Foreigner Volume 10, Chapter 223

Volume 10 Chapter 223, Sacrifice ~ 02

　Rico was preparing breakfast as usual, feeling somewhat restless.

　Isolde was out collecting firewood for her morning workout, Solor was out collecting algae to use as toilet paper, and Liz was tending to the horses Minerva had left behind. Leia is in detention to protect Liz and Rico.

「Sigh ......」

　Minerva is gone.

　The fact that Minerva is not there has left Rico with loneliness that cannot be filled.

　After meeting Satoru and Minerva's human form through the art of 【Mimicry】, Rico suddenly found herself without her companion, whom she had traveled with for a little more than 75 days. The next largest woman after Satoru, a big-breasted beauty with a soft and fluffy atmosphere and impressive beauty with a hint of melancholy, was no longer around ― I felt lonely.

　When Minerva declared that she would remain under the Feather Dragon, the Holy Dragon, and give birth to a child. Rico cried because she did not want to separate from Minerva. Liz cried as well.

　But Satoru and Leia did not cry at that moment. They held back tears because they did not want Minerva to see them crying, and they cried after they parted.

　Minerva probably cried after they parted as well.

　Rico regretted that she had added to Minerva's grief with her own tears. Satoru told her it couldn't be helped, but still...

「Rico. ...... Rico? Heeyyy, Ricoo」

「Eh, ah, wh, what is it Leia.」

　Rico looked up in a panic as she realized that she was in a somber mood. Leia puts a bitter smile on her face and exhales a single huff. She lowers her eyes.

「Oh ...... Aaah, I really made a mistake」

　Rico was disappointed when she realized that the rabbit meat she was cooking in the iron pan had turned black and charred. Foodstuffs are precious now that they are not traveling through towns inhabited by people. Isolde or Solor could have hunted this kind of meat for her while they were down there, but there was no way they could always do that. Salt and spices are also in abundance, but they are finite.

「I'd say it's inevitable, but I don't want you absentminded when cooking」

「Sorry, ......」

　With a shudder, Rico throws away the rabbit meat as garbage, one step short of extinguishing it.

　This was the first time Rico had failed to cook. It was a mistake that would not have happened under normal circumstances. After all, the Minerva incident must be lingering in her memory.

　Even Satoru, their Lord has been affected. Rico, who has been taking care of Minerva ever since she became a human being, can't help but feel a sense of loneliness that she can't bury. Huff, she takes a breath.

「I'm not much of a substitute.」

　Leia hugged Rico from right beside her as she filled the burnt pot with water. Rico is startled for a moment by this sudden action, but realizing Leia's intention, she gratefully accepts her goodwill. Rico's body is thin and small, yet soft and plump. The smell of the soap is also very noble, which is a strange thing.

　Tears are slowly coming to Rico's eyes.

　The first magical slave was comforting her clumsily, and Rico was truly thankful.

　Liz, who had been taking care of the horses, also stopped her hands and watched the strange scene.

「Not only our Lord but also you and Liz. We must get used to it.」

　Leia, still holding Rico in her arms, turned and addressed the half-elf girl as well. Liz nodded in return. Liz was also shocked, but her wounds were less severe than Rico's because she had been there fewer days.

「Okay......Thank you, Leia」

「Don't worry about it.」

　Rico is more shallow than Satoru, but still a deeply compassionate girl. While carefully stroking her amber hair, Leia continued to comfort the second magical slave as best she could.

　It's nice to have this kind of relationship, Liz thinks as she watches from the side. What would it be like to put this relationship, which is one step above friendship, into words? And I wonder if I'm part of it.

「......But still, you know...」

「Hm?」

「I'm not sure how much Leia can take the place of Minerva. The size of your tits is too different.」

「......This girl」

　Fufu, The two of them are laughing at each other.

　It's not just Rico. Leia, Liz, Isolde, and Solor.

　Each of them had deepened their feelings.

　Don't worry. We will meet again. And the next time they meet, Minerva will surely be holding Satoru's child in her arms.

「Oh, I'm back」

「Ah, Satoru. Welcome ba-. ......」

　Rico looked up at the voice that was suddenly called to them and was absolutely mortified. Satoru was carrying a bear larger than himself on his shoulders.

「Souvenir. Can you use it?」

　The bear's corpse was lowered with a loud thud, and Rico looked at it as if she were troubled.

「.....I've never handled a bear this size before, and I've never even eaten one before. They say bear meat has a peculiar taste.」

　Leia can't cook at all. She looked at Liz, but Liz shook her head left and right in a panic. The elves would not fight a bear of this size. It is better to run away. Of course, there is no way she has ever handled one.

「Solor or Isolde would know how to handle it, right?」

　Rico breathed a sigh of relief when she realized that Satoru's voice was clearer than she had expected. When Satoru, the leader of this gathering, was emitting a heavy atmosphere, everyone was inevitably pulled into the heavy atmosphere.

　Solor had just returned and said she could handle the situation, so Rico left the bear to her and hurriedly made a quick breakfast, which had once been burnt. Satoru also seems to have noticed that Rico has burnt the food once, but says nothing.

　Isolde returns, lightly sweating, and she joins them for breakfast. Rico has not yet found the right amount of rice to cook according to Satoru, and the rice, which looks like porridge as seen in Southeast Asia, is filled with root vegetables and topped with a condiment similar to shredded ginger and stir-fried meat. This was the first time Rico had cooked rice, and it was as delicious as ever.

　Aside from Solor, who was hard at work skinning the bear and carving the meat and entrails, the others talked about the future over breakfast.

「For now, Yarth's base is in Rothfort, so that's where we'll go. Now we just need to figure out where he'll be, but that's a story for when we get there.」

　Satoru declared, glancing at Leia. His magical slaves nodded their heads thoughtfully. They are going to meet Yarth, who knows the art of 【Otherworldly Repatriation】. The destination of the journey from the beginning had just been reiterated.

　Rothfort is a large country in the southeast of the world, occupying about one-eighth of this land, the body of God. It is the most powerful nation in the world.

　In terms of history alone, the Holy Kingdom of Oberfern, located a short distance northeast of the Middle Sea, is the oldest of the Ancient Magical Kingdoms, the only one to survive the Seven Days' Disaster. This is because the Holy Kingdom is a state that unites the Church of the Earth Mother Goddess, and even during the chaotic period of the Seven Days Disaster, the country was supported mainly by devout believers despite the slave class, and the only reason for this modern-day connection is that the queen of the time, who was said to have died in the disaster, had a child in her womb and dedicated that child, who was born by tearing her belly open, as the king. It was customary for wizards at that time to perform a 【Soul Search】 immediately after birth and implant a magical core that matched the size of the soul, and since the child had not yet been born at the time of the disaster, it was not involved in the disaster.

「Rothfort is about 5000 miles (6750 km) from here at its closest point. Flying in this Yamato, I'd say we can arrive there in about 10 to 15 days.」

　Leia showed no sign of being perturbed by Satoru's gaze. Depending on the conditions, she could be hostile to Rothfort as well as Ares, but she doesn't seem to be concerned about that.

「.......It's not realistic to expect this Yamato to keep flying. Of course, there are people who don't have to sleep with Solor-san and Leia-san, so it wouldn't be impossible.」

　Everyone nodded at Liz's voice as she thought about it. Although the inside of the Yamato has been adjusted so that it is safe to move around for long periods of time, being cooped up in a small room for a long period of time can be depressing.

「I'd like to get some more winter gear. We bought some rice recently, but considering that we are heading into winter, I'd like to stock up on a little more food.」

　It is now the 79th day of autumn, the latter half of the harvest season. During the winter, the number of animals to be harvested and hunted will inevitably decrease, and food prices will gradually rise. Rico's opinion that they should stock up on food while they still can is correct since they can use the 【Preservation】 art without any problem and since they have prepared a refrigerator, they have other means of preserving food.

「Is there a larger town down the road where we can stock up on more food?」

「Let's see......... Peshawar, maybe. We can arrive there in about 3 days」

「Then, that's where we're going for now.」

　Satoru nodded at Leia's advice while looking at the world map given to him by Sheryl. As I recall, there was a town with the same name in the Middle East in the original world, but that was all. Of course, this map of the world was not properly surveyed, so it was a rough sketch, but it did clearly show the major towns.

　Peshawar is the country in the eastern part of the Middle Plains closest to the Middle Sea. Although a medium-sized country in terms of national strength, it is a rich granary backed by a large river flowing from the Middle Sea, once it leaves the river, it becomes a land covered with dry sand. It is also a nation with a thriving trade that separates the western and eastern parts of the continent.

　The Dragon's Back, where Leia used to be, is relatively close to here. If you head north-northwest, you will find a long mountain range that divides the continent. That is the Dragon's Back.

「I think we should gather information as well as replenish food on the way. Even though the Holy Dragon says that Rothfort is Yarth-san's base, he seems to be moving around a bit.」

「And we need to take her for a walk from time to time because she says she will die if she doesn't move her body.」

「Murghh」

　Isolde responded to Leia's light-hearted comment. A small laugh escaped her.

「Are you a dog?」

　Liz is young enough to say something like that. Isolde's reddened cheeks and indescribable gaze made her a little flustered.

「There's no doubt we can get into Rothfort before the winter gets too severe, but once winter sets in, it will be tougher to move around and investigate. I'd like to get a head start on that as soon as possible.」

　Liz deceptively spun her words, and Leia shook her head a little to the left and right.

「No, Liz. Rothfort doesn't get much snow. In Rothfort, you could say there's hardly any snow at all. Well, except in the Fire Dragon Mountains.」

「Is that so?」

　Liz turned to Leia in surprise. The world Liz knew was only the Deep Green Forest and its surroundings. It was not as if there was an overflow of information as in the modern Earth where Satoru was, so there was no way she could have known what was going on in the other regions and lands. Isolde nodded her head in agreement.

「That region is relatively warm even in winter.」

　In this world, it is common for people to grow up where they were born and even die without ever stepping outside of their town.

　But Isolde was different. As the head of the Holy Sword Clan, she had information about every part of this world.

「......I didn't know there was such a thing as a country without snow.」

「It is said that there is a lot of snow in the south.」

「Wow. ......」

　Rico also said that her parents were from a small town just south of the Middle Sea. It is said that because of the strong sunlight, many people in that area have brownish skin like Rico.

　It gets colder as you go north and warmer as you go south ― Satoru wonders if this world, like the Eurasian continent, is located in the northern hemisphere. Satoru's common sense tells him that there are stars and the earth, but in this world, it is impossible to know what is right. After all, this is a world of sorcery.

「If Rothfort doesn't get that much snow in the winter, that's a big help.」

　In the snowy northern regions, it is said that all communication is sometimes cut off during the winter. It is true that the infrastructure for daily life is not as well developed as in modern Japan, and there are limits to how much snow can be removed and cleared by human power or sorcery.

　At any rate, their destination has been determined.

　Once again, their journey begins.

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TLN: Lost my motivation to translate this series, so I'm sorry guys, I'm gonna put on hold this series for now. Probably, I'm gonna translate this from time to time, though.

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