Chapter 9

The weather outside was perfect, ideal for a journey. The two of them boarded a carriage that was just about to depart. As they passed through the city gates, a guard who noticed Emily exclaimed, "Ah!" But when Emily and Nina smiled and waved, the guard saluted deeply.

"Please be careful, Great Mage! Thanks to you, the sacrifice of our comrades was minimized!"

"Why are guards so well-mannered, but adventurers so stupid?"

"Ahaha..."

While waving to the guard, Emily muttered, and Nina smiled wryly. Once they passed through the city gates, they could feel the wind blowing across the grasslands even inside the carriage. There were hardly any passengers crossing the border. Emily stretched and folded her arms, saying, "I feel so good right now. Do you understand?"

"Um... Is it really all right?"

"What do you mean?"

"That you were finally recognized as an adventurer..."

"That's not true. They recognized not me, but the magic I used."

"That's..."

Emily's words made sense. However, on the other hand, "Emily's magic" was also a part of Emily herself. If that was the case, wouldn't it be more important for Emily to live as an adventurer in Fullmoon, rather than living with her?

"——'Adventurers should be like the wind.'"

Suddenly, Emily murmured.

"'The wind cannot be caught by anyone'..."

"? What's wrong? Suddenly... Is it your own poem?"

"No, it's not. It's a line from a story I like. A classic adventure tale. I read it online, a low-key fantasy with no cheats. It was left unfinished, though."

"???"

"Hehe. It's fine, it's fine, don't worry. I just thought I want to be like that. To live freely. No one can catch me, and no one has the right to."

"...If that's what you want, Emily."

"Of course it is!"

For a while, Emily closed her eyes, feeling the wind blowing through. Nina, sitting beside her, gazed at her profile.

"...Nina, are you still not convinced?"

"No... That's not it."

"Then why are you so deep in thought?"

"Well, um..."

Nina lowered her eyes.

"I was thinking about what we should have for dinner today."

"......Huh?"

"Because you said you were looking forward to the meal."

"———"

Hearing this, Emily burst into laughter.

"Ahahaha!"

"What's so funny?"

"Well, I didn't expect you to be such a big deal."

"?"

It seemed that Nina had understood Emily through their conversation. On the contrary, Emily was the one who was worried. The chaos at the guild and the subsequent conversation with the guild master. She was concerned that Nina might be tired of being with her. However, Nina's concern was about the meal. Not understanding why Emily was laughing, she tilted her head in confusion.

"It's fine, it's fine, don't worry."

"Emily... This is a serious issue. Not only are the cooking utensils and ingredients limited, but there's also the problem of whether we can use a kitchen or fire while traveling."

"But I'm sure Nina will exceed my expectations."

"Wh-What? Are you putting more pressure on me!?"

"Sorry, sorry, just kidding. I'll help too."

"Really?"

"Yes. Once we cross the border, the food culture will change, and it will be fun~"

"Yes! I wonder what kind of maids there will be..."

"Um, um... that side...?"

Their conversation never seemed to end. However, they had plenty of time. The carriage slowly made its way to the border town.

△

"Hey! The length of the sleeves on this dress is wrong! What's going on with a newly made dress!?"

In the capital of the Kingdom of Crescendo, at the Markwood Earl's residence, the earl's daughter's irritated voice echoed through the house. The dress for tonight's ball, as the young lady pointed out, had a slight difference. It was a difference that an ordinary person might not notice, but the ball was a battlefield for the nobility. If noticed, it would be a source of ridicule. Moreover, the Markwood earl's daughter had often laughed at the shortcomings of other noble daughters. Therefore, she was certain that if her own flaw was discovered, the other noble daughters would laugh.

"Fix it immediately!"

"But, my lady, there are only three hours left until the ball."

"What are you saying!? We've fixed it in 10 or 20 minutes before, right!? Hurry up!"

The tea in the teacup on the table was spilled, and the maids bowed their heads. The young lady, fuming, left the room.

"......"

Once the young lady was gone, the maids began to discuss.

"What was that? What's she so angry about?"

"It's impossible to fix it in 10 minutes. Besides, we don't even know how to fix it."

"Oh, why spill the tea? Who's going to clean it up..."

"Well, if we let Nina do it—"

One of the maids, who started to say this, suddenly exclaimed, "Nina's not here!"

"Ugh, this is the worst... That 'fix it in 10 minutes' was based on the assumption that Nina was here."

"What do we do?"

"What else? The maid in charge fired her."

"Oh, that person broke the vase, right?"

"Was it really the maid in charge who did it?"

"Of course. She was the one who entered the treasure room the most."

"Then, let's make the maid in charge take responsibility."

"Let's do it."

The maids all went to the maid in charge's room.

"——So, because Nina is gone, we cannot fulfill the young lady's request."

The lined-up maids bowed their heads.

"W-What...!?"

The maid in charge was shocked.

"Are you still maids!? Do you not have the resolve to fulfill the young lady's wishes!"

"...Because the maid in charge fired Nina."

"What!? Are you blaming me!"

"We are not familiar with the tasks we have been doing, so it will take time, but it is difficult for us to do it immediately."

"Ugh..."

The maid in charge was speechless. In reality, even with time, the maids couldn't do it.

"I, I understand... I will talk to the earl."

The maids, who bowed their heads respectfully, smiled when the maid in charge left. The maid in charge found the earl on his way out and explained the situation. However, the content was different from the reality. She said that the reason they couldn't fix the young lady's dress was not due to the maids' lack of skill, but because the maid who was fired had taken the necessary tools and did not properly hand over her duties. The maids were currently trying hard to learn new tasks, so they couldn't handle it today. In other words, she blamed it on Nina again.

"Again that maid! Hasn't she been found yet!?"

"Y-Yes, I'm very sorry..."

The maid in charge, sweating coldly, bowed her head. In fact, this was the third time in 10 days that she had been scolded by the earl. The earl, who was originally gentle, had become angry after the vase was broken. At first, she thought it was just a bad mood, but now she felt it was different.

(Why is this happening...)

The days were the same as always. Yet, the earl's clothes were slightly wrinkled, and the mansion felt a bit dull. It had lost its shine. To the maid in charge, it felt like a harbinger of something terrible.

"Increase the bounty! How infuriating!"

What had changed was just the absence of one maid.

"Y-Yes, I understand."

She watched the earl leave, who was just irritated. The problem with the dress was not resolved, and the young lady's mood was still bad. In the end, they had to pay a large sum of money to call a tailor to fix it in a hurry. Thus, the bounty on Nina became "1.5 million gold."