episode_0072

“Oh, this sandwich is delicious.”

“Okay.”

Cosette was stuffing the sandwich into her mouth, and Mathias was eating it eagerly in agreement. Compared to when we first met, when he was groping and not being able to eat properly, Mathias had really changed a lot.

I also took a bite of the sandwich. The meat flavor, probably smoked ham, was quite strong, and the various vegetables, which were incredibly fresh, went well with it. I don’t know if they were vegetables or not. The refreshing fruit juice was also good.

I glanced at Yugram, who was quietly eating a sandwich a little distance away from us. Of course, he had a blank expression, but according to my feeling, his face looked quite satisfied.

Agnes, who had a hard time with twins, was seen happily sharing a sandwich with Lenny. It was a very nice sight.

Of course, it was impossible for all three of them to use their magic properly, despite the punishment they had worked so hard to come up with, but they didn’t even expect to learn something in a day that they hadn’t been able to figure out properly even after months of effort. They had to look at it in the long term, in the long term.

As I wiped Linnie’s mouth, which was dirty from the sauce on the sandwich, with a handkerchief and held her in my arms while rolling around on the mat, I felt a presence from somewhere.

“What, did you come here to play, sister?”

“Oh, my dear brother~ and even Cedric.”

Ayla didn’t even get up from her seat, but just turned her head and gave a brief greeting. When she heard that, she turned around and saw Rudiger and Cedric wearing simple leather armor over their simple clothes and carrying swords.

Rudiger was said to be learning swords and bows, so he must have been training here. Or maybe he was just passing by. Cedric approached Ayla with a bright smile.

“Aila, I couldn’t tell you last time because I was on the street… Did you hear what your mother said?”

“Huh? What?”

Ayla asked back, as if she had no clue at all. She saw Cedric pause and swallow his breath. Cedric took a deep breath and spoke slowly.

“..That, I’m saying that Ayla and I are getting engaged..”

“Ah~ um…”

Ayla looked at Cedric in surprise, and then at Rudiger behind him. The meaning of her gaze was clear. ‘You should have explained it to him yourself.’ Rudiger also looked at her with a look of resentment. ‘How can I say that?’

Even though they weren’t exactly siblings, it was easy to figure out their intentions, and Mathias, who had been watching them, slowly got up and approached Cedric. Cedric just blinked, not knowing Mathias’ intentions as he suddenly approached.

“Mr. Cedric. It’s late to tell you, but… My name is Mathias, and I’m currently dating Ayla.”

“Cultural, social?”

Cedric muttered absentmindedly and absentmindedly dropped the bow he was holding. Rudiger, who was waiting beside him, quickly picked up the bow and ran behind him.

“Yes. And we have already finished talking about formally proposing as soon as I graduate from the academy.”

“Proposal!”

Cedric shouted like lightning. His gaping mouth seemed to express the shock he felt. Cedric looked at Ayla with trembling eyes. Ayla’s face turned bright red and she avoided Cedric’s gaze, but whether intentionally or not, she was holding the hem of Mathias’s clothes tightly with her fingertips.

At that moment, how could I possibly define the emotion I felt on Cedric’s face? The despair of having the innocence of a man that had been nurtured for many years torn apart… Cedric’s face hardened as he experienced that shock that he did not want to understand.

“That, that.. what should I say.. congratulations.”

“…Yeah.”

Cedric spoke in a trembling voice as if he was trying to be quiet, and Ayla spoke in a small voice as if she was crawling. Cedric lowered his head, and Rudiger hurriedly intervened.

“Oh. Gosh. If. We. Go. On. Like. This. We. Will. Miss. Our. Prey.?”

Shouting words that were clearly an act, Rudiger grabbed Cedric’s arm and disappeared somewhere. A slightly uncomfortable and heavy air enveloped us.

..I hope poor Cedric boy finds another good relationship.

.

.

.

“Princess, are you okay? I can hug you.”

“It’s okay. I like Lenny just like he likes me.”

The night in the forest or on the mountain can feel very fast. As I slowly walked along the darkened mountain path, Leni was already asleep in my arms, sleeping soundly like an angel. Leni was also sleeping in Cosette’s arms.

Linina Lenny was so innocent and lovely. Was Aila also that cute at this age? I imagined for a moment, but I think little Laila would have been a huge troublemaker, swinging a branch like a sword and running around everywhere.

“..I think you’re thinking of something rude to me?”

“It’s my imagination.”

I turned away from Ayla, who was looking at me with suspicion. The twins were the youngest, and since they had older siblings who were quite a bit older than them, I wondered if they had grown up to be whiners. Of course, if a girl was cute, most things would be easy to get over, so it wasn’t a problem.

As we were slowly walking towards the village, we stopped. The reason was simple: a rather large boar-shaped demon blocked our way.

In fact, the criteria for monsters and demons were very vague, and they were often lumped together and called monsters. Regardless, it was true that they were much larger and stronger than ordinary wild boars. For most animals, a large body or size was directly linked to strength.

But no one seemed particularly nervous or surprised at such a trick. It was fortunate that the twins were sleeping, I said as I looked at Ayla and Mathias, who were holding empty hands.

“Which one do you want to do?”

“I will do it.”

As if he had been waiting for my question, Mathias stepped forward and drew his sword. Mathias deliberately spurted his killing intent toward the demon and slowly moved away from us and toward the forest. Then, the demon, sensing the threat, also did not take his eyes off Mathias. It seemed as if he was trying to avoid the boar’s attention from being drawn to us even if he avoided the attack.

Even though it was a sudden real-life situation, he didn’t seem particularly nervous and was looking around properly, which showed that his experience from last year was not in vain, which was satisfying. Mathias took a deep breath, took a deep breath, and then ran out.

Masu looked surprised, as if he hadn’t expected Matias to rush towards him. Perhaps Matias must have taken advantage of Masu’s opening just as he was about to rush towards Matias. Whether intentional or not, it was a pretty effective surprise attack.

The demon jumped up short to stab Matias’ body with its long, sharp fangs that were almost as long as his forearm. If Matias had been a wild beast like Matias, such as a boar, it might have been pierced by the fangs as Matias intended, but Matias was not that simple. With a smooth movement, Matias bent his movement almost at a right angle and struck the demon’s exposed neck with all his might.

It was a clean blow. The boar’s head, which was thicker than a log, was easily cut off. If it were a demon, it would have had thicker hide, muscles, and bones than when it was alive, so it would have been very difficult to cut it cleanly like this, so it was evident that Mathias’s skill had improved considerably.

Blood spurted out like a fountain from the cut section. Since I had guided him far away from here in advance and since Mathias also immediately left after swinging his sword, I was able to avoid being covered in blood. The body of the demon beast that had been trembling and shaking fell limply.

“That’s amazing. Of course I thought I’d win easily, but I didn’t know he’d take the neck in one breath.”

“That’s amazing.. Ayla, do you happen to know the demon? Should I take it after grooming it?”

Ayla crossed her arms for a moment, pondering Mathias’ question.

“Well, that wouldn’t be bad. This guy’s meat has a natural herbal flavor, so it’s quite popular. But it’ll take quite a while to prepare it here and there…”

“Then we’ll go back first, so how about you two work together and come back?”

“Huh?”

Ayla asked blankly, and I spoke calmly as if I was stating an obvious fact.

“First, we have to bring Lini and Lenny, so some people have to go back. And since Agnes is weak and dangerous, Cosette and I have to bring her. Then, only Ayla and Mathias will be left, right? It’s a bit much to abandon an entire demon.”

“That’s true, but…”

“If it’s a task that takes too long for two people to do, Cosette and I will come back. Is it that hard?”

“That’s…not true?”

“Then it’s decided. Mathias, please help Ayla and work hard to maintain the magic. I’m sorry to have to leave this to you.”

“It’s okay. I feel bad leaving it up to Ayla alone, so I should help too.”

Before he knew it, Mathias had tied a rope around the feet of the demon and was hanging him upside down on a tree to drain the blood. Before they set off on their picnic, Ayla had brought along various tools to deal with the prey, just in case, and she was using them very skillfully.

“Aila, what should I do after this? I’ve seen slaughterings a few times in my hometown, but I don’t know what happens after this.”

“Uh..uh? That, that’s why..”

We quietly descended the mountain while watching Ayla explain the care method to Mathias in a rambling manner.

Have a nice date.