Chapter 181: Mina steps onto the land of the Eastern Kingdom.

◆ Mina ◆

“Now then, what should we do from here?”

Having rescued the pirate who fell into the sea, I somehow made it through the storm and arrived at the coast of the Eastern Country.

However, it seems we were swept quite far, as the figure of the ship we rode on is nowhere to be seen.

“For now, how about aiming for a port town, Sis? We were originally aiming for a port anyway.”

The rescued pirate, acting strangely obsequious, proposes a policy from here on out.

“Right. Then shall we aim for a nearby port town?”

First, I’ll go up into the sky with flight magic and check the surrounding geography.

Looking all around, what catches the eye is that giant mountain from earlier.

And I spotted a highway passing near the coast.

“I see a highway over there. Let’s go.”

Having landed on the ground, I instruct the pirate on the direction we’re heading from now on.

“Man, flight magic is truly amazing. But if that’s the case, couldn’t we just fly there instead of going out of our way to pass through a place like this?”

“You can’t fly, can you.”

If it were just me, I could have done that, though.

“In that case, if I hold onto you, Sis… ah, no, it’s nothing.”

Silencing the pirate who was about to say something stupid with a glare, we head towards the highway, passing through the woods.

“For now, we’ll make it so we are travelers thrown from a ship by the storm, and you were a sailor on that ship but are now acting as my guard, okay.”

“Why make it such a bothersome setup?”

This guy, he’s forgotten who he is.

“You’re a pirate, aren’t you.”

“Oops, that’s right.”

Perhaps remembering after being told, the pirate scratches his head saying, “Pardon me for that.”

“Alright, we’re almost at the highway… What?”

It was at that moment. I heard a sound like metal clashing, gin, gin, coming from the direction of the highway.

” “…” “

Looking at each other, we quietly peek at the situation on the highway from between the trees.

Then, down the road, I saw someone swinging a sword and fighting.

“Looks like someone is fighting.”

The ones fighting were a duo of a young boy and an older man, and a group of several men.

The ones at a disadvantage were the duo, with the older man seemingly protecting the younger boy.

I wonder if the boy is a little younger than me or Jairo and the others?

“Let’s observe the situation for now. If it looks dangerous, we’ll take the route of not getting involved.”

“Right you are.”

It might seem heartless, but because this pirate was thrown into the sea during the storm, he doesn’t have a weapon, so I’m the only one who can fight.

Getting involved in a troublesome matter in this situation is just being suicidal.

“Don’t kill the brat! But as long as he’s alive, it doesn’t matter if he loses his limbs!”

“Ugh, don’t approach the Young Master, you lowlifes!”

It seems the side attacking in large numbers is aiming for that boy.

Are they kidnappers aiming for a ransom, or maybe they want to use him as a hostage?

“Hmm, obviously a troublesome matter.”

Without a doubt, there are troublesome folks behind this.

“Right you are. Shall we hide and let it pass?”

“Let’s see…”

Even so, abandoning someone in a situation where they are about to be kidnapped leaves a subtly bad aftertaste.

But it’s also a fact that I don’t want to get involved.

At a time like this, Jairo would probably go help without a second thought.

Would Norb try to go help too?

Meguri would probably ignore it if there’s no money to be made.

As for me… what should I do?

“Young Master! I will buy time here! Please flee!”

“Don’t be foolish! How could I possibly leave you behind and flee!”

While I was agonizing over these thoughts, the duo began an argument about whether to flee or not.

“Do not say such naive things! Upon your shoulders rests the lives of the people of the Amatsumine Empire!”

“Ugh!”

Reprimanded by his guard, the boy chokes on his words.

“Now, please go!”

“…Forgive me!”

The boy, having made up his mind, starts running in the direction we are hiding.

“He’s coming this way.”

“He’s coming, huh.”

If he passes right by us like this, the attackers will probably chase him too, so it seems we can safely go in the opposite direction.

In that case, we’d be abandoning these two, but…

“We won’t let you escape! Aim for his legs!”

Right then, an attacker fired a bow aiming for the boy.

“Oh no! Young Master!”

“Ugh!”

The boy jumps to the side to dodge the arrow… wait.

“Kyaaaaah!?”

“Uwaaaah!?”

What a coincidence. The boy who dodged the arrow dove right into the bush where we were hiding.

Naturally, there was no way we, who were crouching and hiding, could dodge, and we ended up being pushed down by the boy.

“Jeez, don’t just charge in all of a sudden!”

“S-Sorry!?”

“Th-This is no time for that, Sis!”

“Eh? What is… it?”

Looking, the guard and the attackers were staring at us, wondering what was going on.

“…Ah.”

Crap, we’ve been found ouuuuuuut!

Th-This situation is pretty bad!

“E-Eliminate them along with the witnesses!”

The attackers, having understood the situation, ready their arrows towards us once again.

“Oh boy.”

Ah-, I’ve gotten completely involved.

This is bad.

“O-Oh no! Flee, you two!”

Still covering me, the boy tells us to flee.

“Heh, worrying about us in this situation.”

To worry about others despite his own life being in danger, what a huge softie.

Just like a certain someone and his friends.

But… if I’m going to get involved either way, a softie like that is still better.

“Umm, why do you look so happy, Sis?”

“Shut up.”

Ignoring the pirate’s interjection, I ready my staff.

“It’s fine. We got involved anyway. This too is some kind of fate.”

“W-Wait, Sis, hurry up and flee…”

The pirate is pacing around in a panic, but escaping in this situation is impossible.

“Do it!”

Arrows are fired all at once towards us.

However, without panicking, I told the boy.

“I’ll help you out, just a little bit.”

I simply release the magic power I had already constructed.

“FLAME BURST!”

The curtain of flames that appeared before us intercepts the fired arrows, and sweeps over the attackers who fired them just like that.

” ” “Gwaaaaah!!” ” “

The attackers enveloped in flames scream and roll around.

“Wh-What powerful magic!?”

The boy still covering me widens his eyes and raises a voice of surprise.

Fufu, feels pretty good.

“Ugh! R-Retreat! Retreat!”

The surviving attackers flee in a panic.

“Th-The pursuers fled…”

“That’s good and all, but could you get off me soon?”

I complain to the boy, who was dumbfoundedly staring at the fleeing pursuers, to hurry up and get off me.

“Eh? Ah, forgive me!”

The boy, finally recalling the situation, hurriedly stands up and steps back.

Seeing his face turning red, I wonder if it’s okay to be a little conceited?

“Phew.”

“Young Master! Are you safe!?”

At the same time I stand up, the guard rushes over.

“Umu, it’s nothing serious.”

“I thank you once again, foreign maiden. My name is Yukino… call me Yukitaka. This is Haruomi.”

“Thank you most sincerely for saving the Young Master.”

As the boy calling himself Yukitaka gave his thanks, the guard called Haruomi bowed his head deeply.

That being said, it seems they are still vigilant.

Hmm, even so, this boy, seeing as he corrected himself when stating his name, it obviously reeks of a fake name.

But pursuing that here won’t lead to anything good, so it’s better to leave it be.

“Sis, could it be this brat’s fake name is—gofu.”

“Don’t say unnecessary things!”

I silence the pirate, who was about to poke his head into troublesome matters, with an elbow strike.

“What happened?”

“It’s nothing. He just seems a little tired.”

Brushing the dirt off my clothes, I introduced myself to Yukitaka anew.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Mina.”

“I’m Gobun.”

Ah, so that was this pirate’s name.

“Mina and Gobun, huh. I give my thanks once again. Originally, I would have liked to invite you to my estate and hold a welcoming banquet, but unfortunately, my current self cannot fulfill that.”

He was obviously being chased, after all.

“You don’t need to worry about it.”

“That will not do. As a warrior of Amatsumine, I cannot fail to show courtesy to a benefactor.”

Hmm, judging from that attitude, is he perhaps the child of someone related to the Knight Order of this country?

“You have circumstances where you can’t offer a reward, right? In that case, I think it’s best we mutually pretend we didn’t see each other and part ways?”

Yeah, I did save them, but it’s best not to get involved any deeper than this.

Otherwise, I’ll end up like Rex or Jairo.

“About that, I would like to request an escort from you.”

“Escort?”

What is this guy suddenly saying?

You don’t have money, right?

“Young Master, what are you!?”

Sure enough, Haruomi stops Yukitaka.

“Haruomi, you saw these people’s skills too, did you not? With just us, we will not survive if we are attacked by pursuers again. Then do you not think it better to have them escort us to the territory governed by my uncle?”

“That’s…”

Hey, hey, don’t get talked down there.

“No, no, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t ignore our circumstances. We have to go to a port town to meet up with our comrades, so we don’t have the free time to escort you.”

When I explained our situation and refused, Yukitaka floated a broad smile for some reason.

“Hoh, that is convenient. The place I intended to ask you to escort us to was also the port town of Omitsu.”

“Eh? Is that so?”

To think our destinations were the same, I’m a little surprised by that coincidence.

“Umu, if we can reach there, I can ask for help from my uncle who governs the town. I will also be able to provide a reward for you.”

“So you’re relying on your uncle.”

Now, what to do.

It’s obviously a troublesome matter, and I’d like to quickly get away without getting involved, but the destination being the same makes it tricky.

Besides, the fact that the lord of the town we’re heading to is his uncle means that refusing here would also mean refusing the request of a noble.

I don’t want to incur the displeasure of a local noble, but if it involves nobles, there’s a possibility the enemies are also nobles.

Either choice is troublesome.

“Sis, Sis.”

“What.”

As I was agonizing over it, Gobun called out to me in a low voice.

“Since we’re at it, let’s accept it. Our destinations are the same anyway, and we don’t know when you’ll be able to meet your comrades. In that case, taking a long-term stay into consideration, it’d be more profitable to do this young master a favor.”

Hmm, at first glance it looks like he’s blinded by the reward—well, he actually is blinded by it—but he isn’t saying anything wrong.

We’re obviously caught up in a troublesome matter, but if there’s a noble who will become an ally, there’s no doubt that will be to our advantage.

“…Understood. I just have to escort you to that port town, right.”

“Ooh, will you accept!”

In a foreign country, and what’s more in this situation where everyone isn’t here, I really didn’t want to take on any more troublesome matters, though.

Still, we need money, and it’s a fact that it’s better to have someone familiar with the land as an ally.

“I’ll be in your care from here on out, Yukitaka.”

I extend my hand while intentionally dropping honorifics for Yukitaka.

The other party seems to be a noble, but in this situation, if I awkwardly spoke with polite language, it would be like telling the pursuers ‘your prey is right here’.

“!? U-Umu! I leave it in your care, Mina!”

Then, for some reason looking happy, Yukitaka takes my hand looking strangely excited.

“Now! We go to the port town of Omitsu!”

“Yes, yes.”

In this manner, having arrived in the Eastern Country… the Amatsumine Empire, instead of being separated from my comrades, I ended up getting involved with some strange nobles.