Chapter 100

A few days later, in the evening.

Ichirou was in the mountainous region northwest of Isteria, accompanied by Rize and Zirconia.

Their current location was by a river on the mountainside.

They were told that a little further along, there was an abandoned farm.

The sky was already dyed with the colors of sunset, and the soldiers and attendants around them had begun setting up camp.

Campfires were being lit in various places, and tents were being pitched one after another.

Including the guards and craftsmen, there were easily over a hundred people.

It was quite a large group for a camping trip.

"My, my back hurts. That carriage was shaking way too much, no matter what..."

Ichirou placed his hands on his waist and stretched his back.

The three of them had traveled by carriage, but the mountain road was bumpy, and the shaking inside the carriage was severe.

Without any shock absorbers, the vibrations were transmitted directly to the entire body of the carriage, which was to be expected.

Ichirou and Rize, who were not accustomed to traveling by carriage, could not rest properly and had to hold onto handkerchiefs soaked in essential oils to prevent motion sickness.

The next time I return to Japan, I might look into the history of carriages and bring over methods to reduce vibrations.

I could buy the parts for shock absorbers or even the carriages themselves and bring them over, but if there are other methods, I could try those as well.

"Milady Rize, are you alright? Please sit down here."

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you."

Eira pulled out a round chair from a cargo wagon and Rize sat down, letting out a small sigh.

She seemed quite exhausted, with a very tired expression.

Near Ichirou and the others, the attendants were starting to prepare dinner.

Among them, Marie was moving around busily.

Eira and Marie were not in their usual maid uniforms but were dressed in light clothing suitable for outdoor activities.

Their footwear was also different, wearing leather boots instead of their usual shoes.

"Kazura, are you alright?"

As Ichirou was holding his waist and groaning, Zirconia approached with a worried look.

"I'm somehow managing. But, it's quite tough to endure four days of carriage travel..."

"The road was quite bumpy. Eira, after dinner, please massage Kazura's back."

"As you wish."

"No, no, that's not necessary. I'll be fine with a bit of rest."

Ichirou hurriedly declined Zirconia's instruction to Eira.

The attendants, including Eira, must also be tired from the long journey.

While it might be expected for them to serve him due to their positions, he felt uncomfortable asking for such favors.

"Understood. But please don't overexert yourself. If you collapse now, I'll die from overwork."

Zirconia joked with Ichirou, who was being considerate.

Perhaps because they had been seeing each other from morning till night for a while now, the stiffness that used to be in Zirconia's demeanor had disappeared, and they had started to joke with each other recently.

The same went for Nelson and Isaac, who had also started to engage in more casual conversations about daily matters.

"In that case, I'll give you a lot of energy-boosting medicine, and you can chug it and work hard. I'll cheer you on from the shadows."

"Absolutely not... Besides, it should be Kazura who drinks that medicine, not me. We can wait."

"Ah... That medicine is specialized for the people here, so it doesn't work as well on me. It's not completely ineffective, but..."

Zirconia showed a slightly surprised expression.

But she quickly nodded and said, "Is that so?" before returning her gaze to the attendants who were continuing their work.

It seemed she had no intention of pressing the matter further.

"Still, it took quite a while to get here. I didn't expect the journey to take four days..."

The mountain road was more treacherous than expected, and it took two days to reach this point from the foot of the mountain.

Additionally, it took two days to reach the foot of the mountain from Isteria, making today the fourth day of camping.

"Considering the number of people we're bringing and the amount of materials for mortar and camping equipment, I think arriving in four days is quite an achievement."

Around the campsite, cargo wagons carrying lime, sand, and other materials from Isteria were parked.

There were still not enough materials to make the mortar needed for the ice pond, so they would have to transport them in several batches.

They would also need to station several dozen craftsmen and laborers here to work, so food would have to be supplied regularly.

An ice pond is a reservoir used to store water for making ice.

"We've decided on the location for the water wheel, so we'll get up early tomorrow and start other tasks immediately. We need to give all the instructions to the craftsmen by sunset. Ideally, we'd like to leave here early the day after tomorrow."

Zirconia's expression showed no signs of fatigue.

She had remained calm even in the violently shaking carriage, leaning against the wall and taking a nap.

Ichirou and Rize were amazed that she could sleep so well in such conditions.

"That's right. If we leave early the day after tomorrow, we'll reach Grisear village in at least seven days... It might be a good time to receive the construction plan."

The deadline for the first delivery of the flood control construction plan was approaching, and it would be ideal to return to Japan before then.

While a few days' delay in receiving it wouldn't be a problem, the board member of the construction company who was designing it couldn't get in touch with Ichirou.

If there was no word for a long time, even with the advance payment, they might start to worry.

By the way, Ichirou had already told Zirconia and the others about the river construction plan.

He had also explained that the purpose of returning to Grisear village next time was to retrieve the plan.

"While you're in Grisear village, I'll start recruiting laborers. How many do you need?"

"Well... I don't know the details of the plan, so I'm not sure how many people will be needed. It would be good to secure a certain number of carpenters and plasterers."

"Carpenters and plasterers... We've already been poaching carpenters from various places, so I hope we don't need too many..."

Zirconia looked worried at the prospect of poaching more craftsmen.

"If we can complete the partial renovation before next year's rainy season, we still have some time. If we can't secure enough craftsmen, we'll have to delay the overall plan a bit. There's nothing we can do about that."

"That's true... Depending on the work, most of the people who have served in the military have experience with setting up camps and fortifications. They should be familiar with simple carpentry work, so we can prioritize recruiting those with military experience."

"That's a good idea."

This time, the river renovation work would be partial, so a large number of people wouldn't be necessary.

However, due to the shortage of craftsmen, who were being poached from various places, the number of available craftsmen was severely lacking.

We couldn't delay the development of machinery, so it was inevitable that the river work would be delayed.

"Also, for the citizens who will work on this project, I'd like them to continue working on the main renovation and road improvements after the partial renovation is completed. So, please keep the contracts ongoing even after this project is finished. They can be assigned to other work during the rainy season."

"Understood. We have some financial leeway, so we'll keep the contracts ongoing as a means to provide employment. During the rainy season, we'll assign them to the construction of the city's defensive walls."

"..."

"Hey, Kazura."

"Hm?"

As Ichirou and Zirconia were talking, Rize, who had been listening quietly, spoke up.

"Does your country have a lot of people like Kazura? Like Ormashior and Gaierchior?"

Rize spoke in a low voice, perhaps to avoid being overheard by the soldiers around them.

Ormashior was the god of war, and Gaierchior was the god of commerce.

"There are... various people who are similar."

"Right... Then, why don't you bring someone from that field to help? Kazura is in charge of mercy... and abundance, right? You don't have to do everything by yourself, you know."

Rize's puzzled expression made Ichirou hesitate on how to respond.

It was a rather delicate topic, but now that he thought about it, it was strange that such a conversation hadn't come up before.

He considered the idea of abandoning the god persona and being completely honest.

Ichirou's actions so far had clearly surpassed the legends of Graciel, and if he confessed, "Actually, I'm not a god but a normal person from another world," he wouldn't be met with, "So that's it! You liar! I'll kill you!!"

However, the benefits of being honest were limited to avoiding the hassle of lying and the guilt of deception.

On the other hand, the drawbacks could include being imprisoned or tortured to extract knowledge, or the villagers of Grisear being taken hostage.

While he didn't think Nelson and the others would do such things, he couldn't be entirely sure.

But it was certain that because they believed Ichirou was the god Graciel, Nelson and the others didn't pry into his actions or impose any restrictions.

After considering this, Ichirou felt that there was little benefit in revealing his true identity.

If the current god persona was working, it was better to stick with it.

There were no guidelines for what a god should be, so from Nelson and the others' perspective, they had no choice but to accept it as it was.

"By the way, what exactly is a 'god'...?"

"Kazura has his reasons. Since we're asking for his help, we shouldn't cause him too much trouble, right?"

As Ichirou was lost in thought, Zirconia interjected, trying to calm Rize.

"No, that's not what I meant..."

"Well, I'll go check the path to the field now. Please eat dinner first."

Zirconia said and walked alone into the dark forest.

Rize watched her go with a puzzled expression.

About an hour later.

Ichirou and Rize were sitting on a rock by the river, enjoying their dinner.

They were sitting on a large, flat rock by the riverbank, with blankets spread out beside them and wooden bowls of stew, bread, and fruit wine placed on them.

They had decided to eat by the river at Ichirou's suggestion, instead of in the tents.

The flames of the nearby campfire softly illuminated the surroundings, and the sound of the river flowing gently filled the air.

Thanks to the change of scenery, the meal felt more delicious than any they had had in the past few days.

"Indeed, if someone did that, you might want to say, 'You should just die.'"

"Right? He's touched me a few times before, and it's really disgusting. ...Ah, just thinking about it makes me angry!"

Rize, who was tearing off pieces of bread and throwing them into her mouth, was fuming.

They were talking about Rize's visitors.

Seeing Rize exhausted from frequent visits, Ichirou had been curious about who these people were.

He had casually brought up the topic, and Rize, who had been holding in her frustrations, had started to vent.

"But if you don't like it, why don't you just refuse? If you don't plan to marry him, there's no need to keep meeting him, right?"

"Well, I can't just refuse easily. I don't want to spread bad rumors, and most of them support the Ister family through commercial transactions or job recommendations. Since I started meeting them, many have been more accommodating, so refusing would cause trouble for my parents."

Rize spoke without any of the reserve or stiffness she had shown a few days ago.

Following Ichirou's suggestion, she was trying to interact more naturally, without using formal language.

However, she still found it a bit awkward and difficult.

"So, everyone is courting you to gain favor with the Ister family?"

"Some are courting me for the position of lord, so not everyone is after me. This has been going on for years."

Rize spoke matter-of-factly, without any particular emotion.

"That's why I don't plan to marry anyone who isn't powerful and wealthy. But, I definitely don't want to marry someone like Nibel, who is creepy and thinks he can do whatever he wants as a lord. And I don't like people who are too stingy either."

"Wow, Rize has it tough... Everyone is courting you with marriage in mind from the start."

Ichirou sympathized, thinking about her difficult position.

As the daughter of a lord, she couldn't easily engage in romantic relationships, and among her visitors were a few men like Nibel, who were far from normal.

The stress of dealing with such people must be a significant burden for the young Rize.

"Being the daughter of a lord is like this. Normal romantic relationships and marriage are impossible."

Rize said, looking at the river and eating her food.

Seeing her resigned expression, Ichirou felt a sense of loneliness.

"At least, I get various gifts from those who court me, which I sell to buy delicious food and nice clothes. I don't think that's a sin, right?"

"I see, so you use the money from selling gifts to relieve the stress of these meetings."

"Yep."

"But if so many people come to visit, weren't there one or two decent ones?"

"...If there were, I would have married them already."

"...That's true."

Rize stopped eating and glared at Ichirou.

She put down her bread and sighed, looking back at the river.

"I thought I had finally found a good person, but he completely dislikes me. I don't know what to do now."

"No, he doesn't dislike you."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really."

"Will you marry me?"

"That's a different matter."

"Pfft."

Rize puffed out her cheeks, and Ichirou couldn't help but laugh.

She was probably trying to lighten the mood, which had become a bit heavy.

"By the way, isn't Zirconia taking a long time? Isn't the field close from here?"

"I saw the map before we left Isteria, and it wasn't that far. ...Yeah, she is taking a bit longer than expected."

Rize had memorized the terrain of the surrounding area from the map.

The field was supposed to be about ten minutes' walk from the river, so it did seem unusually late.

"Maybe something happened there. Should we go check on her?"

"But, she has guards with her..."

Rize remembered how Zirconia had left alone, without any guards.

Zirconia had gone into the dark forest by herself, which was extremely dangerous, especially at night when wild animals might be around.

"Why would she do something so dangerous... Oh."

"...She didn't take any guards with her. We should go and get her. Something might have happened."

"Wait."

Rize grabbed Ichirou's arm as he stood up in a hurry.

"Let's wait a little longer, okay?"

"No, we should go and get her right away. If something happens, it will be too late."

"I think this is probably her mother's hometown."

"...Her hometown?"

"Yeah."

Rize nodded at Ichirou's puzzled expression.

"Because, no one has lived here for a long time, right? The village ahead is also abandoned..."

"About ten years ago, several villages in this area were attacked by bandits, and all the residents were killed."

Ichirou was surprised by this unexpected information.

"All killed... So, Zirconia is..."

"Yeah. I think she's probably a survivor from that village."

Rize looked at the dark forest path where Zirconia had gone, narrowing her eyes.

"So, let's wait a little longer, okay?"

"...Alright."

The two of them fell silent and stared at the dark forest.

At that time, Zirconia was sitting in front of three mounds of earth with stones piled on top, looking at the moon.

One small grave was sandwiched between two larger ones, and the pale moonlight illuminated the area.

In front of each grave were several wildflowers that Zirconia had picked along the way.

In front of the small grave was a small doll dressed in a girl's outfit, made of yarn.

Zirconia gazed at the moon for a while, then sighed softly, stood up, and walked back to the campsite, her back to the graves.