t feel pain very much.

I apologized to him for my actions this time.

We are in the process of taking everyone to Baltic’s place now.

It seems that the guard from earlier has talked through the situation, so they were able to get us to the visitation smoothly.

I should thank that guardsman.

Since it was not evening yet, we were sent to the guest room this time.

Apparently, Baltic going to meet us in the guest room.

I asked him if it was all right for me to be dressed like this, but he said it was fine with him since it was just us.

I was a little worried because Reizen’s clothes haven’t changed much since that time, but it seems to be alright.

I have no intention of adapting to the nobles, but Baltic is royalty, after all.

I thought I should be a little concerned about it, but I’m sure he’s not that narrow-minded …….

The guide also said the same thing, so let’s not worry too much about it.

We were led into a room with an excessive amount of light.

Why is it so bright in the castle? …… come to think of it, I thought I didn’t activate the 【Dazzle】 resistance skill, didn’t I?

This may be because I’m in human form.

Maybe I should do a little research on resistance skills.

Me, Uchikage and Satera are unfazed sitting on chairs waiting for Baltic, but Reizen and Alena are fidgety and restless, as this was their first time to enter the castle.

I thought girls would have a longing for a place like this, but …… it seems that Alena is a little different.

Quite a contrast from Satella.

“…”

“Alena, are you okay?”

“I- … I’m nervous”

“Baltic is a good guy. I guess Alena would be surprised when you see him.”

“Why?”

“Because he is small”

Alena tilts her head at that.

He is older than Asure, but his height is only about Satella’s.

But he seems to be smarter than Asure.

I heard Baltic is weak and sickly,……, but I wonder if he can be cured.

I think it can be cured as long as it is not an incurable disease. ……

I don’t know if my 【Great Heal】 is effective for the illness.

As I was thinking these thoughts, the door to the guest room opened with a clang and someone entered.

The person was short and dressed in white, spectacular clothes.

He had a childlike face and a childish smiling expression on his face.

This person was Baltic Coursellet, the older brother of Asure Coursellet.

“Welcome back everyone! And good job!”

“Long time no see, Baltic. How’s your health?”

“What are you talking about? I’m not a grandpa yet.”

As we were talking and laughing about this, Alena looked somewhat surprised when she compared me and Barthes.

“O-Ouren! Is this person Baltic?”

“Ah, yes, that’s right, Alena. I’m Baltic Courselette, brother of Asure Courselette, king of the Kingdom of Garott.”

“He is so small!”

“I don’t need you to tell me that!!”

Surely you don’t want Alena, who is genuinely a child, to tell you that.

But thanks to this conversation, the atmosphere of the place became much more relaxing.

This would allow Alena and the others to discuss things without any tension.

As we were laughing at each other, someone who did not read the air hurriedly opened the door and came inside.

The person was wearing a black robe and kept his hood up even though he was in a castle.

Although we could not see his face, we knew immediately who he was.

It seemed that both Alena and Satella recognized him, and they both called his name at about the same time.

“” It’s a Valadim.! “”

“Alena-sama! Satella-sama!”

Valadim immediately rushed over and knelt down in front of them, even though he was in front of Baltic, who is royalty. He immediately removes his hood to reveal his bare face.

He was wearing a forehead patch, which seemed to be tied back, but the stretched cloth was fluttering as if catching the wind, just as we had seen before.

“I am glad…… I am glad you both are safe!”

Valadim’s face was downcast so we couldn’t see his expression, but the words he barely managed to squeeze out in a trembling voice told us that Valadim was crying.

Alena immediately leaned over to Valadim and patted him on the back.

Satella was dazed by Valadim’s crying, but she saw Alena’s actions and approached Valadim as if to imitate her.

“Ouren-sama …! Thank you … Thank you very much …!”

“Yea”

The last time I saw Valadim was when he saw us off in the carriage.

At that time, he called me “Ouren-dono,” but when we came here, I was addressed as “sama” (like “sir”).

I guess his perception of me must have changed.

After thanking me, he began to bow down to me as if he could hardly stand any longer.

He sometimes covered his face with his robe to wipe his tears, but he never raised his head when Alena and the others approached, as if he did not want us to see his face.

“Ouren-kun. I thank you too. Thank you for preventing the war.”

“What, I went to help for my own reason. Preventing the war was a bonus, a bonus.”

“I see”

With that, Barltic quietly sat down to face me.

Then we waited for Valadim to stop crying for a while.

The reason he didn’t stop crying was probably due to his regret at not being able to protect the one he was supposed to protect and his relief that the one he was supposed to protect was back within his reach.

I was relieved to know that even though they had lost their parents, they had someone who cared about them as much as their parents.

I knew that Valadim would protect both of them.

For a while, the only sound in the guest room was Valadim’s sobbing voice.