Was it even possible that I’d be alone? Soon after Diana had joined our family, I’d been tasked with making a mithril rapier, and I’d told them my agonizing fears about releasing my weapons into the world. If they were going to abandon me, they would’ve surely done so then. Besides, Samya was a resident of the Black Forest. Even if she left, she would surely visit me from time to time to check up on how I was doing. And even if she didn’t, I doubt I would hold that against her. Knowing all this, I would still decide to stay in the Black Forest, even if I were alone. I’d steeled myself for a solitary life upon coming to this world, but that hadn’t happened. Perhaps it would just come later than expected.
“Are you planning on just living there forever, Eizo?” Marius asked.
“Hmm...” I crossed my arms.
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do that either. I didn’t need to revolutionize the world with the cheats I’d received, but I did want to satisfy my desire to tour around the world and broaden my horizons.
“Well, once I repay my debt to that forest and a lot of my concerns are cleared away, I’ll probably think about moving.”
Marius stared blankly at me for a moment before he let out a low chuckle—he was clearly trying not to make much noise. “Won’t you be a world-renowned smith by then?”
“Nah, I don’t think so.”
My abilities were due to my cheats. Sure, I wanted to use them while I had them—my cheats made my smithing possible—but there were many people like Rike who were out there honing their natural talents to become masters of their craft. I was a staunch believer that people like her were the ones worthy and deserving of fame and honor. I just wished to live quietly without making much fuss, even if I couldn’t remain in the Black Forest.
I told Marius this—my feelings on the matter weren’t anything I needed to hide.
“Eizo, a little greed might do you some good.”
“I think I’m greedy enough.”
I’d been able to come to this world, make friends, and live with a family. I certainly hadn’t expected this life, and I couldn’t hope for more. The only little issues I face are occasionally having to go to battle or dealing with spies...
“This is precisely why I want to be friends with you,” Marius muttered, his voice so faint that it could melt away into the darkness. He looked a bit troubled before he broke out into a smile, an expression laced with a touch of disappointment and relief. He turned to face me directly. “I just want to be abundantly sure—your house will be okay, right?”
“Yeah, I’m pretty confident. You can rest easy.”
If the enemy came at us with overwhelming numbers, I’d be outta luck, but it would be difficult to amass a sizable army within the forest anyway. Aside from the clappers and traps that we set around the cabin, my daughters also acted as our guards. They weren’t tied down or anything or kept in a small enclosure; they were allowed to roam around as they pleased, though they had a little hut to rest in at night. Since they were given so much freedom, they could easily come up to us and alert us of any intruders. Though, honestly, Helen will probably be the quickest to pick up on any dangers. The sixth sense of a pro mercenary can’t be underestimated.
“All right,” Marius finally said. “If we receive any intel that your forge might be in danger, we’ll let you know immediately.”
“Yeah, that’d be great. Thanks.” I really mean it. “By the way, does your house now use wyverns?”
“Oh, I started using them recently,” Marius replied, huffing proudly. “Got ’em from House Katagiri just the other day as a sign of friendship. Does the Nordic region have a lot of them?”
“Hmm, I’m not sure,” I replied.
My installed knowledge didn’t tell me whether the Nordic region had a lot of these little dragons. Honestly, it sort of seemed like Karen and her household were raising them on their own, but I wasn’t sure, so I decided to refrain from voicing any opinions for now.
“They’re named Tsujikaze and Maikaze,” Marius explained. “Maikaze stays with me while Tsujikaze is in the city with Camilo. I contact the city the most, and if I ever want to speak with you, it’s more convenient to do so through Camilo.”
“I see,” I replied.
Nothing in our communications would change except that the one delivering my mail would be a wyvern. The delivery speed would likely increase immensely.
“Then I’ll let you know by wyvern if anything happens,” I said.
“Yeah, please do.” Marius then turned around and prepared to go back inside.
Our talk must be done for the night. I said nothing more and slowly followed him. As we descended the hidden staircase and made our way out, Bowman was there waiting for us. He glanced at Marius, who nodded back.
“Master Eizo,” Bowman said.
“Yeah, thank you,” I said, giving him a bow. I was grateful that Bowman would be escorting me to my room. Diana would’ve known exactly where we were in the manor, but as for me, who’d never been here before, I was utterly lost. “See you later, Marius.”
“Yeah. See ya tomorrow,” he replied.
As we parted ways, I found myself wondering what the next day would bring us.
⌗⌗⌗
The next morning, I woke up and saw that the skies were clear and sunny. The weather didn’t really matter since the meeting would be held indoors, but it was much more refreshing to conduct business under clear skies rather than cloudy ones.
I cheerfully ate breakfast with everyone else. It seemed that last night’s conversation was still the main topic—the ladies were all talking about pets. Pets? Daughters?
“Speaking of which, this manor has wyverns, right?” I asked.
“Yes, but I can’t play with them too much,” Julie said sadly. “I wouldn’t want to tire them out when they have to fly off and do their jobs.”
“Fair enough.” I gave a sigh of pity.
“The capital’s farther away from the city than our house is,” Diana consoled. “There’s nothing you can do about that.”
Plus, it was difficult to recharge on magical energy in the capital and the city. Best to have the wyverns conserve their stamina until it’s needed.
“But if I had a drake and a dog...” Julie muttered.
Those two pets would help satisfy her wishes. Marius expelled a loud sigh while the rest of us laughed loudly, and our lively breakfast drew to a close. Aside from Anne, who would attend the fateful meeting as a representative of the empire, we were excluded from this conference. In short, we were on standby until the meeting was over.
The meeting wouldn’t be held in the margrave’s villa as it always was; it would instead be hosted at the Eimoor residence. This meant that we couldn’t wander about the manor as we pleased, and we couldn’t make noise playing with Krul and Lucy in the yard either.
But the prospect of wandering the capital and fooling around while Anne was hard at work made me feel guilty. And so, while still a bit awkward, we all decided to wait in a room a good distance away from where the meeting was being held.
The room was spacious, but I noticed some small repairs that needed doing—I didn’t want to cause too much noise though, so I could only sit and wait.
The employees of House Eimoor were working away as they usually did—business as usual. If anyone questioned why their mannerisms were slightly different than normal, they could insist that they were tending to guests who’d arrived the day before. We were in the manor for precisely this reason—we served as cover. After all, guests who traveled great distances had to be welcomed warmly. Any change in the servants’ routine could be attributed to that.
“I wonder if Krul and Lucy are staying quiet,” Diana wondered. She took a sip of tea that Bowman had poured for her.
“They’re smart,” Samya replied. “I’m sure they’re fine.”
I nodded along. It sounded like my daughters were close with everyone at the manor, and if someone told them to remain quiet, I was certain they’d do just that. But that didn’t mean that my mind was free of worries.
“I wonder if they’re hungry...” I muttered.
Everyone glanced at Lidy, our leading expert on magical energy in House Eizo. She took a sip of her tea. “I think they’ll be fine,” she said quietly. “Judging from how they were yesterday, they should be fine until the end of tomorrow, I presume. It’s thanks to the dense magical energy of the Black Forest—they usually have more than enough, so having less right now won’t harm them.”
We all breathed a collective sigh of relief. And thank goodness Matthias is treating them well. But I still have to be careful during prolonged travel. During long trips, I’ll have to let them eat enough food to fill the magical void.
Helen glanced toward a wall. The walls weren’t made of glass or anything, but she seemed to stare beyond the solid surface, like she was seeing through them.
“They’re here,” she muttered.
Samya nodded. “Yeah.”