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Chapter 382: Conclusion

「Then how about having my spirit escort you…」
「Can that spirit win against Doggy? 」
「… 」

Retze immediately retorted to Hauron’s suggestion, and their conversation ended with the Grand Mage averting his eyes.

「Hey, you’ve been munching quail without a care in the world as if it’s none of your business, but you’re the core of this topic, you know? 」
Dinosso popped a slice of cheese into his mouth while staring at me with half-lidded eyes.

「You understand this guy well, and you remain unmoved in the face of a deity-class spirit. You’d be perfect for the job… 」
Khan commented with a sigh.

「I don’t react to the deity-class spirits simply because I can’t See them, you know. Their existence is far from mine, kinda like calling someone from ancient history without any honorifics, you get the gist. I’m different from you guys, you’re close to them. And I’m serious, I’ll really die, alright? Monsters will make me kick the bucket without knowing what hit me. 」
Retze picked some of the cashew nuts.

That stuff — cashew nuts — is amazing, I tell you. And they’re gonna make you wonder, ‘why on earth do they grow on top of bell pepper like fruits, huh!?’ — or something like that.

「…Why don’t we go with this guy at noon if there’s free time tomorrow before we ride the boat? If Jean’s okay with it, that is. My wife and the kids are going dessert hopping tomorrow. 」
「Ugh, the sweets in this kingdom are too… 」
A dessert hopping experience that will surely make your jaw tingle and your teeth feel like it’s gonna fall off because of the sweetness…

「I’m going to look for the place where River Es is born tomorrow too, is that fine with you guys? 」
「Yeah, but didn’t you meet Es already? 」

「It doesn’t have anything to do with Es; I just wanna look for the place where they get cinnamon. 」

The more I investigate, the more rumors I discover about cinnamon, like it’s being protected by dragons in their land, or that it is harvested in the land beyond Es. Moreover, some of the info also gets jumbled up, like the times when the cinnamon is confused with kashim…

「Ahh, you’re talking about that, huh. It’s highly likely that the merchants just made those rumors up and spread them so don’t be depressed if you don’t find it, alright? 」
「Eh? 」
I asked blankly back at Retze. Weren’t you the one who also added a potential spot to my list?

「My bad, I didn’t realize you were seriously looking for it. It’s pretty expensive after all. If merchants want to make the manufacturing process a trade secret, they usually cook up some vague background story and deliberately spread the rumors themselves. In some cases, the spirits get involved so the seemingly impossible stuff becomes true, but if you get plenty of stories getting spread around then most of the time they’re hoaxes. 」

…..

「Ahhh. Looking for headwaters sounds fun too, right? 」
Dinosso said.

Argh, everyone already knew!! So Retze added more information on the assumption that it’s all hoaxes anyway, huh!! So that’s why he seemed half-hearted about it…!!

「Well, I already went to the temple to look at the relief, so I guess I’ll go look for Es’s headwaters too. 」
「I’m also interested in that one. 」
「Mm. 」
Hauron and Khan are coming with us.

「Pardon me, but I have to take care of Ash-sama. I will be looking forward to the souvenirs that you bring. 」
Butler declined. Reading between the lines, he must’ve meant 「It’s too hot so I don’t want to. 」, huh.

「So? Does the God of Tempest and War know that his name is used in baby talk? 」
Khan asked as he adjusted his sitting posture.

「Dunno? 」
「Oy, Jean, it’s important. 」
「He didn’t seem dissatisfied with the name, but I’m not sure if it’s because he simply doesn’t know, or if it’s because spirit thoughts are different from us. 」

Don’t assume that I know it all, alright?

「Don’t look at me. 」
Everyone other than me fixed their gaze towards Retze.

「Since Jean’s contracted with him, won’t it be fine if Jean just requests that he doesn’t go on a rampage? 」
Retze commented while drinking his beer.

「Saying that to the God of Tempest and War… 」
Khan seemed to have a headache.

「Ignorance…So there are times when ignorance is better, huh… I thought it was only foolhardy valor… 」
Foolhardy valor? Is that a posh term referring to those muscle-brain idiots who recklessly deal with their problems with brute force?

「Yes, yes, that’s right. Even Ludere-sama himself appeared just for that contract… What more for weakened ancient deities…No, no, it’s just like I thought, it’s impossible. 」
Hauron was mumbling something.

「Anyway, we’re setting off tomorrow. Perhaps we’ll get a glimpse of the daily routine that made this sort of thing happen. 」
Khan said.

「At any rate, this guy here doesn’t have any self-awareness despite having that colossal power, and I think the spirits are only drawn to him as he is. The funny thing is, this guy’s using all that power to go on binge-eating trips… 」
「Hey, aren’t you being too mean? 」
I glared at Retze.

「Nah, that’s not being mean. I heard our frontline heroes finally started hunting the main spirits of their enemy nations, you know? 」
「Eh? Spirit hunting? 」
I unwittingly asked Dinosso.

「Indeed. Allow me to explain. Spirit hunting involves either binding the spirit through a contract or breaking them down into submissive spirits, which are then absorbed by either the heroes’ spirit or their kin. 」
Butler noticed that the term didn’t ring a bell with me, so he kindly explained.

「Urk. 」
Right, Sis has 【Domination 】. If Sis is gross, then Lightball is gross too.

「Alright, I’ll do my best to name the spirits. I’ll try inviting Es too. 」
「How the heck did it turn that way!? 」
Hauron scolded me, but it’ll probably happen, right?