CH 114

Characters in this chapter:

Sapphiras Perfectio, 2nd son of the Earl of Aldridge

Percival Belisario, 3rd son of Margrave of Vanderwall on the Eastern Frontier

Susanna, servant in the Belisario household

Clarabelle, servant in the Belisario household

When I put my knife and fork into the thick steak without hesitation, the meat cuts easily despite its thickness. As I put it in my mouth, the flavour of the spices and the taste of the meat spreads.

Aah, delicious……

The moderate sweetness of the fat and the texture of the meat. The meat served at the academy is also delicious in its own way, but it doesn’t compare to this. Isn’t this meat the best healing that the goddess has given? I’m chewing on bliss right now.

While I was entranced by the deliciousness of the meat, Margrave told me about the current situation in the magical beast forest. I wondered if it was okay for him to talk to me about the important territory, but he said he wanted me to listen to him because I had helped to subjugate the magical beasts the other day. I was wondering what happened after that, so I would be grateful if he could tell me.　

“The abyss has been burnt once by Sapphiras-dono, so the magical beasts is appearing slower than before. But little by little, things are getting back to how they used to be.”

“Although magical beasts are a threat to people, there are some materials that can only be obtained from them, so it’s not good to let them disappear completely. In other words, the best situation is not to hunt too many, not to let them increase too much, and not let people subjugate them without restraint. However, the size of the abyss in the magical beast forest is large, so it will be difficult to say that it will be enough if it returns to its usual state.

“Since then, while the outbreak of magical beasts was under control, we checked the area around the abyss and found the corpse of a person who is believed to have been eaten to death by magical beasts nearby.”

“Eh? Corpse?”

Is it okay to talk about corpses during a meal? I unintentionally turned my gaze to the women, but they were completely unmoved and enjoying their meals normally.

……The women of Vanderwall are strong.

“Based on the condition of the corpse, I believe the deaths probably occurred around the time of the magical beast outbreak. The belongings and clothes were everywhere and it was not possible to deduce from them where the body was from. In any case, he must have been quite skilled, as he was able to enter the centre of the third layer in the previous Forest of Magical Beasts1previously I just wrote it as magical beast forest but then I think this should be the name of the forest, similar to the Sea of Trees, so I changed it. I will try to go back and change the previous chapters . JP raw is 魔獣の森.

It’s true that he was skilled, but in the end, he got eaten by a magical beast, so there’s no point. Even so, that corpse has nothing in common with the one I caught in the royal capital forest. A suspicious person in the royal capital and a corpse in the Forest of Magical Beasts. Assuming that they are connected, what on earth do they want to do with an outbreak of magical beasts?

“……Vanderwall-kyou2卿 (kyou): lord/sir. Since I’m keeping sama, dono, san, kun in romaji, I decided to keep this as well.. Could you hide the fact that I was the one who wiped out the magical beasts here?

“Of course. I intend to do so, and I have informed His Majesty. You are still a student, Sapphiras-dono. I promise to take the utmost care so that you can learn calmly.”

“Ah, no. You don’t have to worry about it that much. It’s just that, as long as you don’t mention my name, that’s enough.”

Margrave seems to be worried about my academy life, but I tend to get involved in turmoil in the first place, so I don’t expect to learn calmly now.

Rather than that, if someone were to plot something outrageous, I thought it would be interesting to keep my existence a secret until the very end. An unexpected ambush is, almost by definition, something that appears when the excitement is at its peak. Then it dashingly destroys your ambitions.

Most people would never have thought that a student like me would use extreme magic. In the first place, you rarely hear of magicians who have used extreme magic and then survived. Most of them are crippled due to sudden depletion of magical power.

So, if I could keep my name a secret, only the people who were there would know that I was the one who cleaned up Vanderwall’s magical beasts using extreme magic.

“……Sapphiras, looks like you’re having fun.”

“Eh? Is that so?”

“Yeah. You look like you’re having fun. Don’t tell me you’re about to get involved in something dangerous again?”

“No, no, I’m not. I just thinks the meat tastes good.”

“……I see. I’m glad it suits your tastes. However, when you really want to stick your head in danger, I want you to call me.”

“I know! I don’t like dangerous things either. I won’t do anything that Percival will worry about.”

Phew3he actually said ‘危ない危ない。’ (abunai abunai) which means ‘dangerous dangerous’. But it doesn’t sound good in English and the nuance is lost, I feel like ‘phew’ fits much better. I just thought it was a little interesting, but it seemed that it was unconsciously showing on my face. Percival’s worries have been activated. I like interesting things, but a peaceful and calm daily life is the best. I came here to fully enjoy Yor and delicious food. I don’t have time to think about unnecessary things.

Besides, when coming to Vanderwall, there is something to be done first.

On the morning of the first day, I got up early.

I had to go to the city of Oriens and come back while Percival was doing his morning training.

“Sapphiras-sama, are you awake already?”

“Clarabelle-san looked a little flustered as I was getting ready to go out.”

“Yes. I was thinking of taking a short walk before breakfast.”

“Well, if you’re going to walk outside, it’s probably going to be cold.”

“Eh, really?”

“Yes, it’s cold enough to snow here, unlike in the royal capital. It’s warm inside the castle, but it is especially cold this morning, so you’ll catch a cold if you go out dressed like that.”

Come to think of it, it rarely snows in the royal capital, but here, it’s normal to have snow on the ground this time of year. I didn’t bring a thick winter jacket. In the first place, I wasn’t allowed to have such a thing at the Earl’s house. Even in the royal capital, where it never snows, you still need a winter jacket. However, the fact that I didn’t have it in my luggage is like being told to shiver in the cold. Although at this point, I don’t think anything of it anymore.

But what should I do? Should I just put up with the cold for a bit and buy a jacket at Oriens?

“Sapphiras-sama. If you don’t mind, you can wear this one.”

“Susanna-san.”

“Madam thought that it would definitely be needed. I’m sorry to say it’s second-hand from Percival-sama. I’m glad I was able to bring it to you before you left.”

Susanna-san brought me a cloak made of thick felt fabric with a hood made of magical beast wolf fur. It looks very warm.

“Excuse me. I will borrow it.”

Without a second thought, I borrowed the cloak. It is lighter and warmer than I expected. This is pretty good. Even second-hand clothes are fine things.

“It suits you well.”

“Thank you. Well, I’m going for a little walk around the area.”

“Have a good day.”

“Take care.”

Susanna-san and Clarabelle-san saw me off. I pretended to go for a walk, and transferred to the city of Oriens.

It’s early in the morning, but the market in Oriens is already crowded with people. The town, which is preparing for the Yor Festival, has a different atmosphere from the royal capital. It’s chaotic, bustling and, in any case, overflowing with goods.

“Hehh, Oriens has such an atmosphere. It feels like there’s a lot of different countries mixed oops, it’s not the time to take my time.”

I almost accidentally went on a tour of the city, but that can wait until the next time I come with Percival. Now I’m going to look for the nomad grandmother. This time of year, when the Yor Festival is celebrated, is a good time for merchants to make money. So I think that the nomad grandmother is probably back in Oriens.

I want to get the payment for the War Maiden’s Oath before I go round the city with Percival. It would be tactless to pay for a gift in front of the person who you gave it to. Besides, this year’s payment should be made this year. A qualified adventurer doesn’t carry over payments to the next year.