It would be great if the peaceful days continued without any incident.
Such small wish of me, Lyle Walt was broken apart ephemerally.
「I wonder why I don't have any wings. If only I have wings, I will spread my wings in this blue sky and dance in the sky. Yes, I will become a bird!」
Arisan placed her left hand on her chest and her right hand was extended as though to grasp the sky. She was looking up to the cloudy sky of winter that was grey colored.
──There wasn't anything like blue sky anywhere.
Clarsan was grinning at Arisan's speech while replying.
「You are calling this cloudy sky as blue sky? Your eyes are really bad. Although, spear will be more fitting for Arisan rather than wings. Cutting down monsters with blood splashing in the battlefield is more fitting for you isn't it? If you want to become a bird than I recommend becoming a griffon. It's really perfect for a savage like you.」
Clarsan who usually spoke little without letting any emotion showing on her face was becoming a character that spewing poison from her mouth.
I was hiding my face with both hands.
Because there was one more person who I didn't want to look at.
「Aria want to become a bird? How nice. I also want to become a bird. But, I'm fine becoming a bird who is put inside a birdcage so that I won't be able to fly anywhere. Lyle, become my birdcage!」
Mirandsan stared straight at me and said such line.
The three entered the "post-growth" state when Bahnseim Kingdom's capital, Centralle was in front of us.
Growth. That was a drastic change of body.
A person's health would abruptly worsen before growth. They would be suffering for a day until several days.
But, when it was over, the person's capability physically and magically would increase greatly. To say it simply they would become stronger.
……At the same time with that, they would be enveloped in exaltation and their mental state would be in a dangerous state.
Mirandsan approached me.
「Lyle, if you dislike birdcage then a rope is also fine. Tie me tightly! So that I won't be able to go anywhere! I want to tie you. And then, I want to be tied!」
If it was the usual Mirandsan, she absolutely wouldn't say this kind of line.
Clarsan was laughing so hard she held her stomach while rolling on the ground.
「She said that she want to be tied! There is an outrageous pervert here! Well, from the beginning she is a spider woman who produces string and ties people, so perhaps it perfectly suits her instead! Lyle-san……my condolence!」
Just what was she giving me her condolence for? Was it about me being liked by Mirandsan who was like this? Or perhaps it was about this situation?
Mirandsan seemed to feel hurt by Clarsan's words. She was making a sad face.
「Horrible. I'm not a pervert. My shackles are just a bit strong!」
A bit? I was holding doubt that it might be really strong.
I who was dealing with the noisy three girls……or rather I who was captured and had no choice but to keep them company turned my gaze to around me looking for help.
Beside Porter that was parked along the road, there was Monica being busy with food preparation.
When she saw me she waved her hand energetically.
「Chicken dickwad, please look forward to the dinner today!」
No good. Even though her master was looking for help, she was absorbed with the food for me to eat and didn't notice my situation.
A slight distance away, Sophisan was standing still expressionlessly.
The state of the three seemed to remind her of herself a little while ago──herself that committed a blunder post-growth. Light was vanishing from her eyes.
「……I want to disappear.」
She sat down on the spot and hugged her knees. It was harsh to ask for help from her. I turned my gaze to my other comrades.
「Look at this, Novem! I made a new costume!」
「That looks good on you, Evsan. You also used good textile for the material.」
「Yep! I snatched……no, asked for the material that Monica is using!」
Evsan made a new costume because she was free during the travel. She finished a risqué and lascivious costume so she was in a good mood.
She was showing it off to Novem proudly.
But, the material for it seemed to belong to Monica so──.
「Oy, the hopeless elf over there! Don't use my thing as you please! Even though that was a material to make chicken dickwad's clothes!」
Monica rushed there in criticism. Evsan retorted back to the enraged Monica.
「It's okay if you share it a bit with me! Besides, it was you who told me that you would give me the material if I help out.」
「This elf is really impudent when you've only helped out for a bit. ──More importantly, isn't the size of the waist mistaken?」
「Tha, that's not true. Re, recently I ate too much but, I'll slim down immediately so there's no problem.」
「……I hope that's true.」
Monica made a meaningful expression and left from that place in order to resume her cooking.
When she passed in front of me, I heard her muttering 「From today I'll prepare menu with high calorie」 while laughing.
Novem warned Evsan.
「Evsan, taking someone else's possession without permission isn't praiseworthy even if it's with a friend, or rather exactly because it's with a friend.」
「……I'm sorry. But, even I had properly helped her before I took it.」
「Even so the person's permission is necessary.」
Evsan honestly obeyed Novem, but it seemed that the scolding would still continue so they couldn't help me.
My last hope became the most useless Shannon.
When I turned my gaze at Shannon,
「Monica, look! How is it, this stance!」
She was showing the stance of raging sparrow happily in front of Monica.
It was a stance that was the beginning stance and yet also the secret technique.
It was the secret technique of the martial art that I and Shannon studied under Monica. Originally it was a stance without really any meaning, but by learning martial art and polishing technique, the meaningless stance would turn into one with meaning at the end──like that it would become a secret technique that was unique only to that person.
When I first heard it, I thought that it was an absurdly amazing stance.
I intended to complete it one day.
But, Shannon's stance was……bluntly speaking it was full of opening.
It only looked like a stupid pose.
Monica must have the same opinion like me.
「That's no good. In the first place it's full of opening. It's not something that can be improved just by changing the stance. Redo it.」
Shannon's shoulders dropped dejectedly. She looked seriously depressed.
「No way……even though I've thought hard about it」
Come to think of it, I got the feeling that she said one thing or another about the secret technique when eating snack. After that, she seemed to immediately get bored with it and started playing around. It was really just like Shannon.
Monica was cooking while giving advice to Shannon.
「Right now you should focus on the basic. Something like the completion of the secret technique is ten years too early for you. No, I'm serious. You better think that it will really take ten years.」
「I can't wait that long! I want to complete it faster than that gigolo bastard Lyle!」
I glared at Shannon who called me gigolo bastard, but she didn't notice me at all.
Shannon who was playing with Monica also didn't seem like she could save me.
In the first place, even if that girl noticed my situation, would she become any help?
……That's impossible.
I sighed, then Arisan grabbed my hand.
「Eh?」
「Now, Lyle──let's dance!」
「No, I'll refrain from that……A, Arisan!」
The strength of Arisan who was forcefully holding my hand was stronger than I expected and I couldn't get away.
I was made to accompany Arisan's dance.
I who got both my hands grabbed felt my feet leaving the ground when Arisan was starting to rotate around on that spot. She began to swing me around.
「Wait! Stop! Stop now, Arisan! ARISAAAAN!」
「Ahahaha, you're unexpectedly skilled Lyle!」
「This is scary! I'm floatiiiinnng!」
Mirandsan who was watching me and Arisan were giving applause.
「Dance with me next. I want the dance where our body will press close to each other.」
Clarsan was smiling at me.
「It's great isn't it, Lyle-san. I'm not envious at the slightest though. But, you being dragged around by a girl like that really suit you.」
The figure of Clarsan who was always expressionless but kind deep inside wasn't there.
「SOMEONE HELPPPPP!」
The voices of five people came from the Jewel hanging from the neck of me who was being swung around.
The cursed item that guided me to this point──not that. It was the voices of the five ancestors who were resurrected as memory and gave me guidance.
The Third, Sleigh Walt was laughing cheerfully too today.
『Arichan is really energetic.』
The Fourth, Max Walt spoke in slight exasperation.
『She has no calmness at all. However, this is her unstable period post-growth. Lyle, you should give proper follow-up for everyone too later.』
The Fifth, Fredericks Walt was someone of few words.
『……Well, do your best.』
While I was thinking if he didn't have any other advice, the Sixth Fiennes Walt seemed to be perplexed.
『I wish that Miranda will have more calmness. As Milleia's great granddaughter, she should be more girly. Don't you think so, Lyle?』
I didn't know Mirandsan's great grandmother.
I had no way to answer that opinion.
The Seventh, Brod Walt was muttering complaints.
『I think this is typical of aunt's great granddaughter though. More importantly, Clara really has a bad mouth.』
Could it be, usually she wanted to say various complaints but she buried them deep inside?
And the recoil from that influenced her post-growth?
The current Clarsan was so expressive and badmouthed that I had such thinking. I wished that she would express herself more frequently but…….
When my thought reached that point, Arisan let go of my hands that she grabbed.
「……Ah」
I made a stupid voice. And then I was thrown on the air.
Arisan was dizzy and fell on the spot.
「My eyes are dizzy, ahahaha!」
Mirandsan reached out toward me,
「Aa, Lyle!」
I wished she would save me if possible. Clarsan was laughing.
「Uwaa~, so human can fly. I've to write down what happen today!」
She took out a memo and looked up at me who was thrown away by Arisan's stupid strength.
The height was relatively something that couldn't be laughed at.
When I looked below, a river was flowing there…….
「No more!」
I fell into the river.
I crawled out of the cold river and warmed my body beside a bonfire.
The season was in the middle of winter.
Beside me who was trembling from the cold there was Monica diligently acting too helpful.
「Uee~h, chicken dickwad! For something like this to happen when I wasn't at your side!」
She covered me with blanket while crying and brought me food.
Shannon was looking at me while laughing.
「That suits you, gigolo bastard.」
「You're the gigolo.」
「Haa? I'm properly working! I was also helping today mon!」
What do you mean, mon!, huh?
Did you intend to claim that helping with housework was a working? In that case I who was working many times more than you wasn't a gigolo!
Evsan was laughing in amusement.
「You flew really far. Aria, that's some stupid strength you get there.」
Sophisan was nodding.
「She became even tougher after the growth. It'll be a disaster if she rampage with that superhuman strength. Well, it seems she will calm down soon.」
Sophisan's gaze was directed at the three who were made to sit in seiza posture.
In front of the three was Novem who was standing imposingly with her back turned toward us.
I couldn't see her expression from here, but I understood that she was angry.
「……To throw Lyle-sama into the river, just what's with that act!?」
She was enraged and her tone turned rough.
Her atmosphere that was different from usual felt scary.
Arisan who was calming down was making excuse to such Novem.
「Because. I didn't think that he would fly that far mon.」
……mon, she said.
It was a bit cute so it made me felt like forgiving her.
No, that's not it. I too was bothersome at my post-growth, so I couldn't be angry with just this much.
I spoke to Novem to forgive them with that.
「Novem, the three of them are in their post-growth so forgive them. Look, they're gradually calming down so it's fine.」
Even the three who were in high tension since the morning was recovering their calmness around the evening.
It was scary to recover your calmness after the growth.
It was the set pattern that the next day people would think calmly about the matter yesterday and then writhed in shame.
Novem turned toward me.
「There are things that are alright to do and bad to do.」
「You're right but……it's already dark, and it's cold so」
The coldness would also worsen more when the sun set.
I wanted the three of them to quickly warm themselves and then went to sleep.
「……I understand. The three of you, please apologize properly to Lyle-sama okay?」
Mirandsan who was told that immediately stood up and hugged me.
「Lyle, Novem was scary! Console me.」
Mirandsan was showing a smile that was filled with playfulness, but standing behind her Novem was smiling.
It was scary even though she was smiling.
「……It looks like you still don't understand, Mirandsan.」
Mirandsan looked back and saw Novem's face.
「My, how scary.」
She sent a provocative smile.
Even post-growth, Mirandsan was Mirandsan.
As for Clarsan, she stood up and passionately wrote in her memo.
「I'll properly write down what happened today. And then tomorrow I'll convey to the two who'll be writhing tomorrow about what happened in great detail! I'll turn this into material of talk that'll make them remember at the time they forgot about this!」
……Aa, Clarsan still hadn't calmed down.
Arisan was looking at me.
「That's really nice Miranda……I also want to hug. That's right! I heard that warming each other with naked body is good when it's cold.」
Arisan suddenly tried to strip her clothes. Sophisan ran at her and stopped her.
「WHAT ARE YOU DOINGGGGG!?」
「Let me go! We'll warm each other. I and Lyle will warm each other with our naked body and love!」
「Calm down! You'll regret it! Tomorrow, you'll regret it!」
「I won't regret it! I'm living for the sake of love! Besides I'm really interested! I'm really interested with man's naked──」
「ARIAAAAA! Please stop already!」
I quietly averted my gaze from that scene.
……I couldn't watch anymore.
Then, Evsan sat down beside me.
My clothes were hanged to dry nearby using the bonfire's heat.
Evsan was talking to me during the noisiness.
「This party is really lively and fun.」
「Today it's too lively though.」
「It's better than a stiff atmosphere. After all human relationship is complicated anywhere. This kind of fun is still better.」
She must have seen it from meeting various people in her travel.
Evsan looked like she was having fun.
「More importantly, why are we going to enter the capital ahead of the subjugation force? It doesn't really matter even if we're together isn't it?」
We were heading to the capital.
We participated in the hippogriff subjugation force that was dispatched from the capital and currently we were returning back.
Originally it would be desirable to match the pace of the rest and entered the capital with the rest of the troops.
But, we were existence that the royal capital──the capital noble in the palace wouldn't welcome.
It was the nobles in the palace who were scheming to exterminate us.
Even though we were told that the subjugation target was hippogriff, it was a griffon that came out. It was a monster that was bigger and more fiendish that hippogriff.
They expected us to be annihilated. And then for the palace nobles who schemed that, our safe return wouldn't be an amusing matter.
「We have to arrive ahead and advertise our return. I think that the rumor has at least spread in the capital, so we have to show the proof too.」
Evsan nodded with a smile.
Evsan was the one who worked hard to spread the rumor through the traveling performer elves.
「The capital will be in excitement. But, do we need to go that far?」
Wasn't that unnecessary?
Evsan seemed to think that. In respond voices came from inside the Jewel. They were answering Evsan's question, but I was the only one who could hear their voices.
The Fourth explained with a slightly chilly voice.
『If we don't do anything, the palace will find fault with us and give us punishment after all. If we don't take measures to the degree that it seems overdoing it, it will be dangerous for us. Even so, the capital's degeneracy is terrible whether now or in the past huh.』
The Fifth seemed to recall the era when he was living. I could feel irritation from his tone.
『They are always horrible even with some degree of difference. Well, there is nothing better than to be on your guard.』
I conveyed those opinions of the ancestors to Evsan.
「We're only taking all measures that we can do. It will be too late to start doing anything only after things happened.」
I myself had the feeling if we really had to do this much, but the five people who had more abundant life experience than me were saying this so it shouldn't be mistaken.
……It was only five people now.
One of the voices vanishing made me felt strangely lonely.
「You're unexpectedly cautious. Well, it might be good for the leader to be like that.」
I tried asking Evsan.
「More importantly, are you all right with coming along with us? If no incident happens like this, we will continue to the east. And then we will head to Beim.」
The free city. The capital of adventurer and merchant. It had various nicknames, but it was a famous large metropolis where adventurers gathered.
It wasn't a territory of Bahnseim Kingdom, but a foreign country.
Evsan's eyes were sparkling.
「Do you think I'm fixated with the kingdom? I want to see the world with these eyes. The wider world. I'll gather even more amazing song and story! It will be the best if I also find a story that only I know during that time. I'm holding expectation for Lyle. Accomplish a great thing like griffon subjugation okay?」
Evsan who was a singer wanted to sing a tale that only she knew one day.
If it was in order to do that, she intended to go anywhere.
I could only feel surprised at the passion of elf toward son and story.
「……Well, the winter will become colder after this though. We won't travel or do any work for a while.」
Evsan crossed her legs and turned her gaze to the bonfire with a dissatisfied face. But, she might understood from traveling alone and accepted my plan.
「As expected even me have no intention of acting recklessly at winter. It feels like this year will become cold, and even the snow feels like it'll be thick.」
Snow would also fall in Bahnseim Kingdom.
If possible, I wanted to depart toward the east after taking care of the mess in the capital.
And then I wanted to spend winter in a large town or city somewhere.
There was one other large reason for this.
The Fifth murmured in nostalgia.
『Winter huh……this period is the leisure season for farmers after all.』
The Seventh also didn't really recommend traveling at winter.
『There'll be skirmishes everywhere. Depending on the situation, you can even expect war at the border. There might even be places that already start.』
Bahnseim was a large country.
There would be nobles fighting other nobles within the country, or even nobles having domestic conflict within family.
There would even be war with other country if we went to the border.
……It was a season when war began.
There were a lot of cases where feudal lord used the populace as soldier, and many of that populace was farmer. If it was leisure season for farmers, then there wouldn't be any problem to mobilize them as soldiers.
If they forced a war at the busy period, the harvest at winter would become few.
The situation would be the same anywhere, because of that this was also the time period where the situation became busy.
Evsan sighed.
「We'll get dragged in if we carelessly travel, this period is really unpleasant.」
I agreed with that opinion.
「……That'll be unpleasant.」
The Third was also agreeing from the Jewel with our opinion.
He was a hero who left his name in Bahnseim's history as a righteous general but…….
『I also understand the reason why they're doing it though. War is really unpleasant. I didn't want to die in the battlefield. I wanted to age peacefully and die on bed.』
There was weight to it when the Third said those words.
Anyway, it would be better to not really move around in winter.
Even if we were going to move we would need various preparations.
It would be best to act again when it became warmer.
Evsan muttered.
「We might end up spending winter in the capital at this rate.」
……I wanted to avoid that.
If possible, I wanted to spend winter outside the capital.
Bahnseim Kingdom's capital, Centralle was surrounded by outer wall that had gates.
We were arriving using a large horse cart. We were wearing hooded robe.
We were obviously adventurer from a glance from our appearance. Our cart was filled with large wooden box. Inside the griffon's corpse was placed in a way so that the surrounding could see it.
The dead griffon retained its original shape and looked so real it felt like it would start moving anytime now.
The people coming and going from the gate were making surprised face seeing the griffon.
「Is that griffon?」
「It's similar with a hippogriff that I saw in the past.」
「It has the same eagle head after all. But, the size is different.」
「Could it be, this is the rumored──」
People who showed interest in front of the fiendish monster, and people who were scared and watched from distance.
There were various reactions, but everyone witnessed the griffon's appearance.
The gate guards approached us.
「If you aren't together with the subjugation force then this is a different griffon huh──you guys, are you adventurer?」
I took off my hood and replied.
「Yes. We defeated a griffon so we're thinking to sell it at the capital. The monster parts are precious material but, when it comes to griffon I believe there'll be a lot of merchants who want to purchase it whole.」
The guards looked at us.
It wasn't like I said anything wrong.
The royal capital was the capital city.
There were a lot of wealthy merchant here. There were surely people who would want to buy the griffon whole and made it into stuffed animal.
Adventurers coming to the capital intentionally was also a natural story if their purpose was to increase their face.
The impressed guards didn't really suspect us and let us passed.
「You guys are young but skilled huh. It's alright that you want to gain reputation in the capital but, don't cause any trouble here.」
I nodded understandingly.
「Of course. We won't bother anyone.」
The Sixth's voice came from my Jewel.
『We're the side who got troubled after all. Now then……we'll have it in the bag if we enter inside! Lyle, advertise it!』
After pulling the horse cart through the gate, a lot of people seemed to hear the rumor and gathered.
People were gathering more than usual around the gate that had heavy traffic.
I raised my voice in front of those people.
「If you want to listen to the story of griffon subjugation, please come to the plaza ahead of here. We will talk of how we fought this griffon.」
I boldly advanced forward before the citizens who were sending me curious gazes.
It was just as the Sixth said.
It was right in the bag if we entered.
It was already too late no matter what the palace would try.
When I looked at Evsan, she was covering her mouth with a face of displeasure.
「It's always dusty around the gate. I hate it because it hurt my throat.」
I pointed at the direction of the plaza.
「Evsan, I'll leave the rest to you.」
Evsan's eyes immediately sparkled.
「Leave it to me. I'll advertise it loudly.」
It was really reliable to have an elf comrade at this kind of time.