章 10: Golem Manipulation and Shopping
"Good morning, Yuri. Good morning, everyone. Was everything alright last night? Did you sleep well?"
"...There was no danger, but it took a while to fall asleep."
"I see. It's hard to sleep without a tent, isn't it?"
"No, we're former mercenaries, so we're used to sleeping under the stars."
"Oh. Then why?"
"Because you and that woman were so loud!"
He didn't specify what kind of sounds they were making. He hesitated to explicitly mention what his lord and his pet slave were doing in the tent alone at night.
"Well, you can't blame us for that. It was the night a loving couple reunited after surviving a life-or-death situation with bandits. You guys were the cause of it in the first place."
Noein said this with a cheeky grin, and Yuri could only reply,
"Damn... Fine."
"Don't make such a sour face. We can just keep a greater distance from now on, and you'll be sleeping in tents too, so it'll be fine."
After discussing this rather serious matter for the sake of everyone's comfort, they had breakfast and set off for Letovic to buy supplies, which was their plan for the day.
At first, Noein suggested that he would go shopping with the men, leaving Matilda and Mai at the settlement, but Matilda vehemently objected with a terrifying expression to her master going off with the men who were bandits until yesterday, so they decided to ask Yuri and Mai to stay behind and the remaining five of them would head to Letovic.
From Noein's point of view, he was entrusting the settlement to people he had just met yesterday, but since he was taking all the valuables such as money and magic tools with him, there shouldn't be any major problems.
They left the forest, following the route they had taken many times before, which had been trampled by the golems and had become somewhat of a proper path.
"Hey, Master Noein, how can you move those golems so skillfully?"
It was Pence, the slender, sharp-eyed man, who asked this question on the way to Letovic.
"Yeah, I was wondering about that too. They move almost unnaturally smoothly, don't they?"
Bart, the young, handsome man, also joined the conversation.
"So you guys think my golem manipulation is amazing too?"
"It's incredible. We've seen golems used for carrying loads and stuff, but they were all much slower."
"...I've only seen one guy who could move golems as well as Master Noein. He was an old puppet mage who worked for the kingdom army. But even he only controlled one golem at a time. It's unbelievable that you can control multiple golems like that, Master Noein."
Radley said this, agreeing with Pence.
"Apparently, most people who find out they can use puppet magic just get jobs carrying loads and stuff without much practice. There aren't many people like me who have nothing but free time until they reach adulthood and can spend a huge amount of time just mastering golem manipulation. That's probably why my manipulation skills are so high."
Noein thought that mastering golem manipulation was similar to a baby learning to move its own body.
You just repeat the same practice over and over again, gradually synchronizing your brain and body, growing your skills as if connecting nerves one by one.
Noein had walked this long path of training and had become able to freely control two humanoid golems as if they were his own body. As for the horse-shaped golem, he could control it with minimal effort, without any real practice.
He probably wouldn't be able to control any more golems simultaneously, but he thought he was probably one of the best puppet mages in this kingdom, perhaps even in the world.
...
Upon arriving in Letovic, they first headed to Eliza's grocery store, as usual.
"Oh, if it isn't the Forest Baron. What brings you here again after just yesterday?"
Eliza greeted Noein with a surprised voice.
"Hello, Eliza. Actually, I've finally welcomed some people to my territory. I've come to buy food for them."
Noein replied with a smile and pointed to the three people who had entered the store with him.
This was where Bart's charm came in handy.
"We came to this town as refugees, and the Baron took pity on us and took us in. We intend to work hard and repay his kindness."
Bart's well-groomed appearance and the sincere tone of his voice created an atmosphere that appealed to a woman's protective instincts, and Eliza expressed her sympathy, saying, "Is that so? I'm glad you were taken in." She probably wouldn't even imagine that he was a bandit until yesterday.
Noein, who was impressed by Bart's acting skills, glanced to the side and was a little startled.
First, Pence. His sharp eyes and slender build gave him a lizard-like impression, but now his eyes were downcast, and he was perfectly playing the part of a "thin and pitiful man."
Then, Radley. To be honest, he was an ugly man, but the addition of a sad expression gave him an indescribable air of melancholy. He looked like the kind of person you would want to give some change to if you saw him begging on the street.
Both of them looked like they could easily pass for "pitiful refugees," no less convincing than Bart. They must have used these faces to disarm people's vigilance and get through towns and villages in the past.
Holding back his urge to point out how different they looked from the rough-looking guys they were just a moment ago, Noein bought additional food from Eliza.
After buying the food, they went to buy daily necessities and bedding for the new residents.
"You're even buying us clothes?"
"Of course. You can't keep wearing the same clothes forever, can you?"
It couldn't be helped since they had been wandering around the kingdom as bandits, but they smelled because they hadn't properly washed their bodies or clothes.
But they couldn't even wash their clothes properly if they didn't have any spare clothes.
Noein thought that he should immediately improve the situation where his people couldn't even wash their clothes.
He bought some clothes for Yuri and Mai, who were staying behind at the settlement, as well as cloth, buckets for the five of them to wash themselves in, and additional consumables such as soap.
Pence and the others were humbled by the fact that they were being provided with soap, a luxury item, but Noein told them,
"Good work comes from a good life. If you feel indebted, you can just repay me with your work."
The last thing they bought were tents.
"I don't think I can fit all five of you in one tent, so how should we divide you? Should we separate you by gender?"
"No, Mai is the boss's woman. It would be easier if you could separate us from those two."
"Oh, is that so?"
He thought he understood why Yuri had said he and Mai would stay behind at the settlement.
He's complaining about us being loud at night, but he's planning to enjoy himself alone with a woman in the settlement where no one will disturb them, he grumbled to himself.
Grumbling to himself, he bought them tents anyway, and they returned to the settlement with the cart fully loaded.
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