Published: September 10, 2025
“Master, don’t you have a carriage or a riding animal?”
Arisa, having recovered from her orz pose, asked.
“No, I don’t.”
Even in Desolate Town, carriages and riding animals were sold out at inflated prices.
“There are plenty of carts lying around, but there are no horses or donkeys left,” she said.
“No, those aren’t just lying around,” I replied.
They were probably left behind in haste during the escape, but whoever left them would surely come back to retrieve them soon.
“Master, we’ve finished gathering,” Liza and the others reported.
“Got it. I’ll collect them.”
I stored the carcasses of the grass demon wolves in the Item Box.
Hating to touch the corpses, I tried to store them by waving my hand from a distance—and it worked.
“Wait a minute!”
Arisa screamed.
“What’s wrong?”
“Not ‘what’s wrong’!”
She was in a high-pitched mood.
“That’s not the Item Box you used just now, right? What did you do? Spatial magic?”
“No, it’s an ability like an Item Box.”
I told Arisa to keep it a secret.
“The carcasses have few wounds, so if we carefully skin them, they should fetch a decent price.”
There were forty-five wolf carcasses. Most had hardly any damage.
Arisa’s mental magic attacks didn’t damage anything but their brains.
“Is there a lot of meat too?”
“Yes! My mouth is watering!”
Tama and Pochi were filled with appetite.
“Can you even eat monster meat?”
“It’s okay~”
“Yes, yes!”
“Though I haven’t eaten it myself, I’ve heard that grass demon wolves are delicious when stewed with herbs.”
Tama and Pochi’s remarks seemed baseless, but Liza said she heard that from fellow slaves.
As we talked, the eastern sky began to brighten, so we started preparing breakfast.
Although it was really just Liza and Lulu doing the cooking.
“Ugh, if only I had cooking skills, I’d...”
Arisa, declared useless as a fighter, bit her handkerchief in frustration.
She still carried that old-fashioned charm in her gestures.
“Dried meat, vegetable soup, and freshly baked bread…”
Arisa, receiving her breakfast, seemed to be thinking deeply.
“Was it a bit plain? I’ll add grilled lamb for dinner, so bear with it.”
“That’s not it! Slaves should be grateful just to get any meal at all. No complaints about decent food here.”
Liza’s stern expression softened at Arisa’s words.
Lulu, who had been anxiously watching, relaxed.
“No, it’s not that! Even inside the Item Box, time passes! Though less than outside, after half a day or more, you can’t keep it freshly baked!”
“Is that so?”
“Yes! Be careful when using it in front of others!”
I see, the Storage ability is quite convenient.
“Arisa, Master’s meal is getting cold.”
“Oh, sorry, Liza. Let’s eat then.”
Everyone looked at me, so I called out, “Let’s eat.”
“Thank you for the meal.”
Arisa put her hands together and said so before starting to eat.
Since starting work at a company, I’d often eaten alone, so hearing “itadakimasu” again felt nostalgic.
Pochi, curious, asked the meaning of “itadakimasu,” and Arisa explained.
Tama and Liza focused on eating, while Lulu—
“Hmm~”
She smiled brightly as she enjoyed the soup and bread.
A beautiful girl making this face is heartwarming.
She didn’t seem like a glutton character, so imagining what her meals were like back at Nidoren’s place wasn’t hard.
After finishing, while washing dishes with Pochi, Tama, and Arisa, Nidoren and others returned with soldiers.
“Mr. Satou! Are you safe?”
Nidoren called to me and apologized for leaving us behind.
“Master, the carriage and the left-behind luggage are all here!”
Nidoren’s attendant checked the carriage.
“Hey, can we ride in Nidoren’s carriage to the next town? Can it hold this many?”
“You’re quite sensible. As an apology for abandoning you, I’ll let you ride. Manage your own meals. If you don’t have any, I might sell you some.”
Arisa negotiated, and we got transportation to the next town.
It should be in the neighboring Count Kages Domain, so we can learn firsthand about border crossing procedures.