Chapter 43

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The kingdom was deep into autumn.

Far from the main road, the forested mountains in the distance were dyed a vivid red like the setting sun, and the golden wheat fields were mostly harvested, with black soil exposed and wheat straw drying in various places.

Dragonflies and migratory birds flew freely under the high sky, and during his journey, Newt chased them around, seeing them for the first time.

"Stop there, carriage! ... Sir, you are..."

"I am Nord Ferris. I have come to see Sir Aubiere."

"I, I apologize... Please, proceed."

At the village entrance, the young men of the vigilante group, who remembered Nord from his previous visit, immediately let him through. One of the young men ran to inform Lord Johan of Nord's arrival.

Seeing this, Nord moved slowly through the village, thinking that preparations for his welcome were likely underway.

In Lord Johan's letter, it was mentioned that the harvest was poor, but the appearance of Alba Village did not reflect this.

The expressions of the villagers walking down the streets were bright, and some even seemed excited.

In the village square, it seemed that something was being built, as the sound of a carpenter's hammer could be heard.

Occasionally, villagers who remembered that Nord was the lord's younger brother bowed to him, and Nord directed the carriage to the lord's mansion.

After a while, upon arriving at the Aubiere mansion, Nord was warmly welcomed by those who knew of his visit.

"Welcome, Nord."

"It's good to see you, brother. I'm glad you're well."

"You must be tired. Please, stay as long as you like."

"Thank you, sister-in-law."

The greetings began with Lord Johan and his wife, followed by the previous generation, family members, and so on.

The sisters of Lady Aubiere, who had been timid during Nord's first visit, seemed to have gotten used to him and greeted him energetically.

"Brother Nord! I'm so happy you're here again!"

"Really? I'm very happy to see you too."

"Newt, it's been a while."

"Kyuu."

The sisters seemed to have become good friends with Newt, petting his scales as they talked. Newt, seemingly not minding, closed his eyes in delight.

After the greetings, Nord handed over the gifts from the capital and a bundle of letters from the Ferris family, and Johan spoke to him with a cheerful expression.

"Still, you came at a good time, Nord."

"A good time, you say?"

"We're about to hold the Spirit Festival. It's not as grand as in the capital, but it's the biggest event of the year."

In the Irvan continent, there is a custom called the Spirit Festival.

It is a festival to offer sacrifices, prayers, and gratitude to the spirits that govern each season—the wind spirit of spring, the fire spirit of summer, the earth spirit of autumn, and the ice spirit of winter.

In the capital, festivals are held for each season, and especially the wind spirit festival celebrating the arrival of spring is a bustling event in the lower city and merchant streets.

Since Alba Village is a farming village, the earth spirit festival, which also serves as a harvest festival, is the most grandly celebrated event of the year.

"When will it be held?"

"In two weeks. Can you stay until then?"

"Yes, I have been granted leave."

Nord understood why the villagers' expressions were so bright.

In a farming village with few entertainments, the festival is a good opportunity for a big celebration.

Even though the harvest was poor—indeed, perhaps because of it—the festival would be held on a grand scale to pray for a bountiful harvest next year. The people of Alba must be looking forward to it.

"My sisters-in-law are also happy you're here. Please, stay as long as you like."

"I will take you up on that."

"It's almost time for dinner, so let's talk then."

Thus, Nord was welcomed back to Alba Village and spent his first day there happily.

§

The next day, Nord began his activities as an adventurer, using Alba Village as his base.

There was a small branch of the Adventurer's Guild in the nearest town, and he decided to take on quests there.

The quests offered in the guilds of border towns were all of low difficulty and not much content. For Nord, who had the skills of a Red Copper Rank adventurer and could handle tasks far beyond the Crystal Rank, the quests in the border town were almost beneath him.

However, they were sufficient for his original purpose of training as a scout, and most importantly, they were perfect for Newt, who had been staying in the capital recently and needed exercise.

Nord would take on a quest, complete it, and return to Alba Village. One day, while he was doing this,

"Hey, where are you?"

"What's wrong, Nord? Are you looking for something?"

"This is my brother."

Nord walked around the Aubiere mansion, calling out.

In response, his brother Johan approached, asking what was wrong.

"No, actually, when I woke up this morning, Newt was gone. I'm trying to figure out where he went..."

"Newt, you mean the deep green dragon?"

"Yes, that's right."

"In that case, I saw him in the garden just a while ago."

Hearing this, Nord moved to the garden behind the mansion to look for Newt.

"Hmm? He's not here... He was playing with Emilia just a while ago."

"That's right... Where are you, Newt?"

Together with Johan, Nord looked around the garden, but no one was there.

Beyond the lawn, a few trees dyed red by autumn leaves stood.

Thinking that Newt might come if he called, Nord raised his voice and called out again.

"Hey, Newt! Where are you!?"

"Here I am!"

"Kyuu!"

"Huh?"

In response to Nord's call, Emilia, the sister of Lady Aubiere, replied. However, looking around, no one was in sight.

Could it be? Half in doubt, Nord and Johan looked up. There they saw,

"Emilia!?"

Emilia, riding on Newt's back, was flying high above the roof of the Aubiere mansion.

"Emilia! It's dangerous, come down!"

"No, it's fine. Right, Newt?"

"Kyuu!"

Johan, who was flustered, called out, but Emilia paid no attention.

Newt, flapping his wings in the air, responded to Emilia's voice with a cry, as if to say, "Leave it to me."

"Hey, Nord. We need to get her down before something bad happens."

"You're right. Hey, Newt! Come down!"

"Just a little longer!"

"Kyuu"

"No, Newt, come down quickly!"

"......Kyuu"

Despite the resistance of Emilia, who was riding on his back, when Nord gave a stern command, Newt reluctantly began to descend.

The sound of flapping wings grew louder, and gradually, they approached the ground.

When they were at a safe height, Johan ran to Emilia.

"Are you okay, Emilia?"

"Oh, brother, you worry too much."

"I worry. You're my dear sister."

"Hmm, I see."

Emilia, the second youngest of the Aubiere family and the fourth daughter, was about the same age as Nord's sister, Ailis.

She had light brown hair, like Lady Aubiere, reaching her shoulders, and her demeanor was similar to Ailis, both in age and personality.

Perhaps it was a trait of girls her age to be drawn to dragons, but Nord wondered as he saw Emilia, who was in a bad mood after being forced to come down.

"Still, I'm surprised. Can you already carry a person?"

Johan, looking at Newt beside him, then said to Nord.

Newt, covered in deep green scales, had grown significantly since his birth. Still in his growth phase, he seemed to grow day by day and was already as heavy as Nord.

When Newt stood on his hind legs, his head was at the same height as Nord's, and with his tail, his body length was even longer.

At about ten months old, this dragon had grown far beyond the stage of a hatchling.

However, by human standards, he was still a child compared to the size of adult dragons.

To reach the size of the dragons in the Iron Dragon Knights, which could carry an armored dragon knight, Newt would need to grow twice his current size.

"Probably because Emilia is small."

"Muu! I'm not small!"

"Oh, I apologize."

His careless comment seemed to have hurt the young lady's feelings, and Nord sincerely apologized. Then,

"But Emilia, it's dangerous to ride Newt. You mustn't fly anymore."

"Aww, but..."

"That's right, Emilia. If you get hurt, Katia will be very sad."

"Sister... Okay, I understand."

"Good, let's go inside then."

After persuading Emilia not to ride Newt and fly, she finally accepted it.

Mentioning Lady Katia's name seemed to be the deciding factor.

Johan, carrying Emilia, walked into the mansion.

After watching them disappear into the mansion, Nord looked at the young dragon beside him.

"Kyuu?"

"......Hmm"

Nord stroked his chin thoughtfully.

Newt, who used to fit in his arms, had grown so large that he could no longer hide under a carriage. Eventually, as he continued to grow, the Ferris family's home would become too small, and he would need to live in the dragon stables of the Iron Dragon Knights.

However, that was still in the future.

Newt, tilting his head, seemed to be wondering what was wrong.

Nord, looking at Newt, decided to confirm what Johan had said, just to be safe.

The result was that when Nord tried to mount, Newt flapped his wings so hard that his face turned red, but he could not lift off the ground.