Chapter 100

The next day. It was time to head for the capital.

Hinata had breakfast with me, but she didn’t show the expression from last night, and continued to nod with a blank face.

Kain, who understood the situation, wasn’t worried, but Ragnarv, who had arranged everything, was on edge.

He kept talking to the holy maiden, suspecting that she might be in a bad mood because of some indiscretion, falling into a state of suspicion.

Kain, concerned about Ragnarv, also joined in the conversation.

“Holy Maiden, have you ever been anywhere outside the Kingdom of Effort?”

Unlike when she was listening to Ragnarv, she immediately responded with a smile.

“Lord Kain, the Kingdom of Effort is my first time. I was chosen by a divine revelation. Thanks to that, I’m here with Lord Kain—”

“R-Really? I’ve never left the country either, so I’d like to tour the other kingdoms someday. Of course, it’s not easy now that I’m a lord...”

Kain answered, overlapping with Hinata’s words. He felt that if he let Hinata talk any more, Ragnarv’s jealous gaze would become even stronger.

In such a tense atmosphere, they finished their meal and prepared to depart for the capital. Kain’s belongings were all in his item box, so he was always empty-handed, but Silk’s luggage, including her change of clothes, was quite a lot. He once asked if he could put it in his item box, but she firmly refused. It might have been out of shyness, being a woman.

Ragnarv stayed behind to see them off, and Kain and Silk’s carriage went first, followed by the carriage carrying Hinata.

Before departure, Silk asked if the holy maiden wanted to ride in the same carriage, but before Hinata could answer, the captain of the guard stepped forward and refused. He must have thought that Hinata might talk about something in the carriage.

Hinata’s gaze followed Kain, but there was nothing he could do about it.

The carriage carrying the ingredients they had loaded in the Sylvester territory was at the back, and they slowly left the city of Sylvester.

Ragnarv accompanied them to the city entrance as a farewell. He was probably a devoted believer.

The carriage would take two days to reach the capital.

Thinking about what Hinata had told him, Kain knew they needed to be cautious moving forward.

In terms of combat, Kain, who was already beyond human in status, had no problem, but he had to be wary of what the papal faction might do as the carriage moved on.

Three hours after leaving the city, the sun was already high in the sky. They stopped the carriage off the road to prepare lunch, and the servants bustled about.

Kain appraised the ingredients for lunch and found one that was poisonous.

“What about this ingredient?”

He asked a servant, but the servant didn’t know about the ingredients and tilted his head.

Kain took out the smoked meat and placed it on the ground, then suddenly used magic to burn it. A blue-white, high-temperature flame instantly turned the ingredient into charcoal.

The servants were surprised by the sudden use of magic and the burning of the ingredient, but they couldn’t complain about the actions of a noble lord, so they started cooking with the remaining ingredients.

When Kain returned to Silk, she asked about his actions, finding them strange.

“Kain, what was that? You burned the meat even though we didn’t have that much...”

“Silk, can I talk to you for a moment? I have something to tell you.”

Keeping a distance from the captain of the guard, Kain whispered in Silk’s ear.

“The ingredient earlier was poisoned. I used appraisal, so I’m sure. Someone is targeting this group.”

He didn’t mention the captain of the guard. Without evidence, accusing him could escalate into a national issue. Of course, he didn’t mention what Hinata had told him either. If questioned about when he talked to her, he wasn’t confident he could hide it.

“Eh!? Really!?”

Kain pressed his finger to Silk’s surprised lips and nodded silently.

Then he continued in a low voice.

“No matter what happens, I’ll protect you. But if something happens when I’m not around, hold the stone of the necklace I gave you and channel magic. It will surely protect you.”

Silk took out the necklace from under her clothes and looked at it.

“Okay, I understand. But I’d rather you save me.”

Smiling, Silk put the necklace back under her clothes.

Everyone started eating as if nothing had happened. A few people, including the captain of the guard from the Marinford Theocracy, patrolled the surroundings, munching on dried meat while staying out of the dining circle.

“This is certain...”

Kain muttered softly, and gradually his anger rose.

Using poison meant that the people eating with Hinata, including Silk, were also targeted. Kain was immune, but the others would not have survived.

Kain glared at the captain of the guard, who was on guard duty.

When the meal was over, a few people, including the captain of the guard, returned as if nothing had happened. Seeing the servants preparing to depart, they looked as if they had bitten into a bitter bug.

“Captain of the Guard, is something wrong?”

Kain asked the captain of the guard with a straight face.

“N-No, nothing. There’s no sign of monsters around.”

He said only that and moved away from Kain.

Kain watched his back and muttered in a voice no one could hear.

“I won’t let you get your way...”

The departure preparations were complete, and the carriage started moving. The road ran along the forest, and there were certainly monsters in the forest. But using detection, he knew the movements of all the monsters in the area, and none were heading toward the group.

After about an hour, Kain noticed something strange about the forest monsters.

Perhaps dozens of them were advancing from deep in the forest toward the carriage. Kain immediately ordered the carriage to stop.

The driver, surprised by the sudden shout from inside the carriage, stopped the carriage by the side of the road. Kain instructed Silk to stay in the carriage and jumped out alone.

The other carriages stopped in succession as the lead carriage stopped. Kain urged his own country’s royal guards to prepare for battle.

“Monsters are gathering from the forest. Move the carriages away from the forest and prepare for battle!”

The royal guards dismounted and, after evacuating the carriages, drew their swords.

The sudden preparation for battle made the holy maiden’s guards anxious.

“Captain of the Guard! Monsters are approaching. Evacuate the holy maiden’s carriage immediately. Everyone except the guards should evacuate. We will handle the battle. You must protect the holy maiden.”

The guards hesitated, suspecting Kain’s intentions, but they evacuated the carriages and began preparing for battle.

Five minutes later.

The sound of a group moving from deep in the forest could be heard.

Kain stood at the front, with the royal guards lined up behind him. No one said anything, having seen Kain’s prowess in a mock battle with the captain of the royal guards, Tifanna.

On the contrary, the guards from the Marinford Theocracy muttered, “Why is a child, even a noble, at the front...”

The first to appear was a group of forest wolves. There were about twenty of them. Forest wolves lived in groups in the forest and were famous for their quick movements in hunting prey, but they rarely left the forest. While thinking about this, Kain cast a spell.

*Vacuum Blade*

The spell, cast without incantation, quickly dispatched the monsters.

He continued to deal with the monsters that kept appearing, but they kept coming from the forest without end.

“Something’s wrong...”

Kain glared at the captains guarding the holy maiden’s carriage.

“Send someone to check if the guards have anything strange. This is too suspicious.”

Kain continued to dispatch the goblins and orcs that kept coming from the forest, and a small mountain of monster corpses had already formed around him.

A royal guard who had gone to question the holy maiden’s guards returned.

“Lord Kain, I understand. They used a monster repellent incense, but one of them was a monster attractor. It has been dealt with, so it’s safe now.”

Monster repellent incense was used by merchants to avoid being attacked by monsters while traveling. Monster attractor incense was used by adventurers in areas with few monsters to gain experience, but it was not used in the Kingdom of Effort, which had many forests inhabited by monsters. Using a monster attractor incense in this country would result in this situation.

Kain nodded at the royal guard’s report and continued to dispatch the monsters that followed. Even low-rank monsters would have caused significant damage if Kain hadn’t been there. The battle lasted less than an hour, and the monsters from the forest had stopped coming.

Several small mountains of monster corpses had formed around Kain.

“Is it over...”

Kain turned around to see the royal guards, who had done nothing, looking dumbfounded.

“Were we even needed...”

“He cast so many spells and didn’t even break a sweat...”

“Lord Kain didn’t even draw his sword...”

“I can see now that he’s stronger than the captain...”

Kain instructed the royal guards to remain vigilant for a while and approached the carriage guarding the holy maiden.

The holy maiden’s guards, seeing Kain’s godlike strength, held their drawn swords and trembled with fear, stepping back one by one.

“The monsters have been eliminated, so there’s no problem. But why the incense? It wasn’t necessary before.”

Kain was angry that the servants and others had been put in danger and asked with a voice full of anger.

“S-Sorry... I thought I was being extra cautious, but it must have been mixed in with the items I brought from the theocracy. There was no ill intent. I will ensure the inventory manager is disciplined when we return to the theocracy. For putting everyone in such danger.”

The captain of the guard, seeing Kain’s demon-like strength up close, could only answer while trembling.

“—I understand. Don’t do anything unnecessary from now on.”

“—But, Lord Kain, is it really okay to cast so many spells?”

The captain of the guard asked Kain hesitantly.

“That much is no problem. However, if I hadn’t been here, the royal guards might have suffered some damage. There was even a possibility of total annihilation. Please understand that.”

“...I understand.”

After saying what he wanted to say, Kain returned to the royal guards.

“Sorry for the wait. Let’s take the monster corpses back. We can sell them to the knight order when we return.”

The royal guards rejoiced at Kain’s words. With so many monster materials, even if they were low-level, they would fetch a decent price. Kain put them away in his item box one by one, and the mountains of monster corpses that had formed were gone in ten minutes.

The royal guards knew Kain had an item box, but the guards from the theocracy were dumbfounded at the sight of so many items being stored.

Using an item box that could store such a large quantity required a vast amount of magic power, something even the head mage of their country couldn’t do.

The captain of the guard, seeing Kain’s figure, could only frown.

With the preparations complete, Kain gave the signal to depart, and the carriage started moving.

“Kain, you looked great when you fought the orcs, and you were amazing just now too.”

Kain scratched his head in embarrassment at Silk’s excited words after seeing his battle.

After that, they arrived in the capital without any interference from the captain of the guard, completing the two-day journey.

Thank you as always. I wrote at a family restaurant after work and the writing went better than expected, so I updated early. I still need to proofread, but I’ll try to update once a week.