Chapter 35

At the banquet, the beer was quite well-received, and an entire barrel was completely drained.

Due to its overwhelming popularity, the male villagers who attended got so drunk they were completely out of it.

Marell was quite astonished when he saw the barrel empty.

As a result, Marell paid Kena for the materials and a small fee for labor, and it was decided that the beer would be supplied at the inn.

A couple of days later, Lux returned, but he had to head back to Kairick in Helshper with a sample of whiskey.

If it was accepted, a large amount of barley would be arranged to be delivered to Kena.

If that happened, Kena's job in the village would be pretty much set.

However, Kena felt a bit unsatisfied with that.

About five days after moving to the village,

Luka, as usual, followed Kena around like a duckling, becoming a common sight.

She would become emotionally unstable the moment Kena was out of sight, and it was a given that she would sleep in Kena's bed at night.

However, as long as Kena was in her peripheral vision, it seemed to be fine, and she could play with Ritt and Latem during breaks from helping at the inn.

Latem, who was older than Luka at thirteen, could not participate in the construction work unless Lux was around. Therefore, he was placed in a role to manage the three children.

They tried out games Kena remembered from her childhood, learned simple wood carving from Latem, and sometimes helped with farm work with Kena.

Ritt also often played with them, making flower crowns.

Since Kena was always nearby, it seemed that the supervisory role was becoming more natural for her.

"Alright! This should be it... Next... Huh? It doesn't connect?"

"Which one? Latem-kun, that's been wrong since last time~"

"Like this... Attach this part here. Untie it first..."

The three children were making flower crowns with wildflowers growing at the edge of the field.

Kena, leaning against the fence, glanced at the book in her hand and smiled naturally at the children's conversation (completely ignoring the plant voices that made her want to cover her ears).

Roxine, who was unusually outside, stood by with a basket of snacks.

The time when the children could play together was in the morning until just before noon, and in the afternoon from after lunch until just before evening.

This schedule was mainly adjusted to Ritt's availability, as she had to help with the family business.

When Lux returned, Latem would also help with the family business, so the time they could play together would decrease.

In the morning, Kena had been teaching them a little bit of reading and writing, but when Luka showed off her name to the two, two more students joined that day.

Thanks to this, from the next day on, Kena spent more time teaching the three children and occasionally the villagers who had free time in the open-air classroom.

In a village this far from the capital, the literacy rate was virtually non-existent.

Most people lived their entire lives without ever encountering writing.

The village chief could only read hiragana, and Marell and Gatt could do three-digit addition and subtraction.

"Who would have thought I'd end up being a teacher here, huh?"

Kena muttered, almost as if it were a joke, how unexpected it was, or how one never knows what might be useful to someone.

Roxine, who was listening, nodded as if it were obvious.

"For someone as educated as Kena-sama, extending a helping hand to the villagers is the highest form of mercy."

The maid's incomprehensible way of thinking was a particularly headache-inducing problem.

"I wonder how Opus made Roxilus..."

To summon someone from a handbell, a vast character profile is needed.

Roxilus was made into a young cat butler out of Kena's hobby, but Roxine was created by Opus when he appeared while Kena was in a dilemma.

Roxilus was set as 'honest and devoted,' while Roxine, according to Opus, was likely 'free and unrestrained.'

Given that the maid Opus had was a black-haired elf who was 'graceful and kind,' it was highly probable that Roxine was the opposite.

"Come on, Shi? There's no such thing as a difference in status between us and the villagers. You shouldn't say such things to the villagers."

"...I apologize, I spoke out of turn."

Roxine bowed her head when scolded by Kena, but there was no sign of genuine remorse, so Kena sighed, thinking, "This is hopeless..."

Perhaps Roxine was set to 'supremacy' or something similar, which was even more rigid than the slugs.

"Isn't this book written by Crosset Bomber quite long?"

"Hmm? Yeah, it's quite typical of Opus. I can't understand a thing he's trying to say."

The book in Kena's hand was entrusted to her by Opus's guardian.

Roxine glanced at the well-bound book.

Due to the restrictions that only those of level 1100 and above could hold it and that the pages couldn't be turned without reading, she hadn't made much progress.

Now that she had more time, she was finally able to read it slowly.

In the world of Riedale, such items could be created by players.

While the base items needed to be purchased with in-game currency, once obtained, they could be customized in appearance and restrictions and placed in the player's possession or used as guild furnishings.

They could be turned into level-less pets, gimmicked carriages, and more, with a wide variety of types as numerous as the players.

The gimmicked door that served as the official entrance to the Cream Cheese guild was a masterpiece created by Opus, requiring the pressing of the eyes and pulling of the tongue of a gaudy copper statue.

The content of the book was frustratingly diverse.

It started with incomprehensible text, followed by miscellaneous knowledge (much of which was useless here), logs of past conversations with Opus, and some things that were too embarrassing to even mention, as well as how to efficiently chain-trap others.

It was all there, from beginning to end, things that Opus would write.

"Phew. Reading this feels like it's draining my spirit."

'Would you like a backup?'

"No, I don't need one!"

"How about you take a break, Kena-sama? Lying around all day without thinking about anything can be a good way to change your mood."

Judging by the sun's position, Roxine took out a warmed towel and called out to the children.

After distributing the towels and giving one to Kena, she said with concern.

"Leave the house and the young lady to me and that stray dog."

"...Didn't you make up?"

"No, we've reached an understanding, but reconciliation is out of the question. We are mortal enemies."

Kena could only tilt her head in confusion at Roxine's firm declaration, wondering what had caused such animosity.

"Still, to relax even more?"

She muttered, looking up at the sky.

Just hearing the voices of the plants was mentally taxing.

Speaking of the sky, she remembered a promise.

She took the flower crown from Luka with a wry smile and began to think about putting into action the plan she had discussed with Ritt before.

Initially, she thought she could just use [Flight] to take Ritt, but with three children, she had to reconsider and add safety measures.

The children, munching on Roxine's cookies, looked at Kena, who was muttering while holding the book, with puzzled expressions.

"Doesn't the older sister look happy?"

"Yeah... She looks a bit sad?"

"By the way, I heard from my dad that High Elves can hear the voices of plants or something."

"\"What!\""

Ritt and Luka were startled and looked back at where they had been.

White and purple wildflowers were in full bloom.

The scene was somewhat pitiful, with some of them reduced to leaves after being picked.

Roxine, who was serving tea, reassured the two, who looked apologetic.

"Kena-sama is not the type to blame you for something like this. If you want, you can make them where she can't see."

"Where Kena can't see..."

"Is there any other place?"

The children pressed their foreheads together and started discussing.

Kena and Roxine exchanged glances at their adorable behavior, and Roxine chuckled.

The next day, Kena revealed her plan to Marell and Sunea, explaining the possibility that the children might be put in danger.

However, both readily entrusted their children to Kena, knowing she was an adventurer who could make even arbiters marvel.

Kena spent the morning as usual teaching reading and writing and gathered the children in the square in the afternoon.

"Alright, let's fly today."

The three children tilted their heads, not fully understanding what she meant.

Kena chuckled and performed a spell she hadn't used in a while.

[Summoning Skill: Load: Griffin]

A glowing green line drew a magic circle several meters above the ground.

A double circle with six-pointed stars and mysterious characters completed, and a dense green light poured down from the circle.

A幻兽缓缓滑下光之走廊，前半身是纯白的鹰，后半身是雄壮的狮子，显现在众人面前。

“奎罗罗罗罗~！！”

格里芬发出尖锐而高亢的叫声，响彻整个村庄。随着魔法阵消失，它巨大的身躯出现在围观的村民们面前，比非洲象还要大一圈，引起了阵阵惊叹。

[召唤技能：Load：绿龙：LV5]

紧接着，一只翠绿色鳞片在阳光下闪耀的同尺寸巨龙降落在格里芬旁边。

与其他巨龙相比，它拥有两对巨大的翅膀，每一片都大到足以覆盖它的身体。

翅膀的异常特征使它的体型比格里芬更加苗条。

村民们大多从未见过真正的巨龙，只在童话、传说和吟游诗人的诗歌中听说过。他们大多张大了嘴巴，呆若木鸡。

降落在地的两个生物用羽毛和鳞片摩擦着伸出手的凯娜，发出低沉的吼声，显得十分亲昵。

从旁人看来，这简直就是驯兽师的高级版，让人感到无比震撼。

召唤兽原本的用途是战斗，它们在被召唤时会自动激活威压和恐慌状态的技能，这是游戏中的设定。

但经过几次召唤后，凯娜与召唤兽建立了认识，它们开始控制自身的技能，以照顾凯娜珍视的村民们。

凯娜为了保护村民们，让它们在降落时压制了这些技能。

由于一直依附在凯娜身边，卢卡被格里芬柔软的羽毛蹭到了脖子。

当她看到格里芬那装备了足以撕裂成人的锐利喙部和金色圆眼时，身体僵硬。

凯娜注意到卢卡的紧张，将她抱起，向两个生物介绍。

“好了，你们两个，这是我的女儿卢卡。如果有什么事，要特别照顾她，保护她哦？”

巨大的两个生物向卢卡低头，她发出小小的惊叫声。

看到它们做出滑稽的动作，卢卡睁大了眼睛，小心翼翼地伸出手，触摸到绿龙光滑的鳞片。

绿龙舒服地眯起眼睛，卢卡也露出了笑容。

凯娜充满溺爱的发言让拿着防寒衣物的罗克西留斯点头赞同。

他轻拍了惊愕的里特和拉特姆的背，让他们恢复神智，递上防寒衣物。

“天空中很冷，所以请穿好这件衣服。”

“那么，里特和拉特姆，你们想坐哪个？”

两人愣了一会儿，然后异口同声地惊呼：“什么！？”

他们看着巨龙，即使骑在背上，似乎也没有可以抓的地方。

格里芬则不同，它有柔软的羽毛，可以轻易抓住。

两人对视后点了点头，小心翼翼地指向格里芬。

“好吧，那卢卡就和我一起坐绿龙吧？”

“……嗯。”

经过与细心的罗克西留斯商量，为了飞行安全，采取了各种保护措施。

虽然和凯娜一起相对安全，但格里芬这边只有孩子们，因此用绳子绑住翅膀，制作了临时缰绳。

为了防止意外掉落，给孩子们装备了带有【牵引】效果的手环。

由于孩子们的背高无法直接骑上，罗克西留斯将两人抱上格里芬。

他的身高与凯娜相差不大，凭借超乎常人的跳跃力，轻松地将两人送上格里芬。

罗克西留斯确认两人紧紧抓住绳子后，向凯娜发出信号，指示格里芬先起飞。

格里芬鸣叫一声，缓缓扇动翅膀，垂直上升。

飞过村庄最高的树后，它转向水平飞行，绕着村庄上空做了一个大圈。

孩子们起初发出惊恐的叫声，但很快变成了欢呼声，传来了欢快的声音。

确认无误后，凯娜也指示绿龙起飞。

与格里芬不同，绿龙没有扇动翅膀，而是包裹着翠绿色的魔力光，缓缓浮起。

由于游戏中的设定，绿龙可以长时间在高空飞行，因此起飞时需要同时使用【悬浮】和【飞行】技能。

与在上空盘旋的格里芬并行后，凯娜观察里特和拉特姆的情况，见他们没有害怕的迹象，松了一口气。

卢卡则裹着斗篷，像小考拉一样紧紧抱住凯娜，不时环顾四周的风景。

“你们两个害怕吗？”

“不——怕——！”

“太——棒——了——！”

凯娜听到风声中夹杂着孩子们的欢呼声，判断没有问题，指示两个生物按照预定路线向东侧山脉飞去。

计划是绕过守护塔，掠过赫尔施佩尔的边境，再返回村庄。

绿龙展开巨大的翅膀，抓住上升气流，迅速升高。

格里芬紧随其后，迅速攀升。

村民们高呼“一路平安”或“小心点”，挥手送别凯娜一行。