To Another World... with Land Mines! Volume 10 E-Book

Mizuho Itsuki

• Herausgeber: J-Novel Club
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Serie: To Another World... with Land Mines!
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 457

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

Nao’s party accepts a quest from Viscount Nernas to serve as bodyguards for his daughter, Illias, and escort her to the beautiful city of Clewily to attend a baron’s wedding. Contrary to their plans, however, Nao and Haruka somehow end up having to participate in the wedding as well. In their tuxedo and dress, they look like a newlywed couple themselves. Haruka reveals her feelings for Nao in an endearing manner, but despite reciprocating her feelings, Nao is conflicted about how to respond. Will their indecisive relationship finally progress to the next step? Find out in this tenth volume!

Leseprobe

Prologue

The first time we journeyed from Kelg to Pining, we had gone by carriage, but this time, we were walking. The distance was about one and a half times longer than the distance between Kelg and Laffan, and it took about five days by carriage. We were fit enough to run long-distance, however. We departed Kelg early in the morning and arrived at Pining by about three in the afternoon, having taken just one short break around noon.

We had plenty of time to spare, so there was no real need for us to rush, but it was currently winter. It wasn’t snowing, but the wind that blew through the grasslands was bracing, so none of us were in the mood for a picnic. Likewise, we wanted to avoid sleeping out in the open, so we’d agreed to continue running down the highway until we reached Pining. It was the first time Mary and Metea had run such a long distance with us. I was slightly worried that they might need healing, but...

“A city!” Metea exclaimed. “And I’ve got some pocket money on me this time!”

Metea remained quite excited while we were waiting outside the gates of Pining. Even considering the short break we’d taken, we had run over one hundred kilometers, so I was surprised by how energetic she was.

“Do you feel okay, Mary?” I asked. “Do your feet hurt at all?”

Mary looked up at me and blinked a couple times, then nodded. “Hmm? Oh, no, my feet feel perfectly fine. We didn’t run very fast.” It was almost as if she had no idea why I would ask such a question.

Now that I think about it, Mary and Metea are beastgirls of the tiger subspecies. Sure, they haven’t trained as long as we have, but they’re probably much better at running than a normal human like Yuki or an elf like Haruka.

“The two of you have gotten much healthier and more energetic than before,” said Haruka. “Is everyone else okay as well? I can provide healing if needed...”

Even as she asked about healing, Haruka was casually casting Purification on us. We could run long distances just fine, but we weren’t immune to fatigue, and we still sweated from our exertions, so Haruka was probably using Purification to prevent us from getting chilled now that we’d slowed down.

“Thanks, Haruka,” said Yuki, “but I feel perfectly fine.”

“Likewise,” said Natsuki. She tapped her toes. “These new boots were well worth the investment.”

The rest of us looked down at our own feet and laughed. We had furnished the materials ourselves, but they had still cost us twenty-five gold coins per pair. They doubled as armor, so they didn’t feel light by any means, but they had been carefully crafted by artisans to fit our feet perfectly, so there was no need for us to worry about blisters.

“I’m confident that being able to move comfortably is the key to battles and running,” I said.

Touya nodded. “Yeah.” He turned to look at the gates. “Hey, looks like it’s almost our turn.”

The line had moved quite a bit while we were chatting, and we were now close to the gates. I took out my adventurer card, as did Mary and Metea, both of them moving hastily. Their cards were still plain, since they’d had them made just the other day, but Metea stared at her own card before glancing up at me and smiling.

★★★★★★★★★

A few months had passed since the last time we were in the city of Pining. Superficially, at least, it seemed as peaceful as before. The main difference this time was the fact that there were fewer people walking the streets; those who were out and about were all wearing thick clothes. I wasn’t sure if it was simply because of the weather or if there was some other reason.

“Hmm. It feels more boring than before,” said Metea. “Oh well. I’m still looking forward to exploring the marketplace and stuff like that!”

“Just don’t wander off by yourself, Metea-chan,” said Natsuki.

“Mm, I know. I’ll listen and behave.”

Metea was always a very obedient kid, but the reason Natsuki had specifically reminded her was because of what Diola-san had told us before we left Laffan—namely, there were rumors of people going missing in Pining. The total number of missing people seemed to be unclear, but apparently the number wasn’t inconsiderable. There was no concrete evidence of a human carrying out abductions, however; monsters and bandits were common outside of towns, so a certain number of people disappeared every year. Nevertheless, Diola-san had sounded confident that these incidents weren’t natural.

“Well, me and Nao should be fine, but it’s probably best for you girls to avoid walking around alone,” said Touya.

“Mm. We know our hometown, but this is only the second time we’ve been in Pining, so better safe than sorry,” said Yuki.

We had lived in Laffan for long enough that we could now call it our hometown, and we had run through the entire city of Kelg during the mayhem caused by the Holy Satomi Sect, so we had a good idea of what places to avoid in those two towns, but Pining was a different story. We no longer had any reason to be scared of the average thug, but none of us enjoyed beating up other humans unless absolutely necessary, besides which it would be bad if any of us suffered injuries, so it was best to avoid trouble to the extent possible.

“...Missing people, huh?”

If the people who’d gone missing had been adventurers on quests, then their disappearances wouldn’t have qualified as unusual; one could simply assume they had been slain by monsters. However, Diola-san had indicated it was highly likely that people inside the city had abruptly disappeared, which suggested some kind of malicious plot. Are there kidnappers or murderers lurking in this seemingly peaceful city? The wind that blew down the barren main street felt weirdly cold for some reason, and I shivered as it swept over me.

Natsuki regarded me with a worried expression. “Do you feel cold, Nao-kun?”

I shook my head, then looked up into the sky. “No, not really, but it is winter.”

Natsuki looked up as well. “It seems that snow isn’t very common in this part of the world, but it might be a good idea for us to make some more winter clothing. It does feel cold when we’re idle. Sweaters would be perfect, I think.”

The clothes we usually wore were designed for rapid, strenuous movements during combat. In that sense, they were very practical, but I felt a bit cold whenever we were just walking or sitting for a spell. We could have warmed ourselves with magic, but wearing proper winter clothes was a more conventional solution.

“Hmm. We haven’t run into any sheep- or goat-type monsters yet, so how are we supposed to make yarn?” Yuki asked.

I thought that was kind of a dumb question. It was true that we’d made most of our equipment from materials that we had gotten ourselves by slaying monsters, but...

“I kinda see what you’re getting at, but we don’t necessarily need to make everything ourselves,” Touya chimed in, sounding slightly exasperated. “We can just buy stuff.”

Haruka nodded. “Even if we happen to find sheep- or goat-type monsters in the near future, it’ll still take a significant amount of time to produce yarn ourselves. Spring will roll around by the time we’re done turning that yarn into sweaters.”

“I guess that’s true. In that case, let’s buy some here—we might be able to get some real high-quality yarn,” said Yuki. “Also, let’s restock on cloth while we’re at it. I hope we can find some pastel fabrics for spring clothes.”

Pining was the capital of the viscounty ruled by Viscount Nernas, so there was a good chance that we could find a wide variety of goods in the stores here. Shopping wasn’t the main reason we were visiting Pining, however.

“Let’s deal with work before shopping.” Natsuki chuckled as she looked up at the largest building around.

Chapter 1—Escort Quest

This was our second time visiting the viscount’s mansion, but it looked just as intimidating as before. The gates were ornate, and the two guards outside regarded us with suspicion in their eyes. From an objective point of view, we were a group of armed people, so it was perfectly natural for the guards to be wary of us; moreover, we hadn’t booked an appointment this time. However, our only goal today was to deliver the bottles of red strike ox milk, so there was no need for us to meet the viscount in person. Diola-san had told us that we could just drop by the mansion, so we took out the letter of introduction she had written for us and presented it to the guards, who nodded and looked relieved when they’d seen it.

“I see. Please wait here for a bit.”

We waited outside of the gates for a few minutes. Soon, the butler who had been at the viscount’s side last time appeared from within.

“Greetings, Meikyo Shisui. It’s a pleasure to see you all. Please follow me inside.”

The butler led us into a room very near the entrance. There was just one table inside; a wooden box sitting atop it was the only other thing that stood out. It was a rather drab room, but it wasn’t like we’d been invited as guests, so it was suitable enough for handing over the goods we’d been enjoined to deliver.

“Let’s take care of the delivery first. Place the goods on top of the table, if you please.”

“Okay,” I said.

I took the bottles of red strike ox milk out of one of our magic bags and lined them up on the table. The butler carefully inspected the seals on each before transferring them into the wooden box ten bottles at a time. After placing all of the bottles inside, he sealed the box and put it inside a magic bag that he had apparently prepared for this purpose.

All of the bottles were sealed tight and in good condition, so the butler breathed a sigh of relief. “I hereby confirm the receipt of one hundred bottles of red strike ox milk. Thank you very much.”

“We’re glad to be of service,” I said. “Circumstances conspired to make this a very simple quest for us.”

I handed the butler a receipt, and he thanked us again as he signed it. I responded with further words of gratitude. All we’d had to do to earn one hundred gold coins was transport and deliver the bottles, so it had been a very easy and profitable quest for us.

“I believe that goes both ways. I am very grateful that your party accepted both the escort quest and the quest to prepare and transport the gifts. Diola-sama highly recommended your party, and clearly she was right to do so. It’s terribly hard to find high-ranking female adventurers...”

“Was that the main reason we were considered as candidates?” I asked.

“It was a significant factor, yes. Unfortunately, the House of Nernas does not currently employ any female knights capable of fulfilling the role of bodyguard.” He glanced behind me at Mary and Metea. “Incidentally, will the two girls behind you accompany your party?”

The sisters were already much stronger than the average adventurer, but they looked like kids, so it was perfectly normal for others to feel uneasy about their competence.

“Is that a problem? They are still young, but they’re quite strong—”

Before I could explain any more, the butler hastily shook his head and interrupted me. “Oh, not a problem at all! In fact, it would be wonderful if they could participate. Illias-sama is nine years old, so I believe that it would be pleasant for her to have other girls her own age to talk to.”

Hmm. We brought the sisters with us last time, so the House of Nernas must know that they’re members of our party. With that in mind, he’s probably being honest when he says he’d welcome their participation. The reward for the escort quest is the rights to the dungeon that we discovered, so it’s not like the House of Nernas has to pay us extra because of Mary and Metea tagging along. Yeah, I guess there’s no reason to say no as long as the girls perform well.

The butler’s explanation made perfect sense to me, so I nodded. He continued, “If I may ask—your party is staying in Pining until Illias-sama’s departure, correct? Have you already decided upon an inn?”

“No. We headed here right after we got through the gates,” I said.

The bottles probably wouldn’t have broken easily inside our magic bags, but they were still extremely valuable, so all of us had agreed that it would be best to deliver them as soon as possible. As a result, we had made a straight line for the viscount’s mansion.

The butler smiled upon hearing my answer, then spread his arms and suggested a possibility we’d never considered. “In that case, please feel free to stay in this mansion. I will prepare rooms for your party.”

“Huh? Oh, um, we don’t want to cause any inconvenience...”

It would be impossible for us to relax inside a noble’s mansion, so I sincerely wanted to turn down the butler’s offer. If all of the inns in Pining were dirty, we might have been more willing, but the inn we had stayed at the last time had been decent, and these days, we could easily afford accommodations, so it would be a lot less stressful to stay at an inn.

However, the butler continued to smile as he shook his head in a slightly exaggerated manner. “In fact, it would be exceptionally helpful if your party were to stay here and participate in training sessions with the soldiers serving the House of Nernas. You will, of course, be appropriately compensated for your time.”

All of us exchanged glances and pondered this turn of events. We’d assumed we could just slay monsters and bandits and leave the rest to the soldiers who served in the local army; it hadn’t occurred to us that we would ever train alongside them.

After a moment, Natsuki spoke up on behalf of the rest of us. “Is there a particular reason you would like for us to train together with the soldiers? As adventurers, we do train on a daily basis...”

“The main objective would be to improve communication and coordination between your party and our soldiers.”

“Hmm. That’s a good point. I’m confident that we’ll be able to dispatch most monsters ourselves, but any confusion would be troublesome for us,” said Natsuki.

“The soldiers who’ll participate in the escort quest are the same ones who were sent to deal with the mayhem in Kelg, right?” I asked. “We’ve technically worked with them before, so I don’t think we necessarily need to train with them.”

There had been no time for practice back in Kelg, and this quest would presumably be much easier. If it were just a matter of preparing as much as possible during the remaining time before our departure, I could have understood that, but it didn’t feel absolutely necessary to me. I looked to the butler for an answer, and he grimaced, then provided us with more information.

“Mm, everything that you’ve said is absolutely correct. However, many of the household soldiers can’t participate in the escort quest, and they have conflicted feelings about the matter. Would it be possible for your party to demonstrate your abilities and put them at ease? I’m well aware that this is not directly relevant to your party, but...”

Oh, hmm. Yeah, I guess this is an issue that we can’t ignore. Illias-sama, the girl that we had to escort, was basically like a princess whom the soldiers had to protect. With that in mind, some of them had to be unhappy about the fact that the House of Nernas had hired adventurers as her bodyguards. We could turn down the butler’s request, but if that decision ended up sowing discord between us and the soldiers, it would be a disaster.

When I glanced around, everyone nodded back at me, so they must’ve all been on the same page. “Very well. In that case, we’ll gladly accept your offer to stay here until the date of our departure.”

The butler smiled and bowed gratefully. “Thank you very much. I will prepare your rooms at once. Please wait here.”

★★★★★★★★★

We didn’t have to wait long before he reappeared to guide us to our three rooms; he must have prepared things before we even arrived. Touya and I entered the first room, Yuki and Natsuki the second, and Haruka led Metea and Mary into the third. As we were unpacking, the butler returned and asked us to appear before Illias-sama.

He led us to a different room, where Viscount Nernas was waiting along with four women. One of them—a calm and gentle-looking woman, probably in her late twenties—was sitting next to him, so between that and her clothes, I felt certain she was the viscountess. Beside the viscountess was a girl who appeared to be around ten years old—presumably Illias-sama. The two remaining women were wearing maid uniforms, so they were probably accompanying Illias-sama as caregivers.

Viscount Nernas was the first to greet us. “Welcome. Thank you for accepting the escort quest. I can rest at ease knowing that my daughter will be in the hands of advanced adventurers such as yourselves. I’ll depend upon your skill.”

“Thank you for your trust,” I said. “We’ll do our best.”

Next, the woman sitting beside the viscount introduced herself. “My name is Rillette Nernas. The girl at my side is my daughter, Illias.”

“My name is Illias. I am the eldest daughter of the House of Nernas,” said the little girl. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“My name is Arlene, and I am Illias-sama’s maid.”

“My name is Vira, and I, too, am Illias-sama’s maid.”

Illias-sama’s hair was blonde and very long, and she looked to be about 130 centimeters tall. She seemed a lot more mature than I had imagined when I’d been told she was nine, but I wasn’t too surprised; I already knew another exceptionally mature little girl in Mary. Nine-year-olds in this world were very different from kids back on Earth.

Arlene-san appeared to be around forty years old, but Vira-san looked much younger; in fact, she appeared to be no older than her mid-twenties. Arlene-san’s face was a bit stern by default, while Vira-san had a much gentler expression.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” I said. “My name is Nao, and I am a member of the Meikyo Shisui party.”

The rest of my party proceeded to introduce themselves. Illias-sama looked surprised and curious when she heard Mary’s and Metea’s introductions, but she didn’t say anything.

Last of all, we finally learned the elderly butler’s name. “Ah, it occurs to me that I have yet to introduce myself. My name is Wiesel, a butler in the service of the House of Nernas. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

Hmm. Actually, the viscount mentioned the butler’s name the last time we visited, didn’t he? It slipped my mind, since I just think of him as “the butler,” but I should probably make an effort to remember his name if I’m going to be staying in this mansion for a while.

“Your duty as bodyguards will be to protect Illias-sama and these two maids,” said Wiesel.

“Are the three of them the only ones who will be traveling with us aside from the soldiers?” I asked.

“Correct,” Wiesel replied. “To be clear, there is no need for your party to protect any of the soldiers, and you may abandon even the maids if necessary to improve Illias-sama’s chances of survival. The maids themselves have already agreed to this.”

Wiesel-san’s heartless words made me glance at the maids. Both nodded, their faces solemn. Illias-sama grimaced at their reactions but remained silent.

“Nevertheless, they are my dear subordinates, so I will be eternally grateful if your party protects them to the best of your abilities,” Wiesel added.

“Of course. You can count on us,” I said.

Hmm. Is Illias-sama really the only one attending the wedding as Viscount Nernas’s representative? You’d expect another adult to accompany her and help her out. Is Illias-sama that mature and bright, or is it just that the House of Nernas can’t afford to send anyone else? I guess the maids can offer some support. I dunno... I’m kinda curious, but I guess it’s none of my business.

When Illias-sama noticed that I’d fallen silent, she hesitantly began to speak. “Um, may I ask something? Will the girls behind you participate in combat as well?”

Illias-sama was looking at Mary and Metea. My party had instructed the sisters to remain behind us so that they wouldn’t stand out too much, but it seemed Illias-sama was very curious about them.

“Yes. They might not look like it, but they’re actually quite strong,” I said. “In fact, the two of them are capable of handling any of the monsters in this area by themselves.”

“Oh, that’s very impressive. How old are they?” Illias asked.

“Mary happens to be the same age as you, Illias-sama,” I replied. “Metea is two years younger.”

Illias-sama beamed with delight. “That’s wonderful!” She clasped her hands, sounding very excited and happy. “In that case, Mary, Metea, would the two of you be willing to become my friends?”

“Uh...”

The viscount and the viscountess were smiling as they watched their daughter; clearly they had no intention of interfering. The sisters, however, were looking up at me as if they had no idea how to react, but there was no way I could say something like “Feel free to say no if you don’t want to become friends,” so I nodded to indicate that it was up to them to resolve this situation amicably. They both forced smiles as they bowed to Illias-sama.

“O-Of course. I-It would be our pleasure,” the sisters said in unison.

“Mm, it would be my pleasure too,” said Illias. “Um, I know this might be a bit sudden, but could you let me touch your ears? This is the first time I’ve ever met any beastgirls...” She was smiling and staring fixedly at Mary’s and Metea’s ears.

Illias-sama’s excitement was perfectly understandable to me. The sisters’ hair had been very coarse when we first met them, and their ears and tails had been in bad shape too, but they had regained their natural fluffiness after the sisters came to live with us and gained access to nutritious meals. In fact, their ears and tails had gotten so fluffy that I wouldn’t have minded spending an entire day rubbing them.

However, beastfolk felt a bit uncomfortable when people they weren’t close to touched their ears and tails. According to the sisters, it was similar to what a human would feel if someone touched their butt. Beastfolk probably wouldn’t mind if the person in question was family or a close friend, but it would be perfectly normal to be wary if someone of the same sex whom you’d just met for the first time asked for permission to do the equivalent of touching your butt. Actually, I think another dude asking to touch your butt would be way scarier. If it were me, I’d flee right away or slay him on the spot.

There weren’t many options if the person who had asked was a noble, however. Metea didn’t seem to really mind, but a girl Mary’s age would undoubtedly be more self-conscious, and indeed, Mary had a troubled look on her face as she glanced back and forth between Illias-sama and me. I couldn’t tell her to “just say yes,” but neither could I coldly reject Illias-sama’s request.

But while I was still pondering what to do, Vira-san stepped forward from behind Illias-sama and spoke up. “My lady, I regret to inform you that your conduct is uncouth. Do you think an ordinary person would ever ask to touch a new friend’s hair? Ah, forgive me—I suppose you wouldn’t know the answer, Illias-sama, as you have no friends. But for your information, such a request is far from ordinary.”

Whoa, did she really have to go that far? I can’t believe a maid was that brutally honest. But rather than scolding her, the viscount and viscountess just chuckled. For her part, Illias-sama pouted briefly but then nodded.

“Ugh. You didn’t have to be so mean, Vira. But I suppose you’re completely right. Mary, Metea, I’m very sorry about what I asked just now. May I ask again once we’ve become better friends?”

“Oh, um, err, okay.” Mary sounded like she had no idea how to respond properly.

If everything went according to plan, the round trip would take about twelve days in total. In contrast with her older sister, Metea wasn’t the kind of kid to act shy around others, but even she probably wouldn’t go out of her way to interact with a young noblewoman. With that in mind, it was all up to Illias-sama to make use of the time before we departed and on the road in order to become close with the sisters. If she talked to them in her spare time and gradually narrowed the distance between them, there was a chance that they would become good friends by the end of our journey.

“Now then, let us go play together!” Illias exclaimed.

“Huh?” Whoa, I didn’t expect Illias-sama to be so assertive! Illias-sama grabbed Mary’s and Metea’s hands and attempted to leave the room with them in tow.

Vira-san blocked the entrance. “A moment, please, my lady.” It seemed to be her role to stop Illias-sama in situations like this. “You still have obligations today, Illias-sama. Please attend to those first.”

Illias-sama reluctantly let go of Mary’s and Metea’s hands. “...Ah, yes. Nobles cannot be negligent in their studies. Ugh. Oh well.”

The viscount chimed in to comfort his daughter. “The Meikyo Shisui party will be staying in this mansion until the time of your departure, Illias. You have plenty of time to talk to them if you wish.”

Really? Nothing about Mary’s and Metea’s needs? They completely froze up because a young noblewoman grabbed their hands all of a sudden, you know? It’s hard for people of our social standing to say no to a noble’s request.

Illias-sama pointed at the sisters. “We will certainly play together tomorrow!” she declared confidently.

“Certainly, certainly. If you wish to have free time for play, then make sure you devote adequate time and effort to your studies,” said Vira, gently pushing her out of the room.

Arlene-san bowed to us before following the others.

“I apologize for my daughter’s actions,” said Nernas. “Illias has never interacted with anyone her own age before. She was overjoyed, but having little idea of how to interact with others, she became rather too excited.”

But in spite of his words, the viscount himself sounded pleased, and the viscountess and Wiesel-san smiled as if in agreement. The viscount and viscountess seemed like doting parents. Wiesel-san, meanwhile, was old enough to be Illias-sama’s grandparent and probably regarded her as something like a granddaughter.

“Oh, um, I’m not sure exactly how to put this, but Illias-sama seems like she’ll be easy to get along with, so I actually feel quite relieved,” I said.

The viscountess’s smile deepened as she nodded in response to my words. “It pleases me to hear that. Mary-san, Metea-san, you need not worry about courtesy. If you are willing to join my daughter in play during your free time, it would greatly please me. Should Illias cause you any trouble, simply inform Vira and she will intervene at once.”

The sisters both looked nervous, but they nodded.

“I-If you don’t mind, then okay,” said Mary.

“O-Okay,” said Metea.

They seemed unwilling to say no given that the viscountess had asked them so gently. I had no idea what nobles did to keep themselves entertained, and the sisters usually didn’t play together very often, but I had a feeling that things would work out fine.

“Um, are nobles busy from a young age?” I asked.

Back on Earth, I’d often heard the saying “a child’s job is to play,” but apparently nobles in this world were immersed in study from a young age, and common children had to work for a living, so regardless of class, kids didn’t have much time for fun.

“Ordinarily, Illias isn’t especially busy, but she will be acting as my representative, so she’s hard at work learning the necessary etiquette,” said Nernas.

According to the viscount, Illias-sama received daily lessons appropriate for a nine-year-old, but in preparing to represent him at the wedding, she had to review some information she’d learned before.

“I see. Is there nobody else who can fulfill that role?” I asked. “Please forgive me if I’m being rude, but I wonder if Illias-sama isn’t a little too young to bear this heavy responsibility...”

“Unfortunately, there is no one else. My eldest son is a babe in arms,” Nernas replied. “I’m uncertain how much you know about such matters, but a mere vassal would not suffice as my representative considering the relationship between the House of Nernas and Baron Meredith, so I am left with no alternative.”

“Illias’s role is simply to deliver a message of congratulations as well as the wedding gifts,” said Rillette. “It’s nothing terribly difficult, so I have no doubt she will rise to the task, but...”

The viscount and viscountess sighed in chorus, both wearing anxious expressions. They were clearly a bit worried about their daughter. The words “If only the incident in Kelg hadn’t happened” slipped out of the viscount’s mouth, but the fact that the viscount was still prioritizing Kelg made it obvious that he was a good lord who genuinely cared about his subjects.

“It sure sounds like nobles have it tough,” said Yuki, “unlike us carefree adventurers.”

“But life can hardly be carefree for adventurers,” Nernas said offhandedly. “Your métier is to slay monsters too fearsome even for our household troops. Of course, the work becomes more remunerative as you ascend through the ranks, but it was always my understanding that this privilege is accompanied by a responsibility to undertake more dangerous quests.”

Upon hearing that exchange, Wiesel-san looked up and, glancing back and forth between the viscount and my party, smiled to himself. “My lord, what do you think of the idea of having the Meikyo Shisui party take part in Illias-sama’s study sessions?”

“Hmm? All of them?”

“Correct, my lord. If they plan to continue adventuring and ascend through the ranks, I believe much of her curriculum would be worth learning for them as well.”

“O-Oh, um, we wouldn’t want to interrupt Illias-sama’s studies...” I said.

We had accepted the escort quest in no small part because we’d been told that we wouldn’t need to worry about etiquette when interacting with nobles. It would be a hassle if we ended up having to learn that stuff after all, and seven new students would mean a lot of extra work for the tutors.

But Wiesel-san merely smiled and shook his head at my objections. “I believe that the presence of someone around Illias-sama’s age would, if anything, spur her to greater studiousness. There is a chance that having other students learning alongside her will help foster her own sense of initiative. What think you, my lord?”

“Hmm. Stands to reason,” said Nernas. “What do you think, lad?”

Although the viscount had asked me, both he and Wiesel-san were looking at Mary. It was possible that a peer would be a positive influence on Illias-sama, and Mary certainly seemed like a perfect fit. She actually wasn’t as good at studying as she was at combat, however. She was quite mature for her age, and she wasn’t a slow learner by any means, but her academic prowess was pretty average. It would be bad for her if she went down the path of all brawn and no brains, so the girls had been teaching her in their spare time, but it sounded like it wasn’t easy.

In contrast, Metea was a quick learner—she could probably have maintained the best grades in her class if she’d been in elementary school—but that was the limit of her academic prowess. She was talented, but she wasn’t a genius by any means, and given her age, she probably wouldn’t be able to follow if she were suddenly forced to take part in lessons for a young noble. Wiesel-san had said that much of the information would also be pertinent for us, but it would be useless if we continued to avoid any quests that required us to interact with nobles.

I swiftly glanced at my other party members for their opinions, and they nodded back at me; it seemed like everyone had similar thoughts. “...We’ll consider the idea if we can fit it into our schedule.”

Though I’d tried to reject Wiesel-san’s proposal obliquely, he responded with a gentle smile. “Of course. Please feel free to give it some thought.”

★★★★★★★★★

“Listen up, everyone! These adventurers are the Meikyo Shisui party. They’re the ones who’ve been assigned the role of Illias-sama’s bodyguards! Welcome them to the House of Nernas!”

“Welcome!” the troops roared.

The morning after our arrival, we were visiting the training grounds attached to the viscount’s mansion. Sadius, the captain we’d met in Kelg, was the one who had commanded the soldiers to greet us. There were thirty in total lined up in front of him, all of them young men around the age of twenty. None of them were extremely muscular, but they looked decently fit. They were kind of imposing lined up like that, but I wasn’t scared of them. I wasn’t sure how we would have reacted back when we were still high school students in Japan, but at this point, we’d been fighting monsters for over a year, so the soldiers’ stern expressions didn’t bother us. Mary and Metea seemed a bit intimidated, but they were standing behind us so they wouldn’t draw attention to themselves.

“I’m sure that those of you who participated in the counteroffensive at Kelg know this already, but the Meikyo Shisui party are strong and highly skilled adventurers,” said Sadius. “They will show you exactly how strong they are today, so take advantage of this opportunity to become stronger yourselves!”

“Sir, yes, sir!” the soldiers yelled.

Sadius nodded to himself, then turned to address us. “I’m glad that your party decided to take on the escort quest. I won’t give you any special treatment during training, however. I don’t expect that’s a problem?”

“Of course not. We want to learn and improve too,” I said.

“Mm. We’re looking forward to learning the ropes of combat against human opponents,” said Haruka. “We’re accustomed to combat against monsters.”

The rest of the party nodded in agreement with Haruka and me. Combat against other people was something that all of us still had to master. Thanks to skills like Swordsmanship, we had some basic moves, but when it came to applying that innate knowledge in advanced combat, we were still learning through trial and error. We had learned firsthand how to defeat monsters by slaying them repeatedly, but we could hardly do the same with other people, and there was nowhere in Laffan that we could learn. In that sense, Wiesel-san’s request that we participate in training was a boon to us as well.

“I see. Don’t know how much help it’ll be, but I’ll do what I can,” said Sadius. He cast a doubtful glance at Mary and Metea. “By the way, are those kids behind you going to participate as well? They weren’t with you back at Kelg, were they?”

Girls around the sisters’ age would normally have watched something like this from the sidelines, so the fact that the sisters were wearing clothes suitable for exercise had probably confused Sadius. However...

“Yeah, they’re going to participate,” I said. “These girls are Mary and Metea. They’re the newest members of our party.”

Touya grinned. “They’re actually pretty strong. In fact, I bet your weaker soldiers will be no match for them.”

There was some muttering from the soldiers, but Sadius just responded with a dry laugh. “Don’t provoke the troops too much, Touya. Girls, are you two sure that you want to participate? Training isn’t going to be easy...”

“Yes! I’m looking forward to learning a lot!” said Mary.

“I’m going to do my best!” said Metea. “I’ll show you how good I am!”

Sadius frowned when he saw how motivated the sisters were, but he muttered the words “I guess I can just make them sit out if it seems like they can’t handle it” to himself, then looked at me and the rest of my party. “All right. But I use rough language during training, and when I give orders, you better obey.”

“Sure. We’ll obey orders as long as they aren’t unreasonable,” I said.

We had no intention of going through a boot camp run by a nasty drill sergeant, nor did we have any intention of forcing the sisters into something like that. Recruits in the local army probably had to go through something like boot camp in order to acquire the guts and mental fortitude necessary to maintain their composure even in extreme situations, but we were free adventurers. We had no intention of throwing away our lives for the greater good of an organization, and we wouldn’t hesitate to flee if we had to in order to survive, so we had no plans to become like soldiers even if someone tried to forge us into that role.

“All right. Let’s start off with a warm-up exercise,” said Sadius. “Everyone, fifty laps around the perimeter of the training grounds! Start!”

After energetically responding, “Sir, yes, sir!” the troops began to run, and my party followed.

The perimeter of the training grounds looked to be about four hundred meters, so fifty laps would add up to about twenty kilometers. I had no idea what kind of warm-up exercise would be typical in the military back on Earth, but people in this world were a lot more physically fit on average, so twenty kilometers probably wouldn’t be an issue for anyone with military training.

As it turned out, the soldiers’ average pace wasn’t very fast, so it was easy for my party to keep up; we were used to running every morning. By the time we’d completed twenty-five laps, there was more separation between the individual runners. Touya, who had the most stamina of any of us, was at the front of the pack with no competition. In fact, he was about two laps ahead, so he wasn’t physically in front of me, but that was very much beside the point. Yuki and Natsuki were tied for second place, but they were actually running slower than usual, and they looked like they still had plenty of stamina left. In terms of position, they were immediately in front of a group of soldiers who were one lap behind them. Some of them had gone pale in the face, probably because the girls had unwittingly thrown them off their usual pace. There were a couple soldiers here and there behind the main group, and I was about a third of a lap behind Yuki and Natsuki. Haruka was running near me, and the sisters were running between us.

“Come on, you can do better than this! Are none of you ashamed of losing to kids?! How dare you call yourself soldiers!” Sadius exclaimed. “Whoever comes in last place is getting a wonderful present from me—starting this exercise over immediately!”

“Sir, yes, sir!”

The troops who were lagging behind started to run faster. Mary and Metea looked at me as if asking whether to hold back, but I shook my head and maintained my current pace. It was a bit slower than usual for me and a bit faster than usual for the sisters. I had no idea if Mary and Metea could keep up with me all the way to the end, but the laps were shorter than our usual jogging course, so I felt confident that they would be fine. Too bad for the soldiers in last place. Oh well. As for Sadius, he was running right behind Yuki and Natsuki, so he definitely had more stamina than the average soldier.

In the end, not one of the soldiers was able to finish the last twenty-five laps. The sisters had managed to maintain the same pace from beginning to end, and Sadius was the only one who completed fifty laps ahead of them. The primary reason the sisters had been able to finish all fifty laps was that Haruka and I had set the pace for them. The primary reason that the soldiers hadn’t been able to finish was probably that they had unconsciously tried to match Yuki and Natsuki’s pace. These guys probably ran fifty laps on a daily basis, but the majority of them had looked like they were on the brink of exhaustion by the halfway mark.

After all of us came to a halt, Sadius scolded his men, “I don’t believe it! We have a few guests joining us and suddenly you men can’t even perform routine running? Soldiers should always remain calm and in control of their emotions, and yet you dare to show me this?! Bullshit! All of you, drop and give me fifty, now!”

“Sir, yes, sir!”

Uh, weren’t you the one who provoked them during that twenty-fifth lap, Sadius? It was when you started yelling at them that the troops lost their cool and temporarily overtook us. I mean, sure, if your words were part of the exercise, then I guess I can’t really object, but...

“All right. Next up is a short rest, then swinging practice,” said Sadius. “Get ready, you lot!”

Having finished their push-ups, the troops limped away to get some wooden swords. The swords looked very familiar; in fact, they looked similar to the one that Touya had bought as his first weapon. Oh, so that was a training sword, huh? No wonder it was so cheap.

“Can we borrow some wooden swords too, Sadius?” Touya asked.

“Yeah, of course,” Sadius replied. “You could also just use your own wea—actually, I guess that wouldn’t work for the kind of sparring I’ve got in mind. Feel free to take any of the wooden swords.”

“Thanks,” said Touya. “They all look the same, though.”

Indeed, they were identical in shape; they must have been generic weapons for soldiers in the local army. Touya picked up seven swords at random and distributed them to everyone in our party. I had never used a wooden sword on a regular basis, but when I gave mine a couple swings, it felt quite light, so it didn’t seem like it would be hard to use. I didn’t have the Swordsmanship skill, but I could probably use a wooden sword similarly to how I used a kodachi.

After a few minutes had passed and all of the soldiers were armed with practice swords, Sadius yelled at everyone to gather around. “Caught your breath? Well, line up! Start swinging practice! One! Two! Three!”

The troops immediately began swinging their wooden swords, and my party imitated them. Hmm. This almost feels like an after-school club activity, so it’s actually kind of fun. But the troops, unlike us, had pained expressions on their faces. Metea looked like she wasn’t perfectly comfortable swinging a practice sword due to her size, but stamina, at least, wasn’t an issue for her, so she kept at it. Mary—although she, too, was small in stature—used a sword the same size as Touya’s on a regular basis, so her movements were very smooth.

Sadius observed the sisters for a bit and then nodded to himself as if quite impressed. “Hmm. Though they be but little, they are good. Their movements are stable. Must’ve done some core training before.”

“Yeah. This kinda stuff is part of our daily training too,” said Touya.

“Your party doesn’t slack off, huh? I suppose that’s what I ought to expect of any adventurer who’s reached your rank.”

“It’s more like we have to continue training in order to survive,” I said. “That’s the life of an adventurer.”

Outside of emergency situations, troops spent most of their time training, but adventurers had to learn in actual combat, so our lifestyle was completely different. We were financially secure enough by now that getting stronger no longer felt like a matter of life and death, but still, we never slacked off when it came to training.

All of us continued to swing our wooden swords for about thirty minutes. My arms were starting to feel a bit sore, but Sadius raised his voice to announce that swinging practice was over.

“Stop swinging! Next up is a short break, then sparring! As for the pairs...”

Everyone in my party was still standing while the troops were sitting on the ground, and Sadius was paused in thought, glancing back and forth between us and the soldiers. There were a total of thirty-eight people here on the training grounds, Sadius included, so it was possible to make nineteen pairs. But surely he isn’t going to make everyone spar at the same time? I’m nervous at the thought of letting Mary and Metea spar when we can’t watch over them. If that’s the idea, I’d prefer to say no.

Touya spoke up about another fundamental problem with this plan. “By the way, Sadius, the only people in our party who use anything like these wooden swords are me and Mary.”

“Really?” Sadius blinked in surprise, then nodded to himself as if he’d suddenly recalled our time working together. “Oh, right. None of you struggled with swinging practice, so I completely forgot. You were using different weapons back in Kelg.”

Haruka casually shrugged, then put in, “Magic is our party’s main weapon. As adventurers, we of course also have physical weapons, but...”

“Hmm. So am I hearing proper sparring matches will be difficult?” Sadius asked.

“It’ll probably depend on who you put us with,” Yuki replied. “I think our sparring partners need to be people who can put up a good fight. It’s a bit difficult to be precise with weapons you aren’t familiar with, after all.”

“Mm. If, for instance, we have trouble staying our hands before landing blows, we may end up injuring our opponents,” said Natsuki. “That could be quite dangerous.”

“I see. In that case, I’ll spar with each of you, one at a time,” said Sadius. “You’re up first, Touya. You ready?”

“Yeah!”

So apparently Sadius and Touya were going to spar while everyone else stood around watching them. The soldiers who’d been sitting on the ground used their wooden swords like walking sticks as they rose and walked a little farther away to make space. Sadius and Touya moved to the center of the circle the soldiers had cleared, and both of them held their wooden swords at the ready. Touya seemed excited to spar with Sadius, probably because his opportunities to fight people outside of our party were so few and far between. The rest of us felt the same way. We all focused our attention on Touya and Sadius to see if we could learn anything from the match that was about to take place.

“Let’s do this!” Sadius said.

“Roger!”

The sound of wooden swords clashing together echoed through the air. The guys crossed swords at close distance a couple more times before swiftly stepping back in unison. Then they grinned at each other.

“Your style isn’t orthodox, but you’re damn strong,” said Sadius.

“Yeah? The way you’re talking me up makes me feel even more confident!”

Touya and Sadius leaped forward and crossed swords again and again, but I was certain that Touya wasn’t fighting at full strength. For one thing, he wasn’t enhancing his physical abilities with mana, and for another, the way he was fighting was a lot gentler than usual. In fact, the battle in front of me looked more like a kendo match. There wasn’t anything inherently unusual about that, but Touya was much more merciless when sparring against other members of our party. Man, I remember all the times he ended up breaking somebody’s bones. I’m the one who’s suffered the most from your brute strength, Touya! I’ve had to ask for healing from Haruka and Natsuki so many times because of you, dude!

Sadius forcefully pushed Touya away and took a step back, then clicked his tongue in irritation. He must have realized that Touya wasn’t being completely serious. “Damn it. You’re holding back, aren’t you?”

“Not exactly. This is a sparring match, after all,” said Touya. “No point if both people can’t learn from the experience, right?”

“Yeah, you’ve got it!” Sadius said with a laugh.

They both laughed as they continued exchanging blows. The girls all had slightly exasperated looks on their faces as they watched the two of them. In contrast, the soldiers were watching quite intently, and all of them looked extremely surprised by how the match had gone so far.

The clashing of wooden swords had gone on for about a minute when Sadius stumbled, fatigued by the rigors of combat. Touya took advantage of that opening and, with a swift downward strike, smacked his opponent’s sword out of his hands, then brought the tip upward to point at Sadius’s neck. Both of them froze in place.

“Ugh. I lost,” said Sadius. “You really got me.”

“Well, we were hired as bodyguards,” said Touya. He grinned. “Don’t you feel a little safer having strong adventurers like us around?”

Sadius nodded, but he kicked the ground in frustration. “Yeah, I do, but that doesn’t make me any happier about losing!”

“Only advice I can give you is to work harder,” said Touya. “But I appreciate the chance to fight an orthodox swordsman.”

“Hmph.” Sadius picked up his wooden sword and moved away before pointing at two of the soldiers. “Okay, you two are next! Give it your all!”

The two started to spar right in front of us. Sadius had said he would spar against every member of my party, but there was no way he’d have the energy to face us one after another, so after each match, we watched soldiers spar while he recovered.

Sadius was decently strong; it was no surprise that he’d achieved the rank of captain. Still, the only members of my party who ended up losing their sparring matches against him were Mary and Metea. Natsuki was able to defeat him easily even without using mana to enhance her physical abilities; the remaining three members of my party prevailed despite each of us, myself very much included, getting in some close shaves.

In the end, Sadius was totally shocked by the outcome. “Seriously? Swords aren’t even your primary weapons and I still lost to most of you? Ugh...”

Sadius probably wasn’t too surprised about losing to me, but it seemed like he was having a harder time believing that he’d lost to girls who didn’t use swords. “Everyone I sparred with after Touya except for Yuki and Mary—the ways you wielded your swords were odd somehow, but you’re all damn strong.”

Yuki used a kodachi as her regular weapon, but she technically had the Swordsmanship skill as well, and Mary had learned how to wield a sword from Touya, so that was probably why Sadius had felt their styles were more conventional. Haruka, Natsuki, Metea, and I had only our experience wielding kodachi to rely upon, though we’d still been able to give a good account of ourselves against Sadius. It was probably a bit dangerous to use a wooden sword in the same manner as a weapon like a kodachi with an actual cutting edge, but it hadn’t been an issue here. If anything, it was possible that it had worked to our advantage by confusing Sadius.

“And no question you’d be even stronger if you could use the weapons you know best and cast powerful spells.” Sadius covered his face with his hands, then gazed up into the sky and took a moment to process this shocking information. “Ugh. No wonder the lord hired you!”

Touya casually tossed Sadius a question that was awkward to answer. “By the way, Sadius, how strong would you consider yourself compared to others in this kingdom?”

Sadius laughed in a self-deprecating way. “Me? Are you really asking me that, Touya? Please...” He stopped laughing and kept a straight face as he stared back at Touya. “Well, there are no particularly strong monsters within the lord’s viscounty. It’s a very peaceful region. You know what I mean, surely?”

I guess he’s implying he’s not very strong. If he were, he could probably go somewhere that he could make more money. But from my experience living in this viscounty for a year, I bet if you can slay an orc with the help of a group of other soldiers, that’s good enough. Sure, it might not be the most lucrative job in the world, but serving in the local army sounds like a safe and stable job.

Sadius grimaced as if he had an idea of what we were thinking, but he exhaled to calm himself. “All right! Will you do me a favor and spar with the boys? I’m confident that you’ll have no trouble.” Sadius turned toward the soldiers and raised his voice. “Listen up, you lot! If any of you have complaints about not being assigned to protect Illias-sama, then defeat these adventurers in a sparring match! Additional soldiers may be needed!”

The soldiers’ eyes seemed to light up after they heard Sadius’s words. Does this mean the soldiers adore Illias-sama, or just that they really don’t like adventurers? Hmm...

“Are you serious, man?” Touya demanded. “What if we get injured and aren’t in top shape for the escort quest?”

“I don’t think there’s any risk of that happening,” Sadius replied. “And the boys won’t take their frustration out on the kids, so you don’t have to worry about that either.”

Indeed, the soldiers did seem to be looking at the sisters more kindly than at the rest of us. I had no idea if it was because the sisters were around the same age as Illias-sama, but regardless, Sadius was probably right.

“Just so you’re aware, I’m a fragile elf,” said Haruka.

“And I’m a man who lost to a fragile elf—one who doesn’t use a sword, at that,” said Sadius. “There’s not a chance any of you will get injured sparring.”

Having brushed off Haruka’s complaint, Sadius told us to prepare for more sparring. He had four of us at a time fighting soldiers one-on-one, so he must have been exactly as confident in our abilities as he’d claimed.