The Everyday Life of an Incompetent Crown Prince

27: Count Gibree’s Daughter 2

In the end, the settled conclusion was that one of the soldiers would ride a horse to the mansion and send for help there.

I also thought about running all the way and sending for help, but after thinking about it, I didn’t know the location, and more importantly, it was subtle whether they would believe me, so it turned out like this.

In the meantime, we had no choice but to wait here. The young lady is probably relaxing in the carriage with both wheels removed and flattened.

And in the meantime, I’m spending my time with the soldiers. Some of them are standing and keeping watch, but I’m sitting on the ground without hesitation. Since I’m being asked to stay as a guard, I intended to leave immediately if they had any complaints about my posture.

Well, in fact, I’m constantly checking with 【Mana Read】 to make sure there are no thieves or monsters approaching.

“It’s a bit late, but I’m grateful, Jasper.”

“Hm? Oh. Yeah.”

Dominic, who was the captain after all, sat down next to me and said so. He had taken off his helmet, and he looked quite young. Was he in his early thirties?

“Jasper, are you an adventurer?”

“Yeah. I just happened to find this place.”

“Oh. Are you a solo runner? Or are you separated from your companions right now?”

“I’m a completely solo runner. I was just in the middle of gathering when I was here.”

“That was a bad thing to do.”

“Well, I was the one who acted, so it’s fine.”

“I’m glad you said that.”

We continued our conversation while gazing at the sky.

“I hear it’s not good to pry into adventurers, but where do you usually operate?”

“The fortress city of Garland.”

“…Garland?”

“Yeah. My registration and home base are there.”

“You’ve come a long way. Is that gathering a request?”

“Well, it’s more like a request for medicinal herbs that are in high demand. I heard that the supply is not keeping up with the demand. I heard that there are a lot of Preperia flowers around here.”

By the way. There are no restrictions on movement between territories unless you are crossing into or out of another country. Of course, there are no checkpoints or anything like that.

It seems that there used to be one in the past, but the king at the time hated it and abolished all the checkpoints in the country. Of course, there was some modest resistance in the form of petitions from the feudal lords, but the king’s words, “Then you will have to pay taxes when you enter my territory in the future,” apparently silenced them all at once.

This country is feudal, but it is also meritocratic. And regardless of authority, the most powerful force in the country is His Majesty the King. In other words, that’s what it means.

“Ah, I see. Certainly, the Gibree territory is the best in this area. But even so, alone…”

“It’s easier to be alone.”

“That’s a typical loner’s line.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“What is it?”

“Do you have any idea why that adventurer did such a thing?”

“…Hmm”

That question still lingers.

Although there were some differences, what was displayed on their adventurer’s certificate (Adbel Card) was a credibility of 3rd class and a strength of 4th class, and their adventurer rank (Adbel Rank) was 4. They could already be considered quite experienced (veteran ), and their achievements were similar.

It’s hard to believe that an adventurer with such a proven track record would risk their life to attack a noble’s daughter with a mercenary. Especially since their face is known.

“Lord Jasper, are you aware of the special individual of the 5th danger level magical beast that is currently occurring in this territory?”

“Well, Issho”

“I see. You’ve come all this way to collect it. You must know about it. Or maybe it’s already spread.”

Dominic looked around lightly before opening his mouth.

“Actually. Currently, there is a conflict with another race within the territory.”

“Heh”

“We were originally planning to send troops there, but now there’s this special individual magical beast. We can’t afford to ignore either of them, but the magical beast is a special individual of the 5th danger level, and it’s a situation that could involve the surrounding cities and towns. It’s something that even a large alliance (raid) would have to be formed for. The lord has no choice but to participate.”

“In other words, you can’t send troops to the conflict.”

“That’s right. The magistrate in charge of that area and the surrounding towns are in a difficult position. The troops they were counting on didn’t come, so they have to figure out a way to do it themselves.”

In other words, they were forced to make a difficult choice.

“This is close to speculation, but I hear that several villages have already been lost in the conflict zone. The adventurers who attacked came from a village in that conflict zone. I think they may have been motivated by the fact that there were no more troops being sent there, or perhaps they were trying to do something to get troops sent there…”

“It’s not impossible.”

“Well, yeah. And because of that, there’s not much patrolling going on around here right now. That’s why there are more and more people who have become bandits. I wish those kinds of people would work properly as mercenaries.”

Mercenaries are mainly involved in wars, but there are not a few who think it’s easier to become a bandit. And according to Dominic, this kind of trouble is common for feudal lords.

This is a feeling that I will never understand. If there were such a group, I can only imagine the soldiers from the royal capital rushing out with smiles on their faces.

“Lord Jasper, will you participate in the subjugation of the magical beast?”

“Well, yeah. Well, I was just invited to a temporary party.”

“I guess you must be quite skilled to be invited. Well, I can see why after seeing what you did earlier.”

“Personally, I’m not really interested. Hey, am I not supposed to tell you that?”

“hahahaha. I’m not bound by the adventurer’s code of conduct.”

“Do you understand?”

“My nephew is an adventurer. Well, I understand because he became an adventurer without listening to me.”

“Understanding or resignation…”

As we continued to talk, time passed. I don’t know how long we talked. And when we both naturally closed our mouths, I suddenly realized something.

Wait a minute, I thought.

“Hey, how far is the lord’s mansion from here?”

“It’s about a two-hour ride on horseback. Including breaks.”

“Huh?”

Riding a horse normally and riding in a carriage are easily three times different. Even a horse can’t run forever.

That means, the messenger who left earlier will take eight hours to return with help, or even longer if there are any delays. If they were to send an empty carriage for the young lady, it would take less time, but it would still take a while.

I look up at the sky. It’s still bright, but it will definitely be dark by the time they get back.

“Was the young lady planning on traveling such a long distance without stopping?”

“Unfortunately, the destination is quite far from the mansion… It can’t be helped.”

I stand up, wondering what the reason for this is.

“What’s wrong?”

“Well, we should gather firewood now. It’s definitely going to get dark.”

“…Oh no, how could I forget?”

Whether it was because the tension from the battle had worn off, I don’t know, but Dominique stood up with a careless expression.

“Hey, two or three of you, go gather firewood. From now on, we’ll act as if we’re camping.”

As I watched them move quickly at Dominique’s command, I began to regret helping them a little.

For the time being, I decided to contact Jarnall and let him know that I wouldn’t be back before the guild closed for the day. I felt a little sad when I thought that this would be the first time my newly created magical tool would be useful.

*

The scenery was reminiscent of our last night’s camp. Night had fallen completely, and the surroundings were pitch black. The sky was cloudy, and the only source of light was the campfire.

Perhaps because the location was good, there was no wind, but the air was getting colder, and even the young lady was wearing a shawl and sitting by the fire.

There were only a few people on watch, and two of them were lying on the ground. They were sleeping in order to take turns on night watch later.

Everyone looked tired. The one who looked the most distressed was Miss Samantha, who was probably the weakest among us. She must be anxious. After all, she usually lives in a warm house where she is protected. I understand that all too well.

Even though I understand, the words “I’m hungry” came to my mind.

Ever since I started working as an adventurer, I’ve been getting really hungry. I wonder if it has something to do with my soul rank (level) going up, but I don’t know the reason. I’ll have to ask someone about it sometime.

Anyway, there’s no food here, of course. There’s not even any water.

Well, I could probably use water magic to create some water, but I don’t see anyone trying to do that.

In any case, it’s one of the things that’s making them tired and mentally exhausted.

I learned this for the first time when I took on that escort mission, but when you don’t have enough to eat, your heart becomes miserable. We had food back then, but we don’t now.

The young lady is holding her stomach a little, which may be the reason.

I hesitated for a moment. In fact, I have plenty of food in my [Colorless Jewels (Treasure Box Just for Me)]. I even have cooking utensils. But I wonder if it’s a good idea to take them out here.

Oh, I just found out the other day that there used to be a similar kind of magic. Storage bags and pouches that were based on that magic are also similar.

However, the magic itself was something that was used by court wizards and royal wizards, the highest-ranking wizards who serve the country directly, and its storage space is not that large.

As for magical tools, they are apparently super high-class magical tools created by court wizards, and it’s not easy to get your hands on one.

I can use such a rare magic, but I don’t mind if the people here know that I can. I don’t mind, but it would be annoying if they said something later. That’s why I’m wondering what to do.

Hunger and annoyance. Which one do I choose? The scales tipped easily in favor of hunger.

“Hey, Dominique.”

“What is it?”

“Can you cook? Even just some camp food.”

“Oh, well, I can.”

He looks at me as if to say, “What are you talking about all of a sudden?” but I ignore him. I stand up and take a wooden table out to a spot a little further away.

“Huh?”

Ignoring Dominique and the others’ voices, I line up some high-quality beast meat, vegetables, seasonings, and spices. I also added a nice knife.

“I can’t cook, to be honest. So could you make it for me instead?”

I take a large pot out of my [Colorless Jewels (Treasure Box Just for Me)] and hand it to them.

*

I also start eating without holding back, watching the soldiers who are eating with such vigor that the word “devour” seems to suit them.

The food is simple, a soup with meat and vegetables, meat seasoned with salt and pepper and grilled on a skewer, and sausage. There’s also white bread.

The taste is, well, good enough for a place like this, I guess? It’s more like it’s just plain good because there are ingredients, seasonings, and spices.

If I had to gather the seasonings and spices, it would be quite a hassle and expensive. I would have been a little upset if it had been made badly with these.

And then there’s our Lady Samantha.

She’s sitting at a different table from the one I set out earlier, eating soup, bread, sliced meat, and sausage elegantly with a knife and fork. She’s the only one with fine wine.

As a noble lady, I figured her pride wouldn’t allow her to eat on the ground with the soldiers. But who would have thought that the chair I had prepared for myself would be used by someone else?

“My apologies, Lord Jasper. We’ve eaten your food.”

“It’s fine. You must be tired. I’d feel worse if you held back after I offered it.”

“Thank you very much.”

Following Dominic, the other soldiers also express their gratitude. Thanks to them, the initial wariness has completely disappeared.

“More importantly, is it really true that soldiers can’t cook?”

“Not necessarily. It depends on the situation. In my case and these guys’, we had to learn naturally.”

“It’s pretty good, so maybe I should learn.”

“I’ll teach you if you want.”

“Then, when I have the chance.”

We’re eating in a friendly atmosphere, although with bad manners, when the young lady stands next to me.

“Lord Jasper, thank you so much for this time.”

“It’s nothing. It’s just a small thing since we’ve come this far.”

“Even so, I will never forget that you helped me.”

I simply wave my hand in response. This time, neither the maid nor the soldiers try to reprimand me for my rudeness. They must have realized that I’m that kind of person.

“Instead of thanking me, you should pray that help comes soon. I can’t take you to bed, after all.”

“Well, I suppose.”

When I say this jokingly, Lady Samantha covers her mouth with her hand and laughs elegantly. I can hear the other soldiers chuckling softly. The fact that there is a bed is actually a secret.

“Lord Jasper, may I ask you something?”

“What is it?”

“Was what you took out of thin air just now magic? Or is it a unique skill?”

“Lady Samantha–“

I think to myself that she’s a noble lady, as she asks something that no one else has asked before.

It’s an unspoken rule not to touch on the abilities of adventurers. It goes without saying that it’s out of the question to pry into the affairs of someone who has helped you. Dominic and the others didn’t ask because they understand this, and even now, they are frozen by Lady Samantha’s words.

However, since I’ve shown it, there’s no point in worrying about it.

“Magic. That’s all. If you’re curious, why don’t you ask your father?”

“Is that so? Lord Jasper, you are a great magician. Did you receive your training from someone famous?”

“Lady Samantha, that’s…”

I’m convinced. This young lady will either become great or be crushed. It’s one or the other.

Just when I was starting to think that this was getting to be a pain, my [Eyes of Myriad Visions] caught sight of it. It’s not very far away, so it should be here soon.

Everyone looks at me as I stand up suddenly.

“Looks like help has arrived.”

When I look at the [Eyes of Myriad Visions] in detail, it displays an explanation that says it’s soldiers and servants of the Gibury family.

“Really?”

“I don’t think it’ll be more than ten minutes.”

While everyone was sharing their joy and the young lady was clasping hands with the maid, I started to pack away the things I had taken out. After everyone had waited for a while, the carriage and soldiers finally appeared from the other side.

When I was sure that they were here to pick us up, I disappeared into my [Colorless Room] while everyone was looking away and left the scene.

Man, that was a pain…