A Sudden Large Group

The next morning.

I suddenly caught the smell of something burning.

"What is it?!"

I bolted upright in a panic.

What greeted my eyes was a mountain of corpses burning fiercely. This was way too heavy a sight for first thing in the morning... It woke me up instantly.

Apparently, leaving more than fifty corpses lying around wasn't an option, so the old man was burning them with magic.

"Good morning, old man. They're making you do some pretty awful work."

"Oh, you're awake. Well, every mage passes through this at some point."

He said that whenever mages were conscripted into the army, they were made to do this sort of thing on a daily basis. Leaving the corpses of the war dead to rot could cause epidemics, after all.

Getting caught up in the army really did seem to lead to nothing good.

The women were all staring intently at the black smoke rising high into the sky. They were wearing the white blouses and navy-blue maxi skirts I'd prepared.

It had been too dark to tell last night, but the bandits must have kept the women they personally liked. They were quite a collection of beauties.

However, the expressions on their faces as they watched the corpses burn to black looked sorrowful—

"Are you grieving for the men who tormented you so terribly?"

"No. They did awful things to us, but when we listened to what the men said, most of them had tragic backgrounds."

Ah, this was what they called Stockholm syndrome. When hostages or the like spent a long time together in a confined space, they could develop feelings for one another.

While I was talking with the women, the old man was staring at the aluminum plate I'd given him.

"What's wrong, old man?"

"I'm checking whether the metal has changed in any way."

"If it's really a catalyst, shouldn't it remain unchanged?"

"Indeed, but there could be some kind of change inside it that causes deterioration..."

Well, I had no idea how magic used aluminum as a catalyst in the first place.

Meanwhile, the beastfolk who had made this mountain of corpses had piled up a huge amount of the equipment they'd stripped from them. They said they'd kept working until the middle of the night because they could see in the dark.

"Are you planning to take all of this back?"

"But every bit of it is worth money, boss! It'd be a waste to leave it here."

"I suppose so, but the women are going to ride in the cargo bed on the way back, you know?"

"Oh, right! I forgot about that! But there are still loads of valuable things inside the buildings!"

The other adventurers seemed to agree that it would be a waste to leave anything behind.

"Then I suppose it can't be helped. I'll put it all in my Item Box."

"That's our boss! That's what I wanted to hear!"

After hearing that, the beastfolk and adventurers began carrying out even the furniture from inside the buildings.

Seriously? Well, I didn't think capacity would be a problem, but...

Had they forgotten that the guild would pay us a hefty reward once we returned to the city?

I thought small change could be left behind, but... well, everyone had helped me, so I might as well let them do as they pleased.

"All right, I'll leave the scavenging to the men and make breakfast."

But now that there were more people, would my pressure cooker be enough? Sixteen people had only filled about half the pot, and now there were nineteen women plus one more, so... would it be a little short?

No, since the newcomers were all women, they probably ate less than the men.

It should just barely be enough. If it wasn't, I'd give them instant soup.

When I took the pressure cooker out of my Item Box, the tall, enormous woman shouted.

"There's lots of vegetables in the fields! I'll go dig some up!"

"Oh, that would help a lot. Then I'll bring out the meat."

I'd used almost all the meat in my Item Box when we'd eaten with the adventurers in the wasteland, so I decided to buy some from Shangri-La.

Let's see... chopped pork. If I bought the 800-yen-per-kilogram kind, how much would I need? Three hundred grams per person for thirty-six people would be... about eleven kilograms! That came to 8,800 yen.

Was that a little too much? No, this was a victory feast, so I might as well buy plenty.

All right, I'd season it with consommé. I bought 500 grams of commercial consommé base for 500 yen, but it came in a pouch as a semi-solid paste, so I emptied it onto a plate.

The package said eighteen grams per liter, so twenty liters would require 360 grams—that was more than enough.

The women drew water from the well and filled the pressure cooker, so I began cooking.

While I started a fire and brought the water to a boil, the big woman washed the vegetables at the well and brought them over.

Then the women brought knives and other blades from all over and began peeling the vegetables.

Well, with this many women around, I could probably leave the cooking to them.

"Still, it feels like I'm forgetting something... Hmm."

After thinking for a while, I remembered.

"Ah! I left Amana in the wasteland! If I don't go pick her up, she'll return to the city and report that the subjugation failed!"

This was bad. I had to go get her.

Just then, Sir Knight came out of the building, so I told him about Amana.

"Oh, right. I completely forgot about that woman. More importantly, Kenichi, I found evidence that a noble was involved in all this."

What Sir Knight handed me was a letter sealed with red wax.

The seal used for sealing letters was essentially like a signet, so only the noble who owned it could have used it.

"Leaving evidence like this behind was incredibly careless. Or perhaps they were very confident it would never be discovered."

"No, Kenichi. If a noble was involved, information about the subjugation would have been leaked to them."

"I see. So they could simply flee when the day of the subjugation arrived."

"Exactly."

"—In that case, I'll leave it to you, Sir Knight. I'm going to go pick up Amana."

"Understood."

I hurried over to the women who were cooking and explained the situation.

"Sorry, but I'm going to pick someone up. Once the vegetables are cooked, season them with this. Don't put it all in at once; adjust it to taste. I'll be back soon!"

"Understood."

I jumped into the truck and started the engine. Ten kilometers was nothing; we'd be there in no time by truck.

I passed through the gate the old man had destroyed with magic, drove through the forest, and headed for the wasteland.

I was only driving at about forty kilometers per hour, but I reached the campsite in about fifteen minutes. Amana had been waiting there all alone, but when she spotted my truck, she began waving energetically.

"Hey! Amana!"

"Boss! You're alive!"

"Of course I'm alive. We have some injured people, but they're only lightly hurt, and everyone is safe. The Marlow Trading Company's daughter is safe too."

"That's wonderful."

Amana clung to me and began sobbing. I hadn't expected her to cry.

"I came along with you like this, but I really thought we were done for."

"Ha-ha, you're an honest one. All right, let's load your things and go see everyone. The women are making breakfast."

"Women? The women who were captured by the bandits?"

"That's right."

I put her in the passenger seat, retraced our route, and returned to the old castle ruins that had become a battlefield.

I drove the truck through the destroyed gate.

"Hey! We're back!"

"Well, look at that. Everyone's safe."

Seeing everyone alive and well, Amana began crying again. She sure was a sentimental one.

Well, people did get more prone to tears as they aged. Even I sometimes got misty-eyed over little things.

"The Marlow Trading Company's daughter is safe too!"

"Yes. Kenichi-san rescued me."

As Primula-san, Amana, and I rejoiced at our reunion, the women who were cooking cried out in astonishment.

"What? You're already back? You only just left!"

"I told you. That horseless vehicle of ours is as fast as us beastfolk."

"Wow..."

Nyakero, who was standing nearby, proudly explained this to the women, while Amana spotted Anemone out of the corner of her eye.

"Even a child this young..."

When Amana approached Anemone, she began gently stroking the child's head.

"Sniff... If my child were still alive, they'd be about this age..."

"What? You had a child?"

"Yes—but they died of an epidemic. It's been about ten years now, I suppose..."

Apparently, the child had been fathered by a man she'd met in passing and had died of an illness when they were still very young.

Medical care wasn't advanced in this world, after all. The survival rate for children probably wasn't very high.

I'd leave Anemone to Amana and finish making breakfast. I was hungry, after all.

"Are the vegetables cooked?"

"Not yet. We don't understand how to use this pot, either..."

Apparently, with so much food in it, it was taking a long time to cook.

"Old man, can you heat the pot a little with magic?"

"I suppose I can. I've been working since morning, so I'm hungry too."

The old man used some kind of magic, and within a few minutes, the pot began boiling vigorously.

"As expected of you, old man. All right, this looks good."

When I closed the pressure cooker's lid, steam began rising almost immediately. It would be ready to eat in about ten minutes.

"It'll be ready soon, so prepare the dishes. Do we have enough for everyone?"

"Really? We have the dishes the bandits were using."

There had been more than fifty bandits, so there should be enough for this many people.

The deep plates and spoons the women prepared were mostly wooden, but they were perfectly usable.

"Oh—should I prepare my own dishes for Sir Knight?"

"There's no need to worry about that."

Sir Knight was standing behind me before I knew it. Apparently, he had been walking around and looking over the area.

"There are many times when you can't even eat properly on a battlefield. Being able to enjoy a delicious meal in a place like this is something to be grateful for."

"Have you actually fought in wars, Sir Knight?"

"Yes, several times. But I never earned any notable distinction, so I'm still just a knight with no official post."

"With this subjugation, you'll at least be given a post. It makes no sense for someone as capable as you to remain without one."

The adventurers who had accompanied us this time nodded in agreement.

"The world doesn't always work out the way it should."

"I suppose the important positions are all occupied by the sons of useless great nobles, while capable people get the short end of the stick."

"Well, something like that. When those men go to war, they just sit in the rear and eat their meals. Ho ho ho."

It wasn't really something to laugh about.

The soup seemed to be done, so when I released the pressure, steam burst out with tremendous force like a white fountain.

"How does it work?"

"The lid seals the pot and traps the steam inside, compressing the contents. That makes the food cook faster."

"Oh, magic also raises the temperature when something is compressed. I see. It makes perfect sense."

"Um, Kenichi-san... Would you be willing to supply that pot to the trading company...?"

"That might be a little difficult. But now that I understand the principle, I think I could make something similar."

"Exactly. In other words, all you need is a lid that closes tightly, right?"

"More or less."

As we talked, I added the consommé base. The package said eighteen grams per liter of water, so twenty liters meant 360 grams.

There was 500 grams in the package, so I needed about three-quarters of it.

I used a spatula to add three-quarters of the consommé base on the plate to the pot, then added half a bottle each of dashi powder and pepper. I had no idea how much was right, but with nearly forty people, this should do.

I tasted it.

"Mmm, delicious."

I had Nyakero and the other adventurers taste it as well.

"It's good, but it could use a little more salt."

They had just finished doing physical labor, so perhaps they were craving salt. I dumped the remaining consommé base into the pot.

Then I bought twenty bags of a 1,200-yen product called 【Value Bread Set, One Bag】 from Shangri-La and lined them up on the ground in their plastic bags.

There was no time to transfer everything to plates. As long as they could eat it, that was good enough.

Once everything was ready, everyone began digging into the food at once.

"Whoa! Today's soup is great too! Boss, your cooking is delicious!"

"The women helped today."

"We only peeled the vegetables."

"Wow, this bread is soft and delicious! It's sweet too!"

"You don't even need soup with this."

The bread in this world was hard, dry, and stiff. It was common to dip it in soup before eating it.

Today's meal seemed to be a hit with everyone as well.

However, the enormous woman among them—apparently her name was Alissa—ate as much as a beastman with a huge appetite. She was a heavyweight eater too.

But she was incredibly strong. She easily lifted large pieces of furniture and heavy loads alongside the men.

"Here, eat plenty. There's bread too."

"...Okay."

Amana was fussing over Anemone, serving her soup and giving her bread.

She was probably seeing her dead child in Anemone. Anemone didn't seem to dislike it, so I decided to let her continue.

Now that we'd eaten our fill, the men went back into the buildings and started rummaging through them again. How long were they planning to keep this up?

They even seemed intent on digging up the fields and taking everything with them.

"But we put so much care into growing everything! It'd be a waste to leave it behind, wouldn't it?"

That was what Alissa said, but I couldn't imagine the bandits had lovingly tended their fields...

Still, I understood that she was a serious, hardworking person.

However, there was a mountain of loot piled up in front of me, and I had a problem.

When I tried putting it into my Item Box, I could only put in one item at a time. I needed to put it in a box or something first, but...

I searched Shangri-La for containers, but it only had small ones intended for household use. When I sorted them by price from highest to lowest, I found a large one about two meters wide.

But it was expensive—more than 200,000 yen. I couldn't buy something like that!

I searched for something else that might work and found it: a wooden pallet measuring 120 by 80 centimeters. A pallet was what you loaded cargo onto and lifted with a forklift.

It was used, but they sold them for 3,000 yen apiece. If I loaded the goods onto one and put the pallet into my Item Box, perhaps everything on top of it would be stored along with it.

I bought one wooden pallet as a test and decided to give it a try.

"Hey! Anyone who's free, come give me a hand."

The women who had finished helping with the meal cleanup came over and helped transfer the goods onto the pallet.

"Boss, what are you going to do with this?"

"Just watch."

When I stored the pallet in my Item Box, the goods on top were sucked in along with it, just as I'd hoped.

"Yes! It worked! In that case, I'll buy more pallets."

I bought nine more pallets, loaded them one after another, and stored them in my Item Box.

"So this is an Item Box! It's amazing!"

The women all cried out in amazement.

"Young man, aside from that metal I've never seen before, it'd be serious trouble if the nobles learned you had such a huge Item Box."

"It'll be fine as long as you keep quiet, old man."

"Of course I'll keep quiet. But no one can stop people's tongues, you know?"

In my original world, we had a saying: You can't put a door on people's mouths.

But now that things had come this far, there was nothing I could do. I'd just have to earn as much as possible, then make a run for it if things got dangerous.

Before noon, we finished packing all the goods into my Item Box, so we set out to drive the women who wanted to return home to their villages.

The male adventurers also agreed that we should take a detour to return the women to their villages.

Nine women wanted to return home. Apparently, the farthest village was about thirty leagues (fifty kilometers) from here.

"Come to think of it, what about Anemone's village? Where is it?"

"Urup..."

"That's pretty far."

One of the adventurers who knew the village muttered. Apparently, it was seventy-five leagues (120 kilometers) away.

"Do you want to go home? This vehicle can take you there."

But she merely shook her head in silence.

"Boss! This child was probably sold to reduce the number of mouths her family had to feed!"

The fact that Anemone didn't deny it meant Amana was probably right.

Poor farmers couldn't support large families, and girls weren't considered enough of a source of labor, so apparently this sort of thing happened often.

Her own parents had sold her to a slave trader, and Shaga had attacked that merchant. That was how she had ended up in the lair of these villains.

"Poor thing..."

Amana picked Anemone up and started crying again, but—

"Amana, we don't have time to cry. We need to deliver the women to their hometowns."

"I know."

"Then, Anemone, do you want to go to the city of Dalia with everyone else?"

She nodded silently.

It wasn't a particularly long journey, but even visiting the villages over two or three days with this many people meant we'd need water.

With Alissa's help, I prepared ten twenty-liter plastic tanks, filled them from the well, and put them in my Item Box.

We also needed fuel for the truck. I made another twenty liters of modified kerosene and poured it into the fuel tank.

Well, kindness comes back around—let's take a little detour.