Chapter 44
It’s fine, it’s fine . ”
“We’re good at doing that . ”
Maki and Chiharu said casually .
This was when they were told that they could continue on to Gromble as long as they remained disguised and lay low .
Edwy narrowed his eyebrows . ‘I would say it’s quite the opposite,’ he grumbled . But the two seemed to have been offended at the idea that they had not been lying low up until now .
After all, had they not been doing just that? Sure, they had escaped from the castle, but they had been found in just one month . They had done nothing but sightsee since then . And the matter with the gazers was clearly not their fault .
They said as much .
“But you shouldn’t have left the castle without saying anything in the first place!”
“And disguised yourselves . ”
But to the two Saintesses, it was because they wanted to avoid trouble, that they had disguised themselves .
“You have an answer for everything . ”
Kaider said, somewhat happily . Maki then clapped her hands together and said,
“Well, in any case . We will continue to work as apprentices for the cook . But we will stay with Edwy and the others at night, where there will be guards . When we reach Gromble, we will stay at a health resort near the town . Then when everything is finished, we will return with you . Is that right?”
“Yes . That way, you can avoid getting into any danger . And you will be able to drink without anyone bothering you . ”
“DRINK!”
“DRINK!”
Their eyes lit up .
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“And you can bathe everyday . ”
Their eyes lit up even more . Edwy was starting to understand how to handle them .
“It’s nice that you do not want to inconvenience Paulo . We will just tell the soldiers that you are children of a noble family who had run away from home . So you can continue to wear your wigs and disguises during the day . But come back after dinner . Then we can drink together . ”
Maki and Chiharu had not nodded so readily and with such bright expressions in a long time .
Paulo and the other cooks were happy that they were safe . And when told that they had been runaways, looked completely unsurprised . It seems that they had already sensed something . And while they were surprised that Maki and Chiharu would continue to help, they did not object, as they were understaffed .
It would take two days to reach Gromble, and they would pass through a town on their way . Maki and Chiharu had heard that it was the largest tourist site along the mountains, and they had high expectations . Of course, as the miasma had become thicker, Adventurers had become more active, and so the health resort was somewhat dreary these days .
Like before, they rode in the back of a wagon with the other belongings and traveled leisurely through the mountain road . When they passed yet another ridge, they saw a basin surrounded by four mountains .
“Look at that!”
“It’s more amazing than Shiel!”
While there were mountains on all four sides, the mountain with the dungeon’s entrance was much taller than the others . And there were large pillars made of stone .
“They may look like normal pillars from here, but they are actually hundreds of meters tall . So this is a sight you can only enjoy from this distance . ”
Paulo explained to them lazily .
“Not only that, but there are also hundreds of small caves . Look, to the left . ”
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They looked to the left where there was a lake around the mountain . A river ran from it and spread to the farm lands .
“Unfortunately, there are no sea fish here . But the water flows out from some of the caves and collects here as this lake . The water is very clean, and the fish that live in it are delicious . Also, there is enough farmland here for the people to live independently . ”
Then he coughed loudly .
“While I’ve never heard anything about it being connected to the sea, you two better keep your distance . ”
“But what about during the day…”
“No . ”
“Okay…”
“Okay…”
It could not be helped . Paulo continued, as if to try and dispel the awkward air .
“The dungeon is in the center of the mountain . It apparently branches out into many paths and is very difficult to navigate . No one has ever reached or even knows where the deepest level is . ”
“Oh!”
“There is a large town right in front of the dungeon’s gate . And behind that town is the health resort . That is where we will stay tonight . ”
Gromble was split into two like a gourd . The smaller part was the health resort .
“Still, the dungeon is usually not very busy during this time of the year . It is usually the worst during winter . ”
The river that ran from the lake flowed next to the health resort and connected with another river from the opposing mountain . Along with the crops, there was a beautiful field of red and purple .
“Lavender and sage . Both are fragrant herbs and are famous here . We came at a good time . ”
They were probably not lavender and sage . Maki and Chiharu had an automatic translation ability that changed words into the closest match in Japanese . After all, while the wild lavender that Paulo showed them on the side of the road was purple, it was taller than Chiharu . And the large flowers were shaped like thistles and were bunched up like gladiolus . Chiharu reached up to pluck one . The flower was as large as her palm and had a calming, fresh scent .
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“I think these would dry really nicely . ”
“I want to turn them into potpourri and put them by my pillow . ”
“Good idea!”
Yes, this was it . This was the kind of wandering journey that they had wanted!
Maki and Chiharu would not be able to follow the others into the dungeon tomorrow . They didn’t know how the monsters would respond . They would help feed the soldiers who stayed while the others went in . And then spend the rest of the time in the health resort .
They could walk leisurely amongst the tall lavenders with friends . They could take sandwiches with them and eat them in the fields for lunch . Perhaps there would be potpourri classes they could take . Also…lavender ice cream .
After thinking of all this, Maki scowled . She had remembered eating lavender ice cream a long time ago, and how it had tasted rather bad .
There were three types of ice cream that Maki had not enjoyed in her life . The first was bamboo ice cream, which had powdered bamboo leaves inside . It was wild and supposed to be healthy . The second was seaweed ice cream . It was a little slimy and smelled like the sea . The taste was indescribable . The third was lavender ice cream . It smelled wonderful . But did it have to be ice cream? Maki wasn’t sure .
“Oh, but the lavender ice cream tasted great!”
“Uhhh . Maybe I just don’t like ice cream with strong smells . ”
On the other hand, she had eaten too many delicious types of ice cream to count . But her number one was hojicha tea ice cream . The smell of the tea and the mild bitterness was the perfect combination for her mature palette . She also enjoyed brown rice tea ice cream . Her second favorite was egg ice cream . It was like a milkshake with a strong egg flavour . Her third favorite was loquat . No, maybe it was strawberry . There were too many for her to decide .
Even if some turned out to be bad, she would always try out the local flavors .
They arrived at the health resort while she considered all of this . As there were few guests now, they said that at least half of the soldiers would be able to sleep at the inn . And as they had to sleep in tents for so long, they were very happy .
Maki and Chiharu had less work to do, but the work was still hard . They did their best and then returned to the inn .
“Maki . Chiharu . We have prepared everything for you . ”
They had come to Aeris’s room after taking a bath . Edwy was smiling as he handed them some wine glasses .
“You can take off your wigs here . I don’t think your hair is even dry yet . ”
Aeris said as he picked up a towel . He had become quite fond of drying their hair .
The glasses were filled with red liquid . Wine? Or not . The glass pitcher had several red flowers inside that sunk to the bottom . They looked at it quizzically, and Grudo explained .
“This is apple wine . They put fresh sage flowers into the bitter apple wine . It can only be made here during this season . ”
From what they saw, the flower was large and had only one petal, like a hibiscus .
Chiharu liked jasmine tea, and enjoyed lavender ice cream, unlike Maki . Maki looked at her cup suspiciously . Chiharu grinned happily . And then they both took a sip . ”
“This is good…”
“This is good…”
Was it from the flowers? There was a slight sourness that was quite different from apple that spread through their mouths . A mild bitterness followed . And the scent of the sage went up through their noses .
“It is very popular with ladies . ”
Grudo said with a smile .
“Though, I do prefer ordinary apple wine myself . ”
Kaider put in . While everyone had preferences, drink was drink . Now, for tomorrow, they would drink a few cups .
And so, in this land that was far away from the castle, they enjoyed their drink until late into the night .