Guiding Star
Margine, having returned to the royal capital, headed to Rikka’s diner.
“What, you’re back already?”
Rikka greeted Margine like a tsundere.
“Yes, I'm back.... Boss, I brought back a lot of green onions. Do you need them? I have plenty of potatoes, too.”
“Yeah, I need both.”
“Potatoes can be stored longer, so I’ll leave a bunch of them, and just enough green onions to last a few days. I’ll come back later to treat you to dinner.”
“Did you get something tasty?”
“Margine, just so you know, I don’t eat poisonous fish.”
The proprietress said she didn't want to eat pufferfish.
"I was thinking of making duck and green onion hot pot, though."
“Oh my, how kind of you.”
The proprietress seemed to like duck.
“Margine, while you were gone, a beautiful woman came here looking for you twice. What’s your relationship with her?”
Rikka asked in a bad mood.
“A beautiful woman?”
“Yes.”
“I have no idea who you're talking about....”
Margine didn't have many acquaintances. The only places he regularly visited was the diner and brothel. But even though he visited the brothel regularly, he didn't come to play around, so the old madam kept the courtesans away from him. Because of this, he only knew their faces. His other acquaintances were just some kids from the slum.
"Hmm...."
Margine tilted his head.
"She was tall and beautiful woman. Do you really have no idea who she was?"
Rikka angrily brought her face close, so Margine puckered his lips.
“What are you trying to do to my daughter?”
*smack*
Boss smacked Margine, who tried to kiss his daughter, on the head.
“Ouch! I was joking. I was obviously joking. Who would kiss a kid like her?”
*slap*
This time, Rikka slapped Margine.
"I'm not a kid!"
"You are still a kid."
Margine put his palms on his chest and moved them up and down.
*punch*
Rikka punched Margine in the face. He still hadn't gotten rid of his habit of saying unnecessary things.
"B-Boss, I will come back again after visiting the brothel."
"Pervert!"
Rikka stuck her tongue out at Margine as he headed to the brothel.
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“You’re pretty late. I thought you might have died somewhere.”
Granny is as sharp-tongued as ever.
“Here, dried fish and some ducks I hunted on the way. Make a hot pot or something.”
"Only ten?"
"What do your mean by only ten? This should be more than enough."
"Hmph, why not hunt the whole flock?"
"If you hunt them all, there won't be any ducks left."
While monsters are one thing, you shouldn't overhunt ordinary animal.
"There are plenty of ducks out there. Hunting one flock will not make them extinct."
That may be true, but there are people who make a living hunting ducks, too.
"In any case, I'll leave them here."
"Next time, bring something better."
"Alright, alright...."
Granny may be sharp-tongued, but she's kind to her people. Courtesans who aren't popular and young girls working as apprentices before their debut rarely get the chance to eat something expensive like duck meat, so she probably intends to feed it to them.
After delivering souvenirs, Margine returned to his home, which also served as his spellbook shop.
I'm spent. Let’s take a bath. I can clean my body with magic, but soaking in a bath hits different.
Margine used magic to fill the bathtub with warm water and soaked in it.
"I came back to life...."
Margine muttered in a melting voice.
"You sound like an old man."
"Whoa! I've kept telling you not to just barge in!"
The children from the slums had entered the bathroom without him noticing. Their ability to conceal their presence was not to be underestimated. It was skill they acquired while living in a harsh environment since they were little. The kids, delighted by Margine's reaction, joined him in the bath.
"Hey, didn't I tell you to wash yourselves before getting in?"
“Come on, it’s cold.”
These three orphaned boys occasionally came to play. They got attached to Margine after he fed them. Starved for parental love, they sat on Margine's lap in the bathtub and happily had their hair washed.
"What have you guys been doing to get so dirty?"
The bathwater turned black, so after washing their hair, Margine changed the water.
"Can help it. Our sleeping places are dirty, after all."
"We also have to crawl under the floorboards to catch rats."
Rats were an important source of protein for the orphans. Their meat had a strong smell, but it wasn't inedible. The soup kitchen meals probably weren't enough for their growing bodies.
"You guys hungry?"
"Yes, we're always hungry!"
The kids boasted.
"Then, how about we eat together at Rikka's diner? I'll cook today, so Boss won't complain."
"Really? Yay!!"
The three were overjoyed at the prospect of eating delicious food.
I could take care of them until they grow a bit more, but I decided to just do things like this and feed them sometimes. They are not the only orphans in this slum, after all. Besides, these kids are already tough enough to survive on their own.
After the bath, Margine used cleansing spell on their dirty clothes and took the kids to Rikka’s diner.
“Oh, you brought the kids.”
"Yeah, just happened to.... Here, drink this while waiting at that table over there."
Margine re-hydrated some freeze-dried soup with hot water and gave them to the kids.
“Delicious!!!”
Seeing the kids enjoying the soup, Margine then went to the kitchen and started making soup stock from duck bones.
"What flavor are you going to make?"
"Just regular salt-based flavor."
"Not soy sauce?"
Boss had eaten Margine’s soy sauce-based hot pot before and loved it.
“What if other customers request the same thing?”
“Well, that’s true, but.…”
Boss looked very disappointed.
“I used duck bones to make the stock, and combined with the sweetness of green onion, it'll definitely be delicious."
Margine busily put all the ingredients into the hot pot.
“Let's start eating.”
"If it were after closing, we could enjoy it with some drink."
"I don't want to have dinner that late. If you want to drink, I'll come back after closing. There's also something I’d like to discuss with you. Maybe we can have some duck and green onion skewers while drinking."
"Oh, that sounds good."
Boss's mood immediately improved.
"""Let’s dig in!"""
This was a pre-meal greeting Margine had taught the kids.
"It's so delicious!"
Boss and his wife watched the children happily gobbling down their food with warm eyes. Everyone wanted to do something for the orphans, but they didn't have the leeway to do so. Rikka also joined them, gobbling down her food.
After all, Rikka is still a kid.
"Fuh~ It's not bad."
His belly looks like a baloon, yet he's still saying that.
"I want to eat more, but I can't. I feel like green onion is about to come out of my mouth."
"You guys ate too much."
"Margin, I'm so full I can't move. Carry me home."
"Don't be so spoiled. The customers will start coming for dinner soon, so let's go."
"Please! If I walk now, I'll throw up."
Margine sighed and carried the kids home on his back, in his arms, and on his shoulders.
"Margine seems like he'll be a good father."
"Yeah. Though it seems like he's not ready to get married yet."
Boss and his wife watched Margine leaving and yelling at the kids not to throw up because it would be a waste. The two then went back inside.
"Ugh, I feel like I'm going to throw up...."
Rikka also felt like green onion was about to come out of her mouth.
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~ That night at Rikka’s diner ~
“What? Wolves appeared on the highway?"
Margine were drinking with Boss while snacking on duck and green onion skewers.
“They were pretty skinny, and the pack was small. Only five of them.”
“In that case, they must have lost a territorial fight to something and got driven out.”
“Yeah, that’s also what I thought.”
"The Hunters who come here have been happy about the increase in monster extermination requests and investigations. Maybe a strong monster has appeared somewhere."
In this world, monsters and animals existed, but monsters were generally stronger. Boss speculated that some powerful monster might have appeared deep in the forest, pushing weaker ones out in succession.
“I wonder if the nearby villages will be okay.”
“Who knows. The royal capital is protected by walls and has many guards and Hunters, so it’s safe here. But if a village with weak defense gets attacked, that’s bad news.”
“Yeah, right.”
Margine stopped chewing the duck meat in his mouth. He was worried about the elderly couple from the potato farm.
“The villages that keep livestock are in the most danger. But don’t worry, the Hunter guild and the country are surely aware of this and have already taken action. Besides, monsters will come to scout before attacking. If there is a monster sighting around the villages or towns, the people there will immediate submit a request to the Hunter guild.”
“True, and it’s already winter. If monsters or beasts are going to attack, it’ll be in spring.”
“Exactly. So, Margine, what are you grilling now?”
“That’s a secret. Is it cooked? Hot, hot, hot! But it's really tasty.”
"What's that? I want to eat that, too!"
“No way. This is a rare, limited item.”
“Just let me try it!”
Boss snatched the food from Margine's hands.
"Hey, I was looking forward to eat that!"
"Stop being so stingy! Oh, it's creamy and delicious. What on earth is this?"
“Poisonous fish’s milt.”
Boss immediately spat out the pufferfish milt he had in his mouth.
“What are you doing? That’s such a waste!”
"What the hell did you just feed me!?"
"You ate it without asking. This is called milt, and it's a delicacy!"
“You fool! I don’t care if it’s a delicacy, but who feeds someone poisonous fish’s milt?”
Having his food eaten without permission, Margine was angry and almost cast an offensive magic at Boss.
"You two, keep it down!"
"They sure are get along. There aren't many people Dadd can drink with without holding himself back."
"He drinks with everyone, doesn't he? Also, it's rare for Mom to call Dad by his name."
“Hehe, yeah. I guess this reminds of old times. Maybe I should join in. Rikka, go to bed quickly.”
“Ehh, that’s not fair!”
“If you don’t sleep well, you won’t grow big.”
The proprietress puffed up her hands in front of her chest.
“Shut up!”
Rikka got mad and stomped off to her room. Not long after, she could hear her mom yelling.
"Margin, what did you just feed me!?"
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~ The next day ~
“So this is the royal capital. It’s big as expected.”
“Of course, it is.”
Iris arrived at the royal capital with the members of Guiding Star.
"Everyone, thank you so much for saving me from such a dangerous situation and escorting me all the way to the royal capital."
"Will you be alright?"
Vanessa asked worriedly.
"Yes, Now that I'm in the royal capital, I will be alright. What should I do if I want to see you all again?"
"Just leave a message at the Hunter Guild. Well then, please be careful with men."
"Yes, see you again."
Iris then headed toward the center of the royal capital, while the members of Guiding Star headed towards the Hunter Guild.
"Hey, Rocca. Good work. How was the investigation?"
"Well, we didn't see it ourselves, but apparently wolves appeared on the highway near Lionel."
"On the highway?"
"Yeah. Someone camping along the highway was attacked by wolves."
"Is this information reliable?"
"Yeah, but it was just a pack of five wolves."
"That's a small pack. Maybe they were driven out of their territory by something."
"Most likely. We asked people in the villages and towns along the way, but there was nothing unusual."
"I see. Good work."
After receiving their reward, Rocca and the others asked about the black-haired man.
"Do you know anyone in the capital who can use storage magic? They supposedly have black hair and black eyes."
"What? A storage magic user? Putting aside someone who has magic bag, there's no way a storage magic user exists, right?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"But black hair, huh."
"Do you have someone in mind?"
"Yeah, there's a spellbook shop at the entrance to the slums, and I'm sure its owner has black hair."
"The slums near the gate?"
"Yeah. Next to the red-light district."
“I had no idea there was a spellbook shop in a place like that.... Thanks for the information."
"Are you not going to take the next request?"
"Later, we will take a couple of days off."
"Got it."
Rocca and the others decided to go to the spellbook shop in question.