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Volume 3 Chapter 10.3

Translator: Reflet
Editor: Weasalopes

「Hey Mio.」

「Hm？」

「What do you think about that？」

「In a way, it might be the perfect method for Sensei’s rehab.」

「And you’re cool with that？」

「I can at least say that she really wants to giggle and squeal around Sensei, and it isn’t like Haru or I have been able to remove his fear of the female body.」

　Mio apparently didn’t have an issue with what Rainy had said.

「Hiroshi-kun！」

「W-Whazzup？」

「I’ll be sure to protect you, okay！」

　Overhearing Makoto and Mio’s conversation, Haruna yelled out with a newly invigorated expression on her face. As soon as he saw her serious expression and heard her determined words, Hiroshi felt some incredible cringe. Haruna would later end up being teased by everyone (excluding Hiroshi) for how messed up her pacing was.

「Elle, Artiem, we’re about to reach Darl.」

　Douga called out to the other passengers when he saw that they were on the last spurt on the road from the Great Southern Highway to Darl. Since they were posing as a grandfather merchant and his granddaughter with two servants, Douga was speaking to Aearis in a rougher manner. Although no one was listening in, they were already on one of Darl’s regular streets, so there was a need to practice their impressions right now just in case.

　Then again, during the time they had lurked around Wulls in disguise (although it was only a disguise to strangers and would immediately be found out by anyone who knew them), they had generally operated as grandfather and granddaughter, so the two of them had no qualms with this disguise. 

「I heard it would take us over a month, but we really got here quickly……」

「Aye, this is a golem car after all. Plus it has secret techniques that no regular human can muster. It’d be problematic if it weren’t this quick.」

「Is that what it is？」

「Aye, that’s what it is. Plus when they get serious, it would take only ten days to reach Darl. Although it is a bit odd as to how they reach Darl in ten days when they shouldn’t even be able to use moves in the first place.」

「Ah～、I sort of get where you’re coming from.」

　Artiem, who had a good amount of common sense, nodded keenly as she reflected on her experience in Wulls. Comparing this with the speed of the stagecoach she rode on to Wulls and other neighboring villages with the bodyguard/guide Teres and the other female adventurers, she knew that the golem car was flying at an incredible speed. 

　These fast movement techniques that Hiroshi and the others used were honestly impossible to envision. Carriages generally felt slow to people riding on them, but this golem car that exceeded 60 km/hr was way faster than the fastest ones Artiem had ridden in. No matter how difficult it was to tell what speed you were going at, when the speed of a vehicle is three times faster than what you’re used to, there’s going to be a noticeable difference. It was perfectly reasonable for Artiem to feel that this was quick.

「Alright Grandfather, how much longer till we reach Darl？」

「Aye. Well, I think it to be around an hour or so.」

　Aearis asked as she gazed out the window with fascination, and Douga answered the approximate time. They were currently just about on schedule, so as long as no unforeseen trouble occurred, they should have no problem reaching Darl within the day.

　The region’s specialty crop, sand wheat, could be seen spreading across the fields, and you could see farmers diligently cutting the weeds. Then again, changing your view slightly to look at the vast grasslands stretching all the way to the horizon, you were also reminded that this region was flat to a sickening degree.

「Still, I am impressed that all this curry powder and soy sauce survived.」

「That’s because everyone from the workshop and village played a part in it.」

「But could you even sell any of this in Darl when it has such a different climate?」

　Aearis was technically supposed to be Douga’s granddaughter for this situation, so she asked him an important question expected of any merchant. Maybe not curry powder, but might soy sauce or ponzu have a small chance? Or possibly even Worcester sauce or pork cutlet sauce?

「Well, if it does not work in Darl we can just try selling in Forre or Lorren. Then again, it has been quite a while since they came here, so surely by this time they must have created a recipe or two that uses these ingredients.」

「Now that you mention it, what kind of cuisine does Darl have anyway?」

「At its core, Darl cuisine consists of a smart combination of spices, especially the hot kind. That’s because many spices also act as an antidote for poison. Also, this area is close to the desert, so water is rather expensive. Most of the time, their stew does not use water, but instead sheep’s milk or coconut milk mixed in with spices to make broth.」

「A spicy flavor, huh……」

「Aye. Usually it is spicy enough to breath fire or a bit too much on the sour side.」

　When Douga explained the intricacies, Artiem’s face had an expression that screamed “yikes” on it. In Ortem and Wulls, she hadn’t eaten any extreme flavored food other than curry, so she wasn’t a big fan of excessively spicy or sour seasonings. Aearis, on the other hand, was strong in that area. 

Until coming here, she had eaten quite her share of spicy foods, but most of them weren’t all that extreme. Rather, the majority of them were on the fruity side, using cow or goat milk with fruit to make it. Having said that, since the last time they ate, they had already progressed what would take a regular carriage one day to traverse.

「Do you not like spicy things？」

「I’m fine with curry or regular spiced cooking, but I don’t know that I want to start breathing fire……」

「Hm. Well, Teres was similar, so I take it that elves as a whole dislike extreme flavoring？」

「Yes, I think so.」

　Artiem said, recalling the food regularly eaten in the village. The base for the seasoning was always taken from bird bones or shiitake. Judging from how they hadn’t made much of anything using spices, without a significant amount of sugar or salt, it was virtually impossible to make extreme flavoring.

「Well, we do have Elle to consider, so I will do whatever I can to search for more mild-flavored meals. This is after all an issue of regional influence.」

「Grandfather, please keep Artiem on your mind, but don’t feel the need to be concerned for me.」

「No no no. You do cooking too, so would it not be a good idea to become adjusted to slightly extreme foods?」

「Yes, but it is all about eating each region’s specialty in each region.」

　Douga worried about the negative effects on the palate, while Aearis, full of a challenging spirit, refused to budge an inch. After some more verbal tug-of-war, the discussion finally settled with Artiem suggesting that if they had ample spending money, they might as well just buy a wide assortment of foods in low quantities.

「……I can see the gates of Darl now, children.」

「That thing over there？」

「Aye, that’s the one.」

　A bit after the arguing back and forth, they had finally gotten close enough to their destination, the capital of the Darl Kingdom, Darl.

「They seem to be rather strict on security right now.」

「Aye. Mayhaps they had some sort of incident.」

「Now that you mention it, I get the strangest feeling that the sky is filled with haze……」

　They looked up at the sky after Artiem said that. True, the sky was oddly hazy in the direction of the desert. They had heard of this sort of weather occurring after large-scale sandstorms, but whenever they had taken breaks along the road they had not heard of such an incident.

「It seems that it will take some time to get into town.」

「Well, I suppose we just need to wait.」

「Artiem, child. I am sorry, but just in case, could you comfort them and ensure that they not come out?」

「Right, they are fairly obedient after all.」

　These last three days on the road, the octogals had been quite obedient. Artiem peered into the octopus pots they had made for the octogals. Since the pots weren’t all that big, you could hang them around your neck or suspend them like a bag. When she looked into the small pot……

「Huh？」

「Is something the matter？」

「No. I just had assumed they weren’t in there.」

「You call～？」

　Reacting to Artiem, the octogals appeared inside the pots.

「Where’d you go？」

「We were bored, so we played around in Wulls Castle～」

「Is it our time to shine～？　Is it our turn～？」

「Ah～、no、we’re going to be inspected right now、so I just wanted you to stay here and stay hidden for a bit.」

「O～kay!」

「We’ll go back and play at the castle～」

　After hearing Artiem’s explanation, the octogals went right back to teleporting out of the carriage. Apparently, as long as they walked around with these pots, they were able to freely move around anywhere. You could probably mark not just these pots, but anything, and assign it a destination point.

　Incidentally, there wasn’t much of a reason to walk around with the octogals in tow. There had been a few stragglers that snuck into Artiem and Aearis’ belongings, so if they were going to sneak in and mess around anyway, they figured they might as well let the octogals go with them.

「We’re going to cause quite the ruckus in the castle……」

「Well, there’s nothing to worry about. It’s not like you can get rid of them whenever you please.」

「I’m, really sorry about this……」

　Aearis and Douga smiled awkwardly as they saw Artiem acting apologetic despite it not being her fault. By this point the octogals were part of everyday life and would probably be sorely missed if they suddenly stopped coming over. Apparently she didn’t realize that.

「Alright, it’s our turn now, young’uns.」

　Maybe because it wasn’t peak time, the group hardly had to wait before finishing procedures and getting into town.

「I’ve confirmed your identification. Your name is Mr. Doul Ora, correct？」