Chapter 442 – Seeds
“Is that the destination?”
“Yes, we will begin collecting materials in earnest tomorrow using that cave as a base.”
Fortunately, we arrived at our destination before it got dark.
The cave located halfway up the mountain had enough space for the group to fit in.
However, it was not a deep cave.
The end of the cave, which was less than 10 meters deep, was blocked and did not feel damp, making it a suitable environment for camping.
“Fortunately, it doesn’t seem like any other animals or monsters have settled in.”
Louise looked around the cave and said with relief.
“Have you been to this place before?”
“Hilda, Mr. Rappard, I came here once before with you two.”
So it seems neat.
I put down my luggage in an appropriate place and put my butt down.
Veteran mercenaries, Hilda and Rappard, were busy moving around and preparing for camping.
Rafferd skillfully lights a bonfire.
Hilda takes out something that looks like a small pot and pours water into it. When the pot was placed on the campfire and the powder-like substance was dissolved, a thick soup-like substance was created.
The unique savory scent of the soup tickles your nose.
While Hilda and Rappard were preparing the meal, Louise, who had been squirming outside the cave, came inside and told them the good news.
“Everyone! You won’t have to stay on guard this time. We’ve installed an alarm device outside the cave.”
After hearing Louise’s story, Hilda and Raepard’s faces straighten slightly. Not wanting to be on alert seems to be the same in any world.
The taste of the soup Hilda made was not bad.
… I don’t know exactly what the ingredients were, but it tasted like savory corn soup.
I think it would have been better if I had sprinkled some pepper on it, but… I’m full right now.
We sat around a small, beautifully burning campfire and ate the soup Hilda had cooked and chewed dried beef jerky.
In the pitch-black darkness, only a small bonfire softly illuminates the cave.
“…”
After eating a decent meal, there is nothing else to do.
Everyone is just blankly watching the bonfire.
Normally, I would have played around with my smartphone… But there was no way such a thing existed in this boring world.
There was a reason for both nobles and commoners to have many children.
Normally, I would have rolled around in bed with Karen… But that’s impossible now.
-Crack… Crack.
The sound of a burning bonfire is the only ASMR allowed in the world.
“Over there…”
In the end, perhaps unable to overcome the boredom, Louise opened her mouth first.
“Karen, since when did you stop speaking?”
Louise seemed to be friendly with the two mercenaries, and she seemed to be curious about Karen and I, whom we met today.
“Well? I don’t know either.”
“Yes? You don’t know?”
I had never asked Karen, so it was natural that I didn’t know. She didn’t think it was important enough to ask.
When Louise asked this question, I also felt a little curious. She decided to ask Karen.
“Karen, since when did she stop speaking?”
Karen gestures to my question and expresses her opinion.
Of course I don’t know the meaning of her hand gestures.
… But somehow I feel like I know.
Is this the communication between teacher and disciple?
“… Since birth?”
Karen nodded her head.
“Woah, a child cursed by the goddess?”
Hilda, who was listening to our conversation, was startled and said something strange.
A child cursed by the goddess… It was a cruel title.
“What do you mean? Karen is a child cursed by the goddess?”
Louise glanced at me, then carefully opened her mouth.
“Really… You don’t know? That’s what they call children who are born like other children… Well… A little… Underprivileged. Goddess Terra didn’t want that child to be born, so he was born like that… Goddess, They say they are cursed or abandoned by others and live with contempt.”
Karen was looking at me with a sullen expression on her face. When I see the strength in her hand holding my collar, I feel like she’s nervous for some reason.
Panthera is a medieval fantasy world filled with magic and all kinds of mysteries. It is understandable that such superstitions are floating around.
Of course, to me, who lived in modern society, it only sounded like bullshit.
Terra even cares about human reproductive activities?
Is that even possible?
Even though she is a goddess who rules the stars, is she even involved in the birth of the human species?
Even if it were possible, why would she bother to select people born with her disability?
According to Bright, Terra is so busy that it’s hard to pay attention to the world.
She probably doesn’t care what kind of child humans have.
“Karen, you are not cursed by a goddess. Terra is not that kind of goddess.”
She comforted Karen by gently stroking her head.
Did my words have any effect?
The shadow on Karen’s face soon disappeared.
“… Why did Master Bark take Karen in as her squire?”
Am I Karen’s secret? Louise seemed to be curious after hearing it and not seeming to care.
“… Why did she accept the child cursed by the goddess as her squire?”
“There’s that too… Most ordinary knights take in boys as their squires! But Mr. Bark brought in Karen as his squire. I asked because I thought there was some special reason.”
Not a man, but a woman. Moreover, it may seem strange that they even brought in a cursed child from a reluctant goddess as a seed.
“Um… Special reason?”
Hilda, who was listening to the conversation between me and Louise, seemed to be curious and glanced in this direction.
I can feel that even Raepard, who is hitting the bulldog as if he is not interested, is listening.
The reason I brought Karen in as my squire… If I were to be specific…
“Of course… It’s the face, right?”
“… Yes?”
“You look pretty.”
At my answer, the three of them made silly faces and blinked.
“Is it just because of that reason?”
Hilda couldn’t bear to listen while listening, so she joined the conversation between Louise and me.
“That’s the most important thing…”
“That’s…”
The faces of the three people strangely change after hearing my confident words. It seemed like he wanted to say something, but he seemed to be swallowing it.
“Hmm… So… You’re saying that as long as you’re pretty, they’ll accept you as a squire? What about talent? Isn’t talent as a knight the most important thing for a squire?”
“Talent? The face is talent.”
Louise’s lips twitched as if she had something to say at my firmness, but since I was also a knight, she seemed to be holding back a lot.
“Louise, do you want to be my squire too? Even a face like yours falls into the passing line.”
This idioty-type pretty girl had nothing to be desired as my squire.
“Haha… Well, that’s a real honor… But… I’m more interested in alchemy than I am a knight…”
Louise blushed slightly and refused to be my squire.
It’s unfortunate, but there’s nothing we can do.
I also had no intention of clinging to someone I disliked.
“Mr. Bark. Then, what about Hilda? Is she also a successful squire?”
What was on Louise’s mind, she asked, glancing at Hilda with a mischievous expression.
“Hilda? She’s not bad either…”
It cannot be said that Hilda’s face is a peerless beauty. Still, she doesn’t look too shabby, and she has neat facial features.
To be honest, with her bare face without makeup, you could say that she falls into the category of beauty. And above all, those unrivaled big breasts… Were beyond reproach to become my seed.
“Well, I’m old…”
Hilda mutters, avoiding my eyes, perhaps out of embarrassment or shame.
Knights usually take in young children as servants and train them. It can be said that Karen also became a seed at a somewhat late age.
However, Hilda is a veteran mercenary.
The small scars visible on her hands and skin show her rough life.
To me, he still looked young, but I could see it as being too late to become a knight.
“What does age matter?”
The face is important.
“Hilda, if you are interested in seeds, let me know. I am a broad-minded knight who is not bound by such stereotypes.”
“Ah… Yes…”
How… Looking at her hesitant answer, it seems like Hilda isn’t very interested in my seeds either.
‘Ugh… That’s a shame. But it’s strange. I think I heard that being a knight is a popular occupation…’
“Then, what about Raepard?”
Louise seemed to be amused by something strange as she asked with her eyes sparkling.
Rappard was looking at the bonfire, pretending not to hear, but I knew that his attention was focused on this.
“Failed!”
Unfortunately, my seed didn’t need a man.
*
*
*
Fortunately, the peaceful night passed by without any incident, and the day dawned.
Breakfast was the same menu as yesterday’s dinner.
After a quick meal of Hilda’s soup and beef jerky, it was time to come out of the cave and take a quick look around.
Louise came to me.
She glanced around and spoke to me cautiously.
“Bark… I’d like to talk somewhere quiet… Is that okay?”
… Louise seemed to want to tell a secret with me.
‘Is this… Am I now regretting rejecting the seed? Or not…’
Looking at Louise’s atmosphere, it doesn’t seem like it’s anything that feels pink.
Louise and I moved to a place a little further away from the cave.
