“Phew, sure gets hot after exercising...”
I walked through Baltrain’s streets in the early afternoon. It was a little past the midpoint of spring, and while the climate tended to be rather mild during this time of year, exercising could work up a bit of a sweat.
After sparring with Mewi and Lumite, I’d faced several of the other students. I hadn’t lost to any, of course, but it’d been a good opportunity to personally experience their growth. For example, Lumite had spent much less time accumulating mana to use his sword magic, while Nesia had polished his swordplay even further. He could have tried a little harder with his magic, though.
After that time well spent, the class had quickly come to an end. So, with my duty for the day successfully completed, I was now casually taking a stroll back home.
“Haaah... I wish I could get into a bath...”
I couldn’t be seen slouching as I walked, so I kept my posture nice and straight. But inside, I was full of complaints. My mind wandered to memories of Flumvelk, where I’d had the pleasure of refreshing myself in a bath and drinking a nice ale afterward.
Though I was fully aware of how impossible that desire was to fulfill, it was unreasonable to try to forget a luxury after savoring it. There was no way to have a bath built into my home. I didn’t have enough space or money for that, and I wouldn’t be able to maintain it anyway.
Unfortunately, I hadn’t even heard rumors of a public bathhouse in Baltrain. One probably existed, but not one I could personally use. That would be the territory of nobles and royalty, and there was no barging into places like that. My only choice was to be satisfied with the widely available steam baths. I’m once again reminded that nothing good comes from experiencing too many luxuries.
“Let’s just take it easy today.”
I thought about what to do as I continued walking through town. Most of the time, when I went to the institute, I didn’t have to work at the order. I could technically go if I wanted to, but it was unexpectedly tiring to teach in multiple places on the same day.
I’d gotten permission from Allucia to keep this routine, and fortunately, now wasn’t a time when I had to push things. The incident in Sphenedyardvania had been rather serious, but those were the affairs of another nation. Liberis’s knights—and me in particular—couldn’t really get involved.
As for the knights’ training, we’d had the recent expedition to Hugenbite, and since then, things had largely returned to routine. The new recruits, including Adel and Edel, were also gradually getting accustomed to their new environment.
If there was one thing worth mentioning, it would be the yearly delegation from Sphenedyardvania. It was nearly time for that to happen, but given the current circumstances, it was probably going to be difficult to organize and execute. Sphenedyardvania was desperately trying to get its internal affairs back in order, and it was hard to claim that the Holy Order had been successfully rebuilt. These were international matters, so my personal conjecture could only go so far. Still, I felt like it would be bad for their reputation to go on a carefree trip across the border right now.
If anything was going to happen on that front, information would probably come my way. The order’s higher-ups—namely Allucia and Henblitz—would definitely be kept in the loop. I’d participated in the last escort mission with Sphenedyardvania’s royalty, so I doubted they would leave me out of this one. And since the annual delegation should be just around the corner, it was safe to assume some kind of information would come soon—there’d been nothing so far, though.
The only thing I could do now was maintain my spirits so that I could continue guiding everyone—and have dinner ready for Mewi whenever she had classes at the institute.
On that topic, the season had changed, and with that, fish had pretty much vanished from the market. I could find some if I really looked, but given how close summer was, it was too much to ask for anything fresh. I’d glanced at the seafood the last time I’d gone to the western district, and it was already twice the price it’d been during the winter.
Mewi had taken a liking to fish, and I could technically afford to buy some as a reward every now and then. However, it was unrealistic to have it on the dinner table on a daily basis. If I completely ignored saving for the future, I could pull it off, but I had no reason to be so fixated on seafood.
A commoner’s truest friend, however, was the potato. They were cheap, delicious, and filling. You couldn’t live entirely off potatoes, but a good portion of our meals depended on them. I rather liked the taste too.
I continued pondering what to do for dinner, and before I knew it, I found myself arriving home. It was a snug little house that used to be Lucy’s secondary residence on the edge of the central district. Standing in front of the door was a certain woman.
“Hm...? Surena?”
“Ah, Master. Good work today.”
“Mm. Likewise.”
She was Surena Lysandra, a black rank of the adventurer’s guild. When she heard my voice, she immediately straightened her posture and walked toward me.
“What brings you out here?” I asked.
“I have a message for you, so I made my way over... Are you just now getting back?”
“Yup, good guess. Anyway...a message?”
“Yes.”
I wondered what it was. I doubted it was to ask me to supervise new adventurers like that time with Porta a while ago. Back then, she’d dropped by the order’s office—it’d been faster to have things approved through Allucia.
“I’m curious...but how about we step inside first?” I suggested.
“Thank you. Pardon the intrusion.”