CH 189

Back to Civilization after a Long While

Another four days had passed since I found Ongneer.

Since it took a far longer time to carry the Orc King’s body to the Ongneer plant than I originally expected, by the time the rest of my work was finished, I had ended up staying here longer than I had originally planned.

But I was able to safely place the ORc King beside the Ongneer, and now I just had to wait until it planted itself in it.

Since I had to preserve the body for several days by freezing it, there were still doubts whether it’ll work properly or not but……….the result will depend on the Ongneer itself.

Shaking off my desire to keep on exploring the great forest of Roza, I packed up my stuff and prepared to return home.

I had a mountain load of things that I needed to do so I can’t waste even a little bit of time.

It’s been two weeks since I left Edestor and parted from those two.

Since I’m technically returning earlier than I originally planned, I can hardly expect too big of a growth from either of them but, I hope they have at least found the path that’ll help them in their growth during this time.

“Snow, you ready? We’re going back to Edestor now.”

“Aurf!”

After headpatting Snow who gave an energetic response, we left the base and made our way back to Edestor.

.

Thanks to Snow detecting any nearby enemies, we didn’t run into any monsters on our way out of the Roza forest, and we safely made it back to Edestor.

Although I did wash myself in a pond before coming back, walking in the crowd after spending a long time in the wild, still makes me a bit conscious, even though I’ve done it so many times already.

Hoping to quickly take a shower as soon as possible, I headed straight to [Gorush] without making any detours.

By the time I made it back to Edestor, the sun had already begun to set, and it was already night by the time I made it back to the Inn, I wondered if either or both of them had come back to the room but…….when I opened the door, it was still empty.

Seeing the dreary empty room with no signs of Esta or Ralf, Snow made a lonely howl of disappointment.

Ever since Edestor came into our view, it had been wagging its tail happily. Probably excited to meet Ralf and Esta again I assume.

“Well, might as well go and get cleaned up then. Snow, how about you come and get cleaned with me?”

“Awu”

Putting my stuff inside the room, we decided to take a shower before the two returned.

Since Snow usually took baths with either Esta or Ralf, it had been quite a while since I took a bath with Snow.

Since it’s gotten a lot bigger in the meantime, washing it properly might be a lot harder but Snow seemed to enjoy getting bathed so it wasn’t a chore by any means.

After standing under the shower myself, I then washed Snow next and we both washed off two week’s worth of dirt and grime from the forest off of our bodies.

After drying ourselves with a big towel, we both left the bath and——perhaps he came back while we were bathing, as we saw Ralf relaxing in the room as usual.

Snow, while still slightly wet, jumped straight onto Ralf with force resulting in him making a funny sound as they reunited.

“Owoww!! Ohh, Snow, you were taking a bath eh? Good to see still energetic as always! Any injuries…….seems like there are none!”

As he gently caressed it’s fur, Snow nuzzled its face against Ralf happily.

And of course, Ralf was also more than happy to give it lots of headrubs.

“Ralf, were you in the dungeon?”

“Yeah! I just came back, in fact I have been going to the dungeon basically everyday while you were in the forest! There’s lots to talk about as well!”

“Same here. Let’s have a meeting once Esta returns…………She will return, right?”

“I think so yeah. Unlike when she was training in Oxter, where she was recklessly working from early morning till night——-well, she’s being a bit more sensible, and usually is back around dinner.”

“I see. That’s a relief.”

And just as we were having such a chat, Esta came back at the perfect timing.

Snow, who had been stuck to Ralf, the moment the noise of the door came, Snow ran in a straight line towards her.

While laughing at Ralf who suddenly got all lonely, I too headed to greet Esta coming back home.

“Uwaah, oh……Snow, you’re back! Chris-san, welcome home! How was the great forest of Roza?”

“More amazing than I could have ever hoped. Let’s talk in detail during dinner………..Did your training bear any fruit as well?”

“Yes! Phillip-san really is an incredible magician. It really was a stroke of good luck that I got to know him thanks to that request in Oxter.”

“I see. Well, good for you. Tell me all about it during dinner as well.”

Having a light chat at the door, with Snow in her arms, we came back inside the room.

Since it’s been a while since both me and Snow have had a proper meal, Esta put in extra effort to make a grand meal, and while feasting on it, we quickly also began our usual report meeting.