659. Homecoming (Part 9)

In the end, Reina decided to turn a blind eye to the town revitalization project centered around the graves. Truly, after seeing how well the graves were maintained and learning what the profits were used for, she couldn’t bring herself to complain.

…Not that she felt like complaining anymore, anyway.

She did stop by the local Hunter’s Guild branch to warn the Guild Master not to embezzle the earnings or pull any funny business. Even without such a warning, it was unlikely anyone would dare commit a crime involving Reina. If a rumor spread that someone had exploited the graves of the benefactors of “Reina of the Red, the Great Hero,” their life would surely be forfeit. Whether they were a noble or a Guild Master, they wouldn’t survive the combined backlash from the Guild’s upper management, the local lord, the royal palace, and the general public. There would be no escape, even if they fled to another territory or a different country…

“I’ll leave the matter of the graves to the people of this town. It’s best to leave such things to locals who are used to them. Just like that cryptic proverb Mile mentioned…”

The phrase “Mochi belongs to the mochi-maker, and Momo’s sidekick is a mocha-maker”—one of Mile’s common nonsensical idioms—was stuck in Reina’s head. Of course, Mile had made her eat mochi (rice cakes) many times. Mile claimed it was a preserved food that kept you full, but the moment it went into her Item Box, the “preserved” part became irrelevant.

…Since it was delicious whether grilled or boiled, nobody ever complained, though…

“Alright, heading for the capital of the Kingdom of Brandel…

All engines full speed ahead! …Reina, launching!!”

In this continent, the phrase “All engines full speed ahead” does not exist. While there are ships powered by human rowers on both sides like Earth’s galleys, the terminology used when ordering them to row with all their might is a bit different. However, Reina and the others, having been taught such concepts through Mile’s “Nihon tall tales,” had been contaminated by “Mile-speak”—phrases that made no sense but sounded somehow cool. It was much like the legendary “Bront-speak.”

…It was already too late for them…

“My money has increased quite a bit…”

Reina was wearing clothes for a back-row class that looked plain but were high-quality, expensive, and possessed high defensive power. She carried a mage’s staff that looked pricey.

…And she looked like an inexperienced little girl around 14 or 15 years old. (She only looked that way.)

A good-looking young girl who can use magic would fetch a high price as an illegal slave. If such a person walks down a highway alone, they will be attacked. By professional bandits, or by ordinary travelers and villagers who have a momentary lapse in judgment…

It happened rarely in the Kingdom of Tirus, but the moment she crossed the border into the Kingdom of Brandel, the number of attacks increased sharply…

They got what they deserved.

…The attackers, that is. It was their own fault for failing to recognize Reina just because she had changed her hair color.

If this were the Kingdom of Tirus, Reina’s face would be quite well known. Even without television, newspapers, or photographs, “The Great Mage Reina, one of the Four Great Heroes who saved the nation” was famous. Numerous portraits of her were in circulation. Her face was likely more famous than the King’s…

However, in the Kingdom of Brandel, the ones held in high esteem weren’t the foreign heroes of the “Red Vow,” but their own local nobility: the Divine Messenger, Marchioness Adele von Ascham; her friend and leader of the “Wonder Three,” Viscountess Marcella; and Princess Morena, the Great Saint who gained supernatural powers from the Goddess after making a name for herself in that war and saved many people during the famine.

So, while her name was widely known, there weren’t many in the Kingdom of Brandel who knew the exact appearance of the “Red Vow” members other than Mile. Furthermore, since she had changed her trademark red hair to a different color, it was only natural they didn’t realize it was Reina.

And to begin with, it would be absurd to think that a foreign Countess would be traveling alone on foot without guards or attendants. If only she had been with all four members of the “Red Vow”…

…It was just bad luck. That was all it was…

Anyway, that was why Reina’s funds continued to grow day by day. Stripping a criminal of their possessions was the natural right of the captor. And since Reina couldn’t transport the criminals alone, she would wait for a passing carriage and pay a little extra to hitch a ride. Since she would receive the bounty and a portion of the profit from selling them into criminal slavery, it was a small price to pay.

Reina sometimes wondered if this was more profitable than standard hunter activities, but Mile would likely object fiercely, saying, “That’s a sting operation! And it’s on the fine line between the ‘opportunity-providing’ type and the ‘intent-inducing’ type!!” so it was unlikely to ever become her main career.

“There’s still plenty of time before the scheduled rendezvous date…”

Aside from her territory—mainly orphanage-related business—and visiting the graves, Reina didn’t have much to do on this continent. While Mavis and Pauline were still motivated to learn the knowledge and manners required of a lord, Reina had little such desire; her “need for approval” or wish to be recognized as a noble was thin.

She felt it was better to leave the work of a lord to the deputies and civil servants rather than pushing herself, as a former commoner ill-suited for nobility, to do it. She thought it was enough to serve as a figurehead while focusing on her relief efforts for orphans. Therefore, the number of days until the meeting they had all agreed upon was a bit too generous for Reina.

“I need to find a way to kill some time…”

Muttering this as she walked, she spotted a rest area. These were spaces intended for carriages to take breaks without obstructing traffic, used for resting during the day and as campsites at night. Beyond keeping the road clear, having multiple merchant caravans camping together served as a deterrent against monsters and bandits.

“Maybe I’ll rest a bit… I’ll have some hardtack.

Honestly, without Mile, the food situation is the absolute worst. No toilets, no baths…

If even I feel this way, I wonder if Mavis and Pauline, who started their hunter lives with Mile already there, are doing okay…”

For a solo traveler on foot like Reina, she could easily sit on a nearby rock or fallen log to munch on bread, but doing so as a good-looking girl who looked 14 or 15 meant being constantly approached by passersby, making it impossible to rest in peace.

Not everyone who approached had ulterior motives. There were caravan masters worried about a girl traveling alone who would offer her a ride, or well-meaning hunter parties who would invite her to travel to the next town with them.

However, if she joined them, they would invariably ask about her circumstances: “Why is a young woman traveling alone in such danger…?” and she didn’t feel like lying to kind people, yet she wanted to avoid the trouble that would come from revealing her true name.

Thus, she wanted to go to a corner of a quiet rest area, hidden from those simply passing by on the highway, to enjoy some hardtack in solitude while indulging in a bit of sentimentality, reminiscing about her days as a solo hunter before she entered the prep school and met Mile and the others.

However, just as Reina sat on a rock in a corner of the rest area and was about to bite into her hardtack…

(…Hm?)

Currently, the only others in the rest area were a merchant caravan—if you could even call it that, given it was at the minimum scale of two wagons—along with their drivers and a few guards…

(Something feels off…)

Naturally, the two-wagon caravan appeared to be stopping for a short break or a meal… but Reina grew suspicious at the sight of a man getting down from one wagon with a leather water skin and entering the other wagon.

Why would both wagons be identical, yet only one carried water? Normally, for risk management, water would be split between both. Furthermore, although they were cargo wagons, they weren’t carrying freight; they seemed to be carrying many people. The men who appeared to be guards were all outside the wagons. For a caravan of this size to have more guards than that inside was clearly unnatural. Also, it was hard to imagine people not getting out to stretch their legs during a hard-earned break. And then, there was the “cargo” she caught a glimpse of when the man climbed into the back…

Her companions weren’t here. No matter how much confidence she had in her magic, it took time to chant. In close-quarters combat, the risk for a mage is too high without a frontliner. She could still manage if she blasted them with attack magic from a distance… provided she didn’t mind if the contents of the wagon were blown away as well… But she couldn’t do such a thing without confirming the situation.

It had nothing to do with her. There was no need to take meaningless risks. If she poked her nose into every criminal act she witnessed without even having a contract, she would die soon.

However, Reina whispered softly to herself.

“…Teryusia-san would probably do it…”

End of 659