Volume 1 Chapter 6 It Became Just the Right Appeal Time
"Thank you for your help."
The woman in the coat lightly bent her knees while still wearing her hood, showing her gratitude.
From her attitude, she seemed like a young lady of some noble status.
"I apologize for the delay. I'm──"
"Lady Cecilie, that won't do."
The young knight who admonished the woman named Cecilie had a slightly dissatisfied expression, but she seemed unwilling to reveal anything further, keeping her mouth shut.
...No, she is not a woman but a girl.
She looks to be around the same age as Minori, perhaps 15 or 16.
"It seems there are circumstances, but I won't pry. We were planning to camp around here, so we just came to help ease your worries. Please don't mind us."
"...I appreciate your consideration. I'm Dietrika. If you don't mind, may I ask for your names?"
In place of the girl, the young knight answered.
There was no reason for us not to introduce ourselves, so I decided to respond.
"I'm Ryuuji, an enchanter. My adventurer rank is Third Rank."
"I-I'm Lene, an alchemist. Also Third Rank."
"Oh, to be Third Rank at such a young age is impressive."
As we showed our bracelets while introducing ourselves, the middle-aged knight nodded in admiration while rubbing his chin.
I suppose it's worth noting that while Lene looks like an elf and her age is hard to tell, it's best not to mention that.
"Moreover, I couldn't see the physical barrier being deployed earlier, yet it deflected weapons. That must be due to the effect of <Absolute>, right? To create a barrier strong enough to deflect weapons requires advanced magic stone generation skills. Impressive."
"Thank you. You're correct; it's the effect of <Absolute>."
<Absolute>, named for its ability to deflect all attacks unless a certain level of force is applied, is classified as a quite advanced enhancement technique, one of the tiger's children.
However, just applying the enhancement is not enough to gain sufficient power; as the middle-aged knight said, cutting techniques become important too.
To discern that, I feel this knight is no ordinary person.
"I'm impressed that you knights fought through this number of enemies without taking significant damage."
"Hahaha, we simply do our job."
The middle-aged knight laughs heartily, but there are visible wounds on his armor.
The two female knights even have injuries on their faces, which is painful to see.
"Um... this may be presumptuous, but, Sir Knight, would you like to use my medicine?"
Lene seems to feel the same and pulls out a small vial containing a light blue liquid from her bag, offering it.
However, the knights have complex expressions, looking at each other.
It's a medicine offered by someone they can't fully trust.
They probably have reservations about using it.
For Lene's honor, let me step in.
"Huh? Mr. Ryuuji, what are you...?"
Seeing the knife I slowly pulled out, Lene's face twitched.
Tension ran among the knights as well.
That's only natural.
However, I didn't pull it out to harm anyone.
"Eek!?"
A small scream from a girl named Cecilie.
I showed them by cutting my own arm with the knife I took out.
I didn't hurt myself more than necessary, so it was just a bit of blood oozing out, but was it shocking?
"Lene, medicine."
"Y-yes!"
Did Lene understand my intention?
She hurriedly dripped a few drops from a small bottle onto the wound.
I lightly rubbed it in with my finger.
"Huh? No way..."
The two female knights widened their eyes in surprise.
Well, it makes sense.
When I wiped off the medicine with a cloth, the wound had completely vanished.
"...So, will you use it?"
"I will use it!"
"Please let me use it!"
"H-Hey, you two!"
When I asked again, the female knights all pleaded together, causing Mr. Dietrich to panic and try to stop them.
"Now, now, that's fine, Diet. If anything happens, I will take responsibility."
As the girl said this while giggling, the middle-aged knight laughed heartily.
* * *
After handing the medicine to the knights, we decided to part ways with the group.
They had their own circumstances, and it would be inconvenient to camp in the same place.
Besides, this place was filled with corpses.
I don't have a good hobby of spending the night in a place like this.
As we were about to leave with our belongings, one of the girl from the group hurriedly called out to us.
"Excuse me, may I ask where you two are headed?"
"Us? We're heading to Sartzstadt, where we plan to set up a workshop."
"Sartzstadt... I see... That was in the territory of Marquis Reichner, right?"
Oh?
The moment I mentioned my destination, the girl's tone became hesitant?
Does she have some thoughts about Sartzstadt?
"Sartzstadt, huh? Well, our journey is still long. Make sure to restock in the towns along the way."
"Y-yes! Thank you for your advice!"
The middle-aged knight seemed to forcefully change the subject, as if he was dizzy from the girl's attitude.
Lene, unaware of this, responded honestly.
However, he was right; it would still take about ten days to reach Sartzstadt.
I don't know where this party is heading, but are we going in the same direction?
...Somehow, I feel like our destination is the same direction, and it's probably about 3 days away to the royal capital, Raudinger... Well, just because we were asked doesn't mean we need to return the question.
"...Well then, I'll take my leave. Please take care, everyone."
"Excuse me!"
The sunset is approaching.
We decided to hurry and gather dead branches to prepare for camping.
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