Published: January 17, 2026
After finishing preparations for departure in Tribute Town, we decided to head straight for the capital city. Traveling along the coastline by carriage would probably take about three weeks.
“Lord Van, please don’t overexert yourself…”
“I’m fine. Talga, you take care too.”
“Yes! Thank you very much!”
From Tribute Town to the capital city, it was Panamera and the Panamera knight order, along with me, Dee, and just ten members of the Seato knight order. Oh, and of course, Arte, Til, and Kamushin were coming with me to the capital city.
Talga, Espada, and the remaining members of the Seato village knight order were asked to return to Seato village to cover for the lord’s long absence.
By the way, Ort and the others still hadn’t returned from the demonic beast hunt.
“Well then, it’s about time to depart. Marquis Rosso, thank you very much for everything.”
After exchanging greetings, Rosso nodded with a look of regret.
“If possible, I would have liked to accompany you to the capital… but I’ll prepare to depart in about a week.”
Rosso smiled wryly. Since he stayed in Tribute until seeing Tran and the others off, he needed to return to his own fortress city where his castle was located. He probably had a lot of work piled up. As a result, even at the earliest, he would be delayed by one or two weeks before heading to the capital.
Normally, since this was a report on matters that occurred in Rosso’s domain, it would be proper for Rosso himself to report directly to His Majesty. However, because there was an urgent report regarding contact and an alliance with the fleet captain of the Fiesta Kingdom—a fact that had been unknown until now—Panamera was specially assigned to this task.
I was accompanying Panamera to explain the usefulness of the ships, but if Rosso hadn’t told me, I probably would have stayed in Tribute working on shipbuilding.
Reluctantly, I prepared to go to the capital. I bought a large amount of preserved foods like dried fish as provisions and told myself to endure it. By the way, I also bought an aquarium, so I planned to make and study various miniature ships during the journey.
We were to depart before Talga and Espada, leaving Tribute Town with everyone, including Rosso, seeing us off.
Alright, let’s hurry and head for the capital.
Just as I thought this, a familiar voice echoed along the road.
“Lo-Lord Van!”
“Wait for me!”
Hearing Ort and Kusala’s voices, I stopped the carriage and stuck my head out the window. Then, I saw Ort and the others sprinting at full speed from behind. I thought they had the carriage, but I wondered what happened.
“Ort, how was the demonic beast hunt?”
Breathing heavily, Ort and the others waved their hands side to side in response.
“Well, we managed to slay a fair number. But we couldn’t return for three days because the carriage was filled with dead demonic beasts, and we couldn’t keep up with the smell, so we sold the carriage to the adventurers’ guild.”
“It made quite a good amount of money!”
Apparently, the hunt was a great success. Pluriel looked dissatisfied with the two, though.
“…I told them to return within a day’s distance, but those idiots… Lord Van, sorry for being late.”
“Ahaha. Well, I’m glad you made a profit…”
I replied, and Pluriel let out a deep sigh, shaking her head.
“You still haven’t fulfilled your duty as Lord Van’s escort and guide, so you should have come back to town sooner…”
“Well, don’t worry about it so much.”
I gave Pluriel a light reply and pointed ahead.
“I’m glad everyone’s back. Please inform Panamera, who’s leading the way.”
“Y-yes, understood. Right, Ort!”
“R-right! I’m on it!”
Ort, the leader, was called by Pluriel and ran off toward Panamera. Panamera is scary. Hang in there, Ort.
In a sense, Ort and the others worked with a rough adventurer’s style, but because they were experienced travelers guiding us, we were able to make better time than planned. After all, he was a capable man.