Published: August 2, 2025
Today, five chapters are released simultaneously.
This is the fifth chapter.
The next day.
Today is finally the day to attempt the contract with the limule bird. For that purpose, the four of us from the Duke's household, along with Mr. Sebas, Mr. Jill, Mr. Zeff, Mr. Kamil, Mr. Fuse, and myself—a total of ten people—are walking along the path toward the abandoned mine.
The young lady and the others are wearing armor and carrying weapons, just like during the training in the mine tunnels, but I’m in coveralls. My outfit stands out quite a bit, making me look out of place…
However, even though the young lady and the others are not using the carriage to rest, perhaps she has more stamina than expected. Although we take breaks, she hasn't once complained or shown weakness so far.
“Phew… Mr. Ryoma, are you alright?”
“I’m fine.”
“Mr. Ryoma sure has quite some stamina…”
The young lady is beginning to feel a bit down. I really don’t mind if she gets tired, you know?
It’s an uphill mountain path and unpaved, so it’s natural that it’s tough to walk. I think it’s better that she hasn’t voiced any fatigue.
Perhaps thinking the same, Mr. Kamil encourages Elia.
“It’s okay, young lady. Compared to other children your age, you’re walking just fine.”
“That’s right, young lady. Don’t compare yourself to Ryoma. He’s a bit of an extraordinary case. Normally, he’d be exhausted by now. Hey, Ryoma, you should at least sweat a little.”
“Even if you say sweat, it’s a natural bodily function…”
“Young master, normally you’d sweat without being told.”
“We’re matching the young lady’s pace, so it’s not too fast. Plus, those of us who are trained know this… Ryoma, what kind of training have you undergone?”
“Well… to put it simply… I trained to my limits, constantly hit with attacks that could cause serious injuries if I fell or took breaks, and I had to choose either to suffer or to keep training. Doing this every day led me to this.”
“Is your mentor some kind of demon!?”
“I can’t deny that.”
When I was a child, I was just scared of my father… so much that when he was right in front of me, his presence made it hard to breathe.
As I was thinking about that, it seemed it was time to depart.
“We should start walking before Elia’s sweat completely dries.”
“It’s just a bit more, so hang in there.”
We start walking again. About 30 minutes after the break, we leave the path and enter the forest, walking another 30 minutes. A foul smell reaches my nose. This must be the smell of the swamp…
As we advance, a reddish-brown swamp comes into view.
It seems to be located right on the border between the forest and the mine. Although it’s in the forest, there are fewer trees, and there’s mud that looks like soil from the collapsed mine washed in by rain or something. The closer we get, the worse the smell; the young lady covers her mouth, enduring it.
“This is the swamp we talked about. The smell comes from the rotting fallen leaves and carcasses of creatures living in the swamp.”
“It’s a terrible stench…”
“Indeed it is, but if you’re going to travel outside the duchy, you need to get used to environments like this.”
Speaking of which, Lord Reinbach improved the environment in the Duchy of Jamil, so it’s better than other regions… which means other duchies… I hope they’re not this bad.
“Hmm, it seems there are no grell frogs or limule birds around here yet. There’s more than one swamp, so let’s look around.”
With Lord Reinbach’s words, we move on. About ten minutes later, we find a swamp roughly three times bigger than the previous one, where about thirty adventurers and beast tamers gather, along with over 200 blue birds.
“That’s the limule bird!”
“That is…”
“Beautiful…”
They look like large parrots, but what draws attention is their long tail similar to a long-tailed bird. Their bodies are blue, with green heads and tails — beautiful feathers that explain their popularity. They contrast strangely well with the reddish-brown swamp.