It was another day of driving the wagon with breaks in between.

The surrounding scenery changed from dry wilderness to sandy soil, and as we continued, rocks and rock walls became more prominent. According to Fath-san, we were approaching the Gariada Valley.

“Be careful of those rocks, there’s a good chance that rock turtles are mimicking them.”

“Heh …… ”

After hearing that, I can’t help but to do it, so I shot my magic at the craggy rocks. In the event that you’re not sure what you’re looking for, you’ll be able to find it on the web.

“Goruuu ……!?”

“Kuoon!?”

“Oh, there it is! It’s a small one. Sephiro, please.”

“♪”

Ash was startled by the sudden appearance and came to hug me. I soothe him and ask Sephiro to collect the Rock Turtle, whose mimicry has been broken, with a branch.

The road was rough and the carriage was not very fast, so it was not too difficult for Sephiro.

“Goruu!”

“Kuoon!”

“It’s a little smaller than Ash, I think? He looks strong, but a little weak …… Do you want some water?”

“Goruu! ……♪”

He seemed to be weak and Ash was hitting him hard, but he couldn’t fight back and pulled his head back. When I gave him water, he just stuck his head out and drank it like it tasted good. 

I said that it must have gotten separated from the herd, so I decided to take it along as Ash’s playmate. Then, Makina pointed ahead and shouted.

“Oh, I can see the outer wall! Isn’t that a town?”

“Oh, so it’s made of rock.”

“There’s a river nearby. Maybe they’ll welcome us there.”

When we were almost there, we were excited to see a town with a magnificent outer wall. We hadn’t had a good night’s rest since we left the previous town, so it was nice to be able to sleep in a safe town.

There was no need to rush to Dibit-san’s place, so we quickly approached the town to rest–

“Hmm? Oh, what are you, a traveler? Or are you an adventurer?”

“Oh, yeah, I’m an adventurer, can I come in?”

“No problem, it’s an empty village, but take your time!”

A slightly armed guard welcomed us with a smile and let us in. As he spoke, he glanced around a bit, and I was puzzled. As I walked in, I realized what he meant by “nothing”.

“…… The exterior walls were magnificent, but ……”

“There’s really nothing here.”

Basleigh-sensei was right, there was nothing here to be called a town. It was more like a village, which seemed unbalanced considering the splendor of the exterior walls.

“Oh, Mom, there’s a field!”

“Oh, how nostalgic.”

“There’s water …… It’s a nice place.”

“Yes, I envy the fact that it’s so far from town and so well cultivated.”

However, Ornob-san and Yukuta-san said that they prefer this kind of village to the town because they can be more relaxed. Yukuta-san said she used to live in a village with her parents, cultivating the fields, until she got married.

“Now, it seems that there is no such thing as an inn, so we’ll have to rent a vacant place around here. Huh? Where are you going, Fath-san?”

“I’m going to ask around and see if they know anything about Dibit. And if he’ll accept the four of them. Ornob and Yukuta, can you come with me?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Dasha will stay here with Rata-san, okay?”

“Yes! I’ll be waiting for you with the others.”

Yukuta-san seemed to be feeling more relaxed after eating, and she smiled at Dasha-chan.

“I’m coming with you!”

“Really? Then I’m counting on you, Lars. I’ll leave them to you.”

“Okay. I don’t think anything will happen to you, but be careful!”

I saw Makina off with a smile and a wave, and I called out to the people walking around to see if there was a suitable place.

◆ 　 ◇ 　 ◆

“What do we do, Master? I don’t think there’s a guild or anything like that.”

“Umu. But there must be a village chief. It is said that a village without a leader falls quickly, and without someone who has the authority to make decisions, disputes will occur.”

“I see …… Without lords or mayors, people can do as they please, after all. I also think that the town of Gust is peaceful thanks to Lars’ father and brother.”

After parting ways with Lars and the others, Makina was talking about this as she and Fath walked through the village. The village’s exterior walls are spread out over quite a bit of area, but the interior looks very unbalanced with not even half of the houses.

“…… It’s definitely him.”

“What? Oh, excuse me, who’s in charge of this village?”

“Oh, I haven’t seen you before. If it’s the village chief, he lives in that rather large house, do you need something?”

Makina didn’t miss Fath’s narrowed eyes, but a man with a hoe was just passing by, so Makina called out to him. Then he responded in a friendly manner. 　

“Umu, I’d like to have a word with him. I need to talk to you about something.”

“You guys? The young girl will be fine, I think, but I’ll show you around.”

“Thank you very much! …… wait, I’m not here for that, though!?”

“Ha-ha-ha, you’re probably an adventurer with that gear. Is there a reason? We welcome such people.”

“Well, I guess there is, ho-ho-ho.”

Soon, they arrived at a large house for this village, and the man with a hoe knocked on the front door and called out.

“Chief, you have a visitor. Would you please listen to them?”

“Oh, wait a minute.”

The man’s voice was answered immediately, and the front door opened and a young man came out. He smiled when he saw Makina and the others and opened his mouth.

“It’s nice to meet you. My name is Dakucha, and I am the village chief of this village of Gariada. What can I do for you?”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Makina. I’m sorry for the sudden visit. There are two things I want to talk to you about. First, I would like you to welcome some people to this village.”

“Hmm, you and the old lady? You look like you’re from another country. ……”

“Oh, no, we have other friends, but they’re from Sandiola. There are four of them, a mother, her daughter, an old lady and a man.”

“It’s like a whole family …… But we’re grateful for that, so I’d like to meet them and talk to them.”

The village chief, Dakucha, nodded with his arms crossed, and Makina was relieved to hear that he had a good feeling. And then Fath spoke up.

“Please. I’m sure they’re not bad people, but you’ll have to see for yourself. And secondly …… there’s a wizard named Dibit involved in the founding of this village, right?　Where is he now?”

“……!”

The village chief, Dakucha, complexion suddenly changes at Fath’s words. And then the man with a hoe, sweating profusely, steps away and shouts 

“These guys are ……! Village chief, I’ll call everyone!”

“Master!”

“Don’t worry, Makina.”

Fath says there’s no problem to Makina who takes a stance.

And just as the man is about to whistle–

Well, I guess that’s all part of the plan ……

Thank you for reading!

[Afterword Theater]

“Well, the exterior walls are amazing and the inside is crappy, so the wizard must have done the exterior walls. Is there such magic?”

You can read more about it in the new book! (Advertising)