Travel and the Bard

We set out from the castle and headed back to the lakeshore, which could be called our home in this world.

Since the bridge along the way was still down, we brought out the rubber boat and crossed the river together.

Before crossing the river, we greeted the nobles who ruled this area and presented them with gifts.

They had been carrying out construction on the bridge across the river, but I had no intention of becoming friends with them.

I had no ambitions. I simply wanted to do as I pleased on the land I had finally obtained.

Once we had crossed the river, we all climbed back into the vehicles.

The workers around us watched us climb into the iron boxes and stared in astonishment, wondering what on earth we were doing.

They were amazed once again when the vehicles started moving without horses amid the curious stares.

It was the usual scene.

We set out for Astrantia.

Akira, following behind us, contacted me over the radio.

'Hey, Kenichi. How far are we going today?'

"There's a huge city called Iberis up ahead, but I've already greeted its duke, so we'll continue beyond it."

'The duke was at the place we just visited?'

"Yeah. He invited me to join his faction against the royal family."

'Hah—well, that's a pretty common story.'

"Today, we'll go as far as just before the city of Akimenes, beyond Iberis."

'Okay!'

The road was flat, and the sky was perfectly clear. There was no sign of the heavy rain we'd had before.

The maids, who had initially been frightened and tense, were now enjoying lively, giggling conversations.

Anemone was still reading an e-book, while Primula was deep in conversation with the maids.

The beastfolk were dozing in the rearmost seats. Bell sat beside me in her tucked-paw pose, staring intently straight ahead.

Perhaps she found it strange that the scenery was moving even though she was doing nothing.

The vehicle continued along smoothly, and we reached the city of Iberis around snack time.

We planned to pass through the city and keep driving until evening, but there were many people and carriages traveling through Iberis. It was a bustling metropolis, as one would expect.

I warned Akira behind us to be careful.

"Akira, there are a lot of people around, so be careful."

'Got it! This is a pretty big city.'

"Apparently it's the second-largest city after the royal capital."

'Wow.'

To pass through Iberis, we had to go through the city itself.

There were no bypasses, but we could probably get around the city by following the walls.

That would save time, but it would only work if the route had been planned and developed from the start.

Trying to take a shortcut that way would only end up making the journey longer.

"Even so, the roads are so crowded that we're barely moving..."

"We are not in a hurry, so let us take it easy."

"Nyaa."

Lilith and Bell were right, but then the flow of people came to a complete stop.

"Hold on a second."

'Hey, Kenichi. What happened?'

"I don't know. We've come to a complete standstill in a traffic jam. I'm going to get out and take a look."

'Okay!'

I got out of the microbus and was about to head farther ahead when I had a good idea—I climbed onto the roof of the bus.

I took out a pair of binoculars from my Item Box and looked ahead.

A carriage had been in an accident and was blocking the road. With this many people around, it seemed like they could move it by hand...

Well, I could guess what was going on. People in this world did not move for free.

Even if people saw a merchant who was making a profit in trouble, they would not lend a hand.

If the merchant borrowed labor to move the carriage, he would have to pay for it.

He was probably reluctant to do so.

That was simply the custom here, so whenever I helped people for free, they called me a soft touch.

In this world, such charity was the domain of royalty and nobility.

Now, what should I do?

The alleys were too narrow, and the vehicle might get stuck at a corner.

The main street was straight, but the alleys were a tangled mess.

"Can't be helped... I guess we'll get out and walk—there!"

If the beautiful women inside the vehicle all got out, I felt like they would become the center of attention—but there was no helping it.

I climbed down from the roof and told everyone what was happening.

"Hey! The road is completely blocked. Let's get out and walk."

"I see—then we walk ahead and summon another beast once we get past it?"

Lilith poked her head out of the driver's-side window.

"Exactly. If we wait here, it will get dark, and we have nowhere to stay."

There probably wasn't an inn large enough to accommodate all these people. Searching for one would be difficult too.

Everyone seemed convinced, so I told Akira, who was waiting in the vehicle behind us.

"Akira, a carriage overturned and is blocking the road. We're going to get out and walk."

'Can't be helped... There isn't a J○F here, after all.'

Once I confirmed that everyone had gotten out of the vehicles, I stored them in my Item Box.

What would happen if there were stowaways hiding inside? They probably wouldn't be stored and would simply be left behind, but...

When the huge iron box vanished from the middle of the street, cries of astonishment arose.

We checked that we had everyone and started walking in a single line. I still hadn't memorized the maids' faces, so I wouldn't know if one of them got lost.

We had no choice but to have Mairen check for us.

We threaded our way through the people—but even though there was a traffic jam, it wasn't a tightly packed pushing match, so there was enough room to walk normally.

I had intended to avoid attracting attention, but people's gazes began converging on the procession of beautiful women walking through the city.

Of course they did. My family, Akira's family, and the maids were all made up of beautiful women.

There was also a beastfolk woman wearing a coat of gleaming fur, along with a graceful Forest Cat whose black coat reflected the sunlight.

Before long, a large crowd had gathered, wondering what was happening. The beastfolk townspeople who saw the Forest Cat even began praying on the spot.

But the person holding the men's gazes captive was Reiran-san, with her enormous breasts.

She herself looked thoroughly fed up, though.

There were only three men in the procession, but Julius, the handsome herald, was attracting the gazes of the women in the city.

Heh—Akira and I were just old men, after all.

"This is why I didn't want to get out."

"Hahaha, you are the center of attention."

"Lilith, this isn't funny. If we're attacked here, I won't be able to protect everyone."

Mairen immediately replied to my words.

"In that case, we maids shall serve as shields. Please take advantage of the opening."

Well, I suppose that was their job, but still—could I really do that?

Putting the possibility of a terrorist attack aside, I had been worried that the women might be approached by men, but nobody came near us.

Amaranthus, walking behind me, was intimidating everyone around us.

Her special ability was strong enough to immobilize even burly knights. It seemed to be more than effective enough to suppress the city's residents too.

As we continued walking, the crowd split in two, revealing an overturned carriage with a broken axle at the center.

"Ah, so this is it."

A man in gaudy clothes who looked like a merchant was carrying the cargo elsewhere with his attendants.

"It sure overturned spectacularly."

Akira peered at it from within the crowd.

"In Japan, it would cause a huge commotion if it wasn't moved immediately, but people here are pretty relaxed."

"It can easily take ten days or even a month for cargo to arrive. Nobody complains if it's delayed by a few days."

"I suppose the point is that Japan is abnormal for managing schedules down to the minute."

I could have stored the broken carriage in my Item Box and moved it easily, but with the crowd this badly jammed, removing the cause probably would not clear the people away so easily.

We walked through the crowd without stopping, merely glancing at the accident site as we passed.

In the end, it took us about an hour to get through.

"Phew... What a waste of time."

"Thinking that way is proof you haven't stopped being Japanese."

Akira was right. I needed to adopt a slower way of thinking suited to this other world.

I used Amaranthus's intimidation to clear people away, then summoned the microbus.

"Pr○do, summon!"

A rugged SUV dropped from the air.

"Couldn't your Item Box fit a Pr○do?"

"I wonder... Can I try?"

"Sure. I want to find out too."

"All right! Store!"

The SUV vanished before our eyes.

"Oh! It works!"

"But my Item Box is small, so if it already has too much luggage in it, it might not fit."

"I see."

Akira brought out his vehicle and climbed in with his family. Seeing that, we climbed into ours as well.

A woman suddenly rushed toward the microbus door and poked her face inside.

"Excuse me! Excuse me! What is this?!"

The woman had long black hair woven into braids, dark skin, a short bright-red jacket, and trousers.

Her navel was visible. She carried an instrument resembling a biwa on her back—or no, it was a lute.

"It's an iron summoned beast that moves without a horse."

"An iron summoned beast?!"

The woman with round black eyes looked around the vehicle and said something completely incomprehensible.

The microbus was still stopped when Akira contacted me.

'Hey, Kenichi, what's going on?'

I hurriedly picked up the microphone.

"I'm being bothered by some incomprehensible woman."

"I'm not an incomprehensible woman! I'm a bard!"

"Hello, Akira? Apparently she's a bard."

'Watch out for those people. They make money by spreading true and false stories in entertaining ways.'

Was she something like the weekly magazines from my old world?

"W-who are you?! How rude!"

The bard waved her arms frantically, outraged by Akira's words.

"We're about to set out on a journey. Could you get out?"

"Huh? Can I come along too?"

"What? We're going near Astrantia, you know?"

"I'm leaving this city too, so that's perfect!"

The brazen woman climbed aboard without waiting for permission and sat in an empty seat.

It would be a hassle to waste time arguing with her here.

"Wow, these seats are so soft!"

She certainly seemed to like how comfortable the seats were.

There was no helping it, so I took the radio microphone and contacted Akira.

"Akira, we're setting out."

'All right! Sounds good!'

When the vehicle started moving, the bard began making a commotion.

"Whoa, whoa! It's moving! It's moving! Is this magic?!"

The woman began asking the maids and Primula all sorts of questions.

She didn't seem harmful, so I spoke with Akira for the time being.

'Kenichi, what happened to the bard?'

"She's riding with us."

'Seriously?! Is that safe?'

"Well... she doesn't seem harmful, at least."

We continued driving, leaving the lower city of Iberis behind and heading along the straight highway.

"Still, whenever Reiran-san goes outside, the men's gazes are incredible."

'Hahaha, she's always like that. That's why she usually wears a robe.'

"Yeah, no man could help looking."

As Lilith sat in the passenger seat and listened to our conversation, she stared intently at me.

"Don't stare at me so much. You're making me embarrassed."

"Hmph—so men get all slack-jawed over women like that, do they?"

"I think all the women in our group are attractive enough to make men turn their heads."

"Hmm—so it really is a matter of the breasts?"

Lilith was squeezing her own breasts, but I'd heard that her biological mother had been very well-endowed, so there was a chance they might grow...

"I do think those are almost unfairly impressive, but it seems rather difficult for her too."

"I do not desire them to be quite that large myself."

The bard had been talking about something in the back, but she suddenly began to sing.

Perhaps someone had requested a song. The maids were delighted, but Anemone, whose reading had been interrupted, looked annoyed.

The song was about a hero who distributed weapons and taught troubled farmers how to fight in order to save them, then annihilated the goblins.

In the end, the farmers received splendid iron hoes and plows, returned to their village, and lived happily ever after.

"That's me!"

I shouted while gripping the microbus's steering wheel.

"What, Kenichi? Did you exterminate goblins too?"

"Yeah, in the city of Iberis."

The story's protagonist seemed to be me, but the iron summoned beast did not appear in the tale. Well, I had only used it when burying the corpses.

"Huh?"

The bard looked blankly confused, unable to understand what I meant.

"Um... The hero who defeated those goblins is Kenichi over there."

"I defeated them too!"

Primula and Anemone explained, and the beastfolk came over from the back as well.

"We did it too, you know!" "We did too, nya!"

"What?! Then this magically powered vehicle—is it a summoned beast? Is this the vehicle belonging to the hero's party...?"

"That's right, nya."

"That man also defeated a lesser dragon and a wyvern, rescued a princess, and became a noble."

"Huh?"

The bard froze, remaining motionless for a while before standing up from her seat and shouting.

"What?! You were a noble?! I have been terribly, terribly rude!"

The bard performed a flying dogeza on the floor of the bus. I suppose just being a noble really did earn one a great deal of respect.

"And the person sitting next to Kenichi is a princess from the castle, nya. He stole her from the castle and ran away with her, nya."

"Hey, hey, don't say things like that. You'll spread strange rumors in an entertaining way."

I gave Myaaree a retort, but rumors grew tails and spread in amusingly exaggerated forms no matter what.

"What?! A princess?!"

There was also a queen, but it was probably better to keep that hidden. Amaranthus remained silent too.

"My accomplishments were recognized, and I was permitted to take the princess as my principal wife."

"That is what happened in the end."

"Forgive me! I was unaware, but I have been terribly rude!"

The woman remained sprawled across the floor.

"So, for the ending of that song, have it say that the hero's accomplishments were recognized, he became a noble, and he lived happily ever after with the princess."

"Yes, sir! But this isn't a fairy tale—it's a true story, isn't it?"

"Of course."

"It's even more amazing than a fairy tale..."

Yeah. The person involved was the most surprised of all. I had only wanted to live a slow life by the lakeshore... How had things turned out like this?

"As expected of my husband."

"He's my Kenichi!"

"He is my margrave-sama."

"He is my Holy Knight-sama."

"Nyaa."

"As expected of you, Master!"

The maids had shouted in unison, but had they actually been practicing such an embarrassing cheer?

It was painful enough to trigger Natural Recovery Heal on its own.

"Yes, sir!"

The bard performed another dogeza. Did being a noble mean I had to get used to embarrassing things like this?

"It's fine. Just sit normally. You can get off in Akimenes, or you can come all the way to Astrantia."

"In that case, please allow me to accompany you to Astrantia!"

"What's your name, bard?"

"I'm Popo!"

It was an unusual name, but people said my name was strange in this world too.

"Popo, huh? I'm Kenichi Hamada, Margrave of the Frontier. It's nice to meet you."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Lord Hamada."

"You don't have to be so formal. Just play some quiet music for us."

"Understood!"

Popo immediately switched gears and began playing a quiet ballad on her lute.

This should not disturb Anemone's reading either.

We had lost so much time in Iberis that we could not make it beyond Akimenes.

Since preparing for the night would take some time, we began looking for a place to stop early.

There was a suitable open space beside the highway, so we decided to stop the microbus there.

It was around four in the afternoon. I contacted Akira behind us.

"Akira—we'll stay around here tonight."

'Sounds good! There are a lot of people with us, after all.'

We all got out after stopping the vehicles, and saw that the area was a field beginning to turn into woodland.

There were few trees, so perhaps there had once been fields and a village here. Bell got out with us and immediately began patrolling the area.

"Now, what should we do? I suppose we should prepare dinner first."

We divided up into the Primula group, the Akira group, and the maid group.

Next, we bought a large quantity of stoves, pots, dishes, and so on. Cheap ones would be good enough.

We had plenty of dragon and wyvern meat, so I had them use that and gave them vegetables bought from Shangri-La.

Primula and Akira were used to them, but the maids were bewildered by the unfamiliar ingredients.

Among them, Mairen and one other maid looked completely unperturbed.

She was the maid who had traveled with us, and perhaps the experience she had gained through survival had served her well.

"If this is enough to scare you, the name 'suicide squad' will be in vain."

I gave the maids a pep talk and had them prepare dinner. With Mairen familiar with the ingredients I used, things should be fine.

Julius the herald was traveling with us too, but I wondered whether he could handle strange dishes.

"When I served the members of the royal family, they made me eat all sorts of things for amusement, so I am accustomed to it."

"That sounds like a difficult job."

"It is an unavoidable price for the honor of serving the royal family."

I couldn't tell whether he had simply resigned himself to it or was throwing up his hands in despair.

"Here, if there's anything you dislike, you can refuse it."

"Thank you for your consideration, Kenichi-sama."

He was an official, but he was remarkably sensible. Perhaps the royal family was so outrageous that it had made the officials cynical.

The bard who had joined us today could eat at our table. She was our guest, after all.

"Um, these are all ingredients I have never seen before. Is someone like me really allowed to eat them?"

"Of course, but you don't have to force yourself to eat anything that looks inedible."

"Perish the thought. It looks like it will make a fascinating story, so I would love to try it."

Ah, she wanted to gather material for her songs. She really was a professional.

"Are you and the others all right, Akira?"

"Leave it to me. Instant food would be fine for me too, though."

"I'll charge you for the instant food."

"Sure, go ahead."

"Tell me if you have any requests."

Akira said that, but it looked like he intended to make his specialty: okonomiyaki.

"Kenichi, I have something like this too."

What he took from his Item Box was a round iron plate with raised bumps.

"What's that, a takoyaki pan?"

"That's right. I had it custom-made. Kenichi, can't you make octopus with magic?"

"Wait a minute—"

At Akira's urging, I searched Shangri-La. Come to think of it, I had never searched for octopus before.

Even in my old world, foreigners disliked octopus, so I had never used it in cooking here either.

When I searched, I found chopped octopus for about 2,600 yen per kilogram.

"Akira, is chopped octopus fine?"

"Yeah, of course. I'm using it for takoyaki."

"Click."

Chopped octopus in a plastic bag dropped down.

Looking at the octopus, I bought some cake flour too. We would probably need it.

"Oh! Yes! It really is octopus! You can get anything!"

"And wouldn't cake flour be better for takoyaki?"

"Oh! This is it!"

In this world, what people called wheat flour was whole-wheat flour.

Akira was delighted, but when Clementina-san saw the octopus he was holding, she screamed.

"Akira! What is that?! Is it some kind of tentacle?!"

"Oh, now that you mention it, it does look similar. They're basically the same sort of thing."

"Our beastfolk said that tentacles hurt when they sting you, though..."

"Yeah, it hurts like crazy, and the swelling is awful. If one stings your hand or face, you'll puff up like a glove. Hahaha."

"I absolutely refuse to eat something like that!"

"Then you can have a salad made from the grass around here."

"Kill me!"

They really did get along well.

"I trust Akira's cooking completely, and I know it will be delicious, so I'm fine."

Reiran-san said that she enjoyed the otherworldly food Akira prepared.

She appeared to have complete faith in him. Even from the outside, the two of them were obviously madly in love—a phrase that had gone out of fashion.

The maids had initially stared at each other, but they began preparing soup normally. They immediately started peeling unfamiliar vegetables.

If they were bewildered by something this minor, they would never survive in the wilderness.

We could have stayed in Astrantia until the lakeside manor was finished, though.

We could even have imposed on Viscount Eupatorium's residence, but if I was going to be selfish, I wanted to avoid becoming indebted to a noble.

My family began preparing soup and baking bread with their usual practiced efficiency.

For the maids' bread, the ready-made bread from Shangri-La would be fine.

I left the cooking to them and mowed the grass around our campsite.

I took a grass cutter from my Item Box and set it roaring.

"Lord Hamada! Is that a magic tool?"

"That's right! Don't come too close—it's dangerous! And you can just call me Kenichi."

Popo covered her ears as she spoke to me, but if she covered her ears, how could we have a conversation?

"Understood, Lord Kenichi!"

Apparently, she could hear me just fine.

Once I had finished mowing, I brought out a house and a large tent from my Item Box.

I planned to have Akira and the others sleep in the large tent, but there was nowhere for the maids to sleep.

I bought another identical large tent from Shangri-La.

"Hey, Myaaree, Nyamena. Help me put up the tent."

"Sure!" "Nyaa!"

"In that case, allow me to help as well."

I had Julius help set up the large tent. His movements were awkward, but he was doing his best, so I called out to him.

"Sorry to keep troubling you."

"You promised not to say that."

As a herald, he had apparently never done this kind of work before.

"Boss, is this the maids' tent?"

"That's right. There are more than ten of them, after all."

It was quite spacious inside, so I thought around ten people could sleep there.

I had the maids who were free from cooking help too, and the large tent went up in no time.

We set up a slightly smaller tent beside it. That one was for Julius.

"Master, this is such a splendid tent. And it is incredibly easy to assemble."

"You can sleep here. If you don't have nightclothes or blankets, we'll provide them."

According to the maids, their belongings stored in my Item Box included those things.

I brought out a pallet loaded with their luggage from my Item Box and had them prepare their bedding.

"That should do it. Let's eat soon."

"I can't believe something this enormous was stored in Lord Kenichi's Item Box..."

Julius gazed up at the assembled large tent.

Apparently, the tents nobles used could not be set up so easily.

"Julius—sorry, but use this smaller tent."

"Certainly. Compared with sleeping in the open, I am grateful simply not to be soaked by the night dew."

He was right. Getting soaked by the night dew would leave us thoroughly drenched.

We all ate together in the space prepared beside the highway.

A long row of beautiful women and girls sat around the table—it had somehow become an incredibly large household...