Chapter 73

Continuing down the road, even after entering the "main road," we kept moving forward with Chris's guidance.

Without saying where we were going, Chris's detailed directions made me a bit suspicious.

"Chris, where are we going?"

"Hmm?"

"It might be helpful to know our destination in case there's a shortcut or something."

"That's it, huh. Actually, it's a place called Thunder Mountain in Indurain."

"Indurain... Thunder Mountain... Jeanne, have you heard of it?"

Not recognizing the place names Chris mentioned, I turned to Jeanne for help.

While I didn't understand Chris's words, Jeanne seemed to grasp the situation from my words alone.

She tilted her head slightly, thought for a moment, and then looked apologetic.

"I'm sorry, but I haven't heard of it..."

"No, it's fine. I haven't either."

I smiled and told Jeanne not to worry.

Then, I turned back to Chris.

"Where is it?"

"Well, after being revived by my heart friend, I talked to various dragons and exchanged information."

"Really?"

I was a bit impressed by that.

"The information wasn't insignificant. In this case, I learned that the place names I remember are no longer used by humans."

"Oh..."

I nodded in understanding.

"What do you mean?"

"According to Chris, the place names she remembers are old and no longer in use."

"I see!"

Jeanne quickly understood.

"That happens often. The capital has changed names three times, as far as I know."

"Really?"

"Yes. It's now called Northern Dancer, but before that, it was Northern Taste, and before that... Refal, I think."

"Quite different, huh?"

"Yes. I remember they were quite different, but the exact names are a bit fuzzy, I'm sorry..."

"No, that's fine."

I nodded, showing my understanding.

Human memory is like that.

Names like Northern Dancer and Northern Taste are easy to remember because they're similar, but if they're completely different, it's understandable.

Anyway.

"But, thanks for the good example, Jeanne."

"Huh?"

"Like... Refal? If the place name is completely different, it's hard to figure out, right? Chris?"

I turned to Chris for confirmation.

"Yes, neither Indurain nor Thunder Mountain are easy to associate with."

"Right. The dragons Chris talked to also had trouble with that."

"Understood."

If that's the case, there's nothing to be done, and I decided to leave the directions to Chris.

☆

By noon, we were starting to get tired.

Jeanne, in particular, looked visibly exhausted.

Seeing a teahouse up ahead,

"Let's take a break there."

I suggested.

"Y-Yes."

Jeanne nodded, and we headed to the teahouse with Chris, who looked cool as ever.

The teahouse was a simple hut with a thatched roof, with a few wooden table sets outside.

It was simple but seemed to be in business.

Most of the tables were occupied, and an old man and his granddaughter were running the place.

"Let's take that seat. Jeanne, you sit down, and I'll go order."

"Y-Yes."

Just as I was about to let Jeanne sit down,

"Hey! Old man, some drinks and meat. Four servings!"

A group of four men barged in just as Jeanne was about to sit down. They pushed me aside, sat at the table, and loudly placed their order.

They looked like troublemakers.

"What do we do, heart friend?"

"It's fine, let's take another table."

I said, and led Chris and Jeanne to a table a bit further away.

It was a shabbier table, farther from the eaves and closer to the road.

If it rained, we wouldn't be able to take shelter, and we'd be covered in dust from the road, but it was the only one left.

"Cyril...?"

"Let's go."

"Y-Yes."

Jeanne, prompted by me, glanced at the men, looking unhappy, but followed as instructed.

I didn't want to get into a fight, and it wasn't worth it.

So I decided to go to another table.

That should have been the end of it.

"Hey? What's this, miss?"

Their attention turned to us.

Actually, Jeanne had been glancing back at them, which drew their reaction.

"..."

Jeanne stopped, still looking unhappy, and glared at them.

"What do you want?"

"Since you're here, why don't you come over and join us for a drink?"

"Sure, it'll be more fun with us than with that wimp."

The men laughed crudely and said lewd things.

Honestly, I didn't want to get involved, and I thought it might be better to skip the break at the teahouse.

Snap.

I thought I heard a sound like that.

"..."

Jeanne turned around silently and approached the men.

"Jeanne?"

"Hey? You're interested, miss?"

"Sure, come sit here."

"Why should I sit next to you? There are more seats over here."

"..."

Jeanne muttered, "Transformation."

"!"

I was surprised.

Jeanne's body was enveloped in light for a moment, and her appearance changed.

"Hahaha, what an interesting form. It's very similar to the war goddess humans imagine."

Chris laughed heartily.

I secretly agreed with Chris's comment.

War goddess.

She was dressed in a dress-like outfit primarily in white, with light armor-like decorations in key areas.

Not only that, she held a long spear, the tip of which fluttered in the wind.

"..."

The men were also surprised and confused.

The next moment, their surprise and confusion turned to fear.

Jeanne swung her spear and slashed at the men.

With a sharp spear technique that didn't seem to fit a princess, she cut down all four of them.

The four men, who were cut, collapsed in their seats—though they didn't fall over.

Jeanne casually waved her hand, and light condensed between the four men—then exploded.

For some reason, the explosion didn't spread but remained contained in an invisible enclosed space.

The four men, who were hit directly by the explosion, were torn to shreds and finally collapsed.

"Wh-What's going on!?"

The girl running the teahouse noticed the commotion and screamed.

Meanwhile, Jeanne calmly returned to her original form.

"Phew. It's fine, I dealt with them."

"Huh? Oh... I see."

The girl running the teahouse seemed to understand Jeanne's explanation.

"Sorry for causing trouble."

"No, no, it happens all the time. As long as the customers settle it among themselves, it's no problem."

"Really?"

"Hahaha, what an interesting girl."

Chris and I found the teahouse's sign girl, who was unexpectedly calm, quite amusing.

We left the men lying around, placed an order, and sat at a table.

Then, I asked Jeanne.

"What was that?"

"Yes. To be able to protect myself, I asked my father to let me bring various items from the castle's treasure vault."

"Items..."

"Yes. This time, I used the Epsom Ring and the Longchamp Pendant. The Epsom Ring turned into a spear, and the Longchamp Pendant changed my appearance and provided armor."

"Is that so... By the way..."

"Yes, what is it?"

"Those... are quite expensive, right?"

I asked hesitantly.

Items from the royal castle's treasure vault... they couldn't be cheap.

"Um... I heard they cost about ten million reals."

"Wow..."

As expected, they were expensive.

"Actually, I wanted something that would allow me to fight on equal footing with you, Cyril. But when I told them about your strength, they said there was nothing like that, and it would cost about a year's national budget to get a set."

"That's—"

I thought they were overestimating me.

Still—

"You were strong. And beautiful."

"Really? I'm glad... I wanted to be able to 'transform' like you, Cyril."

"Ah."

I nodded in understanding.

So, she brought items that matched my "transformation."