Chapter 72

Jack of all Trades – 72Post navigation

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Trouble Maker, Trouble Evader

“So, what is this Empire that we are visiting like?”

I asked Daniela after we had gone through the southern gate and began to walk down the gravel road.

“The Empire… The Flugelnia Empire is a nation that controls much of the southern lands. Fhiraldo and Spiris, on the other hand, are a part of the Lambrusen Republic. Is this all new to you, Asagi?”

“It is. I have no grasp on geography here. Just that there are forests to the north and mountains to the south.”

“The northern forests are called the Great Sawyer Forests. The southern mountains are the Alessa Mountains. You should know that name very well.”

It was the place where those damned adventurers who called me Black Rabbit were sent to work in the mines. I remembered it well.

“This whole region is called the Alexia mountain ranges. The mountain range stretches out east-west and separates Lambrusen and Flugelnia. There is a gate in the Alessa mountains that lets you enter the country. And so we will need to reach the town with the gate in order to enter the Empire.”

The sudden barrage of unknown words was scrambled in my mental map. Uh…

So the country that I came to after dying was the Lambrusen Republic. I woke up on the misty hills and walked to Fhiraldo to the east. We moved even further east after that and ended up in Spiris. To the north of the misty hills, Fhiraldo and Spiris, lay the Sawyer Forest. To the south was the Alexia mountain ranges that went east-west. And this Flugelnia Empire lay passed those mountains…

Hmm, I think I got that right. So we were always going between the mountains and forests up until now. Had I first appeared in the great forest or mountains, I likely would have died. It would have been much harder to find a town nearby.

“I get the picture.”

“Good. Well, we are going to be traveling through those mountains you can see up ahead.”

The map was clear in my head now, and I could imagine our destination. I suddenly felt a lot more motivated. However, there was one thing that was bothering me.

“Uh, Daniela.”

“What?”

“This Empire, is it one of those military states?”

There was something hot-blooded about the word. The last thing I wanted to do, was to get drafted.

“Well, you might say so. It is considered glamorous to be in the army.”

“So, are they likely to be causing any wars?”

“No, I do not think so. If anything, they make a show of declaring their distaste for war.”

Huh… I hardly knew what to think anymore…

“Though, the Empire did attempt world domination around six hundred years ago. They even succeeded in it too.”

“Seriously?”

“Serious. However, the world was much too large to be governed so, and the Emperor at the time died from the stress. The succeeding son had no intention of following his father’s fate. And so the lands were split up and the independent states were born.”

“That’s quite impressive…”

“It was highly contested at the time. But seeing as how things have settled now, he must have been a wise Emperor.”

So that was a little history of this world. He had seen his father die from being overworked and wanted better for himself. I wonder if that was all written in their history books? I was curious.

“The Empire has never launched an attack on another country since then. The army does nothing outside of their parades. As I said, it is considered glamorous, and the most popular occupation.”

“They don’t even fight?”

“They will generally only fight monsters. They attack in great numbers and prevent stampedes. I guess it is one of the things they do outside of parades.”

I asked her many other things about Flugelnia as we walked. We occasionally took breaks to rest before continuing. We had left first thing in the morning, but the town of Alessa was far. The mountains only barely looked closer than before by the time the sun began to set. We would have to spend the night in a small area between a field of grass and a grove.

“Asagi, is this fine for the tent?”

“You got it, Master Daniela. It’s perfect!”

I gave her a thumbs up as I stirred the soup in the pot. A nice camp soup, full of fresh vegetables, blocks of meat, and flavored with salt and spices. After this was done, I moved the pot and placed a frying pan over the fire. When it was heated, I put on Daniela’s favorite meat and let it sizzle. The smell of spices spread through the air. Thankfully, Presence Detection told us that there was no one nearby. Not a single monster. But if anything bothered to come from so far away after somehow smelling it, then I would gladly oblige them. I always welcomed experience points.

Now, the meat was cooked just right. I took the small estoc that Daniela used as a skewer and thrust it through the meat. It went on a plate with some toasted bread and was placed on our low table. Once the soup was served, our first dinner during our Flugelnia trip was complete. By the way, I happened to make this table. I just needed the tools and a little help from Jack of all Trades, Master of None, and it was easy. Being able to become a carpenter so easily made me wonder if this skill really was a cheat, but then I remembered Matsumoto. It was clear that he had taken all of the real protagonist luck. Which was a relief.

“Danielaaaa. Dinners served.”

“Coming.”

Daniela was wiping her body behind the tent and answered without showing herself. I wouldn’t have exactly minded if she did it in front of me. Hehe.

The cleaned up Daniela sat opposite of me as we ate. First, the soup.

The Hearty Camping Soup(named by me) had a splendid combination of thick, juicy meat and light and sweet vegetables, giving it a rich, delicious flavor. I could not be more pleased with it myself. The vegetables would melt in your mouth and the meat barely required any chewing. It was a good thing that I had prepared the ingredients before throwing them in the hollow bag, even for simple meals like this. I had done it during our midday break.

Now the meat. The spices were sharp and went well with it, or so my nose told me. Then I bite into it. There was no time to calm myself, and I kept eating without being able to stop. Then I dunked the bread inside of the soup and also had some of it with the meat. And all was right with the world. And then our dinner was done.

“Ahh, I am quite full.”

Daniela said with great satisfaction as she rolled onto the ground. That reminded me of something.

“Daniela. Back where I’m from, people say that lying down right after eating will turn you into a cow.”

“Hmm… Do you mean that your breasts will become larger?”

“No, that’s not what I meant.”

I denied it and looked away as Daniela cupped her breasts while lying on the ground. There was something very provocative about her recently. Like when we spent the whole day at the inn…no, never mind that. Some things should be kept private.

“I meant that you’d get fat.”

“Asagi, why did you not say so!”

She sat up quickly. I chuckled at this reaction, but then she pouted with annoyance. This meant that I could now sit down next to her and amuse myself by poking at her cheeks. Daniela was not amused, she folded her arms and looked away unforgivingly.

It took me the entire night to get back in her good graces.

□ □ □ □

And so our journey continued in this fun fashion. We passed the prairies, traveled through the rocky hills, and were occasionally attacked by rabbit-like monsters that hid in holes. These grass rabbits had light green-colored fur and small horns protruding from their heads. Well, horns or not, they were hardly a threat to us. We easily killed them and helped ourselves to their horns.

Once we were out of there, we came out to a place that was full of large boulders. Monsters called stone lizards would jump out with earth magic attacks here, and we even encountered a group of goblins with their stone weapons.

This countryside adventure lasted for three days until we finally reached the Allessa mountains. The summit was covered in a thin layer of snow. You could see streams of smoke rising from between the mountains, indicating where the mining towns were. It seemed like a distance that we could cover within the day.

However, this was the moment that I was the most afraid of.

As for why, I had a knack for getting into the worst trouble upon first arriving in a new town. If I wasn’t getting chased by forest wolves, then I was being chased by wyverns. There was no doubt that something was waiting for me here. Daniela did not seem concerned as we walked, but my eyes darted to every corner, suspiciously inspecting everything. Presence Detection was constantly spread out and activated, and of course, I kept an eye above our heads too. I would make sure that there were no small shadows blocking the sun before checking the ground again. Would something jump out from under our feet…it was a possibility.

“What is it, Asagi? You seem very anxious.”

“Don’t let your guard down, Daniela. It is when you think that you have won, that something completely unexpected will happen.”

“And who do you think you are fighting?”

Daniela looked at me with exasperation. But I couldn’t be bothered by it now. I was too busy securing our safety. The journey was not over until we were inside the town.

Right then, Presence Detection caught something approaching us from behind. Didn’t I tell you! My prediction had been right!

“Daniela! Enemy approaching from the back!”

“What?”

I quickly unsheathed my claw blade and held it in front of me. Something was approaching us at great speed, causing a cloud of dust to rise in the air.

“Asagi.”

“Get ready, Daniela! The enemy is coming!”

A carriage appeared from within the dust cloud. A banner was fixed to it. So it wasn’t a monster. Then was it…

“Could they be bandits?!”

“There would not be bandits so close to the town. And that banner…”

The carriage came closer and closer. The two horses trampled the dirt wildly as they approached.

The driver was coming into view. …Hmm, there was something familiar about, no, it couldn’t be.

“Ahhh! I knew it would be you when I saw your equipment! I could spot that wind dragon armor a mile away! Oh, but why are you pointing your sword at me?”

Silently, I lowered it. The driver was the owner of the Paw Armor Shop.

Now, what was I supposed to do about all these wasted emotions?