A Warrior Exiled by the Hero and His Lover - CH 196

Chapter 196 – The warrior and his missing friends

AINZFEBRERO 15, 20220 COMMENTS
It was early morning already, and our journey was about to begin.

Grandmother Tamamo and Grandfather Yatsufusa came to say goodbye.

—When you have children, you must come and introduce them to Grandma.

—Grandma!

—I don’t have long to live, coof coof, ugh, I’m very sick.

—Well, in that case, I’ll give you an elixir to make you feel better.

At Kaede’s response, Grandmother Tamamo puts on a disgusted expression. If she is really sick, why is she making an expression of displeasure? If I were, I would like to receive something like that.

The good news is that I have already poured magic power into the transfer circle that connects to the island. That means we can easily return here at any time.

Although I don’t plan to return now at this time, I want to continue traveling.

—We will come back to visit you. Please take care of Panda.

—And you take good care of my granddaughter, and love her very much.

—Of course.

—Grandma!

And that concluded our farewell.

—I miss Panda.

—Come on, don’t feel sad, I’ll give you some Daifuku.

Kaede and I tried to cheer Frau up because she misses Panda so much.

When we were traveling, she was always in a fixed position, clearly this is because she used to sit on Panda. But now she feels insecure, and she keeps moving around.

Even when we gave her the Daifuku, she ate it with a sad expression.

Although it has been a while since we left the white fox village, we were still on the mountain trail.

We are now walking on high ground and the sea of clouds that was engulfing us was something spectacular.

—It is time to rest.

—Yes, we are in front of a nice view. It would be perfect to have something to eat.

We sat in a fantastic spot with an amazing view, and proceeded to open the package Grandma Tamamo had given us.

It turned out to be a pile of shiny boxes, with a variety of colorful dishes.

—I don’t know what kind of dish this is, but it looks delicious.

—It’s something you eat only on festive occasions, and grandma makes  chirashi-sushi that is very delicious.

—What is sushi? It smells bad, but it’s not rotten, right?

Kaede puts some sushi on a plate, and hands it to Frau. And the moment she took a bite, her eyes began to water.

—It’s not panda. This… It’s spicy…

—Panda won’t show up no matter how many times you say. And even if we go back, we’ll still have to wait 1 month at the most before it can hatch from the egg.

—But, I don’t feel comfortable.

Since Frau showed up, she and Panda have become practically inseparable. How do I keep her sane while Panda comes back? I think it would be a good idea to look for a replacement.

And just as if she had read my mind, Kaede pulls a white bundle out of her backpack.

—This stuffed animal looks a lot like Panda. What do you think?

—It’s fluffy.

The stuffed animal was about the same size as Panda.

—When did you make this thing?

—There’s a family member who specializes in making stuffed animals and he taught me how to make them. It’s a simple way and didn’t take me too much time.

Frau proceeded to dive into the stuffed animal.

She was silent for a while, then woke up and smiled.

—I like this, it’s a nice bed! It’s much more comfortable to sleep on than Panda.

—I’m glad to hear that.

—There’s no need for Panda to come back now. I thought he was my friend, but I see he betrayed Frau easily.

—It’s not right for you to say that, Frau-san. You should think about the problems Panda had. Instead of getting angry with him, you should congratulate him.

—Why, why, why～

She didn’t seem to be happy about that fact, and simply just hugged her stuffed animal.

She then began to enjoy her meal.

—My lord～

—Don’t look at it as a negative thing, we’ll be a while without him, so I think you should focus on doing the things you couldn’t when you were by his side. When you least expect it, you’ll have a lot of things to tell him when he comes back.

—!!

Frau’s eyes widen and she immediately smiles. At last, she seems to have regained her usual cheerfulness.

—Frau, I’m going to make it the most fun trip ever. I’ll make Panda regret it.

—Chirashi-sushi. Here you go.

I took the plate Kaede gave me, and brought the Sushi to my mouth. At first the sourness spread to my mouth, but the sweetness came later and it was better than I expected. The flavors were also quite good, with baked eggs and cooked shrimp.

—Wow, it looks like Frau’s level has gone up.

—Yes! My level is now 60,000! Same as Kaede!

This was one of the benefits granted after the battle of Ios.

My level was 30,000, Kaede’s 63,326, and Frau’s 63,121.

I was completely outclassed in a very short time. I will have to try my best not to be a nuisance until my experience save is broken.

Well, even being level 30,000 is already too much.

We descended the mountain and entered a busy road.

Soon we entered the yellow lands of Ursupina, famous for its mines. They say the capital of Raxholc lies beyond.

—What was that?

A large four-legged object was approaching from the end of the road.

It was about five meters tall and had a strange design, like a rectangular box with a man attached to the front and back.

The box contained a pile of stones and was moving as slowly as a turtle.

And watching very carefully. I could see a series of similar objects, moving in a line.

—It looks like a golem. It’s the kind that transports minerals.

—So, it’s a modern golem made by an alchemist. What a strange design it has.

—There are many strange things on this continent.

Golems have a long history. In the past, alchemists were amazed by the original golem and tried to imitate it.

But the more I learned, the more I realized that it was incomprehensible and, as it turned out, impossible to reproduce with modern technology. So, they changed direction and went on to go beyond the original golem by creating their own.

I’m not sure if this alchemist followed the same path, but I think he’s not far from it.

—I think it’s a golem that specializes in transportation?

—It’s very overwhelming, looking at it up close.

The long, thick legs alternately moved forward.

There was also a face, with a single eye rolling over the abdomen of the human figure in front of it.

—My lord, what is that thing on the ground?

The moment we entered the city. Frau encountered a strange object on the road. But it turned out to be a wagon loaded with stones.

—It’s a wagon. That’s how we transport ore.

—Wow, it looks like a lot of fun to ride in it.

—What do you say, we go to an inn first? Then we’ll have some time to walk around the place.

—That’s fine with me. But before we do that…

I pulled out the search scroll to find one of the girls, and saw that the needle started pointing in one direction.

For the first time, there was a response.

—Look at that! I think there’s someone in town!

—We’ve finally got one of them! Let’s find them fast!

—I hope they’re all right.

We started running quickly in the direction where the scroll was pointing.

As I was about to pass through the alley, I turned and hurried inside, checking the movement of the needle and quickening my steps.

—We’re almost there!

—Master, be careful not to bump into any pedestrians.

—Frau will help search the air!

Frau began to fly higher, and she looked down to see if she could find one of our friends.

I keep following the needle, but for some reason I don’t feel like I’m getting closer. Is it running away?

—I think I’ve found her!

—Lead me to her.

—Follow me.

We started following Frau, and she does indeed seem to be running away. Maybe she doesn’t know it’s us, or maybe she has a reason to run.

—Wait! Stop!

—!?

A figure in rags stops on a bridge.

From the silhouette it is impossible to tell who it is.

Eh!? Could it be that she’s about to jump!?

And so it was… The girl jumped into the river without hesitation.

I tried to reach out to grab her legs, but I couldn’t reach her in time. I looked towards the river, but it was useless, there was no trace of her anymore.

—Kaede, what was her evaluation!?

—I’m so sorry. I didn’t think that person would jump, so I couldn’t make it in time.

—Why was she running away? She didn’t even look at my face.

Who was she? And why was she running away from us?

I thought… I had finally managed to find one of them.