Magic Warrior Chapter 23 (Patreon)

To Town

Solgeplante Kingdom, Count Howling territory.

It seems to be where Feld Village was located. This was the first time I had heard of it.

In addition, I heard that the town within a day's distance from Feld Village was called Gardia town.

The reason why I have just now acquired such information is that I was going to visit the town of Gardia.

It was my father's job, but Claire and I were to take some letters to the Adventurers' Guild.

My father regularly went to the town to send out letters. He also took care of the village business that needed to be done in town.

I heard that my father's parents were no longer with him, so I wondered if he exchanged letters with Alphos-San and other acquaintances from his adventuring days.

The reason why we had to carry the letters this time was because my father had been working so hard for Claire's birthday.

He was probably trying to make Claire a staff, but he got a bad back while trying to carry a log. I had no idea what he was going to do, because he always started with a sudden idea.

Normally, my father would have gone after he recovered, or if it was an emergency, another adult would have gone.

But since both Claire and I had been talking about going to the town for a while, he told us to go together. I guess it was a part of our social studies.

Of course, it was safe to go to the town on the street, but normally you don't send a child alone to the town to run an errand.

But, if it was me, I could defeat any monsters in the area, so they decided it would be okay if I went to town.

In Count Howling's territory, there were almost no bandits or other similar things to be seen. It was said that this was largely due to the fact that soldiers patrolled the territory regularly.

The Count of Howling has a good government and was well-supported by his people.

That's what I was told when I thought my father, who was bedridden, had called me. I heard that my mother also agreed that we should go and see the town.

"Mina, you are going to register at the Adventurers' Guild anyway. After redeeming the gold coins, you will not have to worry about losing them if you leave them at the guild, and if you are an adventurer, you can carry a sword in the village without any problems. And while you're at it, you can ask the innkeeper there, as well."

"Dad, can I sign up as well?"

"You can deposit your money in a commercial guild. Claire, do you want to be an adventurer?"

"Well, I don't know yet."

Claire glanced at me.

I think it was already confirmed that I would become an adventurer, even though I haven't said anything about it.

I guess it could be because I never showed any interest in village work, and all I do was practice swordsmanship. Lately I've been thinking about becoming an adventurer too, but I just haven't had the chance to say so clearly.

"I see. Well, that's fine. However, I'm only registering this time."

"Yeah, thanks, Dad!"

◇

Today we would prepare to go to town and leave tomorrow morning.

We only need to put food, water, a letter to be delivered, a change of clothes, and money in the magic bag. I should also pack a blanket or a cloak as a precautionary measure against camping out in the wild, just in case.

The two magic bags we received on our last expedition were both belt pouches.

I think they were a good choice because I can attach them to my belt, and they are not likely to be stolen. Both were fastened with snap buttons, but the small one had silver buttons and the large one had gold buttons.

I checked the performance of the Magic Bag and found that if you put about 20% into the mouth of the pouch, you can put anything in it.

By opening the mouth of the pouch and touching it, it was possible to check the contents like a game list, and in that state, it was possible to pick it up if you were aware that you wanted to take it out.

As for the weight, I could hold it with one hand, just enough to feel that there was something in it, even if I filled it to the brim with heavy items I saw.

It may be like item storage in a game. It does not have a time-stopping storage function, but it is a useful bag in its own right.

A large magic bag like a backpack or purse has the advantage of being easy to put in and out, but it also has the disadvantage of getting in the way of movement.

Large bags are more convenient for expeditions by merchants and soldiers, who use horse-drawn carriages and the like.

Even the small bag could probably fit a large suitcase for overseas travel.

I was not sure about the capacity of the large bag. The mouth was too small to hold a table or a chair, so I couldn't try it out. I might have been able to check if it was during the vegetable harvest season. My sword went in, and it was interesting to see how it slid into the obviously smaller pouch.

By the way, if you try it out of curiosity, you cannot put a magic bag with something in it into a magic bag.

If it is a magic bag with nothing in it, you can put it in.

It seems that it is not possible to keep putting many magic bags in one magic bag, like an infinite bag. Too bad.

"I'll give the small one to Claire."

"Eh, is it alright?"

"No, it's okay, I'll give it to Claire as a thank you for accompanying Alphos-san and the others. It will come in handy even if I don't become an adventurer."

This one bag would come in handy for shopping or just carrying things.

I think that one bag and one large gold coin might have been given to me at a very low price, but I wonder if it was something common in the town.

I would like to go check that out as well.

"I have an early day tomorrow, so I'm going to bed.

"Yeah, good night. Good night, sis.

The village was close enough that if I left early in the morning, I could get there before the sun came up. If I didn't leave early in the morning, I would have to camp outside.

It would not be impossible for us to stay there for a day or so, but we are not experienced travelers, so we are a bit worried.

◇

--The next morning.

The entrance and exit of the village is a simple fence. The entrance and exit are simple enough to be a landmark, and if you follow your eyes beyond the fence, you will soon find that there is nothing there.

The southern forest was fenced off because wolves and bears rarely come close to the village. The northern forest was safe and therefore unguarded. It was a no-guard strategy.

...Or not?

The town of Gardia was reached by a road extending from the west entrance of Feld Village. If you go north at the crossroads along the way, you will reach the town, and if you go all the way south, you will reach the border.

I heard there was a fort at the border, but it doesn't matter this time.

"Be careful on your way there."

"The day after we get to town, we'll do some sightseeing, stay one more night, and then we'll go home."

"Since we're going to be there, why don't you stay there for a couple of nights? The town is big enough that you can't even cover it in a day's exploration, you know?"

"Well, Claire and I will decide when we get there. If it takes longer, I'll be back within a week."

"That's right, have a good time."

Mom had come to see me off at the exit of the village. Dad couldn't move, you know.

I was equipped with the armor Alphos-san and the others had given me, and I hung both my wooden sword and the iron sword my father had given me.

I also carried the wooden sword just in case I had to use the magic sword. The sword I got in the dungeon was kept in my magic bag.

Claire was dressed in her normal clothes, but she was wearing a cloak with blade-proof effect. It looks like Mom used it when she and Dad went out of the village. Claire was also wearing a hair ornament that was a gift from her father, which she wears every day.

Until noon, I just walk west along the path that is made along the forest.

I walked with Claire, chatting with her.

On the west side of the village, there was a section where the forest to the north extended slightly to the south, so the path rippled several times from north to south.

The south side of the road was a meadow, and I simply think that it would have been better to lay the road straight west once you reached the southernmost point of the road.

I wonder if they cleared the land as it was where people used to walk, or if there was some kind of convenience.

The weather was fine, and if you looked to the right, you would see a forest, and to the left, a gently sloping meadow.

It was unusual at first, but I was a little bored with the same scenery almost all the time.

"Big sis, is this a stone pillar to ward off monsters?"

"Hmm, maybe?"

The stone pillar was about the same height as me, with a lamp-like object attached to the top.

The lamp shines faintly, and when it turns off, it was said to be a sign that the effectiveness of the protection has expired. All the stone pillars were numbered, and the first person to notice this must report this to the Adventurers' Guild or the Commerce Guild in the nearest town would receive a reward, though it would be only pocket money.

The stone pillars have the effect of keeping monsters away from the surrounding area, making the roads relatively safe.

It seems that it might be somewhat difficult for monsters to approach the area, and in the case that you encountered a monster and then ran away, the monster would likely hesitate to approach the pillar.

In order to maintain the safety of the road, the kingdom replenishes the magical stones when soldiers patrol the road. The frequency of replacing them was not high, but the view within the kingdom was that the more firmly a territory did this, the more excellent its attitude toward governance was.

Conversely, it would seem that the King may force taking the land back if a lord failed to do so, and it seems that there were barely any lords in the kingdom who were not doing so.

The distance from one stone pillar to the next was quite far, so we could not see them, but as long as we walked along the road, we would find the stone pillars that stood one after another.

When the sun was directly overhead, we decided to have lunch at the next stone pillar to avoid monsters.

The next stone pillar would be the fifth one, so they seem to be placed at intervals of about an hour's walk. One hour on foot would be about 4 kilometers. We were walking at a leisurely pace, so it might take a little less time if we rushed.

It was easy because the standard measurement in this world was metric.

It could be that the real language and units of measurement may be different, but they might be automatically translated in my mind.

My mother made onigiri for lunch.

When I made them with leftover rice, my mother was surprised to hear that they did not exist in the village. I wondered why there was rice in the village, but there were no rice balls. I guess bread was enough to carry around in the village.

"It's delicious to eat outside, big sis."

"It's a beautiful day for a picnic, isn't it?"

"Picnic?"

Yes, we hardly ever leave the village over here, so we wouldn't have a word for that.

...You wouldn't say it's different because a picnic was for eating, would you?

I was afraid that Claire, who had a good head on her shoulders, would say so.