Extra chapter thanks to David, Thinh, Steffen and Michael~
Chapter 20: Lit and Red
Translator: Tseirp
“Now, let’s organize your item box!”
“Oh ―”
Lit replied with a dispirited look. Maybe because she was a princess, she wasn’t the type to do this kind of task herself.
“For starters, just take everything out.”
“Ye~s”
It would be a mess if she took them out indoor so I recommended we did it outside. It was also important that I ensured it was safe by making sure there wasn’t anybody around.
“Very good, there’s nobody around.”
It was my garden so naturally there wasn’t anybody but it was better to be safe.
Lit turned over her item box ... and stiffened.
“What’s wrong?”
” ...... ”
Don’t tell me she forgot the Command Word to release it? If that was the case, the only way to take out the items inside that she had forgotten about would be to destroy the item box.
But that didn’t seem to be the case.
“Don’t laugh okay.”
“?”
I tilted my head in confusion.
Lit took a deep breath to calm herself before,
“Thunder Waker!”
Yup, she cried out the name of my once favorite sword.
” ... You bought this item box for me after all.”
“That was because we were parting.”
That was more embarrassing than funny.
While both of us had red faces, the items from her item box rolled onto the garden one after the other.
I looked on in a daze for a while before,
” ... Wait, that is a lot!”
Furthermore, quite a number of junk stood out among the items that came out. Well, they were not junk but they were stuff that B-rank adventurers usually ignored.
“Why did u keep regular swords and spears?”
“I kind of wanted to sell them.”
Well, of course, that would be a moderate income for an ordinary person but taking into account the Frost Spear beside it that could sell for 4500 Peryl, a regular weapon that sells for 10 Peryl would just be an accounting error.
“Mu, I’ll go sell them tomorrow so let’s put the important items in the storeroom for now.”
It was normal for adventurers who purchase large capacity item boxes but it looked like she did have a bad habit of collecting items.
Adventurers are able to earn more compared to regular people not because of the remuneration from the request but by snatching the assets from the monsters or bandits they fought against. They also horde treasures and magical items during their lifetime and it was the principal of adventurers to take the items of the subjugated for their own.
Even if the items were stolen from a neighboring village. Apart from when it was a request to recover the items, they were not obliged to return to items and the reward for recovery requests had to be a lot better.
Such treasures were included in the adventurer’s livelihood.
” ... There’s a strong inclination for upper and lower undergarments.”
“Stop looking!”
It was a large quantity nonetheless.
There was probably also a large number of clothes that she bought which she forgot about.
Moreover, about half of them have clearly not been washed.
“Uu, u―”
That’s bad, Lit was red-faced with tears in her eyes. I didn’t think much of it as adventurers regularly organized their items but only now I understood that doing it after the person has quit adventuring was quite problematic.
“This much is common! Hey, hurry up and organize them and bring the clothes for washing to the washroom. I’ll organize the magic tools.”
Lit turned her back to me in protest againsts my forced follow-up.
Even though it was a tacit understanding during journeys that our appearances would be sloppy and we wouldn’t mind even if we changed in each other’s presence, slow life was seriously troublesome.
” ... Then, I’ll tidy up Red’s laundry from tomorrow onward also.”
“Huh?”
“We’ll be even then.”
“I-is that how that works?”
Oh well, if she was placated with that then it was fine. Even though I didn’t really understand.
Lit seemed to be convinced after I nodded as she started to reluctantly tidy up the clothes.
☆☆
“All right, let’s go swimming!”
“O―!”
“Did you bring the cooler box!”
“I did!”
“What about the contents!”
“Meat and vegetables and wine and beer!”
I wonder if those strange people I met yesterday have met up with adventurers?
Please work hard, I’ll work hard to grill meat and swim in the river.
We borrowed two Riding Drake and the two of us rode abreast on the highway.
It had been a long time since I last used a Riding Drake.
The drake-type was the most common dragon species in the continent. They even had formal names like Wyvern or Poison Tail Drake.
Their difference compared to the dragon-type was the number of legs. Compared to dragon kind which possess four legs and a pair of wings, the drakes only have two legs and a pair of wings. Their intelligence was also closer to beasts so they could be trained to allow people to ride them like this.
The Riding Drake was the result of breeding to produce a type that has small vestigial wings but sturdy legs which allowed them to run like they were flying. Their sparkling brown scales were soft and warm to the touch. The eyelids that they developed allowed them to continue running while protecting their eyes from strong sunlight, dust or snow.
The disadvantage was the feeding cost. They ate three times the amount a horse ate and it had to be meat.
They could be found in rental shops run by the country in large towns and by showing identification as proof of citizenship, one could rent them by paying a 100 Peryl deposit fee. That 100 Peryl was nothing more than a deposit as it would be returned after deducting a fee of 3 Quarter Peryl a day when the drake was returned.
“As expected, a Running Drake is better after all!”
Lit said like she was having fun.
The reason for choosing the expensive Riding Drake compared to a horse or a Riding Gecko was because she wanted to enjoy the breeze as she rode it.
The degenerated feathers of the Riding Drake could not gain lift but it caught the wind and softly jumped as it ran. That sensation was a pleasure unobtainable from riding other beasts but not many people rented a Riding Drake just to ride it.
Well, there were people attracted to the powerful running ability of the horse and also the three-dimensional acrobatic running ability of the Riding Gecko which could run on walls and ceilings. Among them, there were even people who enjoy the relaxing pace of the donkey which was originally a beast of burden. There were all kinds of people in the world.
Riding was a major interest among people who live with silver coins.
A strong gust blew and the Riding Drake’s body flew into the air.
“Yahoooo!!!”
Lit cried out. I also unconsciously followed suit.
The Riding Drake lowered its head, spread its shiny wings and jumped close to 10 meters.
There was almost no shock from the landing. The two beasts had the Divine Protection of the Fighter so even though their level was low due to the lack of combat opportunities, their body status was raised so it was quite enjoyable.
“Sorry that you have to go along with my selfishness!”
“Don’t worry, I have not ridden a Riding Drake for a long time but this exhilaration is greater than the price paid! This is fun!”
We went upstream of the river and it would take us an hour to reach the clear stream at the foot of a nearby mountain. Of course, we could not continue at this pace the entire trip but for now, we let the Running Drakes continue running to their heart’s content as we cried out in joy.
☆☆
I suddenly looked up at the sky and saw two Pegasus leisurely run in the sky with their wings spread.
“A couple huh, looks like we are close to the Pegasus breeding ground.”
The Pegasus with large white feathers on their horse body affectionately circled the sky. Even among the monsters, Pegasus was known to be extremely mild-mannered so many lands prohibit the hunting of Pegasus. In addition, although not to the extent of the Owlbear, their kicks have enough force to kill even a Grizzly so they bred extensively in the Avalon Continent.
Although their numbers have dwindled due to over-hunting in the Dark Continent.
“Sorry for the wait, let’s swim.”
Lit was wearing a halter neck bikini which was a type of swimwear where the top exposed the shoulders and was tied to the neck. Her ample bust that was normally hidden under her clothes moved with her steps so I was troubled as to where to look.
But when I stood behind her, her exposed back with well-toned muscles was ...
As I looked at Lit from behind, Lit spun around.
“Mufufu.”
Noticing the movement of my gaze, Lit covered her mouth with her hand and laughed with satisfaction.
Having reached the river, we decided to first have a swim before preparing the barbecue. Lit took out a small tent from her item box and we changed our clothes there.
... Just a little, I imagined us changing with our backs to each other but I wasn’t wrong. That’s normal for men. Yup.
“I’m probably a lot more excited than I imagined.”
This isn’t like me, I thought to myself but when Lit took my hand and pulled me into the water with her and the cold caused Lit and I to exclaim; when we splashed water on each other like kids; when Lit dived into the water and broke the water surface; I inadvertently felt my lips loosen.
The troubling point was that Lit noticed that. But Lit was also smiling brightly so we were even.
“It’s about time we have our lunch.”
“All right.”
This time, I extended my hand to her. Lit showed a look of surprise for a moment.
“Thanks!”
Before she thanked me and grabbed my hand.
☆☆
Romance was inherent to knights. In knight tales, there would always be a damsel in need of saving, a talented girl who helped the knight when he faced difficulties or a witch who surrendered to the knight and became good friends with him.
However, I never had such encounters. I also never heard such stories actually happening to my fellow knights.
The point I’m getting to is that I was scouted to be a knight from a young age, went through countless adventures, and formed a party with the Hero Ruti ever since leaving the village so my love experience was zero.
Of course, when I was vice-captain, such tales were brought up. However, I knew that Ruti possessed the Divine Protection of the Hero and understood even before I became a knight that I would follow her on her journey.
I didn’t have the time to think about love. When I traveled with Ruti, I made connections with influential people who would serve as the shields on our backs and earned money so that we would not have to struggle with finances.
That was why ...
(I don’t know what to talk about ...)
Lit and I sat side by side as we ate grilled meat and vegetable and drank wine.
We were talking about normal topics at the start but we were both conscious of each other so the conversation died off and now we sat in silence while sipping wine.
I threw a fleeting glance to my side and Lit also seemed to have the same idea as our gazes met. We both hurriedly averted our eyes and our faces dyed red.
” ... Bukuku.”
” ... Fufufu.”
“”Ahahaha ...!””
We laughed out loud. We’re terrible, even a children couple could do better than us.
“I thought that Lit would be a lot more used to it.”
“What, do you see me as such a person?”
“No no, after all, you were quite assertive when you came to my shop.”
“My heart was trembling thinking about what if you rejected or if you had forgotten about me ... Actually, I thought that Red would be a lot more used to it too.”
“Why?”
“Your expression was always calm without the slightest change even when I tried my best to appeal to you. It was like you considered me a child who was trying to overstretch myself.”
“I thought that it would be uncool if I was all lovestruck.”
The two of us opened our hearts and laughed while feeling refreshed.
I moved closer to Lit and she also moved closer and our exposed shoulders touched.
“Shall we open another bottle of wine? Or go for another swim?”
“Nah~ ... I’d like to stay like this a little longer.”
“Hn ... all right, let’s do that.”
Looks like both our love experience was at level 1.
Overlapped hands, touching shoulders and the body warmth that could be felt.
We were two inexperienced adults who were satisfied with just that.
Well, it’s not bad.
“But.”
“Hn?”
I turned to Lit in response to her words.
Lit’s eyes were in front of mine.
Lit moved slightly. I felt a soft sensation touch my lips.
We stayed that way for a moment ... before we moved apart.
“I wanted to at least ... progress this much.”
Lit said as she looked down slightly with her hand covering her lips but that action was too cute and I embraced Lit before I knew it.