Published: September 4, 2025
Satou here. Isn't it surprising that the word "stalker" only became widely known relatively recently? Being devoted is fine, as long as it doesn't bother the other person...
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"Master, it seems the road forks ahead at the foot of the mountain. Which way should we go?"
Lulu called out from the coachman's seat, and I paused my experiment.
"Nice one, Lulu! Come on, we need to hurry!"
"The flirting's over."
Arisa pushed me toward the coachman's seat. I handed Tama, who had been sleeping on my lap, over to Mia. Pochi was napping on Nana's lap. I was really jealous—maybe if I offered them some meat from dinner, they'd swap places with me.
I think Mia's accusation was just a pretext. Nana and I were just facing each other doing the experiment; it wasn't like we were flirting.
We were simply sitting knee-to-knee, testing if the receiver could catch the "signal" spell without the sender casting it. Plus, I kept my gaze fixed on Nana's face to avoid looking at her chest, but still, no kindness.
"Seriously, you two were staring at each other and even holding hands!"
"Guilty."
I quickly obtained the "magic power sensing" skill, but Nana couldn't sense it, so I tapped the palm of her hand to signal when to send the magic.
It was purely an experiment.
There was nothing shady—though I admit I secretly thought it was a bit of a perk.
To change the subject, I showed my face on the coachman's seat and gave Lulu instructions.
From the current mountain path, I could see two roads branching into the forest. One went straight to Daregan City. Even from here, I could faintly see what looked like the outer walls beyond the forest.
"Don't go straight; take the left turn."
"Understood."
"Huh? Didn't you say Daregan City was straight ahead? Weren't we supposed to take a boat from there directly to the Duke's Capital?"
That was the plan, but going to the city ahead was risky.
"If we go straight, we'll run into a group of stalker wannabes."
"Ugh, no way, Ms. Boobs?"
"Hey, Arisa. She's technically a daughter of your master's family, so you should call her Miss Karina properly."
Lulu scolded her, but Lulu herself added a "technically," showing her true opinion of Miss Karina.
At Daregan City ahead, Miss Karina was accompanied by about three armed maids. Apparently, it was impossible to assign knights like Zotol or squire Hout. Karina probably has plenty of work, like dealing with bandits in her own territory. What a troublesome person.
"Karina~?"
"Now, it's time to battle!"
Pochi and Tama happily flew up to the coachman's seat. Come to think of it, those two liked competing against Miss Karina.
At first, they seemed to think I was a bad guy bullying them and fought Karina to protect me, but it seems the three of them got along well and fought often. Karina was reluctant to hit the two of them and mostly defended. About every other match ended with Karina winning due to their stamina running out. Otherwise, both sides would tire and the match would end.
They looked around anxiously, saying, "Karina, isn't here?" "She's not here."
While chatting, Liza returned from scouting the fork. She was the only one riding since there were no bandits in the moving area today.
"Master, there was a group of humans at the fork ahead. I heard the clashing of weapons, so they might be bandits."
"Bandit hunt?"
"Let's do our best!"
Pochi and Tama seemed to forget all about Miss Karina once they heard "bandits."
Though not visible from here, checking the map, what Liza found weren't bandits but a few martial artists and the rest probably nearby farmers.
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The crossroads formed a small open square. In the center, two martial artists—a man and a woman—were crossing swords. About twenty farmers watched from a distance.
It seemed to be a betting match, and the farmers were excited almost to the point of spitting foam from their mouths.
Several carts were parked around the square. Since they're empty, they were probably returning after delivery to Daregan City.
Pochi and the others wanted to join, but the martial artists here were between level 4 and 7, far too strong for them, so I forbade it.