CH 33

王都に向けて Towards the Capital

Once the shopping was done I had went to meet up with Saira but Blacksmith-san told me that Saira has gone somewhere/elsewhere.

But because he signed as a proxy, the job was completed.

Although I have a little feeling that he felt a little annoyed.

「Damn, It ‘s all Takeshi and Kenji’s fault.」

「Karma circulates, Ojou-sama」

「What kind of punishment is that!?」

What do you know, IIya !?

「It’s a joke 。I believe Ojou-sama actions are very kind 」

「Hearing about what I don’t remember from someone else is scary… 」

「That’s true …… That is the wrong way to go about it」

Why is she blushing?

「Ahh, whatever. After dropping by the guild let’s head back to our inn. After all we are leaving early tomorrow.」

Although it is a shame, I don’t have any regrets.

Although it was only for a little while, I was able to visit Saira while doing our errands.

IIya and I left the Blacksmith forge.

See you later Saira.

When we returned to the inn, a nude child was just exiting our bathroom.

As she had let down her usual twin tails, I couldn’t immediately recognise her.

That deep ocean blue eyes and lovely pointy ears.

Rinnal-like cheeks with lesser dreams packed in the chest than me.  (TL: Author specifically said Rinnal-like cheeks so I chose to follow instead of using Rosy cheeks)

If you see these features, it becomes very obvious.

「Wh… What! water is still dripping off you! Please don’t make the room wet! Til!」

「Hmm……？」

With the towel hanging from her head, without properly wiping her body, she left the bathroom, dripping water all over the room.

Moreover, walking around the house like that!

Ahh, what’s this. This is getting on my nerves!

「Ahh, enough! Please! Do not move away from the mat!」

「He..Hey! Can you stop?」

I forced the wet culprit back to the mat and snatch her towel off her and quickly dried her head. For now I’ll just wipe down her body and I will dry her hair one more time.

「Mou……Please do not act like a child, Til」

「Tsk… Fussy lass」

How should I say, I cannot see you as anything else but a child.

It seems I forgot to keep my behavior in line.

「Umu. But it’s not bad」

In resignation, Til relaxed and left her body in my care.

「Ok Ok、Please be patient and do not lean against me. My clothes are getting wet」

I carefully dry her hair.

She has really beautiful hair and because of the length, caring for it must be a little difficult.

I fully understand her pain for I also have difficulties with my hair.

Furthermore, Til is a sloppy person.

「Later we will use a wind crystal to dry you, otherwise you will catch a cold, Okay?」

「 I will leave it to you」

As the name wind crystal suggests it is a magical stone which creates wind.

Although fire and wind crystal are originally are made using magic crystal, due to alchemist’s refinement, methods to produce various effects have been invented.

It’s possible to say that an Alchemist is similar to a Scientist as they share similar goals of seeking the truth after thorough research.

…… Truth/ reality

Those words remind me of that woman.

「――Libra, who is she?」

「――」

Til stiffened.

「It does not concern you. Don’t you worry 」

「If she is taken care of, I will be happy.」

I recalled yesterday’s landslide.

Did I think too much?

Did I see an illusion?

Whether it is the truth or not, I don’t know.

But I am feeling uneasy

Hasn’t she already set her sights on me?

After thinking about it, I shivered.

How long have I been targeted?

Was it a coincidence?

Even Til does not seems to worry too much about where I came from.But why did that woman…?

「Are you afraid of her? Alice. Looking from your perspective, you are not to blame. If I were to battle with her, you got to run away at full speed.」

「Running away……」

「Right now, you can’t possibly defeat her」

From Til’s point of view, there is a power difference between me and Libra.

Certainly, just being stared at by that pair of red eyes, I get the ominous feeling of being possessed by a  shinigami.

「Do you know her well, Til? 」

「……Sigh. Even if I were to hid it, it’s for naught. That lass is my first disciple, Alice. Your sister.」

Disciple?

Til’s disciple?

The person chosen by the kind Til to be a disciple …. did such a thing?

When I recalled Rinnal’s incident, I become nauseous.

I felt sick just remembering what happened in Rinnal.

「As you can see,  It’s due to my misconduct that it happened. Therefore I will end it.」

「Finish it huh…」

Does she plan to kill her?

Even her own disciple?

「……Til, are you sure?」

「It’s neither good nor bad. Nevertheless, it’s all in the past, and it’s something I have to do. That’s all there is to it.」

I don’t doubt her.

It’s probably obvious.

It’s because, Til is different from a novice like me.

However……

「Your eyes seem sad.」

I dropped onto my knees in front of Til and matched our eye level.

Within that deep sea of blue, hid some flickers of uncertainty; I immediately understood.

「You fool! You greenhorn. Don’t say cheeky things about what you don’t understand」

The comforting look Til gave me after saying that made my heart hurt a little.

Say, Til?

Am I that women’s substitute?

However, I did not say those words out loud.

*

The next day, Til snuck into my bed again half-asleep making me feel complicated. So I hugged her tightly and went to sleep. As usual, I was awakened unreasonably and went to prepare for the journey

We quickly put our luggage into the carriage and left Rufin before dawn.

Although I am worried about not being able to meet Saira one last time, it is also rude to turn up so early in the morning.

「Let’s depart.」

「Yes, please.」

After spreading straw on the floor of the carriage, there is nowhere more comfortable to sit.

By all means, please.

Til pulled the carriage reins and we departed toward the royal capital.

Farewell, Rufin

I had lots of fun.

「―――Alice~~~~ San. Please! Bring me along!」

We heard a voice as we were leaving.

Before, we left the street.

Saira, who was out-of breath, ran through the main street while carrying a large amount of luggage.

「Oh dear oh dear」

Although she answered without energy, Til did stop the carriage properly despite her lack of enthusiasm.

I alighted from the carriage and waited for Saira to catch up.

The luggage on her back seems really heavy.

It is not like that she does not appear to be running away from home

Well I never. So it is that sort of things huh…

「Haa Haaa、Alice-san、I want you to take me with you……」

「Saira, is that okay?」

「Yes, I had properly told Master yesterday. 」

As she catches her breath she looks up at me, her eyes are brimming with determination.

I guess I don’t have to ask questions about her resolve from now on.

「I understand. Likewise, I want you to lend me your strength, Saira.」

「Yes！ In order to become Alice-san ‘s strength, I will try my best nya!」

Her hat moves as if it’s jumping when she gives her energetic reply.

I guess full of vitality best describes her.

Our travel companions has increased by one

However, it will be bad if I don’t protect her.

She is different from Til, IIya and Onee-chan.

「I will protect you. From now on, please take care of me」

「Uuu, I am happy nya…」

I tilted my head when the blushing Saira carelessly forgot to add in desu.

Speaking of which, I wonder if Takeshi and Kenji are fine.

I wonder what had happened after that but it’s rude to ask.

Saira is a bad girl.

「In that situation, who is crueler?…」

IIya murmured beside me.

Ehh? It’s not… Saira??

Name：Saira

Race：Beast Tribe/ Beastman

Gender：Female

Age：14

Occupation：Blacksmith

Lv: 1

I  confirmed Saira’s status.

As expected, there are no astonishing information obtained.

Speaking of which, in Saira’s stats. Instead of having intelligence. she seems to have 5 points in blacksmith.

In the carriage, I enquired IIya who was sitting on my left.

Saira who was on my right, look at me passionately.

How should I put it, why am I surrounded?

There is still extra space in the carriage, so it would be better to sit comfortably.

If we stick that close together, I will get a little *dokidoki* (TL: Excited)

「Those who have combat skills points, if they put 5 out of 10 attribute points into intelligence, they will be shunned. For those people who like Saira who are looking towards being a crafter,it depicts a situation where 10 points is not enough.」

「Oh, really?」

In short, like this huh….

Strength 1　Stamina 1　Defense 1　Agility 2　Intelligence 0

「Although it will be difficult for these people to specialise in combat, they may excel in occupations other than combat. In Saira’s case, it’s Blacksmithing. 」

「Yes, I am embarrassed.」

I see. If you change into another class other than the combat class, the intelligence will disappear and the class’s unique attribute will be added.

However, it is impossible for Saira to retrieve those attribute points again.

In order to be able to do smithing, I will buy a house in the royal capital. In addition, I will buy tools too. Basically, it looks like Saira will concurrently be the caretaker of the house.

Well, if I hesitate, Saira will not be able to do smithing.

「Yeah! At the royal capital, our most important objective is to work and buy a house 」

「A house huh. An excellent goal, Alice-sama」

「Thank you. It will be inconvenient if we do not have a house to stay together.」

「Even if just a little, I want to be useful ….」

Saira responded in a depressing manner.

I see. If you do not have an environment to practice smithing, there is nothing you can do.

Unexpectedly, it is an urgent problem

We will release Saira from her anguish.

I can imagine the pain of not being able to do anything she has to go through.

Ahh, let me see..

「IIya, has the rewards for the tournament been announced?」

「Hmm.  I heard you get a sizeable monetary award. You will also obtain a slave as an extra prize.」

「Ahh, I remind you of some unpleasant memories. I am sorry.」

「Fu Fu. Ojou-sama. Please do not mind me too much. Ojou-sama has her own position. 」

「Although that’s okay」

「You can’t. Although I do get carried away sometimes, I must abide to our master~ servant relationship.」

As I thought, IIya is serious.

After thinking about why I say such things again, I believe it is to let Saira to understand the current situation.

Whatever….

IIya, so stoic.

We continued chatting till evening and reached today’s campsite. It is on the coast of a big river.

As I had planned the journey with Til in advance, the place look just like the map.

Just as planned.

「Okay, Let’s camp here. Alice, today I will train you today.」

「Til will? 」

「Yes, on top of the river.」

The place she pointed to is the calming flowing river.

Ehh?

On top of the river?

「Ehh, in-water combat?」

「Don’t speak nonsense, obviously it’s on top of the water!」

On-water combat… If that’s the case..

I am aware that I could not calm down as I thought about the master who talks about such high level stuffs again.

In short…

I wanted to show Til my good side.

(TL note: Previously Til’s dialouge are all translated to shakespeare English. Her way of speaking is like an loli-baba. I did not follow it this time round. But do let me know which do you prefer.)