Chapter 5-29 : Back To The Village

 

「Thank God! My house is still in one piece!」(Sarasa)

After parting with Iris-san and the others, Lorea-chan and I returned to the village and were welcomed by my beautiful castle which hadn’t changed since we left.

ーNo. Actually, there’s a minor change.

The fence in front of the entrance to the store is partially broken, but I can fix it easily.

I’m glad that none of the windows are broken. Glass windows are expensive after all.

「Phew… I’m glad that you don’t have any reason to go to Baronet Kirk’s mansion and go berserk there.」(Lorea)

「I said I can control myself. Geez…」(Sarasa)

While pouting at Lorea-chan, I unlocked the door and entered the store area.

Even though we have been gone for a while, the inside is not too dusty. It seems that the ‘cleaning’ function of the engraved seal that was installed in this house by the previous owner is still working fine.

I went toward the kitchen and checked the magic stone embedded in the outer wall of the kitchen under the staircase. This magic stone is the core of the engraved seal of this house.

「…Hmm, I see… As I thought…」(Sarasa)

「What’s wrong, Sarasa-san?」(Lorea)

「The magical power in this seal has decreased drastically. I filled it up before we left but it’s less than half full now.」(Sarasa)

Normally, it takes a very long time for the seal to consume half of the magical power it has stored.

We were only gone for a couple of weeks but it consumed more than half. It means that there was a situation, where the seal required a lot of magical power, that occurred while we were gone.

「Do you know what exactly happened?」(Lorea)

「My guess is that Baronet Kirk’s men came and tried to break in, but the ‘anti-crime’ function of this engraved seal worked and prevented them from getting in. That’s probably why none of the glass windows are broken.」(Sarasa)

Other than the ‘cleaning’ function, the engraved seal of this house also has an ‘anti-crime’ function that prevents strangers from getting inside the house while there’s no one inside.

Honestly, I didn’t know exactly how effective it was because I’d never tested it before, but now I know that the engraved seal’s anti-crime function is very effective. It’s not very efficient though ‘cause it consumes a lot of magical power.

「By the way, Sarasa-san, do you know how much magical power it consumed while we were gone?」(Lorea)

Lorea-chan asked curiously.

I’m glad that she has gotten more and more interested in magic.

「Umm… It’s difficult to say how much exactly. This engraved seal can hold a huge amount of magical power. When I first came to this house, I tried to fill it with my magical power, but I couldn’t fill it completely even though I poured all my magical power into it in one go. (chapter 1-5)」(Sarasa)

「I see… Does that mean it can hold more magical power than you do? That’s awesome!」(Lorea)

「I know, right?」(Sarasa)

「By the way… Do you remember when you blew away trees to make an open area in the forest near the backyard? How much magical power did you use back then?」(Lorea)

I remember a few months ago, Iris-san and Kate-san needed a place to practice their fighting skills, so I made an open space in the forest behind this house by blowing away the trees around with a powerful earth spell.

「Umm… I don’t think I used a big amount of magical power. I think I used only… ten percent, maybe?」(Sarasa)

「T, Ten percent!? That powerful spell consumed only ten percent of your magical power!? Oh, god… We might be in trouble!」(Lorea)

「What do you mean?」(Sarasa)

For some reason, Lorea-chan’s face turned pale all of a sudden. It makes me worry a bit.

「This engraved seal used eighty percent of your magical power to prevent Baronet Kirk’s men from entering this house, right? Then those men might have been injured badlyー No, they might have been killed!」(Lorea)

「Killed by this engraved seal? Umm, Lorea-chan, you can’t make such a simple comparison since the magical power efficiency of this engraved seal is far different from using a spell.」(Sarasa)

Well, I would definitely kill Baronet Kirk’s men if I used eighty percent of my magical power to use offensive spells directly against them, but this house’s engraved seal doesn’t have any offensive functions.

The ‘anti-crime’ function of this seal is all about crime prevention and is basically non-lethal.

「I don’t know exactly what this seal did to Baronet Kirk’s men to prevent them from entering this house, but I don’t think it would kill them.」(Sarasa)

「Are you sure…?」(Lorea)

「Don’t worry. This seal consumed a huge amount of magical power mostly for defensive purposes. Even if those men tried to force their way in, probably the seal would only paralyze them or something to make them unable to move. I don’t think it would kill them.」(Sarasa)

「Ugh… What if Baronet Kirk himself was with them…? I can’t feel relieved yet…」(Lorea)

「Rather than worrying about that man, we better start preparing to open the store. It’s been closed for a long time. There may be people who needed potions or something else while we were away.」(Sarasa)

「…You’re right… But I’m still worried. I’ll go gather information from the villagers first. Ah, I’ll also buy some food. I’ll be back in a moment!」(Lorea)

「Alright. I’ll prepare to make hair growth agent in my workshop then.」(Sarasa)

Lorea-chan then went outside to gather information and buy food ingredients while I worked in my workshop.

 

◇    ◇    ◇

 

At night, I enjoyed Lorea-chan’s delicious meal for dinner as usual.

During our expedition, Lorea-chan was in charge of cooking our meals, but I think the meals she made in a proper kitchen are better than the ones she made during the expedition.

「Sarasa-san, I asked some people while shopping for food ingredients. There were indeed some men who tried to break into this house.」(Lorea)

「I’m not surprised. Any villagers witnessed what exactly happened?」(Sarasa)

「No, unfortunately. The villagers knew that those were Baronet Kirk’s men. They didn’t want to get involved, so they just saw them from afar.」(Lorea)

「I see. That’s a wise decision.」(Sarasa)

Baronet Kirk’s men have been in my store a few times to pick a fight with me. The rumors about it have spread throughout the village, so most of the villagers know the circumstances already.

If the men who tried to break into my house were thieves, I’m sure the villagers would do something, but they were Baronet Kirk’s men. There’s nothing the villagers could do against them.

Commoners will never stand a chance against a noble after all.

I don’t want them to sacrifice themselves just to save my shop either, so I’m glad no one tried to stop those men.

「But, Sarasa-san, there was someone who shot an arrow at those men.」(Lorea)

I was shocked when Lorea-chan said that. I spontaneously stood up from my seat and opened my eyes wide.

「S, Seriously!? Who was that?」(Sarasa)

「Jasper-san.」(Lorea)

Jasper-san… No way…

I’m grateful that he was angry for my sake, but I don’t want him to be punished because of that!

 

TOC


You can gain access to [Early Access] page and read up to ten chapters ahead by supporting me on [Patreon]

Previous Chapter
Next Chapter

One Comment

  1. Thank you for the chapter!
    Pity Jasper is a hunter, stealth archer could have done the job without being identified… In Skyrim at least…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *