Chapter 92

The Month of the Windy Moon (March) was past its midpoint, and the temperature had become significantly warmer.

Because I had been in charge of the Princess’s full-body beauty treatment, I hadn’t been back to Japan for a while. However, thanks to Lady Clara’s arrangements, I was granted a summons for two consecutive days, allowing me to gain two new skills.

I’m from Yamagata Prefecture, but I don’t have much experience in gathering wild vegetables. I’ve only done it a few times during school events or when I was dragged along by my friends’ families. It’s hard to find them if you aren’t used to it, but I have fun memories of doing so. I love tempura made from Japanese angelica tree buds and mushroom soup. It seems like it could become a fun hobby if I combine it with my “Illustrated Botany Guide – Introductory Volume” skill.

My skill list has grown quite a bit. Maybe I should organize it a little, for the first time in a while.

“Courage x6,” “Linguistic Proficiency,” “Spatial Storage,” “Sowing,” “Paralysis Magic,” “Weather Forecasting,” “Gecko Hand,” “Water Walking,” “Golden Fingers → God Fingers,” “Illustrated Botany Guide – Introductory Volume,” “Attraction,” “Dog’s Nose,” “Staff Fighting,” “Dummy,” “Judging Truth and Falsehood,” “Swimming,” “Sky Walk,” “Edible Wild Plant Gathering,” and “Night Vision.”

“Courage x6,” “Dog’s Nose,” and “Linguistic Proficiency” are passive skills, so I use them naturally, as if it were a matter of course. As for the other skills, the one I use most frequently is probably “Weather Forecasting.” I’ve developed the habit of using it first thing in the morning when I wake up. Conversely, the ones I’ve never used at all are “Sowing” and “Swimming.” I rarely find the opportunity to use them. It couldn’t be helped, I suppose, since it had been winter for so long.

My “Spatial Storage” has also grown a little bit more. It expanded from 33cm (height) x 38cm (width) x 63cm (depth) to 38cm (height) x 45cm (width) x 67cm (depth)—quite spacious now. Looking only at the numbers, the difference isn’t striking, but when you actually try using it, you can tell that the storage capacity has increased significantly. I bought various items from Japan this time as well, and it was a huge help.

Speaking of Japanese souvenirs, Fiene has become a total foodie lately. Right now, she’s obsessed with Échiré butter cream cakes. I happened to buy them while I was in Marunouchi for business, and Fiene was instantly captivated after eating one. I’ve also become a fan, as their butter cream has a milky richness like nothing I’ve ever tasted before. When I brought this cake home for the second time, Fiene shouted, “I love you, Papa!” and clung to me. I complained, “Don’t treat me like an old man,” but deep down, she’s so cute when she’s excited that I’ll probably just buy it for her again. Little kids have an advantage in these situations, don’t they?

The day’s work was over, and it was time to head back to the apartment. I enjoyed a five-minute “flirting session” with Lady Clara—which we called a business report. Truthfully, I wanted to stay with her longer, but there were too many people coming and going, so we couldn’t take much time. But it’s a universal fact, anytime and anywhere, that obstacles only make love burn brighter. That didn’t change even in another world.

I could smell Juliana from the front entrance, so I quietly snuck home through the back door.

“Sir Hinoharu! I’m so glad I could meet you.”

Standing at the back entrance of the barracks was Juliana’s handmaid, Karina. I had completely forgotten about this person’s scent. She jogged toward me, her cheeks flushed red—perhaps from the cold. As always, she was a very pretty, beautiful, and innocent-looking boy. I absolutely could not believe that this person was a man. But my “Dog’s Nose” tells me the truth, as cruelly as ever…

“Hello, Sir Hinoharu.”

“Karina. What a coincidence to see you in a place like this.”

How long had she been waiting in this cold? Even if it was for her master’s sake, I thought it was quite a lot of trouble.

“Sir Hinoharu, Lady Juliana is waiting for you at the front entrance. Could you please accompany me?”

No way. I don’t want to meet her. Me, Saint, Scary. I was so terrified I could barely speak in full sentences.

“Actually, I have an urgent errand to attend to.”

I gripped Karina’s hands in both of mine and pleaded with them. Knowing the other person was actually a boy made it much easier to touch them without reservation.

“Karina! Please, I beg you to look the other way! Please!!”

“S-S-Sir H-H-H-Hinoharu!?”

Please! I stared into their eyes and asked as earnestly as I could.

“I have a desperate need to spend this evening alone and in peace. Karina, I am begging you.”

Karina turned a gaze overflowing with compassion toward me as I implored them.

“…I understand. Leave this place to me and flee. I will manage the rest somehow!”

Oh! To me, Karina looked like much more of a saint than Juliana ever did.

“Thank you!”

I bowed politely and started to walk away, but then I had a change of heart. It wasn’t good to leave a debt of gratitude unpaid. I opened my Spatial Storage and took out some cookies I had bought in Japan, along with a small teddy bear. The teddy bear was something I’d bought for Marquis Berlion’s grandchild, but I decided to give it to Karina instead.

“Here, it’s nothing fancy, but please have these. If you don’t like the stuffed toy, feel free to give it to a child you know.”

“Ah…”

I didn’t know when the Saint might show up. I hurried away from the scene as quickly as I could.

“Tha… nk… you…”

By the time Karina recovered from their daze and managed to offer their thanks, Kota had already vanished. Karina, who stood at the back entrance of the barracks hugging the teddy bear to their chest, looked for all the world like a girl in love, but Kota was oblivious to that fact.

The sun leaned toward the west, and the streets were overflowing with people rushing to get home. I wondered what I should do for dinner today. The choices were simple: eat at home or eat out. I had freshly cooked rice stored in my Spatial Storage, so I could have a meal in an instant. If I made some miso soup packed with vegetables and served it with some deli items I’d bought at the department store, it would be a delicious, well-balanced meal.

But tonight, the thought of making that miso soup—and doing the cleanup afterward—felt just a little bit too tiresome. Since I had the money, maybe I should hire a housekeeper. Apparently, there are many people looking for work, so I could find someone right away. Just having someone handle the cleaning and laundry during the day would make my life so much easier. I’d heard that many people in the barracks with ranks equivalent to Company Commander lived off-base and employed housekeepers.

It was while I was thinking about things like that and ducking into a shortcut that my “Dog’s Nose” picked up the scent of blood. In a corner of a dead-end alley, three men were surrounding a single person. The man was lying on the ground, blood dripping from his mouth—he must have been beaten. The thugs raised their legs and stomped on the fallen man, intending to hurt him even further. It didn’t look like a mugging, but rather a fight.

“You apostate!”

“Learn your lesson!”

Naturally, I couldn’t just stand by and watch. I’m a member of the City Guard, after all. I manifested my magic to create a staff.

“What are you guys doing!”

With my weapon readied, I blew my soldier’s whistle with all my might. If there was a patrol nearby, they should come running. I positioned myself near the wall to leave an escape route for the thugs, and they took off immediately. Maybe it helped that I was still wearing my guard uniform.

“Are you alright? It looks like you’re bleeding.”

“Yes. I think I cut my lip.”

He was a small man. At first glance, he looked like a craftsman, but there was something slightly different about him. He had a more delicate, slender build. That said, he didn’t feel like a merchant, either.

“Thank you. It’s terrifying to imagine what would have happened if you hadn’t come by, soldier.”

The man wiped the blood from his lips with a handkerchief.

“Was it a fight?”

“No, it was some extremist followers of the Elder Faction.”

The Elder Faction? I had completely forgotten, but that was a sect of Nordism. Emma was also a member of the Elder Faction, and she had once questioned me when I was riding my motorbike. They were known for a sect that disliked over-reliance on magical tools and industry, preaching a life in harmony with nature. There were some extremists among them who would sometimes attack people who didn’t share their views like this. Of course, it seemed the rival Enlightenment Faction followers did the same thing.

“Since you were attacked by the Elder Faction, are you a follower of the Enlightenment Faction?”

“Absolutely not! I’m from the Eben school.”

I didn’t know much about the Eben school.

“Then why were you attacked?”

“I think it’s because I’m an engineer.”

An engineer, he said. This was the first time I’d met someone in this world who called themselves an engineer. As I looked at him with intrigue, he added an explanation.

“My name is Oliver Bach. I’m contracted by the military to improve magic-powered cannons and handle repairs for the city gates.”

I had finally found the engineer I’d been looking for. Was this the guidance of Lord Seraphim? I decided to immediately try to pull some information out of him regarding the technology of this world.