Encounter With a Fool ④
"T-Thank you for saving me...."
The girl, who had received hot water from one of the women and drank it, was still trembling.
"Why did you pitch your tent so far away? When a woman camps alone, it's common sense to camp near other women's tents, isn't it?"
"Huh?"
"*sigh*.... You seem to know nothing. It's not recommended for a woman to travel alone in the first place. But if a woman absolutely must travel alone, it's common sense not to travel at night, to take a carriage, and to pitch a tent near other women. It's too late once you've been attacked like this."
"I-I'm sorry...."
The girl realized that what the man had said was common sense.
"You should stay here tonight. They might try to do something strange again."
"Thank you. My name is Iris Florene Bol--- please just call me Iris."
"That’s a nice name. I’m Rocca."
"I’m Vanessa."
"I’m Cisco."
"Umm, you are...."
"We're Hunters. We're in a party called Guidance of the Stars."
"Hunters?"
"That’s right, we belong to the Hunter Guild in the royal capital. Recently, we heard monsters appeared near the road and villages on the way to Lionel, so we came to investigate. Where are you from?"
Vanessa asked Iris, sitting cross-legged.
"I'm on my way from Lionel to the royal capital."
"Did you see any monsters along the way?"
In response to Vanessa’s question, Iris told them about how she camped near the road and encountered wolves, and that an unknown man chased them away and brought her here.
"He chased away wolves without a sword?"
"Yes, he chased them away by banging a pot."
The three whispered among themselves.
"What kind of man was he?"
Rocca asked in detail, so Iris vented her frustrations about how awful Margine was.
"He even made me pay 500 G for water that I don’t even know where it came from!"
"Don’t know where it came from?"
"Yes. He carried my luggage, but I didn’t know where he put it either."
"Didn’t he have a backpack or bag?"
"No, he was empty-handed."
"Rocca, could it be...."
Cisco's face turned serious.
"I thought he used a magic bag, but if he was empty-handed, maybe not. Could he be someone who can use storage magic?"
"What’s storage magic?"
"Storage magic is magic that allows you to store belongings in another dimension. Where did he say he was headed?"
"He said he was returning to the royal capital."
"Vanessa, have you ever heard of anyone in the royal capital who can use storage magic?"
"No, I haven’t. If he was a noble’s retainer, it wouldn’t be surprising that we don’t know."
"Iris, what did he look like? Did he look like a noble?"
"No, he looked like an ordinary person. I thought his black hair and black eyes were unusual, though."
"Black hair? Is he a foreigner?"
"Sorry, I come from a distant territory, so I don’t know."
"I see. About the 500 G water, did you drink it as it was?"
"Yes. I was thirsty, so I thought it tasted especially good. There’s still some left inside my water bottle."
Rocca looked for a water bottle among Iris's belongings that they had collected.
"You’re carrying quite a lot of stuff."
"Yes, it was quite a long journey."
Rocca then drank from the water bottle and was surprised.
"You girls should try drinking this, too."
Vanessa and Cisco also drank from the water bottle.
"It tastes much better than well water."
"Iris, that guy made this water out of nothing, didn’t he?"
"Eh, ah, yes."
"I’ll make some water too, so try it. It’s water you can drink without boiling, but...."
Rocca magically created water into a glass.
"It's drinkable, but.... it's not tasty...."
"Right? Water created with magic usually tastes like this. It's kind of dusty, or something like that. Even so, it's better than nothing since you can drink it straight."
"Is that so? But it's amazing that you can create water with magic."
"No, the man who helped you is even more amazing. Cisco, Vanessa, why don't we try to find him when we get back to the capital?"
"Oh, that's a good idea. A black-haired person should be easy to find, right?"
"Yeah."
"Umm, so, is that person amazing?"
"Yeah, I'd really like to know where he got the spell to create this water."
"But he's a really mean person, you know? He told me to go find a water source in the forest at night, and even asked for payment when I asked him to help carry my luggage."
"Hey, you keep complaining, but didn’t he still help you in the end?"
Vanessa said with exasperation.
"Y-Yeah, he did help me, but he made me run all the way to this town! Then, as soon as we got here, he told me to camp near other people, and secure water before I depart. Since I had no money, he also told me to help merchants loading their goods in exchange for a free ride, then he went off by himself. He even took 500 G from me for this water, even though I'm broke!"
Vanessa shrugged her shoulders and sighed.
"Do you mean this money?"
When Vanessa held Iris' water bottle bag upside down, some copper coins fell into her other hand.
"Huh? I don't remember putting money in there...."
"That man probably never intended to take your money. He secretly returned the money to you by putting it under the water bottle."
"Huh?"
"Hmm, what a man. I’m even more interested now."
*rustle-rustle-rustle*
"W-What are you doing?"
Vanessa rummaged through Iris’s large backpack.
"You said you only had a little dried meat left, right?"
"Eh, ah, yes."
"Isn’t this food?"
Vanessa pulled out something like biscuits from the backpack and waved it around.
"What’s that?"
"This is portable food. It’s the expensive, tasty kind with dried fruits. One piece provides a day's worth of nutrition and there are five of these. With this, some dried meat, and water, you can somehow survive for a week."
"Huh?"
*rustle*
"Oh, you've got something nice there."
The next thing Vanessa took out was a magic flashlight that Margine had lent her.
"Oh no, I forgot to return that."
"What? Did he give this to you too?"
"Yes, he lent it to me and told me to go find a water source in the forest at night. He also said that the magic crystal was running low, so it could stop working along the way."
"Magic crystal? Not a magic stone?"
"Y-Yes, that's what he told me."
Hearing ‘magic crystal’, Vanessa opened the back of the magic flashlight.
"It's huge...."
"There's not much left, right?"
Vanessa scratched her head at Iris's words.
"Do you know what is this for?
"To power the magic tool, right?"
"Normally, a magic flashlight of this size uses magic stone. Magic crystal of the same size will be dozens of times more expensive, after all. This magic crystal could probably keep the light on for days without any problems. If you sell it, you'll get enough money to live on for two or three months."
"Huh?"
Vanessa put the magic crystal back in and tried turning on the light.
What is this? It's incredibly bright. I've never seen anything like this....
"You should be more grateful to the man who helped you. He didn't forget this magic flashlight, he gave it to you because it could be a great help during your journey to the royal capital."
"B-But, he was such a mean and rude person...."
"Fool! There was nothing wrong with what he said, wasn’t there? Helping the merchants for a free ride was also the best option for you."
Iris fell silent after Vanessa said that.
~ The next morning ~
“Grandpa, Grandma. Thank you for everything. I’ll buy some vegetables before heading back. The green onions from this village were delicious.”
“Oh, the farmer who grows the green onions will be happy to hear that.”
“This village’s tomatoes and cucumbers are also tasty. Please come again during that season. Thank you for all the souvenirs, I'll gratefully enjoy them during the winter."
After saying goodbye to the elderly couple, Margine went to buy vegetables. Although he could buy it in the royal capital, buying it directly from the farmer was cheaper.
“Can you carry all this back?”
“It’s fine, it’s fine.”
Margine bought a huge amount of green onions. The farmer wondered if he had made a mistake with the purchased amount.
"By the way, can you introduce me to the farmers who grow tomatoes and cucumbers?"
"I can, but it's not the season right now."
"No, I'm not going to buy any. I just want to give them some samples."
"Samples?"
The farmer looked at Margine strangely, but he introduced him to someone who grew tomatoes and cucumbers in the end.
"So, this fish meal makes vegetables taste better?"
"I believe so. Try it next time by mixing a little into the soil. If it works well and you like it, you can get more from Lionel's fishermen."
“From Lionel, huh? If I want to buy it next time, I just need to ask a merchant to bring it, right?”
“Yeah. They might not be able to make a lot yet, though.”
“Okay, got it. I’ll try it this spring.”
This is the end of my job. Time to head back to the royal capital. Granny would probably be mad if the souvenirs were late.
Margine finished his pre-winter purchases and returned to the royal capital.