Me and Eve met up with Seras and Liz who were already waiting at the place we agreed on earlier.

[We’ve been waiting, Touka-dono.] [The investigation about the Killer of the Five Dragon Warriors shouldn’t progress for a while now.] [Then, it seems that plan you’ve said before went well huh?] [Honestly, I never expected that plan to work so well.]

Liz run up towards Eve.

[Big Sister…] [Did something happen while you’re waiting for me?] [Yep… Seras-sama said that I did well…] [Liz really helped out a lot when we were carrying the luggage.]

Seras said.

[Thanks to her, it saved me some trouble.] [Seras-sama…]

Liz looks like she’s moved to tears. It seems she hardly had any experience being praised huh… It’s already in her nature to help. She has never been told words of gratitude. As for how that proprietress treats LIz… I guess you could easily imagine that. Liz stepped up in front of me. Keeping her gait neatly, Liz bows down her head.

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[Thank you very much… If Touka-sama didn’t save me… Big Sister and I would be…] [Don’t worry about it.]

Liz raises her face. It feels like she wants to ask something but worried that she may be rude in asking.

[Do you have something to ask?] [Umm…] [You don’t have to hold back.] [Is Pigimaru-chan… safe?]

With a resolute expression on her face, Liz asks. And then, a protrusion slithered out from the side of my neck. His movements was slightly slower than usual. It’s the effect of the burden of the skill we’ve just used together. The protrusion stretched out and stopped before Liz.

[Piniii♪]

Liz touches the protrusion.

[I heard from Seras-sama that Pigimaru-chan had also actively participated earlier…] [Puyuu!] [Thank you for your hard work.] [Punyuuu~♪]

Pigimau’s color changed into a light pink.

[…Ehehe.]

The eyes of Seras who’s standing next to me softened.

[When she finally got to touch Pigimaru-dono like that, it feels like she has been released from the tension she’s been feeling huh.]

Liz’s expression certainly looks quite relaxed. Could Pigimaru heal the wounds in Liz’s heart?

[What the heck is with that guy’s versatility…?] [Fufu, as expected of Pigimaru-dono.]

The horse we used as a decoy ran away somewhere. Therefore, we would have to switch to the horses used by the Duke and the others. Our luggage had already been tied to the replacement horse by Seras and Liz though.

[It would have been great if I had a magic item where I could store things indefinitely.]

I put my hands into my purse. I’ve only taken out a small portion at that place. This purse contains gold, jewels and some jewelries. The weight that we could carry was quite limited. We want to reduce the amount of luggage we would carry as much as possible.

[Well then, let’s go.]

Eve and Liz have already finished their preparations. Riding behind the horse, I embrace Seras from behind.

[My bad. Because I couldn’t ride a horse, we’d end up wasting some time.] [Please don’t mind it. Everyone had their strengths and weaknesses. Besides… I’m also glad that I could be of service to you, you know?]

Eve and Liz’s horse started walking. However, the horse we’re riding on hasn’t moved yet.

[Seras?] [I’m sorry, Touka-dono. Could you… hold on to me tighter? I’m actually quite anxious about how loose you’re holding me.] […I understand.]

Gyuuuuu

I cling on to Seras’ body more firmly.

[Hhnnn—]

A strained voice leaked out a little bit from Seras’ mouth.

[……Did I cling too tightly?]

Did I make a mistake on the strength of my hold? It might be the effect of the status correction. I loosened my hold a bit.

[How about now?] [Eh… Yes, this much is fine.]

And then, the horse started walking in a trot. The sounds of hooves. The unique shakes in each of the horse’s steps. Honestly, it would be quite difficult to say that I’m used to riding a horse.

[Touka-dono, it went exactly as you had anticipated this time again.] [I don’t really know about that.]

I continue.

[If I could really read everything, I would have noticed the burden on Pigimaru’s body and the possibility of there being a limit on the number of targets I could use my skill on.]

[However, even if you were faced with a situation you didn’t expect, you didn’t get confused and kept on moving. You were able to quickly respond with the situation… And because Touka-dono is like that, we could be relieved as we follow your instructions.]

A person would be anxious if the one giving instructions is a hasty person. Therefore, I have to make sure that I’m prepared for everything at all times. I jokingly said.

[Well… If I’m going to be treated as the lord, I have to stand in a way that I won’t feel ashamed even with such a treatment.]

[Fufu, those words were quite reassuring.]

[…Just as I had said before, I can’t perfectly anticipate everything. However, I would always think about ways to make it as close to perfect as I could.]

[Then, I would be striving to be the perfect adjutant for you, right?]

[You’re doing enough right now already. Especially since we’ve arrived here in Monroy, I’ve been relying on Seras more often.]

[I’m really glad that you could rely on me, you know? You could rely on me even at times like riding on horses.]

[Hey, Seras.]

[What is it?]

[Riding a horse, would it be easy for you to teach me?]

[When we have the time, should I teach you?]

[I’m counting on you. The speed of the horse decreases when there are two people riding on it.]

[Understood. If that is what Touka-dono wants.]

[Besides, you’d end up being hugged like this every time we ride a horse in our travels, right?]

[No, I don’t particularly have any problem with it though? It would be another thing if it’s another person, but if it’s Touka-dono…]

[I might be glad to hear that but… If we were to think about our travels from now on, it would be better if each of us could ride our own horse.]

For a while, Seras haven’t spoken anything.

[That… That really might be so.] (PR/N: Stupid Touka)

▽

After some time, rain began to fall.

The streaks of rain gradually became heavier as time passes.

Along the way, we found a small cave and decided to take some shelter from the rain.

[The weather suddenly started acting weird, heavy rain suddenly coming down hard like that is…]

Seras and Liz began wringing their wet clothes. I handed the two of them some dry cloths in substitute for towels.

[Wipe your hair well, okay? You might catch a cold. Well… I don’t really know if High Elves and Dark Elves will catch colds like humans do.] [The cold, is it? Yes, we could catch a cold, you know?]

While thoroughly wiping the water dripping on her bangs, Seras continued.

[However, it was said that Elves were less susceptible to illnesses compared to Humans. Or rather than saying it like that, it was more right to say that Humans were recognized as more susceptible to illnesses compared to the other races.]

Seras stepped closer and began wiping my hair dry with a cloth. Looking at her, I could see that she’s standing on her tiptoes. Asking for consent, Seras smiles.

[You also have to be careful so that you don’t catch a cold, right?] […You’re right.]

If I were to catch a cold and my body gets worse, it would be quite a disaster.