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Karem resolved to have a light snack with ice cream and immediately prepared to head out.

“Ah, Catherine. How should we prepare lunch?”

“Since it’s come to this, shall we eat in the village?”

“That doesn’t sound too bad.”

Going out also meant dining out.

Then Karem didn’t have much to pack.

The space-expanding pouch for any unforeseen situations would be handled by Mary or Catherine, so he just planned to take his money pouch and his favorite kitchen knife.

“Ah, Karem. Go back and borrow the weapon you’ll use.”

Catherine pointed in the opposite direction from where Karem was about to leave the castle.

“Eh? A weapon? Suddenly?”

“It’s just in case you might need it.”

Suddenly asking for a weapon when going out made Karem wonder if it was because of the fairies, but he complied with her request without hesitation.

Since they were in a noble’s castle, there were plenty of spare weapons available. He requested a club and a shield from Robelio and hopped onto the wagon.

Honestly, Karem felt a little flutter of excitement.

After all, it had been a few months since their last date.

“Pororong porong♪ Porong~♪”

And then an unexpected guest came flapping over to the wagon.

“Are you coming along too?”

“Po, porong… porong!?”

Flora hesitated, almost nodding, before freezing in place.

Her bright face turned to one of confusion and indecision, and she started fidgeting with her fingers, seemingly unable to decide.

“Sir Stark said he wants to play too since he’s been too busy to hang out lately.”

“Po, porong. Pororong~♪”

“But he didn’t know you were going out on a date. He’s hesitant to join but wants to have fun…”

“Porong! Pororong! Porororong! Porongporong!!!”

Flora rushed over to Mary, skirmishing in a pointless debate.

In the meantime, Karem handed the decision over to Catherine, who was climbing into the wagon.

“So, what should we do?”

“Well, I suppose we should go on a sightseeing detour.”

Flora briefly turned her gaze from the gloomy sky beyond the castle walls to Catherine, whose sharp eyes had just been revealed.

“By the way, I thought adventurers coming in from outside the territory might ease things up.”

“Actually, it’s the opposite; that’s why there’s no ease.”

Baron Bolton’s territory was already in chaos due to battles over wild areas.

If adventurers were flooding in under those circumstances, it was likely due to the sudden appearance of Twinkle Tide.

Of course, thanks to the adventurers, the ever-increasing population of fairies was being kept in check, yet the monsters and beasts that had been fighting before were now even more provoked.

As a result, the competition between the monsters and beasts over territory was becoming fiercer and more violent.

Naturally, with more work arising in this situation, the baron himself couldn’t respond to each issue directly.

Even a Swordmaster wouldn’t find it worthwhile.

Thus, they started sub-contracting to adventurers through the village chiefs, declaring large-scale extermination orders, and offering bounties.

As a result, many soldiers and knights, who were already facing limits on fatigue, collapsed under the wave of exhaustion. However, some, including Gordon, found themselves unable to participate in the tempting act.

“Sub-contracting means there’s more paperwork.”

“Oh, for sure.”

“If there were an Adventurer Guild, it would be much easier, but even though Baron Bolton’s territory is this wide, there are no cities. Without cities, there can’t be an Adventurer Guild. Ultimately, all the paperwork ends up concentrated on Gordon, the lord of the territory.”

“That’s sure to be a hassle.”

Even Karem, who didn’t particularly enjoy moving around, couldn’t help but feel a bit fidgety from staying still for too long unless he was asleep.

“Not to mention, Gordon is a Swordmaster.”

A mercenary distanced from paperwork.

The pinnacle of physical prowess, a Swordmaster.

Of course, he wouldn’t handle all the paperwork by himself, but to sign off on all of it, he would at least have to read through it all at least once.

Surely, being a Swordmaster, that wouldn’t tire him out, but it would surely wear down his mental energy.

Thud-

As the compressed air was released, the wagon shook slightly. Mary, sitting in the driver’s seat, had unleashed a wind spell.

Armsport and Arms Town weren’t too far apart.

Feeling wise, it was roughly a thirty-minute wagon ride.

Occasionally, sounds of Mary intercepting fairies could be heard as they approached the wagon.

“Pororong~Porong~♬”

“Not sure. I’m planning to take a quick look around for now.”

“Porong? Pororong?”

“Didn’t you see it on the way here? It’s not quite how it seems.”

During their journey to Armsport, the village forest they passed through was merely a stop for a night’s rest or replenishing supplies.

Each time, Karem felt a pang of regret.

It looked like a small, living tree town that belonged to a fairy tale, story, comic, or game. He couldn’t just pass such a place by.

Above all, Arms Town was the largest among the village forests they had passed.

Even then, they had no choice but to overlook it since their destination was nearby.

Swish swish-

“By the way.”

Karem turned toward the sound of cloth brushing. Flora was wearing a robe.

“Flora, what are you wearing?”

“Porong?”

This? Flora popped her head out of a hole as if to show it off, then lightly tapped the robe’s hem.

“Pororong~♬”

As Flora pulled the hood of the robe over her head, her face became blurred. It wasn’t completely invisible. It wasn’t unnatural, either; it just felt strange as though it wasn’t fully recognized.

“Is it to hide your appearance?”

Catherine said this while stealthily pinching Flora’s robe sleeves. She inspected the insides as if confirming something.

“With this level of illusion magic as a magic tool, I doubt anyone would recognize you.”

“You think people won’t notice this?”

Catherine tilted her head, brushing her hair aside as she stared bizarrely at Karem, who was leaning back and inspecting the inside of the robe.

“Yeah. It’s just that we’ve seen you use it, so we might notice, but most people would forget the unease they felt in just five minutes.”

“That’s a bit surprising.”

Flora proudly posed with her hands on her hips, puffing out her chest. But even through the robe, her chest was still noticeably visible.

‘If such a thing exists, she must go out often.’

Anyway, the person Flora had been closest to aside from Gordon was Alicia.

She must have soaked up a lot from being by the side of the most free-spirited person in Winterhome. Certainly, the seasons helped her in that regard, whether it was the cold of spring, autumn, or winter.

An illusion magic robe would have been easily obtainable. It could have been in the castle from the start, bought by Gordon, or delivered as a bribe by Shen.

“Then, since this has happened, let’s call you by another name.”

“Porong?”

“When we’re in the village, let’s call you Chloris.”

“Porong~♪”

Inspired by the fact that Flora had once been the Roman goddess of flowers, Chloris, in Greece, Flora seemed to like the name Chloris.

As they were chatting, Karem felt the speed of the wagon decrease.

Creak-

They had arrived in Arms Town.

Following Mary’s signal, Karem hopped down from the wagon, marveling at the sight that looked like nothing but a forest before him.

“You means you made all this by yourself?”

Sparse branches and leaves that half-covered the gloomy sky surrounded the people weaving between what felt like a miniature primeval forest.

As he thought before, it truly looked like the kind of village where elves might live, something that couldn’t even be properly represented in games.

“Hey! That’s where I just caught it!”

“Whoa, it’s flying over there!”

“Ugh, no magic use inside the village. This is so inconvenient.”

If it weren’t for the villagers and adventurers ruthlessly swinging various weapons toward the fairies flitting around in Arms Town, it would have been peaceful.

Heh heh-ck!? Bang-!

Suddenly, a fairy appeared before Karem as he surveyed the village. Startled, he reflexively swung his club and realized it a beat too late.

“Whoa! Why is this here?”

Karem poked at the dazzling pile of fairy dust with the tip of his club.

“By the way, didn’t they install a barrier against fairies?”

“The barrier only prevents them from appearing inside the area it covers.”

Catherine approached with her staff touching the ground as she exited the wagon.

“They can’t stop fairies that come from outside.”

“But they couldn’t enter Armsport.”

“That’s the effect of the barrier I set up, not hers. Did you forget?”

“Oh, right. I forgot about that.”

Indeed, the effects of the two barriers were evidently different. Karem nodded and turned his gaze back to the pile of fairy dust.

“Heh heh, heh~”

Swish- Swish- Flora, who had approached without him noticing, started humming a tune as she eagerly scooped the fairy dust into her pouch.

“Using a longsword to harvest is a waste.”

“Is that why you told me to pack a weapon?”

“That and the fact that if you used divine power, it would cause quite the stir in the village.”

Even now, a few priests from the wagon had their eyes on Karem as they’d just disembarked. Despite their doubts, if he openly used his power, they would certainly catch onto it.

“I’m a bit late.”

Mary returned after leaving the wagon in the charge of the local vigilantes.

“Anyway, Flora—”

Before the name could be fully revealed, Karem cleared his throat, and Mary quickly changed her words.

“Chloris, what are you doing?”

“I’m collecting fairy dust without leaving any behind.”

“I can see that.”

Karem wondered why Mary was so flustered, but soon, he caught sight of vines protruding from the hem of Flora’s robe, quickly picking through the fairy dust.

“Seems like she liked it quite a lot…”

“Karem-kun, how on earth did you raise her?”

“No, she raised herself. Besides, it was Lady Alicia who was always beside her. This is unavoidable.”

Of course, Mary was aware of that fact as well.

According to what she knew, a Dryad’s age begins counting from when it’s a seed. As the Empire’s downfall coincided with Dryads’ extinction, if it started counting from then, there were hardly any comparison points other than gods or dragons.

This was merely teasing Karem.

“Heh~?”

While Flora was firmly tying up the entrance of her pouch, she began to gaze intently at something with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

“Now why is she acting like that?”

“She said just now that she was looking for her husband.”

“Eh? Um… son-in-law? Wait a minute.”

Flora paid no mind and suddenly jumped up, starting to walk forward. Karem, along with Mary and Catherine, immediately followed her.

“Are you saying that guy… was looking for your… son-in-law?”

“Yes. She definitely said that.”

“I have no idea how this happened.”

Catherine frowned as she narrowed the distance to Flora.

“I doubt she’d mistake a different person.”

Then there could only be one reason for her behavior.

“Perhaps the person Flora is chasing is indeed him?”

“That means—”

“He probably ran away for some fresh air to escape from the endless paperwork staring him in the face.”

“…That’s a likely scenario, actually.”

Soon enough, Karem witnessed the cause of Flora’s sudden burst of energy.

“…Uh, um.”

“Uhm.”

Flora, with her eyes narrowed, was gripping the hem of a robe worn by a man with an unnaturally perfect mustache that peeked out from his hood.

Their eyes met.

“I thought you were too busy with paperwork, and that’s why Chloris hasn’t been able to play with you.”

“Ahem, I think you might have mistaken me for someone else—”

With a mustache he was attempting to use to disguise himself, Gordon trailed off.

“Mercenary brat. You think Chloris would mistake someone for a different person?”

“Before that, what’s up with this name Chloris?”

“Karem suggested changing her name to keep her identity hidden. Flora seems to like it.”

Gordon led the group into a secluded alley of the village, far from the main road. Once inside, he removed his hood, and as the mustache vanished, a deep sigh escaped Gordon.

“Playing hooky? Seriously? Is that your age?”

“Hey, I’ve been swamped with paperwork for a week with hardly any breaks. I just wanted to take a breather with my subordinates. Is that so wrong?”

“I have no objections.”

Karem pointed toward Gordon.

“I’m sure our little lady here does.”

Gordon turned his head sharply, realizing his oversight.

“…Porong♥!”

Flora’s fury could be felt even beyond the magical hood.

“Why is she so angry?”

“Probably because you went out without her.”

Flora’s hood shook up and down as if to affirm that answer.

 

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