The next day.
Today was the day when they would finally try taming a rimel bird. To that end, I, the four members of the duke family, Jill-san, Zeff-san, Camil-san, and Hyuzu-san walked the road toward the mines.
The ojousama and the others were donned in armor and had a weapon with them just like when we went out to train at the mines before, but in my case, I was wearing my latrine-pit cleaning outfit. Being the only one dressed like this sure makes me stand out from our group…
Incidentally, we also couldn’t use the carriage in order to train the ojousama. She might actually have quite a bit of stamina. We’ve been walking all this time, and although we might be taking breaks from time to time, I still think it’s amazing that she hasn’t complained.
“Fuu… Ryoumsan, are you alright?” [Elia]
“I’m alright.” [Ryouma]
“You sure have a lot of stamina.” [Elia]
The ojousama was gradually getting tired, but it’s not really something to make a fuss about.
After all, we were walking up a mountain trail, and the road wasn’t paved, so I think it’s already commendable that she’s not complaining.
Camil-san seemed to have thought the same thing as he encouraged her.
“It’s alright, Ojousama. You’re stamina is already amazing compared to normal children your age.” [Camil]
“That’s right, Ojousama. Don’t compare yourself with Ryouma. This guy is just abnormal. Any normal child would have long been out of breath, but this guy isn’t even sweating. Sweat a little, won’t you?” [Hyuzu]
“Even if you tell me that…” [Ryouma]
That’s a physiological phenomenon, so…
“But seriously, boy, most people would at least sweat easily without having to be told that’s the norm.” [Hyuzu]
“I know we’re not going very fast to match the ojousama’s pace, and I’d understand if you were a trained expert like us, but you’re still just a child, aren’t you? Just what kind of training have you been doing?” [Camile]
“Hmm… To put it briefly, I was trained to the limits. Whenever I fell or rested, I’d get beaten up so hard to be heavily wounded, and then I’d be asked if I’d rather keep getting beaten or train. After doing that everyday, I ended up like this.” [Ryouma]
“Was your master a demon from hell!?” [Hyuzu]
“Can’t refute that.” [Ryouma]
When I was a child, I was really scared of my dad. So much that I couldn’t even breathe when I was in front of him.
While I was thinking that, it seemed it was time for us to set off.
“We have to get moving again before Elia cools down completely.” [Reinhart]
“It’s just a little bit more.” [Hyuzu]
Like that we started walking again, then after some 30 minutes of walking, the road curved and we entered into a forest. After another 30 minutes, the air started to smell really bad. So, this is the stench of a marsh.
As we continued along, the redbrown-colored marsh came to view.
We seemed to be somewhere by the very borders of the forest and the mine. We were inside a forest, but there were few trees, and the marsh felt as if the earth from the abandoned mind had collapsed and flowed into it.
The smell only got worse as we approached the marsh. The ojousama had to cover her mouth to endure it.
“This is the marsh I was talking about. The smell you’re smelling comes from the fallen leaves and the rotting corpses of various organisms inside the marsh.” [Reinhart]
“What a horrible smell…” [Elia]
“It certainly stinks, but unless you can adapt to this, you won’t be able to explore the other regions.” [Elize]
Oh, yeah. Reinbach-sama has supposedly fixed the Jamil territory up, so it’s a lot bettor compared to the other regions… Wait, does that mean that the other regions smell like this all the time? Oh, dear. Let’s hope not.
“Hmm… It seems the grell frogs and the rimel birds aren’t in this marsh yet. This isn’t the only marsh, so let’s check the others.” [Reinbach]
As such, we started walking again. 10 minuted later, we found a marsh 3 times bigger than the previous one. This time, 30 adventurers, 30 monster tamers, and over 200 birds came to view.
“Those are rimel birds!” [Reinhart]
“Those are…” [Ryouma]
“They’re beautiful…” [Elia]
The rimel bird resembled a large parrot, but it had a tail that you could find from long-tailed fowls. Its body was blue, but its head and tail were covered with beautiful green feathers. No wonder it’s so popular. It looks so strange with the marsh as its backdrop.
They’re really beautiful, but I think the surrounding adventurers will become a hindrance.
“They went that way!” [Adventurer 1]
“Hurry up and catch the grell frogs!” [Adventurer 2]
“Ah!?” [Adventurer 1]
“Hurry! Before it gets eaten’. [Adventurer 2]
The adventurer entered the marsh and started competing with the rimel birds for the grell forgs.
Tough-looking men played about in the mud, trying to catch redbrown-colored frogs – the same color as the mud – with either their nets or their hands… It was a sweltering sight.
Meanwhile, two young men brought out their instruments by the side of the marsh.
“Ryouma, Elia, look. It seems those two want to try their hands at taming the rimel birds.” [Elize]
The other man started blowing his flute. It seemed to be a recorder of some sort. He didn’t seem very skilled.
“How important is musical skill when trying to tame a rimel bird?” [Ryouma]
“It’s hard to say since the ones judging are none other than the rimel birds themselves.” [Sebasu]
“As word says, there was even a case when a monster tamer played confidently only to be rejected, then in a fit of anger, slammed his instrument against the ground, causing a discordant sound to play, and was then able to form a contract with a rimel bird.” [Elia]
“I don’t know what to say to that…” [Ryouma]
When the man finished playing, the rimel birds all started chirping out in unison.
“Kera kera kera kera kera kera kera!!”
“Ahahahahahaha!”
The man’s performance was met with the laugh of over 200 birds.