CH 103

“Haa~. We made it back.”

We had come back to the pioneering village.

“It was a comfortable journey back though. Leaving on foot was rough!”

On the way back, Margravine-sama prepared a carriage, so it was a comfortable journey.

Well, unlike Aria, Milia and I left on a horse-carriage as well, so I didn’t really notice a difference.

“Ah! Lain nii-chan!”

“Ah, Reno.”

When we get off the carriage, Reno comes running from inside the house.

“Welcome back, Lain nii-chan!”

“I’m back, Reno. Did you manage things while we were gone?”

I patted Reno’s head.

“Yeah! *Henkyoohaku-sama’s soldiers defeated all the monsters that came out, so in fact, I feel like I’m getting rusty!”

“I see.”

Along with our movement permit, Margravine-sama’s deacon also lent us soldiers to protect the village.

Reno and the others could have managed on their own, but I guess they didn’t want to cut any corners.

I could have refused as well, but Milia told me it would be rude to do so, so I left guard-duty to them while we were gone.

I also decided it would be better not to show them any magic.

As a result, Reno and the others were totally stuck inside.

Sui and Kili were able to read magic books so they didn’t get bored, but Reno must have gotten bored out of her mind.

“Welcome back, Aria. Milia and Lain as well.”

“Welcome.”

Following Reno, Kili and Sui stepped out of the house.

“We have just returned.”

“Ah, I’m back. I must have worried you as well, Kili. I’m sorry.”

“Aria… Not at all. I’m glad you’re doing well.”

Saying so, Kili and Aria embrace each other.

Before I left, I heard from the Deacon that it was a pretty scary tournament.

Kili must have also worried about Aria.

“I will go talk to the soldiers watching over the demon forest. They can use the horse carriage we came in to make their way back to Margravine-sama’s territory, so it’s better if we didn’t delay them.”

“I leave it to you, Milia.”

Saying so, Milia left towards the gate of the village that faced the demon forest.

She was talking to the coachman until a while ago, so he might have asked her how long he would have to wait.

Well, there’s no need to rush either.

“Lain nii-chan! Lain nii-chan being back means we can go inside the forest again, right? Let’s hurry!”

“No, we have to let the soldiers go home, otherwise they’ll realize Reno and the others can use magic.”

Never mind, it’s better if they left as soon as possible.

I can’t hold Reno back for very long.

Looking at the current situation and seeing Kili smiling wryly, it must have been hard to her hold back until now.

“Reno. More importantly, weren’t you going to throw a welcome-back party for Aria now that she’s back?”

“Ah! That’s right!”

Reno went back inside, saying that.

She’s in a rush like always.

However, seeing her like that really gives me the feeling of being back home.

“Kili, A party’s too much.”

“…If I didn’t do that, Reno might have sprinted off.”

“…Then it can’t be helped.”

It’s true that if we were unable to get her stick back, Reno would soon run off somewhere.

For that, party prep would be the perfect reason.

Reno was dexterous, on top of being finicky to an extent.

“Truly, thank you so much.”

“Not at all. It was my duty, so please don’t mind.”

While we were talking, Milia came back with four soldiers in tow.

“…, ….”

Aria began expressing her gratitude to the soldiers.

She was the village’s representative so it was a given.

However, her voice didn’t really come out, and her legs were shaking too.

Her face was pale as well.

“Thank you all so much.”

“Ooh! Lain-dono!”

I stepped forward and spoke to the soldiers.

Seeing me, the soldiers all rush around me.

“I was able to fight comfortably thanks to Lain-dono casting enchantment magic on my sword and armor.”

“Indeed, it was my first time being able to defeat a greywolf this easily.”

The soldiers expressed their gratitude one after the other.

Well, it was a simple enchantment so I was quite troubled receiving this much gratitude.

Besides, the contents were pre-existing magic called [Sword strengthening] and [Armor strengthening].

“It was really simple magic. The enchantment will run out soon though, so should I apply it once again?”

“Please don’t worry about it. It’s probably already run out. We were having it so easy thanks to the enchantment, that we actually struggled a bit in yesterday’s battle. We’ll train ourselves once more when we get back.”

Saying so, the soldier displayed his right arm.

His arm was wrapped in bandages and seemed to be injured.

Looking carefully, the other soldiers were also injured in multiple locations.

“…Here’s a potion. Please feel free to use it.”

Pretending to take it out of my pocket, I took out a potion from inside my [Storage].

Recovery magic seems to be a vested interest of the church even in this country so I couldn’t use it easily, but potions should be fine.

This potion was my own creation from a long time ago, but while its effect were shallow, it could manage to heal the four’s injuries.

Kili could make these in an instant so it’s fine if I gave this out.

In fact, I’ve already thrown a few away so that Kili had empty bottles.

“…We couldn’t accept something so luxurious.”

“It’s fine. I can make more any time I want.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. It’s very bitter though, so dilute it in water before drinking it.”

My failed product was excessively bitter.

That’s the only reason why I never used it even though I had it.

If it’s bad enough to drink this potion, it’s better to just use healing magic instead.

“…Thank you very much. We will use it gratefully.”

The soldier receives my potion respectfully.

Forgive me.

I’m just disposing my inventory on you.

It would be a little while before Kili’s tears start falling from a large number of potion orders, due to the potion’s efficacy being too high.