Chapter 11: Chapter 11
We were close to everyone else when we realised something we should have noticed sooner. We aren't wearing shoes. I am sort of wearing shoes, but they are so severely destroyed I don't think you can say I am anymore. Luckily Satou had a pair of shoes I could borrow. I was pleasantly surprised when I found they fit me. They are pretty comfortable too. I put my old ones into storage. Maybe I can have them repaired or find some use for them.
Number Seven, who we rescued, is now attached to a carrying rank on Satou's back he made. He did a good job making it as Number Seven doesn't look uncomfortable or has sustained more injuries. She didn't even fall out when we jumped over ridges, ran across plains and climbed the side of mountains. The sunset partway through the journey, making it a bit more difficult, but we could keep running thanks to Satou's Night Vision skill. I even managed to earn it myself, so I put a few points into it. It really is a handy skill, and I think this is the first time I levelled anything up while I was awake.
I even had a pleasant surprise when I did. Somehow now it only costs one point to buy a level. It must have been because of that goddess from my dream last night. So I max out my resistance skills only with the Night Vision skill. I also max out my Self-Healing, Magic Manipulation, and a new skill I picked up called Magical Recovery, which restores my MP. I still have a few points left, but I will save those for now.
By the time we finally reached the campsite of our friends I was surprised to see everyone was still awake. They were camping out around a very bright bonfire. The corpses of crimson needle bees were all around them, with little animals no larger than puppies gathering to devour the remains. We leapt over a few boulders and arrived in the meadow where everyone was camping. The first ones to spot us were the dog eared girl Pochi and the cat-eared girl Tama. They quickly lept to their feet with cries of "Master!" alerting the others. Surprisingly, it isn't the animal eared girls who reach us first.
"Master!" Liza sobs and rushes to Satou, hugging him tightly with tears flowing from her eyes.
"Welcome back!"
"Sir!"
Pochi and Tama are quick to join Liza. They are climbing onto Sato, play-biting his head and shoulders before attempting to lick my face. Their actions remind me of any real dog or cat.
"Thanks. I'm sorry for worrying you."
"I'm so glad you're all right…."
I would have liked o watch more of the scene as Satou's other slaves approach but instead… I am slapped by Henry before she hugs me. I really wish I had a pain resistance skill. Hey, maybe I just ended up with one. You never know with how fast I have been picking up skills since I had that dream.
"Don't do anything that dangerous ever again," Henry tells me as her hug threatens to crush me. I hug her back and assure her I am okay.
"Master," Peal nods when she sees me, and a smile is on her lips for a split second but quickly vanishes.
"I'm sorry I worried both of you,"
After a few minutes of apologising and assuring everyone that we were okay, a young man with green hair and eyes approached us. He holds a bow in one hand and bows when he reaches us.
"Thank you for saving Mia," The man bows in front of me.
"It is okay," I smile when he raises his head. "I am always happy to help those in need."
"…Satou,"
"I'm back, Mia,"
"Kept your promise," Mia says, looking my way.
"Yes, of course, I did," I smile, patting her on her head and kneeling down so we are at eye level.
"Let me thank you again…" Mia cleared her throat and spoke at length. "I am the youngest elf of Bolenan Forest, Misanaria Bolenan, daughter of Lamisauya and Lilinatoa. Hero Kura Suou of the Shiga Kingdom, I give you my thanks."
Mia plants a kiss on my forehead before stepping back, smiling.
<Title Acquired: Friend of the Elves.>
"By the way, what's in this carrier? Don't tell me you swiped some treasure as you were escaping from that enormous tree?" Arisa says, breaking the silence and rubbing her reddened eyes.
"This is a person we rescued," Satou answers.
"A person? Are you planning to add another member to the harem?!" I don't think Arisa's concerns are that far fetched with how many members of the opposite sex Satou has around him.
Satou places the carrier against a large boulder. Now that I think about it. I wonder where Number Seven's sisters are. Oh, there they are. They have all been tied up to another large boulder with what looks like ivory. They'd probably guessed the women were enemies because of what happened. At least they don't seem to have been harmed. Near the beautiful woman, a red-helmeted ratman was on guard, keeping a sharp eye out for monsters.
"This is one of the sisters who we rescued along with Mia," I tell them as Satou takes off the wrappings covering her head.
"Oh, these kids? I thought there were seven, but I guess there are eight now," Arisa mutters.
Satou takes Number Seven out of the carrier and sets her down near her sisters. When they saw her, the other homunculi let out a cry of joy and struggled to escape their bonds. It was lucky Satou, and I was there because the ratman looked like he was about to cut them down. In the end, we convince the others to let the women go.
"Miss hero, not only did your companions spare our lives when we were their opponents, but you also saved Number Seven from certain death. There are no words to convey our gratitude,"
One of the identical girls steps forward to represent the group. Afterwards, the rest of the girls take turns to express their gratitude. They seemed to have gathered from the collapse of the Cradle that Zen had died. When they asked for my confirmation, I figured I should tell them the truth. But just when I was about to, Satou stopped me. He has Arisa use some kind of magic to wake Number Seven up before giving me the go-ahead to continue.
"So, our master…"
"Yes, he's passed on now," I nod.
The sisters whispered among themselves for a moment. I had no problem giving them a minute to that the news sink in, but they all turned toward me at once, recovering much faster than I expected.
"Hero Kura. We shall obey you as our new master," The group's leader suddenly says.
I wasn't expecting that. Peal and Henry look at me, waiting for my response, while Satou has hints of jealousy in his eyes as he watches me. I think Arisa is the only one that looks relived by these turns of events. Mia, though is a different story. She started glaring at the women when they declared me their new master.
"However, before we serve by your side, we would like to request a brief leave period. I know that this is far beyond a servant's place to ask. Still, we would like to deliver something belonging to our previous master to the graveyard where his wife is laid to rest. Please, we beg of you most respectfully, forgive us this transgression,"
All the girls bow their heads. I have no problem with this request, and it will make it easier on me if I don't show up at the Earl's castle with such a big crowd. So I agree to their request without hesitation.
"We plan to search the remains of the Cradle for it right away," Our previous master had a wedding ring that we wish to bring to his wife's grave."
"Oh, in that case…" A ring. Why does Satou have Zen's ring? He didn't go near him as far as I was aware. "I happened to pick this up on my way out. Please make sure that it reaches his wife's grave safely."
"Even if it costs me my life, I shall!" I don't think she needs to go that far. Zen may have been a villain, but he seemed happy enough just to pass on to the next life. I'm sure he wouldn't mind them losing the ring to save their own lives. "With that being the case, we would like for you, Hero Kura, to please designate one of our numbers as a representative to be your personal attendant."
"It's all right if you all go to the graveyard together,"
"No, we can do no such thing,"
"Then I'll let you choose among yourselves,"
I really wouldn't have minded letting them all go, but the way they looked at me left me no choice but to accept taking one of them with me. I am sure the Earl has room for one more guest in his castle. The women were apparently deciding who would stay behind with a rock-paper-scissors tournament. I don't think they needed to take the game so seriously, but at least I agreed to let them choose who would be coming with me, so I didn't say anything. In the end, Number Seven won and got to come with me.
"Master, I look forward to serving you from now on, I do declare,"
"Sure, thanks," The seven women behind her grit their teeth as they stare. I hope there won't be any bad blood between them over this.
But now that that is settled, I have a small problem. I feel bad calling her just Number Seven. It felt wrong somehow, so I asked if it was okay to give her a nickname which she agreed to with a smile. While I am sure, she was smiling on the inside because her blank expression was undoubtedly brighter.
"I'll call you Nana then," I smile. "Let's get along well."
"Yes, master,"
I can't seem to catch a break as now another problem has come about. Now the other girls want nicknames too and have me surrounded. I'm bad at coming up with names. I gave Nana her name because it was really just seven in Japanese. I take a deep breath and look at the girls for answers. In the end, I give them names in the order of their numbers.
"Number One, you will be Adin," I was tempted to call her Ichiko or Ein, but I had a feeling Arisa or Satou might call me out on it. So, in the end, I went for the Russian word for one.
"Thank you very much, master! I, Adin, swear my undying fealty to you,"
"Number Two…you'll be Ithnani,"
"Thank you. I am Ithnan," Her name Iithnan was the Arabic word for two.
"Number Three…Tria,"
"Yes, master. Number Three…I mean, Tria's name is Tria,"
"Number Four…Vier,"
"Name accepted, master. I am Vier,"
"Number Five…Fünf,"
"Thank you for the name, I declare. Fünf…Fünf…it is a good name, I boast. Thank you, master, I declare,"
"Number Six…Seis,"
"I am Seis. I pledge my gratitude and loyalty to my master. I declare,"
"Master, I am next, I declare!"
Number Eight jumped up and down, her short pigtails bouncing. Her face was about as blank as Nana's, but she did express herself through gestures a lot. She was also the only one of the sisters who didn't have a big bust.
"Number Eight…you'll be Huit."
"Huit! My name is Huit, I declare! Adin, Ithnani, Tria, Vier, Fünf, Seis, Nana, Huit…" Huit looks around at her sisters as she lists their names. "…Yes, Huit is definitely the cutest, I announce!"
"That is incorrect, I protest," All of the sisters protested, staring at Huit.
"Ithnani is the strongest,"
"Tria thinks Tria is the best, I insist,"
<0>
We waited until the sunrise before moving on. We talked about random things as we waited, and I learned the green-haired man was an elf just like Mia and from the same clan. It turns out he was with Satou when he and Mia were kidnapped by Zen, and he was on his way to rescue them. He seems friendly, but sometimes it is hard to understand him when he talks with so few words. I also ended up agreeing to take Mia back to her home. Although I may have misunderstood because their conversation went like this….
"Yuya,"
"What?"
"Going home,"
"I'll take you,"
"It's fine,"
"You'll be okay?"
"With Hero Kura,"
"I see,"
It wouldn't kill them to use more words when they talk. But when the green-haired man Mia called Yuya looked at me with my by his side, I couldn't say no. it isn't so bad I get the chance to see the elves home after all.
"Will you?"
"Take Mia home, you mean? Yes, of course," No, all I have to do is get the Earl's permission. "Although there will be a delay in the Old Capital."
I Wasn't entirely on board with the Earl's idea when he asked me to participate in The Martial Arts Tournament in the Old Capital. Now though, I can see myself agreeing to it with the task of bringing Mia back to her home.
"That's fine," Mia replies with a nod.
"I, Yusaratoya of Bolenan Forest, implore you, Hero Kura Suou of the Shiga Kingdom. Please take Misanaria, the child of Bolenan Forest, back to our hometown," The green-haired man asks, taking my hand with both of his.
"Sure, leave it to me," I say.
Satou looks jealous, but maybe I could convince the Earl to let Satou provide transport. Another topic that came up while we waited for the sun to rise was Satou buying a new carriage. I'm sure the Earl won't mind since he has his hands full with the labyrinth and has very few spare resources.
<0>
Once the sun rose, we started moving. Yuya used some magic to help us through the nearby forest. I am glad that I didn't have to walk through the forest as Yuya's magic meant we only needed to walk ten minutes along an Elf Road. The ratman didn't come with us. Instead, he headed back to his own land after we left the Cradle. Nana's sisters only came with us as far as the outskirts of Seiryuu City. At least they will be fine as Satou and I handed them money, spare clothes and a magical bag. Satou even handed them all Amulets of Humanity, which will make their race appear as human when entering towns.
Now we are all back in Seiryuu City. Satou and his slaves are meeting with the knight at the city gate. Yuya has taken Mia to his place after I told Mia she can't come with me back to the castle right now. It took a minute to comfort her, but in the end, she parted ways after I made a pinky promise to visit her tomorrow.
Henry has also left us. As we were entering the city, we ran into a group of elite knights who were heading out to search for her. Apparently, the Earl wanted to send troops imminently but was forced to wait because most of his soldiers were tied up dealing with the labyrinth. They took her back to the castle while I went with Satou to report on what happened.
"So the Undead King wished to die,"
I described the situation to the knight Sir Thorne in the guardhouse by the gate. He was the same knight I met when I first arrived in the city and helped me get my paperwork in order. I made a few changes to the group, such as Nana being a prisoner along with Satou and Mia and adding the fact that the Cradle was destroyed.
"Wait, Zenacchi!"
"Yeah, slow down!"
"Let go of me… I have to help him!" We hear a familiar voice from outside the station.
"Is the knight Sir Thorne here?"
A tall woman with blonde hair and dark blue eyes. She is wearing plat armour and has a large sword strapped to her back. For some reason, I think she must know Satou. They lock eyes and nod before the woman leaves.
"S… Satou! You're safe!" Zena comes running in and nearly knocks Satou out of his chair when she hugs him.
"I apologise for worrying y…."
Satou doesn't get to finish as Zena starts weeping, letting out childlike wails as she buries her head in his chest. Satou frantically tried to cheer her up and repeatedly apologised for causing her to worry, but it didn't work. Even the tall armoured woman and two others who appear to be Zena's friends can't calm her down. In the end, we leave the room for Satou to calm her down.
In the meantime, Sir Thorne helps me get Nana her Identification Papers, giving them to me for free, saying it is the least he can do for a hero. I was planning on leaving to see the Earl after that, but that armoured woman challenged me to a dual, so I was a bit delayed.
The armoured woman who I learned was called Iona was a formidable opponent, and I learned a lot from her. She wasn't on Pearl's level when it came to swordsmanship. Still, Iona favoured powerful attacks compared to Pearl, who used fast and precise strikes, allowing me to gain valuable experience. I won the match in the end after fainting an opening and the disarming Iona. I thought that would be it, but when I was shaking her hand and getting ready to leave, Sir Thorne suddenly challenged me.
He was a big man and held an axe that was nearly as large as he was. I gave in and accepted. This fight was more of a challenge. Sir Thorne was surprisingly fast for his size, and his attacks were more powerful than Iona's. I win, but it was more down to luck after his axe got stuck in the wall. Still, Sir Thorne was a good sport and laughed as we shook hands. It didn't take long before I was challenged again. It seems a line has formed and that I will be here for a while.
<0>
Several hours later, I finally returned to the Earl's castle. The Earl seemed okay with the delay and thanked me for sparing with his soldiers as it apparently raised the morale of his forces. Henry, though, was mad. She watches me with arms folded and a scowl on her face. Hopefully, I can make her understand how it helped me become a better hero.
While I was sparing, I levelled up my Parry skill to level five and also gained the Thrusting skill and levelled it up to level two. I also gained the Strategy skill at level one, the Provocation skill at level two and raised my jump skill to level three. The only other skill I gained is one I am not sure how I got. It is called Copycat. I guess it will help me learn from my opponents, so I used the last of my skill points to max it out. It must have worked, too, because I got a few weapon skills from those sparing matches.
I learned the Whirlwind Slash from a female knight at level one. The attack involved twisting the user's body while casting wind magic on their weapon. I haven't got the wind magic skill, but maybe I will after I use this skill. The second is called Form Break, which I learned from a scout. It involves a fast attack with a light weapon to throw your opponent off balance. He nearly beat me with that move, but I recovered in time to turn the tide of our fight. The last one is Great Decoy I learned from an old knight. It is a move that involves performing multiple faints to hide your actual attack. I used that move myself a few times and found it very useful, so this one is already at level two, unlike the other two skills. I even won my last two fights with that move. Still looking at Henry, I doubt telling her that would make her any less upset. Hopefully, by the time I have talked to the Earl, she will be in a better mood.
The Earl takes me into one sitting room where his wife and his eldest son are waiting. Pearl and Nana leave us with one of the maids showing Nana her room and Pearl agreeing to help train some young soldiers. His son doesn't greet me, but the Earl's wife does so with a bow. The room is nice and comfortable. It isn't designed to impress guests but still looks good.
"Is it true you recovered a holy sword?" I can see him looking at the weapon on my hip, so I take it out. "That's… that's the…" Why is he crying? Why is his wife crying? Why does his son look like he can't believe what he saw? At least Henry is acting normal. She's still angry, though. "The sword crafted by the ancestral king…."
"It must be a fake," His son mutters.
"No, It is the real thing…." His wife confirms.
I hand it over to the Earl and let him examine it with his wife. They are making too much of a big deal out of just a single sword. They look at my weapon and stoke it as if it is something precious. I suppose a Holy Sword is something precious, but I don't think they need to go this far. When they finally hand Gjallarhorn back to me, both look like they are reluctant to part with it.
"It must be fate," The Earl mutters. "The first hero of our kingdom in a long time wields the weapon forged by the ancestral king."
After that, we talk about what has happened. Henery had already told her parents what went on at the Cradle, so I was just asked to confirm what she said. The Earl was surprised when I told him about the Undead King and his death wish but accepted the story. The only problem came with bringing up the idea of taking Mia back home. He agreed to it on the condition that I take part in The Martial Arts Tournament. I was okay with that, but then he added something else.
"I want you to meet me in the Royal Capital for the Kingdom's meeting at the end of the year," Earl Seiryuu states. "Until then, I want you to travel and earn a name for yourself. There are plenty of nobles who dismissed you, calling you a fake hero, but if you were to commit deeds befitting a hero, then nobody would doubt you."
"I see," I nod my head. "I will do what I can to help."
"Good, and to aid you on your journey, I will give you three things," The Earl smiles. "The first is this." He hands me a bag which I am surprised to find contains five hundred gold coins. I have given you two hundred and fifty for defeating that demon and another two hundred and fifty for protecting my daughter and defeating the Undead King."
As for the rest, we pause as a maid brings in a wooden box and a knight hands the Earl a ceremonial sword.
"The second gift is this," The Earl says, raising the sword. "As of today, you will be a knight severing me. Please kneel." I do as he says, and he lightly taps my shoulders with his sword. "With this title, you will be able to stay at an inn with your demi-human companion and receive faster entry and exits into towns and cities."
The Earl hands the sword back to the knight as I stand. His wife and Henry look happy, but the Earl's son looks like he is furious. I could deal with it if it was directed at me, but I only noticed his anger begin to boil when the Earl mentioned Pearl could stay at inns.
"My third gift is this," He takes out a small dagger with his family's crest on it. "Take this with you. The crest will show you are my retainer. If you run into any trouble showing off this crest will help you get out of it."
"Thank you," I reply, taking the dagger.
"I also heard you have found someone willing to transport you," The Earl says as we sit back down. "I am sorry. I would offer to send some guards and provide a carriage for you, but the maze has taken up most of my manpower."
"It's okay," I smile. "I'm used to travelling this way."
After talking about Satou and how he agreed to take me for free after saving him from Zen, we talked about the small stuff. He let me leave the castle tomorrow to buy some travelling supplies and visit Mia and even said he would pay for everything. While I am doing that, Nana would be given some basic training from the Earl's knights with Pearl. Afterwards, I agreed but was more forced into joining Henry for tea as she was appointed to teach me how to behave as a knight. We aren't leaving for another few days, so I have plenty of time to prepare for the trip.
<0>
"Hero Kura,"
Mia quickly jumped up when she saw me approaching. Yuya gives me a quick greeting before leaving us alone. It was a bit later than I had planned, but Mia didn't look upset. She hugs me and smiles. This must be what it is like to have a cute little sister. I pat her head as we move to a small set of sofas.
"Spirit user?"
Mia asks as we sit down, looking at me. Something is off about her eyes for a moment as they seem to glow before returning to normal.
"No," I shake my head. "I have never seen a spirit before. Can you see them?"
"Around you," I nearly shiver at that comment. I hope there isn't an evil spirit hovering over me. "There are a lot."
"I wish I could see them," I say, glancing around, but I fail to spot a single spirit. "Is there a lot of people that can see them?"
"No," Mia shakes her head.
"You must be pretty special then, Mia,"
"Special," Mia nods with a shy smile.
Talking to Mia got easier as time went on. It seems elves talk with few words, which are sometimes tricky to understand, but their meaning becomes clear if you focus. I tell Mia about being trapped in the labyrinth, meeting Pearl and Henry and a fake backstory of being a traveller and a mon hunter. Mia, meanwhile, tells me about her home and family. She tells me she about her parents and her older brother before talking about several elves she plays with. I even learned the Elf Language skill when I asked Mia what a few things were in the elven language. I will be sure to level it up before we reach her home.
It was hard to leave Mia as she wanted me to stay longer, but I had other things I needed to get done. She seemed fine when I reminded her that we would be leaving the city with Satou tomorrow, but it was still hard to go.
After parting ways with Mia, I started visiting shops and buying a few intermediate healing and mana potions. I brought some clothes for travelling, a tent big enough for four and sleeping bags for me, Mia, Pearl and Nana. My final stop was to visit the town hall so I could get paid for the monster cores I turned in from the Cradle yesterday. Typically they would have paid me at the front gate, but the number of cores I handed over was worth more than Sir Thorne was authorised to hand over. At least it was a simple process, and all I had to do was hand over a recite Sir Thorne gave me and wait a few moments. It took about ten minutes, but in the end, I walked away with three gold coins and eight silver coins.
Then I returned to the castle. Had tea with Henry and was drilled relentlessly until the end of the day on how I have to behave now. Henry was a strict but good teacher. Under her, my Etiquette skill was maxed out, and I managed to gain and raise my Dance skill to level three. I am sure it will be helpful to know how to dance in the future, but Henry seemed to take longer with those lessons.
Now it is the day of our departure. I bid goodbye to Earl Seiryuu and his wife at the castle, the Earl's son didn't show up, but Henry accompanied me to the front gate. There I was reunited with the owner of the Gate front Inn, who was happy to see me and made sure that Satou returned my belongings as he promised. Martha was there too, along with her little sister. But, the kid talked with Pochi and Tama while Martha was moaning about not visiting sooner.
"Master, the loading is complete," Liza reports appearing from behind the carriage.
"Great, go ahead and board the carriage, then,"
We all start to climb on, with Pochi and Tama receiving a neckless from Martha's sister and exchanging promises to learn how to write and send letters. It looked like it was a bit cramped inside but not too bad. Henry makes me promise not to keep her waiting for too long in the Capital as Mia arrives with Yuya. We greet each other before getting into the carriage. Satou was the last one to get onto the carriage as he looked around as if hoping someone would appear. I feel bad for him as it looks like they won't be showing up.
We slowly make our way out of the city, being careful of other carriages as Satou's slave Lulu drives. She is surprisingly good despite how nervous she appears. Satou sits next to her, still glancing back at the city while everyone else is in the back. It really is a tight squeeze as Mia sits on my lap while Pochi is on Liza's and Tama on Pearl's.
"How far are we planning to travel today? I can't imagine we'll reach another city or major town leaving at this time of day, so will we be staying in a village near the highway?" Arisa asks as the city starts to shrink in the distance.
"We won't be going to any villages. According to Nadi, discrimination against demi-humans is even worse in those places. So we'll just camp out wherever we can find a good spot," Satou answers, looking back from his spot next to Lulu on the driver's stand.
"Camping?"
"We'll make a bonfire in an open field somewhere, then set up cots around it and sleep,"
"Like in the labyrinth, sir?"
"That's right," Satou nods as the two kids' eyes sparkle.
"Yaaay!"
"Sir!"
I feel sorry for Liza and Pearl as the two kids start bouncing on their laps until Liza scolds them. They both wore huge grins while saying stuff about being together is the best. They looked cute as they excitedly cheered while making lines like "We can sleep together!" sound innocent.
"Satou!!!"
The missing person finally appears. I'm glad they didn't just stand him up.
"A counterattack from the local mistress?" Arisa frowns as she mutters, and our carriage comes to a stop.
"Satou!"
Looking back toward the main gate where someone called Satou's name, I saw Zena riding toward us on a white horse. If this was some kind of fairytale, the rolls would have been reversed, and Satou would have been the one on the horse. Satou has our carriage pull over to the side of the road as Zena rides up next to us, brushing the windswept hair out of her face. Zena was wearing a blue dress that seemed ill-suited to riding a horse. She was even wearing makeup like this meeting was some kind of date.
"I'm so glad I caught you in time!" Zena smiles.
"Yes, I'm happy to see you again before I leave, too."
"I've been thinking very hard about this," Zena says with surprising intensity. "I cannot abandon my family and run away to my true love's side, like Princess Liltiena." Liltiena… wait, wasn't that the name of Zen's wife? "And so, I cannot ask you to take me with you, Satou."
"Come, too!"
"You should come with us, ma'am!"
Pochi and Tama jump from Pearl's and Liza's laps and stick their heads out of the carriage.
"Thank you. But I cannot come with you right now." Zena thanked the pair, emphasising the "Right now" part. She then turned her gaze back to Satou. "In the spring, my brother will become an adult and take over as the head of our family. After that, I have his permission to do as I wish. So, when spring arrives, I, too, will go to Labyrinth City!" I really thought she was going to propose or something with the look in her eyes. "Arisa, we'll see who wins then!"
"Hee-hee! Do you really think you'll stand a chance with such a late start? Don't come crying to me if you arrive in Labyrinth City only to see my and my master's children!"
I don't think that is going to happen. Satou doesn't look like he will give her a child either, but Arisa still starts to laugh like some villainess. She would have just raised a death flag if this was some Otome game. I'm surprised she doesn't say anything as Satou promises to wait for her and even send letters. Maybe if I send Henry a letter every now and then, she will be in a good mood when we meet again in the Royal Capital.
"Well, Zena, I look forward to the day that we meet again in the Labyrinth City Celivera,"
"Yes, Satou! Please wait for me until then!"
I was glad that this hadn't turned into an unhappy parting. Zena waved at Satou with a smile like the sun, and he waved back at her. It is a sweet scene on such a bright sunny day. I even think Zena is crying at Satou's departure.
"Don't make that face. We'll be together from now on," Arisa says, reaching over the back of the coachman's stand and patting Satou's head. I think he might be crying too.
"Tummy ache?"
"Are you in pain, sir?"
"Satou?"
""I'm fine," I'm fine, Satou says as everyone looks at him with concern.
"According to my behaviour library, it is good to cry into a woman's chest when lonely," Nana suggests before looking at me. "Hero Kura is it okay for me to use this method to cheer Satou up?"
"No, he doesn't need it," I say, although I can tell by the look on Satou's face that he wants to.
I lean back in my seat, watching Pochi, Tama, and Arisa try to cheer Satou up. I don't know what the future has in store for us or how long this journey will take. Still, I am sure that it won't be a boring trip.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone