Chapter 327: Moving to the Royal Capital

We finished our preparations for departure in the town of Tribute and decided to head for the Royal Capital immediately. If we proceed along the coastline, it should take about three weeks by carriage.

“Lord Van, please do not overexert yourself…”

“I’ll be fine. You take care too, Talga-san.”

“Ha! Thank you very much!”

Those heading from Tribute to the Royal Capital were Panamera and the Panamera Chivalric Order. And from my side, it was just me, Dee, and ten members of the Seat Chivalric Order. Ah, of course, Arte, Till, and Khamsin were coming with me to the Royal Capital as well.

I asked Talga, Esparda, and the remaining members of the Seat Village Chivalric Order to return to Seat Village to cover for the feudal lord’s long absence.

By the way, Ortho and his group have not yet returned from hunting magical beasts.

“Now then, it is about time to depart. Marquis Rosso, thank you for everything.”

When I greeted him, Rosso nodded with a regretful look.

“If possible, I wanted to head to the Royal Capital with you, but… I shall prepare so that I can depart in a week’s time.”

Rosso smiled wryly as he said that. Since he stayed in Tribute until seeing Tran off, Rosso needed to return to the fortress city where his castle was located first. He likely has various piled-up tasks as well. As a result, he would be heading to the Royal Capital one or two weeks later than us at the earliest.

Normally, since this is a report on what happened in Rosso’s territory, it would be proper for Rosso himself to report to His Majesty. However, since this involves contact with a fleet commander of the Kingdom of Fiesta—a country unknown until now—and a report regarding an alliance, it was deemed urgent, and Panamera was specially assigned to this duty.

I am accompanying them to explain the utility of the ship, but if Rosso hadn’t told me to go, I probably would have stayed in Tribute to build ships.

I reluctantly prepared to go to the Royal Capital. I bought a large amount of dried fish and such for preserved food, so I’ll endure it. By the way, I also bought a water tank, so I intend to research by making various miniature ships during the journey.

We departed earlier than Talga and Esparda, leaving the town of Tribute while being seen off by everyone, including Rosso.

Alright, let’s hurry to the Royal Capital.

Just as I thought that, a familiar voice echoed on the highway.

“Lo-Lord Vaaaaaaan!”

“Please wait for uuuus!”

Hearing the voices of Ortho and Kusala, I stopped the carriage and poked my head out the window. There, I saw Ortho and the others sprinting at full speed from behind. I thought they had a carriage, but what happened?

“Ortho-san, what about the magical beast hunt?”

When I asked Ortho and the others, who were breathing hard, he answered by waving one hand back and forth.

“No, we hunted a decent amount, you see. But we piled the carriage full of magical beast corpses and couldn’t return for three days, so we couldn’t deodorize them in time. We sold the whole carriage along with the beasts to the Adventurer’s Guild.”

“It turned into quite a good sum of money!”

It seems the magical beast hunt was a huge success. However, Pluriel looked dissatisfied with the two who had triumphant faces.

“…Even though we discussed going only as far as a one-day return trip, these idiots… Lord Van, I apologize for being late.”

“Ahaha. Well, the fact that you made a profit is what matters most…”

When I answered so, Pluriel sighed deeply and shook her head left and right.

“We haven’t fulfilled our request as Lord Van’s guards and guides yet, so we should have returned to town much sooner…”

“Well, don’t worry about it too much.”

Replying lightly to Pluriel, I pointed forward.

“It helps that you all came back. Please contact Panamera-san, who is advancing at the front, as well.”

“U-Understood. Hey, Ortho!”

“R-Roger! I’m going!”

Ortho, the leader, ran toward Panamera after being called by Pluriel. Panamera-san is scary. Hang in there, Ortho.

In a sense, Ortho and his group did a rough job typical of adventurers, but thanks to them being accustomed to travel and leading the way as guides, we were able to advance faster than planned. Despite everything, they are men who can get the job done.

Since I spent the journey happily making ships and floating them in water, the road to the Royal Capital passed in the blink of an eye.

However, since our arrival was late in the evening, the audience was scheduled for the next day. Since it couldn’t be helped, I decided to go to the coast near the Royal Capital. The Royal Capital is vast and has a large population. However, the closer one gets to the coast, the simpler the town becomes, and near the coast itself, there are barely even houses. There are several small boats that can only go as far as the eye can see, but that is all. In other words, there are only the houses of fishermen who make a modest living fishing.

If large ships start coming here, this scenery will likely change drastically. We must develop and operate large ships taking such things into consideration.

“No, that is something for His Majesty to think about.”

Muttering that while gazing at the coast facing the Royal Capital, I looked at Ortho and the others.

“Ah, that’s right. I’d like to ask a favor of Ortho-san and the team too; could you gather a lot of wood for me?”

“Eh? Wood, is it?”

“Ah, could it be…”

When I tried to give Ortho and the others a new request, everyone’s eyes widened in realization. I nodded back to them and answered.

“I’m thinking of floating a ship here tomorrow morning.”