Foreigner Volume 8, Chapter 152

Volume 8 Chapter 152, Steady Advance ~ 05

　The shack has only walls around the perimeter and a ceiling. Inside is bare earth, with only a few boards for sleeping. Even so, the shack is still free and sheltered from the wind and rain, so they are very useful for travelers.

　One hundred years after the fall of the Ancient Magical Kingdoms, a man named Normad, who traveled around the world mapping the roads, appealed to countries all over the world for the need to prepare traveling inns. Of course, the density of inns varied from region to region, but the development of inns in this way has led to more active traffic among countries and a stronger human society.

　Since then, the traveling inns prepared by each country have been loved by merchants and travelers who come and go from place to place as the Mistletoe of Normad.

　In this world, the number of people is small compared to the size of the land. But outside of the towns, the danger of ferocious beasts, monsters, and wild thieves is high. Therefore, when traveling between towns, people often move in groups, but this is not always possible in the countryside or when there are quarrels between neighboring countries. For those who are forced to move in small groups, the Mistletoe of Normad is a place of hope and rest.

　The people who use the Mistletoe of Normad are considered to be from all walks of life, and there is no distinction between men and women, but because of this, there have been many incidents of traveling nuns and others who have been gang-raped. For this reason, Satoru, who is in the position of having beautiful girls around him, has decided to take three shifts to stand guard: Rico, Satoru, and Isolde. I can't sleep well, but that can't be helped. It is the traveler's duty to avoid unnecessary trouble.

　Normally, Solor and Leia, who do not need to sleep, would be on guard, but they are now in Satoru's shadow. He can't let them out now. It would be a mistake to let Leia, the 【Immortal King】, out of the shadow.

　Fortunately, there was no trouble and they were able to greet the morning safely. Rico, who was on duty for the last time, prepared breakfast for everyone. She even made enough soup to serve the other six travelers. This is the spirit of mutual help.

「Oh. I'm sorry. For giving me your share, too.」

　The old man, who had helped them a ride in the carriage, was also very happy to receive the soup. All he could eat was dry, crusty black bread and dried meat. In contrast, Rico prepared a breakfast for her group, which consisted of a sandwich of steamed chicken with a 【Preservation】 art on black bread, cut into pieces, and stuffed with wild plants she had picked on the way.

「Uhee, ......, you guys are eating good food」

　Rico with a bitter smile share the breakfast with the old man, who was drooling, and they all enjoyed their breakfast together. They made a fire to cook soup, so the other travelers were sitting in a circle around the fire.

「Where are you going now, brother?」

「Arsweta for now.」

　Satoru answered the tired-looking middle-aged man's question honestly. He has nothing to hide. A stout man in his thirties next to him growled a little when he heard that.

「Ah ......」

「What's the matter?」

「I don't know about Arsweta, but the Kingdom of Liese on the way here has been smelling a little fishy lately. I'm told it's getting harder and harder to get through the checkpoint.」

「Muh.. ......」

　This is how travelers gather in the mistletoe of Normad and exchange information with each other. Satoru, who plans to cross the border from the 13 city-states to Liese and Arsweta, groaned at the traveler's information.

　Even in this world where there is a surplus of land in relation to the population, there are still some checkpoints. They are used to keep agents of other countries out, to prevent the influx of refugees, to protect people from beasts and monsters, and to protect the border between people and the land. It is said that half of the countries in this world have border control points. In many cases, they are done at the entrances to towns, which are important centers of human life.

　The old man, who has traveled with Satoru up to this point, interjects.

「If you want to go to Arsweta, you have to go through Liese, otherwise it will be a very long way. We will arrive at the town of Clutta before evening, so I think it's better to gather information there. The Haivan's checkpoint from the town of Clatta to Liese is about a day and a half by horse-drawn carriage or two or three days on foot.」

「I see. Thank you.」

「No problem.」

　Satoru thanks the traveler, who smilingly holds up a bowl of soup, and they resume their journey.

　The old man who gave Satoru and others a ride in his carriage told them that he was on his way to Clatta from Ostmaier, one of the 13 city-states. He told them that the spices on the back of the wagon were not much, but that they were still especially valuable in Clatta.

「The spices available in each region are quite different. Even in neighboring countries, there are differences in seasoning.」

　Satoru groaned at Rico's explanation.

　If you think about it, even in his original world, the cuisines of Japan and its neighbors such as Korea and China are quite different, and even in Europe, which is connected to the Earth, the cuisines of France, Germany, and Italy are quite different. Satoru has left most of the shopping to Rico, but when he thinks back, it seems that he has eaten a variety of dishes with different tastes. Rico, who is mainly in charge of cooking, combines various spices that she has purchased and devises ways to avoid getting bored.

　Even with Satoru's thin knowledge, he had some knowledge that spices were prized during the so-called Age of Exploration. So far, he has yet to see anything close to Japanese miso or soy sauce, but perhaps there is a region somewhere on this vast continent that deals in such things?

　In the distance, a herd of Gnu-like animals was running with the sound of the earth-shaking. Beyond it, a herd of hyenas, perhaps. There were few signs of people in this area.

　In Satoru's mind, he imagines that he is driving on the prairie around Africa. Of course, he has never been there.

　The prairie continues on and on, and then the trees begin to appear. From the perspective of Satoru, who has seen the bare, dark-green forests, it looks like an unreliable forest, but from the perspective of the animal tribe living in this area, it must be an oasis.

　Minerva, who was sitting on the back of the carriage, peeked out.

「Danna-samaー」

「What's wrong?」

「Minerva smells about 30 pig nose demons (orcs) down the road.」

　Minerva's report made the old man look back with surprise.

「How do you know that, young lady?」

　Minerva smiled and misdirected her smile. Frowning, Satoru also sniffed - he did indeed feel the smell of sweat coming from upwind. Perhaps this is the smell of orcs.

「Minerva has a good nose.」

　However, unlike Minerva, Satoru could not tell how many there were. Isolde stood up dexterously on the driver's stand and stared into the distance. The same goes for Satoru, but he still can't see them.

「Man.....This is troubling. I was relieved when I saw no sign of monsters on this road recently.」

　But then Satoru heard the old man's voice as if he was in trouble. The horse, probably noticing the scent, sniffed and reacted in a frightened manner, and the old man stopped the carriage for a moment. He couldn't see it yet, but the horse's reaction made him realize that Minerva was right.

「Shall I go kill them?」

　Satoru said casually. The old man looked back at Satoru with an even more surprised look on his face.

「Eh.....Hey, hey, hey, if what you lady Minerva says is true, there are 30 of them, right?」

「That's the price of a ride. I don't care.」

　Satoru lightly said and reached for his favorite sword, the Giant Killer, which he had placed on the back of the carriage. As expected, he couldn't sit on the driver's stand with this on his back. But before he could grab the sword, a woman who was standing upraised her voice.

「Milord. Can't you let me handle it?」

「Huh?」

「I want to get used to it.」

　Isolde, who had not done her usual morning workout because she had other eyes on her, said lightly. If Leia is right, her wrist should be almost healed since it was unused for a whole day yesterday. Also, with the change of weapon, the weight changes, and there will be some changes in the spacing. Satoru, understanding Isolde's point that losing the holy sword will change the way she fights and that she wants to get used to it, asks lightly,

「Are you sure you want to go it alone?」

「Thirty or so Orcs is not even enough to warm up.」

「Well, if you say so. Sure, go ahead.」

　The old man, who was listening to the exchange, was astonished. The Orc is a monster that boasts of its physical strength, one size larger than the average human. Its strength is high in its own way. However, they lack speed and wisdom, so warriors and swordsmen with a certain degree of skill would have no problem with them. But that's only if it's just one of them. Isolde's ability to claim that 30 Orc is not even enough to warm up, and Satoru's unquestioning response ― The Old man realizes that he seems to have brought on board an unusual group of people with a different level of strength.

　Isolde smiled a small smile and jumped down from the driver's platform with a flutter. Satoru stops Isolde, who is about to jump out, and looks back.

「Rico.」

「Hm?」

「Go with her and watch her from a little distance. You don't have to do anything. If it looks bad, call us right away.」

「Mm...All right.」

　Rico readily agreed to Satoru's order and jumped down from the back of the carriage.

　Satoru is not worried about Isolde's strength. Normally, she would have no problem with the 30 or so monsters, but she is still affected by her injuries. Rico is not a strong fighter, but she has equipment with "Communication" in it, so she can contact Satoru immediately if something goes wrong.

「H-hey, hey....」

　Rico gives a small smile to the old man with a dumbfounded expression, then she exchanges a glance with Isolde, and at the moment she nods her head, they start to move in using a 【Shukuchi】. The old man looks away with a surprise as the two women run at tremendous speed.

　Satoru is sitting next to the old man, and Minerva and Liz behind him are also looking relaxed. The father asked, unintentionally, how he could see their companions trust each other.

「...... you guys, who the earth are you?」

「I thought you said you weren't going to pry.」

　Satoru laughed mischievously and asked the old man to move the carriage forward. He half-heartedly scolded the frightened horse, and the carriage drove forward.

　The smell of blood flashed across Satoru's nose. He had not heard from Rico, so he assumed that Isolde had taken care of the problem without any trouble. As expected, a large bipedal monster with the face of a pig of about 30 is lying on the roadside of the street.

「Seriously ......」

　The old man's mutterings are to be expected. Minerva was right, and it was surprising that there were 30 Orcs monsters, but it turned out that the slender, reassuringly beautiful swordsman had really done it all by herself. All of the Orcs were cut down with a single stroke, which shows the skill of the beautiful swordswoman.

　Isolde was standing proudly in the middle of the street, wiping off the blood fat on her sword with a cloth. Beside her, Rico is showing a half-disappointed expression.

「Oh. Thanks for your hard work.」

　At Satoru's voice, Isolde bowed her head with a discouraged expression on her face.

「There was no problem. This sword is easy to handle too.」

「I see, I see. That's splendid, splendid.」 [そっかそっか。そいつは重畳重畳]

　After saying that, Satoru involuntarily frowned.

「...... I guess I'm getting a little old-fashioned in my language.」

　Leia's tone of voice is old-fashioned, but Isolde's is also a bit old-fashioned from Satoru's point of view. Satoru jumps down to Rico's side, who is smiling bitterly.

「Can orcs be used for anything?」

「I hear they eat them in some regions, but I hear they're not very tasty.」

「Well, I guess we'll just burn them down.」

　As soon as Satoru said that, the fire was set on the corpse of the Orcs. This was done by Satoru's sorcery. The flames were set to burn in a specific area so as not to affect the surrounding vegetation. The unique aroma of burning flesh and hair fills the air, but the fire is so intense that even the large body of the Orcs is charred to black in no time at all, and the old man mutters in dismay at the oddity of using such sorcery lightly and without chanting.

「......Oh, man. I'm glad I was saved, but I'm too dumbfounded to say anything.」

　The Old man wonders now if this big brother, the leader of beautiful girls and beautiful women, was a Magic Swordsman. A person who shows great talent with both sorcery and the sword is called a Magic Swordsman, but even in a world full of sorcery, the existence of such a person is extremely rare. In most cases, there is a bias toward one or the other.

　Satoru, however, holds in his hand a great sword that an ordinary human being could hardly even hold, and he is also skilled in the use of fire sorcery that can burn an Orcs, even if it is a corpse, as he is doing now.

　Is it really a good thing that I was able to travel with these brother and young ladies? Although they helped me get rid of the hordes of Orcs, I had a suspicion that they were people I shouldn't have gotten to know.

　Even the old man, a well-traveled merchant, could not immediately answer that question.

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